Improvements in Coin-freed Apparatus for Obtaining a Current of Electricity during Definite Periods of Time for Producing Electric Light and for other Purposes.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 15th Mar., 1889
Complete Specification Left, 16th Dec., 1889-Accepted, 15th Feb., 1890
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Coin-freed Apparatus for Obtaining a Current of
Electricity during Definite Periods of Time for Producing Electric
Light and for other Purposes.
We, HENRY SHERLEY PRICE, of 52 Queen Victoria Street, and HERBERT JOHN
DowSING, of 4 Queen Victoria Street, both in the City of London, Electrical
Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of the said invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to improvements in apparatus for enabling a person to obtain
a current of electricity for producing an illumination by means of the electric light or
for other purposes for a certain period of time by inserting a coin into the apparatus
in a manner similar to that now largely employed for the automatic delivery of various
articles.
These improvements are applicable to any of the known systems of electric lighting
consisting of an incandescence or other suitable lamp supplied with a current of
electricity from a primary or storago battery, or other source of electricity, and
consists of the following arrangements:-A locking and unlocking instrument
actuated by a coin inserted into a slit and operating in one of the well known ways
liberates an axis which may be turned a half revolution when so released, either by
hand, by clockwork, by an electric motor, or otherwise, as may be found most
convenient or suitable. This axis has mounted on it a double ended vessel of glass
or other suitable non-conductive material constructed like an hour-glass and containing
mercury, metallic powder, or other suitable conductive material that will flow
through the narrow neck joining the two enlarged ends of the vessel. The said vessel
is so connected to the aforesaid axis that either of its ends may be turned upwards by
turning the said axis half round. Electric conducting wires are fixed in the aforesaid
hour-glass-like vessel (which for convenience may be called the time regulator) in such
position that when mercury for example is contained in the part of the said vessel
which is uppermost for the time being and is running through the aforesaid narrow
neck or passage of the said vessel or regulator into the, for the time being, lower part
thereof, the said mercury effects an electric connection between the conducting wires
so as to bring the electric lamp or other apparatus or object to which it is desired to
apply the current of electricity into circuit with the battery or other source of
electricity. The aforesaid axis is provided with a notched disc or other appliance
acting in conjunction with the aforesaid locking and unlocking instrument in such
manner that when the apparatus is in its normal condition before a coin has been
introduced the said axis is locked and cannot be turned, but when a coin is introduced
the locking and unlocking instrument is acted on thereby and the said axis can then
be turned half round so as to bring the lowermost half of the time regulator con-
taining the mercury upwards. This mercury closes the electric circuit, and light will
be produced in the lamp or a current of electricity supplied for other purpose until the
mercury has flowed, more or less slowly, through the narrow neck or passage from the
upper to the lower part of the time regulator; when there is little or no more mercury
left in the upper part of the time regulator the electric contact is broken and the current
ceases. It is obvious that the duration of the current of electricity for illumination
or other purpose can be regulated by adjusting the quantity of mercury and the size
of the passage by which it can pass to the lower part of the time regulator. The
vessel composing the time regulator may be exhausted of air if required or
provided in some cases, with a bye-pass passage to allow air to pass from the lower
part of the vessel to the upper as the mercury or other conductive material flows from
the upper part to the lower.

page_text: In order to discharge the coin into a suitable receptacle after it has effected the
release of the axis, suitable mechanism employed, which may be operated by the
said axis, to enable the locking and unlocking instrument to release the coin and to
come again into action to lock the axis in position when the latter has made a
half turn.
Instead of the coin acting directly upon the locking and unlocking instrument to
release the axis carrying the time regulator, it may be made to close the circuit for a
current of electricity through the bobbin of an electro-magnet or solenoid arranged
to act on the locking and unlocking instrument so as to effect the release of the said
axis; or the coin. may be made to release clockwork or other mechanical devices
which act on the said unlocking instrument.
Dated this 15th day of March 1889.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Coin-freed Apparatus for Obtaining a Current of
Electricity during Definite Periods of Time for Producing Electric
Light and for other Purposes.
We HENRY SHERLEY PRICE of 52 Queen Victoria Street, and HERBERT JOHN
DowSING of 4 Queen Victoria Street, both in the City of London, Electrical
Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of the said invention and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement, that is to say :-
This invention relates to improvements in apparatus for enabling a person to obtain
a current of electricity for producing illumination by means of the electric light, or
for other purposes for a certain period of time, by inserting a coin into the apparatus
in a manner similar to that now largely employed for the automatic delivery of various
articles.
.
