Improvements in Coin-released or Coin-actuated Apparatus for the Delivery of Goods or for other purposes.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Feb., 1892-Accepted, 16th Apr., 1892
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Coin-released or Coin-actuated Apparatus for the
Delivery of Goods or for other purposes.
I, FREDERICK REDMAN of 37 Barbican, in the City of London, Manufacturer,
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 has reference to coin-released or coin-actuated apparatus, and
relates more particularly to apparatus for effecting the delivery of goods in
exchange for coin, but it is also applicable in part to other apparatus such as
weighing machines, strength testers and the like which are released or actuated
upon the introduction of a coin.
My improvements comprise novel mechanism whereby at each action of the
apparatus or of one part of the apparatus an automatically regulated or measured
quantity of goods, such for example as nuts, is delivered; also novel mechanism
whereby the delivery obtained by means of another coin of an article such for
example as a nut-cracker to be used with the nuts or goods delivered by means
of the previous coin; also a novel false coin rejector which prevents false
coins, such as discs of iron or lead, from reaching and acting upon the internal
mechanism of the apparatus; also other improvements of a minor character which
are hereinafter described.
The accompanying drawings represent an apparatus in which my improvements
are embodied.
Figure 1 is a back elevation of the complete apparatus with the back of the
outer case or box removed.
Figure 2 is a vertical section on the line a―a, Figure 1, looking in the direction
of the arrow b.
Figure 3 is a sectional plan on the line c d e f of Figure 1. These three figures
show the parts in their normal positions, that is to say, the positions they
respectively occupy before the insertion of the prescribed coin.
Figure 4 is a section on the same line as Figure 3, but with the coin shoot and
false coin rejector omitted and showing the parts in the positions they respectively
occupy after the prescribed coin has been introduced into the nuts-delivery portion
of the apparatus and the corresponding outside handle has been pulled out to obtain
the delivery of the regulated or measured quantity of nuts.
Figure 5 is a side elevation of the pull bar and adjacent parts showing special
means adopted to prevent a repeated partial backward and forward movement of
the pull bar which might enable a person to fraudulently obtain delivery of more
than the prescribed quantity of nuts.
Figure 6 shows in side elevation one of the two false coin rejectors with which
the apparatus is provided, that is to say there is one rejector for the nuts delivery
portion of the apparatus and another for the nut cracker delivery portion of the
apparatus, the two rejectors being precisely of the same construction. The same
figure also shows in vertical section the mechanism for obtaining delivery of the
nut crackers, the parts being seen in the position they occupy before the outside
handle is pulled out.
Figure 7 is a similar view to Figure 6 but shows a disc of lead in the act of
being rejected by the false coin rejector, and also illustrates the action of the nut
cracker delivery mechanism as the outside handle is being pulled out.
Figure 8 shows the delivery mechanism when it has been fully pulled out by the
handle.
Figure 9 is a plan of this mechanism on the line g, h, of Figure 6.
1, 1, is the outer case or box of the apparatus. 2 is a hopper or receptacle for

page_text: the nuts.
3 is a funnel leading from this hopper and open at bottom; 4 is the nut
measurer and deliverer; it is open at top and bottom and when in the normal position
becomes filled with nuts from the funnel 3, these nuts being retained in the
measurer 4 by the fixed shutter 5. The measurer 4 is furnished at one side of its
top opening with a shutter 6. The measurer is carried by an arm 7, fixed to a
vertical rod 8 to which a partial rotary motion is imparted by means of a rack 9 on
a pull bar 10, the said rack gearing with a pinion 11 on the rod 8. When partial
rotary motion is imparted to the rod 8 in the one direction as hereinafter described
the measurer 4 is thereby caused to swing round out of line with the funnel 3 with
the result that the lower outlet of the measurer gets clear of the fixed bottom
shutter 5 so that the nuts in the measurer 4 run out into a delivery shoot 12 from
which they can be removed from the outside of the apparatus, whilst the upper
shutter 6 which turns with the measurer 4 comes below the bottom of the funnel 3
and prevents any more nuts passing out of the funnel. When on the other hand
partial rotary motion is given to the rod 8 in the other direction the measurer 4
and shutter 6 swing back to their normal position the fixed shutter 5 then again
closing the bottom of the measurer while its top opening is again below the funnel 3
so that it gets a fresh supply of nuts. The pull bar 10 is moved in the one direction
(when the mechanism about to be described is released) by pulling the outside
handle 13, and in the other direction by the spring 14; or the action may be
reversed, that is to say the bar 8 may be a push bar instead of a pull bar as will be
well understood. The pull bar 10 is fitted between guides 15 and is normally held
fixed by means of a locking piece 16 on a lever 17 the said locking piece engaging
with the projection 18 on the pull bar. The lever 17 has its fulcrum at 19 and
carries at one end a coin tray 20 which is pivoted at 21, the pivot being so placed
that the coin tends to tip the tray towards the fulerum 19, but tipping in this
