US3506102A - Manual parking meter - Google Patents

Description

April '14, 1970 C.'M. MATIHISON ETAL 3,506,102

MANUAL PARKING METER Filed Dec. 19. 19s: 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 O INVENTOR 85 74 CHARLES M MATH/SON 79 JOHN W VAN HORN 87 JACK A. PR/CKETT 75 1 WWW 2a 30;

ATTORNEYS Apr-i114, 1970 CLNLMATHISON ETAL 3,506,102

MANUAL PARKING METER Filed Dec. 19, 1967 5 sheets-sheet a INVENTOR CHARLES M. MATH/6U JOHN W MN HORN JACK A. PR/CKETT ATTORNEYS April 14, 1970 c. M. MATHISON ETAL 3,506,102

MANUAL PARKING METER Filed Dec. 19. 1967 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR CHARLES'M MAT H/SO/V JOHN W. VA/V HORN JACK A. P/P/C/(E'TT ATTORNEYS C. M. MATHISON ETAL April 14, 1,970

MANUAL PARKING METER Filed Dec. 19, 19s? 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR CHARLES M MATH/SON JOHN W VAN HORN JACK/1. PR/CKETT M4 MMW ATTORNEY 5 United States Patent 3,506,102 MANUAL PARKING METER Charles M. Mathison, Indian Lakes Estates, Fla., and John W. Van Horn and Jack A. Prickett, Russellville, Ark., assignors to Rockwell Manufacturing Co., Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Dec. 19, 1967, Ser. No. 691,814 Int. Cl. B65d 43/16, 51/18; G07f /00 US. Cl. 19484 30 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A manual wind up parking meter for handling multidenomination coins and differentiating the purchasing value of each to effect a maximum time setting upon insertion of the highest value coin and pro-rata incre mental time settings upon insertion of coins of lesser purchasing value.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Multiple coin parking meters adapted for manual operation as heretofore constructed have employed door castings as the mounting for the meter mechanisms, coin cams and coin drive mechanisms, usually involving complicated sensing lever systems for gaging the coins to set the time setting mechanisms, and in some cases separately constructed anti-back up pawl and rack gear mechanisms to assure full unidirectional time setting movement of each deposited coin through the meter to a point of discharge before the meter is conditioned to indicate timing operation and dispense the appropriate time purchased in accord with the value of the inserted coin. Typical examples are the meters of Wheelbarger et al. Patent 3,160,256, Solenberger Patents 3,027,866 and 2,603,288 and Miller et al. Patents 2,070,445 and 1,799,- 056. These prior art meters, however, have presented serious service problems particularly when it becomes necessary to replace a damaged meter mechanism due to the necessity of dismantling the hinge carrying the door casting, the. inability to readily bodily remove and replace a defective portion of the operating mechanism, or when it is desired to adapt the meter for acceptance of different coin combinations. The present invention simplifies these servicing problems and provides a more rugged mechanism by provision of a unique door casting hinge mount permitting ready removal of the door casting with the assembled meter operating mechanism as a unit when desired and constructing the meter operating mechanism in the form of unitary removable subassemblies as will hereinafter appear.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A primary object of the present invention is to provide a manual parking meter employing a simplified common coin drive mechanism adapted to receive coins of varying denomination and size and interchangeable coin entrance slot members, coin cams, clock movements, time setting racks, pointer drive gear trains, and dial scales to selectively provide meters of any desired time dispensing increments.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a parking meter according to the preceding object with a common base and door casting whereby the Wide range meter selection mechanism can be mounted and housed without the need of providing structurally differing bases, door castings and coin drive mechanisms.

Still another object is to provide a parking meter composed of a base casting and a mechanism mounting door casting mounted on a hinge pin carried by the base casting so as to be removable without the necessity of removing the hinge pin or providing access to the locked coin box formed in the base casting.

Another object of the present invention resides in providing a mechanism mounting door casting with an opening to interchangeably mount coin entrance slot members adapting the meter selectively for use with a variety of coin combinations by selection of the appropriate entrance, coin cam, and graduated dial.

An additional object of the present invention is to provide a manual parking meter of the penny, nickel, dime or penny, nickel, dime, quarter type with a common coin drive mechanism that will forcefully eject the coins of varying denomination at the same point in the time setting rotation of the mechanism into a well in position for inspection through an inspection window and then forcefully eject the coin from the well as a succeeding coin approaches the point of ejection from the coin drive mechanism.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a manual parking meter door casting carrying the meter operating mechanism with a detachable hinge mounting adapting the door casting and mounted meter operating mechanism for ready unitary removal and replacement in the, field without exposing the coin box to the service man in event it becomes necessary to servicethe meter operating mechanism or replace it with an operating mechanism adapted to dispense different time intervals or receive different coin combinations.

Another object of this invention is to provide a manual parking meter wherein the coin entrance member, the coin cam, the coin drive mechanism, the time setting rack gear, the clock movement and the dial scale may be readily removed and replaced as independent units for purpose of repair or to convert the meter to dispense different time intervals or receive different coin combinations.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS Further objects of the invention will appear from the following description and appended claims when read in conjunction with the appended drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of a parking meter made in accordance with the present invention as viewed from the face of the door casting;

FIGURE 2, is an enlarged elevational view looking into the inside face of the door casting showing the details of construction for mounting the meter mechanism;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmental elevational view of the inside face of the door casting of FIGURE 2 with the coin drive mechanism coin cam, coin positioning Well, and coin retainer lever and coin ejector mechanism in opera tive correlation therein;

FIGURE 4 is a front elevational view of the coin cam of FIGURE 3 on an enlarged scale;

FIGURE 5 is a side elevation view of the coin cam of FIGURE 4 as viewed from the right side of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged fragmental vertical sectional view taken on line 66 of FIGURE 3 looking in the direction of the arrows in FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged front elevational view of the coin drive mechanism of FIGURE 3;

FIGURES 8 and 9 are respectively a front elevational view and a right side view further enlarged for clarity of the hinge pillar assembly of the coin drive mechanism of FIGURE 7;

FIGURES 10 and 11 are respectively a front elevational view of the coin carrier of the coin drive mechanism of FIGURE 7 and a top plan view of coin drive mechanism of FIGURE 7;

FIGURE 12 is an enlarged end view of the anti-back up lever of the coin drive mechanism of FIGURE 7;

FIGURE 13 is a front elevational view of the meter clock and indicator flag unit employed in the parking meter of FIGURE 1 on the scale used in FIG. 2;

FIGURE 14 is a vertical sectional view taken on line 1414 of FIGURE 13 looking in the direction of the arrows; and

FIGURE 15 is a bottom plan view of the rack hub forming a part of the indicator flag unit of FIGURE 13.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With continued reference to the accompanying drawings wherein the same reference characters are used throughout to indicate the same parts, the meter of the present invention comprises a conventional two-part meter housing made up of a base member 21 defining a coin box (not shown) and adapted to be mounted in the conventional manner on a support post or the like (not shown) and a door casting 23 removably hingedly mounted upon base 21 by means of the opposite ends of a hinge pin 24. Hinge pin 24 is carried by the coin box closure door 22 provided internally with a hinge pin set screw 24a engaged midway of hinge pin 24 so its opposite ends protrude internally extending through and beyond upstanding cars 25 of base member 21. This internally disposed set screw is inaccessible from the chamber housing the meter mechanism assuring a pivot pin that is removable only by authorized personnel having a key to the coin box. Since casting 23 carries the entire meter mechanism, its ready removability for shop servicing while a replacement casting and meter mechanism is installed is desirable. This is achieved in accord with the present invention by notching the hinge end of casting 23 at 26 to receive ears 25 and the hinge portion of coin box door 22, providing dependent corner ears 27 formed on face F and inwardly curving upstanding sidewalls of casting 23 at the ends of the inwardly curving sidewalls, and inturned end flanges 28 integrally formed at the lower ends of the respective sidewalls. The cars 27 are delimited at their inner ends opposite flanges 28 by upstanding corner notched bosses 29 of lesser height than the sidewalls to define wells the bottoms of which are concavely curved to form journal seats for the ends of hinge pin 24 and upstanding lugs 29a. Lugs 29a and their respective opposing flanges 28 are coaxially drilled as shown at 30 to receive roll pins P (FIGURE 2) spanning the journal seat forming wells at a height approximately equal to the diameter of hinge pin 24 to retain the concave well bottoms in journalled engagement with the pin ends.

As will be clear from FIGURES 1 through 11 of the drawings, the coin drive mechanism D is non-rotatably mounted on a shaft 31 generally centrally journalled in the wall forming face F of door casting 23 for rotation in spaced relation to face F which is provided at angularly spaced points around shaft 31 with suitable upstanding bosses 33 to 36 adapted to mount a coin entrance member E and a coin cam C, and upstanding bosses 37 through 39 for mounting time module or meter clock and indicator flag unit M, including a clock movement 40, expired time flag and its operating linkage 41, and violation flag and its operating mechanism 42.

Referring for the moment to FIGURE 3 wherein the door casting 23 is illustrated as it appears looking into the generally dish shaped casting with meter clock and indicator flag unit M removed and FIGURE 2 which also omits the coin drive mechanism D, it will be clear that casting 23 at its upper end is conventionally provided with a window opening 43 closed by a peripherally sealed window glass 44 held in place by screws 45 extending through suitably formed openings in the window glass into tapped bosses 46 (FIGURE 2) formed in casting 23. Screws 45 located along the lower edge of window opening 43 also secure a backing plate 47 in place for display through the lower portion of window opening 43. Backing plate 47 has an inclined display wall 48 formed midway of its top edge with an arcuate portion 49 the face of which opposite window 44 may have the manufacturers name and trademark imprinted thereon if desired.

Backing plate 47 at points on opposite sides of its lateral center line is provided with respective pairs of upper and lower punched out elongated tabs 49a adapted to slidingly mount informative plates 5i) (FIGURE 1) viewable through window 44 and containing, for example, the following information:

Enforcement8 a.-m. to 6 pm. Sundays and holidays excepted.

Rate-Penny, 12 minutes; nickel, 1 hour; dime, 2 hours.

