US2749030A - Removal receptacle for the contents of coin boxes - Google Patents

Description

June 5, 1956 w. w. JONES REMOVAL RECEPTACLE FOR THE CONTENTS OF COIN BOXES Filed Dec 16, 1952 2 She etsSheet l r\ H 1 20 n @l Z9 6g- Z} :-:Z5 1 50 24 6 r 25 m A 2 l INVENTOR, 42:4 .1. Wfi/zn W172i? es June 5, 1956 w. w. JONES 2,749,030

REMOVAL RECEPTACLE FOR THE CONTENTS OF COIN BOXES Filed Dec. 16, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 REMOVAL RECEPTACLE FOR THE CONTENTS OF COIN BOXE Whitney W. Jones, Philadelphia, Pa.

Application December 16, 1952, vSerial No, 326,262

1 Claim. (Cl. 232-16) The object of the invention is to provide improvements in'means for increasing the efiiciency with which coins may be collected from coin-controlled and/or coin receiving devices of all sorts, and at the same time insure such collection against illegal extraction, and in fact preventing them from coming into contact with or being accessible to any part of the body of even the one authorized to make such collection, specific reference herein to parking meters being intended to relate as well to any and all coin-controlled devices with which the invention is operable, this application comprising a continuationin-part of co-pending application Serial No. 250,257, filed October 8, 1951.

Another and more specific object is to provide an embodiment of the invention, comprising a collection receptacle in the form of a truck, that is adapted for use with both old and new parking meters and other such devices, and from which devices it would otherwise be necessary to remove the coins by hand, either in groups or individually, or collectively in initially empty receptacles, that are themselves collected from coin-controlled devices and into which coins therefrom have previously fallen, said collection receptacle being employed to transmit said coins to a receiving oflice, bank, or other depository.

Still another object is to provide an improved truck for transporting the coins from one or more parking meters or the like, the truck proper carrying a container that is normally closed and sealed, but which is provided with an extendable, preferably flexible tube having a receiving head at its upper end, adapted to be detachably vsecured to and receive the coins as they fall from within each parking meter or similar device, while a substantial portion of said tube is readily capable of extending freely from, or being slideably telescoped into, a preferably fixed positioned tubular housing within said container, that embodies an elongated chamber into which said tube is capable of sliding at all times, as the mass of coins builds up around the outside of said housing, the lower end portion of said tube and the upper end portion of said housing being provided with enlarged apertures in their respective side walls, that register when said tube is in an extended position, to permit coins entering said tube to fall into the space within said container surrounding said housing, and to seal said space when said tube is in a retracted or telescoped position to prevent coins vfalling or being extracted from said container by way of said housing and said tube, by and upon said container being inverted. I

A further object is to provide a truck for this purpose, having a supporting platform for the improved container, and two or more wheels to support the same and facilitate its propulsion from place to place, as for example from meter to meter, or other type of coin-controlled mechanisms, and from a locality where collections are made to' the otfice, bank, or other depository, for safe keeping,

While above saidplatform is provided with peripherally States Patent A still further object is to provide a head for the extendable, flexible coin-receiving tube of said container, comprising a hooked portion for partially encircling the usual standard upon which a parking meter or the like is supported, and a body portion having an open intake side or cutaway portion, that registers with the discharge opening of the coin compartment of such meter, when said hooked portion is in operative engagement with the meter standard or support, said intake leading into a chamber that is closed upon its laterally opposite and forward sides, and opens downwardly into the end of said flexible tube, the closure of said meter when in operative position serving to close the otherwise open upper portion of said compartment, to prevent removal of coins by anyone while they are gravitating towards said truck chamber, and a handle bar extending slideably through a vertically elongated aperture in the forward portion of said head, and provided upon its rear end with a key for opening the meter when in one extreme position, and which handle bar upon being withdrawn forwardly and angularly upwardly eifects the opening of said closure, while a reverse movement of said handle bar serves to re-c-iose said closure and lock the same in closed position, after which said head may be disconnected from the meter standard, which separation is totally impossible as long as the said handle bar is in engagement with said closure.

