GB418433A - Improvements in and relating to pre-payment mechanism for gas meters and the like - Google Patents

Abstract

418,433. Prepayment mechanism for meters. ALDER & MACKAY, Ltd., and ANDERSON, J., Stewart Terrace, Edinburgh. Feb. 17, 1933, No. 4983. [Class 27.] In prepayment mechanism for gas meters and the like operable at will by either of two classes of coin, e.g. pennies and shillings, the coins are inserted through a slot 9, Fig. 2, to a coin carrier c, the base of the coin pocket being formed by a plate m slidable against the.action of a spring k. The plate m is depressed to different extents by a penny and a shilling and carries a projection g which engages tail-pieces r, s, Fig. 3, on two levers t, u pivoted at w on an axis parallel to the axis on which the coin pocket rotates. Where a shilling is used, the projection g engages the tail a and swings the lever u to cause a tooth y thereon to engage a quantity wheel 1. In the case of a penny being inserted, the projection g engages the tail r and causes a tooth x on the lever t to engage a quantity wheel z, the movement of the tail r being limited by two stops r<1>, r<2>. The quantity wheel z drives a measuring-out mechanism 2 directly through a free wheel mechanism comprising a pawl and ratchet device 3, while the wheel 1 transmits its movement through a train of gearing 4 and a second free wheel device 5 giving a 12 : 1 increase. If a halfpenny be inserted, the projection g passes the tail s but does not move far enough to engage the tail r. The quantity wheels 1, z and coin pocket mechanism are disposed in a casing 6 closed at front by a price-change plate d, the gearing 4 and measuring-out mechanism 2 being disposed outside this casing.