IMPROVEMENTS IN SAFETY CONTRIVANCES OR SAFETY MECHANISM FOR THE SALE OF RAILWAY TICKETS
Year: 1885

page_text: I, JACOB AMSLER-LAFFON of Schaffhausen in Switzerland, Manufacturer and
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of said invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
SAFETY CONTRIVANCES OR SAFETY MECHANISM FOR THE SALE OF RAILWAY TICKETS "
to be as follows:-
This invention relates to apparatus for checking the sale of railway tickets and
its object is to prevent frauds being perpetrated at the expense of the booking
clerk by persons having access to booking offices. Such frauds are generally
committed as follows:-A booking clerk may be compelled to entrust another
employee for some hours with the sale of railway tickets and the said employeè
may take a ticket out of its proper order and sell it. Or a subordinate, may gain
admittance to a booking office which has been left by the clerk for a short period of
time and may take a ticket out of order and sell it. In either case the fraud will
not be noticeable until too late to detect the offender.
This invention has reference to apparatus designed to render such frauds
dangerous to attempt and difficult to perform successfully, as by its use they can
be immediately detected.
Referring to the accompanying sheet of drawings which is appended in
illustration of the nature of the invention, Figs. 1 and 2 shew in front view and
vertical cross section, a safe containing safety contrivances for the sale of railway
tickets, according to this invention.
The ticket tubes are arranged horizontally the tickets themselves being slightly
inclined (K Figs. II and III), and being arranged with their printed sides to the
front. These tubes form a horizontal row and are laid upon a board A which
is capable of sliding in grooves formed in the sides of the safe. The latter
presents the appearance of a chest of drawers of shallow depth having several
drawers A, A, A, lying one above the other and divided into compartments or
pigeon holes by vertical partitions a¹ a². . . &c.
Figs. III, IV, V are respectively a longitudinal section, a plan and a front view
of a full sized tube such as above mentioned. The front part of each tube is
formed by a plate e of glass or iron sloping slightly towards the rear, and its end
is formed by an abutment piece L

page_text: The tickets standing on their ends parallel to the plate e may be withdrawn
through a slot formed at the bottom of the tube, by means of a slide s moving in
grooves and provided with a hook at the top. The tickets are pressed against the
front part of the tube by the sliding piece b¹ and the spiral spring f. Below the
thumb piece of the slide a appears the number of the last ticket as shewn in Fig. V
or the said number may be arranged to appear by somewhat altering the con-
struction of the tube through an opening formed in the prolongation of the slide
provided the front part of the tube is formed of glass plates. The number of the
ticket is in all cases turned towards the slide.
The space on the front part of the tube above the slide may carry a label
bearing the name of the station to which the tickets refer.
The abutment piece Lis provided with a slot throughout its length in which enters
a steel bolt r equal in length to the said piece. When the drawers are pushed back
in the safe as far as practicable, the levers R¹, R², which are fixed to a vertical
shaft H at the rear part of the slide, are placed in position through slots formed
in the abutment piece L and in the bolts r. By pushing or drawing the lever G
which is mounted upon the lower extremity of the vertical shaft H all the bolts
can be pushed simultaneously to the right or to the left and thereby caused to
enter openings formed in the side walls Q, Q. The lever G can be locked when
in position, by means of the device shewn in Fig. 1. When the pin d is drawn
out, a bolt t, impelled by the action of a spring, is caused to come in front or
behind the lever G, and thus hold the latter fast. The locking bolt t can only be
raised in order to free the lever G by means of a suitable key.
At the bottom of each ticket tube is arranged a slide v, secured at the rear by
the bolt and in front by a bar p which extends along the front edge of the tube
and is rounded on its front edge p¹ to facilitate the removal of tickets. The play of
the above slide is limited by the pin o which enters a notch formed in the slide.
One extremity of the slide v extends so far in front of the plate e as to render
the removal of a ticket impossible until it is pushed in. The other extremity is
slightly curved upwards and is pressed by a spring against the lower edge of the
bolt r, when the latter is in its normal position. u, u¹, are two ratchet teeth cut
out of the said slide v in such a manner that when the latter is pushed back,
these teeth hook upon the bolt r so that the slide cannot be drawn back again.
The displacement of the slide v can be obviously perceived when the tooth u¹ is
hooked on; but when the tooth u is engaged a ticket can be withdrawn without
being torn.
At u the slide is cut out in the form of a rectangle, and upon the small
extreme edge of the said slide a spring h presses and tends to push the latter
forward.
Fig. VII shews the form of the bolt r which is provided with as many
notches (B) as there are slides v.
When the lever G is so placed that the lever R occupies a central position as
shewn in dotted lines in Fig. 7 the notch a ẞ of the bolt is in the position
shewn at a¹¹³ exactly over the slide v; the teeth u u¹ are released and the
springs h push all the slides v forward. When the lever R is placed in the position
shewn at R¹ and the notch in the position a ẞr (which is its normal position),
the slides v can be pushed back and all that remains to be done is to secure them,
at u or u¹.
The lever R being shifted from the position R¹ to the position R", all the slides v
are released (by passing through the position shewn at R) and the edge a ẞy of
the bolt notch arrives in front of the edge u¹ of the slide the latter being
stopped in such a manner that it cannot be pushed back and that no ticket can
be withdrawn.
Should the safe or any of its parts be broken open the fact could be immediately
perceived and traced back to the perpetrator. So long as the booking clerk
remains in his office the bolt t (Fig. 1) is pushed back; when he gives the safe over
for a longer or shorter period to another person, he brings the lever first in the
r

