AN IMPROVED APPA- Ratus for Self-REGISTERING AND CHECKING THE MONEY TAKEN FOR ADMISSIONS TO PUBLIC ENTERTAINMENTS AND OTHER PLACES WHERE A CHECK ON MONEY TAKING IS DESIRABLE.
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Alexander Calvert, of Manchester, in
the County of Lancaster, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED APPA-
Ratus for Self-REGISTERING AND CHECKING THE MONEY TAKEN FOR ADMISSIONS
TO PUBLIC ENTERTAINMENTS AND OTHER PLACES WHERE A CHECK ON MONEY
TAKING IS DESIRABLE.
"
Sealed the 8th April 1870, and dated the 20th January 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Alexander
Calvert at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 20th January 1870.
I, CHARLES ALEXANDER CALVERT, of Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN
IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR SELF-REGISTERING AND CHECKING THE MONEY TAKEN
FOR ADMISSIONS TO PUBLIC ENTERTAINMENTS AND OTHER PLACES WHERE A. CHECK
ON MONEY TAKING IS DESIRABLE," to be as follows :-
The Invention is designed for the purpose of enabling the proprietors
of places of public amusement or entertainment or other places where
a check on money taking is desirable to ascertain at any moment the
number of persons who have paid for admission, and to check (also at

page_text: any moment) the receipts of money taken for admission, and so prevent
the takers thereof from appropriating the same or any portion thereof to
their own use.
The improvements consist principally in the novel employment or
use of a vertical tube or chamber of metal or other suitable material,
the interior of which corresponds in form and size with the metal or
other checks to be employed. This tube or chamber is provided with a
slit or opening from top to bottom, so that the contents (that is, the
number of checks) can at any time be seen. It is supported and
swings upon a hinge at the top, and at the side of the slit or opening it
is divided and marked (somewhat similar to a barometer tube) with
divisions and numerals commencing from the top, and indicating by the
falling of the checks therein the number that has been withdrawn at
any time from the tube. This tube or chamber is to be filled with
checks and then locked by some authorized person, so that the money
taker has no access thereto, excepting to obtain checks therefrom (one
at a time) in the proper manner by the mechanism herein-after described.
Conveniently situated at the lower part of the tube is a transverse slit
or aperture, through which the checks are caused to pass out one by.
one by means of a knife blade or other equivalent, which by the
pressure of the hand acting upon the tube is forced into an orifice,
thereby propelling the checks singly from the tube. Thus as each
check is drawn or driven out by the blade or knife the next one falls
down and takes its place ready for a repetition of the action.
whole pile or column of checks falls in the tube as their number lessens,
and their position being visible through the vertical slit or opening of
the tube shows on the graduated scale at the side the exact number
which have been withdrawn.
The
I may here observe that it will be evident that if thought preferable
the tube or chamber may be stationary and the knife blade or other
equivalent which propels the checks may be made to slide forwards and
be returned by a spring. I also provide the check taker with a similar
tube or chamber, but without the transverse slit or orifice at the bottom,
and with the numerals commencing from below, into which he has to
place all the checks as he receives them, and as they increase in number
they indicate on the graduated scale (which is precisely the same as
the money taker's) the number of checks deposited therein, so that
the money taker's and check taker's apparatus must correspond at all

page_text: times, and thus prevent the possibility of their appropriating any.
portion of the money or checks to themselves without being detected..
.
In order to indicate at any time in the manager's room or office or
at any other desirable place at a distance from the money and check
takers the exact amount of their receipts I make use of the following
arrangement:-Below the orifice from which the checks issue in the
money taker's apparatus I place a small trigger; and each check as it
issues falls on to this trigger in passing to the money taker's hand causing
it to vibrate, and as each check falls out to make contact with wires
communicating to an ordinary electric counting apparatus situated in
the manager's room. The check taker's apparatus also is to be provided
with a hopper or funnel having a slit or opening through which only
one check can pass at a time, and this opening is provided with two
slides connected together by a lever in such a way that when one is
open the other is shut, and vice versa. This lever is weighted in such
a way as always to keep open the top slide and close the bottom one.
Upon a check being dropped into this opening it falls on to the lower
slide, which being placed at an angle falls aside and allows the check to
pass into the tube or chamber,. at the same time that the lever closes
the top slide and prevents another check from passing through at the
same time, though the checks can be dropped in singly as fast as may.
be required. Each vibration of the lever therefore indicates one check,
and the motion of this lever is caused by a similar electric connection
to indicate on a dial in the manager's room or office the quantity of
checks placed in the receiver.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,.
filed by the said Charles Alexander Calvert in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 20th July 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
ALEXANDER CALVERT, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-third
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and'

