US1796873A - Coupon filing and canceling device - Google Patents

Description

March 17, 1931. J. H. MGEHEE 1,796,873

COUPON FILING AND CANCELING DEVICE Filed Aug. 27, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS- J. H. M GEHEE COUPON FILING AND GANCELING DEVICE March 17, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 2'7, 192'? NNNNNN ATTORNEY6.

Patented Mar. 17, 1931 UNITED STATES JOHN H. MCGEHEE, OF SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA COUPON FILING AND CANCELING DEVICE Application filed August 27, 1927. Serial No. 215,948.

My invention relates to improvements in coupon filing and canceling devices, and it consists in the combinations, constructions, and arrangements hereinafter described and claimed.

An object of my invention is to provide a coupon filing and canceling device which has novel means for retaining differently numbered coupons in prearranged piles, access being had to the coupons of the various piles so that new ones may be added until the piles are complete, whereupon a canceling device is employed for puncturing all of the coupons in a pile, and for preventing the removal of coupons after they have been canceled, without detection.

A further object of my invention is to provide a device of the type described, in which the various piles of coupons are yieldingly held in contact with each other by a spring presser arm of novel construction, this arm being swingable into inoperative position and being automatically retained in this positionuntilthe operator wishes to again release the arm. n

A further object of my invention is to provide a device of the type described, in which a sealing device is provided for sealing the containers holding the coupons after the same have been canceled, or prior to cancellation, if it is desired to shift the coupons from one place to another while still uncanceled. V I

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following specification, and the novel features of my invention will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this application, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective View of a compartment designed for holding coupons;

Figure 2 is a section along the line 22 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a side elevation of one row of coupon-retaining compartments;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of a container designed for holding a number of rows of compartments; and

Figure 5 is a portion of a data sheet employedfor determining the number of coupons in a eompartment, and what particular coupon or coupons is missing.

In carrying out my invention I provide a number of tills 1 having rows of compartments 2 formed therein, see Figure 3. In the present form of the device I provide five compartments 2 in each row, although any number can be employed without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

Each compartment is identical and therefore a description of one will sufiice for a description of all.

Reference to Figure 1 shows a perspective view of one of the compartments, and it will be noted from this figure that the compartments are each formed of a single strip of material stamped and cut in the manner shown. plate 3, end walls 4; and side retaining members 5. The base 3is of the same size as the coupon 6. Note the coupons in Figure 3. The retaining members 5 have a width equal to one-third the distance of the length of a compartment. This construction is designed in such a manner as to permit a finger to be inserted between the retaining members 5 and end walls 4 when it is desired to remove coupons from the compartment, or add coupons to the compartment, or to check the number on and amount of the individual coupons. The tops of the retaining mem bers 5 are bifurcated and the upper ends are curled or rounded in the manner shown at 7.

The cross portions formed in this manner are aligned as tov height with projections 8 struck inwardly from the end walls 4. The portions 7 and the projections 8 aid in retaining the coupons in place. The end walls 4 are formed by bending the strip of material back upon itself, as shown, the walls being provided with a cylindrical portion 9 at the top thereof, and with lugs 10 that are bent around the opposite side of the wall for holding the two thicknesses of the wall together, as shown in Figure 1.

Each compartment is provided with a coupon presser arm 11, which is yieldingly held against the uppermostcoupon by a The compartments have a base spring 12. Figure 2 clearly shows how the spring 12 is mounted upon a rod 13, which in turn is journalled in the cylindrical portion 9 of the end walls 4. The presser arm is journalled on the rod 13 and the spring has one end mounted in the cylindrical memher 9 at 141 and its other end bearingagainst the presser arm 11 at 15.

It will be noted from Figures 1 and 2 that the cylindrical portion .9 has a notch 16 therein for receiving one edge of the presser arm 11, when the arm is swung into inoperative position, as indicated by the dotted lines in Figure 3. The spring 12 performs the double function of urging the arm 11 downwardly upon the coupons and also of holding the arm in the notch1'6 when the arm is in inoperative position, whereby it is prevented from being swung downwardly. In the first instance the spring 12 actsas a torsional spring and in the second instance it acts as a compression spring.

