US3759441A

US3759441A - Coin disposal apparatus

Info

Publication number: US3759441A
Application number: US00250558A
Authority: US
Inventors: R Hamilton; F Petkewicz
Original assignee: GTE Automatic Electric Laboratories Inc
Current assignee: QUADRUM SA DE CV A CORP OF MEXICO
Priority date: 1972-05-05
Filing date: 1972-05-05
Publication date: 1973-09-18
Anticipated expiration: 1990-09-18
Also published as: CA968247A

Abstract

A coin collection and disposal mechanism is disclosed which includes a pair of doors which are positioned within a hopper, each door being pivotally supported about an axis common to both. Each door has a latch individual thereto and means are provided for opening one or the other of the doors to channel deposited coins into either a first or second passageway.

Description

United States Patent [1 1 Hamilton et al.

[ COIN DISPOSAL APPARATUS [75] Inventors: Richard J. Hamilton, West Chicago; Frank J. Petkewicz, Chicago, both of Ill.

[73] Assignee: GTE Automatic Electric Laboratories Incorporated, Northlake, Ill.

22 Filed: May 5,1912

21 Appl.No.:250,558

[52] US. CL... 232/57.5, 312/DIG. 20, 3l2/DIG. 23 [51] Int. Cl. B65g 11/04 [58] Field of Search 232/57.5; 222/488, 222/145, 545; 105/251, 252; BIZ/DIG. 20,

DIG. 23

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,045,409 6/1936 Redmond et al. 232/57.5 X

[111 3,759,441 Sept. 18, 1973 2,782,984 2/1957 Hoban 232/57.5 2,951,635 9/1960 Boysen, Jr. et al. 232/57.5 3,207,428 9/1965 Lotspeich 232/57.5 2,284,755 6/1942 Melick 232/57.$ 1,066,103 7/1913 Gilman 105/252 Primary Examiner-James T. McCall Assistant Examiner-Peter A. Aschenbrenner Attorney-K. Mullerheim et al.

[57] ABSTRACT A coin collection and disposal mechanism is disclosed which includes a pair of doors which are positioned within a hopper, each door being pivotally supported about an axis common to both. Each door has a latch individual thereto and means are provided for opening one or the other of the doors to channel deposited coins into either a first or second passageway.

8 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTED SEP] 8 I973 SHEU 3 BF 3 1 COIN DISPOSAL APPARATUS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The invention described herein generally relates to the field of coin handling mechanisms and in particular to coin disposal mechanisms for telephone paystations. This invention is an improvement over the invention disclosed in the co-pending application of R. J. Hamilton and G. B. McGough, Ser. No. 250,790 filed on even date herewith.

