EP0044754A1 - Vending machine and associated device for the collection of the money received by this machine - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to prepayment machines dispensing objects or authorizing the obtaining of service in exchange for coins. The machine comprises a chest intended for temporarily storing the coins introduced into the machine before their collection by means of an associated collection device, this chest being particularly designed to be protected against break-ins. The trunk (15) is made up of two parts: one being a bottom which forms an integral part of the machine housing (10) and has a collection orifice (17) normally closed by a shutter (25); the other being a cover (20) locked on said bottom by blocking means (23) controlled by the shutter. The shutter can only be operated in the open position by coupling the collection device (50) with the machine housing. Application in particular to machines for distributing parking tickets.

Description

The present invention relates to machines for dispensing objects or for obtaining prepayment services, as well as to an associated collection device making it possible to periodically pick up the coins collected in payment for them and temporarily stored in the machines. .

Vending machines of this kind are used for example for the delivery of various objects (food, stamps, tickets, etc.), or. obtaining services (right of way, transport tax, etc.), in exchange for coins. A more particular application concerns. machines issuing parking tickets to be displayed on the windshields of vehicles in certain urban areas with paid parking.

Prepaid vending machines generally include, in a box fixed to a support sealed in the ground, means for evaluating the coins introduced by the user into the machine, means for dispensing objects according to the sum introduced. , and a chest, or piggy bank, in which are guided the coins which gave rise to the distribution of objects. The sums thus collected in the boot of a machine are periodically collected by personnel responsible for this collection operation.

• - une première solution consiste à munir la machine d'un coffre amovible, accessible au personnel de collecte grâce à une porte plus ou moins renforcée et fermée à clé, pour être remplacé par un coffre vide. Le coffre possède lui-même une porte fermée à clé dont la clé n'est pas à la disposition du personnel de collecte sur le site.
• - une autre solution consiste à utiliser un coffre semi- mobile, mais lié à la machine, qui peut être basculé après ouverture d'une porte de la machine fermée à clé et donnant accès à ce coffre. Le coffre en position basculée est alors accouplé à la tête-d'un dispositif de collecte par manoeuvre d'une ou plusieurs clés. Ce dispositif comporte, en outre, un flexible reliant la tête de collecte à un coffre collecteur monté sur un chariot mobile dans lequel les pièces de monnaie tombent par gravité et où elles sont inaccessibles au personnel de collecte.

We can classify the assemblies of the safes ensuring the temporary storage of coins in the machine according to two main types:

• - A first solution is to provide the machine with a removable chest, accessible to collection staff through a more or less reinforced door and locked, to be replaced by an empty chest. The safe itself has a locked door, the key of which is not available to collection staff on site.
• - Another solution is to use a semi-mobile box, but linked to the machine, which can be tilted after opening a door of the machine locked and giving access to this box. The trunk in the tilted position is then coupled to the head of a collection device by operating one or more keys. This device further comprises a hose connecting the collection head to a collecting chest mounted on a mobile carriage in which the coins fall by gravity and where they are inaccessible to the collection staff.

In the particular case of vending machines for parking tickets, these machines are naturally installed on the public highway, and as a result, are more and more frequently the subject of break-ins and attempted theft of the sums contained in their trunk when they remain unattended at night.

Indeed, in the first solution mentioned above where the trunk is removable, theft protection is only ensured by a door which, after being broken, gives free access to the trunk. It is then carried away by the criminals to be emptied quietly elsewhere. In the other solution mentioned, protection is in principle ensured, in addition to the access door, by the fact that the trunk is irremovable and must therefore be forced on site. In practice, we realized that this protection was quite illusory, and that the door once fractured, the trunk was in turn cut from its support using simple tools, such as chisel and crowbar, then carried away as in the first case.

The subject of the invention is therefore a vending machine and an associated collection device which does not have the drawbacks which have just been mentioned and in which genuinely effective protections against theft are provided to make the trunk immovable, inviolable and inaccessible unless to have been previously emptied.

The vending machine according to the invention comprises, in a single housing, means for evaluating coins, means for distributing objects or authorizing access to obtaining services, a safe for storage temporary coins collected by the machine before their transfer to a collection device associated with the machine, a part of said trunk being constituted by the housing itself and having a collection orifice normally closed by a shutter, said shutter being operable only by coupling the head of the collecting device directly to said box, and it is characterized in that said box is constituted by a bottom forming an integral part of the housing and by a cover locked on the bottom by blocking means controlled by said shutter.

