US276441A - Automatic cash-box system - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Shet 1.

J.- G. MARTIN.

AUTOMATIC CASH BOX SYSTEM.

No. 276,441. Patented Apr. 24, 1883.

N. PEI'ERS. Moljthcgnpiwr. Washington. n c.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

.J-rO. MARTIN.

AUTOMATIC UASH BOX sYs rBM;

Patented Apr. 24,1883.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH O. MARTIN, OF BURLINGTON, VERMONT.

AUTOMATIC CASH-BOX SYSTEM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 276,441, dated April 24, 1883. Application filed May 22, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, JOSEPH O. MARTIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Burlington, in the county of Ohit-tenden and State of Vermont, have invented new and useful Improvements in Automatic Cash-Box Systems, of which'the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in the construction of the tracks, terminal and way stations, and the cash-boxes of automatic cash-box systems, the object being to provide improved cash-boxes and stations, together with portions of the track adjoining the same, whereby the sending and receiving of said boxes, both at the terminal and at the way stations, is facilitated and made more convenient, and whereby the. stopping of abox at the particular station for which it is destined is made certain.

In the drawings forming part of this speci' fioation, Figure I is a side elevation of the terminalor cashiers station, partly in section, embodying my improvements. Fig.- 11 is a plan view of Fig. I, also partly in section. Fig.

III is a transverse section on the line as .r, Fig.

I. Fig. IV is a section ot'Fig. I. Fig. V is a perspective view of the cash-box constructed according to my invention. Fig. VI is a plan view, partly in section, of a way-station embodying my improvements. Fig. VII isa transverse section on line a" m, Fig. VI. Fig. VIII illustrates a section of the tracks be tween the stations. Fig. IX is a plan view of a corner of the track and one of the guidewheels for the cord. Fig. X is a transverse section of one of said wheels. Fig. XI is-a view of detail parts.

This invention is in the nature of an improvement upon my patent of March 28, 1882. Inthe cash-box system herein described I em.

' ploy, as in that described, in said patent, an

endless moving cord, and cash-boxes adapted to be drawn, upon suitable tracks to and from difierent parts of a store or other room; but the improvements herein set forth provide for contiguous tracks, upon one of which the box is sent to the cashiers desk, andupon the other one the box is returned to the sender;

and, furthermore, provision is made, through the interoperativenessof the cash-boxes and tracks, for stopping each one of a series of boxes at its predestined station, said track being provided with a series of stations along its border, and with means for causing the proper box to be there disconnected from the said cord.

The tracks 0 e are located one above the other, and their arrangement provides for moving the cash-boxes in one direction upon the upper one and in the opposite direction on the lower one, one cord serving for both tracks,- and the latter are located in such proximity to each other as to provide means for the interposition between or upon each or both of them of suitable devices to co-operate with the cash-boxes and said cord to insure the proper operation of said boxes between the sender and the cashier. Said tracks consist of wooden or other suitable strips, each having a raised rib or border, 25,011 one edge, as in Fig. VIII, and they are set at an incline later ally, so that the boxes may slide along against said rib, and at the waystations be caused to slide sidewise off from the track proper upon a station-table, B, at which point said rib is discontinued. I

. In Figs. VII and VIII are shown the relative positions oi the two tracks 0 and e, and in the former particularly is shown the position of thecash-box D between said tracks, and wherein is illustrated the position of the cordclamping devices of said box and. the cord f immediately after the disengagement of said box therefrom at a way-station.

The cash box D is provided with a cover, 2, hinged to one side thereof, and a spring, 3, holds said cover in a closed position; A cordclamp, 4, having an arm on two sides of said box, which arms are united by a cross-bar having an arm, 5, thereon, is pivoted to said box, as shown, and the ends of said arms are bent upward, soinewhatin the form of a hook, and shut against a projection across the end ot'the box opposite to that at which is said arm 5. Said cord-clamp is held or made to so swing on its pivots as to force arm 5 downward and its .said hook-shaped ends upward against said projection by a spring, as shown, which so operatessaid clamp.

A post, 6, is fixed upon certain of said cashboxes, as and for the purpose hereinafter set forth.

The cord f, propelled by a suitable motor, runs along the rear edges of the tracks a and e over pulley 0 and at a corner in said tracks, as in Fig. IX, larger pulleys e are located, and properly grooved to allow the projecting clamping devices on box D to easily move by them.

The construction of the terminal or cashiers station is illustrated in Figs. I to IV, inclusive. 'At this station said tracks terminate, 0 being the one upon which said boxes are received and brought to a stop upon a receiving-shelf, ci' At the end of track a at this station provision is made for disengaging the cash-boxes from cordf, as follows:

Side and top guide-supports, m and h, consisting of a short vertical side piece, m, standing up at one side of the tracks, and a somewhat'longer horizontal piece, h, having a hanging border on one edge and attached to the upper edge of m, (see Fig. XL) and extending over the upper track, are attached to said tracks. and are provided with suitable guides, i and '5 to direct the box, upon its arrival at this station, into a certain line of movement. A hanging border. h is attached to one edge of the cover part h, as shown. The guide 41 secured by one edge to the under side of the cover part h, projects downward toward the track 0, so that when the cash-box is moving past said guide the latter will be hit by the box, thereby crowding the latter toward the side m and the clamp-lifters a, thereon. The guide t' is also located on the under side of said cover part h, and is adapted to strike the top of the cash-box when the latter comes opposite said clamp-lifters a, and prevent said box from being lifted on" from track 0, when arm 5 on said box strikes one of said lifters. A third guide, is secured to the under side of the part h, opposite to guide 43 buta-little farther along, and is so arranged that box D strikes the side of it, and thereby is crowded over against or toward the side m, and is thus forced to move near said side. The arm 5 on the cord-clamp 4 is set at a certain height on boxes intended to be stopped at a particular station, and at a different height for other stationsthat is to say, above the bottom of said boxes.