direction is prevented by a suitably placed stop. When the prescribed coin falls
upon the tray 20 from the shoot as hereinafter described it depresses the tray end
of the lever 17 and thereby lifts the piece 16 clear of the projection 18 and unlocks
the pull bar 8. The pull bar can then be pulled out and when so pulled out it acts
upon the measurer 4, in the manner already explained. During the pulling out of
the bar 10 a bent arm 22 which is keyed on the vertical rod 8 and therefore swings
round with it into the position seen in Figure 4 comes in contact with the coin
tray 20 and tips it as seen in dotted lines in Figure 1 so that the coin is thrown off*
and the lever being thus freed from the weight of the coin drops to its normal
position with the locking piece 16 behind the projection 18 as soon as the pull bar
has been forced back by the spring 14 where it remains until another coin reaches
the tray 20. In order to prevent fraudulent abstraction of more than the measured
quantity of nuts by a person allowing the pull bar 8 to partially recede and then
pulling it again forward, repeating this action so as to cause the nuts to as it were
dribble from the funnel 3 through the measurer 4 to the shoot 12, I form ratchet
teeth or undercut notches 23 on the upper side of the pull bar 10 into which the
locking piece 16 takes if any attempt be made to again push in the bar when it has
partially receded, and in combination with these ratchet teeth it is desirable but
not essential to provide means for holding the locking piece 16 down in the teeth.
For this purpose I preferably use a bent spring plate 24 attached to the pull bar;
this plate has a gap or opening 25 which is normally above a bent pin or pro-
jection 26 on the lever 17, and the end 27 of the plate 24 is turned upwards. When
the lever 17 is tilted by the weight of the coin in the tray 20 the pin 26 rises just
above the level of the gap 25 and as the spring plate 24 moves with the pull bar 10
in the outward pull of the latter the turned up part 27 passes under the pin 26 the
plate 24 yielding downwards to allow of this; then as the bar 10 recedes the
turned up part 27 bears upon the top of the pin 26 and thereby presses down
the locking piece 16 into the teeth 23 until it drops behind the projection 18
of the pull bar.
The person who has obtained the measured quantity of nuts may then require to
obtain one of the nut crackers in the apparatus. The nut crackers are piled in a

page_text: column 28 and the lowest of the pile rests in a recess 29 in a pull bar 30. The nut
crackers shown in the figures are of a special and cheap kind but they do not form
any part of the present invention. The pull bar 30 works between guides 31 in
line with an opening 32 in the outer case and is fitted with a handle 33. The pull
bar 30 has a vertical slot 34 into which the prescribed coin drops edgewise from a
shoot 35 and the coin is prevented falling through this slot by the plate 36 below.
On the pull bar 30 is a catch 37 in front of which is a pawl 38 centred on the
pin 39 which is mounted in fixed brackets or bearings 40. If an attempt be made
to pull out the bar 30 without the introduction of the prescribed coin the attempt
is frustrated by the catch 37 coming against the pawl 38; but when a coin is in
the slot 34 as seen at 41 in Figure 6, this coin as the pull bar 30 is moved forwards
comes against a heel 42 of the pawl and thereby lifts the pawl clear of the catch 37
as seen in Figure 7; the further forward movement of the pull bar 30 is thus
unimpeded and the recess 29 containing the nut cracker can be brought to the
outside of the apparatus for delivery. The coin drops through a hole 43 in the
plate 36 into a receptacle 44 below. When the pull bar 30 is returned to place,
another nut cracker drops into the recess 29 from the column 28.
I will now proceed to describe the false coin rejector. I have already explained
that the apparatus is fitted with two of these rejectors of precisely the same con-
struction, one for the nuts portion of the apparatus and the other for the nut
cracker portion, and they are of course arranged in connection with the two
respective coin inlet slots. Opposite the coin inlet slot is an inclined shoot 45 on
the opposite sides of which are two permanent magnets 46 parallel with the shoot ;
the distance of these magnets from the outside of the inlet slot is such that the
person introducing a coin has to leave hold of it before he can push it beyond the
power of the magnet; consequently if he attempts to insert a disc of iron
the magnets effectually stop its passage. As there are two of these magnets one
at each side of the entrance to the shoot 45 the person cannot so to speak dodge
them as he might do if there were only one. For rejecting discs of lead I adopt
the following contrivance: The under side of the shoot. 45 is open for a considerable
part of its length but this opening is normally closed by a lever 47 pivoted at 48
and having a weight 49 to keep it in the normal position. The lever has an
upturned projection 50 at its lower end. A coin or disc in running edgewise down
the shoot strikes against the projection 50 and depresses the lever and if this
depression is beyond a given amount the disc drops through the opening in the
underside of the shoot and is received by a rejector shoot or other suitable
receptacle. The prescribed coin, say a penny, is however of insufficient weight to
produce more than the given depression and therefore passes on to the next shoot ;
that is to say the shoot 35 in the case of the nut cracker part of the apparatus and
the shoot 51 leading to the coin tray 20 in the case of the nut part of the apparatus.