These improvements are applicable to any of the known systems of electric lighting
consisting of an incandescence or other suitable lamp supplied with a current of
electricity from a primary or storage battery, or other source of electricity, and consist
of the arrangements illustrated in the accompanying three sheets of drawings, which
show the improvements as applied to an apparatus for producing an electric light for
a given period of time, in a railway carriage for example. Figure 1 of these drawings
is a front elevation of such apparatus as contained in a case the front of which is
removed to enable the apparatus to bo more clearly seen. Figure 2 is a back
elevation of the same with the back of the case removed, and Figure 3 is a side
olevation with the side of the case removed.
A locking and unlocking instrument actuated by a coin inserted into a slit and
operating in one of the well known ways or as hereinafter more particularly described
liberates an axis A which may be turned a half revolution when so released, either by
hand by means of a knob B projecting from the front of the case C. This axis A has
mounted on it a double ended vessel D D of glass or other suitable non-conductive
material constructed like an hour-glass and containing mercury metallic powder, or
other suitable conductive material that will flow through the narrow neck D₁ joining
the two enlarged ends of the vessel D D. The said vessel is so connected to the
aforesaid axis A that either of its ends may be turned upwards by turning the said
axis A half round. Electric conducting wires E E' are fixed in the aforesaid hour-
glass like vessel D D. (which for convenience may be called the time regulator) in such
position that when the mercury.F for example is contained in the part of the said
vessel which is uppermost for the time being and is running through the aforesaid

page_text: narrow neck or passage D¹ of the said vessel or regulator into the, for the time being,
lower part thereof, the said mercury effects an electric connection between the
conducting wires E and E' in the upper part of the vessel D D so as to bring the
electric lamp G, or other apparatus or object to which it is desired to apply the current
of electricity into circuit with the battery H, or other source of electricity.
The electrical connections are arranged as follows:-I is a conductor leading the
current from one pole of the battery H through the framework J to the axis A,
whence the current passes to the metallic case N in which the time regulator D D is
enclosed to preserve it from injury. The conducting wires E E are connected at one
end to this case N and at the other are fused into the side of the glass vessel or if
preferred into the neck D¹ thereof the extreme ends passing into the interior of the
said vessel as shown for example in figure 3. The wires E' E' are similarly secured
in the opposite side of the vessel D D and after passing through an insulating plug K
in the side of the case N are connected to the disc P carried by the axis A, but
insulated therefrom. Projections Q on the disc P make contact with the brush or
contact spring R connected to the post T, a wire U from which goes to the lamp G.
A return wire V from the lamp connects at the post W with a wire X which completes
the connection to the other pole of the battery H.
The axis A carries a disc Y provided with notches Y¹ formed in the edge thereof
diametrically opposite to each other and adapted to receive the front end of a locking
and unlocking lever Y2 the opposite or rear end of which comes under the lower end
of the coin shoot Y³. When the apparatus is in its normal condition, before a coin
has been. introduced, the axis is locked by the lever Y², as shown in full lines in
Figure 1, and cannot be turned, but when a coin is introduced into the slot. Y the
said coin drops down the coin shoot Y³ and depresses the rear end of the lever Y²
raising the front end out of the notch Y' as shown in dotted lines in Figure 1 thereby
releasing the axis A so that it, together with the time regulator D D, can be turned half
round by the knob B so as to bring the lowermost half of the time regulator, which
then contains the mercury, upwards into the position shown in Figure 3 so as to bring
the projection Q on the disc P into contact with the brush or contact spring R.
This mercury F then closes the electric circuit through the conducting wires E E' in
the upper part of the time regulator and light will be produced in the lamp G, or a
current of electricity supplied for other purpose until the mercury F has flowed, more
or less slowly, through the narrow neck or passage D' from the upper to the lower
part of the time regulator. When the level of the mercury in the upper part of the
time regulator falls below that of the conducting wires E E¹ the electric contact is
broken and current ceases.
It is obvious that the duration of the current of electricity for illumination or other
purpose can be regulated by adjusting the quantity of mercury, and the size of the
passage D' by which it can pass to the lower part of the time regulator..
The vessel composing the time regulator may be exhausted of air if required, or
provided in some cases with a bye-pass passage M shown broken in dotted lines in Fig. 3
to allow air to pass from the lower part of the vessel to the upper as the mercury or
other conductive material flows from the upper to the lower.
When mercury is
employed it is important to exhaust the air from the vessel as much as possible, because
the mercury becomes oxidized by contact with air, and the narrow neck or passage D¹
gets choked with the oxide so formed, and the mercury ceases to flow, whereby tho
action of the apparatus as a time regulator is entirely vitiated. Instead of a vacuum
being produced in the time regulating vessel it may be filled with a gas such as
hydrogen or nitrogen, for example, which has little or no action on mercury, but in
that case it is necessary to provide a bye-pass passage, as above mentioned, to allow
the gas to pass from the lower part of the vessel to the upper as the mercury flows
from the upper to the lower, because the passage D is usually too narrow to allow
the gas to pass up while the mercury is passing down.