A series of clamp-lifters, a'tta, preferabl y of sheet metal, is fixed to the side m, and they are inclined, as shown, and project therefrom, so as to allow the arm 5 on the cord-clamp of one of boxes D to ride thereon as said box is rapidly drawn under the part It, and whereby the said hook shaped ends of clamp 4 are caused to swing down and away from said projeotion on box D, thus disengaging the box from cordf. Guide t'prevents box D from being lifted at this point, otherwise said cordclamp mightfail to operate as above described, and the guide i whose line of curve is shown in Fig. II, forces the box over toward the lifters a.

The box 'D,when it is to be returned to the sender thereof at a'distance from station A, is placed on track 0, being pushed laterally against the stop 9, Fig. I, grooves 8 8 permitting the ends of clamp 4to approach the cord f in proper position to seize the latter, and track 0 is properly cut away over said grooved part of track a, as shown in Fig. II, to permit the operator to hold box D and retain clamp 4 in an open position until the latter can properly receive cord f.

At the end of the way-station table B next to the approaching cash-box is fixed a vertical clamp-lifter, I), located on or in a line with the rib on the border of track e, and the height of said lifter is adapted to that one of the box or boxes which is to be stopped at its station, and is such as will cause arm 5 on clamp 4 to strike it, and, opening said clamp, disengage the box from cord f, substantially in the same way as said disengagementis effected at the station A, as above described. Thus at the latter station are provided on the part m a number of lifters, a, to correspond innumb'er and height with the several lifters b at different stations along the track 0. Upon approach ing said table B box D encounters the downhanging guide 71. pending from the under side of track 0, (see Fig. VII,) and by said guide is crowded toward said lifter 7) and properly held while clamp 4 is operated as above described relative to station A. Fig. VII illustrates the positions of the above-named parts atthis stage of their action. Those of boxes D which are destined for the first of the way-stations are not provided with the post 6 on the top thereof, so that they may slide oil the track at said station; but those going beyond have said post to assist in controlling the box, as hereinafter set forth.

The rib 25 on the lower edge of the bottom track, 0, is omitted at the point where the waystation table B is located, and to supply this omission, and to furnish suitable guiding devices by said table for boxes destined for stations beyondit, a guide, 0, depends from the under side of the upper track, 0, Fig. VI, and reaches far enough toward an approaching box having a post, 6, on itto let the latter strike its side and prevent the box from swinging off toward said table as it passes by it. Said guide 0 extends only far enough by said table to guide the box until it reaches the rib 25 on its own track.

Thus a box D not provided with the post 6 will, at table B, when disengaged from cord f, slide under guide 0 and-laterally off from track 0 onto said table and there stop, as shown in Fig. VI, while one of said boxes having the post 6 thereon and provided with a clamp-arm, 5, higher than the lifter b, will pass by said station, the guide 0 acting with said post to perform the function of the rib on the border of the track and prevent said box from sliding laterally; but as soon as the latter has passed said table and the guide 0 it again moves along in contact with said rib until it reaches its proper station, 'opposite which the said guide is narrow enugh(or said post is of proper length) to permit the post to .pass beneath said guide, and arm 5 and the lifter I at this station being adapted to operate together, as above described, said box is left at this station, as in the case of the first one. Thus the boxes with the posts 6 thereon, the lifters b, and the guides o are adapted to co-operate to cause the proper boxes to be dropped off at their proper stations beyond the first one on the outgoing track 0.

To return a box to the cashier it is taken by the operator, who at the same time lifts arm 5 to open the cord-clamp 4, and placed on the track 0 at a point where the transverse grooves 8 8 are made, near to a support, a, Fig. VI, and is pushed back against the stop a, and in this position cordf is admitted under said clamps, which, being now released, are by the spring 011 box D closed upon said cord, and immediately the box moves rapidly along to the station A, where it is disengaged from the cord, as above set forth, and landed upon the shelf (1.

What 1 claim as my invention is- 1. In an automatic cash-box system, the outgoing and incoming tracks 6 and a, separated one from the other to form a box -,passage therebetween, the endless cord f, adapted to move near the edge of said tracks, and the cash-box D, having the pivoted cord-clamp4 thereon, combined and operating substantially as set forth.

2. The terminal station A, provided with one or more clamp -lif'ters, a, and with the guides 'i and 0, combined with the box D, having the cord -clamp 4 thereon, provided with the arm 5, and the cord f, substantially as set forth.

3. The tracks 0 and e, and the way-station table B, inclined laterally, the clamp-lifter b, the guide if, the box D, having the cord-clamp 4 thereon, provided with arm 5, and the cordf, combined and operating substantially as set forth.

4. The tracks 0 and e, and the way-station table B, laterally inclined, the clamp-lifter b, the guide h the guide 0, the box D, having thereon the post 6, and the cord-clamp 4, provided with the arm 5, and the cord], combined and operating substantially as set forth.

5. The tracks 0 and 6, provided with a ter minal and with a waystation, substantially as described, and having clamp-lifters a and b at said stations, of corresponding height, the box D, having the cord-clamp 4, provided with an arm, 5, of less height than said clamp-lifters,

and the cord f, combined and operating substantiallyas set forth.

JOSEPH G. MARTIN.

Witnesses:

R. F. HYDE, WM. H. GHAPIN.

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