page_text: position shewn at R (all the slides moving forward), and then into the position
shewn at R. In this last case, one ticket is capable of being removed at a time
provided the slide v is first pushed back. After it has been pushed back it will
remain in that position.
When the booking office is left by the clerk for a considerable period, it is
obvious that the numbers appearing at the opening c, c² of the ticket slide should
be copied beforehand. A similar operation, is necessitated when he reassumes his
charge.
In this last case notice must be taken that no ticket has been drawn out of order
that is to say that no number of tickets have been drawn out and placed back after
one lying at the rear has been stolen.
To render this easy to perceive there is provided either the internal mechanism
shewn in Figs. III and IV or the still simpler arrangement illustrated in Figs. VIII
to XI.
Upon the follower b, b' which pushes the tickets forward under the pressure of a
spring fis arranged a lever M (Figs. III and IV) which oscillates upon a pivot x
and carries a spring mo resting against the pin y and tending to push the lever
round to the left. Below the lever is arranged a link n one extremity n¹ of which
presses, under the action of the spring n against the tube wall a', and is pivoted
upon a pin z. In order that the piece n may answer to the pressure of the above
spring, the former is provided with a longitudinal notch. The spring could also be
attached at n and caused to bear upon the pin z.
The lever M is provided with two projections m³, m² which are curved downward
in such a manner that when the lever is pressed against the extremity n¹ of the
link n, the projection m³ is brought to bear against the oblique edge of the said
link, and thus pushes the latter to the right. If the lever is now released the
pressure of the spring causes the projection m² to bear against the corner q of the
link n which springs forward to meet it.
The link n could also be arranged in a vertical position so as to bear against
the bottom of the tube if found more convenient. When tickets are drawn out the
follower b¹ moves backwards towards the plate e while the extremity n¹ of the link
slides along the tube wall a¹ and in consequence of the friction the link n presses
against the projection m². When on the contrary a ticket is introduced under the
slide 8, the follower b¹ recoils, the projection m²' abuts under the action of the
spring mo against the corner or ratchet tooth q and the lever moves its position
to M.
For checking purposes, the lever b (as also the lever R) is placed in a central
position the bolt is withdrawn from the openings in the walls Q, Q¹ and each
drawer A¹, All.
can be drawn out, so that a glance will suffice to notice if
all the levers are in their normal position, and when it occurs that one of the levers
is found out of gear, the tickets must be counted out to ascertain if any of them
is missing.
If the follower be pushed back with one hand until the hook of the lever M
engages with the pin go, and the tickets K be held by the other hand, fresh tickets
can be introduced. A pressure upon the long extremity of the lever releases the
hook m³, the projection m² being then caused to fasten upon the corner or ratchet
tooth g, while the follower is allowed to move forward. The mechanism shewn in
Figs. VIII to XI is of a simpler construction than the above its mode of operation
being to cause the tickets to abut directly upon a stop piece. In a groove of the
side wall a is placed a steel spring one extremity of which is sharpened and
curved over while the other extremity carries a small lever g³. The sharp end g¹
presses laterally upon the tickets which can be drawn forward without meeting
with any obstacle but cannot be pushed back without carrying the wire with them
that is to say, without forcing it back. The wire is pushed forward under
a slight pressure by the spring K, and the lever g³ presses under the action of the
same spring against the plate i below the projection of the latter and in conse-
quence of the point g¹ pressing against the tickets, the wire spring is subject to a

