Improvements in Coin-freed Apparatus.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 20th June, 1892
Complete Specification Left, 20th Mar., 1893-Accepted, 20th June, 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Coin-freed Apparatus.
I, JENS JENSEN, of 143A Holborn, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to improvements in coin-freed apparatus.
The object of my said invention is to improve and simplify the construction of
coin-freed apparatus by the provision of improved means for locking and unlocking
the mechanism by which the delivery of articles from the apparatus is controlled or
effected, of improved means for releasing the coin after it has effected the said
unlocking, and of 'improved means whereby the pressure applied by means of
weights to a column or series of articles to be delivered, for the purpose of main-
taining them in proper position in the apparatus, is approximately proportioned
automatically to the number of articles acted upon, in order that the amount of
pressure applied for instance, to a complete series, may be greater than when but a
few articles of the series remain.
According to my invention I provide in the said apparatus an arm, arranged to
turn upon a pivot placed on a suitable support, and projecting into a shoot or
channel through which the coins pass. The said arm is suitably connected to a
bolt or other locking device adapted to prevent normally, movement of the afore-
said mechanism by which the delivery of articles is controlled or effected and is
provided with a spring or is counterweighted or otherwise arranged so that it moves
through a small are when a suitable coin comes down the said shoot or channel into
contact with it; the said movement insufficient, however to release the coin
which therefore remains in contact with the arm until the said arm is given further
movement to release it, as is hereinafter explained.
A cam groove or cam surface is provided in one of the members of the aforesaid
mechanism by which the delivery of articles is controlled or effected, and the said
bolt or other locking device is so arranged that when the arm is moved by the coin
the said bolt or locking device is moved by the arm into a position in which it will
not prevent the movement of the said delivery mechanism and will be operated by
the aforesaid cam groove or cam surface to effect further movement of the arm to
release the coin. The several parts of the mechanism are caused to return to their
normal positions by springs, weights or otherwise after the completion of the herein-
before-described series of operations.
The improved means according to this invention whereby the pressure on a
column or series of articles to be delivered is automatically reduced in approximate
proportion to the reduction of the number of articles in the series caused by
successive deliveries of the said articles, are thus arranged
:-
A series of weights is arranged upon cords or chains by which the pull of the
weights is transmitted to the column or series of articles. The said cords or chains
lower the series of weights as the number of articles remaining in the apparatus
diminishes, and means are provided whereby the weights are successively stopped
at suitable points in their descent, so that the pull upon the cords or chains is
reduced. To effect the said stoppages of the weights one two or more rods or
guides are provided over which the weights travel. Collars, projections or stops of
graduated dimensions are secured upon the said rods or guides and each weight is
provided with one two or more channels or grooves in which the said rods or guides
are received, the channels or grooves and the collars, projections or stops being so
proportioned relatively to each other that each weight will travel upon a rod or
guide, for instance over such collars stops or projections as may not be wider than

page_text: the channels or grooves until it is stopped by a collar, stop or projection which is
too large to be received by the channel or grooves in the weight. By suitably
arranging the said collars, stops or projections and the channels or grooves the
several weights may be arrested in succession at suitable points.
Dated this 20th day of June 1892.
JENS JENSEN.
Haseltine, Lake & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Coin-freed Apparatus.
I, JENS JENSEN, of 143A Holborn, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, 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 improvements in coin-freed apparatus.
The object of my said invention is to improve and simplify the construction of
coin-freed apparatus by the provision of improved means for locking and unlocking
the mechanism by which the delivery of articles from the apparatus is controlled or
effected, of improved means for releasing the coin after it has effected the said
unlocking, and of improved means whereby the pressure applied by means of weights
to the column or series of articles to be delivered, for the purpose of maintaining
them in proper position in the apparatus, is approximately proportioned, auto-
matically, to the number of articles acted upon, in order that the amount of
applied for instance, to a complete series, may be greater than when but a few
articles of the series remain.
pressure
In order that my said invention may be clearly understood 1 will now proceed to
describe the same with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein
Figure 1 is a side elevation of the releasing and delivering mechanism of a coin-
freed apparatus, constructed according to this invention,
Figure 2 is a plan, and
Figure 3 a rear view, of the apparatus illustrated in Figure 1,
Figure 4 is a perspective view of the lower end of the coin shoot,
Figures 5 and 6 are elevations of the inner face of the front plate of the apparatus
and of certain fraud-preventing devices thereon.