• - le coffre étant en partie constitué par le boîtier de la machine, il ne peut pas être emporté - à moins d'emporter la machine en totalité après l'avoir arrachée de son support ;
• - le coffre ne peut non plus être démonté, car le couvercle formant l'autre partie de son enceinte est verrouillé sur le boîtier par l'obturateur de l'orifice de collecte, et cet obturateur ne peut être manoeuvré en position d'ouverture que si la tête du dispositif de collecte est elle-même accouplée avec le boîtier de la machine.

The design of the machine is therefore such that:

• - the trunk being partly formed by the machine case, it cannot be taken away - unless you take the whole machine after having torn it from its support;
• - the trunk cannot be dismantled either, because the cover forming the other part of its enclosure is locked on the casing by the shutter of the collection orifice, and this shutter can only be operated in the open position if the head of the collecting device is itself coupled to the machine housing.

It is therefore understandable that, even in the case where the machine service door giving access to the internal functional organs (coin mechanism, distributor, etc.) is forced by the criminals, they will be unable to force the chest itself. One can indeed suitably size the thickness of the steel sheet constituting the housing and its cover, for example by choosing a sheet of the order of 4 mm thick, to make the safe tamper evident for a long time to mechanical tools usually used in this kind of break-ins.

• - d'une part, au moyen d'une serrure, utilisable par le personnel de collecte seulement en conjonction avec la tête du dispositif de collecte ;
• - d'autre part, au moyen d'un second verrou à ressort, celui-ci ne pouvant être libéré que par accouplement de la tête du dispositif de collecte.

The trunk is thus protected from attack by the machine from the inside, it is also protected from attack from the outside. Indeed, if one seeks to rob the interior of the trunk by wanting to release the collection orifice, this orifice is closed by the shutter which is normally blocked in the closed position by a double locking:

• - on the one hand, by means of a lock, usable by the collection staff only in conjunction with the head of the collection device;
• - on the other hand, by means of a second spring latch, this can only be released by coupling the head of the collection device.

In other words, even in possession of the key to the lock, it is still essential to have at least one collection device head in order to unlock the shutter and take hold of the money inside the trunk.

• - les fig. 1 à 3 sont des vues montrant la disposition du coffre dans le boîtier de la machine, respectivement en coupe horizontale et en coupes suivant des plans 2-2 et 3-3.
• - la fiq. 4 est une vue en perspective du couvercle du coffre.
• - la fig. 5 montre la tige de blocage du couvercle précédent.
• - la fig. 6 est une vue en plan de l'obturateur de l'orifice de collecte.
• - les fig. 7 et 8 sont des vues respectivement de profil et en coupe du coffre équipé de son mécanisme de verrouillage.
• - la fig. 9 est une vue de dessus du coffre précédent, couvercle enlevé.
• - les fig. 10 à 12 représentent respectivement en plan et en coupes la tête du dispositif de collecte coopérant avec la machine des figures précédentes.

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will emerge from the description which follows in relation to the appended drawings, given by way of nonlimiting example, of an embodiment of a machine in accordance with the invention. On these drawings: ^-

• - figs. 1 to 3 are views showing the arrangement of the trunk in the machine housing, respectively in horizontal section and in sections along planes 2-2 and 3-3.
• - the fiq. 4 is a perspective view of the trunk lid.
• - fig. 5 shows the locking rod of the previous cover.
• - fig. 6 is a plan view of the shutter of the collection orifice.
• - figs. 7 and 8 are views in profile and in section respectively of the trunk equipped with its locking mechanism.
• - fig. 9 is a top view of the previous chest, cover removed.
• - figs. 10 to 12 represent respectively in plan and in sections the head of the collection device cooperating with the machine of the preceding figures.

We will now describe an embodiment of the invention applied to a prepayment machine intended for the distribution of parking tickets, it being understood that the invention is not limited to this single application, and can be used for machines distributors of any objects or allowing the obtaining of any services.

• - moyens d'évaluation des pièces, horloge, moyens de calcul des temps, imprimante de tickets, etc...

Referring to fig. 1 to 3, one sees the housing 10 of the general form parallelepipedic machine, firm _m ed on its front face by a service door (not shown) on which are arranged various elements (slots for the entry of coins, device for displaying the sums introduced, and corresponding parking times, output of tickets, etc.) cooperating with the internal functional organs of machine, such as:

• - means of evaluating parts, clock, means of calculating times, ticket printer, etc.

The housing 10 is made of welded sheet steel and comprises, in addition to the external walls, two vertical internal partitions 11 and 12, also -welded to the housing, the partition 11 being parallel to the front door, the partition 12 perpendicular to it- ci, so as to constitute with the corresponding external walls, lateral 13 and rear 14, the bottom of a receptacle 15 intended to serve partially as a safe for the machine and to receive the coins introduced in exchange for the distribution of tickets.