page_text: torsion. As soon as it is attempted to introduce a ticket in the tube the wire g is
pushed backward by reason of the pressure exerted upon the pointed extremity g¹
of the wire and the lever is disengaged from the projection , in consequence of the
torsional action of the lateral pressure exerted on the ticket and moves upward
until it strikes upon the bottom of the drawer above or upon the cover of the safe,
as shewn in dotted lines on the drawing. When the drawer immediately above the
said lever is pulled out the lever g³ continues to rise and the drawer can only be
put back when the said lever is placed below the projection of the plate i.
In lieu of using any particular mechanism for detecting the introduction of
tickets the same object may be effected in the following manner. The tickets used
are perforated in proximity to their upper edge by means of a needle and a thread
is passed through (say) fifty tickets, this thread being secured to the rearmost
ticket or being attached to the abutment piece L. The above thread is cut level
with the foremost ticket. In this manner once a ticket has been withdrawn it
cannot be put back again provided the safe is closed.

page_text: Improvements in Safety Contrivances or Safety Mechanism for
the Sale of Railway Tickets.
I, JACOB AMSLER-LAFFON, of Schaffhausen, in Switzerland, Manufacturer and
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention, and in what manner the
aame is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement:-
This invention relates to apparatus for checking the sale of railway tickets and
its object is to prevent frauds being perpetrated at the expense of the booking
clerk by persons having access to booking offices. Such frauds are generally
committed as follows:-A booking clerk may be compelled to entrust another
employed for, some hours with the sale of railway tickets and the said employeé
may take a ticket out of its proper order and sell it. Or a subordinate may gain
admittance to a booking office which has been left by the clerk for a short period of
time and may take a ticket out of order and sell it. In either case the fraud will
not be noticeable until too late to detect the offender.
This invention has reference to apparatus designed to render such frauds
dangerous to attempt and difficult to perform successfully, as by its use they can be
immediately detected.
Referring to the accompanying sheet of drawings, Figs. I and II shew in front
view and vertical cross section, a safe or cabinet containing safety contrivances for
the sale of railway tickets, according to this invention.
Figs. I and II are drawn on a smaller scale; the mechanism in the compartments
are also omitted.
Fig. III is a vertical section through a single compartment; and also shows the
mechanism connected therewith.
Fig. IV is a plan of the same.
Fig. V is front elevation of two tubes or compartments, the slide in one being
in the upper, in the other in the lower position.
Fig. VI is the corresponding horizontal section through the front plate.
Fig. VII is a detail view shewing the band or bar r in two different positions,
one in full and the other in dotted lines.
Figs. VIII to XI illustrate a modification of the arrangements shown in
Figs. III and IV: they are respectively a vertical section, a plan, and two cross
sections through a tube or compartment, one at the back, and the other at the
front.
(Fig. X also shows the lever g³ in two different positions.)
The ticket tubes or compartments are arranged horizontally the tickets them-
selves being slightly inclined (Figs. II and III), and being arranged with their
printed sides to the front. These tubes or compartments form a borizontal row and
are laid upon a board A which is capable of sliding in grooves formed in the sides
of the safe or cabinet. The latter presents the appearance of a chest of drawers