The coupons may be temporarily placed in the compartments 2, and when a predetermined number have been placed in any one of the compartments, the coupons in that compartment are removed and a cancel-ing member 17 is then bent upwardly from the bottom 3 into the dotted line position shown in Figure 1. The coupons are then replaced in the compartment, and during the latter operation the coupons are punctured.

The canceling member 17 is also shown in Figure 3, where it will be noted that it punctures all of the coupons in the compartment when the bunch of coupons are forced into the compartment over the canceling member, which is pointed for this purpose. The sheet-metal blank from which the compartments are made is so thin that the canceling member 17 is bendable by means of the fingels, and maybe bent up or down as desired.

After all of the coupons of a given till 1 have been disposed in place and have been canceled, a seal in the form of a plate 18 is extendedover the tops of the conmartments 2, and has flanges 1.9,at the ends thereof for engaging with the end walls of the till. A seal consisting of a wire 20, and a lead piece 21 soldered to the wire is passed through openings in the plate 18 andthe endwalls of the row at each endof the till. In this way the row is sealed and the coupons cannot be tampered with without detection. H desired, designating slips 22, see Figure 4:, may be pasted upon the plate 18 over each compartment for indicating the numbers of conpons in the particular compartment therebeneath.

In Figure at I show a container 23 which is large enough to holdeight tills 1. Eight rows will provide forty (40) compartments. If desired, :the container may be made of a smaller size ora larger size, or may be dis pensed with and the tills after being sealed in the manner already described may be placed in a vault or other place of safe keeping. On the inside of the cover 24 of the container 23 I mount a data chart 25. A portion of this chart is shown in Figure The chart is provided with a number of rectangles 2-6 corresponding to the number of compartments 2. Each rectangle is again divided into one hundred (100) squares, and these squares are numbered from one to one hundred.

As the coupons come in, they are placed in their respective compartments and then a .line indicated by :27 is drawn through the number on the chart 25, corresponding to the number of the coupon. In this way the person can instantly tell the number of coupons in any compartment and exactly what coupons are missing. The container 23 may be sealed by passing a sealing device, not shown, through lugs 28 when the cover is swung into closed position.

Although I have shown and described one embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that the same is susceptible of various changes and I reserve the right to employ such changes as may come within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A device of the type described comprising a till having a plurality of couponreceiving compartments, acanceling member carried by each compartment and being manually movable into operative or in operative position, a closure for said till and extending over the tops of all the compartments, and means for sealing the closure to the till.

r '2. A coupon filing and canceling device comprising a till having a plurality of coupon-receiving compartments, each compartment having a base and end walls, the sides of said compartments being open the greater part of their lengths for permitting access to the coupons, a spring arm for each compartment for holding the coupons in place, means for holding the arm in inoperative position for permitting the removal of the coupons, and a canceling member carried by the base of each compartment and being bendable into operative or inoperative positions.

3. A coupon filingand canceling device comprisinga plurality of tills, each till having a plurality of coupon-receiving compartments, a canceling member carried by each compartment and normally being d-is- *posed in inoperative position, said member being bendable into operative position, and a closure for each till extending over all of the compartments in the till.

4. A coupon filing device comprising plurality'o'f tills, eachtill having a plurality of compartments for receiving coupons, -a

closure'for each till adapted to be disposed over the tops of all the compartments in the till, means for sealing the closure to the till, and a chart for recording the coupons thereon as they are placed in the compartments, whereby the filed coupons may be readily determined.

5. A till fashioned from a single strip of material and including a plurality of compartments formed by bending the material into a bottom and end walls, the end walls of one compartment being abutted against the end walls of the adjacent compartments, and projections extending from the wall of one compartment and clamping around the wall of the adjacent compartment.

6. A till fashioned from a single strip of material and including a plurality of compartments formed by bending the material into a bottom and end walls, the end walls of one compartment being abutted against the end wall of the adjacent compartment, and side walls integral with the bottom of each compartment.

7. A coupon filing device comprising a plurality of tills, each till having a plurality of compartments for receiving coupons a closure for each till adapted to be disposed over the tops of all of the compartments in the till, and a chart for recording the coupons thereon as they are placed in the compartments, whereby the filed coupons may be readily determined.

JOHN H. MGGEHEE.

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