US3114452A

US3114452A - Change dispensing device

Info

Publication number: US3114452A
Application number: US146095A
Authority: US
Inventors: Philip L Bondy
Original assignee: General Cigar Co Inc
Current assignee: General Cigar Co Inc
Priority date: 1961-10-19
Filing date: 1961-10-19
Publication date: 1963-12-17
Anticipated expiration: 1980-12-17

Description

Dec. 17, 1963 P. L. BONDY 3,114,452

CHANGE DISPENSING DEVICE Filed Oct. 19. 1961 IN VEN TOR.

HILIP L. BO DY BY 11 f ATT RNEY M5844?- AGENT United States Patent 3,114,452 CHANGE DISPENSING DEVICE Philip L. Bondy, Salem Center, N.Y., assignor to General Cigar (30., Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Get. 151, 1961, Ser. No. 146,095 3 Claims. (Cl. 206-.81)

This invention relates to a display device and is more particularly concerned with a display device which includes attention-attracting features. More specifically, the invention is concerned with a device of the character indicated which is adapted to serve simultaneously as a change dispenser.

As is well known, effective display devices are those which attract the attention of the potential consumer to the article or articles being displayed. Generally speaking, visual attraction is most frequently relied upon and display devices are constructed to expose the article to view in an attractive manner. Many articles, however, and particularly those of relatively small size, are commonly displayed by being grouped together with many other articles and their heterogeneous exposure in this manner becomes an accustomed sight so that consumers may look at such articles without consciously seeing them.

This is frequently the case at cashier counters in restaurants and drug stores, and in shops which sell newspapers and magazines. Generally, the portion of the counter at which change is made is surrounded by containers of candy, other food items and smokers articles, such as cigars.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a device for displaying cigars, candy, and like items which is provided with means for attracting the attention of potential purchasers to the particular items with which the device is associated.

It is another object of the invention to provide a device of the character indicated which is particularly adapted for use at cashiers counters by reason of the fact that it can be used directly by the cashier to dispense change.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a change-dispensing device which is constructed for concurrent display of merchantable items.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a combined display device and change dispenser wherein an audible sound is automatically emitted when it is being used and while the customer is in the immediate vicinity to attract the customers attention.

In accordance with the invention, there is provided a display device and change dispenser which is defined by a forward base structure which includes a cup-like member associated with the forward support means of the device, rear support means, the forward and rear support means being adapted to hold a container of the items to be displayed, and a tray or chute functioning as a sounding board or sound-emitting member extending from the rear to the forward portion of the device and sloping downwardly toward the cup-like member. More particularly, the tray is disposed under the container at an incline so as to receive coins at the upper end and to discharge the coins into the cup-like member after they have slid down the tray. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the device also includes a pivoted cover member adapted to overlie the supported container, the cover member suitably being transparent to permit free view of the contents of the container.

It is a feature of the invention that the combined display and change-dispensing device serves to attract a customers attention automatically to it when it is used to dispense change by reason of its self-contained sounding board which emits audible sound upon contact with coins.

It is another feature of the invention that the container ice of items on display covers and conceals the change-discharge tray so that the sound of the coins passing through the change-dispensing device unexpectedly attracts the customers attention to the items on display rather than the coins.

Other objects and features of the invention will be readily apparent from the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment and from the accompanying drawing, wherein,

FIG. 1 is a front-elevational View of a combined display device and change dispenser;

FIG. 2 is a side-elevational view of the device shown in FIG. 1 as seen from the right-hand side of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view, on an enlarged scale, of a portion of the device as seen in FIG. 2 to illustrate details of construction; and

FIG. 4 is a similar fragmentary view on an enlarged scale illustrating another detail of construction.

Referring to the drawing, and particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, the reference numeral 10 designates generally the device illustrated, which has at its forward end an elongated cup 12 which may be formed from metal, glass, or other material which is relatively hard and will emit an audible sound when coins are dropped thereinto. Extending upwardly from cup 12 are two laterally-spaced- :apart legs 14 which are connected to cup 12 and terminate in a transversely-extending bracket 16 which is suit ably of L-shaped cross-section. At its rear, device 10 has laterally-spaced-apart legs 18' which, in the embodi ment illustrated, slope forwardly and extend upwardly substantially beyond the upper ends of the front legs 14. The two rear legs 18 are interconnected by a bracket 20 of L-shaped cross-section and by a transverse brace 22 intermediate the bracket 20' and the lower ends of the legs. As seen in FIG. 2, the two brackets 16 and 20- are relatively disposed to receive and support a container,

such as a cigar box 23, with the box sloping forwardly toward the cup 12.

Extending from the rear to the front of the device and between the legs 14 and the legs 18 is a forwardly sloping tray 24 which has a bottom 26 resting on brace 22 and side walls 28. The rear portion 30' of the tray extends well beyond the legs 18 and the forward end of the tray 24 is suitably secured to the front legs 14 and extends above the cup 12 so that coins discharged into the rear portion will automatically slide forwardly and will fall off into the cup. The tray 24, like the cup 12, is formed from metal, glass, plastic or other material which will emit an audible sound when engaged by coins. The tray has a width which is advantageously at least half the width of the entire device and, because of its substantial length, which includes an extensive unsupported portion between the forward and rearward pairs of legs, the tray functions as a sounding board and emits a sharp and sudden sound when coins are dropped into the rear portion of the tray and are allowed to slide forwardly and to fall into the cup. This effect is accentuated when the tray 24 is formed from self-supporting but relatively thin sheet metal. It will be understood that the various parts of the above-described device are interconnected in any convenient manner, e.g., by soldering or brazing.

