US2000159A - Ticket machine - Google Patents

Description

May 7, 1935. A. BoLoGNlNo TICKET MACHINE Filed May l2, 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet l TICKET MACHINE Filed May l2, 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 N. IWI@ May 7, 1935.

A. BOLOGNINO TICKET MACHINE FiledMay 12. 1931 4 Sheet's-Sheet 3 slN EN OR mlm/ May 7, 1935. A. BoLoGNlNo TICKET MACHINE Filed May 12, 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 K Patented i May 7, 1935 y UNITED STATES A"PATENT oFFicE 'rrcxa'r mem e vAnilx'e'w Bolognino, NewYork. .'Y.

Application my` 12, 1931, semi No. saam s calm. `(ci. isi- 42) This invention relates to the handling of tickets, particularly admission tickets, such as used in motion picture theatres.

The objects of the invention are to provide simple, practical and reliable apparatus for taking the tickets, cancelling, counting and storing the same.

The attainment of the foregoing and other desirable objects is effected by the novel features of construction, combinations and relations of parts hereinafter described, claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

The embodimentr of the invention shown in the drawings constitutes one commercial form, but it should be understood that the actual physical structure may be modified and changed as regards this particular disclosure without departure from the true spirit and broad scope of the invention.

Fig. 1 is a broken plan view of the machine chosen to illustrate the invention; Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on substantially the plane of line 2-2 of Fig. l, with the main body of the machine appearing as in side elevation; Fig. 3 is a broken longitudinal sectional -view as-on line 3-3 of Fig. l through the midportion of the machine; Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the machine as on line 4-4 of Fig. l; Fig. 5 is a broken detail of one of the counters and the actuating disc for the same; Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional detail of the starting switch located in the receiving throat of the machine, this view being taken as on line 3-6 of Fig. 1; Fig..'1 is a plan view illustrating relation of the entering ticket to the stop gage and motor circuit controller.

Figs. l, 2 and 3 show how the tickets which are designated l, are inserted in the machine, either singly or in strip form, through a funnelshaped guide throat 3, into a channel provided between a top plate I3 and bottom guide or support Il, against .a retractable stop pin l2.- As the leading edge of the ticket or ticket strip meets or approaches the stop pin I2, a circuit controller is actuated to automatically start the machine. This circuit controller is shown in detail in Fig. 6, as consisting of a bowed spring contact I3, designed to be lifted by the ticket into engagement with an overstanding spring contact Il, to close the circuit through the motor I5.

The motor i5 is shown connected to drive the machine through a belt I6, about a pulley I1, on a shaft I3, carrying a worm I3 in mesh with a worm gear 2li, on a transverse shaft 2l, The

latter carries the cams and other 'machine elements for actuating the several parts of the machine.

The operation of the shaft 2| effects first a gripping engagement with the entered ticket or 5 ticket strip and then an advancement into the machine equivalent to a ticket length.

The ticket gripper consists of two sets of prongs 22 projecting upward from a slide 23, through slots 24 in the bottom Il of the ticket 10 guide and arranged to pierce the ticket along its opposite edges as indicated' at 25 in Fig. '7.

The gripper slide 23 has an undercut or dovetail sliding engagement 26 in a lifting and lowering support 21. The latter is shown as sup- 15 ported on oscillating cam shafts 28, which in the position illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4, with the plate21 resting on the flats of the cam shafts. lowers the prongs out of the guide channel, said shafts when turned to bring the round- 20 ed portions of the same upward, serving to lift the supporting plate 21 and the prong plate slidingly mounted thereon. The lifting and lowering plate 21 is shown as guided by straight up and down movements by having projecting pins 25 29 on the edges of the same riding in slots 30 in the sides of the frame, Fig. 2, and springs 3i hold the plate firmly engaged with the rolling cam shafts.

The prong carrying member 23 is shown in Fig. 3 as longitudinally slotted at 32, to clear the gage pin I2 and the latter is shown as automatically retracted by a swinging lever 33, pivotally supported intermediate its ends at 3l and connected at one end at 35, with the lower end of the gage pin and at its opposite end at 36 Vwith the rising and lowering support 21. It will be evident from Fig. 3, that upon the lifting movement of plate 21, the lever 33 will be rocked to lower the gage pin out of the way of the ticket entered in the guide channel. Thus with the piercing of the ticket by the grip pins, the gage or stop pins will be lowered to permit onward feeding movement of the ticket by the grip pins. The advancing motion ofthe ticket gripping pins is eilected in the illustration by a link 31, connected at one end with a pin 38, projecting from one side of the sliding grip and slotted at its opposite end at 39, to engage a crank pin 40, on a crank disc 4i, on the main shaft 2i. The purpose of slot 39 is to allow lost motion, sufllcient for operation of the lifting cam shafts 2B, before the ticket advancing movement of the slide takes place. Fig. 2 shows this timed relation of the parts and the actuating means for 55 Git the cam shafts, consisting ofthe cam I! on shaft 2i, engaging a cam follower 43 on slide Il, which carries racks I5, in engagement with pinions 4B on the ends of shafts ZI. 'I'his rack slide is shown as retracted by a spring I1.

