US3241751A - Coin turning chute - Google Patents

Description

March 22, 1966 J. ca. BARAN 3,241,751

COIN TURNING CHUTE Filed Feb. 12, 1964 a Sheets-Sheet 1 I -44 17 i; i I, i H INVENTOR 11 J0 J0 Jggepiz 615078.72

WWW will/s March 22, 1966 BARAN 3,241,751

COIN TURNING CHUTE Filed Feb. 12, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

(fo ng 6'. 5021212 3,241,751 COIN TURNING CHUTE Joseph G. Baran, Northbrook, 11]., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Burgess-Day, Inc., Libertyville, 111., a corporation of Delaware Filed Feb. 12, 1964, Ser. No. 344,472 7 Claims. (Cl. 23244) The present invention relates to coin handling apparatus for receiving coins oriented in one plane, turning them into another plane and delivering them to conventional telephone pay-station equipment, and the following disclosure thereof is offered for public dissemination upon the grant of a patent therefor.

A number of factors have indicated the desirability of having available a piece of apparatus, usable with existing paystation telephone equipment, but adapted to receive coins oriented normal to the panel of a telephone booth. Telephone booths are rapidly undergoing a transformation from the conventional small cubicle with a folding door on one side and a black-box paystation telephone on the other. It is almost amazing how little the designers dreams of telephone booths for today and tomorrow resemble the conventional cubicles. As a part of the modernizing of the design, it is readily apparent that the blackbox paystations are no longer acceptable as a visible part of the telephone booth. Yet these black-boxes are not worn out. To the extent that they can continue to be used while hidden behind a decorative panel an economic saving is achieved.

One viewpoint has it that it is easier to insert a coin in a slot if the coin is held between the thumb and the forefinger and inserted into a slot having a vertical height comparable to the diameter of the coin and a width comparable to the thickness of the coin. In the conventional pay telephone, of course, the coins were fitted into cylindrical openings having a diameter corresponding to that of the coin. After the coin was properly oriented and fitted into the opening, it was pushed rearwardly in the cylindrical opening until it dropped into a slot extending downwardly from the back of the opening. The present invention enables the conventional black-box coin equipment to be positioned behind a decorative panel (with its front face adjacent the back of the panel so that the coin return receptable remains available from the front of the panel through an opening therein) and for the coins to be fed through appropriately sized slots in the panel for delivery to the appropriate chutes in the coin mechanism. This requires that the coins :be turned approximately 90 from the position that they assume when passing through the slots in the panel to the position at which they will be accepted by the respective chutes in the pay telephone apparatus.

At first blush it might appear that the design of a chute for handling, conveying and even turning coins might be a relatively simple task. Such a conception would be based upon an ignorance of the conditions of operation encountered by coin chutes of the type in question. People have an amazing faculty for inventing various ways by which either to jam up an unattended mechanism or to attempt to cause it to malfunction to their benefit. An innumerable variety of foreign objects will be found in such mechanisms. People will put coins in the mechanisms with sticky material adhering thereto with the expectation of jamming up a coin chute to their benefit if they can return and unplug the jam before the telephone company does, and after other people have deposited coins in the chute behind the jam.

In the present invention the structure is such that win slots are provided in the panel which are only slightly larger than the size of the respective coins. The chute extending from the back of the panel to the coin passages nited States Patent ice in the pay telephone apparatus will handle and deliver to those passages any object that will pass through the slots in the panel of the booth. Thus, a blockade or jam can not be built-up in the chute of the present invention to accumulate a number of coins to the disadvantage of the prospective users and telephone company. To the extent that a particular expedient would create a problem with the coin passages in existing equipment, the situation is not rendered any more serious by the incorporation of the present invention.

Another problem is the necessity for bringing the coins to a proper point on existing apparatus originally intended to receive coins by an entirely different procedure. Were the telephone pay equipment to be redesigned also (in addition to the booth), it would be possible to devise apparatus more readily adapted to receiving coins from chutes. However, as already indicated, there is a great advantage to the telephone company in being able to reuse existing equipment, concealed to an extent such that it is not apparent that it is not a completely new installation.

A further advantage of the present invention resides in the economical manufacturing costs involved. For example, the major components of all three coin chutes are substantial duplicates despite the fact that each chute is for a coin of a different size. The parts are inexpensively formed and can be assembled at a minimum of cost. The expense of fitting the invention to existing telephone equipment is minimal.

Further objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a vertical section through the panel of a telephone booth and illustrating therebehind the top of a pay telephone with an embodiment of the invention thereon;

FIGURE 2 is an elevational view as seen at line 2-2 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective View of a single coin chute component of the embodiment of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is an exploded perspective view of the embodiment of FIGURE 1 together with the significant components of the pay telephone apparatus used in combination therewith; and

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view as seen at line 55 of FIGURE 1.

Although the following disclosure offered for public dissemination is detailed to ensure adequacy and aid understanding, this is not intended to prejudice that purpose of a patent which is to cover each new inventive concept therein no matter how others may later disguise it by variations in form or additions or further improvements. The claims at the end hereof are intended as the chief aid toward this purpose; as it is these that meet the requirement of pointing out the parts, improvements or combinations in which the inventive concepts are found.

