Improvements in Supports or Racks in which Cycles or other Vehicles are Looked.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 28th Nov., 1898
Complete Specification Left, 28th Sept., 1899-Accepted, 28th Nov.,
1899
T
HOLLOLITOW IS INAINT LOUT
KRUVDIVAAL DIEVITICATION
Improvements in Supports or Racks in which Cycles or other
Vehicles are Looked.
I, THOMAS HEWITT, of 107, Manby Road, Stratford, in the County of London,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to improvements in apparatus employed for supporting
and locking vehicles and is especially applicable in connection with coin-freed
apparatus.
2. The
The improvements consist chiefly in: 1. The means for preventing the hold-
ing device from accidentally flying back and re-locking after release:
provision for enabling springs to be dispensed with: 3. The means for securing
all the till doors simultaneously, and 4. The general combination as a coin-freed
cycle locker or keep.
According to my invention the device consists of a stout hollow back-board or
flat shallow case which stands upright or is fixed vertically to a wall or other
suitable support. This back-board serves as support for the various parts of the
mechanism and its size is dependent upon the number of keeps to be fitted up.
To the front of this back-board is secured a box containing the whole of the
mechanism and accessories of the keep, which mechanism and accessories com-
prise the money slot; the shoot and money receptacle or till; a U-shaped counter-
balanced pivoted frame which carries the holding shackle; a lock and the catch
part of the coin-freed releasing latch of the U-shaped frame; a specially con-
structed slot for preventing the U-shaped frame from accidentally flying back
and so re-locking itself, and also a pneumatic or cushioning device to prevent
slamming or jarring of the U-shape frame.
The coin-freed mechanism may be any suitable one, for example the known one
constructed as follows:-
The money slot is situated preferably at or near one of the upper corners of
the box containing the above mechanism, and leading therefrom is the money
shoot which delivers the coin on to the free end of a horizontal counter-balanced
lever which is pivoted at its other end to the lower end of a vertical link, the
upper end of which is loosely connected to the releasing latch of the U-shaped
frame; the said horizontal lever is also fulerumed at a point considerably out of
or beyond its centre in order to obtain leverage so that the weight of the coin
shall be able to depress it against the heavier weight of the releasing latch to be
raised by it at the other end. Now, this raising of the latch by the weight of
the coin only releases the catch, it does not also withdraw it, so that the latch
would again fall down behind the notch of the catch by gravity and relock it if
the coin were allowed to drop away off the pivoted lever before the catch is with-
drawn, but to prevent this accidental locking, a projecting stud is provided on
the said vertical link, which stud comes in contact with the underside of the catch
at the moment when the latch is raised or released from the catch, thus holding
the latch raised and arresting any further movement of the horizontal pivoted

page_text: lever and retaining the coin thereon until the U-shaped arm carrying the catch
shall have been deliberately withdrawn from the box by hand which action
releases the vertical link allowing it to be still further raised for a moment by
the weiglit of the coin and on the latter dropping off the horizontal lever into the
money receptacle or till beneath, the said mechanism will fall back into its
normal position.
The U-shaped frame bearing at its upper end the catch above mentioned has
its lower end bent at an angle to the upper part, and is hinged or pivoted to the
front of the box through the said angle or elbow, the bent part projecting into
the box. A weight is preferably attached to the bent part as a means in lieu of
springs for returning the said frame to its normal or vertical position. To
prevent this return movement being made too rapidly and thus causing a noisy
slamming of the frame against the box, the underside of the weight is provided
with a bellows or piston and cylinder or other cushioning device.
The U-shaped frame carries also the lock and the shackle, but to render their
description more intelligible I will first proceed to describe the special form of the
slot necessary for the successful co-operation of the locking device. This slot is
made in the front of the box at or near to the top thereof. It consists of a rect-
angular inclined piercing so twisted or formed as to automatically give a slight
turn to the key when properly positioned in its lock on the U-shaped frame,
when the said frame is being brought into its vertical position.
The key is always in the lock when the device is out of use and in pulling
the U-shaped arm forward and consequently the key bow or thumb piece with it
out of the twisted slot in the front of the box, the key is thereby given auto-
matically a slight turn sufficient to prevent the key from again entering the
escutcheon on the front of the twisted slot until it (the key) has been again
purposely turned by hand into the proper position for entering this slot, this
being the special provision for preventing the U-shaped arm closing up or flying
back and re-locking itself accidentally.
