Improvements in Tills.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 21st Sept., 1894
Complete Specification Left, 17th June, 1895-Accepted, 3rd Aug., 1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Tills.
I, JOHN CHRISTOPHER Cox of No. 174 Queen Victoria Street, in the City of
London, Victualler, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
My invention relates to improvements in tills and the object of it is to provide
for the drawer to be closed and locked before it can be withdrawn from its case,
for it to be so closed and locked by the act of withdrawing it, for controllable
access to the cash receptacle in the drawer after the latter has been withdrawn from
its case, for the cash receptacle to be held open by the engagement of the till with
its case on its being returned thereinto, as well as for the prevention of the till
being withdrawn from the case, with the controllable access above mentioned,
open.
In carrying my invention into effect, I make the till drawer with a closed top.
In the top there is formed a port through which the cash drops into the cash
receptacle in the drawer. This port is controlled by a cover which is free to be
moved over or away from the port by moving, in the proper direction, a projecting
stud or equivalent device incorporated with the door. When the cover is over the
port, a concealed automatic device locks it in that position. This device can only
be withdrawn by a special key, or after getting at it through or by means of a
mechanism kept under the control of a special locking device.
During the time that the drawer is being returned into its case, as well as during
the time that it is in such case, there is made and maintained an engagement between
till and case, by the stud or its equivalent above mentioned and a groove or its
equivalent in the top of the case.
The device in the top of the case is linear or longitudinal in type to conform to
the direction of the travel of the till drawer into the case of the latter. At a point
near to its terminus, the said device enters upon a transverse slide in the case top
and is there deflected to one side. The engagement of the stud or its equivalent
with the slide moves the latter transversely thereby cutting off access to the stud
from the outside of the case along the device. When the drawer is quite in the
case, the stud is at the end of the longitudinal device above mentioned, having
travelled in a right line thereto from the front of the case. It is now necessary to
provide for the closure of the cash port by moving across it, the door above
mentioned. This is done by the engagement of the stud or its equivalent in or
with a second linear or longitudinal device in the case top, which device stands at
an angle with the one first mentioned, being in fact a continuation to the front of
the case, of the deflected and traversed portion of the device already mentioned.
The angle of this deflection provides for the closure of the money port by the
gradual transverse motion of the stud during its motion to the front of the case
along the said device.
As soon as the stud or its equivalent is clear of the transverse slide, an automatic
device, such as a spring, returns the said slide to its normal position.
The closure of the cash port fixes the stud, so that the drawer cannot be returned
into its case until the stud has been unlocked and the cash port opened. A substitute
drawer is provided to be used in the place of the one withdrawn from the case.

page_text: When there is a stud on the cover of the cash port, the devices in the top of the
drawer case are naturally grooves. My invention does not limit me to such a
combination for it may be varied so long as the relative functions are retained.
Dated this 21st day of September 1894.
PHILLIPS & LEIGH,
Agents for the Applicant.
I, JOHN CHRISTOPHER COX of No. 174 Queen Victoria Street, in the City of
London, Victualler, 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 tills and the objects of it are to
provide,
(a.) For the drawer or till being closed and locked against unauthorised access
to its contents, before it can be withdrawn from its casing or counter:
(6.) For it being so closed and locked by the act of withdrawing it from the said
casing or counter:
(c.) Controllable access to the contents of the said till after the latter has been
so withdrawn:
(d.) For the said till to be held open to receive customers' coins by the engage-
ment of it with its casing or counter on its being returned thereinto;
(e.) For it to be impossible to withdraw the till with the above mentioned
controllable access, open.
Referring to the accompanying drawings:-
Figure 1 is a plan shewing the till drawer in the act of being pushed into the
casing or counter.
Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional elevation on line 2-2 of Figure 1.
Figure 3 is an inverted plan of the shunt.
Figure 4 is a sectional side elevation on line 4-4 of Figure 7.
Figure 5 is a plan shewing the till pushed home far enough for the stud on its
butter to have travelled half way across the shunt.
Figure 6 is a plan of the till shutter.
Figure 7 is a plan of a till detached.
a is the casing or counter; and b, the drawer or till proper. The latter is fitted
with a top which is in two portions, c, d. The former is fixed to the sides and the
rear end of the till. The latter is hinged to the front edge of the former and is
fitted with a lock d'. The till is also fitted with a lock b¹ but I prefer that the said
two locks differ-in fact, it is essential that they should differ when the tills in a
series of counters are collected by one individual and their contents taken out by
another.
e is the coin slit in the top of the counter. f is the corresponding coin slit in the
top of the back or fixed portion c of the till top. When the till b is pushed home
into the casing a, the two slits e, f, coincide for the obvious purpose of providing a
free way, as far as they are concerned, for the fall of the customers' coins into the
till b, as heretofore.
y is a shutter adapted to slide in transverse guides on the under side of the fixed
portion c of the till top and by so doing to hold the slit either open or closed
according to its (the shutter's) position in its guides. To effect the former, the
shutter has a port f1. h is a stud fast upon the shutter and presenting itself
through a slot i in the portion c. This latter is necessarily parallel with the

