Improvements in and in Connection with Apparatus for the • Reception of Coin, Counters, or their Equivalents, and the Delivery of Articles or Imparting of Information in Exchange therefor.
Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 14th Apr., 1887
Complete Left, 16th Jan., 1888
Complete Accepted, 23rd Mar., 1888
Improvements in and in Connection with Apparatus for the
•
Reception of Coin, Counters, or their Equivalents, and the
Delivery of Articles or Imparting of Information in Exchange
therefor.
I, JOHN STEWART WALLACE of Cliftonville Avenue, Belfast in the County of
Antrim, Timber Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
My invention relates to improvements in apparatus known as automatic boxes and
machines and is designed to dispense in some cases with the introduction of a coin to
effect the connection between two parts and also relates to a method of packing
articles for delivery therefrom.
In order to carry out one form of my invention I provide a suitable hopper with
delivery device such as one of those previously patented by me. To this delivery
device I fix a handle or outside mechanism to operate the same so that on moving the
handle or equivalent the articles in the hopper would be delivered.
To prevent the article being delivered without the insertion of the necessary coin 1
provide the following apparatus, Underneath the coin shoot I place a balanced lever
one end of which is connected with one or more small stops in the contracted or any
portion of the hopper which stop or stops prevent any article from falling into the
delivery slide or roller as the case may be. The stops are preferably placed above the
slide at such a distance that they will allow one or a desired number of articles to fall
into the slide and by their return prevent any more from escaping.
The action of the apparatus is as follows. A coin being dropped in the shoot falls
on to the end of the lever and thus moves the stops in the hopper connected with the
lever which allow one or more articles to enter the delivery slide from which they
are removed by operating the external mechanism. Suitable means may be adopted
to prevent the bridging or jamming of the articles if required.
For packing articles delivered from these boxes such as a single match or other
article I take a short piece of metal tube large enough to admit the head of the match
or other article into which tube I insert the same and thus obviate the risk of fire or

page_text: damage. Or I may take two or more pieces of wood or other material leaving a space
in the centre in which I place the match or matches or other articlo and over them I
may double the ends of the wrapper which have been previously left long and thus
secure the parcel. The wrapper may then be used for advertising purposes.
My improvements as applied to weighing and other like machines consists in
constructing the weighing or other machine proper with the exception of the
connection of the indicating mechanism, complete in itself. On a suitable part of the
apparatus I place a rack which gears into a pinion which pinion carries a segment of
a circle or quadrant or straight piece. By the side of this quadrant or equivalent I
place one or more quadrants or straight pieces or equivalents each moving in-
dependently on the axle. The quadrant or equivalent furthest from the one
In
worked by the pinion is connected to the dial in any suitable manner.
these quadrants or equivalents are cut transverse slots partly in each of them.
Under the slots I fix a covering piece to prevent the coin falling through which
piece moves with the quadrants or equivalents but does not return with them
being held by a catch, the coin falling on an extension of this catch causes the
return. In the case of three or more segments it is obvious that more than one coin
would be required to be inserted to cause an indication on the dial.
This method may be applied to boxes where it is necessary to insert one or more
than one coin; and may also be applied to engines for the supply of liquid such as
beer in which case one of the extreme segments or equivalents is fixed to the handle,
the other extreme segment being connected with the pump.

page_text: Improvements in and in Connection with Apparatus for the
Reception of Coin, Counters, or their Equivalents, and the
Delivery of Articles or Imparting of Information in Exchange
therefor.
I, JOHN STEWART WALLACE, of Cliftonville Avenue, Belfast in the County of
Antrim, Ireland, Timber Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:-
My invention relates to apparatus for receiving coins or equivalent devices and
delivering articles or imparting information in exchange therefor.
My said invention comprises various improvements hereinafter set forth.
In the accompanying drawings
Figure 1 is a vertical central section of a machine or apparatus embodying my
invention.
Figures 2, 3 and 4 are views illustrating different methods of packing articles to be
delivered by my apparatus.
Figure 5 is a vertical central section of a weighing machine constructed according
to my said invention and
Figures 6 and 7 are different views hereinafter referred to (drawn to an enlarged
scale) illustrating details of construction.
Referring to Figure 1, a represents the box or casing of the apparatus, b a hopper
for containing the articles to be delivered; c is a balanced lever pivotted at c¹ and
which projects at the end c² beneath a coin-chute d, extending downward from the
slit d in the casing a. e is a slide which is provided with a knob or handle e¹ and
with a groove e into which the article will fall from the hopper as hereinafter
described. is a plate or flap pivotted at 2 to the hopper band provided with a
rod 3 the lower end of which enters a groove in the slide e; f is a stop or catch
for preventing the articles contained in the hopper b from falling into the groove e²;
the said stop or catch is provided with a spring f for returning it to its normal
position and it is connected with the end c³ of the lever c by a cord c* passing around
a pulley e carried by a bracket attached to a partition a' in the case or box a.
g is a box for the reception of the coins after they have been used to operate the
apparatus..
The operation of the apparatus is as follows, that is to say-When a coin of
suitable weight is inserted in the slit d', it falls down the chute d onto the end c² of
the lever c and depresses the same, thereby drawing back the stop f and allowing the
lowermost article in the hopper b to fall into the groove e² from which it may be
easily removed by hand on drawing out the slide.e.

