Improvements in and Relating to Mechanism for Automatic or Coin Freed Machines for the Sale of Electricity, Gases or Liquids.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 15th Apr., 1899-Accepted, 1st July, 1899
Improvements in and Relating to Mechanism for Automatic or Coin
Freed Machines for the Sale of Electricity, Gases or Liquids.
A communication from abroad by Dr. L. Sell, of 22, Dorotheenstrasse, Berlin, in the
German Empire, Consulting Engineer.
I, ALFRED GEORGE BROOKES, of 55 & 56, Chancery Lane, in the County of London,
Chartered Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement:-
The invention mainly relates to machines for the automatic sale or delivery of
electrical current, wherein the operations of connecting or disconnecting the current
involve the use of so considerable an amount of power and motion, that these cannot
be overcome, but may only be liberated, by the power of the current meter
employed. The invention is, however, applicable also to gas and liquid automatic
delivery machines; but for the present no further reference to the latter will be made
in this specification.
It is assumed that, after the insertion of a coin, the contacts are closed by hand
power, viz. by turning a crank or operating a knob; and a further object of the
invention is to render it impossible to keep the contacts closed for an unduly
protracted space of time, and consequently, more current, than corresponds to the
value of the coin, to be obtained, by either arresting the crank before it has fully
traversed its path, or by continuing to hold the knob after its adjustment, even where,
in other respects, the construction of the coin freed machine admits of the insertion
of a number of coins in succession and of the machine being thereby set, once for all,
to supply current for some time.
In the accompanying drawings Figs. 1 to 5 are diagrams of some of the forms in
which the invention may be carried out, all that is alien to the essence of the
invention, or does not assist its illustration, being omitted.
a desiguates a crank projecting from the casing, adapted-upon the insertion of a
coin, but not before, to be once turned round from left to right. The spiral plate b
Whenever the crank is turned,
is rigidly connected with the shaft or spindle.
a pin c which is in any suitable manner fixed to an arm or wheel loose upon the
crank shaft, is also turned in a well known manner for a predetermined distance in
the direction of the arrow, that is to say in the direction opposite to that of the hands
of a clock; the extent of its movement corresponding to the amount of electricity
consumed; while a current meter, no matter of what type or construction, is employed
to turn back such pin, and does so to the full extent the moment the value of the
current supplied to the consumer corresponds to the amount represented by the coin
inserted.
All arresting, releasing, motion transmitting or other appliances, used in this
connection, are omitted from the drawings, inasmuch as they form no part of the
invention herein dealt with.
d, d' are two releasing levers placed one behind the other, which therefore in Fig. 1,
are supposed entirely to overlap or cover each other, while in the side view Fig. 2

page_text: they are distinguishable separately; each being in the forin of a socket or swivel with
arms projecting therefrom. Both these levers are turned round for a little distance
from right to left by the pin c, as it completes its return movement; while, as the
said pin c is taken round again, the springs f, f, whereof each is attached to the
other lever arm, turn such levers for a little distance from left to right.
When turned to the right-hand position, they firmly retain two other levers, viz.
the contact lever h, and the auxiliary lever h', in the lowered or depressed condition.
Of these, the lever is subjected to the upward tension or "pull" of a spring g,
while the lever h¹ is, for the time being, maintained against its lower support or rest,
either by its own weight, or by the slight pressure of a spring of little power, such
as o. When turned from right to left, the swivels restore the freedom of both levers
in the upward direction.
While the contact lever is in its depressed position, the contact k k¹ (here assumed
to be a double contact), whereby the current supply is turned on; is closed; while
when such lever h is raised, the contact is open.
The left hand ends of the levers have inclines which are facing each other and
which jointly form a device in the nature of a pair of jaws, which are, in fact, adapted
to open and close like a mouth. is a double armed lever, the upper end of which
carries a roller i arranged to travel along the periphery of the spiral plate b, while to
its lower end there is attached a link m projecting to the right. On the right hand
end of this link are mounted, one behind the other, two rollers which, in Fig. 1 are
also supposed to cover each other; one of which rollers is adapted, under given cir-
cumstances, to travel along the incline of the contact lever h, and the other, along
the incline of the auxiliary lever h¹.
