IMPROVEMENTS IN MECHANISM OR APPARATUS FOR REGISTERING AND CHECKING THE RECEIPT OF MONIES FROM PERSONS ENTERING THEATRES, MUSIC HALLS, AND OTHER PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION and oTHER PLACES WHERE A CHECK IS REQUIRED AS A MEANS OF DETECTING FRAUD
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Alford Walker, of Manchester, in the
County of Lancaster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MECHANISM OR APPARATUS FOR REGISTERING AND CHECKING THE RECEIPT
OF MONIES FROM PERSONS ENTERING THEATRES, MUSIC HALLS, AND OTHER
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Alford Walker
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 13th September 1872.
I, HENRY ALFORD WALKER, of Manchester, in the County of Lan-
caster, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MECHANISM OR APPARATUS FOR REGISTERING AND CHECKING THE RECEIPT
OF MONIES FROM PERSONS ENTERING THEATRES, Music Halls, and oTHER PLACES
WHERE A CHECK IS REQUIRED AS A MEANS OF DETECTING FRAUD," to be as
follows:-

page_text: other places where checks on the money taken are used, and to enable
the authorized persons to ascertain at any time the number of persons
who have paid for admission, thereby preventing any fraud on the part
of the money or check taker.
The improvements relate in the first place to an apparatus used by
the money taker, and consist in the use and employment of a tube or
chamber of metal or other suitable material fixed vertically or nearly so,
the interior section of such tube corresponding with the size and form
of the checks which are to be used, and which may be either flat plates,
round or square, or balls or otherwise. This tube or chamber after
being filled with checks is locked at the top, so that the person taking
the money has no access thereto except to obtain checks therefrom one
at a time in the manner and with the aid of the mechanism presently to
be described. The lower end of the tube or chamber is provided with
a bottom or with inward projecting ledges on which the checks rest.
Below the said bottom on the projecting ledges a slide is arranged in
guides provided with a suitable projection or handle to be moved and
drawn forward by the hand of the money taker, and on to this slide a
spring plate or extractor is attached, which when acted upon enters the
tube by an aperture formed just above the bottom and forces the lowest
check out of the tube into and through a channel or passage, rectangular
by preference, and corresponding with the size and form of the checks.
As the lowest check is pushed out the next above takes its place, the
whole pile of checks sinking in the tube as they are taken off below.
The return movement of the slide is effected by means of springs, the
extractor plate at that time clearing the lowest check and rising again
at the termination of the movement in position to act upon the same.
Situated conveniently near the rectangular passage a shaft or spindle is
supported in suitable bearings; this shaft is provided with a convenient
number of arms, four for instance, projecting radially therefrom, and it
is placed in such a position that one of the arms always projects into
and either entirely or partially across the said rectangular passage, so
that on a check being pushed out of the tube and through the passage
it will force the arm aside so as to clear the passage and thereby turn
the shaft through a part of a revolution, another arm entering the
passage behind the check and taking the position of the preceeding one,
in which position the same and every succeeding arm is held by a spring
detent until the next check passes and forces it aside.