Referring particularly to FIGURE 1, the coin turning apparatus generally 10 of the present invention is intended to be mounted on the top of the body of a conventional pay telephone apparatus generally 11 positioned behind a panel 12 of a telephone booth. A conventional pay telephone apparatus 11 is adapted to receive quarters, dimes and nickels in respective openings. Therefore, panel 12 is provided with three openings appropriately sized to receive those three coins; i.e. opening 13 for quarters, opening 14 for dimes, and opening 15 for nickels.

The pay telephone apparatus 11 has on the top thereof a coin gauge plate 17 and a slug ejector casting and assembly 18, which is illustrated here in only such detail as is necessary to show its cooperation in the combination of the invention. Referring particularly to FIGURE 4, slug ejector casting 18 has four upwardly extending fingers 19-22 which define three coin receiving openings 23-25. Coin opening 23 is for quarters and a coin passage 26 extends downwardly therefrom. Coin opening 24 is for dimes and a dime passage 27 extends downwardly therefrom. Similarly, a nickel coin passage 28 extends down from the nickel opening 25. Coin passages 26-28 are not in the same plane, a fact that is troublesome in devising a coin delivery apparatus such as the present invention. In the conventional black-box pay telephone mechanism another cover, not shown in the present drawings, extends over the top of the slug ejector casting 18 and has appropriately sized coin openings in the front face thereof. A quarter gauging finger 29 on coin gauge plate 17 extends into quarter passage 26. A dime finger 30 extends into dime passage 27 and a nickel finger 31 extends into nickel passage 28.

The illustrated embodiment of the present invention incorporates three coin chutes 35, 36 and 37, defining ways for quarters, dimes and nickels respectively. Essentially, the three chutes 35, 36 and 37 are identical although two of them, 36 and 37, are lefts and one, 35, is a right. Referring, for example, to dime chute 36, it comprises a main U-shaped channel portion with two mounting ears 36a thereon. The base 36b supports the coins. Approximately coincident with the point 36c at which the base 36b ends, one side wall of the channel is bent to form a coin retaining flange 36d. The opposite wall of the U is bent angulary to define a coin turning cam 36c. Similarly, chute 35 has mounting ears 35a, a base 35b ending at 350, a coin retaining flange 35d and a coin turning cam 35c. Chute 37 has ears 37a, a base 37b ending at 370, a coin retaining flange 37d and a coin turning cam 372.

A single sheet of metal is bent to form a top 39, a back coin guide 40 and a mounting flange 41. Another piece of metal is bent into somewhat channel shape to define an upper support flange 42, a front member 43 and a mounting flange 44. The remaining components consist of two ends 45 and 46, and a channel shaped member 47 having sides 48 and 49 which form coin stops as hereinafter described. Preferably, the parts are secured to each other by means of spot welding. This construction, of die cut and bent stampings together with spot welding, is an economical and inexpensive method of forming this assembly of a unitary frame with separate ways for the respective coins. The coin turning apparatus 10, coin gauge 17 and the slug ejector casting 18 are fastened together by rivets 50.

To ensure that the quarters enter passage 26, a finger 51 is cut and bent from front member 43. Finger 51 extends downwardly and rearwardly in opening 23 in the slug ejector casting. It acts as a cam to push coins rearwardly so that they will enter passage 26. Similarly, a dime finger 52 and a nickel finger 53 are bent rearwardly from front member 43 and are received in openings 24 and 25 respectively in the slug ejector casting. As best seen in FIGURE 5, the main portion of the back coin guide 40 defines a plane 40a properly positioned for the entry of quarters into the quarter slot 26. At the dime slot a portion 40b of the back coin guide is displaced rearwardly so that the dimes will be properly aligned with the rearwardly set passage 27 of the casting 18. Similarly, a guide 400 is defined by a rearwardly displaced portion of the back coin guide 40. Portions 40b and 40c are approximately in the same rearwardly displaced plane.

A quarter introduced through slot 13 in panel 12 rolls and slides down chute 35. The side walls of the chute are sufliciently far apart so that any coin that will pass through slot 13, even if coated with a gummy substance, will proceed down the chute. At the end of the chute the leading edge of the quarter contacts cam 35c and is deflected and turned so that the edge of the coin strikes stop 48. After striking stop 48, the coin usually will lay against the back coin guide 40 and slide down it to enter chute 26. In any event, the coin will be confined between the front and back walls 43 and 40 and stop 43 and cam 35c. As the coin moves downwardly, the edgewise confinement will be defined by fingers 19 and 20 about coin opening 23. If the coin at that time is not against the back coin guide 40, it will be urged in that direction by finger 51 so that it enters passage 26.

Similarly, dimes entering slot 14 move down chute 36 to be turned by cam 36a to move against stop 48. After this, the dime proceeds down to enter passage 27. The nickels, after moving down chute 37, are turned by cam 376. After striking stop 49, they drop down to enter passage 28.