page_text: of shallow depth having several drawers A1, A2, A3, lying one above the other and
divided into compartments or pigeon holes by vertical partitions a¹ a²... &c.
Figs. III, IV, V are respectively a longitudinal section, a plan and a front view of
a full sized tube or compartment such as above mentioned. The front part of each
tube is formed by a plate e of glass or iron sloping slightly towards the rear, and
its end is formed by an abutment piece L.
The tickets standing on their ends parallel to the plate e may be withdrawn
through a slot formed at the bottom of the tube, by means of a slide s moving in
grooves and provided with a hook at the top. The tickets are pressed against the
front part of the tube by the sliding piece b' and the spiral spring f. Below the
thumb piece of the slide 8 appears the number of the last ticket as shewn in Fig. V
or by somewhat altering the construction of the tube or compartment the said
number may be arranged to appear through an opening formed in the prolongation
of the slide provided the front part of the tube is formed of glass plates. The
number of the ticket is in all cases turned towards the slide.
The space on the front part of the tube above the slide may carry a label bearing
the name of the station to which the tickets refer.
The abutment piece L is provided with a slot throughout its length in which
enters a steel band or slide bar r equal in length to the said piece. When the
drawers are pushed back into the safe or cabinet as far as practicable, the
levers R1, R2, which are fixed to a vertical shaft H at the rear part of the slide,
are placed in position through slots formed in the abutment piece L and in the
bands or bars 7. By pushing or drawing the lever G, which is mounted upon the
lower extremity of the vertical shaft H all the bands or bars can be pushed
simultaneously to the right or to the left and thereby caused to enter openings
formed in the side walls Q. Q¹. The lever G can be locked when in position, by
means of the device shewn in Fig. I. When the pin d is drawn out, a bolt t,
impelled by the action of a spring, is caused to come in front of or behind the
lever G, and thus hold the latter fast. The locking bolt t can only be raised in
order to free the lever G by means of a suitable key. At the bottom of each
ticket tube or compartment there is arranged a slide v, secured at the rear by the
band or bar and in front by a bar p which extends along the front of the tube
and is rounded on its forward edge p¹ to facilitate the removal of tickets. The
play of the above slide is limited by the pin o which enters a notch formed in the
slide.
One extremity of the slide v extends so far in front of the plate e as to render
the removal of a ticket impossible until it is pushed in. The other extremity is
slightly curved upwards and is pressed by a spring against the lower edge of the
band or bar r, when the latter is in its normal position. u, u¹, are two ratchet
teeth cut out of the said slide vin such a manner that when the latter is pushed
back, these teeth hook upon the band or bar r so that the slide cannot be drawn
back again. The displacement of the slide v can be obviously perceived when
the tooth u¹ is hooked on; but when the tooth u is engaged a ticket can be
withdrawn without being torn.
At the slide vis cut out in the form of a rectangle, and upon the small
extreme edge ull of the said slide a spring h presses and tends to push the latter
forward.
Fig. VII shews the form of the band or bar which is provided with as many
notches (a B) as there are slides v.
When the lever G is so placed that the lever R occupies a central position as
shewn in dotted lines in Fig. VII the notches a ẞ8 of the band or bar r are in
the positions shewn at a¹ B1 81 exactly over the slide v; the teeth u u¹ are
released and the springs h push all the slides forward. When the lever R is
placed in the position shewn at R³ and the notches in the positions a ẞr (which
are the normal positions), the slides v can be pushed back and all that remains to
be done is to secure them, at u or u¹.

page_text: The lever R being shifted from the position R₁ to the position R", all the slides v
are released (by passing through the position shewn at R) and the edge a ẞy of
the notch arrives in front of the edge of the slide v the latter being stopped
in such a manner that it cannot be pushed back and that no ticket can be
withdrawn.
Should the safe or cabinet or any of its parts be broken open the fact could be
immediately perceived and traced back to the perpetrator. So long as the booking
clerk remains in his office the bolt t (Fig. I) is pushed back; when he gives the
safe over for a longer or shorter period to another person, he brings the lever first
in the position shewn at R (all the slides moving forward), and then into the
position shewn at R. In this last case, one ticket is capable of being removed at
a time provided the slide vis first pushed back. After it has been pushed back it
will remain in that position.
When the booking office is left by the clerk for a considerable period it is
obvious that the numbers appearing at the openings c, c¹ of the ticket slide should
be copied beforehand. A similar operation is necessitated when he reassumes his
charge.
In this last case notice must be taken that no ticket has been drawn out of order
that is to say that no number of tickets have been drawn out and placed back after
one lying at the rear has been stolen.
To render this easy to perceive there is provided either the internal mechanism
shewn in Figs. III and IV or the still simpler arrangement illustrated in
Figs. VIII to XI.
Upon the follower b, b¹ which pushes the tickets forward under the pressure of
a spring fis arranged a lever M (Figs. III and IV) which oscillates upon a pivot x
and carries a spring m° resting against the pin y and tending to push the lever
round to the left. Below the lever is arranged a link n one extremity n¹ of which
presses, under the action of the spring n against the tube wall a', and is pivotted
upon a pin z. In order that the piece n may answer to the pressure of the above
spring the former is provided with a longitudinal notch. The spring could also be
attached at and caused to bear upon the pin z.
The lever M is provided with two projections m³, m³ which are curved
downward in such a manner that when the lever is pressed against the extremity n¹
of the link n the projection m¹ is brought to bear against the oblique edge of the
said link and thus pushes the latter to the right. If the lever is now released
the pressure of the spring causes the projection m² to bear against the corner q of
the link n which springs forward to meet it.
The link n could also be arranged in a vertical position so as to bear against the
bottom of the tube if found more convenient. When tickets are drawn out the
follower 6¹ moves forwards towards the plate e while the extremity n¹ of the link
slides along the tube wall a¹ and in consequence of the friction the link n presses
against the projection m². When on the contrary a ticket is introduced under the
slides the follower b¹ recoils, under the action of the spring mo the projection m²
slips off over the corner or ratchet tooth and the lever moves its position to M³.
For checking purposes, the lever G (as also the lever R) is placed in a central
position the band or bar r is withdrawn from the openings in the walls Q, Q and
each drawer A¹, A" . . . can be drawn out, so that a glance will suffice to
notice if all the levers are in their normal position, and when it occurs that one of
the levers is found out of gear, the tickets must be counted out to ascertain if any
of them is missing.
If the follower be pushed back with one hand until the hook of the lever M
engages with the pin go and the tickets K be held by the other hand, fresh tickets
can be introduced. A pressure upon the long extremity of the lever releases the
hook m³, the projection m² being then caused to fasten upon the corner or ratchet
tooth 9, while the follower is allowed to move forward. The mechanism shewn in
Figs. VIII to XI is of a simpler construction than the above, its mode of operation

