Patent GB-417706-A (GB)
Title: An improved coin-freed amusement apparatus
IPC: G07F17/38
Filed: 1934-02-17
Abstract: 417,706. Coin-freed shooting-apparatus. STRONG, F. T., 87, Regent Street, London. Feb. 17, 1934, No. 5323. [Class 27.] Coin-freed shooting-apparatus of the kind comprising a spring-loaded pistol, the projectiles from which, if accurately aimed, release the locking mechanism of a drawer containing a prize, is characterized in that the projectiles, after they have released the locking mechanism, are automatically elevated and returned for further use on the movement of the drawer. In the form shown, steel balls loaded into a pistol 2 after pre-payment are fired at a target comprising an aperture 38 in a plate 36, Figs. 1, 4. Successful balls fall down a tube 39 on to a lever 40, Fig. 5, and release a lever 46, held by a hook 44, so that a disc 48 bearing the word " prize " falls in front of the aperture 38. The ball then passes down a shoot 49 into a tube 72, Figs. 8, 10, 13, and rests in an aperture 65 on an extension 63 of a drawer 56 and on a fixed plate 51. The drawer is normally locked by a cross-bar 67 on a lever 68 mounted on a stationary pivot 69 and engaging stops 66 on the extension 63, and when released as described and pulled out, the ball presses against the end 68<x> of the lever 68 and raises it above the stops on to an extension 105 to permit withdrawal of the bottom packet of a pile 62. During this withdrawal movement, the ball falls into a channel 88 when the aperture 65 passes the edge 106, Fig. 13, of the plate 51 and rolls into a storage tube 32, Figs. 8, 14, on to a plunger 83. When the drawer is closed, an arm 80 imparts a quick lifting movement to the end 81 of a lever 78 so as to raise the plunger 83 and push the ball above a catch 85 and at the same time push the uppermost ball in the tube 82 on to a plate 10 down which it rolls into a channel 11 and shoot 17. The balls are fed from this shoot to the pistol under the control of a device operated by a shaft 24 which is rotated by a knob 25 after the insertion of a coin. A cam 26 on this shaft engages a pin 27 on a lever 28, Figs. 4, 7, which pivots a lever 33 so that a rod 34 is withdrawn from the shoot 17 and a rod 34<x> pushed in, thereby allowing five balls to pass from the channel 11 to the shoot 17. On complete rotation of the knob 25, the lever 33 is returned to its original position and the rod 34 re-enters the shoot 17 to prevent further balls passing and the rod 34<x> is withdrawn to allow five balls to pass into the pistol 2 and be fired one by one. Unsuccessful balls fall on to the plate 10 and into the channel 11. A pawl 91, Fig. 8, engaging teeth 90 on the drawer ensures complete return of the drawer before its next forward movement. Coin-slit closing-devices.-A weight 108, Fig. 8, falls on to the drawer when the last packet has been removed from the pile 62 and pulls on a chain 109 so as to move one end of a lever 110, Fig. 2, behind the coin slot 20. Coin-action, thrust and mechanical connection. -A coin inserted in a slot 20, Fig. 2, falls into a recessed drum 22, and when the knob 25 is rotated clockwise a spring controlled lever 98 slides up the edge of the coin carrying with it a lever 99 normally in the path of a stop 101 on the drum. Testing coins.-Small coins inserted in the slot 20, Fig. 2, fall through the aperture 21<x> in the wall of the shoot 21.