page_text: It will be easily understood from the foregoing description that no
check can be taken from the tube and moved through the passage
without acting upon one of the arms attached to the shaft, and thereby
turning the latter through part of a revolution. Motion is transmitted
5 from the said shaft by means of suitable gearing to the fingers of a
counting apparatus, thereby indicating at any time the number of
checks withdrawn from the tube. If a number of tubes are to bo
employed I prefer to mount the same on a plate or frame capable of
revolving round its centre, so that when one tube is emptied another
can be brought over the extractor, and opposite the above described
channel or passage, in which position they can be locked successively.
The improvements relate, secondly, to the apparatus used by the
check taker, and consist in a channel or passage leading into a receptacle
which can be locked. The channel or passage terminates on its upper
extremity in a hopper, and is also provided with a shaft to which a
number of arms are attached, similar to that described in the money
taker's apparatus. Each check dropped in the hopper will in passing
through the channel force aside one of the arms, thereby giving motion
to the shaft and to a counter attached to the check taker's apparatus.
The channel or passage for the checks used in the check taker's
apparatus instead of terminating in a receptacle at its lower end may
under circumstances be extended and continued downwards and back
to a plate above the tube of the money taker's apparatus, which tube is
thereby continually refilled, a limited number of checks only being
required in this case.
Instead of the above described intermittently revolving shaft I employ,
in some cases and more especially on the money taker's apparatus, a
rocking shaft, to which two arms are fixed; one of these arms projects
partly into the above mentioned channel or passage and is held in this
position by a spring and stop; the other arm carries a pawl working on
a ratchet wheel. A check passing through the channel or passage will
force the first mentioned arm aside, thereby giving motion through the
rocking shaft, second arm, and pawl to the ratchet wheel, by which it
is communicated to the fingers of the counting apparatus, the check
having passed the arm the latter is returned by the spring into its former
position ready to be acted upon by another check.

page_text: If it is required that the number of persons admitted and the amount
of money taken should be indicated in the room or office of the proprietor
or manager of the place, I make use of and employ an electric current
or currents actuating a peculiarly constructed electric clock. Contact
between the wires is established or broken at the passage of every
check by any suitable contrivance in connection with the intermittently
revolving or the rocking shaft. The electric clock is constructed with
two fingers indicating on the dial of units, onc finger being connected
with the money taker's apparatus and the other with the check taker's
apparatus. As the checks are withdrawn by the money taker and
delivered into the check taker's apparatus the two fingers will move
round together, the finger connected to the money taker's apparatus
being necessarily a certain distance in advance of the other, until when
the last check has been passed the finger connected with the money
taker's apparatus will move up to the other, the two being then in the
same position and both indicating correctly the number of checks with-
drawn and delivered.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Alford Walker in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 13th March 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
ALFORD WALKER, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the
thirty-fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Henry Alford Walker, Her special
license that I, the said Henry Alford Walker, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry Alford
Walker, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter
during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain

page_text: and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MECHANISM OR APPARATUS FOR REGISTERING AND CHECKING
THE RECEIPT OF MONIES FROM PERSONS ENTERING THEATRES, MUSIC HALLS,
AND OTHER PLACES WHERE A CHECK IS REQUIRED AS A MEANS OF DETECTING
FRAUD," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry Alford
Walker, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the
same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Alford Walker, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement and accompanying Drawings, that is to
say :-
My Invention is designed for the purpose of registering and checking
the money taken for admission at places of public entertainment and
other places where checks on the money taken are used, and to enable
the authorized persons to ascertain at any time the number of persons
who have paid for admission, thereby preventing any fraud on the part
of the money or check taker.
The improvements relate in the first place to an apparatus used by
the money taker, and consist in the use and employment of a tube or
tubes or chambers of metal or other suitable material fixed vertically or
nearly so, the interior section of such tube corresponding with the size
and form of the checks which are to be used, and which may be either
flat plates, round or square, or balls or otherwise. These tubes or
chambers after being filled with checks are locked at the top, so that
the person taking the money has no access thereto except to obtain
checks therefrom one at a time in the manner and with the aid of the
mechanism presently to be described. The lower end of the tubes or
chambers is provided with a bottom or with inward projecting ledges on
which the checks rest. Below the said bottom on the projecting ledges
a slide is arranged in guides provided with a suitable projection or
handle to be moved and drawn forward by the hand of the money taker,
and on to this slide an extractor consisting of a spring plate or spring

