US173960A - Improvement in fare-boxes - Google Patents

Description

STATES PATEN OFFICE ,HENRY JOHNSON, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRIG'l OF COLUMBIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN FARE-BOXES S ecification forming part of Letters Patent No. 1 73.960, dated February 22, 1876 application filed November 20, 1875.

To'all whom'it may concern: l l p Be it known: that I,-HENRY JoHNsomof Washingtomin-the District of Oolumbi-a, have invented a new and valuable- Improvement in- Finance-Desks; .andlIdo herebygleclare that the following is a full, clear, and exact descrip tion of theconstruction andoperation of the same,ureference being had to the annexed drawings, making apart of this specification,

and to the lettersandfigures of reference markedthereon. l a

Figure l of the drawings is a representation a top-plan view of; my finance-desk and Fig;

isa rear'view of thesame closed 5 and Fig.4

is' an under-plan view thereof.

Thisrinvention has relation to improvements in-fare-boxes, whether stationary or portable,

for financial'andfother purposes. The object of theinvention isto prevent or detect frauds inareceiving-or disbursingmoneys, pertaining V to each and almost" every kind ofibusixiess, occupatiomemployment, or pursuitq- .Lnthe illustration of: my invention I shall useadesk,A,as:shown in thedrawings, but the same principleswand construction are equally applicableto anyotherobjec't,suclias'a trunk,

box, satchel, andthe-like; hencel'do'not wish to be understoodaslconfining' myself to the desk alone.

Desk Amay: be made either stationary or. portable, large or small ornamented or plainr Itlma'y be: made of any suitable material, and

ofany shape; and it may have as many de partmentsi as the necessities of" the business may-require; The bod'y of the desk is divided by vertical partitions into a ticket-receiver, a,

a departmentfb, from which tickets will be- Thispocket-book'opens freely from below, but

its upper edges are held closely and snugly together by means 06 an elastic strap, f, secured to the back ofthe book, passing around the pockets of the same, and then attached to its front. By this means the currencydepos ited; therein will be prevented from blowing out, and only a single pocket of-the book can The remainder of the be opened at a time. change-box not occupied by bookG will be utilized for holding. coppers, and its bottom .and side will be: made of metal, orwill -be metallined, to prevent undue wear. In practice' the" bank-department (land the ticket-p receiving department will be locked, and the key will remain in possession of the proprietor or other responsibleoflicer, but to the remaining departments the person using the desk WlllghHNB free access'for issuing tickets or. giving change. When the deskis portable itwill be provided with a strap, D,-to be buckled about the Waist',:f0r the purpose of securing it toithe person, -andthe side next the, body will be provided with a pouch or pocket,=g,for the reception'ot' a'watch. This arrangement will be particularly necessary in r transportation companies using time-schedules, the officersof which are-by; regulation strictly forbidden to wear garments with pockets, as' is'nowbecoming the general practice.

Elrcpresents a recording bell-punch, which is arranged preferably at the rear of the desk, with its operating lever hp'rojectingabove it, as shown; in Fig.3. This pupch has already i been, the subject of Letters Patent'grantedto me: a further description isithereforedeemed unnecessary. p a

.Punch is secured to the rear. side of the desk, and the said side being hinged at its lower edge thereto, it is capable of 'being thrown outward intotheposition shown in Fig. 2,. for the purpose of giving acces'sto the. interior of ticket-receiver a, and reading off the register of the punch. The bell, also, by means of which the alarm is sounded, is also secured to the hinged side F of the desk, but

upon the outside thereof. It iswvellkuowu' to those skilled in the art how exceedingly difficult it is to construct a large numberof bells having exactly the same vsoundor note when struck, and yet this result must beob tained, else the detection of dishonestofficials in daily requisition. filed away in properlyendorsed envelopes,

will be rendered impossible, since any description of beater might be used, whatever be the sound produced. In order to do away with the necessity of tuning the-bells, I produce an alarm of a very peculiar sound, which is changeable at pleasure, and is utterly incapableof being imitated, in the following manner, to wit: A tunable .gut or wire-string, G, sounded by the bell-hammer is arranged on the inner side of the back of the desk in a deep grove cut therein". This string is rigidly secured at one end of the groove to the deskback, and at the other to a tensionscrew, 1', arranged in suitable bearings at the'other end thereof; consequently, by turning the said screw, the sound of the string may be varied at pleasure. When the lever h is actuated,