2. Description of the Prior Art One of the prior art mechanisms used in coin handling is represented by U.S. Pat. No. 2,951,635 issued to A. P. Boysen, Jr. et al. In the Boysen patent, the coins enter a chute and are retained upon a trap until an appropriate signal is transmitted to the mechanism from the central office. Upon receipt of the signal from the central office, an electromagnet in the mechanism releases the coins from the trap and also positions a card, having a permanent magnet embedded along its upper edge, to the left or right. Thecard then pivots a vane in one of two directions to deflect the coins falling from the trap either into the refund or collect channel. U.S. Pat. No. 3,307,779 issued to R. J. Hamilton also discloses a coin handling mechanism in which the coins initially rest upon a trap and upon actuation of an electromagnet a vane in the coin chute. is rotated to the left or right to deflect coins which are falling fromthe now released trap into eitherthe refund or collect channel of the mechanism. Another U.S. Pat. in the coin handling area is No. 2,121,970 issued to M. L. Landreth, in which a pivotable trap is located in the coin chute directly above a vane in thecoin chute, the vane being under the direct control of a permanently magnetized armature. An electromagnet adjacent to the pennanently magnetized armature is energized to pivot the vane either left or right and thus channel the coins which are subsequently dropped from the trap, into either a refund or collect chute of the hopper.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The coin disposal mechanism of the present invention is capable of being utilized in a coin telephone op-' erating in either the prepay or postpay mode. In the prepay mode of operation, coins deposited into the telephone fall into the coin hopper which includes a pair of pivotally mounted doors upon which the coins rest until a determination is made whether to refund or collect these coins. Each door has an individual latch and a biasing means which cooperates with the latch to normally hold the doors in an unoperated position. The mechanism also includes an electromagnet, an armature therefor and a selector card of unique design having magnetic biasing means included therein. Upon receipt of an appropriate signal, the electromagnet is energized to pivot the selector card and ultimately opens one or the other of the pair of doors. The direction of electrical current flowing through the electromagnet determines the polarity thereof and the flux emanating from the electromagnet pivots the selector card to preposition the card for moving a predetermined door to the operated position. Upon continued actuation of the electromagnet, the armature translates the selector card which engages the latch associated with the predetermined door, allowing the door to rotate to the oper ated position and any deposited coins to fall into the passageway individual to the operated door. Upon release of the electromagnet, the operated door is returned to the unoperated position and its respective latch and biasing arrangement retains the door in the unoperated position. In a similar manner, if the current flow through the electromagnet had been in the opposite direction, the selector card would have pivoted such that upon continued application of current to the electromagnet, the armature would have translated the selector card to engage the other latch and release the other door. Upon deenergization of the electromagnet, the latch and corresponding operated door would be returned to the unoperated position wherein the latch and its associated biasing means retain the door in the unoperated position until the electromagnet is again energized to release a latch and door combination.

In the postpay mode of operation the user deposits coins only after the dialed party has answered. Thus it is unnecessary to provide for returning deposited coins, as is the case with prepay operation, for example, when there is no answer by the called party. The mechanism of the present invention may be utilized in a paystation operating in the postpay mode by rotating the latch and hence its respective door leading to the collect passageway, to the operated position and locking the latch in that position. All deposited coins will travel directly into the. collect chute which leads to the coin box.

Anobject of the present invention is to provide a basic mechanism which may be used in coin telephones operating in either the prepay or the postpay mode.

Another object of the present invention is to simplify the adjustment of the mechanism over that which was required in the prior art. In the present invention a unique biasing arrangement for the latches is employed which allows some freedom from exact adjustment of the travel of the selector card.

These and other objects of the present invention will bebetter understood after consideration of the drawings and description of the preferred embodiment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 2b is an enlarged cut away view of the lower hopper assembly illustrating the position of the various components after one of the doors has been rotated to the operated position by the selector card.

FIG. 3a isan enlarged perspective view of the doors,

the latches, the biasing means and the selector card when the selector card is in its neutral position and the doors are in the unoperated position.

FIG. 3b is an enlarged perspective view illustrating the relative positions of the components of FIG. 3a after one of the doors has been rotated to the unoperated position under the control of the selector card.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As can best be seen from FIG. l, the coin disposal mechanism is composed of two major subassemblies, the coin hopper assembly 1 and the coin relay assembly 2. In the coin hopper assembly 1, a pair of doors 3 and 4 are shown in the unoperated position within hopper 16, being held in the unoperated position by

latches

5 and 6 respectively. As can best be seen in FIGS. 1, 3a and 3b, doors 3 and 4 include tongues 57 on their outer edges which fit into a series of grooves 58 in hopper 16. This tongue and groove arrangement prevents coins from becoming wedged between the outer edge of the doors and the sides of the hopper.

Latches

5 and 6 include projections 7 and 8 respectively, the function of these projections will be explained in detail subsequently. It will be noted that doors 3 and 4 are pivotally supported in hopper 16 by pin 59 which extends through hopper 16 and one end of each of the doors 3 and 4. Referring to FIG. 2b, it will be noted that when door 3 is in the operated position as illustrated, it serves as the bottom of a first portion of the passageway to which it controls access. This is also true for door 4 and its respective passageway. This is advantageous since it allows spring 9 and latches 5 and 6 to extend freely into the passageways of hopper 16 when the doors are in the unoperated position. Thus no special configuration of hopper 16 is required in that area to permit free movement of

latches

5 and 6 and spring 9 therein. As can best be seen from FIGS. 2a, and 3a, coin hopper assembly 1 further includes a flat biasing spring 9 which normally retains

latches

5 and 6 in the position shown in those figures and correspondingly retains the doors in the unoperated position as shown in FIGS. 1, 2a and 3a.

