Improvements in Coin-operated Receptacles for Opera Glasses.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 18th Feb., 1892-Accepted, 2nd Apr., 1892
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Coin-operated Receptacles for Opera Glasses.
I, JOHN JOSEPH MCDADE of No. 19 Nevada Biock in the City and County of
San Francisco, State of California, United States of America, Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of my 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 boxes or receptacles for opera glasses
to be fixed in position for ready access in theatres and other places of amusement
and having locking devices which are controlled or operated by coins of given
denomination in such manner that when the box is closed the glass confined therein
can be removed only by inserting the coin in a coin-slit or aperture.
The improvements comprising this invention consist of a novel construction of
luck for receptacles of the kind before mentioned and of a means controlling the
lock in such manner that it will not operate when the receptacle is open and the
glass is not in place, whereby the cover cannot be closed and fastened until the glass
is replaced.
The nature of the first part of my said improvements consists in a novel con-
struction and combination of a hasp or keeper on the cover and two pivoted spring
operated hooks, bolts or catches on the receptacle which seize the keeper when the
cover is closed and are acted on directly by the inserted coin to release the cover.
The second part of my improvements consists of the combination with the said
lock of a yielding platform or bottom mounted on springs within the receptacles to
receive the opera-glass and having fingers or parts arranged with relation to the
pivoted catches to hold them apart or out of action when the weight of the opera-
glass is removed from the said bottom.
The accompanying drawing which forms part of this Specification illustrates the
construction and arrangement of these parts and the manner in which I produce a
receptacle for opera-glasses in accordance with my invention.
Figure 1 represents the receptacle or case in front view, with the opera glass in
place and the cover locked; the front wall of the case being broken away to expose
the parts inside.
Figure 2 is a side view in vertical section.
Figure 3 is a top view with the cover open.
Figures 4 and 4 show the parts of the lock in detail.
Figure 5 is a view in detail of the yielding bottom.
A indicates the opera-glass case or receptacle and B the cover which is attached
by hinges bb and has a spring 62 for throwing it open.
D is a hasp or keeper fixed on the inside of the cover at the front side and
D' D' are the hook bolts having hooked or bent ends d* to engage the hasp. The
bolts are pivoted at d² d² and are prolonged beyond the pivots to engage with
projections on the yielding bottom in the case.
E is a spring drawing the bolts together upon the hasp. A' is a coin-slit in the
front of the case and opening into the lock-chamber, and A' is a coin-tube or
channel which conducts the inserted coin down into the bottom of the case. A³ is
a gate or door in the case just under this conductor through which the coins are
taken out from time to time by the proper person in charge of these receptacles.
A lock of some kind is fixed on this door to prevent it from being improperly
opened.
The coin by which the case is opened to remove the opera-glass acts directly
upon the bolts to spread them apart when it is pressed into the slit, as the bolts are
arranged on opposite sides of the coin-slit to set when closed on the hasp at less

page_text: distance apart than the diameter of the coin, and the lateral movement which the
coin will produce is sufficient to hold the hooks clear of the hasp. The size of the
coin-slit and the position of the bolts with respect thereto depend on and are
determined therefore by the size of coin which is introduced and deposited as
payment for the use of the opera-glass.
G is a false or separate bottom in the box formed of a movable plate mounted on
springs H H and II are inclined fingers or projections on the front side of the
plate G setting in close relation to the arms of the bolts below the pivots and at
such an angle that when the plate G is in its elevated position the fingers I are in
contact with the sides of the bolts and act as stops to hold the hooked ends apart,
but when the plate G is depressed the fingers are clear of the bolts and do not
interfere with their movement.
In placing the opera-glass in the receptacle it is necessary to press down the
xielding bottom G before the cover can be closed, and by this act the fingers I are
moved away from the bolts in consequence of which the hasp is caught and held
when the cover is closed; but in removing the glass the yielding bottom rises and
remains in elevated position holding apart the bolts until the glass is replaced. By
this means the receptacle cannot be closed and locked by carelessness or accident
while it is empty.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is
1.-The combination with a case or receptacle having an opening controlled by
a hinged cover, of the locking device consisting of the hasp pivoted hook-bolts and
spring placed for operation with relation to a coin-admitting slit in the case sub-
stantially as described, the said bolts being thereby separated and the hasp released
by the direct action of the inserted coin as set forth.
2. The combination with the hook-bolts arranged for operation in a receptacle
as described, of the yielding bottom G and the fingers or projections I as a means
of holding apart the hook-bolts when the bottom is elevated, substantially as
described.
3.-A coin-operated receptacle for opera-glasses, consisting of a case having a
hinged cover, a hasp on said cover, spring-actuated bolts pivoted on the case and
having ends shaped to engage said hasp, a coin-admitting slit in the case, a coin-
conducting tube leading from said slit into the bottom of the case, and a yielding
bottom mounted on springs in the lower part of the case and having fingers or
projections set to hold the bolts apart when the yielding bottom is elevated and to
release them for action when the said bottom is depressed, constructed substantially
as described and shown.
יוויז
102
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the. Applicant.