US1468874A - Device for operating upon coins - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 25, 1923.

W.- J. BRENNAN DEVICE FOR OPERATING UPON COINS Filed June 18, 1920 according'to size, and delivering them sep-' Patented Sept. 1923. g UITED stars WILLIAM J. BRENNAN, or swaiurscorr,'trassncrrusnrrs, assreuon ro com; soR'r-;

JlNG ANDCOUNTING COIvIPANY, 035 BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

' nnvicn roitor enarrne uroncomsfi Application filed June 13,1920. Serial no. 390,062;

To'allwhom it may concem:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM' J. BREN- NAN, a citizen of the United States, residing; at Swampscott, in'the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented oer-- tain new and useful Improvements in De vices for Operating Upon Coins; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,

clear, and exact description of the invention arately to suitable receptacles.

One object ofthe invention is to provide certain new and useful improvements in devices of the above named general character tending to simplify their construction and I to more efficiently control the movements of the coins, thereby preventing the coinsfrom V becoming disorderly and insuring that all coins of the same denomination shall-be segregated, from those of nations. c Y 7 To the "accomplishment of this object, and

different denonii:

such others as may hereinafter appear, the

invention ;consists in the novel features of construction and arrangement of parts here-;

inafter described and claimed, the advantages of which will be apparent to those skilled in the art, from the following description.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating the preferred embodiment of the inven tion, Figure 1 is a top plan view -0f the improved device; Fig. 2 is 'a sectional View taken on the lineiZ-Q of Fig. 1'; Fig. 3"i's'a sectional view taken on the line of Fig. 1; and Fig. 4 is asectiona] view taken-'on the line 1& of Fig. 1. In accordance with the present invention, a mass of coins of variousdenominations is operated upon by aseparating device .6,-

whereby themass is separated into individual coins and the coins delivered successively into the upper end of an inclined sort ing chute 8 The chute 8 is so constructed and arranged that the coins rollon edge down the chute and are selectively diverted according to size throu-gh'a series of opentats? ingslO (Figs. 2 and 3') in one oi'the side 7 walls thereof, into :a series of? secondary I chutes1 2, each of thejlatter leading to one"; of a plurality of collecting tubes or recep-f tacles 14, as'shown' in'Fig; 1.

The separating device 6is lprovided with i a pocket-or receptacle '16 for receiving the coins to be sorted, and an inclined rotaryv distributing or separating plate l8,.whic-h forms one side of the coin pocket 16,and

/ operates toseparate; the coins from the mass in the pocket and deliver them successively into'the sorting chute; The separating dev1ce6 is similar 1n construction and mode of operation to that of the separating'device illustrated, described and claimed in a co-pending application, Serial No; 269,145, filed Dec. 31, 1918, by'John E. Doldt, and

the mechanism for rotating the'distributing plate may be slmilar to the mechanismiemployed for the same purpose in said application. As set forth inthe application ref ferred to, the inclined distributing plate'18- is mounted upon a stationary-disk-shaped head 20'which is partially surrounde'cl 'by a peripheral 'coin retaining wall 22, and

said plate is provided with a plurality of radiating feed strlps or 'ribs 24 which serve to separate the coins from the mass in" the coin pocket as the plate rotates. A peculir:

'arly shaped curved wall26, similarin contour to thatfof the corresponding part in the device of the aforesaid applicatiomfis an extension of the wall 22 and serves, in conjunction with the distributing plate, to form the pocket 16 in which the coins are received. As also described in the aforesaid application, a series of shallow grooves 28 are formed in the distributing plate, concentric with the periphery thereof, a-ndjva series of smallp'ointedprongsBOi project from the curved wall 26 into the grooves for thepur-l pose of dislodging from the. face ofithe'distributing plate any coins which mayjtend to adhere thereto. In the present device, in addition tosaid prongs, there arealso provided-a pluralityof pins32 (Figs. l and 4c) which project from the loweredge of the curved wall 26 intothe grooves 28 and serve to revent an coins from assin from the coin pocket 16 downwardly beneath the wall In the present construction, also, the

distributing plate 18 is rotated in a clock,-

7 must be se regated from the others.

wise direction, instead of in a counter-clock-.

wise direction, as described in the prior application, in order that the coins may be introduced into the sorting chute substantially in the direction of the length of the chute so as to avoid any tendency of the'coins to rebound from the chute. As the separating device operates, all of the coins eventually come into contact with the coin-retaining wall 22, and slide along the lower edge of this wall until they reach the lower end thereof, whereupon they are discharged directly into, the sorting chute.