page_text: being to cause the tickets to abut directly upon a stop piece. In a groove of the
side wall a¹ is placed a steel spring 9 one extremity of which is sharpened and
curved over while the other extremity carries a small lever g³. The sharp end g¹
presses laterally upon the tickets which can be drawn forward without meeting
with any obstacle but cannot be pushed back without carrying the wire with them
that is to say, without forcing it back. The wire g is pushed forward under a
slight pressure by the spring k and the lever g³ presses under the action of the
same spring against the plate i below the projection of the latter and in
consequence of the point g¹ pressing against the tickets, the wire spring is subject
to a torsion. As soon as it is attempted to introduce a ticket in the tube the
wire g is pushed backward by reason of the pressure exerted upon the pointed
extremity g' of the wire and the lever is disengaged from the projection i', in
consequence of the torsional action of the lateral pressure exerted on the ticket
and moves upward until it strikes upon the bottom of the drawer above or upon
the cover of the safe or cabinet as shewn in dotted lines on the drawing Fig. X.
When the drawer immediately above the said lever is pulled out the lever g³
continues to rise and the drawer can only be put back when the said lever is
placed below the projection of the plate .
In lieu of using any particular mechanism for detecting the introduction of
tickets the same object may be effected in the following manner. The tickets used
are perforated in proximity to their upper edge by means of a needle, and a thread
is passed through (say) fifty tickets, this thread being secured to the rearmost
ticket or being attached to the abutment piece L. The above thread is cut level
with the foremost ticket. In this manner once a ticket has been withdrawn it
cannot be put back again provided the safe is closed.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, I declare that what I claim is
1. A safe or safety cabinet for the storage and issue of railway tickets,
consisting of open topped tubes or compartments formed as drawers, and arranged
in horizontal rows, each tube or compartment being so constructed that the
tickets stand vertically or nearly so, and can only be withdrawn therefrom one at
a time, substantially as described.
2. In a safe or safety cabinet for the storage and issue of railway tickets, a
delivery apparatus, such as the downward directing slide 8, so constructed that
it permits the number of the foremost ticket to be displayed at all times, and only
delivers one ticket at a time substantially as described.
3. In a safe or safety cabinet for the storage and issue of railway tickets, the
combination of a slide, such as v by which the orifice or outlet of the tickets may
be closed, and a bolt, band or bar, such as r, so constructed that the slide can be
locked in either of two positions, or be rendered self locking if moved, sub-
stantially as described and for the purposes specified.
4. In a safe or safety cabinet for the storage and issue of railway tickets, the
combination of a slide, such as v, a bolt, baud or bar, such as r, and means for
locking the said bolt, band or bar in the desired position, substantially as described.
5. The safety mechanism for the sale of railway tickets, constructed, arranged
and operating substantially as described with reference to Figs. I to VII of the
drawings.
6. In a safe or safety cabinet for the storage and issue of railway tickets,
mechanism designed to indicate if a ticket has been replaced, and consisting of a
rubbing piece, such as u pressing against the wall or side of the compartment, and
provided with a projection for carrying a spring lever, such as M, substantially as
described.
7. Mechanism designed to indicate if a ticket has been replaced, constructed,
arranged and operating substantially as described with reference to Figs. III
TIT

page_text: 8. In a safe or safety cabinet for the storage and issue of railway tickets, trip
mechanism designed to indicate if a ticket has been replaced, and consisting of an
clastic arm g which presses at its end g¹ against the tickets in combination with a
lever such as g³, which is held beneath the projection ¹ by means of its elasticity
so long as a ticket is not replaced, substantially as described.
9. The method of rendering visible the taking of railway tickets out of order by
threading them on a string which is fixed behind the rearmost ticket and enclosing
them in a tube or compartment substantially as described.