The major components of coin relay assembly 2 include an E-shaped magnetic core 10 having

legs

10a, 10b and 10c. A coil 11 is wrapped about leg 10b. A substantially flat U-shaped armature 12 is supported in operative relationship with the core 10 and coil 11, and is normally retained in the position shown in FIG. 1 by helical spring 13 having one end attached to the yoke 14 which has its end rigidly affixed to armature 12. The other end of helical spring 13 is inserted in a bracket which extends from the upper portion of the frame 17 which is secured to magnetic core 10. Yoke 14 is secured to the outer edges of the lower portion of armature 12 by a pair of screws, only one of which is shown and is designated 18. Yoke 14 and armature 12 are pivotally mounted at the junction of these two such that they rotate as a unit relative to magnetic core 10. Yoke 19 extends from the left to the right side of the E- shaped magnetic core 10, being secured to the left side of core 10 by screw 21 which is only partially shown due to the sectioning in that area and to the right side of screw 20. It will be noted that yoke 19 has a lower extending car 22 which includes a pin 23 extending outwardly toward the hopper assembly 1. Yoke 19 serves to support selector card 24 for pivotal as well as translational motion thereabout, this being accomplished by the addition of a screw 25 having a large head opposite the end which can be seen extending through yoke 19 in FIG. 1. Yoke 19 also serves to position coin relay assembly 2 in operative relationship with hopper assembly 1, the lower edge of the outer portions of yoke 19 rest on the

shelves

44 and 45 of

beams

46 and 47 respectively, which extend from hopper 16. Selector card 24 includes an aperture 26 which allows the card to rotate as well as translate with respect to screw 25. As can be seen in FIGS. 1, 3a, and 3b, yoke 14 includes an arm 27 which extends through opening 28 in selector card 24. Thus it will be appreciated that when core 11 of the electromagnet is energized and armature 12 is attracted to core 10, yoke 14 will, of course, follow armature 12 and arm 27 will provide a downward translational movement of selector card 24. As is best illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3a, pin 23 lies directly below the lower tip of selector card 24 and presents selector card 24 from being translated downward unless it has first been pivoted either to the left or the right. FIG. 2b illustrates the position of selector card 24 after it has been pivoted to the right and translated downward.

From the foregoing it will be appreciated that in order to translate selector card 24 to open either of the doors, the selector card must first be pre-positioned to the left or right of pin 23 so that it may then be translated downward. The prepositioning force is supplied to the selector card 24 by the flux which emanates from the

ends

29 and 30 of pole piece 31 when coil 11 is energized. As can be seen in FIG. 1, pole piece 31 extends adjacent to the center leg 10b of the E-shaped magnetic core 10 and within coil 11. This flux influences permanent magnet 32 which is embedded along the upper edge of selector card 24, and pivots card 24. FIGS. 3a and 3b better illustrate the relationship between the permanent magnet 32 and ends 29 and 30 of pole 31. Bar magnet 32 is magnetized longitudinally, i.e., for example if the end of bar magnet 32 adjacent pole end 30 were north, the end adjacent pole end 29 would be south.

. When coil 11 is energized with current flowing in a first direction, the upper end of pole piece 31 will as sume, for example a magnetism of say the north direction and the lower end of pole piece 31 a south direction, and if the current in coil 11 were flowing in the opposite direction, the upper end of pole piece 31 would appear as a south pole and the lower end a north pole. Thus it will be appreciated that when coil 1 l is energized pole ends 29 and 30 will both exhibit either a north or a south magnetization polarity and, for example, if the coil 11 is energized such that the upper end of pole piece 31 assumes a northerly magnetization selector card 24 will be pivoted as illustrated in FIG. 3b, if the bar magnet 32 has its left end of a north magnetization and the right end'is south.

