Patent GB-830359-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to parking meters
IPC: G07F17/24
Filed: 1956-10-12
Abstract: 830,359. Parking meters. TRAFIK- & VAGMARKEN A.B. Oct. 12, 1956 [Oct. 15, 1955], No. 31089/56. Class 27 A parking meter comprises a regulating disc 12, Figs. 2 and 3, rotatably mounted on a clockwork-driven shaft 9 for driving the mechanism through its timing period and manually-rotatable from an initial position by a knob 8 to set the meter for the prescribed time, a pawl 55, Fig. 5, on the disc adapted to be rocked into engagement with a ratchet 57 on the shaft for winding the clockwork during the setting operation, and means for disengaging the pawl from the ratchet during the return of the disc to its initial position in the form of a disc 67 rotatably mounted on the shaft and connected to the disc 12 by a lost-motion device 69, 70; the disc 67 is rotatable under frictional resistance and has a dog 68 which, upon backward rotation of the disc, moves the pawl out of engagement with the ratchet and maintains it so during the subsequent rotation of the disc to its initial position or away from this position thereby preventing rotation of the knob to obtain a longer parking time than that paid for. An open-ended slot 21 in the periphery of the disc 12 engages a pin 22 carried by a reciprocating slide 23 having coin channels 30, 31 extending between stationary inlet and outlet passages 41, the inlet passages being aligned with coin-entry slots in the initial position of the slide. A feeler arm 24, pivotally mounted on the slide transversely to the coin channels, is provided with cam surfaces 28, 29 for contact, respectively, with coins inserted in the channels 30, 31, the coin in the channel 30 being of a higher value. When the disc 12 is rotated, without the insertion of a coin the slide is moved until the arm 24 contacts a stop 27 and the mechanism remains inoperative, but when a lower value coin is inserted in the 'channel 31 and the disc is rotated, the movement of the slide causes the feeler arm 24 to be lifted, by the cam surface 29, so that its end clears both the stop 27 and an abutment 45 on the stop 48 and, after continued rotation of the disc 12, the pin 50 abuts the stop 48; during this rotation, the clockwork is wound to the equivalent of a half-hour parking period. The slide is maintained in its extreme position by a surface 52 on the disc acting against the pin 22, and the coin-outlet passages 41 in the slide 23 are then aligned with the channels 30, 31 thus allowing the coin to fall into a container; upon release of the knob 8, the disc and slide are returned to their initial positions under the action of a spring and cushioned by an oil-brake arrangement 13-19. The maximum parking time can be obtained by either inserting four low-value coins in the channel 31 or one higher-value coin in the channel 30. In the latter event, movement of the slide results in the cam surface 28 contacting the coin so that the arm is lifted to clear the stop 27 and, by contacting the abutment 45, caused to swing the stop 48 out of the path of the pin 50 and allow continued rotation of the disc 12 until the 'clockwork 5 is fully wound. The winding mechanism consists of a one-way drive in which the pawl 55, Figs. 4 and 5, pivoted to the disc 12 co-operates with the toothed segment 57 fixed to the shaft 9. The disengaging disc 67, which is freely mounted on the shaft 9, is connected to the disc 12 by a pin 69 and slot 70 permitting lost motion between the two discs, and a spring-loaded lever 63, having a pin 66 arranged in braking relation with the disc 67, is provided with a cam surface 62 coacting with the pawl 55 in the inoperative position of the mechanism; the braking effect of the lever 63 is sufficient to prevent movement of the disc 67 except when the latter is positively driven by the pin- and-slot connection 69, 70. During the initial winding rotation of the disc 12, the braking effect of the pin 66 on the disc 67 causes the pawl to leave the surface 62 and engage the segment 57; the two discs then rotate together until, upon the return movement of the disc 12, the disc 67, which is again held stationary, disengages the pawl by first causing it to ride over the dog 68 on the disc 67 and then to be returned to the surface 62. The shaft 9 carries pointers which move over dials 6 provided at opposite sides of the meter and register the amount of parking time purchased. Each dial is provided with a recess having a co-acting shutter 76 which is automatically actuated so as to expose the recess to view while the meter is operating and close it when the parking time is exhausted.