As best seen in FIGURES 1 through 3, door casting 23 adjacent and below one end of window opening 43 is apertured at 51 to receive coin entrance member E, preferably of hardened plastic, fixed to casting 23 by securing screws 52 freely passed through screw passages (not shown) suitably formed at the inner corners of member E and threaded into tapped bosses 33 and 34 formed on casting 23. Member E comprises a laminar block of plastic having either respective spaced coin slots 53, 54 and 55 (FIGURE 1) or alternatively slots 53 and 54 only of diiferent width formed therein and adapted in the i1- lustrations to respectively receive a dime, a nickel or penny, and a quarter or a dime and nickel orpenny only when the alternate entrance member is provided. In either case the entrance member E is preferably sealed to the walls of aperture 51 and serves to pass the inserted coins from the exposed face of member B through the opposite face 56 (FIGURES 2 and 3) from which the coins pass by gravity into the appropriate slot of the coin carrier of coin drive mechanism D, which is common to both of the coin handling alternatives mentioned, in a manner to be presently described in detail.

THE COIN CAM Coin cam C, shown in FIGURES 3 to 5, is of generally arcuate configuration and about 189 in length, and is fixedly mounted to casting 23 by securing screws 57 passing freely through screw passages in flange 58 formed on the peripheral face of coin cam C and located therealong in position to align with tapped bosses 35 and 36 so screws 57 can be threaded home into bosses 35 and 36 to draw coin cam C down against bosses 35 and 36 leaving a space between coin cam C and face F of casting 23 below the portion of coin cam C lying between bosses 35 and 36. Referring for the moment to FIGURE 4, the outer peripheral marginal portion of the upper face of coin cam C is provided with integral upstanding ratchet teeth 59 disposed along an arcuate path concentric with the rotational axis of coin drive mechanism D provided by shaft 31 journalled in casting 23. Ratchet teeth 59 are formed at their counterclockwise disposed ends with right angularly upstanuding faces 60 and their opposite faces slope in a clockwise direction from the upper ends of faces 60 to the upper face of coin cam C immediately adjacent the lower ends of the adjacent clockwise disposed tooth faces 60. Teeth 59 serve as ratchet teeth for cooperation with an anti-back pawl 61 (FIGURE 3) of coin drive mechanism D to be hereinafter described in detail.

In the disclosed embodiment of the invention and purely as an example of an operative structure the operable dimensions dictated by the diameter of the coins to be handled and the size of the coin drive mechanism D, a dime, nickel, penny in the illustrated meter, coin cam C radially inwardly from ratchet teeth 59 is arcuately recessed on a radius of 1.611 inches to provide a cam wall 62 normal to the upper coin cam face which, when coin cam C is assembled on door casting 23 as described above, will be concentrically related to the rotational axis of shaft 31 of coin drive mechanism D. A second arcuate recess is provided in coin cam C radially inwardly of and below cam wall 62 to provide a ledge 63 normal to wall 62 at its lower end and a second composite cam wall normal to the upper coin cam face made up for merging camming wall segments 64, 65 and 66 of ditfering radial offsets and arcuate lengths. Wall segment 64 adjacent the clockwise end of coin cam C has a radius of 1.562 inches and extends counterclockwise concentrically with shaft 31 of coin drive mechanism D throughout an angular distance of about 70 radially inwardly of wall 62 in the dime, penny, nickel meter here illustrated and merges over an angular distance of about 7 into radially inwardly disposed wall segment 65. Wall segment 65 has a radius of 1.500 inches and in a dime, penny nickel meter extends counterclockwise concentrically with shaft 31 of coin drive mechanism D throughout an angular distance of about 61 35' radially inwardly of wall segment 64 and merges over an angular distance of about 7 into radially inwardly disposed wall segment 66. In a quarter, dime, penny nickel meter the arcuate length of wall segment 65 would be reduced appropriately to provide for a lesser time setting for a deposited nickel as may be desired. Wall segment 66 has a radius of 1.437 inches and radially coincides with the inner wall 66a of coin cam C which defines the lower radially inwardly disposed inner peripheral wall of coin cam C concentric with shaft 31 of coin drive mechanism D. Wall 66:2-66 extends angularly from the clockwise end of coin cam C to form a ledge 67 intersecting wall segments 64 and 65. In a quarter, dime, penny, nickel meter the arcuate length of wall 66a-66 would be decreased by providing an initial wall segment of greater radius to provide a lesser time setting for a dime as may be desired. Wall segment 66 and wall 66a at their counterclockwise ends terminate abruptly at 68 where they intersect wall segment 69 paralleling the axis of shaft 31 of coin drive mechanism D and of equal height to the combined height of camming Wall segment 66 and wall 66a Wall segment 69 terminates at 70 providing in operation a common gradual release point for driven coins of differing value at the end of their respective time setting operations. After leaving wall segment 69 the driven coins are ejected as will hereinafter be pointed out to drop into position opposite a coin inspection window 71 formed by a protrusion on a plastic well fixedly secured over opening 72 (FIGURES l and 7) provided near the hinged end of casting 23 in a manner to be more fully hereinafter pointed out.

THE COIN POSITIONING WELL RETAINER LEVER AND EJECTOR LEVER MECHANISM To assure proper positioning of the ejected coins opposite window 71, door casting 23 at its hinged end adjacent lugs 29 is provided with a transversely disposed coin receiving well 73 of transparent plastic (FIGURE 2) formed by a thick planar wall 74 of irregular configuration parallelling face F of casting 23 and notched at its lower right corner at 75, an upstanding end wall 76 of equal height to bosses 29 and diverging upwardly and to the left to terminate in overlapping spaced relation below wall segment 69 of coin cam C (FIGURE 3), an opposite segmental arcuately shaped end wall 77 of equal height to bosses 29, and a shallow, generally laterally extending, upstanding rib 77. Wall 74 of well 73 on its under face is formed with a circular, protruding boss 78 which extends through a window opening of equal diameter in the wall of casting 23 and mounts a weather seal ring 79 which clamps between casting face F surrounding the window opening and the main body of wall 74 when well 73 is drawn downwardly by its securing screw 80. This sealed window opening permits inspection of a coin delivered from coin drive mechanism D into well 73 upon completion of each full time setting rotation of coin drive mechanism D and the delivered coin remains in well 73 until ejected as hereinafter pointed out upon delivery of a second coin at the end of a succeeding time setting rotation of coin drive mechanism D. The lower corners of well 73 are engaged by upstanding bosses 81 and 82 the flat upper faces of which lie in the plane of the upper edges of end walls 76 and 77 and are provided with tapped blind bores 83 (FIGURE 2) for threadedly receiving securing screws 84 securing a cover plate 85 (FIGURE 3) to bosses 81 and 82 to close the open side of well 73.

Cover plate 85 mounts a spring biased coin retainer and ejector lever mechanism composed of a first pivoted multi-arm coin retainer lever 86 having a right engularly downwardly bent arm 87 arranged to normally block passage of a coin downwardly through notch 75 into the coin box (not shown) disposed behind door 22 (FIG- URE 1) and a second right angularly bent arm 88 the terminal end of which extends inwardly through a slot 89 in cover plate 85 to dispose of its right angular bent sweep end in arcuate slot 90 (FIGURE 2) at the side of a coin disposed in viewing position in well 73 and a spring support arm 91 and a second pivoted multi-arm ejector lever 92 having a right angularly bent arm 93 the terminal end of which extends toward casting face F past the plane of movement of coin trip release finger 94 formed integrally with coin carrier and slot assembly 95 of coin drive mechanism D, a radially directed stop finger 96 adapted to normally engage upstanding stop tab 97 formed on cover plate 85 and a spring support arm 98. Spring support arms 91 and 98 mount a coil spring 99 forming a toggle connection between coin retainer lever 86 and release lever 92 which is operative to normally urge levers 86 and 92 to their normal home positions with lever 86 blocking the coin exit and lever 92 disposed in position to be tripped by release finger 94 upon the next time setting movement of coin drive means D to eject the previously deposited coin from well 73 into the coin box of base member 21.

COIN DRIVE MECHANISM As best seen in FIGURE 6, one end of shaft 31 protrudes from the outer face of casting 23 through an integrally formed journal boss 101 and mounts an actuating knob 102 fixed to shaft 31 by pin 103. Its opposite end is threaded and formed with a longitudinally extending fiat 104 extending inwardly from the shaft end face to the point of entry of shaft 31 into boss 101.

A lay in shutter lever 106 (FIGURES 2 and 6) is pivotally mounted on face F of casting 23 through an upstanding pivot boss 111 integrally formed on face F of casting 23 radially outwardly disposed from journal boss 101, a cam disk 107 is mounted on shaft 31 for rotation therewith in immediate juxtaposition above lay in shutter lever 106 (FIGURES 2 and 6), and coin drive mechanism D is mounted through its pillar assembly 108 (FIGURES 3 and 7 to 9) on shaft 31 for rotation therewith and with cam disk 107, and includes coin carrier and slot assembly 95 (FIGURES 3, 7, 10 and 11) pivoted to hinge pillar assembly 108 at 112 (FIGURES 3 and 7), anti-backup pawl 61 (FIGURES 3 and 7) loosely fixed by screw 113 to hinge pillar assembly 108 for limited rising and falling movement under influence of compression spring 114 seated in a spring recess '115 (FIGURE 8) formed in hinge pillar assembly 108, a pick up lever assembly 116 7 and cam lever assembly 117 (FIGURES 3 and 7) pivoted at 118 to hinge pillar assembly 108 and adapted to respectively actuate the rack plate 119 (FIGURES 13 and 14), and push lever 121 (FIG. 7) pivoted by roll pin 122 to coin carrier and slot assembly 95.