page_text: direction of the travel of the shutter g. The said stud / stands up above the level
of the till top for a short distance-enough to engage in a groovej cut in the
underside of the top of the till casing a and coinciding with the path of the stud,
as well as in other grooves described further on. k is a bolt adapted to slide to and
fro in a slot k¹ in the portion c. The direction of the slot is at right angles with
that of the travel of the shutter g. The bolt is so positioned as to be always
bearing against the front edge of the shutter g, excepting when it holds the coin
slit closed when the said shutter stands clear of the bolt k. The latter is then
shot to the rear past the end of the shutter by the action of a spring k². The
bolt does not shew when the portion d is locked down; and only its front end,
when the said portion is open.
The hinged portion d of the till is locked down, the bolt k pulled back out of the
way of the shutter g and the shutter itself set so as to hold the slit open, before
the till b is, or even can be for the matter of that, pushed into its casing a. It is
assumed that the till has been emptied of its takings before it is "set" for the
casing in the way described in the preceding sentence.
I is a second groove in the under side of the top of the casing a. Its front end
presents itself at a distance from that of the groove; equal to the travel of the
shutter g, but is set at a sufficient angle with the said groovej for a continuation of
it to coincide with a third groove m aligned with the groovej but to the rear of it
by the width of the shunt.
This shunt is a plate n adapted to slide in transverse guides n', n', in the under-
side of the top of the till casing a. It is constantly under the influence of a spring n²
adapted to keep it over to the side in which the grooves j and m are. is a fourth
groove of the same cross section as all the others. It is cut in the under side of the
shunt n and is so situated therein that when the latter is under the unchecked
action of the spring n², the said groove the above mentioned continuation-is
aligned with the groove and coincides with the groove m. m' is a fourth groove
in the underside of the shunt parallel with the groove l', its frontend coinciding
with the rear end of the groove; when the shunt is in the last mentioned
position.
The
When the till is pushed into the casing a, the studenters the groove j and
travels through it into the frout end of the groove m', along which it travels also.
As the shunt n is movable in its guides n', n', and the stud h is held against motion
in the direction of the inclination of the groove m¹, by reason of the shutter g being
then at the corresponding end of its travel, the shunt n is moved over to the left by
the travel of the stud h across it. When the shunt has reached the end of its
travel, the groove m' stands with its rear end coincident with the groove m.
stud then leaves the groove m' and enters the groove m. The till is now home
in its casing and the entrance of the stud into the groove m having freed the
shunt n, the spring n² returns the shunt n to its former position thereby aligning
the groove with the grooves m and l. Consequently, when the till 6 is with-
drawn from its casing, the stud is drawn along the aligned grooves last mentioned,
and as it is free to move along its slot i, contact between it and one side of the
grooves and 1 does so move it, until by the time it issues from the front end of the
groove l, the shutter g has closed the slit fand the bolt k has locked it (the shutter)
in that position.
It must be understood that any modification in the respective positions of the
four grooves and stud above mentioned, is within the scope of the present invention
provided that their operative relationships, as they are described above, are
retained.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is,
1. The combination of shunt, returning spring, stud and shutter, as set forth.

page_text: 2. The combination with till and casing, of shutter, hinged cover, concealed
shutter bolt, stud on shutter, concealed grooves, concealed shunt and returning
spring, as set forth.
Dated this 17th day of June 1895.
PHILLIPS & LEIGH,
No. 22 Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.