Improvements in Toy Banks.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 17th May, 1892-Accepted, 1st. Oct., 1892
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Toy Banks.
I, LEROY WILBUR BALDWIN, a citizen of the United States residing at
60 Murray Street, New York in the County of New York and State of New
York, United States of America, Gentleman 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 that class of mechanism by which a receptacle for coin
or other things may be locked and remain locked until the expiration of a certain
time before it can be opened.
In the drawings,
Fig. 1 is a vertical section of liner- of Fig. 2, showing a portion of a clock
case, with a coin receptacle and opening mechanism.
Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same, a part of casing being broken away.
Fig. 3 is a detail of a portion of the back of the casing.
It is evident that if a toy bank could be made with a lock which could be set to
open at a certain date, it would be useful in enabling children to save up their
money for a certain day, as Christmas. The great cost of the ordinary form of
time lock has heretofore prevented anything of the kind being applied to a toy
bank, however, and the combination of such a bank with an ordinary clock has
been out of the question because the work of releasing the lock by any cheap
mechanism would be sufficient to destroy the accuracy of the lock movement and
consequently detract from its value as a time keeper.
To avoid these difficulties and disadvantages I have hit upon the idea of employ-
ing the power exerted to wind up the clock to operate the lock, instead of calling
upon the power of the clock train to do this work. The clock train merely stands
guard over the lock and will not permit it to be opened until it (the clock move-
meut) has run down and been wound up a certain number of times, during which
a certain number of hours or days must have elapsed. After the clock has run
down a certain number of times, determined by setting the intermediate mechanism,
a further attempt to wind it up will release the lock and permit the door to open.
When the mechanism is entirely hidden, as in certain classes of apparatus, the
operator may lose his record of the date at which, and time for which, he has set
the lock, and cannot tell how much time must expire before the door can be
opened. Again it may happen that with a cheaply constructed mechanism, or
when the clock has run down and stopped for an indefinite period, the door will
not open exactly at the predetermined time, and the operator will become disgusted
with it, and think it permanently locked.
To obviate these disadvantages, I have hit upon the idea of putting a window
on the casing through which the figures on the dial which indicate the number of
days yet to run before the lock can be opened, can be successfully read. Thus by
looking through the window the operator can tell at any time the number of days
which must elapse before the clock can be opened.
The above is my preferred principle of operation though it would be possible
to combine an ordinary toy savings bank having a slot through which the accumu-
lated coins may be removed, with a clock and a train of mechanism so arranged
that the power stored up in the clock spring should open the lock at a predetermined
time, by simply reversing the action of the pawl and ratchet connection herein
shown and described.
Referring to the mechanism shown in the drawings, 1 is a casing which is
divided by the partitions 2 and 3 into a chamber 1 in which the usual train of
clock mechanism is contained, a second chamber 22, which serves as a receptacle

page_text: 1
for money of various kinds and a third chamber which contains the opening
mechanism. The main spring shaft goes through the three chambers and the
casing 1.
In the clock case proper is the clock train 5, which operates the hands before
the clock face over which the glass 4, is placed in the manner common and well
understood. 6 is the shaft to which one end of the clock main spring 25, is
attached, from which shaft the clock train is driven and by which the spring
is wound up. On this main spring shaft is the flange or disc 7, upon which is
mounted the pawl 8, by the pivot 10. This pawl is normally held against the
stop, 11, by the weighted end 8" or by the light spring 9.
The pawl 8, engages with the teeth of the star wheel 12, when the shaft 6, is
turned in the direction indicated by the arrow, turning the star wheel one tooth
for every revolution of the shaft in the direction of the arrow, but slipping by
when turned in the opposite direction.
On the same shaft 13, as the star wheel, 12, and rigid therewith is the pinion 14,
which meshes with the teeth in the circumference of the dial wheel 15. On this
wheel is mounted the pin or stop 16, and the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4 etc. are marked one
for every two teeth on the circumference. The door 26, opening into the chamber 2*,
has hinges 27, and a spring catch 18, which snaps over a peg or projection 19, and
locks the door when it is closed. When the catch 18, is forced down, as by
pressure of the stop 16, the lock is released and the spring 20 forces the door open.
37, is a slot through which money may be deposited in the receptacle 2ª. The
dial, 15 revolves stiffly on the arbor 24. A milled head, 24° enables the operator
to set the dial.
In a modified form of my invention, a key-hole 17, shown in dotted lines Fig. 1,
is cut in the dial 15, and another key-hole 21, is cut in the casing 1. When these
two key-holes are in line the key, 23, may be introduced and either alone or in
conjunction with the pin, 16 acts to open the lock in a manner easily understood.
This gives a positive means of operating the locks.
The window, 22 is formed in the back of the casing 1. The row of figures
shown on the dial in Fig. 3, pass successively behind this window and the operator
can adjust the dial so that the figures representing the number of days for which
the bank is to be set will appear behind the window. Then as the mechanism acts.
from day to day, the remaining term of days can be read at any time and no other
record of dates is necessary.
If the modification involving the key is used, the
numbers read through the window will tell the operator when to insert the key.
The method of operating my invention is as follows:
The bank being open, the dial, 15 is turned around until the figure indicating the
number of days for which it is to be set, comes opposite the window, 22, the shaft 6,
having first been turned so that the pawl, 8 will not interfere with the revolution
of the star wheel. The door being closed, locks itself and cannot be unlocked
from the outside. Suppose the bank is set for ten days, then every night when the
clock is wound up the shaft 6 is given five revolutions as is customary in cheap
clocks, and the star wheel 12 is turned one tooth at each revolution of the disc, 7,
or five in all. This gives the pinion 14, a third revolution and causes it to pass
two teeth of the dial wheel, 15. After the clock has run twenty four hours and
has been wound up again, ten times, during which time ten days have elapsed, a
further winding up of the clock will force the pin or stop 16, against the catch 18,
and release the lock so that the door will fly open and the contents of the bank
may be removed. Or as before stated, the key, 23, may be inserted and the
lock thus opened.
Either the dial, 15, or the star wheel, 12 are so mounted that, while moved by
pressure of the hand, they will stay where they are placed and not turn from
external causes such as moving the clock about. It is evident that the notion
might be transmitted from any member of the clock train other than the main
spring without departing from the spirit of my invention in its broadest scope,
and that any adjustable train of mechanism and any other lock may be used, that