Referring for the moment to FIGURES 2 and 3, lay in shutter lever 106 comprises an arm 125 partially encircling journal boss 101 and formed at its free end with an upstanding arcuate blade portion or shutter 126 adapted to be moved from its normal rest position (shown in FIGURES 2 and 3), where it deflects inserted coins into and retains them in their respective slots 53a, v 54a and 55a of coin carrier and slot assembly 95, counterclockwise to a position blocking the coin slots 53, 54 and '55 of coin entrance member E during initial time setting movement of knob 102 and shaft 31 through camming engagement of cam pin 127 fixed in the body portion of lay in shutter lever 106 and the opposing camming surface 127a of cam disk 107 against the clockwise biasing force of lay in shutter lever return spring 128 connected to arm 129 of lever 106 and upstanding spring post 130 integrally formed on face F of casting 23. Disk 107, as shown in FIGURE 2, is formed counterclockwise beyond camming surface 127a with a peripherally outwardly directed stop finger 131 and is normally biased in a clockwise direction to its normal home position (see FIGURE 2) by tension spring 132 connected to upstanding spr ng post 133 fixed to disk 107 and upstanding spring post 134 integrally formed on face F of casting 23. Spring 132 also serves to bias coin drive mechanism D, shaft 31, knob 102, and cam disk 107 as a unit to their normal home pos tion (see FIGURES 1 and 3) due to the interengagement between pin 134 (see FIGURE 6) integrally formed on the under face of hinge pillar assembly 108 with a through opening 135 provided in disk 107 and the interengagement of flats 136 formed in the shaft bores of disk 107 and hinge pillar assembly 108 with the longitudinally extending fiat 104 provided on shaft 31 (FIGURES 2 and 8). A nut 138 threaded on the inner end of shaft 31 fixes hinge pillar assembly 108 and disk 107 in end abutting engagement t each other and disk 107 and end wall 139 of the recess 141 of knob 102 in rotational bearing contact with the respective oppositely facing end faces of journal boss 101 (see FIGURE 6).

The details of hinge pillar assembly 108 are shown in FIGURES 8 and 9. As there shown assembly 108 comprises a generally triangular body 137 having a mounting boss 138 extending from its bottom face, oppositely extending upstanding coaxial bosses 139 on its opposite faces adjacent the intersection of edges 141 and 142, 0ppositely extending upstanding coaxial bosses 143 on its opposite faces adjacent the intersection of edges 142 and 144 and an upstanding land 145 of substantial width formed on its upper face extending along the portion of edge 144 opposite bosses 139 and terminat ng approximately midway of the length of edge 144 in an arcuate end wall formed on a radius equal to that of boss 138 with the axial center of boss 138 as a center. The opposite edges of land 145 are tangent to the diametrically opposite ends of the arcuate end wall to a point substantially opposite the horizontal centerline of bosses 139 as seen in FIGURE 8. The edge of land 145 adjacent edge 144 intersects an upstanding annular boss 146 having a tapped blind bore receiving screw 113 of antiback up pawl 61 previously described. Recess 115 for spring 114 previously described is formed in land 145 immediately adjacent boss 146 and the sides of land 145 beyond recess 115 and boss 146 are respectively inclined and inwardly recessed to define a narrow upstanding rib-like formation 147 on body 137 beyond the point of intersection of edge 141 to form stop shoulder 148 for push lever 121 in a manner to be presently pointed out. Boss 138 and the axially aligned portions of body 137 and land 145 are apertured respectively at 149 and 151 to freely pass and snugly receive the flattened portion of shaft 31 while bosses 143 and the 8 aligned portion of body 137 is provided with a through bore to fixedly mount a pivot pin 112 the opposite ends of which protrude and are beveled and squared respectively to form respective pivots for the coin carrier and slot assembly to be presently described in detail. Bosses 139 and the aligned portion of body 137 are provided with a through bore to fixedly mount the stem 153 of a step pivot having an annular spacer body 155 and an upstanding pivot portion 118 annularly recessed at 157 to receive an E-ring 158 (FIGURE 3). Pivot portion 118 forms a common pivot for pick up lever assembly 116 and cam lever 117. Respective strengthening ribs 159 extend along the opposite faces of body 137 between boss 143 and boss 138, land 145 and boss 143, and land 145 and boss 139. A radially outwardly disposed upstanding projection 161 is formed on the upper face of body 137 adjacent boss 139 to form a home stop for cam lever 117. A shallow land 162 extends along the under face of body 137 between bosses 138 and 139 and is provided with a blind aperture (not shown) into which a spring post 163 is press fitted for a purpose to be presently pointed out. Pin 134 is formed on the under face of body 137 adjacent edge 144 and is integrally connected to boss 138 by a deep rib-like reinforcing web 164. A post 165 having a blind tapped bore 166 is formed in the upper face of body 137 for a purpose to be hereinafter pointed out.

The details of coin carrier and slot assembly 95 are shown in FIGURES 10 and 11 and when associated with the hinge pillar assembly 108 just described form coin drive mechanism D. As there shown coin carrier and slot assembly 95 is fabricated from a main body or coin carrier bottom member 171, and cover or coin carrier top member 172 each formed with a journal bore 173. Bottom member 171 is provided with a spring arm 174 while top member 172 has integrally formed thereon in spaced overlying relation to spring arm 174 coin trip release finger 94 which also serves as a spring arm. Spring arm 174 and coin trip release finger 94 provide anchors to which the respective ends of biasing springs 176 connected at their opposite ends respectively to spring anchor post 163 fixed to hinge pillar assembly 108 and downturned stop arm 177 of cam lever assembly 117. Biasing spring 176 connected to arm 174 of coin carrier bottom member 171 biases coin carrier and slot assembly 95 counterclockwise around its pivot formed by one end of pivot pin 112 while biasing spring 176 connected to finger 94 of coin carrier top member 172 biases cam lever assembly 117 counterclockwise around pivot portion 118 to normally seat stop arm 177 against the 0pposing face of stop 161 formed on hinge pillar assembly 108. The oppositely directed arm of cam lever assembly 117 carries spring anchor and stop post 178 connected to drive spring 179 connected at its other end to spring anchor tab 180 formed at one side of the free end of short drive arm 181 of pick up lever assembly 116 to bias pick up lever assembly 116 clockwise around the common pivot portion 118 carrying cam lever assembly 117 to normally engage arm 181 of pick up lever assembly 116 with spring anchor and stop post 178. The oppositely directed arm 182 of pick up lever assembly 116 is three times the length of short drive arm 181 to provide an approximately 3 tol ratio of movement between the free ends of arms 181 and 182 and is bent up at its free end to form a drive tooth 183 appropriately angled to drivingly cooperate with the teeth of circular rack 119 of the meter clock and flag unit 36 to be presently described.

Coin carrier bottom member 171 is provided with a second arm 185 angularly related to its spring anchor arm 174 and of substantial width thickened outwardly from its journal bore to its outer end (FIGURE 11) and provided at its outer end with axially directed tiered coin receiving recess slots 53a and 54a and an axially directed open sided coin receiving recess 55a (FIGURE 11) opening outwardly through its outer edge and its free end to receive coins from the respective slots 53, 54 and 55 of coin entrance member 51. Slot 53a receives dimes from slot 53, slot 54a receives pennies or nickels from slot 54, and recess 55a receives quarters from slot 55 and its open side is closed and completed to provide a slot by the overlying portion 189 of arm 190 of coin carrier top member 172 as will appear from an inspection of FIGURE 11. When assembled in casting 23, slot 53a lies in radially inwardly spaced relation opposite cam wall segment 66a, slot 54a lies in radially inwardly spaced relation opposite the composite cam wall made up of wall segments 64, 65, and 66 and the slot formed by recess 55a and the cooperating portion 189 of coin carrier top member lies in radially inwardly spaced relation opposite cam wall 62. Referring for the moment to FIGURE 10, it will be noted that the end face 191 of arm 185 of coil carrier bottom member 171 (shown in dotted lines) is curved or cut off along an arcuate path having the axis of the shaft receiving bore 151 of hinge pillar assembly 108 as a center and that the respective coins, shown by dot-dash lines, protrude beyond end face 191 to varying degrees assuring proper sliding cooperation of the protruding edge of each coin with its camming wall segment as will hereinafter appear.

The face of arm 190 of coin carrier top member 172 opposite that cooperating with recess 55a of coin carrier bottom member 171 is recessed at 192 (FIGURE to house the heads of securing screws 193 passing freely through screw openings (not shown) in arm 190 and threaded into suitably tapped screw openings (not shown) formed in the thickened portion of arm 185 of coin carrier bottom member 171 to fixedly join carrier bottom member 171 and coin carrier top member 172 for conjoint movement around their respective coaxial journal connections formed by the opposite ends of journal pin 112. Arm 190 of coin carrier top member 172 at the clockwise disposed end of portion 189 is provided with a laterally protruding stop extension 194 lying in a plane above the upper face of portion 189 of arm 190 and having an edge 195 which is curved slightly to abuttingly cooperate with a yielding stop ring 196 (FIG- URE 3) fixed to upstanding boss 197 having a tapped bore (not shown) by a securing screw 199 and providing a homing stop for the coin drive mechanism D under the clockwise biasing effect of biasing spring 132 (FIG- URES 2 and 3). The opposite edge of stop extension 194 coincides with the clockwise disposed side Wall of a transversely directed, upwardly opening, recess 201 (FIGURE 10) formed in the outer upper face of overlying portion 189 of arm 190 and delimited above the upper face of overlying portion 189 of arm 190 along the side opposing the opposite edge of stop extension 194 by an upstanding transverse rib 202. This recess and rib structure cooperate with stop extension 194 to convert recess 201 into a depressed well delimited along the edge of arm 190 opposite cam lever assembly 117 and pick up lever assembly 116 by a support surface 203 (FIGURE 10) normally slidingly supporting the depressed section 204 of antibackup pawl 61 carried by hinge pillar assembly 108. Compression spring 114 acting against the inner free end of anti-backup pawl 61 yieldingly presses section 204 against support surface 203 and provides a biasing force eifective to force the depressed section 204 and outer end 205 of anti-backup pawl 61 downwardly into well 201 when coin carrier and slot assembly 95 is cammed in a clockwise direction around its pivot 112 in response to time setting engagement of the edge of a deposited coin with its camming wall segment of coin cam C. To assure proper cooperation of anti-backup pawl 61 with ratchet teeth 59 of coin cam C, the end of pawl 61 beyond depression 204 is depressed transversely to cant end 205 (FIGURE 12) so its clockwise edge rides along ratchet teeth 59 during setting movement of coin drive mechanism D dropping into engaging position with respect to right angular faces 60 under influence of biasing spring 114.