In order to render the description of the invention more inteligible, I may
say that the lock mechanism, although it forms no part of the invention is as
follows:-
The lock-mechanism, which is contained within a case as usual, consists of a
bolt, one side of which is cut away to form a shoulder, and opposite to this shoulder
on the other side is formed a recess. The upper extremity of this bolt is bevelled
and in the lower portion is pierced a hole constituting the key way. There is
pivoted to the case a gravity pawl which fits in the recessed portion of the bolt
formed by the cut-away portion at the shouldered side, and on the opposite side
of the bolt is pivoted to the case a spring-pressed lever, which lever carries a
projection adapted to engage in the recess in this side of the bolt. The front of
the lock-case has a hole in it for the reception of the free end of the shackle
which end is formed into an eye, and when the latter is in the lock engages
behind a second pawl loosely pivoted at the top of the lock casing. The eye at
the free end of the shackle is formed in a piece at right-angles to the said end
itself, and the said piece has a projecting tooth to one side thereof which tooth is
of sufficient length when in the lock to reach and push and keep back both the
second pawl and also the spring-pressed lever far enough to withdraw the pro-
jection on the latter out of the recess in the bolt which latter is thereupon fully
shot by means of a spring under compression located beneath it, and so locking
the shackle which embraces one of the road wheels of the cycle transversely.
In lieu of the eye just described as being at the end of the shackle, a bevelled
hook may be substituted.
In order to prevent the keep from being fraudulently used, that is to say, used
by a second person immediately after another without first closing it and insert-
ing another coin to free it, the gravity pawl is so pivoted that when the U-shaped
frame is in its open or angular position and the shackle unlocked, the said pawl
turns by reason of its weight about its pivot and falls upon the shoulder formed

page_text: by the cut-away part of the bolt thereby holding it in its withdrawn position
and rendering the key immovable, and therefore the lock, cannot be again
operated until the U-shaped frame has again been raised to the vertical position
and the key bow turned by means of the twisted slot in the front of the box, or
in other words, until the U-shaped arm is locked in the box, when it can only
be released by another coin.
The shackle it will be understood is the device which is closed transversely
around the rim and tyre of one of the road wheels. This shackle may be either
hinged to the U-shaped frame or it may be suspended so as to swing freely there-
from, in which latter case an eye may be formed at the rear end of the shackle
and a screw-eye or staple fixed on the U-shaped frame, the two eyes being engaged
or interlocked one in the other; this latter being the preferable method as it
permits the staple to hang down loosely when not in use and thereby prevents
it becoming bent or broken off, as it would be liable to be were it simply hinged.
A lock and key is provided on each till door to lock it, but as a further precaution
against theft from the tills by picking the said locks, when more than one keep
is attached to one back-board, a rod extending across all the tills, is supported
in bearings at each end. This rod passes across the hollow-back-board at the back
of the boxes containing the mechanism and has at intervals along its length a
plain projection extending out at right angles to the rod.
There is one of these projections for each till but one, which latter may be any,
but preferably the middle one, and for these projections to engage behind, a
recess is cut in the side of the till drawer or a projecting piece with a recess in
it is fixed to the inside surface of each till door as the case may be, except of course
the one where there is no projection provided on the rod and this door or drawer
is provided instead with a plain projection, and the bar at this point with a
grooved projection. This door or drawer is, further, provided with two locks
having quite dissimilar keys. It will thus be understood that after locking up
all the tills separately by means of their ordinary keys they are then doubly
secured by rotating the bar having the projections until said projections rest in
the recesses in the drawers or projections fixed on and standing out from the
inside surface of the till doors; the one special door or drawer having the plain
projection or slot is then closed and double-locked, causing the projection on
it to engage in the recessed one on the bar, and so rendering all of the till doors
or drawers unopenable until the special one has been opened to release them.
Dated the 28th day of November 1898.
PHILLIPS & LEIGH,
Agents for the Applicant.
Improvements in Supports or Racks in which Cycles or other
Vehicles are Locked.
I THOMAS HEWITT, of 107, Manby Road, Stratford, in the County 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:-
This invention relates to improvements in apparatus employed for supporting
and locking up vehicles, or in other words, a mechanical custodian intended
mainly to prevent theft of the vehicle.
The improvements chiefly consist in the means by which accidental locking of
the holding arm is prevented and the means for securing the cash drawers or
money receptacles.

page_text: The following is a detailed description of the invention with reference 10
the accompanying drawings, in which:
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a box or casing shewing the swinging arm drawn
out after having been released by a coin; the key head being in the position it
assumes after the wheel has been released from the lock, and the arm on the point
of returning to its vertical position.