page_text: The coin after thus actuating the lever c, slides down an inclined part c* of the
lever c and falls into the box or till g. The stop f is then returned by the spring fl
to its normal position and prevents the escape of more than the desired number of
articles from the hopper b.
When the slide e is drawn out, the end 65 of the groove 6 strikes the lower end of
the rod and causes the plate or flap to assume the position indicated by dotted
lines, and when the slide e is pushed in, the other end of the groove & strikes the
rod 63 and causes the flap b₁ to return to the position shown in full lines. The
articles contained in the hopper are thus agitated and prevented from becoming
bridged or jammed over the narrow part of the hopper.
It is obvious that the slide e must be pushed home after each operation of the
apparatus to permit an article to drop into its groove e². If found necessary a spring
or weight may be attached to the said slide for this purpose.
If a match or other article is to be delivered in addition to the main article or in
addition to the information imparted, I prefer to put the matches or similar articles
in separate packages so that, when placed in the supplementary hopper they will not
be liable to ignition or injury by the rubbing of one against another. Two methods
of packing the matches for this purpose are illustrated in Figures 2, 3 and 4 in
which represents a match to be delivered and i the wrapper or case for containing
the same.
In Figure 2 a match is shown inserted in a short metal or other tube i, and in
Figures 3 and 4 it is shown packed between two pieces of wood, or other suitable
material i, the whole being covered by a wrapper i¹ of paper or other suitable material,
which may be used for advertizing purposes, or otherwise packed in any convenient
manner.
The apparatus above described may be so constructed and arranged that two or
more coins will require to be inserted to obtain an article, or so that two or more
articles may be obtained for each coin or coins inserted.
In Figures 5, 6 and 7 I have shown a weighing machine constructed according to
my present invention. a is a case or box provided with a dial & upon which the weight
of a person standing on the platform c is to be indicated. c* is a lever pivoted at c¹
and connected at its end c², by means of a vertical rod, with the platform c; the other
end of the said lever is connected with a vertical rod c. This rod is provided at its
upper end with a cross-bar k which is held down by two springs firmly secured to
the partition 2 of the box or case a. The rod et is moreover provided with a rack l
geared with a pinion fixed on the shaft 12. A segment m is also fixed on the
shaft 2, and another segment m' is fitted on the said shaft so that the latter may be
rotated without moving the said segment m¹. A roller or drum n is formed or fixed
upon the segment m' and a cord n¹ is attached thereto. This cord is passed around a
roller or drum n² fixed on the shaft n³ of the index or pointer which is arranged to
indicate, upon the dial b, the weight of the person standing upon the platform c.
A weight is attached to the cord n³ and tends to hold the pointer at zero on
the dial.
The segments m, m² are formed with slots m² which, when the parts occupy the
position shown in the drawing, are coincident and are immediately beneath the
chute d. An arm is mounted loosely upon the shaft 12 and is acted upon by a
spring of which tends to hold the said arm in such a position that it will support a
coin in the said slots m².
When a coin is dropped through the chute d into the slots m² it forms a connection
hetween the segments m, m', so that, when a person stands on the platform c, the said
segments will be turned upon their axis and the weight of the person will be indicated
upon the dial b. A catch p is pivoted at p' and is formed with a projection p² adapted
to engage with a projection o2 on the arm o. The arm o is adapted to move with the
When the said arm
segments m, m¹ during the downward movement of the same.
has moved a certain distance with the said segments, the projection o² passes the
projection p² on the catch p, and the said arm o is thereby held down during the
return movement of the said segments, and the coin thus permitted to fall out of the

page_text: slots m². The said catch p extends beneath the slots m² so that the coin, in its descent,
will strike the said catch p and thereby disengage the projection p² and allow the
projection o² on the arın o to pass the same. The said arm is then moved back to its
normal position by the spring o¹.
It is obvious that, if a person stands on the platform c without previously inserting
a coin, there will be no indication on the dial.
In applying this part of my invention to a beer-engine or apparatus for the delivery
of liquids, I provide a pair of segments similar to those above described and I attach
the lower end of one of the segments to a rod connected to the plunger of a pump
for raising the liquid. Moreover I provide a suitable pull or handle on the upper
part of the other segment. It will be impossible to operate the pump for supplying
the liquid unless a coin be first inserted in the slots provided in the segments as
hereinbefore described with reference to the weighing machine.
If it is desired that more than one coin should be inserted to permit the operation
of the apparatus, I provide three or more slotted segments.
It is obvious that the improvements herein set forth are applicable to automatic
apparatus for the delivery of various articles, or for the imparting of different kinds
of information, either separately or combined.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I wish it understood
that I claim
First An apparatus for the purposes above specified so constructed that one or
more articles will be released from the hopper by the coin or coins or equivalent
devices inserted in the apparatus and will fall into a slide or other device which must
be withdrawn or otherwise actuated to obtain the said article or articles.
Second-The method herein before described of packing matches or similar articles
to be placed in apparatus of the kind hereinbefore referred to, so that they will be
kept out of contact with each other.
Third An apparatus for the purposes above specified, wherein two or more slotted
segments are arranged to be temporarily connected by the coin or coins or equivalent
devices inserted in the apparatus, for the purposes above specified.
Fourth The improved apparatus consisting of the parts constructed and combined
substantially as described with reference to Figure 1 and operating as, and for the
purpose, above specified.
Fifth The improved weighing machine consisting of the parts constructed and
combined substantially as described with reference to Figures 5, 6 and 7,
operating as above specified.
and
Dated this 16th day of January 1888.
J. STEWART WALLACE.
"Haseltine, Lake & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.