As previously mentioned, the device 10 preferably is provided with a pivoted cover which is adapted to overlie the container but which, at the same time, permits access to the articles being displayed. For this purpose, the rear legs 18 extend upwardly beyond the bracket 20 and each is formed at its free end with a loop 3-2 which is adapted to receive a hinge pin 33 with the hinge pin 33 suitably extending between the two rear legs. Cooperating with the hinge pin 33 is the frame of the cover 34 having a front portion 36 and side portions 38, the side portions 38 being formed with loops 40 which receive the hinge pin. Supported by the frame is a cover plate 42 which suitably is a sheet of glass or other transparent material, the plate 42 being secured to the frame in any convenient manner, as by means of the clips 44. By reason of the freely-pivoting relationship between the frame and the hinge pin, the cover can be readily raised, as shown in broken lines in FIG. 2, to permit removal of articles, e.g. cigars from the box 23. Advantageously, means are provided to permit easy lifting of the cover by the sales person or cashier who is behind the box. This is readily accomplished by providing extensions 46 on the side portions 38 of the cover frame so that the cover can be tilted by the application of a pivoting force on one or the other of these extensions. In the event the box 23 itself has a cover, e.g., if the box 23 is a conventional cigar box with a self-attached cover 48, the extensions 46 will cooperate with the box cover 48 so that lifting of the transparent cover 34 can be effected merely by depressing the box cover 48, as shown in broken lines in FIG. 2.

There is thus provided a display device which not only presents the articles to be displayed in an attractive visual manner but which also audibly attracts attention to the articles whenever the device is used for dispensing coins, as in making change. The attention-attracting aspects of the device are increased by the fact that, when in normal use, the sound-emitting member, i.e., the coin-receiving tray or chute, is concealed from view by the box holding the articles on display so that persons in the vicinity of the device are not aware that change will be dispensed from it until they suddenly hear the sound resulting from the contact of the coins upon the sounding-board tray. Their attention is immediately directed to the device and they become suddenly aware of the articles being displayed, particularly when they hear and see the coins fall from the chute into the cup directly in front of the box holding the articles on display. Furthermore, when the device is considered as a change dispenser rather than a display assembly, the self-sounding feature serves to draw the customers attention to his change while the box supported by the device serves to conceal the cash register drawer to prevent easy access to the latter by unauthorized persons. It will be understood that the change to be dispensed can be placed by the cashier manually upon the rear portion of the tray or chute and it will automatically slide to the cup 12. It will be understood, however, that the change may also be discharged upon the tray from a conventional change-making machine such as those involving keys for release of the appropriate coins. In that case, the outlet of the change-making machine is placed to overlie the rear portion of the tray 24'.

While a particularly effective embodiment of the invention has been described hereinbefore and illustrated in the drawing, it will be understood that various changes and modifications may be made in this embodiment Without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. For instance, the chute and the cup which have the combined function of conveying and delivering change to a purchaser need not be two distinct structural elements; they may take a unitary form in which the chute has its lower end curved or dished to an extent that the coins sliding down the chute will be caught and retained in the cup-like bottom of the chute. It is intended, therefore, that all matter contained in the foregoing description and in the drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative only and not as limitative of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A combined change dispensing and display device adapted for removable support and retention of a conventional cigar box having a body and a cover to display said box and the contents thereof, said device comprising, in combination, forward base means including a cup-like member adapted to support the forward portion of said device upon a supporting surface, rear leg means for engagement with said supporting surface, said forward base means and said rear leg means being provided with brackets to receive and removably support said cigar box and its contents to be displayed, tray means effective as a sounding board extending from the rear to the forward portion of said device and sloping toward said cup-like member, said tray means being positioned below said brackets and having a rear portion extending in the direction away from said cup-like member beyond said rear leg means, whereby said tray means underlies said body of said box, and a movable cover unit comprising a frame carrying a transparent plate, said rear leg means being formed with upper extensions and said cover unit being pivotally supported upon pivots defined by said extensions, said cover unit being positioned to lie between the cover and the body of said box, with the cover of said box passing below the axis of said pivots.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein the frame of the cover unit has means projecting beyond the pivots and positioned to underlie and to be engaged by the top surface of said cover so that depression of said cover causes lifting of said cover unit.

3. The device of claim 1 wherein the lower end of the tray means is disposed in spaced relationship to the bottom of the cup-like member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 140,689 Elder July 8, 1873 1,144,326 Flaherty et al. June 22, 1915 2,115,538 Radin et a1 Apr. 26, 1938

Claims

1. A COMBINED CHANGE DISPENSING AND DISPLAY DEVICE ADAPTED FOR REMOVABLE SUPPORT AND RETENTION OF A CONVENTIONAL CIGAR BOX HAVING A BODY AND A COVER TO DISPLAY SAID BOX AND THE CONTENTS THEREOF, SAID DEVICE COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION, FORWARD BASE MEANS INCLUDING A CUP-LIKE MEMBER ADAPTED TO SUPPORT THE FORWARD PORTION OF SAID DEVICE UPON A SUPPORTING SURFACE, REAR LEG MEANS FOR ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID SUPPORTING SURFACE, SAID FORWARD BASE MEANS AND SAID REAR LEG MEANS BEING PROVIDED WITH BRACKETS TO RECEIVE AND REMOVABLY SUPPORT SAID CIGAR BOX AND ITS CONTENTS TO BE DISPLAYED, TRAY MEANS EFFECTIVE AS A SOUNDING BOARD EXTENDING FROM THE REAR TO THE FORWARD PORTION OF SAID DEVICE AND SLOPING TOWARD SAID CUP-LIKE MEMBER, SAID TRAY MEANS BEING POSITIONED BELOW SAID BRACKETS AND HAVING A REAR PORTION EXTENDING IN THE DIREC-