US2021984A - Coin collector - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 26, 1935.

L. H. CHASE COIN COLLECTOR Filed Jan. 8, 1955 /NVENTOR .fcf/ASE A TTORNEY Patented Nov. 26, 1935 LIJIvITrS-.b STATES PATENT OFFICE COIN COLLECTOR Application January 8, 1935', Serial No. 927

1 Claim.

This invention relates to coin collectors and more particularly to means for preventing the fraudulent collection of money from refund chutes of telephone coin collectors.

In connection with prepayment coin collectors of the type commonly used at .telephone pay stations it is the practice to refund money to patrons when calls are not completed. Unscrupulous individuals have occasionally taken advantage of this feature of the coin collector by obstructing the coin refund chute. thus preventing the return of the coins to their rightful owners Whenca-lls have not been completed and later removing the obstruction and appropriating the accumulated coins.

One of' the objects of this invention consists in providing coin collectorA apparatus which will detect the presence of an ob-struction and sound anal'arm or otherwise prevent the obstructor from obtaining coinswhich would ordinarily be refunded to the telephone patrons.

In accordance withl the preferred embodiment of,v thisinvention the detection of any stuning in the refund chute is secured by an arrangement whichcauses any coin held in the refund chute because of the stuffing, to close an electrical circuit for actuating an alarm, for example. This may be accomplished by providing in the bottom` o f the refund chute a strip of insulating material containing a plurality of electrical ter minals so wired that a coin resting on the strip will complete a circuit through two of the contact members to an alarm located on the premises or at some remote point. The closing of such an alarm circuit, therefore, relies upon the accumulation of coins in the refund chute rather than upon the pressure exerted by the stuffing material as in proposals heretofore made. It will generally be found advisable to provide means for preventing the alarm from being sounded unless the circuit between the contact members in the insulating strip is closed for a longer time than that required for the passage of a coin down the chute in the normal operation of the device. One way ofY securing this delayed operation is by the use in the alarm circuit of a slow-operate relay.

This invention will be better understood by reference to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a side View partly in section of the lower part of the coin collector housing; and

Figs. 2, 3 and 4 represent various views of one form of the invention adapted for use as the bottom wall of a coin refund chute.

For illustrative purposes this invention will be described in connectionwith the type of telephone coin collector disclosed in the O. F. Forsl berg U. S. Patent 1,043,219, issued November 5, 1912. Only the lower part of such a coin collec-- tor housing is shown in Fig. l since in itsv preferred form the invention is concerned primarily With `the refund chute of the collector. il() As explained in the Forsberg patent any coin deposited by a subscriber is temporarily held' Within a coin hopper 5 on a pivoted coin trap 6 normally supported by pivoted vane 'I and the central oce operator by controlling magnet 8 M may actuate vane 'I to allow trap' to drop and direct the deposited coin into a collect box or into a refund chute Where the coin may be recovered by the subscriber. As shown in Fig. 1 the refund chute has a sloping bottom Wall 9 20 leading to a coin pocket I0 accessible to a patron by an opening. I I in the side Wall of the coin collector housing I2. The upper part of the refundV chute is substantially shielded by a baille plate I3 the lower edge of plate I3 being spaced 25.l from wall 9 a distance sufficient to allow for the ready discharge of all refunded coins;

As previously stated, attempts are occasionally made to prevent refunded coins from sliding down 'into coin pocket I0 by insertingV stuffing 8G' material through the opening I4 between wall 9 and the lower end of baiiie plate I3 to cause refunded coins -to be held in the upper part of the refund chute until the stuffing is later removed.

In. order to defeat this practice it is proposed 35 in accordance with this invention to provide y means whereby any coin held in the upper part of the refund chute vby stuiiing material or other- Wise will Acause an electric circuit to be closed for actuating an alarm or for other suitable pur- 40 poses. This may be accomplished by having spaced electrical terminals along Wall 9so arranged that a restrained coin Will serve as a circuit closing member to actuate the alarm.