Thus it will be seen, that with the direction of rotation indicated in Fig. 2, the cam 42 will operate to turn the lifting cam shafts 2I to force the prongs 22 into the ticket positioned against gage I2, before a link 31, through its lost motion connection at 39 operates todraw the prong carrying slide forward to advance the ticket further into the machine.

While the machine is suited to handling single tickets, it is specially equipped to take the tickets in strip form and to sever and stack the same in a magazine.

The strip severing mechanism is shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, as consisting of a cutter blade Il, pivotally mounted at I9, in position to cooperate with a stationary shear blade I at the end of the ticket guiding passage, and having a loop 5i receiving one end portion of lever 52, pivotally mountedv at II and engaged at its opposite end by a pin or cam element 5I, on one face of disc 55 on cam shaft 2|.

The magazine which receives the severed tickets is illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3, as a vertical container 56, removably supported at 51, with its upper end in line with and constituting a horizontal open continuation of the ticket channel and beneath theticket chopper, so as to directly receive the last-severed ticket. A packer 5I, supported for vertical movement in a guide 59, is positioned above the open mouth of the magazine, at a point to deflect issuing tickets down into the magazine. This packer is shown as lifted by a spring II and as depressed after each severing action of the knife by Ione end of an overstanding lever Il, pivotally supported at I2 and having at its opposite end a cam portion II, engaged by a pin or cam element I4 on the opposite face of the disc Il, carrying the cam pin II.

From the description and illustration, it will be clear that as the knife chops oif the tickets arriving over the end of the machine, the packer operates to force them down into the magazine, one on top of the other in a neat stack as indicated in Fig. 3. A receding support for the stack is shown in Fig. 3 in the form of a blade II, guided and yieldingly supported in the magazine by a bowed spring II on the bottom of the blade having curled ends frictionally engaging the walls of the magazine. A slot I1 in one side of the magazine, enables the stacking operation to be observed and further enables the support or follower I5, to be readily shifted to the starting position. When the magazine is full, or at any other time, it may be removed upon loosening the fastenings at 51 and then be quickly emptied by engaging the spring follower through the slot I1 and sliding it in the direction l to discharge the stack of tickets from the open end of the holder.

While the perforation of the tickets by the feeding prongs may be considered sumcient to constitute effective cancellation of the tickets, additional and more complete cancellation is effected in the present disclosure'by a special cancelling punch shown at EI, in Fig. 3, over the ticket channel and actuated by the extended tip portion 69 of the cutter actuating lever 52. This punch is normally retracted out of the path of the tickets by spring 1I. Thus, it will be Seen,

that as the first ticket in line is out off and dropped into the magazine, the second ticket will be cancelled bypunch BI.

The tickets are automatically counted in the machine illustrated, by the two counters designated 1| and 12 in Figs. 1 and 4, intended to register tickets of two different values and positioned at opposite sides of the machine with their actuating arms 1I, 1I, in positionto be engaged respectively by pins 15, 1I, on discs 1l, 1I, carried by an oscillating shaft 19. This shaft is transversely shiftable by a yoke III, to selectively position the crank pins 1I, 1I, for operating one or the other of the counters, Fig. 4, such movement of the yoke being effected as by a button or handle Il, connected with the yoke II and operating through a slot I! in the top or4 cover I3 of the machine.

The counter shaft 1I is operated by the tickets entered in the machine through the medium of the two spur wheels I4 on the shaft and adapted, upon lowering the shaft, to project down through slots I5 in the top of the ticket guide into engagement with the ticket strip. This downward ticket engaging movement is enectedin the illustration by the mounting of shaft 1I in the arms of a yoke II, carried by a rock shaft I1 and having an arm II at one end actuated on by a spring I9. The upward ticket disengaging movement is effected from the knife actuating lever 52, Figs. 1, 2, and 3, by providing the shaft carrying yoke Il, with a tail portion II, interposed between the end I9 of the knife lever and the head of the cancelling punch II. The cam lever l! is thus made to serve the triple function of operating the ticket chopper, the cancelling punch and lifting the ticket counting shaft.

'I'he ticket counting shaft 1I is returned back to an initial position, after each operation of the same, by a return spring Il, surrounding the shaft and connected to rotate the shaft backwardly, until a stop pin I2 thereon, engages a shoulder or stop lug II, Figs. 1, 3 and 4.

It will be apparent, that the effect of the feed prongs, striking upward through the ticket and drawing the ticket into the machine, will be to force the ticket rmly up against the spur wheels I4 and tothen rotate said wheels and consequently, the shaft on which they are mounted, and thereby to actuate one or the other of the two counters, depending upon which way the selector button Il is shifted. In Fig. 1, the shifting yoke II is omitted to show more clearly the annular grooves II in the hubs of the crank discs 11, 1I, engaged by the ends of the sliding yoke and this view also illustrates how these crank discs are slidingly keyed on the counter shaft 1I by making the ends of the shaft half-round and the bores of the discs to fit.