It is important in the operation of the invention that the bases 35b, 36b and 37b be inclined downwardly at an angle of at least fifteen degrees. Furthermore, the width of each coin chute 35, 36 and 37 (as defined by the space between the side walls thereof) should be no less than twice the thickness of the respective coin. The length of the chutes to ends 350, 36c and 370 should be at least one inch. With these dimensions a coin will move down the upper chute, be turned and drop into the lower chutes 26, 27 or 28 no matter how it is released by the individual when it is pushed through the respective slot 13, 14 or 15. Furthermore, even the coating of a coin with a gummy substance will not cause it to hang up prior to entering the respective passage 26, 27 or 28 of the pay telephone apparatus.

I claim:

1. In a coin handling apparatus for use in an installation wherein vertically positioned coins are received with a horizontal diameter thereof positioned in one plane and are turned and discharged in a position such that the horizontal diameter is in a second plane at approximate right angles to said one plane with said apparatus having a chute device for coins of a given denomination between the point of receipt and the point of discharge, the improvement comprising: said chute device having an upper portion defining a downwardly inclined axial path for the coins, said axial path having an entrance lying in said one plane, said device including cam means having a cam face extending at an angle across said downwardly inclined axial path in a direction toward one side of said path, said cam means being effective to contact the leading edge of a coin moving along said path to turn the coin abruptly from said path and toward said side of the path whereby the horizontal diameter of the coin after it is turned is approximately parallel to the horizontal diameter of a coin in said second plane.

2. In an apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein said device includes a stop positioned beyond said side of the axial path and aligned in a plane approximately parallel to said axial path.

3. In an apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein said upper portion of each way has a width at least twice the thickness of the respective coin and wherein the downward inclination of said portion is at least fifteen degrees.

4. In an apparatus as set forth in claim 2, wherein said upper portion defines a way having a width transversely thereof of at least twice the thickness of the given coin and substantially less than the diameter thereof, said upper portion being at least one inch long.

5. In an apparatus as set forth in claim 4, wherein said frame and means are formed of sheet metal parts spot welded together.

6. In a coin handling apparatus adapted to utilize a conventional pay telephone mechanism behind a panel of a phone botth with vertical coin slots adapted to receive coins of a given denomination respectively and with the mechanism having its front face generally parallel to said panel whereby the coin receiving openings in the mechanism are approximately parallel to said panel, with said apparatus defining a way from each slot to a respective one of said openings in the mechanism, the improvement wherein each way includes: a substantially linear upper chute portion with two side walls and a base therebetween, said base slanting downwardly from a point rearwardly of the slot and with a termination some distance rearwardly from said point, coin turning cam means extending from one of said side walls rearwardly and in a direction across the line of the upper chute, a back panel having an upper portion rearwardly of said cam means, said back panel lying in a plane sloping downwardly and forwardly from said back panel portion and positioned such that a horizontal line in said plane is approximately parallel to said booth panel, a stop extending forwardly from said back panel and positioned in said direction from the line of the upper chute a distance only slightly greater than the diameter of the respective coin, and a lower chute portion of which said stop defines one side and of which said back panel defines the back.

7. In an apparatus as set forth in claim 6, wherein said one side wall of the upper chute portion extends rearwardly farther than said base and said termination is forwardly of said cam means.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS LOUIS I. DEMBO, Primary Examiner.

S. H. TOLLBERG, Assistant Examiner.

Claims (1)

1. IN A COIN HANDLING APPARATUS FOR USE IN AND INSTALLATION WHEREIN VERTICALLY POSITIONED COINS ARE RECEIVED WITH A HORIZONTAL DIAMETER THEREOF POSITIONED IN ONE PLANE AND ARE TURNED AND DISCHARGED IN A POSITION SUCH THAT THE HORIZONTAL DIAMETER IS IN A SECOND PLANE AT APPROXIMATE RIGHT ANGLES TO SAID ONE PLANE WITH SAID APPARATUS HAVING A CHUTE DEVICE FOR COINS OF A GIVEN DENOMINATION BETWEEN THE POINT OF RECEIPT AND THE POINT OF DISCHARGE, THE IMPROVEMENT COMPRISING: SAID CHUTE DEVICE HAVING AN UPPER PORTION DEFINING A DOWNWARDLY INCLINED AXIAL PATH FOR THE COINS, SAID AXIAL PATH HAVING AN ENTRANCE LYING IN SAID ONE PLANE, SAID DEVICE INCLUDING CAM MEANS HAVING A CAM FACE EXTENDING AT AN ANGLE ACROSS SAID DOWNWARDLY INCLINED AXIAL PATH IN A DIRECTION TOWARD ONE SIDE OF SAID PATH, SAID CAM MEANS BEING EFFECTIVE TO CONTACT THE LEADING EDGE OF A COIN MOVING ALONG SAID PATH TO TURN THE COIN ABRUPTLY FROM SAID PATH AND TOWARD SAID SIDE OF THE PATH WHEREBY THE HORIZONTAL DIAMETER OF THE COIN AFTER IT IS TURNED IS APPROXIMATELY PARALLEL TO THE HORIZONTAL DIAMETER OF A COIN IN SAID SECOND PLANE.

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