Improvements in Coin Released Lung Testing Apparatus.
Year: 1899

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Coin Released Lung Testing Apparatus.
We, PERCY BRAGG HUGHES, of No. 11, Gothic Arcade, Snow Hill, in the City
of Birmingham, Secretary of The Coin Operating Lung Test Co. Limited, and
ALFRED BENJAMIN DAVIS, of No. 45, Sloane Street, in the City of Birmingham,
Tool Maker, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:
This invention has reference to coin released lung testing apparatus of the
kind described in Grant's Specification No. 138SS of A.D. 1897 and McKenzie's
Specification No. 6652 of A.D. 1898 said apparatus being provided with bellows
fitted with a gravity exhaust valve normally held in an open position, so that
air blown into the bellows will escape, the said valve being provided with coin
controlled means for mechanically closing the valve to allow of the bellows being
inflated by an inlet of air.
When the said apparatus is fitted with coin controlled means for mechanically
closing the valve as described in McKenzie's Specification No. 6652/98 it is possible
for a person or several persons to fraudulently blow up the bellows several times
and obtain several lung tests with only inserting one coin in the coin slit. This
can be done by inserting a coin in the coin slit and moving the actuating handle
to and fro just sufficiently far enough to close the valve on to the bellows but
not far enough for the coin to fall through the outlet slot at the bottom of the
coin cylinder and thus the bellows can be blown up several times without the
coin falling out. This defect we overcome by making a step or drop in the
bottom of the coin cylinder just before the coin reaches the outlet so that after
the coin has been inserted in the slot and pushed forward until the valve on the
bellows is almost closed, the coin drops over this step which thus prevents the
operating handle and the coin from being moved back. Immediately the operating
handle has been pushed a little farther in so as to close the valve the coin drops
out of the slot so that after the bellows have been once inflated and they have
commenced to descend they cannot be inflated until another coin has been placed
in the coin slot.
Instead of making only one step to engage the coin and hold the operating
handle in its inward position as above described we may form a series of steps
or ratchets preferably on the bottom of the cylinder so that however short a
distance the operating handle and coin have been pushed in the coin will engage
with one or other of the steps or ratchets and prevent the operating handle
moving back until it has been pushed sufficiently far beyond for the coin to
fall away.
In the said coin released lung testing apparatus as at present made, a lever
which is known as a "chop lever" is employed to prevent the blowing up of the
bellows until the coin has fallen out of the slot. This chop lever is arranged to
turn on a pivot near the upwardly projecting vertical rod which is jointed to
the bell crank lever and which acts upon the tail end of the valve to close the
same. The said chop lever is at the top made with a claw and at the bottom has

page_text: an incline which is acted upon by a pin on the said vertical rod so that the act
of raising the vertical rod when pushing in the operating handle turns the chop
lever so that its claw comes over and forms an obstruction to the tail end of the
valve so as to open the valve on a slight rise of the bellows and thus prevent the
bellows from being blown up until the coin has fallen out and the vertical rod
has moved down to its lowest position again. A coiled wire spring keeps the
inclined part of the chop lever in contact with the pin on the vertical rod. One
defect of the chop lever arrangement above referred to is that if a second coin
is inserted in the slot and the operating handle pushed inwardly again so as to
bring the chop lever in the path of the outlet valve before the bellows are deflated
the said outlet valve lever then comes down upon the chop lever which thus closes
the valve and allows of the bellows to be fraudulently blown up again without
inserting another coin in the coin slit and this can be repeated as often as desired
so long as the coin is not allowed to fall away. This defect we overcome as
follows: Instead of the said claw we provide a counter-balanced tumbler jointed
to the chop lever on which latter there is a stop to prevent the tumbler from
turning up too far. Thus when the bellows are falling the tail end of the
valve can depress the tumbler and lift the counter-balance and pass the same
.without closing the valve and then the tumbler will turn to its normal position
ready to open the valve if air is blown into the bellows before the coin has fallen
away. Thus as the tumbler does not offer sufficient resistance to the descent of
the valve to close the same the blowing up of the bellows without inserting a coin
before each blow is effectually prevented.
Heretofore the said chop lever has been brought into action when the vertical
rod rises by a projection on the vertical rod working against an inclined part
of the chop lever these parts being kept in contact by means of the coiled spring
above referred to. As there is the possibility of this spring weakening we
dispense with the spring and we make the chop lever with an inclined slot, which
forms a cam and in which the projection of the vertical rod works so that the
raising of the vertical rod will bring the chop lever into action by the projection
working on one side of the inclined slot or cam and the descending rod will
bring the chop lever out of action by the projection working on the other side
of the inclined slot or cam.
Dated the 14th day of July 1899
CHARLES BOSWORTH KETLEY,
Agent for the Applicants.
Improvements in Coin Released Lung Testing Apparatus.
We, PERCY BRAGG HUGHES, of No. 11, Gothic Arcade, Snow Hill, in the City
of Birmingham, Secretary of The Coin Operating Lung Test Co. Limited, and
ALFRED BENJAMIN DAVIS, of No. 45, Sloane Street, in the City of Birmingham,
Tool Maker, 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 has reference to coin released lung testing apparatus of the
kind described in Grant's Specification No. 13888 of A.D). 1897 and McKenzie's
Specification No. '6652 of A.D. 1898 said apparatus being provided with bellows
fitted with a gravity exhaust valve normally held in an open position, so that
air blown into the bellows will escape, the said valve being provided with coin