Like letters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the drawings.
With reference first to Figures 1, 2, and 3, A is the outer casing of the machine
with portions thereof removed, for the sake of clearness. B is a bracket secured
within the upper portion of the casing. C is a vertical guide of sheet metal,
adapted to receive a pile or series of articles C₁ to be delivered; the said guide is
open in front except for the flanges C2 and is secured to an extension B2 of the
bracket B. The delivery of the said articles is effected by the removal, at each
operation of the machine, of the uppermost article of the series, as hereinafter
explained. A is an opening provided in the frame A for the exit of the said
articles, the flanges C² being removed at the said opening. D is the main spindle
of the apparatus; it is rotatable in bearings E, E, fixed to the bracket B, and
protrudes through the front of the casing A. Upon the protruding end is secured
a milled head D by which the spindle D can be turned. D2 is a collar secured
upon the spindle D, between the bearings E E. In the said collar an ❝ endless
cam groove or screw thread D³ is formed, so that the said collar constitutes a cam.
The said groove or thread is "right hand" upon one half of the circumference of
the collar, and "left-hand " upon the other half; the "right-hand" and "left-
hand" portions are joined by suitable curved portions as is customary in devices of
this type.
وو

page_text: F is a ratchet wheel, firmly secured upon the inner end of the spindle D. A
single tooth F occupies a greater angle than any of the remaining teeth which are
similar to each other, and is provided for a purpose hereinafter explained.
G is a pawl pivoted to the bearing E' and adapted to engage with the teeth of
the ratchet wheel F, to prevent the said wheel from rotating except in the direction
of the arrow in Figure 3. H is a spring secured to the bearing E and resting
against the pawl G to keep it always against the ratchet wheel F.
I is a slider which is arranged to be reciprocated, as hereinafter set forth, upon
the upper surface of the bracket B above an opening B' formed therein. Lateral
movement of the slider is prevented by the brackets E E' which are undercut, as
shown in Figure 3, to receive its edges, upon which it slides. 1* is a strong pin
secured upon the upper side of the slider and provided at its upper end with a
hemispherical cavity in which is a ball I. The said ball enters the groove or
screw-thread D³ in the collar D2, so that in the rotation of the collar the recipro-
cation of the slider is easily effected by the action of the groove or screw-thread
upon the ball and pin. The front end of the slider is cut away at 12 for a purpose
hereinafter explained; 13 is a transverse projection firmly secured to or formed
upon, the underside of the slider; I is a cain-piece formed by turning up a portion
of the rear end of the slider. The said slider and its appurtenances will be again
referred to.
J is the coin-shoot, which receives the coins by which the apparatus is to be
operated. JJ¹ Figure 4 are portions of the wall of the coin-shoot which are bent
or otherwise arranged to project thereinto; the said projections have gaps J2 left
below them; this construction assists, as hereinafter explained, in preventing the
fraudulent use of the apparatus.
K is an arm hinged to the bearing E' and provided with a rod L extending
down therefrom through the bracket B. K is a plate formed upon the free end of
the arm K, and adapted to close, under certain circumstances, the entrance Jo to
the coin-shoot J.
M is a lever pivoted at M' to the extension B2 from the bracket B; one end Mo
of the said lever is provided with an adjustable counterweight M2; the other
end, M³, projects for a short distance into the coin-shoot J through a slot J³ in the
wall thereof. N is a rod connected by the link N' to the said lever, as shown, so
as to be movable vertically thereby; holes are provided in the bracket B and in a
projection B3 on the extension B, so that the said rod is properly guided and
supported in its vertical movement. The upper end of the rod N is arranged in
the path of the cam-piece I' hereinbefore described.
O is a spring blade suitably secured to the extension B2 and lying below the
lever M. P is a small door arranged at the exit opening A¹; it is bevelled at its
lower edge so that the thrust of the issuing article against it may easily raise it.
The said door is hinged, by the two arms P¹ and the pin P2 to the bearing E'.
P³ is a cross-bar held at its ends in the two arms P¹ at a point near the door P.
