TILL FOR AUTOMATICALLY SORTING COINS, AND INDICATING, ON SCALES, THE DEPOSIT AND EXTRACTION THEREOF
Year: 1884

page_text: I HARRY GORDON FORBES of Upton House, Bitton in the county of Gloucester-
shire do hereby declare the nature of my said invention for A TILL FOR
AUTOMATICALLY SORTING COINS, AND INDICATING, ON SCALES, THE DEPOSIT AND
EXTRACTION THEREOF to be as follows:-
•
An apparatus, hereinafter described, which separates coins of different values
from one another, allowing them to fall into separate tubular compartments, and
shows the amount contained in the said compartments, by means of indicators
which move whenever a coin is put in or extracted. The said indicators, consisting
of clockhands, moving up and down in front of scales.
The coins are sorted by means of a tray, inclined both in the direction of its
length, and also sideways, and having a ledge along the lower side, as seen in
Fig. I. Sheet I, and having also parallelogram shaped holes cut in it, on the same
side, a slight interval being left between each hole and the ledge, and each of the
said holes being slightly wider than the coin which is intended to fall through it,
so that the coins, sliding down the tray, and resting against the ledge, slip through
those holes which are wide enough to admit of their passage, but pass over those
which are too narrow to do so.
To assist in keeping the coins against the ledge are certain flexible barriers,
(omitted for the sake of clearness in fig I but given in Fig III Sheet 1) made of
parchment thin wood or other light material, fastened upon bristles, and attached
to the side of the tray. The coins in passing these barriers, push them aside, but
are themselves kept close against the ledge by them.
The coins are caused to slide down this tray, one by one by the apparatus
represented in Figs IV and V Sheet I, which consists of a tablet, marked A, which
being lowered by pressure on the knob B and the coins placed thereon, in a pile
rises again slowly, forced up by the spring C so that the coins as they rise above
the edge slip off and slide down the tray. In order that the tablet may not rise
too quickly, the brass rod D, is made to pass between two pieces of leather, or indian
rubber fastened upon wood, the pressure being regulated by the screws E F Fig IV
Sheet I.
After passing through the holes the coins slip through compartments shewn
in Fig V1 Sheet I, which have metal sides converging until they allow just

page_text: space enough for the coins to pass out at the lower end. The sides are cut away,
at this narrow part to the shape shown at A Fig VI so that the coins, partially
projecting turn the wheels or turnstiles; marked,-a, b, c, d, e Fig VII Sheet II.
The said turnstiles are fixed at the centre of small reels shewn, in fig VII
Sheet II, from each of which two threads pass to other similar reels in the lower
part of the apparatus, having also turnstiles fixed in the same manner. The
threads are so attached that while one thread is being wound upon the upper recl
the other thread is wound upon the lower reel. This is illustrated by fig VIII
Sheet II. The lower set of turnstiles is not shewn in Fig VII.
After turning the upper turnstiles, the coins fall into tubes (shown in Fig VII
which may be either cylinders or, half cylinders.
The coins lie in piles in these tubes, resting upon tablets. For the purpose of
removing the coins these tablets are made capable of sliding backwards and
forwards, and are connected with the knobs, marked 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, Fig VII Sheet II
in such a manner that they may be worked, by pressure on the same. Each of the
tablets has a raised portion which pushes before it the lowest coin in the pile,
whenever the tablet is moved forward, and a spring prevents the coin from
returning as the tablet moves back,
On the coins being pushed out in the aforesaid manner, they slide down trays
marked F, G, H K L Fig VII, and pass through compartments with converging
sides similar to those already described, and in issuing from them move the lower
turnstiles Clockhands are fixed to certain points on the threads, and scales are
placed behind them (These are not shewn in the diagram).
Every coin in entering the Till moves one of the upper turnstiles, winding a
small portion of thread on the reel attached, and so causing the hand to rise on the
scale, and in leaving moves the corresponding lower turnstile causing the hand to
be lowered again.
Three such apparatus are provided for gold, silver, and copper. The whole is
enclosed in an outer case, not shown in the figures.
Dated thin and da— of in: 100%