In the bottom wall 16 of the housing 10 is provided an orifice 17, for example of circular shape, visible in FIGS. 2 and 3, for the collection of coins thus collected in the machine, this orifice being - disposed approximately at the center of the bottom of the receptacle 15. The wall 11 has a slightly inclined rim 18. The bottom of the receptacle 15 is arranged to receive a cover 20, with three flat faces provided with a flange on the side of the partition 12, shown in sequence on the life of FIG. 4, so as to form with the bottom 15 a closed enclosure constituting the boot of the machine.

The machine housing 10 is fixed to a vertical pillar 70 by means of bolts 19, some of which are located inside part 15.

To keep the cover 20 in place, angles 21, 22 are welded internally to the respective walls 13 and 14. In addition, the cover 20 can be locked on the bottom 15 by means of a rod 23 with a large head (FIG. 5) passing through the cover through a hole 19 and passing inside a guide tube 24 welded to the partition 12, this locking being ensured, as will be explained below, by means of a shutter 25 (fig. 6) closing the collection orifice 17. With the exception of a slot 26 for the entry of coins from the evaluation means, and of the orifice 17, the trunk formed from the bottom 15 and the cover 20 has no other opening once mounted.

The collection orifice 17 at the bottom of the receptacle 15 is normally closed (that is to say except during the collection operation) by the shutter 25, shown in plan fig. 6, which is constituted by a movable slide having an opening 27 of the same dimensions as the orifice 17. The opening 27 can be brought into coincidence with the orifice 17 by operating the slide 25 under conditions which will be explained in more detail away, to allow coins to pass from the trunk of the machine into the collection device.

There is shown in Figs. 7 and 8 the assembled trunk and in the closed position with its locking mechanism, respectively in section along two lines 7-7 and 8-8 parallel to the walls 13 and 14 and passing through the center of the collection orifice 17. The fig. 9 shows the bottom of the receptacle 15 seen from above revealing the slide 25 in the closed position. The latter is held captive against the lower wall 16 of the housing 10 by a set of lateral slides 28 and by a plywood 29 screwed onto the wall 16. The plywood 29 also has an opening 30 of slightly smaller dimensions and in coincidence with the orifice 17. The slide 25 can however slide longitudinally in the direction indicated by the arrow F, when it is not locked in the closed position, so that its opening 27 comes into coincidence with the two other openings 17 and 30.

Under the wall 16, outside the housing 10, are also fixed slides 38 (FIG. 8) for guiding the head of the collection device under the orifice 17.

• - d'une part, par le pêne 31 d'une serrure 32 fixée sur - la paroi 16 à l'intérieur du fond 15, qui en position de fermeture, vient en butée contre un épaulement de blocage 33 du coulisseau (fig. 6),
• - d'autre part, par un verrou auxiliaire 34, constitué par un demi-disque ; ce verrou 34 peut pivoter autour d'un axe 35 et fait normalement saillie, sous l'action d'un ressort de rappel 36, dans une des glissières 38 et dans une encoche de forme complémentaire 37 sur le bord latéral du coulisseau, de sorte que même quand il n'est pas bloqué par le pène 31 de la serrure 32, le coulisseau est encore immobilisé en position de fermeture par ce verrou auxiliaire 34. Le déverrouillage ou l'effacement de ce verrou 34 à l'encontre du ressort 36 ne peut être obtenu que par introduction de la tête 50 (fig. 10 à 12) du dispositif de collecte dans les glissières 38, qui a alors pour effet de faire tourner le verrou 34 d'une centaine de degrés dans le sens an- tihoraire et de le dégager de l'encoche 37, libérant ainsi le coulisseau 25.

The slide 25 is locked:

• - on the one hand, by the bolt 31 of a lock 32 fixed on - the wall 16 inside the bottom 15, which in the closed position, abuts against a blocking shoulder 33 of the slide (fig. 6 ),
• - on the other hand, by an auxiliary lock 34, constituted by a half-disc; this lock 34 can pivot around an axis 35 and normally protrudes, under the action of a return spring 36, in one of the slides 38 and in a notch of complementary shape 37 on the lateral edge of the slide, so that even when it is not blocked by the bolt 31 of the lock 32, the slide is still immobilized in the closed position by this auxiliary lock 34. Unlocking or erasing this lock 34 against the spring 36 can only be obtained by inserting the head 50 (FIGS. 10 to 12) of the collection device in the slides 38, which then has the effect of rotating the lock 34 by a hundred degrees counterclockwise and to release it from the notch 37, thus freeing the slide 25.