And still another object is to provide a container for said truck, in which is a hollow tubular housing, which at its upper end extends through and is fixedly secured to a lid or closure that is normally secured by a lock to said container, and which at its lower end normally rests, if desired, upon the floor of said container, said housing being provided with an opening near the upper end of its lower slanting side, a second tube telescopically positioned within said first tube and extendable therefrom, a chain or other suitable means serving to limit the outward movement of said second tube with respect to said housing, said tube also being provided with an opening in its lower slanting side that is generally registerable with the opening in said housing, when said inner tube is in an extended position, the inner end portion of said tube being provided with a diagonally extending lower wall, operative to direct coins, entering it when in extended position, through said openings then in registry, to permit such coins to fall freely into the interior of said container outside of and surrounding said housing, a preferably flexible tubular extension of said tube when in extended position carrying the hereinbefore described collecting head, means to limit the movement of said head with respect to the lid of said container, and a sleeve loosely slideable upon the outside of said housing, operabie when the container and tubes are inverted to cover the opening in said housing, and prevent coins within said container outside of said housing from re-entering the same and being extracted through said flexible extension and the collecting head carried thereby.

With these and other objects in mind, the invention comprises further details of construction and operation, which are hereinafter fully describedin the following specification, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a vertical section of a truck, a container supported thereby and said tube, carrying said head being shown in elevation, said head being in operative relation with a fragmentary portion of a meter which is shown in elevation; Pi 2 is a similar view but showing the tube in retracted positions; and Fig. 3 is a horizontal section illustrating the relationship between said tube and said housing.

Referring to the drawings, a representative parking meter 1 or the like is shown as being operatively mounted upon a suitable supporting standard 2, said meter being intended merely to represent a coin-receiving device of any sort from which the collecting truck comprising the invention is designed to extract, contain and thereafter protect coins from said meter, it also being understood that a collecting device of this type can be carried as a satchel or suitcase, if preferred, instead of upon a wheel truck.

Heretofore, when using a meter or the like of this general type, upon opening the closure with which they are all provided to gain access to the interior thereof, and permit the extraction of coins therefrom, it has been necessary to remove the coins therein by means of ones fingers, with a resulting loss of time, chance of coins falling upon the ground, and the temptation of the operator to actually pocket at least a portion of them; or instead to remove them in a box or other suitable form of container that is extracted as a unit, and which must in each instance be replaced by another such unit, that has previously been emptied following an earlier collection, thus entailing the additional expense incident to a stock of empty boxes and their storage. It is with these and related facts in mind, that the novel collecting device herein described has been developed, and which has proved so efficient wherever used.

In the drawings, the improved truck construction is shown as comprising an axle 3 provided with wheels 4, between which a platform 5 is carried by said axle through the medium of a frame 6, that upwardly provides a hand rail or other form of means for manually tilting and propelling said truck from place to place, while the lower portion of said frame is provided with a preferably circular receptacle 8 and a circular band 9 spaced above it to receive the lower end portion of and operatively position a cylindrical container 10. The upper and otherwise open end of said container is normally spanned and closed by a peripherally flanged lid 11, that is normally fastened to said container by any suitable means, as for example a rod 12 extending diametrically through aligned apertures in the overlapping portions of said container and said lid, and secured against unauthorized withdrawal therefrom by a padlock 13 or the like. Said container is normally secured to the platform of said truck, as by means of U-shaped link 14 or the like, that centrally extends through an apertured lug 15 secured to said lid, and is detachably secured to said frame 6 by a suitable lock 16.