In FIG. 3a the selector card 24 is shown in the neutral position, which it normally maintains under the control of helical spring 13 acting on yoke 14 since the coil is not energized and will not tilt selector card 24 in either direction. From the foregoing it can be seen that either of the doors may be opened by selecting the direction of current flow through coil 11 which determines the direction of pivot of selector card 24 and hence upon continued application of current to coil 11, armature 12 will move toward core 10 and arm 27 of yoke 14 will translate selector card 24 downward 'either to the left or right of pin 23.

Again referring to FIG. 1, latches 5 and 6 are pivotally mounted in the lower portion of hopper 16 by

pins

33 and 34 respectively which extend through the lower portion of hopper 16.

Latches

5 and 6 are symmetrical in that the other end of latch 5 which cannot be seen in FIG. 1, has the same configuration as the end of latch 6 which appears in FIG. 1. A better appreciation of the configuration of the ends of

latches

5 and 6 can be seen by reference to FIG. 2a. It will be noted that the end of latch 6 shown there includes an additional portion not present on the end of latch 5 shown therein, the portion referred to is that which extends to the left beyond pin 34. This portion includes an aperture 35 and an upper surface 36. Surface 36, in conjunction with extension 37 on the hopper 16, serves to limit the rotation of latch 6 in the clockwise direction. As noted previously, the other end of latch 5 has the same configuration as the end of latch 6 shown in FIG. 2a, and a similar projection, not shown, from hopper 16 limits the counterclockwise rotation of latch 5. The purpose of aperture 35 in latch 6 will be explained subsequently during a discussion of the operation of the mechanism. A better view of the suspension arrangement of the latches can be seen by reference to FIG. 3a, wherein it can be seen that latch 5 pivots about pin 33 which extends through each end of latch 5 and also correspondingly through the opposite sides of hopper 16, as can be seen from the cut away portions of hopper 16.

By referring to FIG. 3a, a better appreciation of the configuration of the complete latches will be had. The portion of hopper 16 adjacent to door 3 and latch 5 have been broken away so that latch 5 is shown in its virtual entirety. As can be seen in FIG. 3a, the outer portions of latch 5 are pivoted on bar 33 and the inner portion thereof extends across the width of door 3 and in the center thereof has a window 38 and a tongue 39 to which the end of spring 9 is attached. The upper edge of latch 5, herein designated as surface 40, is engaged with a built out camming surface .41 of door 3. The shape of camming surface 41 can better be appreciated by reference to FIG. 2a, wherein it should be noted that the upper edge 40 of latch 5 rests on the camming surface 41, being held in a slight depression 48 toward the outer edge of camming surface 411 by the flat biasing spring 9. In a similar fashion, door 4 is supported in the unoperated position by the upper edge 43 of latch 6 which rests in a slight depression 49 in camming surface 42 of door 4. Edges 4b and 43 are normally in physical contact with

depressions

48 and 49 respectively when in the position shown in FIG. 2a however, for clarity of the configuration of the camming surface, a space is shown between them in FIG. 2a. Continuing reference to FIG. 2a, flat biasing spring 9 exerts upon

latches

5 and 6 forces in the directions shown by the arrows having an F placed adjacent to their corresponding heads. These forces in the direc tions shown tend to hold the respective latches toward the outer edge of the corresponding camming surfaces, and since thisjs in the depression of each camming surface, the doors 3 and 4 will be maintained in the un'operated position. Note that the force applied to latch 5 is acting above the pivot point of latch 5 and tends to rotate the latch in the clockwise direction, however continued rotation of the latch 5 in that direction is lim ited by camming surface 41 of door 3. FIG. 2b illustrates the position of latch 5 and its respective door 3 after selector card 24 has rotated latch 5 in the counterclockwise direction and allowed door 3 to move to the operated position. As illustrated in FIG. 2a, the forcethat biasing spring 9 is now exerting upon latch 5 in FIG. 2b has been indicated by an arrow and the let ter F. Here it will be noted that the force acting upon latch 5 is now below the pivot point of latch 5 and this force will hold latch 5 in this lower position without regard to whether projection 7 from latch 5 is in contact with selector card 24.