The inner corner of the under face of overlying portion 189 of arm 190 extending beyond recess 187 of coin carrier bottom member 171 is recessed as indicated at 206 (FIGURES 10 and 11) and overlies a protruding ear 207 to provide therebetween a slot-like space to receive the outer end of push lever 121 journalled therein by roll pin 122 (FIGURE 7) as heretofore pointed out. The opposite end of push lever 121 is slotted at 208 to receive the downwardly protruding end of spring anchor and stop post 178 carried by cam lever assembly 117. Push lever 121 as best seen in FIGURE 7 is provided along its outer edge in predetermined relation to the outer end of slot 208 with a right angularly downwardly bent tab 212 disposed to normally engage stop shoulder 148 formed on hinge pillar assembly 108 when push lever 121 is disposed in its outermost home position as seen in FIGURES 3 and 7. The length of slot 208 is predetermined to permit inward clockwise movement of coin carrier and slot assembly 95 during its initial movement as a minor value coin moves toward its time setting cam wall segment. Push lever 121 adjacent its pivoted connection to coin carrier and slot assembly 95 is provided with an outwardly directed trip finger 213 extended to travel in a plane to intercept the turned down end of right angularly bent arm 93 of ejector lever 92 upon homing rotation of coin drive mechanism 32 under influence of biasing spring 132 and actuate coin retainer and ejector lever mechanism to restore it to coin retaining position as shown in FIGURE 3.

To assure forceful ejection of the coin at a common end point in the time setting movement of the coin drive mechanism D regardless of the coin diameter, the coin drive mechanism is provided with a drop-off or locking lever 213 freely pivotally mounted on hinge pillar assembly 108 by shouldered pivot screw 214 threaded into post 165 formed on body 137 of hinge pillair assembly 108 and having an arm 215 overlying the top face of coin carrier and locking assembly 95 immediately adjacent rib 202. Arm 215 is provided along its edge opposite rib 202 with a recess forming a locking shoulder 216 disposed to gravitate into radially outwardly disposed relation to the shank of a headed latching pin 217 press fitted into the body of coin carrier top member 172 as the coin carrier and slot assembly 95 is cammed inwardly during time setting movement of a coin along coin cam C. As the conveyed coin passes on to wall segment 69 of coin cam C it partially releases coin carrier assembly 95 to swing outwardly under the influence of biasing spring 176 connected to spring arm 174 of coin carrier bottom member 171 to yieldingly engage the shank of latching pin 217 with shoulder 216 latching coin carrier and slot assembly 95 against further outward swinging movement until lever 213 is tripped to suddenly release the coin carrier and slot assembly 95. Tripping of lever 213 is effected by engagement of its outermost end with trip pin 218 fixed to cover plate closing coin receiving well 73. The sudden release of coin carrier assembly by lever 213 releases the stored energy of biasing spring 176 to snap the free end of coin carrier and slot assembly 95 outwardly until stop tab 212 of push lever 121 engages its stop shoulder 148 projecting the conveyed coin outwardly into well 73.

The coin drive mechanism D just described, it will be appreciated, provides a unitary factory adjusted assembly for carrying the deposited coins and conditioning the time setting pick up lever for proper driving engagement with the drive ratchet of the meter clock and indicator flag unit 36 forming a second unitary factory adjusted assembly which will now be described.

TIME MODULE ASSEMBLY OR METER CLOCK AND INDICATOR FLAG UNIT The time module assembly or meter clock and indicator flag unit M (FIGURES 13 and 14) comprises a mounting plate 225 of generally rectangular configuration formed at its upper corners with laterally outwardly disposed, upwardly extending ears 226, at its upper center 1 l a with an arcuate upwardly protruding formation 227 apertured at 228 to mount a journal post 229 peened to formation 227, and provided at its lower corners and at the base of one ear 225 with arcuate notches 231 adapting plate 225 for receiving securing screws 232 (FIGURE 6) provided to fixedly mount meter clock and indicator flag unit M to posts 37, 38 and 39 of casting 23 in spaced superimposed relation to the coin drive mechanismi D. Ears 226 adjacent their upper ends fixedly mount posts 233 provided with tapped blind bores for mounting graduated time indicating dial 234 opposite window opening 41 by means of screws 23 5. Dial 234 may be variously graduated to correspond with the time to be dispensed according to predeterminable tables showing the various clock movements, dial scales, coin cams, racks, indicator gear assemblies, and idler gear: assemblies required to relate the time eincrements purchased to the various coin denominations. Since the same general structure is involved in each of the rselectable varying conditions, the present disclosure will'be limited hereafter to the illustration and description of a standard two hour meter adapted for operation by a penny, nickel and dime.

In such a meter the scale on dial 234 is graduated to cover a maximum two hour limit purchasable by insertion of one dime, two nickels, or ten pennies. Referring to FIGURE 14 the two hour clock movement 40 includes a clock mechanism (not shown) mounted on the face 10f plate 225 opposite that mounting diai'234 and is enclosed by a cup shaped cover 235'fixed to plate 225 by screws 236 passing through ears 237 formed on cover 235. The clock mechanism includes an output shaft 238 extending through a suitable aperture 239 formed in plate 225 and having a reduced diameterethreaded' end forming an abutment shoulder 241 disposed outwardly from plate, 225. Shaft 238 non-rotatably mounts a 48 tootlrhub gear 242 and a rack hub 243 secured in abutting contact against shoulder 241 by' a lock nut 244 threaded on the end of shaft 238. Rack hub 243 radially outwardiy from its center is provided with a plurality of shallow lands 245 (FIGURES 13*and 14), four being illustrated. The outwardly facing edges of lands 245 are arcuate delimiting a circle concentric with the center of shaft 238 and having adiameter to snuggly receive the inner diameter of rack 119. These arcuate land edges define angularly spaced seats for concentrically relating rack 119 to rack' hub 243. Each land 245 is provided with a tapped blind bore (not shown) to feceve respectve headed clamp screws 246 the heads of which overlie the adjacent portions of rack 119 which is slightly thicker thanlands 245 and serve to angulai ly adjustably clamp rack 119 to rack hub 243 the periphery of which isrprovided with a radially directed stop shoulder 2'48 adapted to abuttingly engage an upstanding stop 249 formed by slitting and bending up a portion of plate 225. Shoulder 248 in the homerposition of the meter is normally yieldingly held' against stop 249 under influence of the spring tension provided by the partially wound clockwork spring '(not shwn) acting to rotate shaft 238 and rack hub 243 counterclockwise as viewed in FIGURE 13. A similar but oppositely directed stop shoulder 248a is formed on the periphery of rack hub 243 about 170 clockwise from the first shoulder 248 as seen in FIGURE 13 to engage the opposite face of stop 249 to delimit the full winding movement of rack hub 243 and rack 119 when a twelve' hour clock movement is employed,

In order to properly orient rack 119'and pointer 251 to rack hub 243 for use of a two hour penny, nickel, dime meter, a 60 tooth idler gear 252 journalled on post 253 fixed to plate 225 in vertically aligned relation to shaft 238 is meshed with hub gear 242, an indicator gear assembly comprising a 72 tooth gear 254 frictionally mounting pointer 251 for normal rotation therewith and vertically aligned with idler gear 252 is meshed with idler gear 252, and pointer 251 is set pointing to the zero mark of graduated scale *234 with rack hub 243 disposed irr its extreme counterclockwise position shown in FIGURE 13 with stop shoulder 248 engaging stop 249. Rack 119 is then angularly positioned with respect'to rack hub 243 in position to" assure driving engagement of pick up lever drive tooth 183 with the end rack tooth 257 (the counterclockwise disposed end tooth as seen in FIGURE 13) upon initial engagement of a dime (the full time coin) with its cam wall 66a to swing pick up lever drive tooth 183 inwardly into its time setting path of rotation as will be more fully presently explained. Rack 119 is fixed in this adjusted position by tightening clarnp screws 246.

The under face of rack hub 243, beginning at a point about clockwise from stop shoulder 248 as viewed in FIGURE 15, is provided with a radially inset dependent annular rib or wall 258 which extends concentrically along the under face of rack hub 243; through an angle of approximately 246 to a point 259 where it intersects an inwardly inclined rib 261 of equal height having an outer camming vertical wall intersecting a reduced height land 262 formed with a cam face 263 inclined to intersect the under face of rack hub 243. Counterclockwise from land 262 wall 258 continues at the lesser height of land 262 through an angle of about 53 to a point 264 where it intersects at an acute: angle an inwardly inclined face 265 The inner face 266 of the continuation of wall 258 forms a radially disposed wall coaxial with the inner face of the remainder of wall 258 and intersects inclined cam face 263 at a point counterclockwise spaced from rib 261. The purpose and function of wall 258, rib 261, land 262, cam face 263, and wall 266 will be hereinafter pointed out.

