Improvements in Machines for Registering and Issuing Checks at Public Pay-windows.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 11th May, 1897
Complete Specification Left, 24th Jan., 1898-Accepted, 2nd Apr., 1898
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machines for Registering and Issuing Checks at
Public Pay-windows.
I, EDWARD MARCH, of 59, Burton Crescent, London, W.C., Engineer,. do hereby
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to improvements in machines for registering and issuing
checks at public pay-windows, and is especially designed for use at theatres and
like places of entertainment; it has reference more especially to improvements
in the invention for which British Letters Patent have been granted to me
No. 4845, dated the 6th day of March 1893, wherein I have claimed in combination
with such a machine, a slide actuated by a crank and connecting-rod movement;
an indicator operated by a plunger acting in conjunction with a pawl and ratchet;
and a shifting arm with pivotted stop at one end and an eye piece at the other end
thereof.
According to the present invention, a flat slide is caused to reciprocate in
guides upon a horizontal platen or surface by means of a disc-crank and slot
motion or mechanism actuated by hand through the medium of a spindle and crank
handle, the said spindle being fast on the disc-crank and the reciprocating slide
secured to the bottom end of the bar in which the slot is formed; the arrangement
of the mechanism being such that one forward and one backward traverse of the slide
occur at every revolution of the crank handle. Above the said horizontal platen
and just in advance of the said slide when the latter is at the extreme limit of its
backward travel, rise vertically, two rods at a distance apart equal to the width of
the checks for which they serve as guides. The checks are square pieces of metal,
or any other suitable hard substance, with a square hole in the centre and notches
in the centre of their edges; the form of the notches corresponding with that of
the cross section of the faces of the guides.
Upon a spindle mounted transversely across the front end of the platen, is a
stout toothed wheel, fast on the said spindle, its pitch circle being tangential with
the surface of the platen so that the tops of the teeth move in a circle below the said
platen. The teeth are made alternately thick and thin and the pitch of the teeth
is such that while one tooth is engaged in the hole in the centre of a check, the
adjacent tooth will be just on the verge of the notch in the side or edge of the check.
A pawl acts in connection with the wheel, and by dropping between its teeth as
the wheel is revolved, prevents the said wheel from being turned but one way.
The teeth of the said wheel are adapted to correspond with the square hole in the
centre and the notches at the edge of the checks as above described. The sil
wheel is boxed-in under lock and key to prevent it being tampered with. A
prolongation of the spindle upon which this wheel is mounted, extending through
the said box or casing towards the operator, passes through and operates a count-
ing apparatus called the register, which may be of any suitable and convenient
construction, the one preferred being known as the "Vernon" revolution counter.
Adjacent to the boxed-in wheel is situated the delivery slot through which the

page_text: checks are issued on to the sill of the pay-window, the said slot being cut in the
material forming that side of the sill. The said sill slopes away from the payee,
so that money placed upon it will fall by gravity towards the operator. The sill
is covered over and around by a wire trellis guard or screen consisting of a flat
back piece with sides and top attached at right angles thereto, preferably, in the
form of an arch. The back piece of the guard is bounded at the bottom by open
grating work, each opening being sufficiently large to admit of the passage of the
largest piece of money but not large enough to permit of one of the checks being
passed through.
Thus, when the machine is fixed in position at the pay window, the wire cage
and sill alone being exposed to the opening in the wall, it is impossible for a check
to be inserted in the machine again from the outside and also impossible for the
operator to pass a check on to the sill without first passing it through the machine.
The operation of the machine is briefly as follows:-
Two or more checks being already in the machine on the platen in front of one
another, a pile of checks is placed between the vertical guides, the bottom one
resting on the platen beneath;, the cranked handle is operated by hand actuating
the disc-crank and slot mechanism, which causes the slide to move forward, and in
so doing thrusts the bottom check of the pile forward, which in turn comes in
contact with the next, towards the boxed-in wheel, the teeth of which in their
turn become engaged in the centre hole and edge notch alternately, and the
continued motion of the said wheel carries the check forward thrusting it through
the delivery slot on to the sill of the pay-window, which is as before stated
enclosed by a wire screen or guard.
As the checks are passing under the toothed wheel they become registered by the
revolution of its spindle aetuating the counter.
PHILLIPS & LEIGH,
Agents for the Applicant.
Improvements in Machines for Registering and Issuing Checks at
Public Pay-windows.
I, EDWARD MARCH, of No. 59, Burton Crescent, London, W.C., 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:-
This invention relates to improvements in machines for registering and issuing
checks at public pay-windows, and more particularly to improvements in the
invention for which British Letters have been granted to me, No. 4845 of 1893.