' Thus it will be appreciated that spring 9 provides biasing to

latches

5 and 6 which, once the force applied to the respective latch by spring 9 passes to the other side of the pivot point of the latch upon rotation of the latch the spring force will then take over and rotate the latch to the extreme permitted in that direction of rotation. This type of biasing may be referred to as overcenter, since once the spring force has passed the center or cross over point in the rotation of the latch in either direction, the spring force will continue to rotate the latch in that direction. Thus as illustrated in FIG. 2a, once the latches have been rotated into the position there shown, then the force supplied by spring 9 tends to hold the latches in this position and thus their respective doors in the unoperated position. And referring to FIG. 2b, once selector card 24 has rotated latch 5 beyond the cross over point, the force of spring 9 aids in rotating latch 5 in the counterclockwise direction. The force of spring 9 will now continue to rotate latch 5 in the counterclockwise direction and hold the latch in its extreme counterclockwise position as shown in FIG. 2b.

When latch 5 begins its counterclockwise rotation under the control of selector card 24, the upper edge 40 will rotate toward the pivot point of the doors and out of contact with the depression 48 and thus allow the door 3 to fall into the position shown in FIG. 2b. If for some reason the mere weight of the door 3 is not sufficient to rotate the door downward, continued rotation of latch 5 will engage the upper portion 40 of latch 5 with ear 50 of camming surface 41 and force the door 3 to open. Door 4 has a corresponding camming surface 42 including an ear 51, which will be engaged by upper edge 43 of latch 6 in a similar manner in the event that upon the clockwise rotation of latch 6, door 4 does not open under its own weight and hence latch 6 will forcibly engage car 51 to move door 4 to the operated position.

Ears 5t and 51 also function to prevent opening either of the doors when the other one is in the operated position. As can best be seen in FIG. 2b, when door 3 is in the operated position,

ears

50 and 51 are adjacent each other such that car 50 on door 3 will interfere with ear 51 of door 4 if one attempts to open door 4. Simi-' larly, with door 4 operated,

ears

50 and 51 serve to prevent the moving of door to the operated position.

The over-center biasing arrangement utilized withthe latches simplifies the adjustment of the relay mech anism since the stroke of selector card 24 is not as critical as in prior art mechanisms. For example, once selector card 24 has engaged projection 7 on latch 5 and rotated the latch to the 9 is applied below the cross over force alone is sufficient to rotate the operated position. Thus it is not necessary that latch 5 be driven by selector card 24 throughout the point, then the spring complete stroke of selector card .24 since once the cross over point is passed, the latch will tate under the control of spring 9.

Once the selector card 24 has rotated either of the latches and thusits corresponding door into the operated position, it is then necessary toreturn the latch continue to roand its respective door to the unoperated position once adequate time has been allowed to collect or refund any deposited coins. From the above it will be appreciated that in the over-center biasing arrangement used herein the spring force tends to retain the latch in its extreme position of rotation in either direction, thus in order to return a latch and its corresponding door to the unoperated position a force must be applied to the point where the force of spring latch 5 and door 3 to v latch to rotate it such that the spring force acts on the opposite side of the cross-over point. Now referring to the lower part of selector card 24 as can best be seen in FIG. 2a, it will be noted that selector card 24 includes a pair of

notches

54 and 55, which upon pivoting and translational motion of selector card 24 will engage either projection 7 or 8 respectively and rotate the corresponding latch. It should also be noted that