When metallic or other
conductive powder is employed it may sometimes be unnecessary to employ a bye pass
as above described because the air or gas, as the case may be, can, in some cases, find
its way up through the passage D' as the powder passes down.

page_text: In order to discharge the coin into a suitable receptacle after it has effected the release
of the axis A the lever Z is employed. The tail end of this lever forms a temporary stop
for the tail end of the lever Y, to prevent the latter from allowing the coin Y to
pass from between it and the coin shoot Y³ until the axis A, and disc Y have been
turned round far enough to make sure that the front end of the lever Y will not fall
back again into the notch Y and thereby prevent the rotation of the axis, although
the coin has been introduced into the apparatus. When the apparatus is in the
position shown in the Drawings the front end of the lever Z is pressed down on to the
axis A by the spring 7 acting on the tail end of the lever Z; but when the axis A is
being turned round in order to reverse the position of the time regulator the cam or
tappet Z raises the front end of lever Z, depressing the rear end against the action of
the spring Zallowing the weight of the coin Y to further depress the tail end of the
lever until the said coin escapes from between the said lever and the shoot Y³ into
any suitable receptacle placed beneath to receive it. When the semi-rotation of the
axis A and of the time regulator DD is completed the lever Z is restored to the position
shown in Figure 1, and the lever Y takes into the notch Y¹ which is then uppermost,
as shown in full lines in that Figure.
Instead of the coin acting directly on the locking and unlocking instrument to
release the axis A, it is obvious that the coin may be made to close the circuit for a
current of electricity through the bobbin of an electro-magnet or solenoid arranged to
act on the locking and unlocking instrument so as to effect the release of the
said axis.
In order to prevent the obtaining of a supply of electric current for more than the
prescribed period by the introduction of one coin only, by turning the axis A so as to
reverse the position of the time regulator far enough to enable the mercury to close
the circuit through the wires E and E¹, but not far enough to enable the locking
lever Y to take into the notch Y' and then (when the mercury has flowed into the
lower part of the time regulator) by turning the axis and time regulator back far
enough to bring the mercury again upwards, but not far enough for the locking lever Y²
to take into the notch Y and so on indefinitely, the axis A has fixed on it a
ratchet wheel Z³ into the teeth of which a retaining pawl Z takes which prevents the
axis A from being turned backwards. Furthermore the projections Q on the contact
disc P are so placed that the brush or contact spring R cannot close the circuit with
either of the said projections until the axis A has been turned far enough to enable
the locking lever Y2 to take into one or other of the notches Y' so as to lock the axis
and time regulator in position until another coin is introduced.
We are aware that it has already been proposed to employ an electric timing contact
maker consisting of two separate vessels or bulbs connected together by cemented
joints the said vessels or bulbs containing mercury or other equivalent conducting
material and mounted on an axis so that the position of the said bulbs can be reversed,
such apparatus being proposed to be used in connection with coin-freed apparatus ;
but, so far as we are aware, it is not practicable to make or retain a sufficiently good
vacuum in vessels connected together by cement to enable such an apparatus to work
efficiently and we desire to have it understood that we make no claim to time regu-
lating apparatus so constructed.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
==
First. In connection with coin-freed apparatus for obtaining a current of electricity
the timing or time regulating device constructed as a vessel consisting of two enlarged
portions connected together by a narrow neck or passage and made in one piece of
glass or other suitable non-conductive material, as hereinbefore described and illustrated
in the drawings hereto annexed.
Second. In connection with coin-freed apparatus for obtaining a current of electricity
the combination with the time regulating device forming the subject of the first claiming
clause hereof, of mechanism for unlocking or releasing the axis carrying the said time

page_text: regulating device, by means of a coin; for holding or retaining the said coin until the
said axis with its time regulating device has been turned a certain distance and then
liberating the said coin, and for holding the said axis and time regulating device in
position until another coin is introduced as herein before described and illustrated in
the Drawings hereto annexed.
Third. In a device for timing a current of electricity, consisting of a glass vessel com-
posed of two enlarged parts connected together by a narrow neck or passage, making the
connection with the mercury or other conductive material contained therein, by passing
the connecting wires through the body or neck of the vessel and securing the said
wires therein by fusing the glass round them, as herein before described and illustrated
in the drawings hereto annexed.
D
COOT
H. S. PRICE.
H. J. DOWSING.
Per W. H. Beck,
115, Cannon Street, London, E.C., Agent.