page_text: controlled means for mechanically closing the valve to allow of the bellows being
inflated by an inlet of air.
Our invention is designed to prevent the fraudulent blowing up of the bellows
several times and obtaining several lung tests without inserting a coin in the
coin slit for each test. We will describe our invention by referring to the
accompanying drawings on which Fig. 1 is a side elevation and Fig. 2 is a
sectional side elevation of the said lung testing apparatus with our invention
applied thereto; Fig. 3 is a sectional plan of the same; Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are
sectional elevations on an enlarged scale of the coin cylinder and appurtenances
forming part of the said machine and illustrating one part of our invention;
Fig. 7 is a sectional elevation of the said coin cylinder illustrating a modification
of this part of our invention; Fig. 8 is a back elevation on a still larger scale
of a part of the said machine illustrating the ordinary chop lever and vertical.
rod as heretofore employed; Figs. 9 and 10 are back elevations of the machine
represented by Figs. 1, 2 and 3 but on an enlarged scale illustrating our improved
chop lever and the means for operating the same.
The same letters of reference indicate the same or corresponding parts in all
the figures.
When the said apparatus is fitted with coin controlled means for mechanically
closing the valve as described in McKenzie's Specification No. 6652/98 it is
possible for a person or several persons to fraudulently blow up the bellows
several times and obtain several lung tests with only inserting one coin in the
coin slit. This can be done by inserting a coin in the coin slit and moving the
actuating handle to and fro just sufficiently far enough to close the valve on to
the bellows but not far enough for the coin to fall through the outlet slot at
the bottom of the coin cylinder and thus the bellows can be blown up several
times without the coin falling out.
This defect we overcome by making a step or drop a in the bottom of the
coin cylinder A (see Figs. 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6) just before the coin b reaches the
outlet e as it is pushed along by the push rod h so that after the coin b has been
inserted through the coin slit or slot d into the slot e in the piston in the coin
cylinder and pushed forward until the valve f on the bellows is almost closed,
the coin b drops over this step a which step a thus prevents the operating handle
or push rod and the coin b from being moved back as the coin with the step a
holds the piston and push rod against the action of the spring () as shewn in
Fig. 5. Immediately the operating handle. has been pushed a little farther in
so as to close the valve f the coin b drops out of the slot cas represented in Fig. 6
so that after the bellows g have been once inflated and they have commenced to
descend they cannot be inflated again until another coin has been placed in the
coin slit. Instead of making only one step a to engage the coin and hold the
operating handle h in position as above described, we may form a series of steps
or ratchets preferably on the bottom of the cylinder as shewn in Fig. 7 where
the coin cylinder is made with four of these steps or ratchets marked a¹a² a³ a'
or they may be on one or both sides of the cylinder so that however short a
distance the operating handle h and the coin have been pushed in the coin b
will engage with one or other of the steps or ratchets a a² a³ a and prevent the
operating handle moving back until it has been pushed sufficiently far beyond
the steps or ratchets for the coin to fall away through the opening c.
In the said coin released lung testing apparatus as at present made the lever I
(see Fig. 8) which is known as a chop lever (but which is not described in
McKenzie's Specification above referred to) is employed to prevent the blowing
up of the bellows until the coin 6 has fallen out of the slot. This chop lever I
is in the usual way arranged as represented in Fig. 8, that is to say, it is arranged
to turn on a pivot j near the upwardly projecting rod K which as shewn in
Fig. 2 is jointed to the bell cranked lever L which is operated by a slide M from
the coin cylinder A the vertical rod acting upon the tail end of the valve
to close the same on to the top of the bellows. The said ordinary chop lever I