Qis a detent pivoted in bearings R in close proximity to the door P; the aforesaid
rectangular notch 12 is provided in the slider in order that it may clear the said
bearings; the said detent at its upper end Q' is bevelled as shown and is hooked to
engage with the cross-bar P³, and its lower end Q' normally projects through the
bracket B into a position just within the door P, and in the path of the articles
issued.
With reference to Figure 5, S is a spring secured at one end to the front plate
of the casing A and having its free end in close proximity to the opening Jo in the
casing, through which coins are introduced. T is an arm secured upon the spindle D
and arranged to operate the free end of the spring S as hereinafter set forth.
Instead of the spring S I may employ, as shown in Figure 6, a sharp-edged
knife-blade S¹ pivoted to the casing in proximity to the aforesaid coin-opening Jo
and normally kept clear of the opening by a spring S2. The said knife is operated
by an arm, such as the arm T, to act in conjunction with one edge of the opening Jo
which is sharpened, as shears to sever wire, string, or anything else which is

page_text: introduced through the said opening for the purpose of obtaining an article without
payment.
I will now proceed to describe the improved means whereby the pressure upon
the column or series of articles to be delivered is automatically reduced, in
approximate proportion to the reduction of the number of articles in the series
caused by successive deliveries of the said articles. U U are guide rods arranged
at the sides of the vertical guide C. U U and Us are weights arranged to slide
thereon. UU are cords by which the pull of the weights is transmitted over
suitable pulleys Us to a lift V adapted to rise and fall within the guide C. V' is a
hole provided in the floor of the lift for a purpose hereinafter specified. W is a
rod which is secured, like the guide rods U, at each side of the guide C. It passes
through the weights U U2 and U³. W1 W2 are stops of different sizes upon the
said rod W. Holes U of suitable sizes are provided in the weights, and the said
holes are so arranged that the weight U will not pass below the uppermost
stop W, and the weight U2 will not descend past the stop W2 next below the
upper one.
Thus all three weights are free to ascend to the upper end of the
guides, in which position the weights U and U2 rest upon the weight Us so that
the pull of all the weights is transmitted from the latter by the cords U to the lift,
when the said lift is at its lowest position, that is to say when the lift is fully
loaded. The cords lower the series of weights as the number of articles remaining
in the apparatus diminishes, and the weights are successively stopped at suitable
points in their descent so that the pull upon the cords or chains is reduced; the
weight U stops descending when it reaches the stop W₁ and the weight U' stops
descending when it reaches the stop W2, leaving the weight U³ to complete the
raising of the lift.
The operation of the said improved coin-freed apparatus will now be described,
assuming, primarily, that the lift V is fully charged with articles C¹ and occupies
its lowest position in the guide C.
The rod L is kept up by the uppermost article of the series, consequently the
arm K is raised, and the plate K' kept clear of the entrance Jo to the coin-shoot J.
When a suitable coin is inserted in the coin-shoot it slides down therein until it
meets the end M³ of the lever M which projects thereinto. The coin depresses
that end of the lever into contact with the spring blade O, as shown in chain lines
in Fig. 3, and the said lever in moving as described, draws down the rod N, by
means of the link N', till the upper end of the said rod is just below the edge of the
cam piece 14 of the slider I. The latter can then be operated to deliver the
uppermost article of the series from the lift. The coin continues to bear upon
the end M³ of the lever M after the said lever has been brought to bear upon the
spring O, and thus maintains the head of the rod N clear of the edge of the cam-
piece I until the said slider I is moved by means of the milled head D'. To move
the slider I the milled head D¹ is turned to rotate the spindle D and the grooved
collar D and ratchet-wheel F secured thereon, in the direction indicated by the
arrow in Figure 3. During this rotative movement the cam groove or screw
thread D³ acts upon the pin I* and reciprocates the slider I, and the said slider in
moving rearward, that is to say away from the delivery opening A' in the casing A,
depresses the end M³ of the lever M against the resistance of the spring O, beyond
the position into which, as aforesaid, the lever was moved by the coin, thus allowing
the coin to drop down through the coin-shoot into a suitable receptacle. During the
said rearward movement the projection I³ moves over the upper face of the upper-
most article of the series, which, when the said projection has moved sufficiently far
to clear it, is immediately brought up in front of it by the action of the weights U₁
U2 U3 upon the lift, so that in the return or forward movement of the said
projection 13 and slider I the said uppermost article is forced towards and through
the exit opening A'. It is able to raise the door P by its action upon the bevelled
edge thereof, inasmuch as just before it reaches the said edge it acts upon the
lower end Q2 of the detent which it tilts in the bearings R as shown in dotted lines
in Figure 1, so that the hooked portion Q' thereof moves clear of the cross-bar P³.