The invention is designed for use more especially at theatres and like places of
entertainment, to on the one hand simultaneously register and issue the checks or
tokens which serve as vouchers that the holders thereof have duly paid for them,
and on the other hand, to put an unerring check on the money received by the
money-taker, it being quite impossible for the checks to be passed back through
the machine and re-issue without their issue being recorded by the register.
It is a notorious fact that a great difficulty has always existed to ensure the
receipts being correctly recorded at places of entertainment independently of the
staff, and that to meet this necessity many futile attempts have been made to
construct an absolutely trustworthy automatic machine.
According to the present invention, a flat slide is caused to reciprocate in guides

page_text: upon a platen or plane surface, preferably horizontal, by means of either a crank
and connecting-rod movement or disc-crank and slot motion or mechanism,
actuated by hand through the medium of a spindle and crank handle, the said
spindle being fast on the disc-crank and the reciprocating slide fixed to the bottom
end of the bar in which the slot is formed; the arrangement of the mechanism
being such that one forward and one backward traverse of the slide occur at every
revolution of the crank handle.
Above the said platen and just in advance of the slide when the latter is at the
extreme limit of its backward travel, rise two guide rods or bars, preferably
vertically at a distance apart equal to the width of the checks at their recessed
portions. The checks are square flat pieces of metal or any other suitable sub-
stance. They have holes in the centre, preferably square, and recesses or notches
in the centre of each edge, the form of the notches corresponding with that of the
face of the guides in which they are placed.
Upon a spindle mounted transversely across the front end of the platen is a
strong toothed wheel fast on the said spindle, its pitch circle being tangential
with the surface of the platen, so that the teeth move in a circle below the said
platen. The teeth are made alternately thick and thin, and the pitch of the teeth
is such that while one tooth is engaged in the hole in the centre of a check, the
next or adjacent tooth will be just on the verge of the notch in the edge of the
check. A tumbler pawl mounted over the wheel acts in connection therewith
being raised by each tooth in its passage beneath it and dropping by gravity when
the tooth has passed as the wheel is revolved, thus preventing the wheel from
being turned in but one direction. The said wheel is boxed in under lock and key
to prevent it being tampered with. A prolongation of the spindle upon which
this wheel is mounted, extending through the side of the said box or casing
towards the operator passes directly into and operates a counting or recording
apparatus called the register, which may be any well-known or suitable revolution
counter, that preferred being known as the "Vernon revolution counter.
33
Adjacent to the boxed in wheel is situated the delivery slot through which the
checks are thrust by the toothed wheel and issue on to the sill of the pay-window,
the said slot being cut in the material forming that side of the sill. The sill
slopes towards the operator so that money placed upon it falls by gravity towards
him. The sill is covered over and around by a wire trellis guard or screen con-
sisting of a flat back piece with sides and top attached at right angles thereto,
preferably in the form of an arch. The back piece of the guard is bounded at the
bottom by open gratings sufficiently large to admit of the passage of the largest
piece of money, but not large enough to permit of one of the checks being passed
through.
Thus, when the machine is fixed in position at the pay-window the wire cage
and sill alone being exposed to the opening in the wall, it is impossible for a check
to be re-inserted in the machine from the outside and also impossible for the
operator to pass a check on to the sill except through the machine, when it can-
not escape being duly registered.
In order that my invention may be the more clearly understood, I have illus-
trated it in the accompanying drawings as provided with a disc-crank-and-slot
motion though, as above explained, this motion might obviously be replaced by
a crank-and-connecting-rod movement.
Figure 1 is an elevation of the machine in position viewed from inside the pay-
office.
'
Figure 2 is a sectional plan of Figure 1.
Figure 3 is a sectional side elevation of the machine taken on line 3-3 of
Figures 1 and 2.
Figure 4 is a sectional elevation of the machine viewed from outside the pay-
window.
Similar reference figures indicate different views of the same parts throughout
the drawings.

page_text: The flat slide 1 is fixed to the bottom of the slotted guide bar 2 which in turn
is operated by the sliding block 3 on the disc-crank 4 by rotating the said disc by
means of the crank handle on the spindle 6, which is mounted in bearings 61,
thus giving a reciprocating motion to the slide 1 in its guides 7, the slide
traversing the guides once to and fro during each revolution of the handle. Just
in front of the slide when in its back position, rise the twe guide rods or bars 8
between which a pile of the checks is placed, the bottom one resting on the platen
over which the slide 1 travels. It is necessary to have two other checks already
in the machine in advance of those in the pile. These other two being marked 9
and 10 in the drawings; they serve to communicate the motion, given by the slide 1
to the bottom check 11 of the pile, to the toothed wheel 12. The movement of
the said wheel 12 revolves the spindle 13 which in turn operates the revolution
counter 14 and issues the check. 15 is the wire guard which surrounds the sill 26
on to which the checks are issued, on three sides and the top; 16 being the gratings
in same through which the money is taken by the operator. A pawl 17, by
engaging with the teeth of the wheel 18, prevents the crank spindle being rotated
backwards, and another pawl or tumbler 19 is provided to engage with and prevent
the toothed wheel 12 being revolved in the forward or right-handed direction.