page_text: the coin receptacle might be placed at the back or top, instead of the middle of
the clock casing. Moreover when the modification involving the key, 23 is used the
window, 22 might be dispensed with if the key-holes were large enough so that
the operator could tell by looking in them, when they were in line. This he could
easily do as they would come into line while he was winding the clock.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
:
1. The combination of a coin receptacle, a door for said receptacle, a lock on
said door, an adjustable dial plate enclosed in the same casing with said receptacle,
a clock train, gearing which conveys motion from the clock train to the dial, means
which at a certain position of the dial may operate to open the door, and a window
in the casing by which the figures on the dial may be read successively as the dial
turns and its position thereby determined, substantially as described.
2. The combination of a coin receptacle, a door for said receptacle, a lock on
said door, an adjustable dial plate enclosed in the same casing with said receptacle,
a key hole in said plate, a key hole in said casing, a key which may be inserted to
open the lock when the key holes are in line, a clock train and gearing conveying
motion from the main spring shaft of said clock train to said dial, two members of
said gearing having a pawl and ratchet connection whereby the dial is moved when
the main shaft is turned backward to wind up the clock, but not when the shaft is
turned forward to drive the clock train, substantially as described.
3. The combination of a coin receptacle, a door for said receptacle, a clock on
said door, an adjustable dial plate enclosed in the same casing with said receptacle,
a key hole in said dial plate, a key hole in said casing, a key which may be inserted
to open the lock when the two key holes are in line, a clock train and gearing con-
veying motion from the main spring shaft of said clock train to said dial, two
members of said gearing having a pawl and ratchet connection whereby the dial is
moved when the main shaft is turned backward to wind up the clock, but not when
the shaft is turned forward to drive the clock train, together with a window in the
casing through which the figures on the dial may be read successively as the dial
turns and its position thereby determined, substantially as described.
4. The combination of a clock having its face exposed to view so as to tell time,
a coin receptacle, a door for said receptacle, a lock on said door and mechanism
whereby motion may be transmitted at the expiration of a predetermined period
from a member of the clock train to the clock and the bolt thereby automatically
disengaged from its catch, substantially as described.
5. The combination of a closed receptacle, a door for said receptacle, a lock on
said door, a clock train, and an adjustable train of mechanism conveying motion
from the shaft of the main spring to the lock, whereby after the main spring has
run down a certain number of times or fraction of a time, a further winding up of
the spring will release the lock, substantially as described.
6. The combination of a coin receptacle, a door for said receptacle, a lock on
said door, an adjustable dial plate enclosed in the same casing with said receptacle,
a projection on said dial plate which operates the lock, a clock train, and gearing
conveying motion directly from the main spring shaft of said clock train to said
dial, substantially as described.
7. The combination of a coin receptacle, a door for said receptacle, a lock on
said door, an adjustable dial plate enclosed in the same casing with said receptacle,
a projection on said dial plate which operates the lock, a clock train and gearing
conveying motion from the main spring shaft of said clock train to said dial, two
members of said gearing having a pawl and ratchet connection whereby the dial is
moved when the main shaft is turned backward to wind up the clock but not
when the shaft is turning forward to drive the clock train substantially as
described.
8. The combination of a closed receptacle, a door for said receptacle, a lock on

page_text: said door, a clock train and an adjustable train of gearing conveying motion from
the main spring shaft of said clock train to said clock, two members of said train
gearing having a pawl and ratchet connection whereby the gearing is moved when
the main spring shaft is turned backward to wind up the clock but not when the
shaft is turned forward to drive the clock train, so that after the main spring has
run down a certain number of times, a further winding up of the spring will release
the lock, substantially as described.
Dated this 16th der of Mar 1000