page_text: grant unto me, the said Charles Alexander Calvert, Her special license
that I, the said Charles Alexander Calvert, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles Alexander
Calvert, 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 and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN
IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR SELF-REGISTERING AND CHECKING THE MONEY TAKEN FOR
ADMISSIONS TO PUBLIC ENTERTAINMENTS AND OTHER PLACES WHERE A CHECK ON
MONEY TAKING IS DESIRABLE," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said Charles Alexander Calvert, executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands
and seals, 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 Charles Alexander Calvert, 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) :—
The Invention is designed for the purpose of enabling the proprietors
of places of public amusement or entertainment or other places where a
check on money taking is desirable to ascertain at any moment the
number of persons who have paid for admission, and to check (also at
any moment) the receipts of money taken for admission, and so prevent
the takers thereof from appropriating the same or any portion thereof to
their own use.
The improvements consist principally in the novel employment or use
of a vertical tube or chamber of metal or other suitable material, the
interior of which corresponds in form and size with the metal or other
checks to be employed. This tube or chamber is provided with a slit or
opening from top to bottom, so that the contents (that is, the number of
checks) can at any time can be seen. It is supported and swings upon a
hinge at the top, and at the side of the slit or opening it is divided and
marked (somewhat similar to a barometer tube) with divisions and

page_text: numerals commencing from the top and indicating by the falling of the
checks therein the number that have been withdrawn at any time from
the tube. This tube or chamber is to be filled with checks and then
locked by some authorized person, so that the money taker has no access
thereto excepting to obtain checks therefrom (one at a time) in the
proper manner by the mechanism herein-after described. Conveniently
situated at the lower part of the tube is a transverse slit or aperture,
through which the checks are caused to pass out one by one by means
of a knife blade or other equivalent, which by the pressure of the hand
acting upon the tube is forced into an orifice, thereby propelling
the checks singly from the tube. Thus as each check is drawn or
driven out by the blade or knife the next one falls down and takes its
place ready for a repetition of the action. The whole pile or column
of checks falls in the tube as their number lessens, and their position
being visible through the vertical slit or opening of the tube shows on
the graduated scale at the side the exact number which have been with-
drawn,
I may here observe that it will be evident that if thought preferabló
the tube or chamber may be stationary, and the knife blade or-other
equivalent which propels the checks may be made to slide forwards.
and be retained by a spring. I also provide the check taker with a
similar tube or chamber but without the transverse slit or orifice at the
bottom, and with the numerals commencing from below, into which he
has to place all the checks as he receives them, and as they increase
in number they indicato on the graduated scale (which is precisely the
same as the money taker's) the number of checks deposited therein, so
that the money taker's and check taker's apparatus must correspond.at
all times, and thus prevent the possibility of their appropriating any:
portion of the money or checks to themselves without being detected.
In order to indicate at any time in the manager's room or office or at
any other desirable place at a distance from the money and check takers
the exact amount of their receipts I make use of the following arrange-
ment: Below the orifice from which the checks issue in the money
taker's apparatus I place a small trigger, and each check as it issues falls
on to this trigger in passing the money taker's hand causing it to vibrate,
and as each check falls out to make contact with wires communicating to.
an ordinary electric counting apparatus situated in the manager's room...
The check taker's apparatus also is to be provided with a hopper or
w

page_text: funnel having a slit or opening through which only one check can pass
at a time, and this opening is provided with two slides connected together
by a lever in such a way that when one is open the other is shut, and
vice versa. This lever is weighted in such a way as always to keep open
the top slide and close the bottom one. Upon a check being dropped
into this opening it falls on to the lower slide which being placed at an
angle falls aside and allows the check to pass into the tube or chamber
at the same time that the lever closes the top slide and prevents another
check from passing through at the same time, though the checks can
be dropped in singly as fast as may be required. Each vibration of the
lever therefore indicates one check, and the motion of this lever is caused.
by a similar electrical connection to indicate on a dial in the manager's
room or office the quantity of checks placed in the receiver.
Such being the nature and object of my said Invention for "An Im-
proved Apparatus for Self-registering and Checking the Money Taken for
Admissions to Public Entertainments and other Places where a Check on-
Money Taking is desirable," I will now proceed to describe more in
detail the manner in which the same is to be or may be performed or
carried into practical effect, and in order that the same may be clearly
understood I have annexed hereunto a Sheet of Drawings illustrative
thereof, and have marked the same with figures and letters of reference
corresponding with those in the following explanation thereof.
Fig. 1 in the annexed Drawing represent a vertical transverse section
of the money taker's apparatus; Fig. 2, a back view of the same; and
Fig. 3, a plan view drawn about half the real size; Fig. 4 is a front view
of the lower part of the same showing the openings whence the money
taker receives the checks, the whole of the other apparatus being enclosed
or concealed from his sight. It is proposed to mount the apparatus in
a wall or partition so that on the money taker's side only the hand
openings for receiving the checks are visible, whilst on the other side
all the interior of the apparatus can be seen by the manager or other
person interested.
Inside a case a, a, a series of vertical tubes b, b, are arranged, the
interior of the said tubes corresponding in form and size with the metal
or other checks c, c, with which cach tube is filled before the apparatus
is put in use. Each tube is provided at the back with a vertical slit or