The sorting chute 8 comprises a floor portion 86 andopposite side walls 38, and is made sufiiciently narrow to insure that the,

smallest coins will be supported on edge therein. Throughout the greater portion of its length, the chute 8 is straight but near the entrance end thereof the chute is curved, as shown in Fi 1, and extends substantially one-third of the way around the supporting tributing plate and the upper edge of the in- V ner side wall of the chute adjoins the marginal portion of-the head 20 between the lower end of the coin retaining wall 22 and the curved side wall 26' of the coin pocket. To prevent the coins from passing too A idly down the chute so that they might possibly be improperly sorted, the portion of the sorting chute adjacent its curved upper end is inclined at a slightlyless angle than the remaining straight portion of the chute, as indicated in Fig. 2, and thus retards somewhat the speed of the coins.

The coins of the largest size or denomination among those delivered to the sorting chute are guided by this chute directly into a suitable receptacle (not shown) which is provided to receive them. All the sinal er coins, however, must be segregated from the largest ones and'those ofeach denomination With this end in view there is an. opening 10 provided in the sorting chute for each deno1nination of coins to be operated upon except the largest, each opening 10 connectingthe sorting chute with a separate secondar chute 12, and in order that the coins in passing down the sorting chute be diverted laterally by gravity through the openings 10 into the secondary chute, the sorting chute is inclined transversely, as well as longitudinally, as shown in Fig. 3. The angle of transverse inclination and the vwidth of the'sorting chute are made such as to render it impossible for even, the smallest of the coins operated upon to stand in an erect position as it rolls down the chute. Conse quently, the coins will pass down the chute with one face thereof'resting upon the lower- I posite end thereof.

chute; As shown in Fig. 2, the openings 10 are elongated in the directionof the length of the chute and each is made'just sulficient in width to permitlthe passage therethrough of a particular denomination of coins, the

smallest opening being located nearest the entrance end of the chute and the openings growing progressively larger toward the op-, Thus the dnnes or the.

smallest coins will be diverted through the first of theopenings 10* while next inorder will be diverted the pennies, nickels, quarters and half dollars, while the dollars may pass directly from the sorting-chute into a suitable receptacle as hereinbefore described, said receptacle being located beyond the last secondary chuteQ y r In order to prevent-the escape through any of the openings 10 of coins which are of diameter greater thanthewidth or" said openings, the lower edges of these openings are located slightly above the floor of the sorting chute, as shown in Fig. 3. lViththe openings lOthus located, the-portion of the side wallof the chute just beneath each of said openings constitutes av shoulder .40 which engages the faces of the coins as they roll down the chute across said openings and prevents the lower portions of the coins from being diverted outwardly through the opening. In the absence of such a shoulder beneath each opening 10, the coins would be.

dis alaced b ravit bottom ed e first so,

that they would project obliquely through the opening 10, in which event the coins, would strike against'the end of the opening and be-deflected therethrough and into the secondary chutes associated therewith, and while thus pro ect1ng obhquely'through the opening their upper .edgeswould interfere with the free passage of'coins through the main chute. By means of the above described construction, however, any tendency of the coins to be thus displaced and dc;

fiected into thesecondary -chute is avoided. Not only are the co ns thus prevented from belng dlverted into the wrong secondary chutes but, they are caused to tip top edge foremost through the openings 10 so that posited in the-device. Inorder to prevent such coins or any other coins of odd sizes which might foranyreason be improperly sorted into a secondary chute, from being delivered into the corresponding collecting tube, together with the properly. sorted coins, provision is made for eliminating such improperly sorted coins from the secondary chutes. To this end each secondary chute is provided with an elongated opening 42 through which such coins may escape. These openings 42 are centrally located transversely of the secondary chutes so that all coins properly passing through said chutes will pass over the openings without falling therethrough. Smaller coins, however, being unsupported when they reach the openings 42 will be eliminated from the chute. The coins which are thus eliminated from the secondary chutes fall into an inclined tray or chute 44 which extends transversely beneath said openings, and by means of which the discarded coins may be guided into a suitable receptacle (not shown).

