Apparatus for Sorting or Separating Coins Counters, Balls, and similar Articles of a Circular, Spherical or practically Spherical Shape.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 18th Oct., 1898
Complete Specification Left, 18th July, 1899-Accepted, 2nd Sept., 1899
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Apparatus for Sorting or Separating Coins Counters, Balls, and
similar Articles of a Circular, Spherical or practically Spherical
Shape.
I, CHARLES BUSCH, of 30, Rue Bergère, Paris, in the Republic of France,
Technologist, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention has for its object an apparatus whereby circular, spherical or
practically spherical articles of all kinds, such as coins, counters, balls, etc., can
be sorted or separated without the employment of mechanism of any kind.
According to the invention the apparatus consists of an inclined channel or
guide of which one side is provided with apertures of a size increasing gradually
from the top of the channel to the bottom thereof and each of the said apertures
corresponding to the diameter of one of the different articles to be sorted; the
other side of the channel is hollowed in such a manner as to allow these articles
to freely swing when, on rolling or sliding upon the bottom of the channel, they
come opposite an aperture sufficiently large to permit of them passing through
the first mentioned side thereof. On issuing from these apertures the articles
fall into different compartments of a drawer or tray. The descent of the articles
from the sorting apertures into the corresponding compartments is effected either
directly or through the medium of inclined guides of the like.
The bottom of the channel or guide is more or less inclined according to the
shape of the articles to be sorted; its shape is rectilinear or curvilinear. The
apparatus can be arranged in a box having a slot at its upper part for the intro-
duction of the articles to be sorted or separated, and a drawer at its lower part
for the removal of the sorted articles; it can be arranged under a table or a
cashier's desk, etc.
A modification of the apparatus consists of an inclined guide or channel of
which the bottom is slightly curved and is provided with a longitudinal slot or
the like the width of which increases from the top to the bottom in such a manner
that articles introduced at the upper end of the inclined guide descend, rolling or
sliding, along the said guide and fall, at a greater or less distance from the top
of the guide corresponding to their diameter, through the slot into receptacles
arranged to receive them.
Dotadth 101, ntahan 1300
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London,
Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: Apparatus for Sorting or Separating Coins, Counters, Balls, and
similar Articles of a Circular, Spherical or practically Spherical
Shape.
I, CHARLES BUSCH, of 30, Rue Bergère, Paris, in the Republic of France,
Technologist, 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 for its object an apparatus which I call "universal guide
whereby circular, spherical, or practically spherical articles of all kinds such as
coins, counters, balls, etc., can be sorted or separated in a simple and exact manner
without the employment of mechanism of any kind.. To this end I arrange a
series of apertures of increasing size in a partition along which the articles to
be sorted or separated can slide or roll; the smallest of the said articles fall
through the first apertures and the largest through the last; they are received
in a drawer divided into as many compartments as there are apertures of
different sizes.
Money sorters, as hitherto known, have all great objections; they are com-
plicated, bulky and very expensive. Moreover, none of them affords the certainty
which is so desirous and necessary to obtain a good result. Therefore, their use
is extremely limited and almost completely abandoned. These apparatuses, for
the most part, contain many channels and slots in the said channels as well as
in the lateral guide. All of them require the coins to be applied with precision
against the inclined wall of the guide. All, without exception, contain movable
or fixed parts for imparting a given direction to the coins. In certain apparatuses
the coin is, itself, utilized to actuate certain parts such as springs, traps, etc.
Now, all these combinations, although correct in theory, fail in practice, because,
on the one hand, the initial force with which the coin commences its course is
never absolutely the same and, on the other hand, the least irregularity in the
weight or thickness of the coins interferes with the working. In fact, a super-
ficial examination is sufficient to prove that, of the three factors which must be
taken into consideration, viz., the weight, the thickness and the diameter of the
coin, the two first vary considerably in coins of the same denomination—some-
times as much as a third of the weight and half the thickness. The diameter
alone remains invariable whatever may be the irregularities that the coins
possess in weight and thickness.