page_text: opening (see Figs. 2 and 3), through which the pile of checks can- be
seen, and the side of this slit or opening is marked with numbers com-
mencing from the top. The tube is supported and swings upon a hinge
joint d, d, at the upper end, and is provided with a finger piece e, e, at
the lower end, by means of which it can be swung to and fro. At the
bottom of the tube is a transverse slit or aperture through or into which
the front edge of a blade f, f, passes, so that upon the money taker
pressing back the lower end of the tube by the finger piece e, e, this
blade forces out or propels the lowest check into the money taker's hand
(as shown on a smaller scale at Fig. 5), the whole pile of checks falling
at the same time and resting on the blade f.f. In withdrawing the
hand the money taker draws back the tube into its original position (as
seen at Fig. 1), or it may fall into that position by its own weight, and
the operation may immediately be repeated, cach swing of the tube
forcing out one check into the money taker's hand. By inspecting the
position of the piles of checks in the tubes the exact number of checks
that have been withdrawn can be ascertained, but if it should be
thought desirable also to indicate upon a dial in the manager's office or
at any other distant point the exact number of checks withdrawn I place
a small weighted lever or trigger 9, 9, beneath the lower orifice of the
tube, and each check as it issues in falling into the money taker's hand
causes this lever to vibrate (see Fig. 5), and thus by alternately making
and breaking contact between the poles of an electric battery (as is well
understood by any ordinary electrician) the vibrating of this lever or
trigger g, g, can be made to indicate by means of any well-known
electrical counting apparatus the withdrawal of each check from the
tube, or the movement of the tube itself might be caused to make and
break electrical contact for the same purpose.
Fig. 6. is a vertical section (about half size) of the check taker's
apparatus; Figs. 7 and 8 being back and plan views of the same drawn
to a smaller scale. h, h, are vertical tubes having slits similar to the
tubes b, b, before described with reference to the money taker's apparatus,
but numbered from bottom to the top and provided with a funnel or
hopper i, i, at the upper end, through which the check taker has to pass
in all the checks one by one as he receives them. The neck of this
funnel is provided with two slides % and -7 connected together by a
weighted lever m (in a manner similar to the slides of an ordinary shot
pouch), so that when one is open the other is shut, and consequently
only one check can pass at a time into the tube, and the passage of each

page_text: check causes the lever to vibrate, as shown_clearly at Fig. 9. This lever
acts in the same way as the trigger 9, 9, in the money taker's apparatus,
alternately making and breaking electrical contact and causing the
electrical counting apparatus to indicate on the dial the number of
checks deposited. When the number of the checks deposited in the tube
has been inspected and compared with the money taker's apparatus and
the electric indicators the slides n, n, at the bottom of the tube may be
withdrawn and the pile of checks be allowed to fall into the drawer o, o,
beneath. It is intended that the whole of this apparatus with the
exception of the orifice of the funnel or hopper i, i, shall be enclosed (in
a wall or otherwise) and not be accessible to the check taker.
Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention,
together with the manner in which the same is to be or may be
performed or carried into practical effect, I wish it to be understood that
I claim as my Invention,―
•
Firstly. The peculiar arrangement of mechanism forming the money
taker's apparatus, as herein-before described with reference to Figs. 1, 2,
3, 4, and 5 of the annexed Drawings.
Secondly. I claim the peculiar arrangement of mechanism forming
the check taker's apparatus, as herein-before described with reference to
Figs. 6, 7, 8, and 9 of the said Drawings, or any mere modification or
imitation thereof constructed and operating in substantially the same or
a similar manner.
And, thirdly. I claim the application or adaptation of an electrical
counting and registering arrangement to the above described or any
other similar apparatus.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Alexander Calvert, have
hereunto set my hand and scal, this Sixteenth day of July, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
Witness,
GEORGE DAVIES, C.E.,
Office for Patents,
Manchester.
CHARLES ALEX³. CALVERT.· (L.S.)