IMPROVE- MENTS IN MONEY TILLS
Year: 1878

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Henry Twine at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 12th August 1878.
WILLIAM HENRY TWINE, of Kilburn, in the County of Middlesex. "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MONEY TILLS."
My improved money till consists, first, of a series of hoppers to receive coins of
various values, said hoppers being enclosed by a glazed lid to prevent access to the
money when once it is dropped through the appropriate slit, and yet allow it to
remain a certain time in sight and separate from the other takings in case of
dispute as to the amount tendered. These hoppers have hinged or movable bottoms
and are situated directly over sepatate bowls or receptacles in a drawer beneath,
in which the takings are received from the hoppers. In their normal position the
bottoms of the hoppers are kept closed by a spring, and they are connected with
and operated by a pull handle. The takings drawer is kept closed by two latch
levers separately operated in order to open the drawer. The one is operated by
the pull handle and the other by pulling on a string, to which a pencil may be
attached for marking the register hereafter mentioned. When both latches are
unfastened the drawer is pushed out by a spring behind it.
My improved money till consists, secondly, in the combination with the fore-
going of the arrangement of apparatus hereafter described, for use in registering the
net receipts, the said apparatus being operated by the same pull handle, so that the
Dine G1

page_text: takings drawer cannot be opened to give change or for any other purpose without
the act being indicated by the movement of the register. This register consists of
a paper tape wound off a reel on to a drum enclosed within the till, and passing
beneath, first, a row of apertures through which the £ s. d. taken are inscribed on
the paper, then beneath a long glazed opening through which the marks on the
paper remain visible after they have passed from beneath the apertures at which
they were inscribed.
The drum on which the paper is wound receives a slow intermittent motion each
time the pull handle is drawn out to discharge the contents of the hoppers into the
drawer or to open the drawer itself, the movement being communicated to said
drum by pawl and ratchet gear, actuated by a combination of levers acted on by
the pull handle.
Means are provided to prevent access to the mechanism for dishonest purposes.
By means of the two latch levers the proprietor can keep the takings drawer
under his own control at any time by not bringing the string by which the one
latch is operated through the case of the till, so that the pull handle can be operated
to discharge the hoppers and to actuate the register, but the takings drawer itself
cannot be opened for giving change or any other purpose; change must in this
case be given from a special supply separate from the takings.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Henry Twine in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 12th
February 1879.
WILLIAM HENRY TWINE, of Kilburn, in the County of Middlesex. "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MONEY TILLS."
My improved money till comprises, 1st, a series of hoppers to receive coins of
various values enclosed by a lid having slits through which the coins are passed,
and glazed to prevent access to the money when once it is dropped into the
appropriate hopper, and yet allow it to remain a certain time in sight and separate
from the other takings in case of dispute as to the amount tendered. These
hoppers have hinged or movable bottoms and are situated directly over separate
bowls or receptacles in a drawer beneath, in which the takings are received from
the hoppers. In their normal position the bottoms of the hoppers are kept closed
by springs, and they are opened by means of a pull handle. The takings drawer
is kept closed by two latch levers separately operated in order to open the drawer.
The one lever is operated by the pull handle and the other by pulling a string, to
which a pencil may be attached for marking the register hereafter mentioned,
When both are unlatched the drawer is pushed out by a spring behind it.
My improved money till consists, 2ndly, in the combination with the fore-
going of the arrangement of apparatus hereafter described for use in registering
the net receipts, the said apparatus being operated by the same pull handle, so that
the takings drawer cannot be opened to give change or for any other purpose
without the act being indicated by the movement of the register. This register
consists of a paper tape wound off a reel and passing beneath, 1st, a row of
apertures through which the £ s. d. taken are inscribed on the paper, then beneath
a long glazed opening through which the marks on the paper remain visible after
they have passed from beneath the apertures at which they were inscribed, and
finally wound on a drum enclosed within the till. This drum is rotated a short
distance each time the pull handle is drawn out to discharge the contents of the
hoppers into the drawer, the movement being communicated to said drum by pawl
and ratchet gear, actuated by a combination of levers acted on by the pull handle.
A bell is also sounded by the same mechanism each time the handle is drawn out.
As the drum and consequently the paper is necessarily moved a uniform distance
each time the handle is pulled, any omission to register the amount taken will be
apparent by the blank space between two consecutive entries, and any omission to
pull the handle will be evident by the bell not sounding after money has been
taken.
Means are provided to prevent access to the mechanism for dishonest purposes.
By means of the two latch levers the proprietor can keep the takings drawer
under his own control at any time by not bringing the string through the case of
the till, so that the pull handle can be operated to discharge the hoppers and to
actuate the register, but the takings drawer itself cannot be opened for giving
change or any other purpose; change must in this case be given from a special
supply separate from the takings.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a plan of the till closed; Figures 2, 3, and 4 are longitudinal vertical
sections of the till taken on lines 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, Figure 1 respectively; and
Figure 5 is a plan of the till with the lid removed.
A is the outer case of the till closed at top by a hinged and locked lid B; at the
left-hand side there is a glazed panel B¹ with slits b immediately above a series of
hoppers C, C1, C2, C3, for coins of different values. Each hopper has a flap c hinged
halotomally proiecting nin 2