page_text: bolt is attached, which when acted upon enters the tube by an aperture
formed just above the bottom and forces the lowest check out of the
tube into and through a channel or passage, rectangular by preference,
and corresponding with the size and form of the checks. As the lowest
check is pushed out the next above takes its place, the whole pile of
checks sinking in the tube as they are taken off below. The return
movement of the slide is effected by means of springs, the extractor
plate at that time clearing the lowest check and rising again at the
termination of the movement in position to act upon the same. Situated
conveniently near the rectangular passage a shaft or spindle is supported
in suitable bearings; this shaft is provided with a convenient number of
arms, four for instance, projecting radially therefrom, and it is placed in
such a position that one of the arms always projects into and either
partially or entirely across the said rectangular passage, so that on a
check being pushed out of the tube and through the passage it will force
the arm aside so as to clear the passage and thereby turn the shaft
through a part of a revolution, another arm entering the passage behind
the check and taking the position of the preceding one, in which position
the same and every succeeding arm is held by a spring detent until the
next check passes and forces it aside.
It will be easily understood from the foregoing description that no
check can be taken from the tubes and moved through the passage
without acting upon one of the arms attached to the shaft, and thereby
turning the latter through part of a revolution. Motion is transmitted
from the said shaft by means of suitable gearing to the fingers of a
counting apparatus, thereby indicating at any time the number of
checks withdrawn from the tube. If a number of tubes is to be
employed I prefer to mount the same on a plate or frame capable of
revolving round its centre, so that when one tube is emptied another
can be brought over the extractor and opposite or over the above
described channel or passago, in which position they can be locked
successively.
The improvements relate, secondly, to the apparatus used by the
check taker, and consist in a channel or passage leading into a receptacle
which can be locked. The channel or passage terminates on its upper
extremity in a hopper, and is also provided with a shaft to which a
number of arms are attached, similar to that described in the money
taker's apparatus. Each check dropped in the hopper will in passing

page_text: through the channel force aside one of the arms, thereby giving motion
to the shaft and to a counter attached to the check taker's apparatus.
The channel or passage for the checks used in the check taker's
apparatus instead of terminating in a receptacle at its lower end may
under circumstances be extended and continued downwards and back to
a plate above the tube of the money taker's apparatus, which tube is
thereby continually refilled, a limited number of checks only being
required in this case.
Instead of the above described intermittently revolving shaft I may
use in certain cases, and more especially on the moncy taker's apparatus,
a rocking shaft, to which two arms are fixed; one of these arms projects
partly into the above mentioned channel or passage and is held in this
position by a spring and stop; the other arm carries a pawl working
on a ratchet wheel. A check passing through the channel or passage
will force the first mentioned arm aside, thereby giving motion through
the rocking shaft, second arm, and pawl to the ratchet wheel, by which
it is communicated to the fingers of the counting apparatus, the check
having passed the arm the latter is returned by the spring into its former
position ready to be acted upon by another check.
If it is required that the number of persons admitted and the amount
of money taken should be indicated in the room or office of the proprietor
or manager of the place, I make use of and employ an electric current
or currents actuating a peculiarly constructed electric indicator clock.
Contact between the wires is established or broken at the passage of
every check by any suitable contrivance in connection with the inter-
mittently revolving shaft or the rocking shaft. The clectric clock is
constructed with two fingers indicating on the dial of units; one finger
being connected with the money taker's apparatus and the other with the
check taker's apparatus. As the checks are withdrawn by the money
taker and delivered into the check taker's apparatus the two fingers will
move round together, the finger connected to the money taker's apparatus
being necessarily a certain distance in advance of the other, until when
the last check has been passed the finger connected with the check
taker's apparatus will move up to the other, the two being then in the
same position and both indicating correctly the number of checks with-
drawn and delivered.

