A New or Improved Coin-operating or Automatic Machine for Displaying Pictures.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 21st June, 1890
Complete Specification Left, 21st Apr., 1891-Accepted, 23rd May, 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
A New or Improved Coin-operating or Automatic Machine for
Displaying Pictures.
I, ROBERT JOHN JAMES SHRIMPTON of 364 London Road Croydon in the
County of Surrey Accountant, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be
as follows:-
--
My invention relates to a new or improved coin operating or automatic machine
for displaying pictures and has for its object to display to a person depositing a
coin in the machine a magnified representation of a male or female purporting to be
the future husband or wife or mother-in-law of such person.
For this purpose employ a case in the front of which I arrange say three sets of
eye-pieces fitted with magnifying lenses and within the case at a suitable distance
behind such lenses arrange corresponding dises or drums which are fixed upon
shafts or axes of motion mounted with capability of revolution in suitable bearings
and one of these drums has mounted thereon a series of representations such as
photographs of men suitable for husbands another representations of women suitable
for wives and the third pictures of women representative of mothers-in-law.
I employ a separate money slot in connection with each eye-piece and at the
rear of the lenses I mount moveable screens which upon the insertion of a coin are
raised for a given time and then closed by a time mechanism and upon the closing
of the screen cause the weight of the coin to rotate the disc or drum for a given
distance in order to bring a fresh representation into the line of sight.
I admit light to the case by means of suitable windows and in some cases I
employ lenses to collect and concentrate the rays of light upon the picture.
I sometimes employ an incandescent electric lamp or lamps to illuminate the
representations and cause the shutter or some other moving part to complete for a
given time the circuit in which such lamp is placed.
Dated this 21st day of June 1890.
WHITE & WOODINGTON,
27, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
A New or Improved Coin-operating or Automatic Machine for
Displaying Pictures.
I, ROBERT JOHN JAMES SHRIMPTON of 364 London Road Croydon in the
County of Surrey Accountant 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 a new or improved coin operating or automatic machine
for displaying pictures and has for its object to display to a person depositing a
coin in the machine a magnified representation of a male or female purporting to
be the future husband or wife or mother in law of such person.
For this purpose I employ a case in the front of which arrange say three sets
of eye pieces fitted with magnifying lenses and within the case at a suitable
distance behind such lenses 1 arrange corresponding discs or drums which are
mounted with capability of revolution and one of these discs or drums has mounted
thereon a series of representations such as photographs of men suitable for husbands,
another representations of women suitable for wives and the third pictures of
women representative of mothers-in-law.

page_text: I employ a separate money slot in connection with each eye piece and at the rear
of the lenses I mount moveable screens which upon the insertion of a coin are
raised for a given time and then closed by a time mechanism and upon the closing
of the screen I cause the disc or drum to be rotated for a given distance in order
to bring a fresh representation into the line of sight.
I employ an incandescent electric lamp or lamps to illuminate the representations
and cause the shutter or some other moving part to complete for a given time the
circuit in which such lamp is placed.
Or I admit light to the case by means of suitable windows and in some cases I
employ lenses to collect and concentrate the rays of light upon the picture.
And in order that the said invention may be more clearly understood-and, readily
carried into effect I will proceed aided by the accompanying drawings more fully
to describe the same.
Figure 2 is a similar view thereof with the front of the case removed.
Figure 3 is a vertical transverse section thereof taken on the line 1-1 of
Figure 2.
Figure 4 is a front view of one of the time mechanisms separately and to an
cularged scale.
Figure 5 is an edge view thereof but showing the picture disc in position.
Figure 6 is a similar view to Figure 4 representing the other time mechanisms.
Figures 7 and 8 are detai! views to an enlarged scale of the device first operated
by the falling coin.
Figure 9 is a diagram showing separately the arrangement of the electrical
connections and contacts and
Figure 10 is a vertical transverse section of the upper part of the machine
illustrating a method of utilising daylight for the illumination of the pictures.
In the several figures in which like parts are indicated by corresponding letters
of reference
a represents the case of the machine which is provided with a removeable front a
in which are arranged three eye pieces a' fitted with magnifying lenses a³ and corre-
sponding money slots a².