A consideration of this fact led me to devise my money sorter which differs from
all other apparatuses of the same kind in the following very important respects:-
In the first place my money sorter contains no mechanism nor any movable or
fixed part whatever which will interfere in any way with the progress of the coin
after its introduction into the apparatus.
On the other hand to the two inclines usually employed-the inclination
of the channel and of the guide in horizontal and vertical directions-are added
the compulsory inclination of the coins with relation to the plane of the guide.
Finally, the coins of the same denomination, whatever may be their weight
and their thickness, are compelled to exactly roll along the same line and, as
exactly, to retain the same inclination with regard to the wall of the guide up
to the moment when they turn over and fall.
I obtain this result in the most simple and certain manner by giving to the
rolling channel an arched transverse form of about 5mm in width and 2mm in
depth. This channel is arranged with relation to the lateral wall of the guide

page_text: 10 such a manner that the distance between the axis of the bottom of the
channel and the upper edges of the apertures made in the wall, exactly represent
the diameters of the respective coins, plus a very small fraction (a quarter or a
third of a millimetre) to allow the coins to pass through the respective apertures.
The inclination of the coins of the same denomination is invariable, it is
impossible for them to deviate from their exact rolling line and nothing can
prevent them from falling at the proper moment.
The accompanying drawings represent on a reduced scale, one form of my
invention applied to the sorting of money.
Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of the apparatus:
Figure 2 a transverse section; and
Figure 3 a plan of the same:
Figure 4 is an elevation of that side of the guide in which the sorting or
classifying apertures are made:
Figure 5 is a section taken through the axis of the guide shewing the rear
side recessed in the greater portion of its surface:
Figure 6 is a plan of a guide designed for sorting or classifying spherical
bodies:
Figure 7 is a transverse section of a guide with a wide base :!
Figure 8 is a transverse section of a guide with a narrow base:
Figure 9 is a transverse section of the universal guide with curved or arched
base.
The apparatus designed to sort money consists essentially of two distinct parts,
one of which is the sorter and the other the receiver, placed within a case a.
The sorter which I term "universal guide" is constructed of a narrow and
deep channel, the bottom of which is in the form of an inclined gutter, and
the walls b, c, of which are parallel with each other and slightly inclined from
the vertical, and are cut away in the following manner; in one of the walls b
are made seven rectangular apertures e
of a length of 5 or 6 centi-
metres, the lower edges of which are at a constant distance of several millimetres
above the bottom of the gutter and the upper edges at a distance equal to the
respective diameters of the bronze and silver coins (three-penny pieces, sixpenny
pieces, shillings, halfpennies, half crowns and crowns) in the order of their
increasing sizes comniencing from the upper part of the guide; the other wall c
has a rectangular aperture d extending its whole length at a short distance above
the bottom.
The inclination of the guide may be constant throughout its length, but it is
preferable, especially when the number of the different coins to be sorted is large,
to gradually decrease it from the upper part towards the lower end. The bottom
of the guide will then be of the form of a curve, y, z, the concavity of which is
turned upwards and the upper party of which has a small radius of curvature,
whilst the lower part has a large radius and may even be rectilinear. The object
of this arrangement is to reduce the speed of coins of large diameter towards
the end of their run so that all the coins shall arrive at about the same speed
in front of the apertures through which they are intended to fall.
At the upper part of the guide I curve the channel up to the edge of the
aperture serving for the introduction of the coins, so that the coins imme-
diately receive the required impulse to cause them to freely roll without being
subjected to any shock at the commencement of their run.
Figures 4 and 5 represent the two walls of the guide when it is cut out from a
sheet of metal shewing clearly the form of the apertures d and e¹, e²
these latter are either separated from one another by plain strips or bands or
are united into one by the junction of the adjacent sides. This figure also
shows the arrangement of the feet f serving to fix the guide to the false cover g
which supports it (Figures 1 and 2).
The receiving part of my apparatus consists simply of a drawer h divided into
seven compartments .
arranged in two rows (Figure 3).