Figure 2 is a front elevation of Figure 1, the dotted lines showing the position
when the arm is in nearly a vertical position and the key head just entering its
slot.
Figure 3 is a front elevation of the twisted slot into which the key head takes
when the machine is out of use.
Figure 4 is a sectional side elevation of the lock, the parts being shown in
the position they assume when the swinging arm carrying the lock assumes a
vertical position.
Figure 5 is a section similar to that of Figure 4, the parts being in the position
they assume when the arm is resting at the same angle as shewn in Figure 1.
Figure 6 is a rear elevation of the lock and a portion of the arm, the parts and
internal mechanism being in the position they assume when the arm has been
released and pulled forward. The dotted lines represent the position after the
staple has been inserted, the machine locked and the bolt fully cocked.
Figure 7 is an elevation of the lock bolt.
Figure 8 is a sectional-plan through the money chambers of a series of the
supports or racks.
Figure 9 is a similar section to Figure 8, of a modification showing a different
arrangement for locking the money box doors or drawers.
A is the swinging arm pivoted at a to the casing or box. B is the box or
casing enclosing the money receptacle m, and coin-freed mechanism e (when such
is employed) and to which the arm A is pivoted; and C is the lock.
The means by which I prevent the accidental locking of the pivoted arm are
as follows:-
The U-shaped frame A is or may be released by means of a coin which is
inserted in a slot ² operating suitable coin-freed mechanism lifting a latch c
thereby releasing a catch formed on the rear side of the U-shaped frame A.
The U-shaped frame A bearing at its upper end the catch a above mentioned
has its lower end bent at an angle to the upper part, and is hinged or pivoted
at a to the front of the box through the said angle or elbow the bent part
projecting into the lower portion of the box B. A weight is attached to the
bent part as a means in lieu of springs for returning the said frame to its
normal or vertical position. To prevent this return movement being made too
rapidly and thus causing a noisy slamming of the frame A against the box, the
underside of the weight may be provided with a bellows or piston and cylinder,
not shown in the drawings, or other cushioning device.
The U-shaped frame A carries also the lock C and the shackle », but to render
their description more intelligible I will first proceed to describe the special
form of a slot necessary for the successful co-operation of the locking device. This
slot, u, is made in the front of the box B at or near to the top thereof. It con-
sists of a rectangular inclined piercing a so twisted or formed as to automatically
give a slight turn to the key-head (against the action of a spring which con-
stantly tends to press the bolt forward) when the said head is properly positioned
in its lock C on the U-shaped frame A, when the said frame A is being brought
into its vertical position.
The key is always in the lock when the device is out of use and in pulling
the U-shaped arm A forward, and consequently the key-bow t¹ or thumb-piece
with it, out of the twisted slot in the front of the box B, the key is given
automatically a slight turn due to the action of the spring sufficiently to put
it out of register with the slot, and thus prevent the key from again entering
the said slot, as shown by the dotted lines in Figure 3 and full lines in Figure 6,

page_text: until it (the key) has been again purposely returned by hand into the proper
position for entering this slot, (this position being shown in Figures 1, 4 and 5
where in it will be seen that the bow of the key coincides with the slot) this being
the special provision for preventing the U-shaped arm A closing up and re-locking
itself accidentally.
The lock-mechanism which is contained within a case C as usual, consists of
a bolt e, one side of which is cut away to form a shoulder f, and opposite to this
shoulder on the other side is formed a recess g. The upper extremity of this
bolt is bevelled at 4 and in the lower portion is pierced a hole i constituting the
keyway. There is pivoted to the case a gravity pawl which normally lies idly
on the back of the bolt, but which, when the key is turned by hand to release
the shackle falls on the shoulder f of the bolt formed by the cut-away portion
at the shouldered side by reason of the bolt being displaced by the key; and on
the opposite side of the bolt is pivoted to the case a spring-pressed lever k, which
lever carries a projection 7 adapted to engage in the recess g in this side of the
bolte when the latter is half shot, thereby holding the bolt in the half-shot
position. The front of the lock-case C has a hole m' in it for the reception of
the free end of the shackle » which end is formed into an eye o, and when the
latter is pressed into the cavity m¹ of the lock, a projection on the nose of the
shackle engages firstly behind a second pawl loosely pivoted near the top of
the lock casing C. The eye at the free end of the shackle is formed in a
piece at right angles to the said end itself, and the said piece has a projecting
tooth ?? to one side thereof which tooth is of sufficient length when in the lock C
to push and keep back the second pawl y which in turn pushes back the spring-
pressed lever far enough to withdraw the projection on the latter out of the
recess in the bolt e, which latter is thereupon released and fully shot into the
eye by means of the spring under compression located beneath it, and so
locking the shackle which embraces one of the wheels of the cycle transversely.