Within the case a and supported by brackets c* fixed to the back thereof are
the necessary parts of three ordinary clock movements or time mechanisms c fitted.
with the usual square c** to receive a key for the purpose of winding and mounted
with capability of revolution upon fixed studs e carried by the front plate thereof
are three discs upon each of which is mounted a series of pictures or representa-
tions such as photographs of men and women; the left hand disc displaying, for
example representations of men suitable for husbands, the right hand disc repre-
sentations of women suitable for wives and the lower disc pictures of women
representative of mothers in law and these pictures are arranged in a circle around
the discs in such manner that in the revolution thereof they will successively
be brought into position behind the eye pieces a².
The picture discs are each fixed to a central boss 62 which forms a bearing for
the disc upon the stud or axis and upon the boss 2 is also fixed a ratchet
wheel the teeth of which are in number equal to the circle of pictures and this
ratchet wheel 63 is rotated the distance of one tooth in order to change the picture
exhibited at every operation of the mechanism, a spring friction stop being
employed to prevent over driving and to ensure the picture disc when stationary
being held in correct position with a picture & within the field of the lens a³.
The necessary rotary motion is given to each picture disc b by a time or escape-
ment disc which is fixed upon a shaft driven by the time mechanism and is
provided with a projecting pine which at every revolution of the time disc e
C

page_text: engages the ratchet wheel 3 and rotates it the distance of one tooth and con-
sequently the picture disc b the distance required to move a fresh picture >' into
position to be viewed.
The time disc. is normally held against rotation by a tooth d upon one end of
a detent leverd which is mounted upon an axis of motion d' fixed to the front
plate of the time mechanism c and is weighted in such manner as to normally
engage by its tooth d² a notch c of the time disc but with capability of withdrawal
therefrom by the weight of a coin introduced into the machine as hereinafter
described.
A coin inserted into one of the money slots a¹ is (referring to the two upper
mechanisms) conducted by a money shoot e fixed by brackets e* to the back of the
case a on to a shelf projecting from one end of a lever which is mounted upon
an axis of motion carried by a bracket fixed to the back of the case a and
by its weight raises the opposite end of the lever d which acts upon and raises the
detent leverd thus disengaging its tooth from the notch of the time dise c²
and causing the corresponding picture disc to be rotated the distance required to
bring a fresh representation into the line of sight whilst in the case of the lower
mechanism the coin acts upon a tail piece d* fixed to the lever d in order to bring
about the same result, after which it falls into the money tray /.
In order to hold the tooth d² of the detent lever d out of engagement with the
time disc for a short time so as to ensure the proper starting of the time
mechanism a crutch is employed which is at its lower end mounted upon an axis
of motion g' fixed to the front plate of the time mechanism c and at its upper end
and thus hold
is formed with a notch to engage a pin upon the detent lever
it raised until in the revolution of the time disc e the pin comes against the
crutch g and disengages it from the pin ³ thus permitting the detent lever d to fall
into its normal position and arrest the rotation of the stop disc c at the required
moment, a stop being employed to limit the forward movement of the crutch
At the rear of each of the lenses a³ and so as to normally obstruct the line of
sight is arranged a screen which is carried by a horizontally cranked arm
mounted upon an axis of motion carried by a stud or projection 3 from a plate 4*
fixed to the back of the case a and the arm beyond its axis is by a link 4**
connected with the tail of the detent lever d so that it follows the movements
thereof and thus when the weighted end of the detent lever is raised with its
tooth out of engagement with the notch e' of the time disc e² the screen
be moved out of the line of sight but when the detent lever d resumes its normal
position the screen will again obstruct the view.
will
The representations are electrically illuminated during the exposure thereof by
the following means:-
i are small incandescent electric lamps the two upper ones of which are suspended
from tubular metal fittings fixed to the top of the wooden case a by a plate i²
whilst the tubular fitting of the lower lamp is similarly fixed to the back of the
case and are the several cells of a battery which are coupled in series and one
pole of which is connected with one pole of each lamp i by leading conductors j*
whilst the other pole of each lampi is connected with the other pole of the battery j
by return conductors * aided by some parts of the mechanism as hereinafter
described.