An aperture 17 is provided adjacent to one side of said cover or lid, through which extends the upper portion of the tubular housing 18 hereinbefore referred to, which at its lower end terminates preferably in close proximity to the bottom wall 19 of said housing, said housing being rigidly maintained in diagonal relationship with respect to said lid and said container by means of a depending flange 20, that approximates the frustum of a cone, its upper and diametrically wider edges being welded or similarly secured to the under surface of said lid, while its smaller lower circular edge is similarly secured to the outer surface of said housing, in order to thereby provide a circumferentially continuous support for said housing by said lid. This housing terminates a short distance above said lid 11, while the upper portion of its lower side, but slightly below said lid, is provided with a vertically elongated aperture 21, and well below said aperture the outer surface of said housing is provided with a fixed radially projecting stop 22, against which normally rests a cylindrical sleeve 23 that loosely surrounds said housing, and automatically gravitates into a position effectively closing said aperture, if and when the entire container unit is inverted.

Within said housing is slidably positioned a slightly smaller tube 24, spanned at its lower end by a plate or plug 25, provided with an eyelet 26 of any suitable type, by which a chain or other flexible element 27 connects said tube with a second eyelet 28, carried by and extending inwardly from the inner surface of the bottom wall 19 of said housing, so as to thereby limit the outward movement of said tube 24 in said housing. Said tube is also provided with a laterally directed aperture 29, below which is a deflector plate or partition 30, by which coins failing through said tube are directed laterally outwardly through said apertures 21 and 29 when they are in registry. It is to be noted that the vertical or longitudinal extent of the aperture 21 in said housing is substantially longer than the aperture 29 in said tube, so that whether the receiving head 31 mounted upon the outer free end of said tube by means of an intervening flexible tube 32, is in its highest or most extended position for normal operation with a parking meter on a forty-one inch standard, o;- is vertically positioned for functioning with a standard thirty-nine to forty-inch post, the inner aperture 29 will he in registry with some portion of the outer aperture 21.

Thereafter, when the coins have been collected from a given meter, the tube is dropped into the lowermost portion of said housing, and the side of said housing below the aperture 21 effectively closes the aperture 29, and the coin contents of said container while gradually filling, pile around said housing, and there is at no time the slightest hindrance by such mass of coins to the lowering of said tube into retracted position. By this construction, as long as said tube is in an extended position. coins may be fed into said container, as hereinbefore described, but no coins can be removed therefrom by inverting the container, regardless of the longitudinal position of said tube, due to the presence of the sleeve 23 and its ability to effectively close the aperture 21 in said housing instantly and automatically upon inversion of said container. Furthermore, in order to prevent said tube and the collecting head 31 carried thereby from being extended when not desired, or by unauthorized persons, said head is provided with a laterally projecting lug 33 having an eyelet, through which extends one end of a chain or other flexible element 34, the opposite end of which is loosely secured in the eyelet of a lug 35 fixedly secured to and extending upwardly from the container lid 11. In addition thereto, if desired, said head may be additionally provided with an extension 36, that when in lowered position is engageable by the outer free end of a link 37, that extends through the apertured lug .15 of the lid 11, and which is detachably secured to said link by a suitable lock 38.

Having thus described my invention what I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent of the United States is:

A receptacle for transporting coins, comprising a substantially closed hollow container, a tubular housing within and extending from a lower portion of said container upwardly and opening through an upper portion thereof, said housing having an opening communicating with the upper portion of the interior of said container, a tube closed at its lower end and slidable within said housing, whereby said tube may be telescoped within and adjacent to the bottom of said housing or partially with drawn so as to extend freely therefrom, the lower portion of said tube being provided with an opening adapted to register with the opening in said housing while in an extended position, said tube being secured to and removable only with said lid, a gravity-actuated sleeve surrounding said housing normally below said first opening and operative upon inverting said receptacle to shift into a position closing said first opening, to prevent coins within said container outside of said housing falling reversely through said openings when in registry and from said receptacle, means to limit the outward movement of 5 6 said tube with respect to said housing, and a hollow head References Cited in the file of this patent secured to the upper end of said tube and operative when UNITED STATES PATENTS attached to a coin-controlled device to receive and con- 2 277 916 Klemt Mar 31 1942 vey coms from such devlce to the mterlor of sand tube 2,4303 Broussard Nov. 4, 1947 and thence to sand houslng and sa1d contamer. 2,599,912 Hale June 10' 1952

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