Patent GB-830919-A (GB)
Abstract: 830,919. Fare-collecting apparatus. UNIVERSAL CONTROLS Inc. Aug. 30, 1957, No. 27383/57. Class 106 (3). A fare collecting and registering apparatus comprises a hopper capable of receiving a multiple-coin fare, means defining a path for coins which drop from the hopper, said path defining a coin support having a downwardly inclined surface against which coins lean as they move downwardly along the path, a coinfeeding chamber to which the path leads, means for gauging the diameter of a coin while it leans against the support, means for transferring coins successively from the feeding-chamber to the gauging station while they continue to lean against the support, an electric motor for actuating the gauging means and the transfer means, and means for registering the value of each coin as it is gauged. Coins or tokens are introduced into a hopper 53, Figs. 1 and 4, which exclude those above a certain diameter, and enter by gravity a receiving chamber 56, Figs. 4 and 5, behind a transparent window 52, sliding over a supporting plate 59. The coins move down a track 69 on to a track 72, over the convex surface of a guide 73 pivoted at 74 and held in position by a spring 77, and on to a bar 79. The bar 79 forms with the plate 59 a slot 78 to admit coins up to a certain thickness. Thicker coins are retained in front of a normally closed door 83, opened manually by rotation of a shaft 99 carrying a cam 102, which at the same time withdraws the track 69 through a slot 70 to allow bent coins retained by the track 69 to fall, all the rejected coins passing to a receptacle 108, secured by a lock 109. Coins passing through the slot 78 come against a guide 112 pivoted to a shaft 115 having a handle 116. Normally, the guide 112 is in position to guide a coin into a pocket 130 of a rotor 129, and during each cycle of operation it is retracted to the position of Fig. 4 by a spring, then swung back by a cam, on a drive shaft 126, Fig. 31, thereby agitating the coins to break up any jams. This can also be done manually. Each coin or token is led by the guide 112 and an extension 173b of the guide 73 into the rotor pocket, whose width is as great as the diameter of the largest coin. In passing to the pocket, a coin cuts off light passing from a lamp through a window 186 and thence to a photo-cell, thereby energizing a solenoid 180, Fig. 22, to engage a one-revolution clutch, whereupon the drive shaft 124 is rotated once by a motor 171. The shaft 124 carries the driven assembly 154 of a Geneva gearing, whose driven star-wheel 151 is connected to the rotor, which is thus driven a distance of one pocket every time a coin enters a pocket. Pockets to the right of the receiving pocket are blocked by an arcuate guard 189. By the movement of the rotor, each coin or token is transferred to a gauging station below a finger 212 on a rocker frame 190. On rotation of the shaft 124 a cam 211 through roller 207 and lever 206 rocks the frame 190 clockwise, Fig. 22, then the cam allows a spring 205 to rock the frame counterclockwise to a position defined by the engagement of the finger 212 with the coin. A trigger 227, Fig. 27, is then tripped by one of three trip fingers 237 (not shown), 238, 239 positioned according to the position of the rocker frame 190, tripping a detent 225, Figs. 27 and 30, to engage a wheel 222 and clutch it to the shaft 124, thereby rotating a gear 217 on the shaft of counter discs 214 for registering pennies, nickels and dimes, the amount of rotation depending on the time of tripping and thus on which trip finger is operative and on the diameter of the coin. In other positions of the frame 190, cams 242, 243 thereon act to slide wheels 218 or 219 into the plane of rotation of a disc 173 to be engaged by a tooth thereon and rotated, the wheels 218, 219 being on the shafts of counter discs 215, 216 for registering quarters and tokens. Coins also cause audible signals, a buzzer 245, Fig. 34, for one cent, a chime 246 for a nickel, two strokes of chime 246 for a dime, a chime 247 for a token, and two strokes of chime 247 for a quarter. The rocker frame 190 carries a brush contact 263 moved over a bank of contacts 248, whereby, when switches in a bank 54 are closed, each once per revolution of the shaft 124 by cams thereon, the sequence signal will be given, according to the position of the rocker frame. The rotor pockets 130 then each move through five positions at which the coins are retained (and visible) by a guard 297, thence to sorting openings 280-284, Fig. 11, defined by stepped parts 268-271 of a window 267 in a plate 265 and stepped parts 276-279 of an arcuate plate 275, coins falling according to diameter through the requisite opening into a positioned cavity and thence into a coinreceiver 319, behind a transparent panel 323. Below the receiver 319 is a coin changer 321 having tubular vertical magazines, into which coins fall from the receiver, remaining in the receiver when the magazines are full. The changer is removable by releasing a lock bar 322.