When the bolt is fully shot, the gravity pawl is off the shoulder f and lies idly
on the back of the bolt.
In lieu of the eye just described as being at the end of the shackle a, a
bevelled hook may be substituted.
In order to prevent the keep from being fraudulently used, that is to say, used
by a second person immediately after another, without first closing it and insert-
ing another coin to free it, the gravity pawl j is so pivoted as shown at s, that when
the U-shaped frame A is in its open or angular position and the shackle un-
locked, the said pawl turns by reason of its weight about its pivots and falls
upon the shoulder f formed by the cut-away part of the bolt e, thereby holding
the latter in its withdrawn position and rendering the key immovable, and
therefore the lock C cannot be again operated until the U-shaped frame A has
again been raised to the vertical position and the key bow turned against the
action of the spring r, by means of the twisted slot in the front of the box B
to release the bolt from the pawl jor in other words, until the U-shaped frame A
is locked in the box B, when it can only be released by another coin, if coin-freed
mechanism be used.
The shackle, it will be understood, is the device which is closed transversely
around the rim and tyre of one of the road wheels. This shackle » may be either
hinged to the U-shaped frame A or it may be suspended so as to swing freely
therefrom, in which latter case an eye may be formed at the rear end of the
shackle n and an eye or staple fixed on the U-shaped frame A, the two eyes
being engaged or interlocked one in the other; this latter being the preferable
method as it permits the staple ¹ to hang down loosely when not in use and
thereby prevents it becoming bent or broken off, as it would be liable to be were
it simply hinged.
The special arrangements for locking and unlocking the drawers simultaneously
is shown in Figures 8 and 9, and are as follows:--
In the side of each of the drawers which receive the coins, I cut a slot ar and

page_text: at or near the side of such drawers I pass a rod e¹ which is provided with a tongue
or catch 3, fixed to or formed in one piece with it. The said tongue wis
adapted to fit into the slots in each drawer so as to lock them all simultaneously
by turn of the rod ¹. On turning such rod in the opposite direction the whole
of the drawers will be simultaneously locked. To prevent the rod being tam-
pered with, one of the doors of the money-drawers, preferably but not necessarily,
the end one, has formed on its inner side two studs * so that when the door is
closed and doubly locked the said studs will embrace one of the tongues w³
thereby locking all the doors and holding the said rod in its locked position.
It will therefore be seen that until this special door has been unlocked none of
the other drawers can be opened.
A modification which is shewn in Figure 9 is as follows:--Instead of having
drawers with slots in their sides, the casings B have compartments m par-
titioned off at a suitable distance from their bottoms. Each one of these com-
partments is provided with a detachable door carrying on its inside an L-shaped
projection b At the back of such compartments a rod extends across all
the tills m, is supported in bearings and has at intervals along its length a
projection at right angles to it.
A projection is provided for each till m, which projection fits into the
L-shaped projection on the door of the till thereby locking same after the
bar has been turned into position. The hinge of said doors is replaced by a
rebated portion which fits behind one of the sides of the door-way.
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:-
1. In lockers or keeps of the class herein referred to for cycles and ether vehicles
the combination with the casing of the apparatus, of the tortuous slot adapted to
receive and automatically turn the key of the shackle lock, as and for the purpose
described.
2. In lockers or keeps of the class herein referred to, for cycles and other
vehicles, the means for locking or unlocking several till drawers or doors simul-
taneously, consisting in a bar rotatably supported behind the tills and carrying
lateral arms each of which can be brought, by simply rotating the bar, into or
out of engagement with a notch formed in the side of the drawer or in a lug
projecting inwards from the door, as described and set forth.
3. In lockers or keeps of the class herein referred to, for cycles and other
vehicles, the means for securing the locking bar in the locked position, consisting
in two projecting pins on the inside of one of the till doors, and the locking bar
having lateral arms, one of which engages between the two said pins when the
door is closed, substantially as described and set forth.
Dated this 28th day of September 1899.
PHILLIPS & LEIGH,
22, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.
PHILLIPS & LEIGH,
22, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.