The collecting tubes 14 into which the properly sorted coins are delivered by the secondary chutes are supported upon a table 46, to form a series of upright magazines, each adapted to contain a stack of coins of a single denomination. The coins which are assembled in the collecting tubes 14 may be fed from the bottom of the tubes to counting devices and thereafter delivered to bank packages, if desired, or they may be used directly from the collecting tubes for making change or for any other purpose,

The present device is useful wherever it is desirable to effect the sorting of coins according to size from an indiscriminate mass and to distribute the sorted coins tosuitable receptacles. The coins are introduced into the sorting chute 8' in such a manner that they continue to travel in a directionwhich is substantially a continuation of their direction of movement in the separating device ust before entering the sorting chute. Moreover the speed with which the coins travel is carefully regulated by the pitchof the chute so as to prevent the coins from moving too fast and thus possibly being prevented from passing through the proper opening 10. Consequently there is no tendency for the coins thus introduced into the chute to rebound or to move out of rolling contact with the floor of the chute, or out of sliding contact with the lowermost side wall thereof, as they pass through the chute. It is therefore unnecessary to employ any special devices for insuring the orderly behavior of the coins in the sorting chute. The coins fall gently through the openings 10 until they lie flat upon the floor of; the secondary chutes and there is no tendency for them to rise out oftheir reclining position as they slide through these chutes, and ac cordingly no additional provision need be made to prevent disorderly behavior of the coins in said chutes.

It will be seen that the device is extremely simple in construction and mode of operation, havingno parts liable to get out of order orinterfere with the free passage of the-coins through the device. The device may be relied upon to deliver to the col-' lecting tubes only coins of the proper 'denomination since any possible inaccuracy in the sorting is rectifiedfiy the elimination from the secondary chutes of any improperly sorted'coins.

It is preferred to provide for the auto- -matic replenishment of the supply of coins in the. coin pocket 16 of the separating de vice at regular intervals by means of apparatus such as that disclosed in the hereinbefore mentioned application, Serial No. 269;

145. As therein illustrated and described,

a main supply hopper 50 is provided into which the mass of coins to be operated upon is deposited by the attendant. A plunger 52' of coins from the mass in the hopper and discharging them through a lateral opening,

54, adjacent the topofthe hopper, into a downwardly inclined chute 56 which discharges the coins into the coin pocket 16.

While it is preferred to embody the in vention in a device having the specific'construction and arrangement of parts herein shown and described, it will be understood that such construction and arrangement is not essential except so far as specified in the claims and maybe changed or modified without departingfrom the spirit and true:

plate adapted to pass under the wall as the plate rotates and to engage certain of the coins to separatethem from the mass, a plurality of grooves in the uppermost face of.

the plate concentric with the periphery thereof, and a plurality of pins projecting e 115 downwardly from the lower edge of said stationary wall into said grooves to prevent any of the" coins of the mass from escaping downwardly beneath saidstationary wall.

.IGCIPIOCHIBS vertically through the hopper 50, intermittently elevating small members in combination, a coin separating V I l 2. A device for operating upon coins havl 'ing, in combination, a longitudinally inclined' main coin chute having an opening formed in the side thereof, the chute being tilted transversely to cause coins of'a predetermined size to be diverted bygravity through said opening, and a secondary chute connected with the main chute through said opening, said secondary chute. being provided with an opening for theelimination of coins improperly diverted into said chute.

WILLIAM J BRENNAN. e

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