The operation is as follows:-
While at rest, i.e. when the equivalent of the coin last inserted is exhausted,
the pin c maintains its position in contact with the arms e, e¹, while both swivel
joints d d are in their left hand position. Both levers h h¹ are free in the
upward direction, the contact lever yielding, indeed, to the upward pull of the
powerful spring g, whereby the contacts k k¹ are opened.
Now whenever, upon the insertion of a coin, the crauka and with it the spiral plate
or cam 6 are turned round once, the pin c first of all (under the action of suitable
mechanism which is not shown), moves away from the arms e e¹; after which the end
of the lever 1, which carries the roller i, is gradually turned to the left, while the
rollers n n¹ enter the mouth, or the space between the pair of jaws formed by h and h¹,
and, in so doing, tend either to depress the lever h or to raise the lever h¹. The
latter effect, however, is impracticable, the motion of the swivel joint d' being checked
in that direction; hence the rollers n n¹ are afforded a rest by the inclined end surface
of the auxiliary lever h¹, and, in moving along the surfaces of both levers, they depress
the contact lever h, thereby closing the contact k¹; the lever h being locked in the
depressed position by the swivel d.
When, after the delivery of an amount of current corresponding to the value of the
coin, the pin c returns to its former position, the two levers h h¹ recover their freedom
in the upward direction, and, yielding to the powerful pull of the spring g, the lever h
instantly rises. The effect of this is to move the rollers n n¹ further outward from
between the pair of jaws, and to press the roller i against the back (or bottom) of the
spiral plate (unless this should have been done already by the laterally projecting
lever l, or by a spring specially provided for the purpose). Should, however, the
lever be hindered from performing its rotary movement from left to right, no matter
by what means, say, in consequence of the crank, together with the spiral cam, having
been, from unlawful motives, relinquished or arrested, after it has only been moved
halfway through its path,-so that the rollers n n¹ must be left at the bottom of the
orifice between the jaws, the only difference this will make to the operation just
described will be that the powerful spring g, acting through the medium of the
rollers nn, will draw these, and the lever h¹, upwards, since this lever, too as already
stated, has been liberated by the return movement of the pin c; so that, in this case

page_text: also, the contacts are disconnected at the proper time, and can by no external
agency be retained longer in the "closed" position.
Instead of controlling thellever from the spiral b, it may be fitted with an outwardly
projecting handle p, which must specially be pulled downwards to close the
contact kk', after inserting one coin and once turning the crank handle a; or upon
the insertion of a number of coins in succession, and after turning the crank a
corresponding number of times; whereby the pin c has been caused to move away
from the arms ee'. The contact, however, can in no case be kept closed by means of
the said handle p for a longer period than that which corresponds to the number of
coins inserted.
Figs. 3 to 5 represent but slightly modified forms of the arrangement which forms
the subject of the invention, the effect being the same as described above.
"
In the arrangement shown in Fig. 3 the auxiliary lever h¹ is not mounted on the
The
same shaft as the lever h, but is revolvable on a special stationary shaft q.
" mouth or pair of jaws are here replaced by a system of levers and links 1, 2, which
for the sake of clearness are merely suggested, they being, in fact, presented in three
different positions, drawn, respectively, in full lines, dashes and dot-and-dash lines.
The system in question consists of a lever 1, 2, one end of which, 1, revolvably engages
with left hand end of the auxiliary lever h¹ which is here developed into a double
armed lever; while its opposite (left hand) end is connected with the left hand end
of the contact lever h by a link; and at a point situated somewhere about the middle
of the said lever 1, 2, a rod, linked to the handle p revolvably engages with such
lever.
By pressing upon the handle p, with the arresting devices de locked, the
contact lever h will be depressed, and contact is made; if, however, the parts d¹ e¹
have not been thrown into engagement by the insertion of a coin, the only effect
of a depression of the handle p will be to lower the left hand eud of the auxiliary
lever ', whereas the contact lever will continue in its raised position (as indicated
by dot-and-dash lines), which it occupies even while no pressure is exercised upon the
handle p (see the position of the lever-and-link system delineated by dashes only.)
Precisely the same effect, kinematically speaking, is attainable by the arrangement
shown in Fig. 4 wherein the place of the link system is supplied by what is known as
"sun-and-planet" gearing, which is shown detached in Fig. 5, being a plan or top
view thereof. The three wheels of the sun and planet mechanism are loose upon
their shafts. The auxiliary lever h¹ is secured to the rearmost wheel (viewed in the
direction of Fig. 4); the nose or tappet r, whose duty it is to depress the lever h, is
attached to the front wheel; while the handle is integral with the planet-wheel-
shaft, and is also loosely revolvable upon the stationary shaft.
