MXPA99006307A - Plastic coin receptacle for pay telephones - Google Patents

Abstract

A coin receptacle (10) for use with a locking coin receptacle cover and for use within a pay telephone. The coin receptacle comprises a molded one-piece plastic (polycarbonate) receptacle body (11) having a bottom (12) and four sides (13-16) extending therefrom. The four sides define a top opening adapted to be covered by a coin receptacle cover. The receptacle body includes slots (26, 27) and a tang (23) for releasably retaining the receptacle cover. The receptacle body further comprises a pull (18) for facilitating removal of the coin receptacle from a pay telephone.

Description

PLASTIC RECEPTACLE FOR COINS FOR PAY TELEPHONES FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to pay telephones and more particularly, to a coin receptacle for pay telephones.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION For many years, the owners of pay phones have relied on employees or contractors to collect the money from their pay phones, moving to a plurality of pay phones, emptying the previously deposited coins in the pay phone and transporting the coins to deliver them to the owners. Unfortunately, many of the "gatherers" have been less honest and have stolen large sums of money from the coins collected from the owners of the phones. This robbery has been allowed, in part, by the unsupervised access of money collectors and the absence of accurate records of the exact amount of money previously deposited in the public telephone. Without accurate records, the owner of a pay phone can not determine if the collector has stolen money or not. This robbery has also been allowed, in part, by the absence of coin handling devices designed to prevent theft of money by P1423 / 99MX collectors. On some older pay phones, the deposited coins fell into funnels with the top open inside the pay phones and were kept there until the coins were emptied of the funnels and the collectors transported the coins to the owners of the coins. pay phones. With the unsupervised access of the funnels, the collectors could shamelessly steal all the coins from the funnel or they could steal a portion of the coins from the funnel, "rip off" money to the owner of a pay phone. In an attempt to mitigate this problem of theft, the newer pay phone manufacturers have incorporated a coin-receiving box into each pay phone, with a security seal that is located in a reinforced steel vault inside the pay phone and who receives the coins accepted by the pay phone. To collect money from the pay phone, the collector removes the coin receptacle box from the telephone vault, inserts an empty coin acceptor box inside the telephone vault and transports the withdrawn coin acceptor box to the owner of the telephone. The coin receiving box is made of steel and has a breach-resistant cover and has an opening that allows accepted coins to pass from the coin handling mechanism of the phone into the coin receiving box for storage P14Ü3 / 99MX until the collector replaces the box. The cover has a pivot-mounted metal door that automatically rotates to a first position to cover the opening when the receiving box is not inside the vault of the pay public telephone and which automatically rotates to a second position to discover the opening (i.e. , allows accepted currencies to pass through the opening) when the coin acceptor box is located within the vault of the pay phone. By limiting access to coins within the coin box when the box is outside the pay phone, the metal door makes it difficult for the collector to access the coins inside the box, thus reducing the opportunity Theft of coins. These pre-received metal receptacles for receiving coins are known for their strength and their resistance to explosion with some impact (it often happens that the collector accidentally drops a coin receptacle). Unfortunately, these metallic coin receptacles are expensive and may require expensive tools for their manufacture. In addition, by their nature, metallic coin receptacles are susceptible to corrosion in certain environments. Importantly, metallic coin receptacles, although they are explosion resistant when dropped, can permanently deform to the extent that they fall with the fall.

P1423 / 99MX coin receptacle can not be re-fitted inside the coin vault of the pay public telephone. Therefore, a slight change in the shape or size of the coin receptacle can prevent it from being re-inserted into the payphone. In accordance with this, it can be seen that there is still a need for a coin receptacle that is economically manufactured, with excellent resistance to damage from falls and that is resistant to corrosion. The present invention is primarily directed to providing such a receptacle.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In summary, in a preferred form of the present invention the receptacle consists of a coin receptacle for use with a receptacle cover that secures coins and for use within a pay phone. The coin receptacle comprises a plastic receptacle body molded in one piece, with a bottom part and four sides extending therefrom. The four sides define an opening in the upper part adapted to be covered by a coin receptacle cover. The receptacle body includes a means for releasably retaining the receptacle cover. The body of the receptacle further comprises a handle means for P1423 / 99MX facilitate the removal of the coin receptacle from a paid public telephone. Preferably, the plastic body of the receptacle has a wall thickness of approximately 0.080 inches and is made of polycarbonate. More preferably, the plastic body of the receptacle is made of Lexan® 131 and is made by a blow molding process. The coin receptacles made in accordance with the invention have many advantages.