- the bell-hammer will strike the bell and the string simultaneously, producing, along with the sound of the bell, a peculiar twanging musical note, which, combining with the note of the bell, will produce a union of sounds of 'such a nature as to be incapable of imitation,

except by the means above stated, and this string being tunable, and its note variable at pleasure, the fraudulent practice called 4. beat-- ing? is effectually prevented; first, because of the impossibility of carrying, on any part of the person, a string of sufiicient length to produce a sound sufficiently distinct; and, secondly, because the contact of the clothing and string would stop the vibrations of the latter and prevent any sound whatever. The back ,of the desk is secured into position so as to close the ticket-receiver a by means of a locking-rod, H, passing through a lug, l, on one end of the desk, then through a metallic tube,

K, on the hinged back into and through a lug, l, on the other end of the said desk. This rod will be secured against withdrawal by-unau- I thorized persons by means of a commutationlock, 1, the key to which will be in the hands of the proper settlin gofficer. Upon the under side of the desk, when portable, an ordinary canceling-punch, L, will be arranged in a holder :formed by two angular pieces of wood, m, (shown in dotted lines, Fig. 4,) and a preferably metallic plate connecting the same.

To insert the unch, compress the handles, and insert its utting end between angular blocks m. The punch having been inserted, thereaction of spring a will open the cuttingjaws and secureit in position. I also make a receptacle, J, on the under side of the said desk,

and at'its other end, for such accounts as are These accounts will be 'daily, monthly,' or yearly, as I may elect. The practical operation of my improved financedesk-in relation to the sale of merchandise is as follows: A clerk having sold a bill of-v goods to the amount of $96.28, takes a properly-prepared blank from the ticket-issue department, writes down the amount, and signs his name upon a duplicate of the said blank, whichhe hands to the buyer. The

blankis deliyered to the cashier, who fills up cashier and salesman.

theticket proper, receives the money, and, having receipted the ticket proper, returns it to the purchaser. The duplicate he first cancels, thus recording the transaction, and then deposits it in the ticket-receiving department, the cash being droppedinto the bank 0. The days business being. transacted, the proprietor,or his authorized agent, examines the register, and notes down the number of purchases; he then counts the number of cash-tickets in the ticket-receiving departpartment. If the number'of purchases made, as recorded in the register of the punch, and the, number of tickets, agree or correspond, he then adds together the amounts entered on the said ticket. The total of these amounts must correspond with the total of the cashi'n the cashier has committed an error in count ing, for which he is of course responsible. If there should be a discrepancy in the register that is, between the number of transactions recorded by theregister and the number of cash-tickets. in the receiver a-it would be primafacz'e evidence of error on the part of the cashier, either voluntary or involuntary, which would be detected by reference to memorandum salesbooks kept by the salesmen,

In order to perpetrate a fraud it wouldibe requisite to have collusion between a casual unknown purchaser, the salesman, and the cashier. The two latter, not being acquainted with the former, would not dare, however much they might be inclined to do so, to propose a fraud to the former, nor would the purchaserto propose such a transaction to the The variety of transactions to which my invention is applicable is so numerous as to render any further exemplifications thereof futile. I shall therefore confine myself to the one above stated.

In case the desk is portable, I shall place a socket, 1), upon the rear of the desk for the reception of a lead-pencil, q, so that in the abs'ence of pockets a suitable receptacle for a medium of writing may be provided.

., It will be understood that all transactions of whatever nature will be recorded. For instance, if a buyer pays on hisbill of $96.28

the sumof fifty dollars only, the duplicate will be punched as before, thus recording the transaction, and the money be deposited in cash- .box 0. Thedu'plica-te will, however, not be deposited in the ticket-receiver department a, but will be put on file until the balance, $46.28, is paid, when it will be canceled with the 'punch L, and then be put in the said receiver.

In the case last stated, the number of transactions recorded in the'recording-punch will not agree with the number of blanks in receiver a, nor will the total of the sums on the blanks with the cash in the bank; but this discrepancy will be readilyaccounted for by reference to the file, where it will be discovered that a blank, which would have been deposited in the receiver, had the transaction memo p 3 been complete, has been placed. The clipping taken out of this blank, when it is deposited in the receiver after the payment of the balance due, will be of difl'crent form from that cut out by the recording-punch E, and will indicate a completed transaction. On examination of the recorder, and of the blanks in the receiver a after the payment of this balance, it will be found that the number of blanks will exceed the number of transactions by one; but the amounts on the blanks added up will agree with the cash in bank.

The envelope-receptacle on the under side of the desk will also contain an account-book, wherein such memoranda as may occur during the day will be entered. v

What I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

2. In an apparatus forpreventlng or detecting fraud, the combination of a desk or receptacle having compartments, a recording alarm-punch, a striker, and a'tunable string, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the above I have hereunto subscribed my name in the presence of two witnesses.

HENRY Jonnson.

Witnesses:

WALTER G. MASI, BRYAN H. Monsn.

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