EP1329171A2

EP1329171A2 - A purse

Info

Publication number: EP1329171A2
Application number: EP02079929A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Pier Giuseppe Preda
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2002-01-22
Filing date: 2002-11-26
Publication date: 2003-07-23
Also published as: EP1329171A3; ITCR20020004V0; ITCR20020004U1

Abstract

Purse, specially for metal coins, suitable to make the use of coins more comfortable, to keep the coins in an orderly manner and to keep coins of different kind or denomination separated from each other, comprising a body (1) and at least one section (2), and in which said body (1) has a rigid upper and a lower face (1a, 1b) and a rigid lateral surface (1c), and said section (2) has a mainly cylindrical shape so as to contain a plurality of coins (M) in a pile one on the other, and comprising an opening (5) on one of said faces (1a, 1b) of said body (1) to which blocking means (6) are connected, and comprising elastic means (3, 4) for pushing the coins (M) contained therein against said blocking means.

Description

The present invention concerns a purse, particularly for coins.
The usefulness and the need of a purse, which is a common use object, has considerably increased in the Countries of the European Union with the start of the use of Euro. In fact, in those Countries the use of coins for the payment of small amounts is due to increase with respect to what happened with the single national currencies, due to the presence of coins of relatively high value, particularly those of one and two Euros, and of the many coins submultiple of one Euro. Similarly, coins will be used ever more even for the change instead of bank notes, as the smallest denomination of the bank notes - as it is well known - is of five Euros.
However, a purse of practical and quick use is obviously an advantageous object in use with any currency, for daily use as well as for those who are often travelling and who therefore use many different coins of different currencies.
To this purpose, it should be remembered that many people, in general, do not like to use coins because they are considered encumbering, heavy and likely to be confused between each other due to their small dimensions. Furthermore, in the case of Euro another problem is caused by the daily use of coins different from those to which one had been accustomed since years and this may initially cause an inconvenience and therefore increase the risk of mistakes or confusion.
For a solution of mentioned inconveniences, the known purses for the pocket or for the bag have proved to be little practical, especially when they contain many coins of different value mixed up. When one coin is needed, it becomes necessary to rummage in one's own purse, it is difficult to distinguish the small coins, there is a loss of time and of patience, especially in situations when one is in a hurry.
For saving time and avoiding using the coins, some people prefer to pay with bank notes and to receive the change, which determines an accumulation of encumbering coins that will hardly be used.
For reducing said inconveniences purses are known provided with a plurality of different pockets or compartments, so as to separately save coins of different kind and value. But also these purses do not help from mix up, in the hurry, coins of different shape in the different compartments; furthermore, they are not suitable for keeping clearly separate coins of different value. Just think about a purse of this kind, provided with five or six different compartments that would result of an evident little practical use with the result of causing an even greater confusion in the user.
Another disadvantage of the known purses consists in that they do not allow to quickly estimate the quantity and the kind of coins contained therein.
The use of shaped drawers and purses is known, separated into sections with housings or racks for metal coins of different denomination, which may be used e.g. in banks, for the cash-registers of shops, for the counters of offices. Such objects, however, usually don't have devices for blocking and separating the coins and therefor do not prevent the coins from overturning and scattering when said objects are hurt or fall down; furthermore, they can not be transported and usually are rather encumbering. With said objects, it is not easy to keep a determined quantity of metal coins at reach on a desk or a table for immediate use, e.g. for giving the change to a client.
It is the aim of the present invention to eliminate or reduce all above mentioned inconveniences.
The main aim of the device according to the present invention is to realize a purse that allows to carry along or to keep at reach a determined number of metal coins, in an orderly manner, keeping coins of different kind or denomination separated from each other, and having the possibility of making use of them in a particularly easy and quick manner.
It is the aim of the present invention also to obtain a purse that makes the daily use of coins quicker and more comfortable, avoiding - at the same time - to accumulate in a pocket a great number of heavy coins, encumbering and with a scarce practicality in use.
Another aim of the present invention is to allow the visibility and quick counting of the available coins, thus reducing also the risk of mistakes.
And it is also aim of the present invention to obtain a purse with above mentioned features, light, convenient and little encumbering.
Another aim of the present invention is to realize a purse that facilitates and makes the use of metal coins easier, and that may be realized in a transportable, pocket or bag version or also in a fixed version for a desk or a table, for the most different uses.
The aims set forth are reached by the purse according to the present invention, especially for metal coins, comprising a body and at least one section, characterized in that said body has a rigid upper and a lower face and a rigid lateral surface, and in that said section has a mainly cylindrical shape so as to contain a plurality of coins in a pile one on the other, and in that it comprises an opening on one of said faces of said body to which blocking means are connected, and in that it comprises elastic means for pushing the coins contained therein against said blocking means.
The advantage of putting back the coins in an orderly manner, to keep them at reach and to make use of them quickly is obtained due to said section, into which the coins are put in a pile one on the other, and kept firmly still against said blocking means by means of said pushing elastic means. By using a purse with a plurality of sections, each containing coins of a determined denomination, the user may easily carry along or keeping at reach different kinds of coins, separated from each other and readily disposable without the risk of mixing them up, to make them fall or to lose them.
Through said opening, the user may draw, one by one, the esired coins, freeing them from said blocking means by a simple and quick movement. Furthermore, the possibility of taking out the coins one by one facilitates the counting thereof and makes payments easier.
As the coins are kept still against said blocking means by said elastic pushing means, the risk of making them fall or to lose them in the daily use of the purse, is reduced.
As the opening of each section has the dimensions corresponding to those of the coin to be loaded, the user is led to put the different coins also into the right section, thus keeping them in order and separated from each other.
This means that the user is facilitated in the use of metal coins, even of the smallest ones, in any payment with the result of avoiding the payment with bank notes of high denomination and the bothersome accumulation of change in heavy and encumbering coins. For the same reason, the use of great and small coins of any kind is easy even to those who usually consider metal coins bothersome and little practical.