Plate 225 (FIG. 13) adjacent the juncture" of cars 226 fixedly mounts respective journal posts 268 and 269 peened to plate 225 for respectively pivotally mounting violation flag 271 and expired 272 for movement in opposite directions from a position below window 41 into a displayed position opposite window 41. Flags 271 and 272 are disposed to move in adjacently related planes spaced above plate 225 and beneath pointer 251. To this end, a sleevelike hub 273 having an enlarged flanged lower end is journalled' on post 268 and freely rotatably mounts flag 271 for rotation in juxtaposition to'the lower end flange and fixedly mounts homing lever 274 drivingly to flag 271 by tension spring 275. Flag 272 is fixedly mounted oil a similar sleeve-like hub 276 immediately adjacent the enlarged lower end flange which is of greater axial length' than that of hub 273 to establish the respective paths of movement of flags 271 'and 272YThe home positions of flags 271 and 272 is that illustrated in FIGURE 13 and is established by the engagement of homing lever 274 with stop extension 194 of coin carrier and slot assembly (see dot-dash lines FIGURE 13) when coin drive mechanism D occupies its home position with stop extension 194 abutting stop ring 196 as seen in FIGURE 3. Respective E-rings 277 engaged in ring grooves in journal posts 229, 268, and 269 retain indicator gear 254 and its associated pointer 251, flag hub 273 and its associated flag 271 and actuator lever 274, and flag hub 276 and its associated flag 272 against axial disassociation from their respective journal posts. The web of flag 272 lying between downwardly and inwardly directed arm 278 and the generally right angularly related arm 279 carrying flag 272 is arcuately slotted at 281 around the axis of post 269 and slidingly receives the shank of headed pin 282 fixed in the upper end of a flag operating link, 283. The lower end of link 283 is pivotally connected at 284 to arm 285 of a bell crank 286 journalled on post 287 fixed in plate 225 vertically spaced below clockwork shaft 238. The other arm 288 of bell crank 286 is pivotally connected at 289 to the lower end of a flag operating link 291 the upper end of which is pivotally'connected at 292 to the body of violation flag 271 at a point radially spaced to the right of post 268 and below the axis of post 268. Drive spring 275 connecting lever 274 to flag 271 is of sufiicient strength to assure normal unitary movement of flag 271 and homing lever 274 clockwise around post 2 68 when lever 274 is engaged by stop extension 194 of coin drive mechanism D to drive link 291 downwardly and rotate bell crank 286 counterclockwise to its illustrated home position on FIGURE 13 so long as coin drive mechanism D is in its home position with stop extension 194 engaging the outer end of lever 274. In this position of bell crank 286, link 2-83 is in its uppermost position illustrated in FIGURE 13 and expired flag 272 is biased in a clockwise direction under influence of biasing spring 293 connected at 294 to arm 278 of expired flag 272 and at its opposite end to post 295 fixed to plate 225 thereby maintaining expired flag 272 in its illustrated home position of FIGURE 13. In this position, the lower end of slot 281 engages with the shank of headed pin 282 and the free end of arm 278 carrying lockout pin 296 is disposed beneath rack hub 243 with pin 296 lying inwardly of wall 258 of hub rack 243 as seen in FIGURE 13.

The outer end of arm 288 of crank arm 286 lying outwardly beyond pivot connection 289 is bent up and apertured to provide a spring anchor tab 297 connected to one end of a light tension spring 298 the opposite end of which is connected to anchor post 299 fixed to plate 225. In the illustrated position of the parts shown in FIG- URE 13, spring 298 is tensioned by the overriding force of spring 275 to store power for rocking bell crank 286 in a clockwise direction when stop extension 194 of coin drive mechanism D initially moves in its time setting direction around the axis of shaft 31 disposed in coaxially spaced end-to-end relation to shaft 238 as viewed in FIGURE 13.

OPERATION Assuming a coin is inserted through entrance member E, it falls edgewise into the appointed one of slots 53a, 54a and 55a of coin carrier and slot assembly 95 where it will be retained by the cooperative positioning of lay in shutter blade 126 and the curved bottom wall of the receiving slot conditioning coin drive mechanism D for time setting movement. At this time, stop extension 194 of coin drive mechanism D will be in its home position in engagement with homing lever 274 and flags 271 and 272 will be in their respective home positions with expired flag 272 and pointer 251 displayed through window 41 as seen in FIGURE 1 and lockout pin 296 disposed inwardly of annular rib 258 of rack hub 243 as shown in FIGURE 13. Upon initial manual clockwise rotation of knob 102 as viewed in FIGURE 1, cam disk 107 and coin drive mechanism D will be rotated clockwise through shaft 31, stop extension 194 will leave stop ring 196 releasing homing lever 274 and lay in shutter 106 will *be cammed in a clockwise direction around its pivot 111 through driving engagement of camming surface 127a of cam disk 107 with cam pin 127 of lay in shutter 106. This initial movement moving stop extension 194 of coin drive mechanism D away from its engagement with stop ring 196 and the end of homing lever 274 releases the stored power of spring 298 to immediately rock bell crank 286 in a clockwise direction around its pivot 287 driving link 291 upwardly and link 283 downwardly as viewed in FIGURE 13 to swing violation flag 271 and homing lever 274 counterclockwise from their home positions to display violation flag 271 opposite window 41. Unless this initial movement is un duly rapid, flag 272 simultaneously swings counterclockwise under influence of spring 298 from its home displayed position opposite window 41 as shown in FIGURE 13 as link 283 moves downwardly to position flag 272 below window 41 at the left end of dial 234 with its arm 278 extending downwardly to dispose lockout pin 296 radially outward of annular rib 258 of rack hub 243. If a maximum value coin is deposited in coin carrier and slot assembly 95 and the initial movement is too fast, pin 296 may be caught behind rib 258 arresting flags 271 and 272 in intermediate partially displayed positions. In either case, as these flag positions change, lay in shutter 106 is driven counterclockwise as seen in FIGURE 2 around its pivot by disk 107 engaging pin 127 to bring shutter 126 14 into blocking position opposite the discharge ends of slots 53, 54 and 55 as the coin carried by coin carrier and slot assembly moves into juxtaposition to the entry end of coin cam C.

Further incremental time setting movement of coin drive mechanism D in a clockwise direction engages the inserted coin with its radially opposed camming wall segment 62, 64 or 66a camming coin carrier and slot assembly 95 counterclockwise around its pivot pin 112 fixed in hinge pillar assembly 108. This initial pivotal movement of coin carrier and slot assembly 95 carries the free coin carrying end of coin carrier and slot assembly 95 inwardly toward shaft .31, a slight distance only when a penny or nickel engage wall segment 64 of coin cam C or the full time setting distance when a dime engages cam wall 66a. These relatively different inward movements are predetermined by the respectively different depths of slots 53a and 54a and the predetermined difiering radial distances of wall segment 64 and wall 66a from the axis of shaft 31. Bearing in mind that the present operation is directed to a penny, nickel, dime meter provided with a two hour clock movement, it is to be understood that a differently formed coin cam C must be employed where a penny, nickel, dime, quarter meter is desired or a differently graduated dial is used or a different time period clock movement is used. In any case, the initial inward movement of coin carrier and slot assembly 95, when a coin of less value than the maximum value coin is used, will be less than the full time setting distance required to position pick-up lever drive tooth 183 in position to engage the teeth of rack 119.

This initial inward movement of coin carrier and slot assembly 95 is at least suflicient to assure that depressed section 204 of anti-backup pawl 61 passes off support surface 203 into well 201 under influence of biasing spring 114 to engage its canted end 205 with ratchet teeth 59 of coin cam C. Once engaged, the canted end 205 of anti-backup pawl 61 remains yieldingly engaged with ratchet teeth 59 until knob 102, shaft 31, and coin drive mechanism D travel their full clockwise time setting are determined by engagement of stop finger 131 of cam disk 107 with upstanding stop abutment 301 formed on face F of casting 23 (FIGURE 2). This initial inward movement is insuflicient to impart movement to cam lever assembly 117 and pick up lever assembly 116 due to the pin and slot connection 208 between push lever 121 and cam lever assembly 117 but is suflicient to swing release arm 94 of coin carrier and slot assembly 95 outwardly into a radial path where it will engage bent arm 93 of ejector lever 92 as the time setting movement of coin drive mechanism D is continued to carry the deposited coin past the merging point of wall segments 64 and 65 to eject a previously processed coin from well 73 as heretofore described and position arm 88 inwardly of slot 89 to prevent the passage of the coin carried by coin carrier and slot assembly 95 from well 73 as it is ejected from its slot as hereinafter pointed out.

When clockwise time setting movement of knob 102, shaft 31, and coin drive mechanism D is continued beyond the point where the coin first engages coin cam C as just described and a penny or nickel is the engaging coin continued clockwise movement will traverse the penny of a nickel along the full length of segment 64 without further inward camming movement of coin carrier and slot assembly 95 or change in position of flags 271 and 27. Neither cam lever assembly 117 nor pick up lever assembly 116 carrying tooth 183 are actuated up to this time and pick-up lever assembly 116 will remain in its outmost position passing in an arcuate path radially beyond teeth 247 of rack 119 without actuating rack 119 due to the lost motion slot 208. During this movement, pointer 251 will remain at zero. When either the penny or nickel reach the merging section of the camming surface lying between wall segments 64 and 65 further inward movement of coin carrier and slot assembly 95 will occur to different degrees because of the difference in diameter of the two coins causing push lever 121 to slide with respect to the downwardly protruding end of post 178 toward the opposite end of slot 208. However, when the penny or nickel moves inwardly over the merg ing section between wall segments 64 and 65 further movement of push lever 121 inwardly occurs sufficiently only to engage the post with the opposite end of slot 208 while the movement imparted by a nickel is suflicient to engage the opposite end of slot 208 and also to drive cam lever assembly 117 and, through spring 179, the pick-up lever assembly 116 clockwise around pivot 118 to swing pick-up lever drive tooth 183 to a position to engage teeth 247 of rack 119 as the nickel traverses Wall segments 65 and 66 effecting clockwise rotation of rack 119, rack hub 243, clock shaft 238 together with hub gear 142 (as viewed in FIGURE 13), moving pointer 251 from zero to the one hour mark and winding the clock spring sufficiently to return the pointer to zero at the end of one hour.

Since the differential amounts of inward camming caused by coins of different diameter on the same coin track wall segments is transmitted through push lever 121 to post 178 as herein mentioned to positively move pickup lever drive tooth 183 into engagement with the teeth 247 of rack 119, the resiliently biased connection through spring 179 is required when the coin of greater diameter encounters the second step in the cam track to permit the linkage formed by push lever 121 and cam lever assembly 117 to move further without imparting additional movement to pick up lever assembly 116.

In this connection, also, the amount of camming movement of coin carrier assembly 95 available is limited by the relatively small difference in the relative sizes of the coins and the sizes of the steps only reflect these differences, a multiplication leverage has been incorporated into the lever arms 181 and 182. Thus, after push lever 121 has moved a suificient distance to utilize the lost motion described above, further movement of push lever 121 results in magnified movement of tooth 183. This assures a proper setting by the engagement of tooth 183 with teeth 247 of rack 119 even when worn coins are used or manufacturing tolerances are not accurately maintained.