page_text: During the return or forward movement of the slider I and just before it reaches
its original position the counterweight M2, which, after the release of the coin in
the manner hereinbefore described, keeps the head of the rod N in contact with the
underside of the slider, causes the said head to bear against the underside of the
cam-piece and to rise up behind the said cam-piece to lock the mechanism as
indicated in Fig. 3 until another coin is inserted.
The door P falls by the action of gravity as soon as the article protruded
through the opening A¹ is withdrawn, and when the door falls it is immediately
re-locked automatically by the action of the detent Q which engages with the
cross-bar P³ as soon as the arms P₁ bring the bar down sufficiently far. The cross
bar P³ pushes back the upper end of the detent, in descending, but the detent is so
counter-balanced by its lower portion Q2 as to move forward again automatically,
as soon as the cross-bar is in front of the hook.
When the last of the articles is removed from the lift V the hole V¹ therein is
immediately under the lower end of the rod L, which, being no longer supported,
drops thereinto and causes the arm K to lower the plate K¹ to close the entrance
to the coin-shoot.
When the slider I has returned to its original position and is locked by the head
of the rod N, as described, the long tooth F' of the ratchet wheel F which latter
makes one revolution for each reciprocation of the slider I, will occupy, relatively
to the pawl G, the position in which it is indicated in Figure 3. A small amount
of free movement of the spindle D and of the slider I is permitted by the long
tooth, and prevents the slider from being held against the rod N by the action of
the pawl G to keep the rod up, as would be possible if for the long tooth, smaller
teeth were substituted, because the pawl would be likely to engage with one of
them to hold the slider quite stationary, with its edge pressed hard against the
head of the rod N. Thus a proper coin dropped down the shoot is not prevented
by any engagement of the slider I and rod N from operating the latter.
With reference now to the operation of the devices shown in Figures 4, 5, and 6,
if a coin be lowered down the coin shoot J by means of a string or wire with the
object of operating the lever M several times in succession with the aid of one coin,
the projections J will divert the coin through the gaps J2 out of the coin-shoot if
the said coin is drawn upward preliminary to a second descent; the lower end
of the coin-shoot is slightly inclined in a proper direction to ensure the coin passing
under the projections and through the gap if any such attempt be made to raise it.
The coin thus diverted, cannot be withdrawn through the opening by which it
entered the coin-shoot.
Further, if any fraudulent attempt be made, by a person who endeavours to avoid
lifting the coin up sufficiently far for the projections J' to operate, the spring S or
the sharp-edged blade S¹ is moved across the opening Jo by the arm T, when the
spindle D is rotated, and a bight will be formed in the string or wire by the
spring S, or the said string or wire will be severed by the blade S₁. In the former
case the coin will be pulled up sufficiently far to pass through the gaps J', and in
the latter case the blade will sever the string or wire so that the coin drops down
the coin shoot into the coin receptacle.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, 1 declare that I make no
claim to the apparatus illustrated in Figs. 4, 5 and 6, but what I claim is :-
1. In coin-freed apparatus, the combination of the grooved or threaded collar or
cam D2, the slider I and pin I* operated directly by said cam D², and means for
unlocking the slider by the weight of the coin, substantially as, and for the purpose,
specified.
2. The combination, with the slider I and unlocking mechanism, of the cam
piece I or its equivalent, and the spring O, substantially as, and for the purpose,
specified.
3. In coin-freed apparatus the means whereby the force applied to the series of

page_text: articles to be delivered is approximately proportioned to the variation of weight of
the series, substantially as herein before described with reference to the accom-
panying drawings.
4. The means to prevent the jamming of the unlocking mechanism, substantially
as herein before described.
5. Coin-freed apparatus, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference
to Figs. 1, 2 and 3 (excepting the parts further shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6) of the
accompanying drawings for the purposes specified.
Dated this 20th day of March 1893.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.