Patent Document

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to a coin operated device, particularly to a coin operated device, which is installed in the door frame of a locker, whereby the articles inside the locker can still be taken out with the spare key of the locker provider without damaging the coin operated device when the key is lost. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    In the conventional coin operated lockers, the coin slot and lock cylinder of a coin operated lock are respectively arranged in the upper side and lower side of a locker. After a coin is deposited, the key is withdrawn from the lock cylinder and kept by the user. Once the key is lost, the coin operated lock cannot be unlocked. The conventional coin operated lock has the following disadvantages:
       1. The lock cylinder is arranged only in the lower side of a conventional coin operated locker. If the locker has been locked and the key should be lost, the latched lock tongue is hard to be unlocked with a tool in a short period of time. Thus, a locksmith is needed to break the lock, and an expense is also needed to repair or replace the lock.   2. Once the lock cylinder or lock tongue of a conventional coin operated lock is broken, the coin operated lock cannot work any more.       
 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    The present invention provides a coin operated device, which is installed in the door frame of a locker. When the key of the locker is lost, a spare key is inserted into a first lock cylinder and turned to drive a second lock cylinder to unlatch the lock tongue and detach the coin operated device from the door frame of the locker. Thus, the articles inside the locker can be taken out. 
         [0006]    The coin operated device of the present invention functions as follows. A second lock cylinder is used to lock or unlock a locker, wherein a coin is inserted into the coin operated device and enters a coin triggered module and then reaches a coin accommodation module; thus, the key is turned to latch the lock tongue and lock the locker, and the coin accommodation module is simultaneously driven to let the coin stay in behind the coin return. When the key is lost, a spare key is used to drive the second lock cylinder to unlatch the lock tongue and detach the coin operated device from the door frame of the locker. Thus, the articles inside the locker can be taken out. Therefore, via the present invention, the articles inside the locker can still be taken out without damaging the coin operated device when the key is lost. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0007]      FIG. 1  is an exploded view schematically showing the casing module, lock tongue module lock and cylinder module according to the present invention. 
           [0008]      FIG. 2  is an exploded view schematically showing the coin triggered module according to the present invention. 
           [0009]      FIG. 3  is an exploded view schematically showing the coin accommodation module according to the present invention. 
           [0010]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view schematically showing the appearance of the present invention. 
           [0011]      FIG. 5  is a diagram schematically showing that the present invention is installed in a locker. 
           [0012]      FIG. 6  is a diagram schematically showing that the second lock cylinder is wedged in the casing module according to the present invention. 
           [0013]      FIG. 7  is a rear view schematically showing that a coin is inserted into the coin slot according to the present invention. 
           [0014]      FIG. 8  is a diagram schematically showing that a coin falls from the coin slot to the slideway of the coin accommodation module according to the present invention. 
           [0015]      FIG. 9  is a side view schematically showing that a coin is inserted into the coin slot according to the present invention. 
           [0016]      FIG. 10  is a side view schematically showing that two coins are sequentially inserted into the coin slot according to the present invention. 
           [0017]      FIG. 11  is a side view schematically showing that too small a coin is inserted into the coin slot according to the present invention. 
           [0018]      FIG. 12  is a diagram schematically showing that a locking operation is performed in the second lock cylinder according to the present invention. 
           [0019]      FIG. 13  is another diagram schematically showing that a locking operation is performed in the second lock cylinder according to the present invention. 
           [0020]      FIG. 14  is further another diagram schematically showing that a locking operation is performed in the second lock cylinder according to the present invention. 
           [0021]      FIG. 15  is a top view schematically showing that a coin is wedged in the coin accommodation module according to the present invention. 
           [0022]      FIG. 16  is a diagram schematically showing that an unlocking operation is performed in the first lock cylinder according to the present invention. 
           [0023]      FIG. 17  is another diagram schematically showing that an unlocking operation is performed in the first lock cylinder according to the present invention. 
           [0024]      FIG. 18  is a diagram schematically showing that the second lock cylinder is taken out according to the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0025]    Refer to from  FIG. 1  to  FIG. 5 . The present invention proposes a coin operated device, which is installed at the door frame of a locker  80  and comprises: a casing module  10 , a coin triggered module  20 , a coin accommodation module  30 , a lock tongue module  40  and a lock cylinder module  50 . 
         [0026]    The casing module  10  has a housing  11  and a mounting frame  12 , which can be fixed to each other. The housing  11  has a reversed U-shape structure. The housing  11  has a coin slot  111  and a coin return  112  respectively at the upper portion and lower portion of one side thereof. The central portion of the housing  11  has a first through-hole  113  and a second through-hole  114 . The first through-hole  113  is an elongated hole. The second through-hole  114  has a trapezoid shape  1141  at the upper side thereof and an arc shape  1142  at the lower side thereof. One side of the housing is bent to form a bent plate  115 . The bent plate  115  has a through-hole  116  near the center thereof and has a press-fit plate  117  at the lower end thereof. The press-fit plate  117  is to be press-fitted to the door frame of the locker  80 . One plate  121  of the mounting frame  12  has a first through-hole  1211  and a second through-hole  1212  respectively corresponding to the first through-hole  113  and second through-hole  114  of the housing  11 . One side of the mounting frame  12  has a through-hole  1213  corresponding to the coin slot  111 . A threaded pole  1214  is arranged beside the through-hole  1213 . A fixing plate  122  and a positioning plate  123  respectively extend from two sides of the plate  121  and are vertical to the plate  121 . Fixing holes  1221  are respectively arranged at the upper and lower sides of the fixing plate  122 . The inner side of the positioning plate  123  has a through-hole  1231  corresponding to the through-hole  116  of the housing  11 . The positioning plate  123  also has a hole  1232  and a through-hole  1233  and further has fixing holes  1234  and  1235  diagonally arranged in the upper and lower sides thereof. 
         [0027]    The coin triggered module  20  is installed at the upper side of the positioning plate  123  of the mounting frame  12  and comprises: a positioning block  21 , a movable rod  22  pivotally installed on one side of the positioning block  21 , a transmission gear module  23  pivotally installed on the other side of the positioning block  21  and corresponding the movable rod  22 , and a fixing block  24  fixed to the lower side of the positioning block  21 . The positioning block  21  has a protrusion  210  at one corner thereof. The upper side of the positioning block  21  has a through-hole  2100 , which will coincide with the fixing hole  1234  of the positioning plate  123  and then be fixed together for positioning. A slideway  25  for a coin  60  is formed between the positioning block  21  and the positioning plate  123 . The positioning block  21  has two pivotal holes  211  and  2110  respectively at two ends of the upper side thereof and has a plurality of holes  212  at the lower side thereof. One end of the movable rod  22  is a pivotal end  221 , which is pivotally coupled to the inner side of the pivotal hole  211  of the positioning block  21 . The other end of the movable rod  22  is a swing rod  222 . The transmission gear module  23  has a passive gear  231  and an active gear  232 , which are engaged to each other. The passive gear  231  is pivotally coupled to the outer side of the pivotal hole  211  of the positioning block  21  and corresponding to the pivotal end  221  of the movable rod  22 . The pivotal end  2321  of the active gear  232  is pivotally coupled to another pivotal hole  2110  and a triggering member  2322 . The active gear  232  also has a hook  2323 . The hook  2323  is used to hook an elastic element  234 , which is fixed to a rod  213  arranged below the pivotal hole  2110  of the positioning block  21 . The fixing block  24  is fixed to the holes  212  at the lower side of the positioning block  21 . 
         [0028]    The coin accommodation module  30  is installed in the lower end of the inner side of the positioning plate  123  of the mounting frame  12  and comprises: a separating board  31  and a driving module  32 . The separating board  31  has a fixing hole  311  at the upper side thereof and two protrusion plates  312  formed at one side thereof via a stamping method. A protrusion board  314  is pivotally coupled to the protrusion plates  312  with a shaft  313 . Two protrusion plates  315  are formed at the other side of the separating board  31  via a stamping method. A blocking member  317  is pivotally coupled to the protrusion plates  315  via a shaft  316 , and a spring  3161  sleeves one end of the shaft  316 . The blocking member  317  has two protrusion plates  3171  corresponding to and pivotally coupled to two protrusion plates  315 . The protrusion plate  3172  below the protrusion plates  3171  has several threaded holes  3173 , and several screw elements  3174  will be screwed into the threaded holes  3173 . One protrusion plate  3171  extends a long plate  3175 , which corresponds to the end of the shaft  316  and is penetrated by the spring  3161 . Two protrusion blocks  318  are formed at the lower end of one side of the separating board  31  via a stamping method. A movable plate  319  together with a spring  3182  is pivotally coupled to the protrusion blocks  318  via a shaft  3181 . The movable plate  319  can thus elastically rotate around the shaft  3181  with the aid of the spring  3182 . The lower end of the separating board  31  has two notches  310 . A stop block  3101  can be fixed to the notches  310  via bolts  3100 . The stop block  3101  is used to block the end of a slideway  33 . When the stop block  3101  is not fixed to the notches  310 , a coin  60  may run along the slideways  25  and  33  to a coin collecting hole (not shown in the drawings). 
         [0029]    The driving module  32  comprises: positioning members  321  and  322 , a first movable member  323 , and a second movable member  324 . The positioning members  321  and  322  are similar to a segment of angle steel and respectively fixed to the fixing holes  1221  of the fixing plate  122  of the mounting frame  12 . One face of the positioning member  321 / 322  has a threaded hole  3211 / 3221  corresponding to the fixing hole  1221 . The other face of the positioning member  321 / 322  has a threaded hole  3212 / 3222 . The first movable member  323  has a hole  3230 . A screw  32300  passes through the hole  3230  and fixes the first movable member  323  to the threaded hole  3212  of the positioning member  321 . One end of the first movable member  323  has an extension member  3231 , and the other end is crooked into a swing plate  3232 . The swing plate  3232  is arranged above an elastic element  43  of the lock tongue module  40 . The second movable member  324  has an inserted plate  3241 . The inserted plate  3241  has an elongated hole  3242 , which a rod  421  of a lock tongue  42  will be inserted into. The second movable member  324  also has an inserted plate  3243 . The inserted plate  3243  has a hole  3244 , an elongated hole  3245 , and a press plate  3246 , which is formed via bending the lateral side of the inserted plate  3243 . A screw  4247  passes through the hole  324  and fixes the second movable member  324  to the threaded hole  3222  of the positioning member  322 . 
         [0030]    The protrusion board  314  has a shape similar to “7”. The terminal protrusion  3141  of the protrusion board  314  penetrates the hole  1232  of the positioning plate  123 . A connecting plate  3140  connects the top of the protrusion board  314  with a press block  3142 . The end of the press block  3142  has a notch  3143  contacting the rod  421  of the lock tongue  42 . The protrusion board  314  and the press block  3142  are pivotally coupled to the protrusion plates  312  with the shaft  313 . 
         [0031]    The movable plate  319  is a crooked plate, and one side thereof has a protrusion  3191 , which is to be pivotally coupled to the protrusion blocks  318 . One corner of the movable plate  319  has an oblique arm  3192 , and the oblique arm  3192  has a blocking plate  3193 . The oblique arm  3192  is obliquely arranged in a lateral side of the separating board  31 , and the blocking plate  3193  is arranged above the coin return  112  to prevent a coin  60  from directly falling to the coin return  112 . 
         [0032]    The lock tongue module  40  is arranged near the center of the inner side of the housing  11  and comprises: a positioning block  41 , a lock tongue  42  and an elastic element  43 . The positioning block  41  has notches  411 , slideways  412  in the lateral sides of the notches  411 , and fixing edges  413  in the lateral sides of the positioning block  41 . The fixing edge  413  has fixing holes  414 , which fixing screws  415  are to be inserted into. The lock tongue  42  has a rod  421  and is arranged and slides in the slideways  412  of the positioning block  41 . When in a locking state, the lock tongue  42  penetrates the through-hole  1231  of the positioning plate  123  and the through-hole  116  of the bent plate  115 . One end  431  of the elastic element  43  hooks the threaded pole  1214  of the plate  121 , and the other end  432  of the elastic element  43  hooks the rod  421  of the lock tongue  42 . 
         [0033]    The lock cylinder module  50  comprises: a first lock cylinder  51  and a second cylinder  57 . The first lock cylinder  51  is inserted into the first through-hole  113  of the housing  11  and the first through-hole  1211  of the plate  121 . The second lock cylinder  57  is inserted into the second through-hole  114  of the housing  11  and the second through-hole  1212  of the plate  121 . The first lock cylinder  51  has an external threaded portion  511  and a threaded pole  512 . The external threaded portion  511  has a slot  5110  and two flattened faces  51100  arranged oppositely. The external threaded portion  511  is screwed into a nut  5111 . The threaded pole  512  passes through a tenon block  52  having a blocking plate  520 , a plurality of washers  53  and a positioning plate  54 , and then they are locked by a locking element  55 , such as a nut. The upper corner of the tenon block  52  is bent to form a blocking plate  521 . The tenon block  52  has a through-hole  522 , which the threaded pole  512  passes through. Two rods  523  and  5230  are formed on one side of the tenon block  52 . Please also refer to  FIG. 6 . The rods  523  and  5230  pass through a fixing plate  56 . The upper portion of the fixing plate  56  is bent to form a positioning plate  561 , and the positioning plate  561  has an opening  562 , which the threaded pole  512  of the first lock cylinder  51  and the rods  523  and  5230  of the tenon block  52  pass through. Then, the positioning plate  54  is arranged above the opening  562 . Thus, the first lock cylinder  51  can be rotated to perform a positioning function. The lower portion of the fixing plate  56  is bent to form a vertical plate  563  and a horizontal plate  564 , and a fixing plate  565  extends from the terminal of the horizontal plate  564 . A screw  566  passes through a washer  567  and the fixing plate  565  to fix the fixing plate  56  to the inner side of the casing module  10 . 
         [0034]    The second lock cylinder  57  has an external threaded portion  571  and a threaded pole  572 . The external threaded portion  571  has a slot  5710  and two flattened faces  57100  arranged oppositely. The external threaded portion  571  is screwed into a nut  5711 . The threaded pole  572  passes through a stop plate  573  and a block  574 , which has a rod  5741  penetrating the elongated hole  3245  of the second movable member  324 , and then they are locked by a locking element  55 , such as a nut. 
         [0035]    Refer to the abovementioned drawings,  FIG. 4  and  FIG. 6 . After the housing  11  and mounting frame  12  of the casing module  10  is assembled, the coin triggered module  20  and coin accommodation module  30  are respectively fixed to the upper and lower parts of the inner side of the positioning plate  123  of the mounting frame  12 . The lock tongue module  40  is fixed to the central portion of the casing module  10 . The first and second lock cylinders  51  and  57  are respectively inserted into the first through-holes  113  and  1211  and the second through-holes  114  and  1212 . Via the slots  5110  and  5710  of the external threaded portions  511  and  571  of the first and second lock cylinders  51  and  57 , when the first lock cylinder  51  is rotated, the horizontal plate  564  will be lifted up, and the second lock cylinder  57  is positioned at a fixed place. Then, the driving module  32  is fixed to the casing module  10 . Thus, a coin operated device is installed on the locker  80 . 
         [0036]    Refer to from  FIG. 7  to  FIG. 9 , and also to  FIG. 1  for the application of the present invention. After a coin  60  of a given specification is inserted into the coin slot  111  and the through-hole  1213 , the coin  60  triggers the triggering member  2322  of the coin triggered module  20 . The corresponding active gear  232  of the transmission gear module  23  is thus rotated to drive the passive gear  231 . The swing rod  222  corresponding to the passive gear  231  is also rotated upward. Next, the coin  60  passes through the slideway  25 , and the protrusion  3141  of the protrusion board  314  originally penetrating the hole  1232  also moves outward. Next, the press block  3142 , which is fitted to the rod  421  of the lock tongue  42 , is also moved outward. Next, the coin  60  enters the slideway  33  of the coin accommodation module  30  and stays in above the screw elements  3174  of the blocking member  317 . (As shown in  FIG. 10 , the screw elements  3174  may alternatively only arranged in below the blocking member  317 ; the coin  60  passes through the protrusion  3141  of the protrusion board  314  via the slideway  25  and then enters the slideway  33  of the coin accommodation module  30  and stays in the screw elements  3174  in the lower part of the blocking member  317 ; thus, a second coin  60   b  will stay in above the first coin  60 .) Next, as shown in from  FIG. 12  to  FIG. 14 , a key  70  is inserted into the keyhole of the second lock cylinder  57  and then turned 90 degrees for locking the locker  80 . The rod  5741 , whose terminal penetrates the elongated hole  3245 , is rotated to drive the inserted plate  3243  of the second movable member  324  of the driving module  32  to move outward. Thus, the press plate  3246 , which originally presses against the long plate  3175  of the blocking member  317 , is moved to depart from the long plate  3175  of the blocking member  317 , and the screw elements  3174  of the blocking member  317  is displaced. Consequently, the coin  60 , which is originally blocked by the screw elements  3174  to stay in the slideway  25 , falls to the slideway  33  of the coin accommodation module  30 . Then, as shown in from  FIG. 9  and  FIG. 15 , the coin  60  is blocked by the blocking plate  3193  of the movable plate  319  lest the coin  60  fall along the tilted stop block  3101  to the coin return  112 . When the inserted plate  3243  is moved, the inserted plate  3241 , which is at the side opposite to the inserted plate  3243 , is moved to the opposite direction. As shown in  FIG. 14 , via the elastic element  43  installed in the rod  421 , the lock tongue  42  is pushed to penetrate the through-hole  116  of the housing  11  and the through-hole  1231  of the mounting frame  12  to lock the locker  80 . Then, the key  70  is withdrawn from the second lock cylinder  57 , and the articles can thus be kept inside the locker  80 . Refer to  FIG. 15 . When a user intends to take out the articles locked inside the locker  80 , the key  70  is inserted into the second lock cylinder  57 . The rod  5741  is turned reversely to push the inserted plate  3243  of the second movable member  324  of the driving module  32  to move inward. The press plate  3246  is moved to press against the long plate  3175  of the blocking member  317  and the movable plate  319  again. The blocking plate  3193  of the movable plate  319 , which originally blocks the coin  60 , is restored to the unblocking position. The screw elements  3174  of the blocking member  317  are restored to near the slideway  33 . Thus, the coin  60  staying the slideway  33  is no more blocked by the blocking plate  3193  of the movable plate  319 , and the user can then withdraw the coin  60  from the coin return  112 . 
         [0037]    When a coin not meeting a given specification (too large or too small) is intended to be insert into the coin slot  111  and the through-hole  1213 , a too large coin is obviously unlikely to enter the coin slot  111 . Refer to  FIG. 11 . When a too small coin  60   a  is inserted into the coin slot  111  and the through-hole  1213 , the coin  60   a  cannot touch the triggering member  2322  of the coin triggered module  20 . Thus, the active gear  232  of the transmission gear module  23  will not rotate to drive the passive gear  231 . Obviously, the swing rod  222  of the movable rod  22  will not swing upward. Therefore, the coin  60   a  cannot enter the slideway  25  of the coin triggered module  20  and the slideway  33  of the coin accommodation module  30 , and the coin operated device of the locker  80  will not function. 
         [0038]    Refer to  FIG. 5 ,  FIG. 16  and  FIG. 17 . When a user intends to take out the articles locked inside the locker  80  but finds that the key  70  is lost, he may borrow a spare key  70   a  from the provider of the locker  80 . The spare key  70   a  is inserted into the keyhole of the first lock cylinder  51  and turned to drive the blocking plate  521  of the tenon block  52 , which is originally located inside the door frame of the locker  80 , to rotate at the same direction. The positioning plate  54  is rotated to above the positioning plate  561 . Thus, the rod  5230  at the upper portion of the tenon block  52 , which is originally located inside the door frame of the locker  80 , is moved downward from the upper portion of the opening  562  of the positioning plate  561  to drive the fixing plate  56  to descend. Thus, the second lock cylinder  57 , which is originally wedged in the horizontal plate  564 , departs from the horizontal plate  564 . Then, the second lock cylinder  57  can be taken out from the coin operated device, as shown  FIG. 18 . The rod  523 , which is originally wedged in a notch  5621 , is also rotated to push the extension member  3231  of the first movable member  323 . The swing plate  3232  of the first movable member  323  pushes the lock tongue  42  to move inward, and the inserted plate  3241  of the second movable member  324  is also moved. The press plate  3246 , which is at the lateral side of the inserted plate  3243  at the opposite end of the inserted plate  3241 , is restored to press the movable plate  319  and the long plate  3175  of the blocking member  317  against the separating board  31 . Thereby, the entire coin operated device can be detached from the door frame of the locker  80 , and the door of locker  80  can be opened to take out the articles inside the locker  80 . Therefore, it is unnecessary for the present invention to break the entire coin operated device when the key  70  is lost. 
         [0039]    In conclusion, the coin operated device of the present invention is applied to the door frame of a locker  80 , wherein a key  70  is turned to rotate the underneath second lock cylinder  57  and unlatch the lock tongue  42  and detach the coin operated device from the door frame of the locker  80 ; thus, the articles inside the locker  80  can be taken out. Further, when the key  70  is lost, a spare key  70   a  is inserted into the first lock cylinder  51  to withdraw the lock tongue  42  and detach the coin operated device from the door frame of the locker  80 . Therefore, via the present invention, the articles inside the locker  80  can still be taken out without damaging the coin operated device when the key  70  is lost.

Technology Category: 3