page_text: is at the top made with a claw and at the bottom has an incline which is
acted upon by a pink on the vertical rod K so that the act of raising the vertical
rod K when pushing in the operating handle h turns the chop lever I so that its
claw comes over and forms an obstruction to the tail end f¹ of the valve thereby
opening the valve f on a slight rise of the bellows and thus prevents the bellows g
from being blown up until the coin has fallen out through the slot c and the
vertical rod K has moved down to its lowest position again. A coiled wire
spring connected to the upper end of the chop lever I and to the stationary
loom m keeps the inclined part of the chop. lever I in contact with the pin k
on the vertical rod K as shewn in Fig. 8. One defect of this ordinary chop
lever arrangement above referred to and illustrated by Fig. 8 is that if a second
coin is inserted in the coin slot f and the operating handle h pushed inwardly
again so as to bring the end i¹ of the chop lever I in the path of the outlet
valve before the bellows g are deflated the outlet valve lever f¹ then comes
down upon the top part of the chop lever which thus closes the valve f on to
the bellows and allows the bellows to be fraudulently blown up again without
inserting another coin in the coin slit and this can be repeated as often as
desired so long as the coin is not allowed to fall away.
This defect we overcome as follows and as illustrated by Figs. 9 and 10.
Instead of the said claw of the ordinary chop lever I we provide a counter-
balanced tumbler N jointed at n to the chop lever I on which latter is a stop ?
to prevent the tumbler N from turning down too far. The upper part of the
tumbler is made with a side projecting part 2 serving the same purpose as the
claw of the ordinary chop lever. Thus when the bellows are falling the tail
end of the valve can depress the end 2 of the tumbler and lift the counter-
balance N and pass the same without closing the valve f and then the tumbler
will turn to its normal position shewn in Fig. 9 ready to act upon the tail
end of the valve f as in Fig. 10 and open the same if air is blown into the
bellows before the coin has fallen away. Thus as the tumbler N does not offer
sufficient resistance to the descent of the valve to close the same the blowing up
of the bellows without inserting a coin before each blow is effectually prevented.
Heretofore the said chop lever I has been brought into action when the vertical
rod K rises, by a projection on the vertical rod k (see Fig. 8) working against an
inclined part of the chop lever these parts being kept in contact by means of
the coiled spring above referred to. As there is the possibility of this spring /
weakening we dispense with the spring and we make the chop lever I with an
inclined slot 3 which forms a cam and in which the projection k of the vertical
rod K works so that the raising of the vertical rod K will bring the chop lever I
into action by the projection k working on one side of the inclined slot or cam 23
and the descending rod will bring the chop lever I out of action by the projection
working on the other side of the inclined slot or cam .
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is:-
1. In coin released lung testing apparatus of the kind herein referred to, making
the coin cylinder with one or more internal steps such as a which, when the
coin has been inserted in the cylinder and pushed along the same for a certain
distance by the push rod, engages with the coin and prevents the push rod being
moved outwardly until the coin has been pushed far enough to drop out of the
coin cylinder, substantially as set forth.
2. In coin released lung testing apparatus of the kind herein referred to; the
combination with the chop lever I, of the counter-balanced part N jointed thereto,
a stop such as p to prevent the counter-balance turning down too far, said counter-
balance having an upwardly projecting tooth n² which when the upright rod
rises to close the valve and the chop lever is turned so that the tooth part n² is
in the path of the tail of the valve, the latter can pass down from the top of the

page_text: tooth to the underside of the same but cannot rise past the tooth n³ until the
vertical rod operating the chop lever has been drawn down, substantially as
described and illustrated by Figs. 9 and 10 of the accompanying drawings.
3. In coin released lung testing apparatus of the kind herein referred to, the
combination with the chop lever I of the counter-balanced part N jointed thereto,
a stop such as p to prevent the counter-balance turning down too far, said
counter-balance having an upwardly projecting tooth n² which, when the upright
rod rises to close the valve and the chop lever is turned so that the tooth partn
is in the path of the tail of the valve, the tail of the valve can pass when descend-
ing but cannot rise past until the vertical rod operating the chop lever has been
drawn down, said chop lever being operated from the rod by the latter having a
pin engaging in an inclined, slot in the chop lever, substantially as described and
illustrated by Figs. 9 and 10 of the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 12th day of April 1900.
CHARLES BOSWORTH KETLEY,
Agent for the Applicants.