GB213749A - Apparatus for controlling the period of hiring or use of tennis courts and the like - Google Patents

Abstract

213,749. Brown, R. March 10, 1923. Time checks and time registers.- Tennis courts and the like are rendered available for play for a predetermined time by the payment of a fee which removes an obstruction from a winding device for tightening the net. A casing 36 is attached by screws 37<a> to one of the net posts 38 and contains a drum 28 on which the net straining wire 29 is wound by means of a handle 14 through gearing 16, 17. The engagement of a cup-shaped head 10 on the handle with a polygonal boss 15 on the gear wheel 16 is normally prevented by an obstructing slide 8 which is connected by a band 6 to a one-way clutch 7 on a shaft 5a. Rotation of the shaft 5<a> after prepayment, to the extent of one tooth of the clutch 7 for each coin inserted withdraws the slide 8 step by step against a spring 41 until the full fee is paid and the winding handle can engage the boss 15. A pawl 19 engages ratchet teeth 9 on the slide to hold it in its withdrawn position. The band 6 is adjustable according to the number of coins to be paid. When the net is stretched, a knob 42, Fig. 2, is pressed to move the stirrup end 20<a> of a lever 20 into engagement with the wheel 17 to lock it. A spring- controlled rod 21 slidable in the stirrup end 20<a> at the end of a complete revolution of a snail cam 23 drops from the high to the low point of the cam and disengages the lever 20 from the wheel 17 allowing the net to slacken. The cam 23 is driven by clockwork and makes one revolution in the predetermined period of hiring. A locking device 30 enclosed by a screw-cap 31, Fig. 1, is provided on the drum spindle so that the groundsman may lock the apparatus whether the net is taut or slack. Each coin inserted in a holder 1<a> rotated by a knob 2 engages and rotates through the space of one tooth a wheel 5 on the shaft 5<a>. The coins inserted are recorded on a counter in a casing 32, the counter being actuated by gears 32<a>, 32<b>, one of which is on the spindle 5a.