A bell or other signal may be provided and connected for operation at each counting and cancelling action of' the machine. Contacts II, 96, are shown in Fig. 2, carried by the rack bar 44 in the frame of the machine, which may be employed to control such a signal circuit or be used for safety or other purposes, for instance to stop the machine in the proper position to take the next ticket.

One special advantage of the machine is that the entire operation becomes automatic as soon as a ticket or ticket strip is entered in the machine. 'Ihe leading edge of the ticket engages a stop or gage I2, being thereby positioned for proper operation in the machine and substantially at the same moment, the ticket closes the motor controlling circuit, causing the grip prongs to come up through the ticket and advance it one ticket length into the machine. In this movement, which ever ticket counter is selected for actuation, is operated to register 'the ticket. On the next feed stroke, whether it be due to a second ticket attached to the first, or separate ticket entered in the machine, the first ticket passes over into the magazine being severed, if in strip form and is backed down on top of the stack in the magazine. Before passing over into the magazine, the first ticket is cancelled by the cancelling punch 10. Thus, all tickets stacked in the magazine are cancelled and counted, and the contents of this holder may therefore, be used at any time for checking purposes.

While the structure disclosed is a practical and commercial form of the invention, it will be understood that changes and modifications may be made to meet different requirements, all within the broad scope of the claims.

What is claimed is:

l. In a machine of the character disclosed, the combination of a ticket guide, a stop gage associated with said guide and positioned to positively stop a ticket inserted in said guide, ticket feeding means for engaging a ticket so inserted in the guide, a controller positioned for actuation by a ticket engaged with the stop gage and power actuated means governed by said controller for retracting the stop gage and operating the ticket feeding means.

2. In a ticket receiving machine, an actuating shaft provided with a ticket engaging member, ticket feeding means arranged to force a ticket being fed into driving engagement with said ticket engaging member on the shaft and means for automatically tripping the ticket engaging member from cooperative relation with said ticket feeding member when the latter has completed its ticket feeding movement.

3. In a machine of the character disclosed, in combination, a ticket guide, a raising and lowering support beneath the guide, a reciprocating ticket advancing slide on said raising and lowering support, a ticket receptacle positioned to receive tickets from the guide, power means for actuating said raising and lowering support and said reciprocating feed slide and a controller positioned for actuation by a ticket entered in the ticket guide and connected to automatically start said power means.

4. In a machine of the character disclosed, in combination, a ticket guide, a raising and lowering support beneath the guide, a reciprocating ticket advancing slide on said raising and lowering support, a ticket receptacle positioned to receive tickets from the guide, means for actuating said raising and lowering support and said reciprocating feed slide and a retractable stop gage for locating the tickets in the guide and connected for actuation by said raising and lowering support.

l5. In a machine of the character disclosed, the combination of a guide channel, a lifting and lowering reciprocating feed member beneath said guide channel, a retractable positioning stop operating in the guide channel, a cancelling punch operating in the guide channel, a ticket chopper at the end of the guide channel and a ticket receptacle adjacent said ticket chopper.

6. In a machine of the character disclosed, the combination of a guide channel, a lifting and lowering reciprocating feed member beneath said guide channel, a retractable positioning stop operating in the guide channel, a cancelling punch operating in the guide channel, a ticket chopper at therend of the guide channel, a ticket receptacle adjacent said ticket chopper, power mechanism for actuating said meansaforesaid in timed relation and a controller for said power means positioned for actuation by the ticket entered in the guide channel into engagement with said retractable positioning stop.

7. In a machine of the character disclosed, the combination of a guide channel, a lifting and lowering reciprocating feed member beneath said guide channel, a retractable positioning stop operating in the guide channel, a cancelling punch operating in the guide channel, a ticket chopper at the end of the guide channel, a ticket receptacle adjacent said ticket chopper, power mechanism for actuating said means aforesaid in timedrelation, a controller for said power means positioned for actuation by the ticket entered in the guide channel into engagement with said retractable positioning stop, the powermechanism including a single shaft and means operated from said shaft for actuating the several instrumentalities aforesaid.

8. A machine for handling strip tickets, cornprising in combination a guideway for the tickets, means for feeding tickets entered in said guideway, a cancelling device for acting on the tickets in the guideway, a knife at the end of the guideway for severing strip tickets in ticket lengths, a receptacle at the end of the guideway for receiving ticket lengths cut by the knife, a motor for driving the aforesaid mechanisms in timed relation and a switch for controlling said motor and positioned for actuation by tickets entered in the guideway.

9. A machine for handling strip tickets, comprising in combination a guideway for the tickets, means for feeding tickets entered in said guideway, a cancelling device for acting on the tickets inthe guideway, a knife at the end of the guideway for severing strip tickets in ticket lengths, a receptacle at the end of the guideway for receiving ticket lengths cut by the knife, a motor for driving the aforesaid mechanisms in timed relation, a switch for controlling said motor and positioned for actuation by tickets entered in the guideway and switch means automatically operable to stop the machine in the proper position of the parts to take the next ticket.

ANDREW BOLOGNINO.

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