Improvements in Trays to Facilitate Picking Up Coins.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 26th Sept.; 1896
Complete Specification Left, 21st Oct., 1896-Accepted, 21st Nov., 1896
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Trays to Facilitate Picking Up Coins.
JAMES HUNTER GRAY, 2 Brick Court Temple London E.C. Barrister-at-
Law do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The object of my invention is to provide a tray or platform, which will enable
coins placed upon it to be picked up by the hand without difficulty. For this
purpose I take, in one of the forms of my invention, a closed vessel made of sheet
indiarubber or any other flexible cloth which is fairly airtight. This vessel is so
made that, when inflated with air, it has a large flat or nearly flat horizontal surface;
that is, it should resemble more or less a plate or tray. The horizontal diameter of
this vessel will be determined by the size of tray wanted: a convenient diameter.
for practical purposes is 7 or 8 inches. The tray may be round, square or any
other desired shape: A convenient way of making a round tray is to take a
circular rim of wood or metal, and adjust the indiarubber or cloth round about it,
the circular rim thus serving as the vertical sides of the tray. A valve of any kind
fitted into the rim will allow of the vessel being inflated to any desired pressure,
if the cloth used is quite airtight. It is advisable, although not necessary that the
cloth or indiarubber should be stretched tightly on the rim, so that even when the
air is at the same pressure inside as outside, the horizontal surface should have
considerable resilience. When the cloth or india rubber has only a slight tension,
the pressure of the air inside, if considerable, causes the surface to bulge up so
much that coins laid upon it would tend to run or slide off. A very slight bulging
is however advisable, as it enables the fingers of the hand to take hold of the coins
more easily. If it be desired to have a great pressure; so that the bulging is
considerable, the steepness may be counteracted by placing upon the surface:
another light surface, the thickness of which is least at the centre & greatest at
the circumference: If the cloth has been stretched very tightly on the frame, it
will not be found necessary to increase the pressure inside. The elasticity of the
imprisoned air & of the cloth or indiarubber together makes it very easy for any
one to pick up even a very small coin placed on the tray, as one edge of the coin
is raised up when the opposite edge is pressed down by the finger.
Instead of making the whole vessel of cloth or indiarubber, I may make it all.
except the top surface, of metal or any other fairly airtight rigid material, & cover:
the top only with a horizontal sheet of cloth or indiarubber, stretched more or less
tightly.
In a third form in which the elasticity of the air plays a smaller part, take a
rim only, & stretch on the upper side a sheet of indiarubber or cloth having at
least a little elasticity. The bottom surface of the rim is left open. In this case
it is much preferable that the surface should be considerably stretched when
fixed.
In all these forms, the material of the surface should be inade very durable,
or some other good wearing material can be laid upon it. Also, the surface: may:.
be roughened in any desired rhanner, so as to facilitate the operation of lifting
the coins:
Dated th sein
rode
!

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Trays to Facilitate Picking Up Coins.
I, JAMES HUNTER GRAY, of 2 Brick Court Temple London E.C. Barrister-
at-Law 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 :-
The object of my invention is to provide a tray which will enable coins to be
picked up by the band without difficulty. For this purpose, I take, in one of the
forms of my invention, a closed vessel made of sheet indiarubber or any other
flexible cloth which is fairly airtight. This vessel is so made that, when inflated
with air, it has a large flat horizontal or nearly horizontal surface, that is, it should
resemble more or less a plate or tray. The horizontal diameter and the depth of
this vessel will be determined by the size of tray wanted: a convenient diameter
for this purpose is 7 or 8 inches. The tray may be made round, square or any
other desired shape. A convenient way of making a round tray is to take a
circular rim of wood or metal about inch deep and adjust the indiarubber or cloth
round about it, the circular rim thus serving as the vertical sides of the tray..
A valve of any kind fitted into the rim will allow of the vessel being inflated to any
desired pressure, if the cloth or indiarubber used is quite airtight. It is advisable,
although not necessary, that the cloth or indiarubber should be stretched tightly
on the rim, so that, even when the air is at the same pressure inside as outside, the
horizontal surface should have considerable resilience. When the cloth or india-
rubber has only a slight tension, the pressure of the air inside, if considerable,
causes the surface to bulge up so much that coins laid upon it would tend to run or
slide off. A very slight bulging is however advisable, as it enables the fingers of
the hand to take hold of the coins more easily. If it be desired to have a great
pressure inside, so that the bulging is considerable, the steepness may be counter-
acted by placing upon the surface another light surface, the thickness of which is
least at the centre and greatest at the circumference. If the cloth has been
stretched very tightly on the frame, it will not be found necessary to increase the
pressure inside. The elasticity of the imprisoned air and of the cloth or indiarubber
together makes it very easy for anyone to pick up even a very small coin placed.
on the tray, as one edge of the coin is raised up when the opposite edge is pressed
down by the finger.
Instead of making the whole vessel of cloth or indiarubber, I may make it all,
except the top surface, of metal or any other fairly airtight rigid material, and
cover the top only with a horizontal sheet of cloth or indiarubber stretched more or
less tightly.
In a third form, in which the elasticity of the air plays a smaller part, I take a
rim only, and stretch on the upper side a sheet of indiarubber or other cloth which
has at least a little elasticity. The bottom surface of the rim is left open. In this
case it is much preferable that the surface should be considerably stretched, when
fixed.
In all these forms, the material of the surface should be made very durable, or
some other good wearing material can be placed upon it. For example, an elastic
parchment or some other elastic skin will be found to be a good substitute for
indiarubber and will wear, well. Also, the surface may be roughened in any desired
manner, so as to further facilitate the operation of lifting the coins.
In the second and third forms described above, the flexible surface may be fixed
to the rim in any suitable manner which will maintain it in a state of more or less
tension, and although only one method adapted for indiarubber is described in
detail and illustrated in the drawings, I do not confine myself to that method
alone.

page_text: Figure 1. is a vertical section along a diameter of the tray made according to
the first form. A A is the indiarubber vessel, C a cross section of the circular rim
which maintains the vessel in its flat shape. Either of the sides A A in Figure 1.
may be used for laying and lifting the coins.
Figure 2 is a vertical section along a diameter of the tray made according to
the second form. C B C is the metal tray, and A is the indiarubber sheet. The
vertical parts C of the metal tray are made curved as shown, so as to allow the
sheet A which has a thickened flange D (made preferably of less elastic material
than the rest of the sheet) all round its edge, to be sprung on the rim C, and held
there. The shape of the rim C may be varied considerably, according to the
method of fastening the sheet A.
Figure 3 is a vertical section along a diameter of the tray made according to the
third form, and is the same as the second form, except that there is only a rim C
and the bottom B of Figure 2 is omitted.
A plan of all the three forms shows simply a circular plane when the tray is
circular.
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 :-
A cash tray, consisting of a flexible surface having air under it and adapted to
be stretched over or placed upon a closed or open frame, substantially as described
and illustrated in the drawings.
Dated this 21st day of October 1896.
JAMES HUNTER GRAY.