The revolution counter may be and is preferably provided with a slide 20 to
conceal the figures of the record from the sight of the operator, as a preventive
against temptation to falsify the same. The said slide may be secured under lock
and key by a staple and pierced hasp as indicated at 21ª.
The practical operation of the machine is as follows:―
As above stated, there should be three checks in line on the platen at the start,
marked in the drawings 11, 9 and 10. There may be as many as convenient on
the top of the one marked 11, so that the supply into the machine is automatic
as they are fed by gravity one after another from the pile between the guides 8.
Now, on the handle 5 being turned by hand in a right-handed direction, motion
is communicated through the intervening spindle 6, disc-crank 4, sliding block 3,
and slot in the guide 2, to the slide 1, the latter thereupon commences its forward
stroke over the platen and immediately comes in contact with the edge of the
first check 11, which is the bottom one of the pile in the guides. This first check
is thereby thrust forward from beneath the pile and in its passage it pushes
forward the next one 9 in front of it which in turn pushes the third one 10
forward which rotates the toothed wheel 12, the thick teeth 22 of which engage in
the hole 21, in the centre of the check and the thin teeth 23, in the notches 24 in
the edges of the check, so that when once the check has become engaged in the
said teeth, it (the check) cannot be returned, as the pawl or tumbler 19 is auto-
matically operated at every one-third turn of the said wheel. The wheel 12 is
fast on the spindle 13, which passes into the revolution counter 14, so that
revolving the said wheel operates the said counter which records the passage of
the check. The check passes on and issues through the slot 25 in the skirting of
the guard on to the sill 26 from which it can be taken by the purchaser outside the
pay-window. The guard 15 renders the checks inaccessible to the operator after
they have passed through the machine; neither can they be passed back through
the machine as they would be stopped by the teeth of the wheel 12.
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. In a machine for registering and issuing checks of the kind herein referred
.to, a flat slide traversed in guides by a disc-crank-and-slot motion or mechanism
over a platen or plane surface on which the checks are placed, adapted to push
before it one or more of the said checks, substantially as described and illustrated.
2. In a machine for registering and issuing checks of the kind herein referred
to, a flat slide traversed in guides by a crank-and-connecting-rod motion or

page_text: mechanism over a platen or plane surface on which the checks are placed,
adapted to push before it one or more of the said checks, substantially as described.
3. In a machine for registering and issuing checks of the kind herein referred
to, the combination of a flat slide traversed in guides by a disc-crank-and-slot
motion or mechanism over a platen or plane surface on which the checks are
placed, adapted to push before it one or more of the said checks; and revoluble
toothed wheel mounted transversely across the path of and adapted to be rotated
by the said checks in their said movement, substantially as described and
illustrated.
4. In a machine for registering and issuing checks of the kind herein referred
to, the combination of a flat slide traversed in guides by a crank-and-connecting-
rod motion or mechanism over a platen or plane surface on which the checks are
placed, adapted to push before it one or more of the said checks; and a revoluble
toothed wheel mounted transversely across the path of and adapted to be rotated
by the said checks in their said movement, substantially as described and
illustrated.
5. In a machine for registering and issuing checks of the kind herein referred to,
the combination of a flat slide traversed over a platen bearing the checks, the checks
having a hole in the centre and a recess in each edge, the toothed wheel mounted
transversely across the path of the checks and operated by the checks, the revolu-
tion counter actuated by the spindle of the said toothed wheel, the wire trellis
guard, the issuing slot in the skirting thereof situated so as to receive the checks
direct from the feed-wheel, substantially as described.
6. A check of the kind herein referred to, consisting of a square flat piece of
metal having a hole in the centre and a recess in the centre of each of its edges,
substantially as described and illustrated.
7. In a machine for registering and issuing checks of the kind herein referred
to, the combination of the check, the toothed wheel operated by the check and
the revolution counter actuated by the spindle of the said toothed wheel, sub-
stantially as described.
8. A machine for registering and issuing checks of the kind herein referred
to, constructed, operated and working substantially as described and illustrated.
Did the 24th day of January 1898.
PHILLIPS & LEIGH,
No. 22, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.