page_text: I HARRY GORDON FORDES of Upton House, Bitton in the County of Gloucester
do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention for "A TILL FOR AUTOMATICALLY
SORTING COINS AND INDICATING ON SCALES THE DEPOSIT OR EXTRACTION THEREOF
"
and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement, reference being had to the
accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification.
The object of my invention is to provide a till or receptacle for money having
apparatus which will automatically sort the coins placed in the said till according
to their value, and register their deposit in and extraction therefrom, thus preventing
fraud and mistakes, and serving as an assistance in keeping accounts. The apparatus
may be modified to suit coins of gold silver or copper,
L
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS,
Figure 1 is a front elevation of my improved apparatus for receiving the coins
and passing them singly to the sorting tray.
Figure 2 is a view of the sorting tray and apparatus.
Figure 3 shows a modified form of the sorting apparatus.
Figure 4 is a front elevation of the registering apparatus and scales.
Figure 5 is a side view of a portion of the registering apparatus.
Figure 6 illustrates my apparatus for the extraction of the coins.
:
Figure 7 illustrates the means employed to register the abstraction of the coins,
in connection with the extracting apparatus shown in figure 6.
Like letters indicate like parts in all the figures.
In order to ensure the proper action of my improved apparatus it is necessary
that the coins be placed upon the sorting tray one at a time. For this purpose I
provide the feeding apparatus shown in figure 1 whereby the coins are automatically
fed or passed one at a time to the sorting tray. a is a portion of the outer case of
the till or apparatus. A represents a partition or sheet of wood or metal pivotted
or hinged at its lower end in any suitable manner. The said partition inclines
backward at an angle of about thirty degrees from the perpendicular and rests
against the upper extremity of the sorting tray against which it is held by a
suitable spring. The coins are introduced into the till or apparatus through a
suitable opening or perforation in its outer case and fall into the coin-receiver B.
The bottom C of the said receiver is hinged at one side and provided at the said
hinged side with a rod or lever carrying a weight D. The bottom C is kept closed
and the coins retained in the receiver B by means of a weighted or spring catch or
trigger E which takes under the opposite side of the bottom C. The partition A
has a slot or suitable opening F for the passage of the coins to the sorting tray the
said slot having a lateral inclination at the same angle as the sorting tray, as
hereinafter described so that when the partition A is resting against the sorting
tray the lower edge of the said slot is on a level with the surface of the tray.
Immediately below the said slot F is a table or disc G carried on the upper
extremity of a rod H which works in suitable guides I. The edge of the table or
disc G nearest the slot F is attached to an endless band J working upon rollers J
pivotted in bearings attached to the partition A. The said rod I table or disc G
endless band J and rollers J' all have a lateral inclination so that when the table or
disc G is at its highest point, the upper surface of the said table or disc shall be in

page_text: .
a line with and at the same inclination as the lower edge of the slot F. A shoot K
is fixed to the side of the table or disc G nearest to the receiver B the said shoot
extending under the said receiver as shown. The said shoot K is connected by a
cord or chain E' or other suitable means with the catch or trigger E in such
a manner that when the shoot is at its lowest position the bottom of the receiver
is released from the catch or trigger E. The bottom K' of the said shoot inclines
downward toward the table or disc G'and the shoot is provided with suitable sides
for the purpose of guiding the coins to the said table or disc. The bottom of the
shoot at the point where it meets the table or disc G is arranged in a perpendicular
position or at right angles in relation to the said table or disc as shown at K" the
said portion K" being of the height of the pile of coins to be formed on the said
- table or disc. Or the said portion K" may be formed on or attached to the table
or disc and the shoot inclined to meet the said perpendicular or right angled
piece K. A curved hood L is fixed to or formed on the side of the table or disc G
opposite the shoot K for the purpose of retaining the coins on the said table or disc.
A cord or chain M is connected to the table or disc G and passes thence downward
around a suitable roller or pulley N and upward to a lever O on the outside of the
till or apparatus.
The operation of the feeding apparatus is as follows:-The coins are placed in
the receiver B and the lever O is depressed. The depression of the said lever causes
the cord or chain M to draw the table or disc G and shoot K to their lowest
position, the partition A at the same time assuming for the moment a perpendicular
position as shown in Figure-1,-but-returning to its inclined position against the
sorting tray by the action of the before-mentioned spring, immediately the lever is
released. When the shoot K is in its lowest position the cord or chain E' connecting
the said shoot and trigger E draws the said trigger from under the bottom C of the
receiver B and the coins fall from the said receiver by their own gravity, into the
shoot K the bottom C of the receiver closing again by means of the weight D.
The shoot K is provided with a flap or door K₁ formed of a curved piece of metal
properly weighted and hinged or pivotted near its upper edge to ensure the coins
*being passed to and piled upon the table or disc G in a horizontal position. The
lever O being then released the rod H and table or disc G are gradually raised by
means of the spring P which exerts an upward pressure upon the lower extremity
of the said rod, and the coins slip off the table or disc G and fall through the slot F
on to the sorting tray, one at a time as they come above the level of the lower edge
of the said slot. The side of the pile of coins rests against the endless band J and
thus all scraping and friction of the coins with the face of the partition A in their
upward movement is avoided. Any suitable brake may be applied to the rod H to
prevent its too rapid motion; as for instance a leather collar secured by binding
screws. The shoot K may be secured to the partition A instead of to the table or
disc G the trigger E being in that case connected direct with the said table or disc.
Figure 2 is a view of the tray and apparatus for sorting the coins. The tray Q
has a sufficient.inclination longitudinally or in the direction of its length to ensure
the coins sliding down the said tray, and also a sufficient lateral or sidewise
inclination to ensure the coins keeping to one side of the tray in their passage
downward, the lower side of the said tray being provided with a ledge Q' to
prevent the coins from falling from the tray. Tho tray has a series of holes Qu
corresponding in dimensions with the sizes of the various coins the said holes being
'formed in the tray towards its lower side and near the ledge Q¹. The smallest
hole is at the top of the tray, nearest to the feeding apparatus just described and
the other holes follow in the order of their size, the largest being at the lower
extremity of the tray. The said holes, Q" may be of any suitable form which will
admit of the freo passage of the various coins. As the coins are passed to the tray
by the feeding apparatus they slide down the said tray, the smallest coins passing
through the first hole, the next largest through the second hole and so on.
order however to ensure greater certainty in the action of the apparatus I provide
the stops R which automatically stop each coin at its proper holo but allow larger
In

