US2700944A

US2700944A - Protective apparatus

Info

Publication number: US2700944A
Application number: US377809A
Authority: US
Inventors: Pauley Frank
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1953-09-01
Filing date: 1953-09-01
Publication date: 1955-02-01
Anticipated expiration: 1972-02-01

Description

@mmn mu Feb. 1, 1955 F. PAULEY PROTECTIVE APPARATUS Filed Sept.

INVENTOR Ewz/r Paw/9y 7% 2w 5mm TTORNEY FIGQZ PROTECTIVE APPARATUS Frank Pauley, Brooklyn, N. Y.

Application September 1, 1953, Serial No. 377,809

1 Claim. (Cl. 109-11) My invention is an improvement in devices for ensuring the safety of persons who are entrusted with the handling of cash money; and for foiling robbery and possible murder by unscrupulous and desperate criminals.

The invention is especially adapted for use in change booths and at the cages and desks of paying tellers and cashiers; and other places where bank notes, metal currency and other articles of value are kept for any kind of transaction requiring facilities for quickly completing it. In its preferred form the device comprises a movable shield or panel, supported in such position that it will not interfere with the regular duties of an employee in a business establishment, yet capable of being interposed at an instants notice between such an employee and an armed man confronting him. The panel thus serves as a screen or obstruction against attack and gives the employee sufficient protection while he sounds an alarm and gets out of harms way.

The nature of my invention and the objects and advantages thereof are fully set forth hereinafter, and a preferred embodiment is illustrated in the drawings. But this disclosure is explanatory only and I may adopt minor variations in structure not shown, but fully covered by the broad and general meanings of the terms of the appended claim.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 shows in perspective and in outline the counter or desk of a person handling money or other valuable articles in a closed booth or cage.

Figure 2 is a sectional view of the counter or desk and its protective mechanism; and

Figure 3 shows a detail of said mechanism.

The counter, stand or the like 1, behind which the proper employee of the establishment takes his seat has a top 2 directly in front of the employee and a higher top 3 more to the front for the benefit of all having business dealings at said counter. In many business houses the stand or counter 1 is located within a cage, booth or other enclosure, the walls of which are indicated by the broken lines 4, with a door 5 that can be kept locked. The counter 1 can be large enough for several persons, and the front wall or partition of glass or iron grillwork will of course have a small window or opening for each just above the top 3 as indicated at 6. In some large banks, for example, the counter will be a long one to be used by many employees in front of a wall, and the enclosing walls are omitted.

The top 3 is flat, but in line with each window 6 a hinged panel 7 is set into the top 3. This panel can be actuated in an emergency and swung up about its forward edge as indicated by the broken lines in Figure 1, to act as a protective screen or shield. It is large enough to cover the window and much of the front wall bearing the window and stop or deflect a bullet, and thus avert danger to the employee stationed behind the window 6.

The panel rests on the upper edge of the vertical front 8 and the vertical wall 9 connecting the lower and

upper tops

2 and 3; and the ends 10 of the counter can be closed. Within the counter is a powerful U-shaped spring 11 with turns or loops 12 at the middle of the two arms. The arms are secured to the front 8 within the counter and the underside of the panel 7, with the loops or bends 12 in the corner adjacent the front 8, by staples 13; and the part 14 connecting the two arms of the spring is engaged by the bent end 15 of a lever 16. This end forms a hook which holds the panel 7 down United States Patent 0 'ice flush with the top 3. The lever 16 has trunnions 17 intermediate its ends in bearings at the ends of a metal plate 18 affixed to the underside of the top 2 or at any other convenient point in the stand or counter 1. The lever 16 extends downward nearly to the floor on which the counter 1 is placed. A spring 19 is so attached to this lever and the counter as to maintain the hook 15 in pdsition to keep the spring bent and stressed as shown in Figure 2.

The lever 16 has a wide lower end 20 with a slot 21 therein. A horizontal lever 22 is pivoted at 23 on the floor supporting the counter 1, and this lever 22 has a pin 24 projecting into the slot 21. The slot 21 is inclined at such an angle that when the end of this lever 22 with the pin 24 rises, the lever 16 is actuated to withdraw the hook 15 and release the spring 11. The panel then flies upward into vertical position.

The lever 22 must of course be fully housed so that no one will inadvertently step on it behind the counter 1. Hence the end opposite the pin terminates short of the rear wall 25 of the counter. This wall has a vertical panel or gate 26 connected by spring hinges 27 inside to the floor 28. These hinges keep the door or gate upright and closed, with its upper edge abutting an overlapping strip of molding 29. The gate 26 can extend the whole length of the counter and the end of the lever 22 is in close proximity to it. Hence any employee behind the counter has only to press it inward with his foot to engage the lever 22, operate the lever 16 and release the spring 11. If the counter is a large one, the gate 26 can be forced in at any point to release all the panels 7 in the top 3 simultaneously. In fact, the entire top 3 can be mounted to fly up in the manner described. The gate 26 is elongated horizontally and is always within easy reach of said employee.

The panel 7 has

abutments

30 and 31 on its underside to make contact with the upper edge of the wall 8 when the panel 7 is forced down; and a cross bar 31' on the lower face against which the spring 11 presses with the part 14 overlapping, so that the hook 15 can always reach it. The panel 7 can be connected by a stout loose cable 33 to the wall 9 or other part of the counter to arrest it short of the front wall of the enclosure for the counter, or as soon as it reaches upright position. Instead of a cable, links 32 as shown in Figure 2, can be utilized.

Under the lever 22 near the gate 26 is a push button or other switch 34 which will close an electric circuit to energize an alarm. When the panel 26 is pushed in and the lever 22 depressed to release the panel 7, the alarm is actuated at the same time. Robberies of establishments like the ones described herein, are usually perpetrated by the criminal aiming at the employee through the Window 6 and demanding that the loot be handed out through the window. But the robber will be entirely frustrated when the employee kicks in the gate 26 and the panel 7 flies up. As this is done, the employee can get out of immediate danger by dropping to the floor behind the counter 1.

Of course other devices besides springs and levers can be employed to throw the panel 7 upward, and I do not wish to be limited to the precise means set forth herein for actuating my invention in the manner required.

Having described my invention, what I believe to be new is:

An article of furniture having a closed front, a top and a horizontal panel at the top with an edge adjacent said front, and mounted to be movable about said edge as an axis, a bent spring secured within said article and to the underside of the panel and stressed to move the panel into vertical position to screen the top, an upright lever pivoted between its ends within said article and having a bent upper end engaging said spring at the panel to retain the panel in horizontal position, a spring attached to said lever and said article to hold said lever in engaging position, the lower end of the lever having a cam-slot, a second lever within the lower part of said article and accessible at the rear thereof, said second lever having a pin engaging said slot at one end and mounted to be depressible at its opposite end to swing the first-named lever away from said first-named spring to release said spring and enable it to raise the panel to vertical position, the article having a closed vertical rear wall, and an elongated horizontally extended hinged gate in said wall adjacent and covering and concealing the last-named lever and movable inward to engage the depressible end of the second lever.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Hankins Oct. 12, Frank Nov. 1, Horvitz July 6, Stout June 12, Smith Feb. 9, Thompson Oct. 10,