But a disc of lead of the same diameter as the prescribed coin being heavier and
being moreover a slower traveller will depress the lever 47 beyond the given amount
and therefore drop through see Figure 7. For a coin of less size than that
prescribed which may pass the opening in the underside of the shoot 45 I can
adopt any ordinary method of rejecting it such as a hole made in a subsequent part
of the shoot.
Although my invention as herein before described has been designed for use in
its entirety and particularly for the delivery of nuts and nut crackers, it is
evident that it is not limited to the delivery of these goods and that the false coin
rejector is applicable to other coin released or coin actuated apparatus such as
weighing machines, strength testers and the like. Other goods than nuts can
obviously be delivered in measured quantities by means of the measurer 4 arranged
and acting as described and other goods besides nut crackers can be delivered by
the mechanism described for delivering these articles. The mechanism connected
with the pull bar 10 for locking and releasing it and preventing fraudulent working
of same is obviously applicable to other so called coin released automatic machines
in which a pull bar or push bar is employed.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, 1 declare that what I
claim in respect of coin released or coin actuated apparatus is :-
1. For the delivery of nuts or goods in automatically regulated or measured
quantities, a measurer such as 4 in combination with a feed hopper and funnel
such as 2, 3 and with top and bottom shutters such as and 6 the said measurer
after each insertion of a prescribed coin being caused by the action of the apparatus
to first move away from the funnel, and the bottom shutter 5 so as to discharge its
contents, the top shutter 6 at same time moving below the funnel to stop the
descent of more of the goods, the measurer and shutter then returning to their
original positions so that the measurer receives and retains a fresh supply of
goods from the hopper, all substantially as hereinbefore described.
2. The combination with a measurer, feed hopper, funnel, and top and bottom
shutters such as referred to in Claim 1 of a pinion for giving a horizontal move-
ment to the measurer and top shutter and of a rack on a pull or push bar for
operating the said pinion, substantially as hereinbefore described.
3. The combination with a pull or push bar such as 10 of a lever such as 17, a
pivoted coin tray such as 20 on the lever, a locking catch on the lever normally
engaging with a projection on the pull or push bar, but disengaged when the lever
is tilted by the weight of a coin in the tray, and a swinging arm, such as 22,
which as the pull or push bar is being pulled or pushed comes against and
tips the coin tray so as to throw off the coin, substantially as hereinbefore
described.
4. In a pull or push bar for effecting the delivery of goods in a coin released
or coin actuated apparatus, a series of ratchet teeth, or undercut notches to
engage with the locking device and thereby frustrate any attempt to fraudulently
obtain goods by manipulating the pull or push bar, substantially as herein before
described.
5. The combination with a locking device and a pull or push bar having
ratchet teeth or undercut notches as referred to in Claim 4, of a spring plate
substantially as hereinbefore described to hold down the locking device in the
ratchet teeth.
6. The general arrangement or combination of parts, substantially as herein-
before described and shown in the drawings, and constituting what I have called
the nuts delivery portion of the apparatus.
7. The combination with a pull bar such as 30 of a catch 37, pawl 38 and coin
slot 34 whereby when the bar is pulled it is stopped by the pawl except when
there is a coin in the slot 34 to lift the pawl clear of the catch, substantially as
hereinbefore described.
8. The combination with a coin inlet and a shoot leading therefrom of two
permanent magnets placed parallel with the shoot at the respective sides of same,
substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
9. A coin shoot having an opening at its underside normally closed by a lever so
set and weighted that a prescribed coin in passing will not depress it sufficiently
to drop through the opening while on the other hand a disc of heavier material
such as lead will depress the lever to such an extent that the disc will drop
through the opening, substantially as hereinbefore described.
10. The combination of parts substantially as hereinbefore described and
represented in the accompanying drawings and constituting a false coin rejector.
11. The coin released or coin actuated apparatus hereinbefore described and
represented in the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 15th day of February 1892
J. C. MEWBURN,
55 & 56, Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agent.