The return conductors after leaving the lamps i are connected with the
plates of the studs or projections supporting the metal arms of the screens h
and the arms when in their raised positions with the screens removed from the
line of sight come against spring contact pieces which are supported by plates k*
fixed to the back of the case a and connected by return wires with the
battery j
By this arrangement of parts the circuit is completed by the contact pieces k
when the arms and screens are raised and the current then flows through the
plates studs or projections 3 arm contact piece k plate k and away by the
conductor.

page_text: In the example given at Figure 10 the electric light is dispensed with and day-
light is utilized as the illuminant in lieu thereof.
For this purpose a plano-convex lens located in the top of the case a is employed
to collect and condense the rays of light and in a suitable position beneath the lens j
a mirror i is placed and arranged at such an angle as to receive the rays of light
passing through the lens and reflect them on to the image to be exhibited, or if
desired the lens and mirror i may be dispensed with and a simple glass covered
opening employed in lien thereof.
In my Provisional Specification I stated that I caused the weight of the coin to
rotate the picture discs or drums in order to change the pictures but in
practice I find it more convenient to employ the time mechanisms which are set
in motion by the weight of the coin for that purpose.
C
Although I have herein shown rotating discs for carrying and exhibiting the
pictures would have it understood that by slightly modifying the parts may
employ vertical or horizontal drums in lieu thereof and instead of employing several
sets of discs or drums and corresponding parts I may employ only one of such sets
and may if desired dispense with the eye piece and lens and substitute a plain
aperture therefor.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed declare that, what I
claim is:-
:―
1. In a coin operating machine for displaying pictures the combination of a case
provided with an eye aperture therein a picture disc or drum behind the aperture,
a screen arranged to normally close such aperture, mechanism for lifting and
holding the screen raised for a given period of time, means for rotating the picture
disc or drum a given distance, means for illuminating the picture and a device
actuated by the coin for setting the parts in motion substantially as herein shown
and described.
2. In a coin operating machine for displaying pictures the combination of a case
provided with an eye piece therein fitted with a magnifying lens, a picture disc or
drum located behind the lens, a screen arranged to normally cover the lens,
mechanism for lifting and holding the screen raised for a given period of time,
means for rotating the picture disc or drum a given distance, an electric battery, a
lamp connected with such battery, means for completing the circuit during the
time that the screen is raised and a device actuated by the coin for setting the
parts in motion substantially as herein shown and described.
3. In a coin operating machine for displaying pictures the combination of a case
provided with an eye piece therein fitted with a magnifying lens, a picture disc or
drum behind the lens, a screen arranged to normally cover the lens, mechanism for
lifting and holding the screen raised during a given period of time, means for
rotating the picture disc or drum a given distance, means for illuminating the
picture and a device actuated by the coin for setting the parts in motion sub-
stantially as herein shown and described.
4. In a coin operating machine for displaying pictures the combination of a case
provided with several money slots therein, several corresponding apertures fitted or
not with magnifying lenses, a picture disc or drum located behind each lens, a screen
located between each lens and disc or drum and arranged to normally obstruct the
line of sight, mechanism for lifting and holding each screen raised for a given
period of time, means for rotating each picture disc or drum a given distance,
means for illuminating the pictures, and a device corresponding with each money
slot and actuated by the coin for setting each mechanism in motion substantially as
herein shown and described.
5. In a coin operating machine for displaying pictures the combination of a case
provided with several money slots therein several corresponding apertures fitted or
not with magnifying lenses, a picture disc or drum located behind each lens, a
screen located between each lens and disc or drum and arranged to normally

page_text: obstruct the line of sight, mechanism for lifting and holding each screen raised for
a given period of time, means for rotating each picture disc or drum a given
distance, an electric battery, a lamp located near to each picture disc or drum and
connected with the battery, separate means for completing the circuit in which
each lamp is placed during the time that the corresponding screen is raised and a
device corresponding with each money slot and actuated by the coin'for setting each
mechanism in motion substantially as herein shown and described.
Dated this 21st day of April 1891.
WHITE & WOODINGTON,
27, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents.