US1043219A - Coin-collector. - Google Patents

Description

0. F. FORSBERG. COIN COLLECTOR. APPLICATION FILED MAY 19, 1911.

' Patented Nov. 5, 1912.

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,0. F. FORSBBRG. 00m GOLLEGTOR. APPLICATION FILED MAY 19, 1911.

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Patented Nov. 5, 1912.

O. F. FORSBERG. 1 COIN COLLECTOR. APPLICATION IILBD MAY 19, 1911.

Patent ed Nov. 5, 1912."

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COIN COLLECTOR. APPLICATION FILED MAY 19, 1911.

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oscAR F. 1 93mm, or YONKERS, new YORK,- ASSIGNOR TO was'rnmv ELECTRIC com- PANY, or NEW YORK, N. 2., A CORPQRATIONOF ILLINOIS.

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specificatiomof Letters Patent.

To all whom it may concern:

.Be it"known that I, OSCAR F. FORSBERG, citizen of the United States, residing at Yonkers, in the county of Westchester and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Coin-Coltively deposits a coin or coins as indicatedby the central ofiice operator, who subsequently makes the proper distribution thereof, that is, either refunds or deposits them;

. The deposit of a coin by the-subscriberis automatically-signaled to the central ofiice operator, each coin transmitting a signal of.

characteristi'oisignificance. p

The objects of this invention are to procoins into either of two separatepaths so that the coins maybe either returned to, or deposited beyond the reach of, the calling party; and to provide improved switch mechanism actuated by the fallingcoin to close the line circuit and si al the operator 'that a connection is desire L The coin-distributing mechanism may consist-- of a trap-door located within the main coin chute above a pair of receptacles,

or'preferably above a pair of branch chutes each terminating in a receptacle, 1n combination with a coin-deflector having its lower edge pivoted "at or slightly above the convergence of the inner walls of said branch chutes and adapted to close the outh of either branch chute upon'the falling 10f the trap-door, and so direct the released coin into the other. Preferably the convergence of the inner sides of the branch chutes 1s .located in a vertical plane passing'approximately through the middle of thetrap door, and it is in this plane, slightly above the said convergence that the coin-deflector or vane lies and has its pivotal axis. The axesof both the deflectorand trap-door are horizontal and their relation to each other is passed througheither axis it would intersect the plane of the other substantially at right angles. This construction allows the Patented Nov.5, 1912. Application filed May 19, 1911. SeriaI No. 628,230.

trap-door when released to swing entirely 7 .clear of the branch chutes so as not to inter- J fere with the released coin.

fiector may carry an anti-friction roller adapted to maintain the trap-door in a The coin-dehorizontal position against the over-balancing tendency of the coin deposited. thereon. The movement of the coin-deflector may be cont-rolled by an arm attached to an electromagnet, suitable springs acting through the mal vertica postion.

arm'servin to hold the deflector in its norof a spring-pressed lever, an electrical con: tact in the line circuit cont-rolled thereby and a coin-actuated trigger. The trigger is pivoted adjacent the outer wall of the chute and its point projects through a slot therein in position tobe struck by a falling coin, be

ing preferably normally maintained hori zontally across the chute. The opposite side of the pivotal point of the trigger from.

that which enters the chute has an overfor theleyer to restrain the same from actuating the said contact, the said extension, however, being withdrawn from under the lever by the action of the falling coin striking the point of the trigger, whereupon the lever isv released and closes the contact to The switch mechanism consists essentially balancing extension which acts as a latch;

cause a signal to be displayed before the operator indicatlng that aconnection. is deslred. The novel feature of the switch mech-' anism consists in thearrangement whereby the lever prevents the return of they trigger to its normal position after thefirst of a series of falling coinsthas actuated it, and

thus maintains the same out of the path of trigger does not interfere with coins dc--v posited after the first one, if'a series are required, as in the case of a toll call, and

automatically'restores itself and latches thelever upon the termination of a connection.

This construction in addition to being extremely efficient in its act-ion has two points the backboard of the housing and the gravity switch; Figs. 6, 7 and 8 are enlarged detail views to illustrate positions the deflector may assume; and Fig. 9 is a view of the polarized magnet.

The coin collector. has a back plate 21 (see Figs. 1 and 2) upon which is also located the telephone substation set of signaling and communicating apparatus. The metallic housing is shown at 22. This housing car- 1 ries the-forwardly inclined coin runways or passages indicated generally at 23; the coin signaling devices are designated 24 and 26. The upper ends of the several coin runways or passages project through the top of the metallic housing and terminate in the openings 25, 10, 5, in the plate 29. The opening ,25 is of a size properly to receive a. quarter dollar coin and opens into the coin runway 30, by which the coin, if of thewproper di-. mensions, will be conducted to strike the .gong or signal 26 before passing through the continuation of the runway30 terminating just above the coin-directing device 27.

The opening 10 is adapted to receive a dime and a 601m fide coin having been inserted'in this opening will be; conducted through the runway 31 by such a course as to twice-strike the bell 24 beforebeing deposited in the.di- 'recting device 27,- as indicated in Fig. 4.

The opening 5 is of a size to recive afivecent iece or nickel which, when inserted therelrf, will be conductedthrough the coin runway or passage 32 tostrike the bell-24 once and then ing device 27. The novel feature of these coin runways 30, 31 and 32, as shown in Figs. 1, 3 and ,4 is in the formation of theopenings in the sides thereof so that blanks, slugs, tokens, etc., which are notrof the proper dimensions will not be-penmitted to strike the signal devices.

these openings are formed with tapering margins, the ends having the smaller diameters being nearer the points where the coins enter the runways and the openings gradually increasing in diameter as they .approach the coin signal devices. It has been found in practice that difliculty occurs in coin runways of the usual type for he reason that blanks, slugs, or coins of th -wrong denominations become jammed in the opendeposited in the coin-direct To this end runways, but are dropped through the side and are disposed ofmore readily.

Whena coin is passed through one-of the runways 30, 31 or 32, it falls into the,coindirecting device 27 located immediately below the point of convergence of the three runways. The coin-directing device 27 comprises a chute 33 which has branches or passages 20, 28, extending respectively to a colverted V-shaped partition 94. Extending acrossthe bottom of the main partof the coin chute 33 is a trap-door 37 pivdted to an extension 38 of the outer wall of the chute 33 and slightly overbalanced by a forwardly extending part 39. Pivoted to the walls of the chute 33 at 40,- below the trap door'and lying normally in a vertical plane slightly above the convergence of the inner sides of the branch chutes 28, 20., is a coin-deflector in the form" of a relatively thin vane 41, a roller 42 thereon forming an anti-friction bearing adapted to maintain the trap-door 37 in a horizontal position against the overbalancing tendency of a coin or coins lying thereon. r Inorder. to allow the trap-door when released to fall freeand-clear of either .passage, the relation of the axes of the coindefiector'and trap-door issuch that if a vertical plane be passed through either axis it would intersect the other at right angles. Hereinafter for convenience these axes will be described as being at right angles to each other. The coin-deflector 41 has a pin 43 above its pivotal pointwhich projects through an elongated slot 44 in the outer side of the chute 33' by means of which itis engagedby an arm 52'actuated by thejarmature 46 of apolarized electrom'agnet 79. The armature is mounted to have a slight play in either direction to inslire thatthe'particular selective current applied will move the armature in the direction iutended and thus properly dispose of the coin. The armature is carried bya plate 95 pivotally supported in the frame plate 86 at 90 (Fig; 2). The

deflector-actuatingarm 52 is connected to a lever 80- pivoted upon the same pivots as the armature-carrying plate 95 and lying parallel to and just above the said armature which, when moved, transmits motion through the said lever '80 and its connected arm 52 to' the deflector 41, the'direction of movement of the deflector depending upon the direction of current in the windings of the polarized electromagnet p. For the purlect box 35 and a return tray 36. The two passages 28, 20 are formedin'part by an inpose of retracting the armature and the plate 80 to their normal positions andmainh taining them thereat, two spring-pressed levers 82 and 83 are provided,'pivotally supported upon the samepivots -QO upon which the armature plate 95 moves. These levers are respectively maintained under tension. by springs 88, 89, and respectively make contact at points 84, 84, with lever 80 at its ends, and thus maintain the deflector-actuating arm 52 carried thereby and the vane 41 which it engages, yieldingly in their 'nor- ,mal vertical positions.

At a contracted portion of the chute 33. there is a slot 99 wherein the end 101 of an angular trigger 96 projects. This trigger is pivoted at 107 toan upright extension of the frame plate 86 and its said pivotal point is considerably above the point where the part 101 thereof enters the slot 99,-fora purpose which will shortly appear. The part c 100 of said lever on the other side of its pivotal point from theend 101 is the heavier i and normally overbalances said end 101,

'the overbalancing tendency being limited by a back stop -102. An angular switchactuating lever 103 pivoted at 104 to upright extensions 105, 106 of the frame plate '86 has a downwardly extending arm 108 carrying an insulated switch-actuating button 109 maintained under tension bya spring 110, said spring tending to cause said buttonto close contact springs 111, 112, normally maintaining the line circuit open, but being normally in'efi'ective to do so since another arm 113 of the same lever,

' extending forwardly of the pivotal points 104, is latched by the portion 100 of the trigger 96. When a coin strikes the trigger 96, the spring 110 is permitted to act upon the arm 108. of the lever and cause the button-109 to close springs 111, 112, and, due to the contraction of the chute and the relation -of the pivotal point of the trigger to the slot of the chute, the trigger falls substantially outside the chute, and is held there by the 'spring-pressed arm 113 of the lever 103 slipping over the vertical edge of the depression in the heavier part 100 of the triggers Upon, the, energization of the polarized electromagnet at the termination Of the connection an insulating roller 114 carried by its armature 46 and normally lying in a depression in the confronting faces of switch-actuating arm 108 and contact spring. 111, rides out of said depression and, acting through the arm.108, elevates the end 113-to allow the trigger 96 to recover its normal horizontal position and 5 upon the release of the armature and.t he

consequent descent of the arm-113 the tug- 'ger again latches the lever to maintain the lineswitch actuating button 109 on of engagement with line springs 111,-1 2, 'until i the trigger is again released.

' lit A party desiring to use the pay station Wvill deposit a coin, say a nickel, in the proper opening. The coin will pass through the coin runway 32 associated with "the nickel slot,-and, if a proper one, will be i discharged from the runway intothe hopper and chute and thence to the coin-distributing device. 27, where it is caught by the trap-door 37 which is then retained in 4 its horizontal position by the anti-friction bearing 42 .of the coin -;defleotor 41. By sending a current of one direction through the electromagnet- 7) its' armature 46 is rocked upon its pivots 90 in a clockwise direction and the coin-deflector 41 caused to rotate in the opposite or contra-clockwise direction to the position shown in Fig. 8. The completion of the movement of the coin-deflector to this position permits the coin to overbalance the counter-weight 39 .of the trap-door 37, whereupon the "trapdoor drops and the coin slides 'ofiits floor, and since the coin-deflector by this time. has effectually closed the mouth of the refund chute 28 the coin can take but one course,

namely, into the collect box- 35. By sending current of the opposite direction through the electromagnet p, the armature is rocked in a contra-clockwise direction, whereupon the coin-deflector is moved in a clockwise direction to theposition shown in Fig. 6. fiimilarly upon the completion of the movement of the deflector to this position, the 1 I trap-door drops and releases the coin, and

since the-deflector at this time extends across the mouth of the collect chute 20, the coin- ,must pass along the refund chute 28 and into thereturn tray 36 associated there with. M

By virtue of the construction set forth, although the coin-deflecting vane rigidly supports the trap-door in its normal hori- ,zontal position when coins are deposited thereon, but very little energy is required to swing it to either of its alternative positions and thus permit the door to fall. In 'fact the moment the vane is moved either way from the dead center, the coins assist its continued movement. Beingv located beneath the trap-door, tlie vane cannot be manipulated from above to'release the trapdoor and since it ismaintained in its norto support a deposited coin, a pair of receptacles, a coin-deflector pivoted at its lower edge below said trap-door, and means for releasing said trap-door and for causing said coin-deflector to guide. the released coin into either receptacle;

2. In -a coin collector, the combination with a chute, of a trap-door therein adapted to support a coin, a'coin-deflector pivoted at its lower edge below said trap-door and capable of assuming three posit-ions, and electromagnetic means controlling the release of said trap-doorandthe moVement-gf -said coin-deflector.

3.-'In a coin collector, the combination with a chute, of a trap-door therein, a. pair of: branch chutes converging below said trap-door, a coin-deflector pivoted atits lower edge slightly above the convergence of the 'inner sides of said branch chutes,

and means for releasing said trap-door and for moving said deflector across the mouth of either branch chute, to direct a released I coin into the other.

4. In a 00111 collector, the combination with a chute, of a trap-door therein adapted to support a deposited coin, branch chutes beneath said door, and a coin-deflector below said door pivoted at its lower edge neutrally with respect to said branch chutes,

'- and means for releasing said door and for moving said deflector across the mouth of either branch chute upon the release of the door.

5. In a coin collector, the combination with a main chute, of a trap-door therein, a coin-deflector pivoted on an axis below and at right angles to the pivotal axis of said trap door, a pair of branch chutes converging beneath said door, and means for releasing a coin deposited upon said door andfor causing said com-deflector to block the entrance to either of said branch chutes.

6. In a coin collector, the combination with a main, chute, of a trap-door therein, a plurality of branch chutes beneath said door, a deflector having anti-friction means adapted upon the deposit of a coin in said chute to support said'door, and means for .into the other.

removing said deflector as a support'for said I 7 door and across the mouth of either of said said coin-deflector adapted upon the deposit into the other.

I of afcoin uponsaid trap-door to support the same, a pair of branch chutes, and means for removing sald deflector from under said 'door and .across the mouth of either of "said the -released coinwith a coin chute, a coin-actuated switchbranch chutes -to divert -8.. In a coin collector, the combination with a main chute, a trap-door pivoted therein to receive a deposit-ed coin, branch chutes converging below said trap-door, a coin' defiector pivoted at its lower edge below s'aid, trap-door, and a polarized electro- "36 tmounted alongside sa Chute and 10. In a coin collector,

having an arm adapted to swing said coin deflector into'the mouth of either ;branch chute to'direct a released coin into the other.

9. In acoin collector, the combination with. a main chute, a trap-door therein, branch chutes converging below said trapto swlng the same in either direction to deflect a released coin into one or the other of said branch chutes.

with a main chute, of. a trap-door' therein adapted to receive a deposited coin, branch chutes converging below said trap door, a coin-deflector pivoted at its lower edge within said main chute, and havinga pin extending through a slot in said main chute, a polarized electromagnet mounted alongside the combination "door, of a coin-deflector located below said said chute and having a slotted armadapted to engage and normally maintain said coi n.

deflector in a vertical positionto act as a support for said door and to swing said deflector from, under said door and across the mouth of either branch chute to direct a released coin into the other. 7 11. In a coin collector,-the combination with a main chute, of a trap-door therein adapted to receive a deposited coin, branch chutes converging below said trap-door, a

' tromagnet-mounted adjacent-said chute and havinga slotted arm to engage said deflector pin and normally maintain the de- I flector vertical to support said trap-door and toswing said deflector across the mouth of-either branch chute to release said door and direct the. released coin into the other.

12. In a coin collector, the combination with a main chute, of a trap-door therein:

adapted to receivea deposited coin, branch chutes; converging beneath said trap-door, a Wafer-like coin-deflecting vane movably maintaining said vane vertical and adapted I I to release said trap-door .and swing the said vane into the mouth of either chute to I direct the released coin into the other.

13. In a coin collector, the ,combination controlling device therein ada' ted to be struck bytherst of a series of alling coins and removed from they path .of succeeding falling coin, an electrical contact, a lever cont-rolled by said trigger and adapted when released by the actuation of said trigger to prevent the restoration of said trigger to normal position.

15. In a coin collector, the combination with a chute, a co'in--actuated' device therein,

an electrical contact, and a lever adapted tov causethe actuation of said contact but normally. maintained inoperative by said coinactu ated device, and means whereby upon the actuation of said device by a falling coin said lever is released and actuates said con- 1 of said trigger by a falling coin to close said contact and prevent the restoration of said trigger, and electromagnetic mechanism for restoring said-trigger and lever.

17. In coin collector, the combination with a chute, a lever, a switch actuated thereby, a trigger pivoted outside said chute to swing in a horizontal plane and overbalanced to lie normally in a horizontal position, one end of said triggerilying across said chute in the path of falling coins and the other latching said lever to maintain the same normally inoperative to close said switch, said lever being adapted upon the actuation of said trigger, by a fallingcoin to close said switch and prevent the restoration of said trigger.

18. In a coin collector, the combinatio with a coin chute having a contracted slotted neck with downwardly flaring walls, an angular trigger pivoted adjacent said chute 4 above said perforation and having its point extending into said chute through said slot, in position to be struck by a falling coin, and a switch actuating lever controlled by said trigger.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this18th day of May A. D. 1911. OSCAR F. FORSBERG.

Witnesses: IRVING MACDONALD, FRANK A. FLEISCHMAN.

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