protrusions

52 and 53 are also included below

notches

54 and 55 respectively. When coil 11 is deenergized, helical spring 13 will return yoke 14 and armature 12 to the position shown in FIG. 1. Now referring to FIG. 2b, when this occurs arm 27 on yoke 14 will pull selector card 24 upward and during this travel protrusion 52 will engage projection 7 of latch and rotate latch 5 in the clockwise direction to return it to the position shown in FIG. 2a. In so doing, protrusion 52 serves to rotate latch 5 to a position in which the spring force from spring 9 will be moved above the cross over point and the spring force will continue to rotate latch 5 in a clockwise direction even though selector card 24 is not engaged with latch 5 at the end of its total upward travel. It will be recalled that pin 23 served to prevent selector card 24 from moving directly downward from its normal neutral position. Pin 23 also functions to prevent selector card 24 from rotating to the left upon the upward movement of selector card 24 until protrusion 52 has returned latch 5 sufficiently above the cross over point where spring 9 will return latch 5 to its upward position. In a similar manner, if selector card 24 had rotated latch 6 to its extreme clockwise position, pin 23 here again would prevent selector card 24 from moving to the right and out of engagement with selector card 24 until protrusion 53 has returned latch 6 to a position above the cross over point where the force of spring 9 would return latch 6 and door 4 to the position shown in FIG. 2a.

The over-center biasing arrangement illustrated in this embodiment is of course a single flat spring 9, however the same operating results could be obtained by using a helical spring for each latch. For example, referring to FIG. 2a, a helical spring having one end attached to the point on latch 5 at which the flat spring 9 is attached and the other end of the helical spring attached to a point such as that designated by point A on hopper 16, would serve the same purpose that spring 9 does with respect to latch 5. This can be appreciated from the fact that with a helical spring attached as indicated, and with latch 5 in the position as shown in FIG. 2a, the line of force of the helical spring will be acting upon the latch 5 above its pivot point about pin 33 and will thus tend to keep latch 5 in the position shown. However, once latch 5 had been rotated to the position shown in FIG. 2b, the spring force acting upon latch 5 would then be below its pivot point, and would keep the latch in that position. As is true with the flat spring 9, when latch 5 is moved above its cross over point, the force exerted on the latch by the helical spring would then return latch 5 to the position shown in FIG. 2a.

If helical springs are used for biasing the latches, the

pins used to pivot the latches on hopper 16 would have to be replaced by pivot means that would allow the helical spring to cross the pivot line of the respective latches without interfering with the helical spring. This will be appreciated since in upper of position the helical spring, it extends above the pivot point of the latch and in moving to the lower position it passes through the pivot line of the latch and comes to rest below that pivot line.

Thus the over-center biasing could be accomplished by using a pair of helical springs rather than the single flat spring 9 as illustrated in this embodiment. A helical spring for latch 6 would be attached in a similar manner to that for latch 5 and would function in the same manner.

When the coin disposal apparatus of the present invention is utilized in a postpay telephone, it must be conditioned such that all coins which are deposited travel directly into the coinbox. This conditioning is accomplished by rotating the latch 6 in a clockwise direction which then allows door 4 to move to the operated position. With door 4 in the operated position, all of the coins which enter hopper 16 will travel directly into the passageway leading to the coin box. Now referring to FIG. 1, after latch 6 has been rotated fully clockwise, aperture 35 in latch 6 will coincide with a threaded opening 56. Even though flat spring 9 will retain latch 6 in this fully clockwise position due to the over-center biasing arrangement, when the disposal mechanism is used in a post pay telephone a screw is inserted through aperture 35 and secured into threaded opening 56 so that the latch 6 will not accidentally be jarred during any handling before installation such that it would rotate in its counterclockwise direction to move door 4 to the unoperated position. Since in the postpay mode of operation it is not necessary to hold the coins in one location before determining whether to collect or refund them, it is unnecessary to include coin relay assembly 2 in the coin disposal apparatus, however the coin relay assembly may be included and merely not have coil 11 connected to the circuitry. It will be recalled that when the coin disposal apparatus is used in the prepay mode of operation, once the selector card 24 has rotated one of the latches to open its respective door, it will return the rotated latch and its corresponding door upon the release of the electromagnet. However, if one of the latches is manually rotated such that its respective door is moved to the operated position, coin relayassembly 2 with the selector card 24 in the neutral position may then be inserted upon hopper assembly 1 and the lower. portion of the selector card 24 will not interfere with the latch corresponding to the operated door.