First of all, the coin receptacles are highly resistant to permanent deformation when falling. This improves the utility of the coin receptacle by ensuring that it can be reinserted into the coin vault of a pay public telephone, even after it has been dropped. Also, it is very resistant to corrosion and is resistant to scratches. The coin receptacle is lighter in weight compared to the prior art units and can hold the same amount (or a little more) of coins as the designs known from the prior art. Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a coin receptacle that is resistant to permanent deformation upon falling. Another object of the present invention is to provide a coin receptacle that is P1423 / 99MX easy and economical manufacturing. Another object of the present invention is to provide a coin receptacle "which is resistant to scratches and corrosion." Another object of the present invention is to provide a coin receptacle that is durable in construction, economical to manufacture and reliable to use. other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the reading of the following specification together with the accompanying drawings in which: BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a perspective illustration of a coin receptacle in accordance with a preferred form of the invention. Figure 2 is a front elevation view of the coin receptacle of Figure 1. Figure 3 is a right side elevation view of the coin receptacle of Figure 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED MODALITY With reference in detail to the figures, in which the equal reference numbers represent equal parts through the different views, the Figure 1 shows a receptacle 10 in accordance with a preferred form of the invention. The receptacle 10 P1423 / 99MX coin is the type that is used with a cover or receptacle cover that secures coins within a pay phone. The coin receptacle 10 has a plastic body 11 that is in one piece, blow molded and preferably made of polycarbonate. Preferably, the polycarbonate is from the GE Lexan® 131 series and more preferably from GE Lexan® 131. Preferably, the body 11 has a wall thickness of 0.080 inches. The body 11 includes a lower board 12 and side panels (side walls) 13, 14, 15 and 16 that extend upwardly therefrom. The bottom 12, side walls 13 and 15 and the rear wall 16 are essentially flat, while the front wall 14 defines a central recess. Located inside the central recess is a metal ring 18 for pulling and for facilitating the removal of the coin receptacle 10 from inside a vault of a pay public telephone. Also located within this central recess is a bracket 21 which is secured to the front wall 14 using a rivet 22. The bracket 21 also includes a tongue 23 which extends outwardly with a hole formed therein. The rear wall 16 includes two slots 26 and 27 extending therethrough. Collectively, these slots 26, 27 and the tongue 23 of the bracket 21 cooperate to releasably retain a typical cover of P1423 / 99MX coin receptacle, in the coin receptacle 10. In this regard, the fins of the coin receptacle cover not shown fit within the slots 26 and 27 and the coin receptacle cover clip not shown slides over the tab 23 to allow it to be secured with a sheet or sealed with a wire sealing ring. The front side 14 also includes a shallow recess 28 for receiving a label, for writing the information of the owner of the coin receptacle. The upper end 30 of the coin receptacle 10 narrows downwardly, such that an upper periphery 31 is formed from the outer surfaces of the side walls 13-16 to facilitate that the cover of the coin receptacle not shown slides over the same It has been found that a receptacle for coins in accordance with the principles of the present invention and made of the preferred material and thickness, has an outstanding performance. A complete series of "drop tests" was carried out with the coin receptacle, where the coin receptacle was fully loaded with coins (approximately 9 pounds) and dropped from a distance of 48 inches after being frozen at -45 ° Celsius. The receptacle was dropped on each side and at each corner and not P1423 / 99MX caused the loss of coins. In addition, as a result of the drop tests, the coin receptacle was not deformed to such an extent that it could not be reused in a payphone. It was found that this coin receptacle has the same or a little more capacity for coins and that it is resistant to scratches and corrosion. By means of blow molding the coin receptacle is formed in one piece, the coin receptacle is made easily and economically, by using a relatively inexpensive manufacturing tool. The Lexan®, one-piece blow molding design was completed after approximately two years of development and research. Initially, the coin receptacle was tentatively designed as a two-piece product, each individual piece comprising half of the coin receptacle and each one molded by injection. The injection molding parts were secured together with mechanical locks molded into them. This initial design would not pass the "drop tests". A similar design was investigated, but mechanical seals were replaced by glue seams. This design also failed in the drop tests. These initial designs were tested using polycarbonate and then modified by reinforcing the inner corners with an additional polycarbonate membrane and by laminating the outer bond line P1423 / 99MX with polycarbonate. Even so, these modifications did not overcome the disadvantages of the two-piece design. Subsequently, a blow molding design was investigated by using GE Lexon® 101-R polycarbonate with a wall thickness of 0.060 inches. Although the results of the tests were promising, the tested design failed to meet the drop tests. The next design investigated was the use of Lexan® 101-R polycarbonate, but with another wall thickness of 0.080 inches. This design approached, but not completely, the design criteria (including the drop test). Finally, the material was changed to GE Lexan® 131 with a wall thickness of 0.080 inches and a satisfactory product was achieved in all aspects. It is possible to substitute other plastics for the selected Lexan® products, although in that case, it may be necessary to carefully select the plastic and test the design to ensure that the resulting coin pocket has sufficient strength and elasticity to meet the criteria (including the important drop test). Some substitute materials such as polyethylene, polypropylene or copolymers may be included. While the invention has been set forth in the preferred form, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that certain modifications, additions and omissions can be made P1423 / 99MX thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.

P1423 / 99MX

Claims (6)

1. NOVELTY OF THE INVENTION Having described the present invention, it is considered as a novelty and, therefore, the content of the following CLAIMS is claimed as property. 1. A coin receptacle for use with a coin receptacle lock cover and for use within a pay phone, the coin receptacle comprises: a receptacle body molded in one piece with a bottom and four sides that extend therefrom and that define an opening in the upper part adapted to be covered with a coin receptacle cover, the body of the receptacle includes a means for releasably retaining the receptacle cover, the coin receptacle also comprises a handle means coupled to the plastic molded body of the receptacle to facilitate removal of the coin receptacle from the pay phone. The coin receptacle as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the plastic body of the receptacle has a wall thickness of approximately 0.080 inches. 3. A coin receptacle as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the plastic body of the receptacle is made of polycarbonate. 4. A coin receptacle as per P1423 / 99MX claimed in Claim 1, wherein the plastic body of the receptacle is made of Lexan® 131. 5. A coin receptacle as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the plastic body of the receptacle is made by blow molding. . 6. A coin receptacle as claimed in Claim 5, wherein the plastic body of the receptacle has a wall thickness of at least about 0.080 inches. P1423 / 99MX