page_text: coins to pass onward. Each of the said stops R consists of a bar R¹ pivotted at its
upper end so that its lower end is free to rise and fall, the said bar extending across
the tray immediately below the hole to which it is fixed. On the upper side of
the said bar or that side nearest the holo is another bar R" projecting at right
angles from the bar R' and extending up the tray by the side of the hole to which
the stop is attached. The underside of the upper end of the bar R¹¹ is rounded as
shown at R. The bar R¹ is in each case fixed at such a point on the bar R¹ that
when a coin is large enough to pass over the hole at which the stop is placed, the
said coin will also be wide enough to come in contact with the rounded portion R¹¹
of the bar and force its way under, thus lifting the bars R" and R' and passing
on to its proper hole whereas if the coin is of such a size that it should pass through
the hole at which the stop is placed it will not be large enough to force its way
under the bar R₁ but will come in contact with the bar R', be stopped in its passage
and fall through the hole.
.Figure shows a modified form of sorting tray which may be employed when
the till is fixed so as to be preserved at one level and prevented from shaking. The
holes Q are dispensed with and also the ledge Q1 except for a short distance at
the upper end of the tray. The stops R are arranged closer together and upon the
outer extremities of the bars R' are fixed cross-pieces R1111. When the bars R¹ are
resting on the tray Q these cross-pieces R¹¹ overhang the side of the said tray and
are below its level If a coin be wide enough to come in contact with the portion R¹!!
of a bar R and thus raise the bars R and R' the cross-piece R is raised above
the level of the tray Q and the coin being prevented from falling from the said tray
passes onward. If the coin be not wide enough to lift the bars R1 and R it falls
from the tray into its proper compartment.
Each of the holes Q in Figure 2 and each of the stops R in Figure 3 is
provided with a compartment or shoot for the reception of the coins passed through
such hole or thrown from the tray by such stop, and these compartments or shoots
are fitted with converging sides so that the coins are passed from the said shoots
or compartments in a perpendicular position to the registering apparatus. The
compartments are formed in a case or frame S Figure 4 wherein the compart-
ments S are shown in dotted lines.
The registering apparatus is shown in Figures 4 and 5. The coins fall from the
sorting tray into the shoots or compartments S¹ and issue from the lower ends of
the said compartments in a perpendicular position as shown in Figure 5. Under
each of the shoots or compartments S¹ is arranged a fan or wheel. T having four or
more blades and mounted upon a horizontal shaft U supported in suitable bearings,
the said fan and its shaft being mounted transversely to the shoot S¹. The blades
of the fan or wheel T may be of any suitable size and form, but the size and
weight of the said fans and their shafts must be proportioned to the size and
weight of the coins so that the said fans and shafts shall be operated by the said
.coins. Under each shaft and fan is a scale V for registering the number of coins
and by the side of the said scale is fixed a laterally inclined wire or rod W. A
properly weighted index point or finger W₁ is arranged to travel upon the said rod
or wire W, and a cord, thread or other suitable connection W" connects the index
point W with the shaft U. As each coin issues from the compartment or shoot S'
it falls upon one of the blades of the fan or wheel T. The weight of the coin
causes the said fan and its shaft to turn in its bearings whereby the coin is dropped
into its proper compartment and the cord or thread W is wound upon the shaft U
raising the index finger W₁ another point on the scale and thereby registering tho
deposit of the coin. A suitable catch or pawl X is provided to prevent the
possibility of the backward movement of the fan or wheel T. The coin in falling
from the blade of the fan T falls upon a tablo or disc Y carried by a lever Y¹ the
said lever being pivotted beneath the said fan T and having its rear extremity Y¹¹
so formed as to act as a stop and prevent the fan or wheel T from revolving more
tban sufficient to allow the coin to pass and to bring another blade of the said fan