If the coin is a penny the inward movement imparted to coin carrier and slot assembly 95 as the coin passes over the merging section between wall segments 64 and 65 and along wall segment 65 will not be sufiicient to impart the necessary movement to push lever 121 to drive cam lever assembly 117 clockwise around pivot 118. As a consequence, tooth 183 does not move to a position to engage the teeth of rack 119 until the penny moves over the merging section between wall segment 65 and wall segment 66, at which time cam lever assembly 117 and pick-up lever assembly 116 will be driven to swing pickup lever drive tooth 183 inwardly into position to engage rack teeth 247 of rack 119. Continued time setting movement of knob 102, shaft 31, and coin drive mechanism D to traverse the penny along wall segment 66 with tooth 183 engaged with teeth 247 of rack 119 drives rack 119, rack hub 243, clock movement shaft 238 together with hub gear 242 in a clockwise winding direction through an arcuate length determined by the rotational movement of coin drive mechanism D with tooth 183 engaged with rack 119. In the penny, nickel, dime, two hour meter herein described, this arcuate movement will, due to the gear ratios of gears 242, 252, 254 heretofore described, move pointer 251 from the zero dial marking to the twelve minute mark and winds the clock spring sufficiently to assure return of the pointer to zero under the drive force imparted by the clock movement at the end of twelve minutes purchased time.

If the coin is a maximum value coin, in the instant case a dime, the initial inward movement as the dime engages the entry end of cam wall 66a is sutficient to swing tooth 183 into engagement with teeth 247 of rack 119 and rotation of coin drive assembly D to traverse cam wall 66a drives rack 119, rack hub 243, clock movement shaft 238 together with hub gear 242 in clockwise winding direction through an arcuate length determined by the rotational movement of coin drive mechanism D with tooth 183 engaged with rack 119. In the two hour meter herein described, this arcuate movement moves pointer 251 from the zero dial marking to the maximum two hour mark, winds the clock spring sufiiciently to assure the return of the pointer to zero at the end of two hours, and if pin 296 is caught behind annular rib 264, will rotate rib 264 relative to pin 296 until the pin engages hub rack cam face 263 and rib 261 and is cammed outwardly past end 259 of rib 258 to free flags 271 and 272 to assume their intended positions with respect to window 41 with pin 296 abutting the outer face of annular rib 258 to hold flag 272 below window 41.

Since the various time setting movements just described are made with the violation flag 271 continuously displayed and anti-back up lever 61 acting to prevent retrograde movement of knob 102 and the coin drive mechanism D, the person operating the meter is forced to complete a full clockwise turning movement of knob 102 in order to clear the window. As the full movement progresses and is completed in each case, coin carrier and slot assembly carries the coin along and past wall segment 69 of coin cam C and drop off lever 213 falls by gravity to dispose its shoulder 216 outwardly of the shank of pin 217 in position to lock behind the pin shank as initial controlled outward movement of coin carrier and slot assembly 95 occurs during the traversing of the coin along wall segment 69. Accordingly, as the coin leaves coin cam wall segment 69 the coin carrier slots will be so positioned that the coins will be retained therein and coin carrier and slot assembly 95 will be locked against outward return movement until lever 213 is released. As heretofore pointed out lever 213 is tripped at the exact same point in the time setting rotation of coin drive mechanism D by its engagement with release pin 218 and when tripped the stored energy of spring 176 connected to arm 174 of coin carrier and slot assembly 95 snaps the assembly 95 outwardly to its normal home position of FIGURE 3 ejecting the retained coin into well 73 irrespective of its size and value. This outward movement is also effective through coin carrier and slot assembly 95, roll pin 122, and push lever 121 to rotate cam lever assembly 117 and pick-up lever assembly 116 counterclockwise around pivot 118 to swing pick-up lever drive tooth 183 out of engagement with rack 119 into its non-driving home position and restores anti-backup lever 61 to its home position out of engagement with ratchet teeth 59 of coin cam C. Immediately after lever 213 engages release pin 218 stop finger 131 of disk 107 engages upstanding stop 301 of casting 23 (FIGURE 2) to arrest further clockwise rotational movement of coin drive mechanism D signalling the operator of the meter to release knob 102.

Upon release of knob 102, spring 132 connected to disk 107 acting through pin 134 formed on hinge pillar assembly 108 rotates coin drive mechanism D disk 107 and knob 102 rapidly in the opposite direction (counterclockwise as viewed in FIGURE 1) to their home positions of FIGURE 3. As coin drive mechanism D is restored to its home position finger 213 of push lever 121 strikes arm 93 of ejector lever 92 driving it counterclockwise, as viewed in FIGURE 3, to actuate toggle spring 99 to flip retaining lever 86 to its home position of FIGURE 3 with arm 87 blocking coin passage 75. At the same time, stop extension 194 reengages homing lever 274 to swing violation flag 271 downwardly from its displayed position leaving pointer 251 alone displayed through window 41 at its set time position and expired flag 271 in its lowered position below window 41 due to the engagement of pin 296 with the outer peripheral wall of annular rib 258 of rack hub 243. This positioning of flag 271 is assured due to the clockwise biasing force of its spring 293 and the lost motion connection provided by the cooperation of slot 281 with pin 282 of link 283. The meter is, accordingly, set in time dispensing condition with flags 271 and 272 below window 41 and remains in this condition until the clock movement drives pointer 251 to its zero position at which time annular rib 258 of rack hub 243 rides past pin 296 permitting pin 296 to swing clockwise around pivot 269 past end 264 of annular rib 258 restoring flag 272 to the displayed position of FIGURE 13 under infiuence of biasing spring 293.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiment is therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. Meter mechanism and mounting for a multi-coin manually operable parking meter having a mounting base including an upstanding dish shaped wall portion mounting a hinge pin at its lower end with its ends projecting laterally therefrom in opposite directions: comprising a door casting of mating dish shaped configuration having a bottom wall provided with a generally planar face formed with a shaft journal carrying a rotatable shaft and upstanding annularly related mounting posts:

(a) a unitary coin entrance member having a coin slot passages therethrough exposed through a side wall opening of said door casting removably fixed to certain of said mounting posts;

(b) a coin drive mechanism assembly removably mounted on said rotatable shaft for rotation in spaced relation to said planar face between a home position and a second extreme position, said coin drive mechanism assembly including a movable coin carrier providing radially and annularly directed coin receiving slots disposed in the home position of said coin drive mechanism assembly in position to receive coins from the entrance member slot passages and maintain them with a portion of their edges projecting from said coin receiving slots, a pick-u drive lever, and lever means connected to said movable coin carrier and pick-up lever for driving said pickup lever in response to time setting movement of said coin carrier and slot assembly;

() a unitary coin cam of generally arcuate configuration removably fixed to certain other of said mounting posts in partial concentric encircling relation to said coin drive mechanism assembly and said rotatable shaft in position to slidingly engage the projecting edges of coins disposed in said coin receiving slots during rotation of said coin drive mechanism assembly to cam said movable coin carrier inwardly to actuate said lever means to drive said pick-up lever into time setting position during predetermined intervals of rotation of said coin drive mechanism assemy;

(d) a time module assembly removably fixed to certain other of said mounting posts in superposed spaced relation above said coin drive mechanism assembly and including a graduated time scale and cooperating pointer, a winding rack disposed to be drivingly engaged by said pick-up drive lever during said varying increments of rotation of said coin drive mechanism assembly, and a clock movement gear connected to said pointer through a shaft carrying said winding rack and a hub gear arranged to be wound and to position said pointer at predetermined intervals along said scale during driving engagement of said pick-up lever and winding rack;

(e) hinge means at the lower corners of said door casting in the form of cars providing upwardly opening journal seats at the level of said door casting bottom face for receiving said projecting hinge ends to removably hingedly mount said door casting to said base member and provide ready access to said meter mechanism coin cam and assemblies for unit removal and replacement.

2. The meter of claim 1 wherein said hinge means includes removable pins carried by said ears of said door casting and disposed in spanning relation to said journal seats, said removable pins being accessible for removal only when said door casting is swung to its open position.

3. The meter of claim 1 wherein the coin entrance member comprises a block having a planar entrance face and side-by-side through slots of varying width extending through said block from said entrance face to the opposite face for receiving and passing coins of differing value and size and laterally disposed ears at the corners of the opposite face having through apertures to receive securing screws to fix said entrance member to said certain mounting posts in assembled relation to said housing adjacent said mounting opening.

4. The meter of claim 1 wherein:

(a) said coin cam comprises a block of generally arcuate configuration formed adjacent its opposite ends along its outer peripheral face with screw passages for receiving securing screws to fix said coin cam to said certain other mounting posts, formed along its inner peripheral face with radially and vertically offset coin engaging camming walls comprising a dime time setting wall of minimum radius extending counterclockwise throughout a preselected arcuate angle between entrance and exit wall segments; an intermediate annularly stepped penny-nickel engaging wall comprising an outwardly sloping entrance wall, a penny-nickel non-time setting wall segment of a radius greater than said dime time setting wall extending counterclockwise throughout a preselected arcuate angle, a nickel time setting wall segment of a radius less than said penny-nickel non-time setting wall segment and annularly connected to said pennynickel non-time setting wall segment by a merging section and extending counterclockwise throughout a preselected arcuate angle, a penny-nickel time setting wall segment of a radius less than said nickel time setting wall segment and annularly connected to said nickel time setting wall segment by a merging section and extending counterclockwise throughout a preselected arcuate angle to an outwardly sloping exit wall vertically aligned with the exit wall segment of the dime engaging wall; an upper quarter engaging wall of a radius greater than said penny-nickel nontime setting wall segment extending counterclockwise continuously between outwardly sloping entrance and exit wall segments terminating at the entrance and exit ends of the coin cam, and an upper face portion having annularly spaced upstanding ratchet teeth integrally formed thereon radially outwardly from said quarter engaging wall in annularly spaced relation through the full arcuate length of said quarter engaging wall, said ratchet teeth each comprising a radially extending wall normal to said'upper face portion and a clockwise annularly sloping wall merging with said upper face portion adjacent the next clockwise disposed tooth and together forming a series of ratchet teeth permitting counterclockwise ratcheting movement of a ratchet pawl along said coin cam; and