page_text: In order that my Invention may be better understood and explained
in detail, I have hereunto annexed one Sheet of Drawings, similar
letters of reference being marked upon corresponding parts in the
various Figures, which with the exception of Figs. 4 and 5 are drawn in
about half size.
Fig. 1 represents a sectional elevation; Fig. 2 a front view; and
Fig. 3 a plan of the apparatus to be used by the money taker and
shown as when constructed with a number of tubes, one tube being
placed in position for the withdrawal of checks.
In the said Figures a, a, are the tubes containing the checks b, and
mounted on and secured at their lower ends to a plate c, and also
firmly connected together at the top by a plate d. The plate c rests on
a base plate e and is provided with a boss, and bored out in the centro
so as to fit and turn on the centre stud f secured in the said base plate e
which is fixed in the casing or box 9 and forms also the bottom for the
tubes, the said tubes in this arrangement being open at both ends.
Near the front part of the base plate d where the checks are to be
withdrawn a recess his formed of sufficient width and depth to admit
the lowest check of the tube being brought over it, and to form a
channel or passage for the check when forced out. A slot i is formed 2
in the recessed part of the plate e of sufficient width to admit the
extractor part of the bottom being left in form of a ledge at each side
of the slot for the checks to rest and slide on. The slot i is widened at i¹
in front of the tube so as to allow cach check when pushed out and
after having passed the self-registering apparatus to drop downward into
the hand of the money taker. On the lower side of the base plate a
slide j is provided working in suitable guides and having attached to it
the draw plate or bracket & formed with a bend and perforation at k¹,
so that the money taker by inserting the fingers can draw it to the
front; a spring / pulls it back when released, the extent of motion being
limited by proper stops. The checks are extracted by means of the
sliding bolt m, which held in the bracket k and slide j extends through
the slot into the recess h, and is pressed upwards by the spring m³ so
as to enter the recess / sufficiently to act on the bottom check, the said
bolt is inclined towards the back on its upper end so that on its return 3
movement it will be depressed by the lowest check and clear the same.
On one side of the recess or passage a self-registering apparatus is
arranged (see also Figs. 4 and 5), consisting of a light shaft or spindle n

page_text: supported in suitable bearings. This shaft or spindle is provided with a
number of arms n', four in this instance, and held in such position that
when no check passes one of the arms projects into and either entirely
or partially across the said passage h. If the bracket and slide j is
drawn forward by the money taker the sliding bolt m coming into
contact with the bottom check will push the same from below the tube a
and through the passage h, when the said check will force aside the
arm n¹ then projecting into the passage and thereby turn the shaft n
through part of a revolution, another arm entering the passage behind
the check and taking the position of the preceding one, in which
position it and every succeeding arm is held by a spring detent until
the next check passes and forces it aside. The arms are partly covered
by a plate n which gives additional strength to the same, and by partly
extending over the passage serves to keep the passing checks in place.
The detent consists in the race o fixed on the shaft u, and the bowl o'
held on the arm o³; a spring o³ acting on the arm o² keeps the bowl in
contact with the race o, thereby also causing the shaft n to make a
quarter of a revolution at each passing of a check.
The part of my Invention named as the self-registering apparatus is
shown enlarged to about full size at Fig. 4 in elevation, and Fig. 5 in
plan; in the latter a passing check is shown between two arms having
partly turned the shaft n.
Motion is transmitted by means of a worm and worm wheel ³ to the
fingers of the counter 1* fixed on a partition 9¹, and the dials and fingers
are protected from mischief by the door g³ which can be locked, and
whereby also the top cover after the tubes have been filled is secured.
Each tube is held firmly in position over the recessed passage by a lever
catch c¹ entering and held in a corresponding notch c³ by a spring c³.
When a tube is emptied the catch can be drawn out of the notch by
pressing the knob c* connected to the lever, and the plate and tube can
be turned by means of the square stud & and suitable key or otherwise
so as to bring another filled tube over the extractor mechanism, the
catch falling in another notch and locking the plate.
Fig 6 represents a side view partly in section; and Fig. 7 a front view
of the check taker's apparatus. On a partition in the casing or box p is
fixed the bracket or frame g, in which a passage g' is formed. This
passage is continued upwards where it terminates in a hopper q², and