We claim: 1. A coin collection and disposal mechanism comprising: i

a hopper for receiving deposited coins; a pair of doors positioned within said hopper, each having one end thereof pivotally supported about an axis common to both and each controlling access to a passageway individual thereto; a latch individual to each said door, each said latch being pivotally mounted in operative relationship with its respective door so as to permit selective rotation of said respective door to the operated position; and an over-center biasing spring having one of its ends connected to one of said latches and its opposite end connected to the other latch, said spring biasing said latches such that said doors tend to assume an unoperated position. 2. The mechanism of claim 1, and also comprising selector means for imparting pivotal movement to a preselected one of said latches so as to permit rotation of its respective door to the operated position, thereby to allow any deposited coins to enter the passageway individual thereto.

3. The mechanism of claim 2 wherein said selector means includes a selector card carrying magnetic polarizing means, an electromagnet, and an armature disposed in operative relationship thereto, said armature including means operatively connected to said selector card, whereby upon application of an electrical potential to said electromagnet the flux emanating therefrom pre-positions said selector card for engagement with a predetermined one of said latches and operation of said armature moves said selector card into engagement with and pivots said predetermined latch so that its respective door is rotated to the operated position.

4. The mechanism of claim 3, and also comprising means for preventing said selector card from rotating more than one latch at a time.

5. The mechanism of claim 3 wherein said selector means includes means for biasing said armature into a first position in which said armature positions said selector card into a neutral position from which said selector card is pre-positioned under the control of said flux emanating from said electromagnet for engagement with either of said latches.

6. The mechanism of claim 3 wherein said selector card includes means for engaging said latches to return said doors from the operated to the unoperated posiit tion.

7. The mechanism of claim 1 wherein said hopper includes means for limiting the rotations of said latches.

8. A coin collection and disposal mechanism for receiving and holding coins in a first location and, in response to an external force, disposing of said coins into a predetermined passageway, said mechanism comprismg:

a hopper for receiving deposited coins;

a pair of doors positioned within said hopper, each having one end thereof pivotally supported about an axis common to both and each controlling acce ss to the passageway individual thereto;

a latch individual to each said door, each said latch being pivotally mounted in operative relationship with its respective door;

over-center bising means connected to said latches, said biasing means normally positioning said latches such that said doors tend to assume an unoperated position wherein said doors form a support for deposited coins; and

electromagnetically actuated selector means for imparting pivotal movement to a preselected one of said latches so as to permit its respective door to rotate to the operated position, thereby allowing any deposited coins to enter the passageway individual thereto.

Claims

1. A coin collection and disposal mechanism comprising: a hopper for receiving deposited coins; a pair of doors positioned within said hopper, each having one end thereof pivotally supported about an axis common to both and each controlling access to a passageway individual thereto; a latch individual to each said door, each said latch being pivotally mounted in operative relationship with its respective door so as to permit selective rotation of said respective door to the operated position; and an over-center biasing spring having one of its ends connected to one of said latches and its opposite end connected to the other latch, said spring biasing said latches such that said doors tend to assume an unoperated position.

2. The mechanism of claim 1, and also comprising selector means for imparting pivotal movement to a preselected one of said latches so as to permit rotation of its respective door to the operated position, thereby to allow any deposited coins to enter the passageway individual thereto.

6. The mechanism of claim 3 wherein said selector card includes means for engaging said latches to return said doors from the operated to the unoperated position.

8. A coin collection and disposal mechanism for receiving and holding coins in a first location and, in response to an external force, disposing of said coins into a predetermined passageway, said mechanism comprising: a hopper for receiving deposited coins; a pair of doors positioned within said hopper, each having one end thereof pivotally supported about an axis common to both and each controlling access to the passageway individual thereto; a latch individual to each said door, each said latch being pivotally mounted in operative relationship with its respective door; over-center bising means connected to said latches, said biasing means normally positioning said latches such that said doors tend to assume an unoperated position wherein said doors form a support for deposited coins; and electromagnetically actuated selector means for imparting pivotal movement to a preselected one of said latches so as to permit its respective door to rotate to the operated posiTion, thereby allowing any deposited coins to enter the passageway individual thereto.