(b) said coin drive mechanism includes an anti-backup level mounted thereon and having one end normally supported in spaced overlying relation to said ratchet teeth and means operative during time setting rotation of said coin drive mechanism with a coin engaging any one of said coin engaging walls to release said anti-backup level end into yielding engagement rvith said ratchet teeth to prevent reverse rotation of said coin drive mechanism until afull time setting rotation of said coin drive mechanism is completed and the coin is ejected. i

5. The meter of claim 4 wherein said coin drive mechanism is mounted through a pillar hinge assembly on the inner end of said rotatable shaft, said' rotatable shaft fixedly mounes a manually operable knob on its outer end adapted to be grasped by a user for rotating said shaft and coin drive mechanism assembly relative to said coin engaging walls of said coin cam in time setting direction from its entrance end toward said exit end and said hinge illar assembly carries first and second annularly spaced ipivots respectively pivotally mounting:

(a) said coin :carrier and slot assembly on said first pivot with said coin receiving slots formed at the free end of a first arm spring biased to lie along a chordal path between said rotatable shaft and said coin cam and a second oppositely directed arm;

(b) a cam lever assembly including a chordally dispesed arm on said second pivot adjacent the upper face of the hinge pillar, said arm having its opposite ends provided with a downturned spring anchor tab spring connectedto said oppositely directed arm of said coin carrier and slot assembly to bias said cam i lever assembly around said second pivot to a home position and a post, the opposite ends of which pro- 7 trude from opposite faces of said chordal arm, to provide a dependent end drive connected to said lever meansthroughga slot providing a lost motion connection and an upstanding end; and

(c) a pick-up lever assembly on said second pivot for movement in a plane immediately above said cam lever assembly, said pick-up lever assembly comprising a first arm having an upturned angularly directed end forming a drive tooth for selecti ely engaging said winding rack, a ,second oppositely 'directed arm having a notch formed along its clockwise edge near its end to receive the upstanding end of said post and formed a qng its opposite edge near its end with a spring anchor tab, and a tension spring connected at its opposite ends te, said upstanding portion of said post and to said spring anchor tab of said pick-up lever assembly to oppositely bias said pick-up lever assembly around said second pivot to abuttingly engage said notch with the upstanding, end of said post and form a yielding driver connection between said cam lever assembly and said pick-up lever assembly effective to swing said drive tooth into position to en- ,7 gage said winding rack in response to time setting t movement of said coin carrier and slot assembly.

16. The meter of claim 5 wherein said lever means comprises a push lever pivoted to the free end of said first arm of said coin carrier and slot assembly and extending therefrom across a portion of said pillar hinge assembly provided with an upstanding stop shoulder toward said post to dispose its opposite endeformed with a closed axially directed slot with the outer end below and normally eontacing said depending end of said post, said push lever having a downturned tab disposed to engage said upstand- ;ing stop shoulder formed on said portion of said pillar hinge assembly and limit the movement of said free end of said first arm of said Vcoin carrier and slot assembly away from said shaft and establish a normal home position of said free arm end radially inwardly spaced from said coin cam; V

7. The meter of claim 5 wherein said anti-backup lever is fixed againstaxial movement relative to said hinge pillar by ashouldered screw located inwardly from its other end in a manner to permit up and down movement of its opposite ends, a compression spring is mounted in said hinge pillar in subjacent bearing relatioii to said other end of said anti backup lever to yieldin-gly bias said one end downwardly to engage a dependent protuberance formed on said anti-backup lever inwardly from its said one end on an upper face portion of said coin carrier and slot asi 20 sembly formed at the inner end of a depressed recess opening through the outer edge of said coin carrier and slot assembly whereby upon inward camming movement of said coin carrier and slot assembly to'actuate said lever means said dependent protuberance enters said recess permitting said one end of said anti-backup lever to operatively engage said ratchet teeth of said coin cam and assure full stroke time setting rotation of said coin drive mechanrsm. r e a e 8. Therneter of claim 1 wherein said rotatable shaft non-rotatably mounts a cam disk in subjacent relation to said coin' drive mechanism assembly, said cam disk is provided with a radial outwardly disposed thrugh opening, and an adjacently related upstanding spring anchor post,

7 said coin drive mechanism assembly is provided with a dependent drive pin engaging in said through opening, and a biasing spring connected to said spring anchor post and to an upstanding anchor post on said door casting is provided to bias said cam disk and said coin drive mechanism assembly to home position.

9. The meter of claim 8 wherein said cam disk is peripherally recessed adjacent said through opening to provide a generally radially directed cam surface at one end and said door casting bottom face underlying said cam disle adjacent the side of said rotatable shaft opposite that carrying said spring anchor post is provided with an upstanding pivot boss journalling a lay in shutter lever having a first arm mounting an upstanding pin disposed to intercept the cam surface of said cam disk and an outer free end carrying an upstanding shutter blade disposed to move in a path disposed inwardly of the coin entrance member and a second oppositely directed arm connected to a biasing spring the other end of which is connected to an anchor post formedeon the door casting to bias said lay in shutter lever to establish a home position for said lever with said upstanding pin engaging the cam surface of said cam disk and said shutter blade with its leading edge adjacent the lower inner corner of said coin entrance member for cammed movement by the cam disk to block the inner coin slot ends during initial time setting movement of said coin drive mechanism.

10.;The meter of claim 9 wherein said cam disk ;beyond the opposite end of said peripheral recesszis provided with a peripherally protruding finger formation providing a generally radially directed stop should facing in the same annular direction as said camm ing surface and said door casting is formed inwardly of the entrance end of said coin cam, with an upstanding stop engagable by said stop shoulder to limit rotation of said shaft, said cam disk, and said coin drive mechanism in time setting direction;

11. The meter of clam 9 wherein said coin carrier and slot assembly adjacent the trailing edge of said coin receiving slots is provided with an outwardly protruding stop extension and said door casting outwardly adjacent the home position 'of said shutter blade is formed with an upstanding post mounnting a resilient stop ring for engaging said stop extension to establish the home position of said coin drive mechanism, said cam disk, and said rotatable shaft.

12. A coin drive mechanism fora manualiparking meter having a rotatabie shaft, a'concentrically related coin cam, a coin entrance 'rnember multiple through slotted to deliver inserted coins of different diameter and value into the coin drive mechanism in edge opposing relation to the cam surfaces of said coin cam, and a time module including a winding rack disposed in superposed concentric spaced relation to one end of said rotatable shaft; said coin drive mechanism comprising a unit assemblyiincluding a hinge pillar apertured to non-rotatably receive said one end of said shaft and having a first arm carrying a first pivot adjacent its outer end, a second arm angularly related to said first arm and carrying a second pivot adjacent its outer end and an adjacent inwardly disposed upstanding stop member, and a' third arm angulariy spaced from said second arm and generally diametrically related to said first arm terminating at its outer end in an upstanding stop shoulder; a lever-like coin carrier journalled on said first pivot and having a thickened arm formed at the peripherally disposed outer corner of its free end with sideby-side tiered coin receiving slots of diiferent radial and axial depth opening through its peripheral and end faces to receive respective coins from said coin entrance member and retain them in edge protruding relation for camming engagement with said coin cam upon rotation of said shaft and coin drive mechanism past said coin cam and an oppositely directed pair of spring anchor arms; a first biasing spring connected to one of said spring anchor arms and an anchor post on said hinge pillar to bias said lever-like coin carrier in a direction when said coin drive mechanism is mounted on said rotatable shaft to swing said free end toward said coin cam; a push lever pivoted at one end to said free end of said thickened arm and disposed with its opposite end in overlying relation to said third arm of said hinge pillar with its other end terminating adjacent said second pivot in an out turned trip finger, said push lever being provided at said one end along the outer edge with an outwardly directed trip finger, at a point on said outer edge overlying said third arm of said hinge pillar with a downturned tab disposed to engage said stop shoulder of said third arm of said hinge pillar to limit the biasing effect of said first biasing spring and establish the home position of said lever-like coin carrier, and inwardly of its opposite end with an axially directed slot a cam lever assembly mounted on said second pivot for movement adjacent the upper face of said hinge pillar, said cam lever assembly having an arm chordally related to said second pivot in substantially crosswise overlying spaced relation to the opposite end of said push lever and carrying at one end a post having a dependent end normally slidingly engaged in the outer end of the push lever slot and an upstanding end and formed at the inner end a down turned tab forming a combined stop tab and spring anchor; a second biasing spring interconnecting the other spring anchor arm of said lever-like coin carrier and said downturned tab of said chordal arm effective to bias said downturned tab against said stop shoulder adjacent said second pivot of said hinge pillar to establish the home position of said cam lever assembly; a pick-up lever assembly mounted on said second pivot for movement adjacent the upper face of said cam lever assembly, said pick-up lever assembly comprising a first arm having its free end disposed in overlying relation to the outer end of said chordal arm of said cam lever assembly and formed along the outer side edge of its free end with a notch disposed to receive the upstanding end of said post carried by the outer end of said cam lever assembly chordal arm and having an upstanding anchor tab at the opposite side edge of the free end of said first arm of said pick-up lever and a second arm generally diametrically related to said first arm with its outer end bent upwardly out of the plane of said first arm and terminating in an upstanding angularly related tab providing a drive tooth the inner edge of which is disposed to selectively drivingly engage said winding rack; and a biasing spring interconnecting said upstanding anchor tab on said first arm of said pick-up lever assembly and said upstanding post end of said post of said cam lever assembly to bias said pick-up lever assembly in a direction to engage said notch of its first arm with said upstanding post end to establish the home position of said pick-up lever assembly.

13. The coin drive mechanism of claim 12 wherein said lever-like coin carrier is fabricated from a bottom lever member one arm of which forms one of said spring anchor arms and the other arm of which is thickened outwardly from said first pivot to its end to form an upstanding block portion having said side-by-side tiered coin receiving slots formed in its outer end, a top lever member of mating configuration one arm of which forms the other of said spring anchor arms and the other arm of which has a portion abuttingly overlying the block portion of the other arm of said bottom lever member and is 22 recessed laterally in its upper face in overlying relation of said coin receiving slots to form a laterally directed well and has a terminal laterally directed extension thereon forming (an abutment stop disposed in assembled relation of the coin drive mechanism to establish the home position of said coin drive mechanism, and headed securing screws entered through screw openings in the overlying portion of the upper lever member and threaded into tapped blind bores in the block portion of said lower lever member.