page_text: The universal guide operates in the following manner. A coin being intro-
duced at the upper end of the guide through a slot in the cover of the case,
falls on its edge into the channel and, by its own weight, rolls down the incline.
By reason of the inclination of the walls and of the rounded form of the bottom
of the guide the coin bears upon the wall bat only one point. As soon as it
arrives opposite an aperture of sufficient size, the support of the wall b abruptly
terminating, it turns over and falls outside the guide. The aperture d made in
the wall c has for object to prevent any obstacle to this turning movement.
Figures to 9 illustrate the differences in the working which the different
transverse forms of the guide may cause. In Figure shewing a guide with a
flat wide bottom, it will be seen that the coins may assume an inclination which
is variable with regard to the wall b in which the ejecting apertures are made;
when a coin is inclined beyond a certain angle it can evidently pass through an
aperture, the height of which is less than its diameter; in Figure 8 the bottom
of the guide is also flat but it is narrow and approximately corresponds to the
thickness of the coins; with this latter arrangement there is a
liability of the
coins not falling but remaining in the position indicated in Figure 8 in which
they are retained by their lower end catching against the side c.
The curved or arched form of the universal guide according to my invention
avoids these objections; Figure 9 shews that the coins are compelled to roll along
a given line, that is to say, along the lower generatrix of the channel and that
they cannot be held from falling.
If the coins fell directly into the receiver they would all come in a straight
line overlapping one another and the compartments designed to receive them
would have to follow one another in a single row. To afford a less objectionable
disposition of the compartments I arrange over alternate apertures ³, e, cin
the wall b, inclined chutes E, ², for discharging the coins at a certain distance
from the guide. In this manner the coins fall, according to their diameter, alter-
nately in two rows and the compartments of the receiving drawer are arranged
as shewn in Figure 3. The compartments,,, receive the coins which fall
directly from the guide; the others receive those which turn over and slide down
the chutes, B, B.
According to the number of different coins to be sorted the guide may comprise
a variable number of apertures and compartments. When coins of only slightly
different diameters are to be sorted it is preferable to arrange two or more distinct
and separately acting guides in one box or case, one for the gold coins for
example, the other for the silver coins etc. In the drawing m is a compartment
reserved for gold coins.
It is not necessary that the apparatus should be contained in a special case;
the guide can be fixed directly under a table, a counter or the like.
The slight amount of friction to which the coins are subjected in rolling along
the guide allows of reducing the inclination of the latter; on the other hand the
absence of all mechanism allows of making the apparatus of very small size and
renders its construction inexpensive.
The hereinbefore described universal guide is applicable for sorting spherical
or nearly spherical articles but in this case it is preferable to employ a slightly
curved or arched guide (Figure 6), the bottom of which is made with rectangular
apertures of increasing size; a suitable inclination is given to this kind of gutter
according to the ease with which the articles to be sorted will roll.
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. An apparatus for sorting or separating coins, counters, balls and similar
articles of circular, spherical or practically spherical shape and capable of rolling
or sliding over an inclined plane, comprising an inclined guide or channel
having a curved or arched bottom and made with apertures of increasing size

page_text: and in which the articles to be sorted roll or slide and fall through the apertures
corresponding to their diameter, in combination with a series of tills or drawers
arranged to receive the said articles as they fall from the guide, substantially as
set forth.
2. In apparatus of the kind referred to in Claim 1, the combination of an
inclined guide or channel with curved or arched bottom and having suitably cut
'walls, of chutes arranged behind the discharge apertures for directing the articles
to be sorted into the compartments designed to receive them, and of a series of
compartments or drawers placed beneath the said guide, substantially as set
forth.
3. A modification of the arrangement referred to in Claim 1 comprising an
inclined and slightly curved or arched guide, the bottom of which is cut away
longitudinally for a width increasing from the upper towards the lower end, the
said guide being more particularly designed for sorting spherical or practically
spherical articles, in combination with compartments or drawers arranged to
receive the said articles as they fall from the guide, substantially as set forth.
Dated th 1041 Jaaf T.... 1900
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London,
Agents for the Applicant.