The method of operation need not be further entered into after what has been
previously stated.
This last mentioned arrangement will prove particularly serviceable where it is
In this, as in the arrangements
proposed to employ very powerful contacts.
previously described, comprising a handle p, a pushing knob or button 8, or like
device, may be provided without, in other respects, interfering with the operation of
the mechanism; such additional device enabling the lever h to be released purposely,
from outside, by temporarily turning the swivel joint d; for, so long as the coin-
freed machine, after the delivery of current, permits this, it is always feasible to
reform the electrical contact by means of the handle p, so that the necessity of
providing a special or "main" switch (or cut out) is thereby obviated.
Inasmuch as the contact lever his depressed into electrical contact by the
rotation of a crank a, or by pressure exercised upon a handle p (as the case
may be), it is clear that by securing the crank or handle in a corresponding
situation, the said lever may be retained in the depressed condition, until, in
consequence of the release of the arresting devices d¹¹, or (in other words) after the
prepaid amount of current has been exhausted, it springs back to its raised position.
Hence by suitable contrivances for arresting the crank a or knob p (as the case
may be), the locking devices de may be rendered superfluous.

page_text: In practice, however, the form of arrangement shown, wherein the retention of the
contact lever in the depressed position is effected by special self locking
mechanism d is generally to be preferred.
The invention is readily applicable to gas or liquid automatic delivery machines,
it being merely necessary so to connect the delivery valve or tap-instead of
electrical contact pieces-with the lever h, that they shall be opened when the lever
is depressed, and closed, when it rises.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:
1. In a new and improved machine for the automatic sale or delivery of electrical
current, gas, or liquids, comprising apparatus for controlling the rate of supply of the
comodity sold, which, after the insertion of a coin, may be turned in one direction,
and is then automatically turned back by an appliance for measuring the amount of
electricity or the like, which has been supplied, the combination of a lever system,
such as h¹, serving to make electrical contact or to open a valve (as the case may
be) with mechanism, such as d¹ e¹, for supporting or arresting the same, which is
adapted to be thrown into engagement by the apparatus controlling the supply,
after the insertion of a coin, and which is released by the measuring instrument
when the said controlling apparatus is turned back, in such a manner that the lever
system is deprived of its support; whereby the electrical contact is interrupted, or the
valve closed.
2. In a new and improved machine for the automatic sale or delivery of electricity,
gas or liquids the combination of a lever system (such as h h¹) for the purpose of
closing an electrical contact or opening a valve, with a device (such as de¹) for
supporting or arresting the same, and mechanism for setting the said lever system in
motion, adapted to close the electrical contact or to open the valve through one lever
of the system, while another lever is pressed against the supporting or arresting
device.
3. In a new and improved machine for the automatic sale or delivery of electricity,
gas or liquids, the combination of a pair of levers, such as h¹, the two levers jointly
forming a "mouth," or pair of jaws set at an angle to each other, with a device such
as de for supporting or arresting the same, and with operating mechanism
consisting of a roller, adapted to be pressed into the angular "mouth" between
the said two levers and to turn the levers so as to vary their relative position
to each other, substantially as and for the purpose specified.
4. In a new and improved machine for the automatic sale or delivery of electricity,
gas or liquids the combination of a pair of levers such as h¹ for making contact or for
opening a valve, with a supporting or arresting device such as de¹ therefor, and with
sun-and-planet gearing for the operation of the said pair of levers; two of the wheels
of the sun-and-planet gearing transmitting their motion to the two levers of the pair,
while the third wheel of such gearing is mounted upon or attached to a revolvable
operating lever, such as p, substantially as and for the purpose specified.
5. In a new and improved machine for the automatic sale or delivery of electricity,
gas liquids, the combination of a set of levers, such as, for making electrical
contact or for opening a valve; a supporting or arresting device therefor, such
as del, arranged to admit of the closing of the circuit or the opening of the delivery
valve; and a second supporting or arresting device, such as d, e, adapted to retain in
position the lever, being one of the set or system of levers h, 2, which serves to
make contact or to open the valve.
WM. BROOKES & SON,
55 and 56, Chancery Lane, London, Agents for the Applicant.