14. The coin drive mechanism of claim 13 wherein the upper face of said coin cam is provided with ratchet teeth and an anti-backup lever is provided fixed inwardly from one end to said hinge pillar third arm inwardly of said push lever by a headed screw for limited up and down tilting movement with its other end overlying said laterally directed well in axial correlation to said well, a coil compression spring acting between said one end of said anti-backup lever and said hinge pillar to normally bias said other end of said anti-backup lever toward said well, and dependent protuberant means on said anti-backu lever located inwardly of said other end at a point overlying the portion of said upper lever member defining the marginal edge of said well nearest said headed screws and normally supporting said other end of said anti-backup lever to prevent its entry into said well until said lever-like coin carrier is cam-med inwardly during initial time setting rotation of said coin drive mechanism to engage a retained coin with said coin cam.

15. Themeter of claim 4 wherein said coin drive mechanism is mounted through a hinge pillar on the inner end of said rotatable shaft, said rotatable shaft fixedly mounts a manually operable knob on its outer end adapted to be grasped by a user for rotating said shaft and coin drive mechanism relative to said coin engaging walls of said coin cam in time setting direction from its entrance end to a point beyond its exit end to complete a time setting stroke, said hinge pillar carries a first pivot mounting a coin carrier and slot assembly for relative movement away from its spring biased home position adjacent said coin cam under influence of the camming effect exerted thereon through a coin carried by said coin carrier and slot assembly engaging a camming wall of said coin cam and loosely pivotally mounts a drop-01f lever having an end overlying a portion of said coin carrier and slot assembly and formed along an edge thereof with a notch defining a generally transversely directed locking shoulder, and said coin carrier and slot assembly mounts a headed locking pin disposed adjacent said notched edge of said end of said drop-off lever adapted upon camming movement of said coin carrier and slot assembly away from said coin cam during time setting movement of said coin drive mechanism to move opposite said notch and be engaged behind said locking shoulder due to gravitational pivotal movement of said drop-01f lever to lock said coin carrier and slot assembly against counter biased movement of said coin carrier and slot assembly until said drop-01f lever is tripped by its engagement with a fixed position stop pin mounted on said door casting beyond the exit end of said coin cam to snap release said coin carrier and slot assembly to forceably eject coins irrespective of their size into said coin receiving well at the same point after completion of their time setting engagement with said coin cam.

16. The meter of claim 1 wherein said pick-up drive lever includes an arm disposed with its outer end in overlying spaced relation to said coin cam, an upstanding tab is formed at the outer end to form a drive tooth lying in a plane defining an acute included angle with the axial center line of said arm, and said winding rack of said time module lies in a plane normal to said drive tooth and is formed with peripherly directed rack teeth radially inwardly disposed with respect to said drive tooth until said pick-up lever is driven by said lever means in response to camming engagement of a coin with said coin cam during time setting rotation of said coin drive mechanism to drive said pick-up lever assembly to swing said tooth inwardly to engage said rack teeth.

17. The meter of claim 1 wherein said winding rack of said time module is angularly adjustably mounted on said rack hub by the heads of respective angularly related headed clamping screws threaded into rack centering lands formed on the face of said rack hub.

18. The meter of claim 1 wherein said time module includes a pivotally mounted exposed time fiag having a home position displaying it to view, a pivotally mounted violation flag having a home position out of view, and linkage means including a homing lever engaged by a portion of said coin drive mechanism when in its home position to assure the positioning of the expired flag and the violation flag in their home positions.

19. The meter of claim 18 together with a biasing spring connected to a portion of said linkage means to actuate said linkage means, when said coin drive mechanism moves away from its home position engaging said homing lever, to swing said expired flag out of view and to display said violation flag until a time setting is efiected to restrain the expired flag from being displayed upon return of the coin drive mechanism to its home position.

20. The meter of claim 18 wherein said expired flag comprises a lever having an arm angularly spaced from said flag and arcuately slotted for lost motion connection to said linkage means, said arm being disposed to be positioned in said home position of said expired flag with its free end carrying an upstanding pin in subjacent relation to said rack hub, said rack hub is provided with a depending arcuate peripheral flange of a height sufiicient to intercept said upstanding pin and having one end located in the home position of said time module to permit said pin to freely pass said flange end to assume its home position and swing to its non-displayed position and a length to intercept and engage its periphery with said pin in all time set positions of said time module to restrain said expired flag from returning to its home position upon engagement of said coin drive mechanism with said homing lever upon completion of a time setting operation, and spring means biasing said expired flag to return said flag to its home displayed position after the clock movement returns the rack hub to home position and moves said flange end past said pin.

21. In a parking meter, a coin drive assembly including a rotatable coin carrier radially supporting a coin and movable annularly between a first position and a second position, time module means, means engageable by said coin to move said coin and said carrier chordally to a position effective to engage said time module means and cause time to be registered on said time module means during movement of said carrier between said first and second positions, and drop-off means on said carrier for retaining said carrier in time-setting position until said second position is reached.

22. The parking meter of claim 21, together with antibackup means operable upon chordal movement of said carrier to prevent return of said carrier to said first position until said carrier is moved to said second position, said anti-backup means comprising a cooperating arcuate ratchet and a pawl for selective engagement with said ratchet.

23. The parking meter of claim 22, wherein said pawl is resiliently biased toward said arcuate ratchet.

24. In a parking meter, a coin drive assembly comprising a rotatable and chordally mova'ble coin carrier receiving coins when in a first position and movable be tween said first position and a second position where said coins are discharged from said carrier, the improvement comprising respective coin receiving slots in said carrier for receiving coins of dilfering value and camming means for imparting varying chordal movement to said carrier and said coin while being moved from said first position to said second position to effect variable time settings of said meter.

25. In a parking meter (a) time module means;

(b) coin drive means movable from a first position to a second position;

(c) coin carrier means mounted on said coin drive means for movement therewith and including a plurality of separate and distinct coin receiving receptacles movable relative to said coin drive means in response to the presence of a coin in any one of said receptacles as said coin drive means moves from said first position to said second position;

(d) a plurality of cam surfaces disposed in opposing relation to the respective paths of movement of said coin receiving receptacles under influence of movement of said coin drive means and adapted to engage a present coin and impart relative movement to said coin carrier means with respect to said coin drive means; and

(e) means responsive to the relative movement of said coin carrier means effective to cause time to be set on said time module means when said present coin engages a respective predetermined time setting cam surface.

26. The parking meter of claim 25, wherein the means responsive to the relative movement of said coin carrier means includes multiplication lever means for drivingly engaging said time module means and lost motion drive means between said coin carrier means and said multiplication lever means preventing actuation of said multiplication lever means until the present coin engages its respective predetermined time setting cam surface.

27. The parking meter of claim 26, wherein the lost motion drive means includes a pin and slot linkage and a resiliently biased connection to the multiplication means.

28. The parking meter of claim 26 wherein the multiplication lever means increases the magnitude of movement of the coin carrier means by approximately 3 to l.

29. A parking meter comprising a housing defining a meter mechanism storage area and a separate coin storage area; hinge means mounted in said housing in position to serve both said storage areas; first and second door means, including respective lock means, mounted on said hinge means for selective independent movement from a normal locked position rendering said hinge means and said storage areas inaccessible from the exterior of said parking meter, said door means for said meter mechanism storage area having the meter mechanism mounted thereon; and releasable means accessible from the interior of said meter mechanism storage area only when its door is open for uncoupling said door from said hinge means whereby removal of the meter mechanism may be effected without removal of the hinge pin or exposing the coin storage area.

30. In a parking meter including an open face housing defining an area for housing the meter mechanism and a subjacent coin storage area separated by a partition wall providing laterally spaced hinge pin ears inset from said open face and having laterally aligned hinge pin through passages, a double locked door assembly for closing said open face to provide independent access to said meter mechanism and said coin storage area comprising a hinge pin disposed in said hinge pin through passages with its opposite ends protruding laterally beyond said hinge pin ears and its center portion spanning the space between said ears; a first door having a hinge portion with a lateral through passage receiving said hinge pin center portion and a set screw accessible only from the interior of said first door for fixing said first door to said hinge pin center portion thereby fixing said hinge pin against removal so long as said first door is closed; a second door mounting said meter mechanism coupled to said protruding hinge pin ends through laterally oppositely 25 26 inwardly opening blind grooves and respective cross pins References Cited accessible only from the interior of said second door; UNITED STATES PATENTS and respective lock means for said first and second doors actuatable by respective key means whereby coin col- 1,455,723 9 Hall 22032 3,160,256 12/1964 Wheelbarger et a1. 194-72 lection personnel and meter repair personnel respectively 5 have sole access to the respective housing areas and said SAMUEL F COLEMAN Primar Examiner hinge pin, said set screw, and said cross pins are inacy cessible from the exterior when said doors are closed US. Cl. X.R.

and locked. 22029, 32

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION at 5 .102 Dated June 12, 1970 Inventor(s) C. M. Mathison et a].

It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Col. 4, line 70, "upstanuding" should be --upstanding-. Col. 5, line 49, insert "generally" after ---69---.

C01. 6, line 25, "engularly" should be -angularly--.

Col. 12, line 33, insert "flag" after --expired--.

col. 12, line 41, insert "connected" after --drivingly--.

Col. 14, line 66, "27" should be --272-.

Col. 18, line 61, change "through" to --throughout--.

col. 19, line 59, change "contacing" to -contacting--.

Col. 20, line 56, change "mounnting" to --mounting-.

Col. 21, line 28, after "slot" insert a semicolon Col. 22, line 72, change "peripherly" to --peripheral1y--.

olhaiED AN RELIEF (SEAL) Anew Edwufllli'letchc,

0m mm x. m. Mung Gonniasionor or ratenta FORM PO-l 0 USCOMM-DC 60376-P69

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