Similar advantages are obtained using the device according to the present invention as a table purse, especially for those who must frequently give a change, like shopkeepers, the employees of a bank or of public counters.
The advantages of the purse according to the present invention will be described more in detail herein below relating to the enclosed drawings in which a preferred embodiment is shown.
Figure 1 shows a perspective, top view of a purse according to the present invention, loaded with coins of different denomination.
Figure 2 shows a perspective, bottom view of the same purse of figure 1.
Figure 3 is similar to figure 1 and shows a partially loaded purse.
Figure 4 shows a diametrical, cross section view of the purse of figure 1.
Relating to the details shown in the enclosed figures, the purse according to the present invention consists of a body 1 with an upper face 1a, a lower face 1b and a lateral face 1c. Said body 1 comprises a plurality of sections 2 of a mainly cylindrical shape, placed as a crown along the edge of said body 1 and that are adapted to contain metal coins M piled one above the other. In each section 2 an elevator disk 3, freely sliding in said section 2, and a return spring 4 are inserted, the latter preferably placed between the bottom of said section 2 and said elevator disk 3. Each section 2 has an opening 5, for taking the coins and inserting the same into said section 2. In correspondence of said openings 5, the face of said body 1 onto which said section 2 opens has a shaped edge 6 for blocking the coins. The return spring 4 may be fixed to said elevator disk 3 and to the internal bottom of said section 2 or simply resting, for increasing the simplicity and cheapness of realization. In a further embodiment, the return spring 4 may be replaced by a buffer out of plastic material or by any other elastic element.
In correspondence of said opening 5 of each section 2, said body 1 comprises an extraction slide 7 and lateral guide edges 8 for facilitating the operation of taking and inserting the coins from and into the purse.
The lateral surface of said body 1 comprises furthermore a series of openings 9 in correspondence with said sections 2, that allow the user to see the edge of the piled-up coins inside the same and thus to count the number of the coins present. In a realization variant, said body 1 may be realized all or in part out of a transparent material, for making the edges of the coins visible.
Said body 1 of said purse comprises also a section 2' placed in a central position. Said central section 2' is advantageously used for coins of rare use or high value.
The sections 2, placed as a crown, advantageously have their openings all on the upper face 1a of said body 1 so as to make the use quicker and facilitate the taking off of the desired coins, while the opening 5 of said central section 2' in advantageously provided on the lower face 1b of said body 1.
It is obvious that variants are possible in which said openings 5 are alternate on both faces 1a and 1b of said body 1, according to determined principles which can make the use of said purse even more practical and intuitive.
Advantageously, the purse according to the present invention is made out of plastic, for cheapness reasons and because it is light. In an alternative, it may be obviously realized also out of other sufficiently rigid materials.
In the shown example, said body 1 has a mainly disk shape, and this allows to reduce to a minimum the encumbrance, but it may also have different shapes, e.g. it may be square or rectangular. The dimensions and the shape of the purse according to the present invention, in fact, may vary according to the use and the kind and the number of coins to be contained therein.
For further facilitating the use, the purse according to the present invention may be provided on said faces 1a, 1b or on the surface 1c of said body 1, in correspondence with said openings 5, or even on said elevator disks 3, with symbols and colours (not shown) for identifying the coin to which each section belongs. For allowing the use of said purse also to blind people, relief identification elements of said sections 2 might be provided.
In another variant of use, not shown, the purse according to the present invention may advantageously be provided with a rotating support so as to be used as a desk or table purse.
Further variants may consist, e.g., in a closing cover, or in a hook or a handle for the transport thereof.
In the shown example, the purse is studied especially for the use with Euro and comprises seven sections 2 for coins placed on the circumference as a crown on said body 1, for containing coins of one Euro and of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 cents, and a central section 2' for containing two-Euro coins. The sections are provided in such a way as to reduce any encumbering, as the sections for the greater coins are alternated with those for smaller coins. In particular, said sections 2 are placed according to the clockwise sequence of one-Euro coins, and then 5 cents, 50 cents, 1 cent, 20 cents, 2 cents, 10 cents.
The central section 2' for the two-Euro coins, advantageously has the end of the extraction slide 7 mainly in correspondence with the section for housing one-Euro coins.
The use of the purse according to the present invention is as follows. When the purse is empty, in each of said sections 2 the elevator disk 3 is kept pushed by said spring 4 against said shaped edge 6. When the user wants to insert a coin, he first looks for the suitable section, than he puts the coin onto said elevator disk 3 and lightly pushes, overcoming the resistance of said spring 4. The coin gets inserted with its edge between the elevator disk 3 and said shaped edge 6 and, due to the action of said spring 4, said coin remains blocked in this position. Now the user may insert another coin into the same section, placing it above the already inserted coin, and repeating the operation. In this way it is possible to progressively load the purse and the coins remain piled-up in said sections 2 and firmly blocked between said elevator disks 3, pushed by said springs, and the shaped edges 6.
The user is facilitated in putting the coins always in the correct sections by the fact that said openings 5 of said sections 2, and also said elevator disks 3, have dimensions corresponding to those of the coins of different denomination, to which the purse is destined.
For taking a coin from one of the piles contained in the sections 2, it is sufficient to place a finger onto the first coin of the pile and exert a light pressure downwards, for overcoming the return force of said spring 4, at the same time pushing the coin outwards. Thus the coin slides along the extraction slide 7 and frees itself from the shaped edge 6. In the moment in which the coin comes out, the pile below is pushed against by said elevator disk 3 against said shaped edge 6, and the next may be immediately taken with the same manoeuvre. When all coins have been taken, said elevator disk 3 remains in a stop position against said shaped edge 6.
As the coins are easily visible from said openings 5, the user is highly facilitated in quickly choosing and taking the pieces he wants and mostly for what concerns the payment of small sums, he can avoid the bothersome search of coins in his pockets or in his purse.
In particular, the citizens of those European Countries using Euro will be helped by the practicality and the easiness in the use of the purse according to the present invention, to avoid confusion and mistakes with the new coins. It is obvious, however, that the purse according to the present invention is useful for anyone and with any kind of value.
Finally, the novelty idea at the base of the purse according to the present invention and that has been described herein above, may be used in a similar manner and with identical advantages for realizing containers for objects similar to coins in shape and dimensions, like e.g. counters of any kinds, knobs, tablets and sweets and so on.