As shown more in detail in Figs. 2, 3, and 4 45 this coin contacting device may comprise a layer of insulating material I5 having a number of brass fasteners or eyelets I'l and I8 passing through the strip. The heads of the eyelets lie above the surface of strip I5 while their opposite 50 ends are insulatingly protected by a second insulating strip I6 suitably fastened to strip I5 at the points 24, 25. All of the eyelets I1 are electrically connected by wire I9 lying between the two strips I5, I6 and similarly all eyelets I8 are 65.

electrically connected by a wire 2|). As shown in Fig. 1 wire I9 may lead-to ground while wire 20 is connected through a slow operating relay 2| to battery and ground. Normally open contact 22 of relay 2| when actuated serves to close an obvious circuit for an alarm device 23.

The front or coin contacting face of vthel strip I5 is shown in Fig. 2 rwhile the reverse face is shown in Fig. 4 with a side view in Fig. 3. It Will be noted from Figs. 2 and 4 that the two outer rows of rivets or eyelets are electrically connected.

to wire I9 and the center row is electrically con# nected to Wire 29. It will, therefore, be apparent that any coin resting on the top of strip I5 will serve to close a circuit between wires |9 and 29 to sound alarm 23 providing the coin remains on strip I5 for a time suicient to energize relay 2|.

In applying this protective device to the coin collector refund chute of Fig. 1 the strips I5, I6 are preferably of substantially the saine width as the refund chute and substantially completelyv cover back wall 9 of the chute from a point just out of sight opening up to a point adjacent the coin hopper 5. The eyelet heads are, of course, placed on the side opposite wall 9 with strip I5 protecting the eyelets from contact with wall 9. One of the strips l 5, for example, may extend for a substantial distance beyond fastener 24 so that this extension may be positioned between vertical wall 21 and the adjacent vertical wall of-the coin hopper 5 and possibly turned over the top edge of wall 2'| to-hold the contact device in position in the chute. This arrangement, therefore, provides a ready means for installing the contact device of this invention in a telephone coin collector already in service but if it should be desired to make the contact device a permanent part of the coin collector refund chute other arrangements will probably be found more satisfactory.

Normally and in Vthe absence of stufhng, all

Yrefunded coins simultaneously discharged from trap 6 will readily slide down the strip I5 into coin pocket I0 but the operating time of relay 2| should be so adjusted that such coins will not close the circuit for relay 2| for a time suflicient for its contacts to be closed to actuate the alarm. However, if the coin or coins are prevented from reaching coin pocket I0 because of stuffing inserted through opening I4 so that the coins remain in contact with terminals I1, I3 for 'an appreciable time, relay 2| will be actuated to energize alarm device 23. It will be apparent that the closure of an electrical circuit produced by a coin held on the upper face of strip |5 may be employed to operate other devices than relay 2| 5 or to perform other functions such as the prevention of further refunds until the refund chute is clear, for example, in the manner disclosed in the United States application of P. E. Mills filed ing providing that the termina-ls are so spaced that any restrained coin will bridge the gap be- 15 tween one of the terminals and one of the other set of terminals I8. It is also to be understood that the alarm device 23 may be located in the same premises as the coin collector housing I 2, or the alarm device 23 may be located at some 20 remote point such as the telephone central oice.

While one particular embodiment has been chosen for illustrative purposes it is to be understood that equivalent arrangements coming within the terms of the appended claim are also contem- 25 plated.

What is claimed is:

In combination, a coin collector housing, a refund chute in said housing having a downwardly sloping bottom wall leading to a coin pocket accessible from outside said housing, means for discharging a deposited coin into said chute, an elongated strip of insulating material extending the length of a portion of said bottom wall, a set of spaced electrical terminals electrically connected to each other and mounted on said strip, va second set of spaced electrical terminals electrically connected to each other and mounted on said strip, said terminals being insulated from said bottom wall but arranged to have terminals of the two sets conductively connected by a coin sliding down said refund chute, a signal device controlled by the bridging of said two sets of terminals by a coin and means for preventing the actuation of said device by said bridging until said sets have been bridged for a time interval greater than the normal time required for a refunded coin to pass along said strip into said coin pocket. I

LELAND HENRY CHASE. B0

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