As indicated above, the slide 25 also has the additional function, when it is in the closed position of the orifice 17, to lock the cover 20 on the bottom 15 by means of the rod 23: for this purpose, the slide has another notch 39 at its end opposite to the direction of arrow F, the notch 39 coming to engage in a groove 23 A (fig. 4) formed at the lower end of the rod 23 in the manner of a keying , so that in the closed position of the slide, it is not possible to remove the cover 20 to access the interior of the trunk, even from the interior of the machine after opening the service door.

The double locking mechanism of the slide 25 once mounted at the bottom of the receptacle 15, the latter is equipped with a hopper 40 in the shape of an inverted pyramid in order to channel the coins stored in the trunk towards the collection orifice 17, the mouth of this hopper resting on the corresponding opening 30 of the counterplate 29.

We will now describe the head of the collection device for maneuvering the slider from outside the housing 10 of the machine. Referring to fig. 10, 11 and 12 which represent the head 50 respectively in plan and in section along planes 11-11 and 12-12, the head 50 comprises a frame 51 whose width corresponds to the interval between the outer slides 38 of the housing 10 so that it can be engaged between them. The frame 51 is hollowed out internally and supports a pull tab 52 having at one end an operating handle 53 and at the other end a shutter in the form of a circular disc 54, substantially of the same dimensions as the collection orifice 17. The shutter 54 closes a cylindrical and concentric part 67, integral with the frame 51. The pull tab 52 is supported on an axis 55, so as to be able to slide longitudinally, a leaf spring 56 acting to keep it in an oblique position relative to the plane of the frame 51. The shutter 54 is normally maintained in this oblique position by a lever 57, mounted on the frame 51, pivoting about an axis 58 and pushed under the action of a spring 59 which prevents the pull tab 52 and the shutter 54 to come into the plane of the frame 51. This it is only when the head 50 is inserted into the slides 38 that the lever 57, pushed back by the adjacent slide 38, pivots and disappears to let the shutter 54 come into horizontal position when the handle 53 is pressed.

The shutter 54 carries an actuating stud 60 which, when the shutter 54 is brought into a horizontal position, can engage in a corresponding housing 61 provided in the slide 25. The engagement of the stud 60 in this housing 61 allows then, by acting on the pull tab 52, to maneuver the slide 25 from the outside of the machine, provided of course that the latter is unlocked. The frame 51 also carries a gusset 63 on which is mounted a barrel 64 used for retaining a key 65 intended to actuate the lock 32 of the trunk. The key 65 is normally connected to the gusset 63 by a leaded fastener 65 A short enough to prevent its release from the barrel 64.

This solution is adopted in the case where the locks of the machines in a parking lot all have the same combination, which implies a large storage safe to lock the heads of the collection devices with their key outside the periods of collecting and preventing fraudulent collections.

In another case where the machine locks have different combinations depending on the streets or the layout islands, the key is left removable, which makes it possible to associate any collection device and any key and to store only the keys in a safe to prevent theft or reproduction.

The cylindrical part 67 of the head 50 is also attached to a flexible tube 66, connecting it to a collecting box mounted on a movable carriage (not shown) and forming with the head the entire collection device.

Incidentally, the head 50 may also include a "cleaning" rod mounted on a ball joint and making it possible, by sliding, to reach the interior of the trunk, when the collection orifice is open, to stir and drop the coins which have a natural tendency to plug and seal off this orifice on their own.

The structure of the machine having been described, we will now explain how a collection operation takes place by authorized personnel, that is to say equipped with a collection device corresponding to this type of machine and provided with the key. corresponding to lock 32. The collecting head 50 is firstly introduced into the slides 38 under the wall 16, which has the effect of releasing the auxiliary lock 34 from the slide 25. The key 65 introduced into the barrel 64 allows actuate the lock 32 and erase the bolt 31, which completely releases the slide 25. The introduction at the bottom of the head 50 into the slides 38 having also pushed the lever 57, the pull tab 51 can be manually tilted in the horizontal position by pressing the handle 53 with the consequence of introducing the stud 60 into the housing 61 of the slide. By pulling on the handle 53 towards the outside of the machine, the slide 25 attached to the stud 60 of the shutter 54 is then moved in the direction indicated by the arrow F and, at the end of its travel, at its opening 27 coinciding with the orifice 17 and the opening 30 of the counterplate 29, thus allowing the coins accumulated above the hopper 40 of the boot of the machine to fall by gravity into the movable boot of the collecting device, via the hose 66, to through the opening cleared by the shutter 54 in the frame 51.