Claims

A purse, specially for metal coins (M), comprising a body (1) and at least one section (2, 2'), characterized in that said body (1) has a rigid upper and a lower face (1a, 1b) and a rigid lateral surface (1c), and in that said section (2, 2') has a mainly cylindrical shape so as to contain a plurality of coins in a pile one on the other, and in that it comprises an opening (5) on one of said faces (1a, 1b) of said body (1) to which blocking means are connected, and in that it comprises elastic means for pushing the coins (M) contained therein against said blocking means.
A purse according to claim 1, characterized in that said elastic pushing means comprise a spring (4) and an elevator disk (3) freely sliding inside said section (2, 2').
A purse according to claim 1, characterized in that said blocking means comprise a shaped edge (6) that cooperates with coins (M) contained in said section (2, 2') for keeping them in position.
A purse according to claim 1, characterized in that sad body (1), in correspondence with said opening (5), comprises an extraction slide (7) and lateral guide edges (8) for facilitating the extraction and the insertion of coins (M) into said section (2, 2').
A purse according to claim 1, characterized in that said body (1) comprises visual detecting means for seeing said coins (M) contained in said section (2, 2'), and that allow to count said coins (M).
A purse according to claim 5, characterized in that said visual detecting means comprise at lease one opening (9) on the lateral surface (1c) of said body (1).
A purse according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said body (1) has the shape of a disk and comprises a plurality of sections (2) placed as a crown along the circumference of said body (1).
A purse according to claim 7, characterized in that said body (1) comprises a further central section (2').
A purse according to claims 7 and 8, characterized in that said sections (2, 2') have openings (5) on different faces (1a, 1b) of said body (1).
A purse according to claim 9, for the use with Euro, characterized in that it comprises sections (2) placed as a crown along the edge of said body (1) and that will contain, respectively and clockwise, one-Euro coins, coins of 5, 50, 1, 20, 2 and 10 cents, as well as a central section (2') for two-Euro coins.