page_text: to a coupling rod D whereby all the flaps c are moved at once; D' is a spiral
spring to keep flaps c closed, it is attached to the rear end of bar D and to the back
of case A.
The hoppers C may be made of sheet metal and fixed at one side to the side of
the case A and at the other to a bar A', extending from front to back thereof; d is
a pin projecting from the side of bar D, and E is a lever which acts on said pin d.
The lever E is pivoted at e to bar A', and to it is connected at fa bar F passing
through a slot in the front of case A, and provided with a handle F' by which it
can be pulled out, whereupon the lug d is struck by lever E and the flaps c of the
hoppers are opened, as shown in dotted lines in Figure 2; f² is a catch on bar F
engaging with said slot in order to retain the handle when drawn out, and f³ is a
stop to prevent the handle being drawn out too far. When the handle is released
the tension of the spring D¹ draws back the rods D and F and closes the flaps c.
G is a drawer fitted to slide in case A beneath the hoppers and provided with
bowls G, G2, G3, G4, one beneath each hopper, into which the coins fall when the
flaps c are drawn back; H, I, are two latch levers pivotted in brackets fixed to the
bottom of case A, and each having a lateral projection which engages, as shown in
Figure 3, with corresponding lugs h, i, fixed to the side of drawer G, the said lugs
and projections being bevelled to allow them to pass one another in one direction
but not in the other, to allow the drawer to be closed, but prevent it being opened
until both latches are moved out of the way. The tail end of the latch I is inclined
upwards at I so as to be struck and depressed (when handle F¹ is pulled out) by
a cross bar K fixed at one end to the lower end of lever E, and at the other to a
similar lever E' pivoted opposite lever E to the right-hand side of case A. The
latch I is thus moved out of the way of lug i when the handle F¹ is pulled out and
retained by its notch f. To the tail end of the other lever H is attached a
string h¹ or other connection which may be led up through a hole in the cover B
to enable said latch to be released. L is a strong spiral spring behind the drawer G
to push it open when both latches are disengaged, but when it is not desired that
the drawer G should be opened the string is not brought through the lid, so that
latch H cannot be unfastened. At the right-hand side of the lid B there is another
glazed panel M through which the register is visible. At the front end of this
panel there are apertures m, m³, m², m³, at which the amount of the takings and
discount allowed (if any) or any other memoranda are entered upon a paper tape N,
Figures 4 and 5, drawn from a reel N¹, and passing first through a tension guide o
and then over a plate p fixed immediately beneath the apertures m to support the
paper, and thence along beneath the glazed opening M to a drum R to which the
extremity of the paper is fastened and upon which it is wound.
The drum R is mounted on a stud fixed to the side of the case A, and it is
rotated to the extent of one tooth of a ratchet wheel R¹ (in order to shift the
paper N onwards each time the handle F¹ is pulled out) by the following
mechanism S is a lever pivoted at 8 to the case A, and connected by a pin and
slot to another lever T loose on the drum axis r, and provided at its opposite
extremity with a spring pawlt which engages with the ratchet wheel R¹ fixed to
the drum. This tail end of lever S is struck by the cross bar K when the rod F
is pulled forward, thereby oscillating levers S and T and shifting the drum R;
u is a spring hammer actuated by the teeth of the ratchet wheel R¹, and striking
on a bell U each time handle F¹ is pulled.
The end of the paper tape may be secured to the drum R by a taper and dove-
tailed key received in a corresponding cross slot in the periphery of the drum.
The mode of using the till is as follows:-Suppose that there is 5l. worth of
change placed in the hoppers C at the beginning of the day, and that the first customer
tenders 1. in payment for goods value 15/-, the shopman first registers this
amount (15/-), on the paper tape N and then draws out the handle F¹ and retains
it by its notch f. The result of pulling out the handle F' is to (a) open the
hoppers and drop, the 5l. worth of change into the bowls of drawer G; (b) dis-
engage latch I from lug i; and (c) cause the entry on tape to pass beneath the

page_text: glazed opening M where it remains visible but cannot be altered; he next pulls the
string to disengage latch H from lug h and open drawer G for the purpose of
giving change; he then pushes in handle F to close the flaps c of the hoppers, and
places the coin tendered by the customer in the hopper appropriated to sovereigns,
and lastly closes the drawer G. The coin remains in said hopper until the next
payment, the said hopper being opened to drop the coin into its proper bowl of
drawer G the next time the handle F¹ is pulled out to open drawer G for the
purpose of giving change, the several operations being repeated for the next
customer in the order above described. The money paid by a customer is thus
available for giving change to the next customer if necessary.
Having described the nature of my Invention and the manner of performing the
same, I declare that what I claim as my Invention to be protected by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
1st. The combination and arrangement of parts constituting the improved money
till, substantially as shown and described.
2nd. In a money till the employment of a series of hoppers constructed with
hinged or movable flaps, as described, in combination with a glazed and slitted
cover above and drawer beneath, substantially as and for the purpose specified.
3rd. Coupling the flaps of all the hoppers to and operating them simultaneously
by a single pull handle, substantially as shewn and described.
4th. The combination with the mechanism for operating the hinged flaps and the
drawer beneath the hoppers of the latches, arranged and operated substantially as
shown and described.
5th. The mechanism combined, arranged, and operating, substantially as herein
shewn and described, for drawing a paper tape beneath a row of apertures in the
lid of the till, the said mechanism being combined with and actuated by the pull
handle which opens the hoppers, as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Henry Twine, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-nine.
W. H. TWINE. (L.S.)