page_text: downwards through the partition into the lower part of the casing or
box; a self-registering apparatus similar to that used and described in
the money taker's apparatus is also provided here, consisting of the
shaft provided with arms placed in suitable bearings near one side
of the passage q, also held in position by a spring detent, so that one
arm extends into and either partially or entirely across the passage.
Checks dropped into the hopper and falling through the passage into
the receptacle below will, each in succession, force the projecting arms
aside and thereby turn the shaft », from which motion is transmitted
by means of the worm and worm wheel to the fingers of the counter p'
fixed in the casing and protected by the lid p² which can be locked.
Instead of the above described self-registering apparatus I may employ
and use another arrangement of a self-registering apparatus. This
modification is represented in Figs. 8 and 9. Fig. 8 is a plan view of
the apparatus at its lower portion, and Fig. 9 a plan view at its upper
part where connected with the counter 8 is a rocking shaft supported
in suitable bearings; to the lower end of this shaft an arm & is fixed,
which projects partly into the above described channel or passage h, and
is held in suitable position by a spring & and stop here formed at l'; as
the arm works in a recessed part of the plate e a second arm & fixed to
the upper end of the shaft 8, either direct carries a pawl in gear with
a ratchet wheel, or as shown in Fig. 9, enters the slotted or forked
lower arm of a lever turning round its centre on the stud a' and
having attached to the other arm a pawl u in gear with a ratchet
wheel on the main arbor of the counter. A check passing out through
the channel or passage h will force the arm & aside, thereby giving
motion through the rocking shaft 8, the second arm &³, lever u, pawl u³,
and ratchet wheel to the fingers of the counting apparatus. The
cheek having passed the arm the latter is moved by the spring into
its former position ready to be acted upon by the next check.
It will be understood from the description and illustration of apparatus
that no check can be withdrawn from the tube or tubes and moved
through the passage or delivered into the check taker's apparatus
without acting upon one of the aims attached to the intermittently
revolving shaft, or upon the arm attached to one end of the rocking
shaft, and thereby turning such shaft; and as only the actual passage
of a check will move such arms any movement of the extracting

page_text: apparatus, when a tube is empty, will have no effect on the fingers of
the counter.
In order that the number of persons admitted, the amount of money
taken, and the proper delivery of the checks may be indicated in the
room or office of the proprietor or manager of the place where checks
are used, I employ and make use of an electric current or electric
currents to actuate and work an electric clock or indicator. Fig. 10 is
a side view, and Fig. 11 a front view of the mechanism of the same;
Fig. 12 is a front view showing the dial. This indicator is provided
with two unit fingers; one finger is actuated from the money taker's
apparatus and the other finger is actuated from the check taker's
apparatus as follows:- is the electro-magnet connected with the
money taker's apparatus; the electric circuit is made or broken at the
passage of every check by any of the well-known contrivances being
used in connection with the intermittently revolving or the rocking
shaft. When on the passing out of a check the circuit is established,
the magneto attracts the keeper v', thereby moving, by means of the
pawl and ratchet wheel o³ fixed to the arbor o', the finger 1 through
one unit on the dial to. x is the electro-maguet in connection with the
check taker's apparatus. When here on the delivery of a check the
circuit is made, the magnet attracts the keeper a³, thereby moving, by
means of the pawl and ratchet wheel z³ fixed to the bush x', the
finger 2 through one unit. As the checks are withdrawn from the
money taker's and delivered into the check taker's apparatus the two
fingers will move round together, the finger connected to the money
taker's apparatus being necessarily a certain distance in advance of the
other, until when the last check is delivered the finger connected with
the check taker's apparatus will move up to the former, both being then
in the same position, and both indicating correctly the number of checks
withdrawn and delivered, the hundreds being indicated by a finger 3
moved by means of the gearing y from the arbor d'.
Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention,
together with the method of carrying the same into practical effect, I
wish it to be distinctly understood in conclusion that I claim

page_text: Secondly. The arrangement, construction, and combination of
mechanism of the money taker's and check taker's apparatus, as and
for the
purpose aforesaid.
And, thirdly. The arrangement, construction, and combination of
mechanism of the electric indicator, as and for the purpose herein-before
described, set forth, and fully illustrated in the Drawings attached.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Alford Walker, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of October,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
two.
Witness,
W. H. DAWSON,
Patent Agent,
Manchester.
HENRY ALFORD WALKER. (L.S.)