It should be noted that the trunk produced in accordance with the invention offers maximum security against attempted break-ins suffered by this type of machine and against attempted fraud. Indeed, its sheet steel structure makes it practically inviolable to mechanical tools; the collection orifice, chosen of relatively small dimensions and closed by the slide which can be given a suitable thickness, does not constitute a place of least resistance either. An operation of the slide is, as has been described, impossible unless you have the key to the lock and a collection head to operate its unlocking. As for an attack on the trunk from inside the machine after fracturing the service door, we also saw that it was impossible to remove the cover 20, held on the bottom by the rod 23 (fig. 4) , as long as the slide locking this rod had not itself been operated.

This also constitutes additional security making the interior of the safe and its locking mechanism accessible only when its contents have been transferred to the collection device, since it is necessary to perform a prior collection operation in order to be able to unlock the rod 23 lid lock.

Another security consists in preventing the use of the key 65, when it is sealed on the head of the collection device, as it was previously indicated, without the head having been introduced into the slides under the orifice of collection (assuming that the auxiliary lock 34 may have been fraudulently neutralized). A stud 41 is provided for this purpose, welded externally next to the lock 32 on the wall 16 of the housing, the stud 41 preventing the collection head from being approached close enough for the key to be able to be inserted into the lock.

Another security is to make it impossible to remove the head from the collection device without the collection orifice having been closed beforehand: in fact, the key 65 locking the head on the machine, it is impossible to remove the head without having previously closed the lock, which implies that the slide must have been pushed back to the closed position so that the bolt can return to its locked position and the key in turn released.

The invention further provides for increased safety against an attempt to dismantle the machine from its support by arranging all, or at least a certain number of the bolts (19, fig. 1), or nuts for fixing the machine to its support (70, fig. 1), inside the trunk itself, this arrangement making them inaccessible even after breaking in the service door, and requiring prior opening of the trunk in order to be able to dismantle them.

It should also be noted that the arrangement of the lock inside the trunk with only an appropriate hole located under the machine for the passage of the key protects it against acts of vandalism, in particular against acid attacks difficult to practice from bottom to top.

Of course, the invention is not limited to the single embodiment which has just been described by way of example for the issue of parking tickets, and it can be applied to all prepayment machines in which the 'introduction of coins allows the distribution of any objects or frees access to obtaining any services.

Claims (10)

1 - Pre-payment machine comprising, in a single box, means of evaluating coins, means of distributing objects or authorizing access to obtaining services, a safe for the temporary storage of coins collected by the machine before their transfer into a collection device associated with the machine, a part of said trunk being constituted by the case itself and having a collection orifice normally closed by a shutter, said shutter being operable only by coupling of the head of the collection device directly on said box, characterized in that said box is constituted by a bottom (15) forming an integral part of the box (10) and by a cover (20) locked on the bottom (15) by locking means (23) controlled by said shutter (25). 2 - Machine according to claim 1, wherein one shutter is constituted by a slide characterized in that said slide (25) has an opening (27) which can be brought into coincidence with the collection orifice (17) of the housing . 3 - Machine according to claims 1 and 2, characterized in that said locking means are constituted by a rod (23) having a groove (23A) in the vicinity of its ends, and in that said slide (25) has a notch (39) on its periphery engaging in said groove in the closed position of the collection orifice in the manner of a keying. 4 - Machine according to claim 2, characterized in that said slide (25) has a housing (61) in which can be accommodated a corresponding operating stud (60) integral with a tiltable pull tab (52) contained in the head of the collection device (50). 5 - Machine according to claim 1, comprising a lock for access to the collection orifice, the bolt of which, in the locking position blocks said shutter, characterized in that it also comprises a spring lock (34), normally blocking said shutter (25) and only released by coupling the head of the collecting device (50) to the housing (10). 6 - Machine according to claim 1, characterized in that it has slides (38) outside the housing (10) arranged to bring the head of the collection device (50) coincident with the collection orifice (17) of said housing. 7 - Machine according to claim 6, characterized in that said slides (38) are shaped to cause the release of a lock (57 to 59) mounted on the head of the collection device (50) and maintaining the operating stud ( 60) in a position preventing its introduction into the corresponding housing (61) of the slide (25), this release being possible only when said head is engaged in the slides external to the housing. 8 - Machine according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the collection orifice (17) is arranged under the machine in the lower part of the housing (10). 9 - Machine according to claim 1, comprising several fixing elements for detachably fixing the housing on a fixed support, characterized in that at least some of these elements (19) are arranged in said part (15) of the trunk constituted by the housing (10). 10- Machine according to claim 5, characterized in that said lock (32) is mounted inside the trunk.

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