page_text: or wheel into position to receive the next coin. The weight of the coin depresses
the table or disc Y and allows the said coin to fall into the compartment beneath,
at the same time elevating the extremity Y" of the lever and causing it to act as
a stop upon the fan T and prevent more than the desired revolution of the said
fan. The whole of the parts of the registering apparatus are mounted within a
suitable case or frame, and the said apparatus may be used for registering.cithor
the deposit or extraction of the coins.
Instead of attaching the thread to the index finger W I may pass it round
another shaft or reel at the bottom of the apparatus in which case I use two
threads, one being wound on the upper shaft, while the other is wound on the lower
shaft or reel.
Figure 6 shows my improved means for extracting the coins from the till or
apparatus. The coins having passed through the registering apparatus fall into
tubular compartments or compartments of any shape which will cause the coins of
each kind to lie in a pile. Beneath each of the said compartments (6 Figure 6) is
arranged an endless band c working upon rollers d. The said band c is provided
with transverse bars or bands e of any suitable material, the said bars e being fixed
on the said endless band at such a distance apart as to admit of one of the coins
lying upon the said band between two of the said transverse bars. The bottom
coin of each pile rests upon the band c so that when the rollers d are revolved by
means of suitable handles the endless band revolves and carries the coins with it,
one by one as they fall between the transverse bars c. For emptying the till any
suitable contrivance may be added to revolve the whole-of-the-endless-bands-very-
rapidly at one time.
With this method of extraction I register the exit of the coins by means of the
apparatus shown in Figure 7. I mount a pulley fon the shaft of one of the
rollers & and another pulley g at the further extremity of a registering scale h. An
endless band works upon these pulleys ƒ and g and revolves when the roller dis
put in motion. The said band carries three index points or fingers j. These index
points are arranged at equal distances apart on the band i and the length of the
-band is so proportioned that directly one index point has reached one end of the
scale another index point is presented at the other end of the said scale.
Or the coins may be extracted as follows:-The piles of coins rest upon surfaces
capable of backward and forward movement, such movements being effected by
pressure on a series of knobs. A raised portion on these surfaces pushes out the
coin from behind. I do not however claim this method of extraction. Any device
for extraction may be fitted to my improved apparatus which will remove the coins
one by one so as to allow them either to work a register exactly similar to the one
which indicates their deposit but on the opposite side of the till and projecting
downward over the counter or surface on which the till rests; or if the till were
constructed only to count money and not for a check-till, I might employ one index
only, using a double set of reels or shafts as before described and causing the coins
extracted to work the lower ones, so as to move the hand backward, provision
being made to raise the catch at the proper time.
:
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.
First: In a till or receptacle for money, the feeding apparatus, consisting of the
partition A with slot F the receiver B with hinged and weighted botton C and
trigger E the table or disc G with hood L mounted upon rod H, shoot K, with flap
or door K, endless band J'working upon rollers J¹ the spring P and lever O with
cord or chain M and pulley or roller N constructed, combined, and operating
substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
Second In a till or receptacle for money, the sorting apparatus consisting of
the inclined tray Q having ledge Q1 and holes Q", and the stops R consisting of
bars R¹ and R constructed and combined substantially as set forth.

page_text: Third :—In a till or receptacle for money, the modified form of sorting apparatus
shown in Figure 3 consisting of the inclined tray Q and stops R with cross-
pieces R constructed and combined substantially as set forth.
Fourth In a till or receptacle for money the registering apparatus when used
either for registering the deposit or extraction of the coins, consisting of the fans T
mounted on shafts U, catches or pawls X, tables or discs Y and levers Y' scales V
wires or rods W, with index fingers W₁ adapted to travel upon the said rods,
and cords or threads W combined, constructed and operating substantially as
Bet forth.
Fifth In a till or receptacle for money the apparatus for registering the
extraction of the coins substantially as described and illustrated in Figure 7.
Dated this fifteenth day of November A.D. 1884.