US630505A - Cashier's file-box. - Google Patents

Description

No. 630,505. Patented Aug. 8, I899.

' J. T. HICKS.

CASHIERS FILE BOX.

(Application flied May 22, 1899.)

(No Model.)

WITNESSES Q ATTORNEY,

UNIT D STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN TYLER HICKS, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

CASHISERS FILE-BOX.

srncrn'rcn'rron formingartefjnetters Patent no. 630,505, dated Au st's, 189e, A plicant filed May 22, 1899. Serial No. 717,731. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN TY'LER HICKS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cashiers File Boxes; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention refers "to a multireceptacled check-receiver intended to be used by the cashier or treasurer of a hotel, restaurant, or other concern having a money-receiving clerk, as well as also numerous waiters or salesmen, the object of the invention being to provide a novel box wherein the checks when pay} ment is made may be deposited by the cashier after being turned in to him by the waiters or salesmen (or by the customers) in consequence of the purchases made by the guests or customers, said novel box being designed to provide separate compartments, pouches, or envelops for the checks of the different Waiters in order that all the checks belonging to any individual waiter may be collected together and arranged in a consecutively-numbered series; and'the invention consequently consists in a lock-box having a series of chambers or compartments entirely distinct and separate from each other, each chamber having a slot through which the checks may be deposited within the compartment and said slot being sofconstructed with a projecting lip as that the checks when they are passed through the slot will fall upon the bottom of the compartment face upward, all in similar position, whereby all the checks in each compartment occupy a consecutively-numbered series. This improved box is preeminently adapted for use in conjunction with what is known as the FHicks method of cash-registering and account-checkin g5? the same being covered by United States Letters Patent No. 500,071, dated June 20,1893. In the employment of said method-the waiters or salesmen are commonly provided with packages of checks or slips, on which are to be marked the prices of the purchases made by the guests or customers, the constituent members of each package being numbered in a regularly-increasing series from l upward,so that as any individual Waiter uses the checks in his hands he does so by first using check No. 1, then check'No. 2, and so on, so that the checks of each waiter reach the cashier in numerical order. It is the common plan of cashiers as the checks are turned in to them and the payment of purchases made to deposit the paid checks in a lock-box or on a spindle. WVhen this is done, however, the checks are all 'dropped helter-skelter and without order into a promiscuous pile within said box, and before the box is opened at the end of the day or other period of time there is usually, in large establishments at least, a collection of some hundreds or thousands of them. The work of the auditor under these circumstances is very great, because before he can begin the comparison of the checks with the cash and with the main record-sheet employedin the practice of the Hicks method itis necessary for him to segregatethe checks belonging to the different waiters and also to arrange in series all the checks belonging to each waiter. My improved box, however, provides a labor-saving'device in this respect, that the auditor finds the checks already arranged in order, both as to different waiters and as to the regularity of the members of the series belonging to each waiter, and the large amount of labor ordinarily attending the manipulation of the checks to find out whether one is missing is avoided.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating my invention, Figure l is a perspective view of my improved cashiers file-box. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same with the top plate that covers the compartments removed to show more clearly the exact vconstruction of said compartments. Fig. 3 is a' transverse sectional view. Fig. 4 is across-section showing more particularly the lip or inclined flange belonging to the slot and indicating the way in which the checks are introduced into the several chambers. Fig.5 is a conventional illustration of a series of file-boxes placed one upon the other in a sort of step-like arrangement in order to economize space, especially in cases where there is a very large number of waiters.

Similar letters of reference designate corresponding parts throughout the different figures of the drawings.

A designates the base-board of my improved file-box. It is preferably of rectangular form and of some substantial thickness. It is provided with a pair of longitudinal parallel cleats a a on its upper face that run from end to end of the base on lines an inch or so distant from the longitudinal edges of the base. Superimposed upon this base and held in position between the two parallel cleats a a is a pocket-provided structure that furnishes the compartments of my box, the same consisting of a top plate B, vertical upright ends 0 O, longitudinal side plates D D, and intermediate partitions E E E, all of which parts are securely fastened together by some suitable means and when so secured provide the compartmentsF F F. Said parts 13, O, D, and E may be made of wood, glass, or any other suitable material, though I often preferably make the top and sides of glass in order that the contents of the chambers may be visible. It will be obvious that the uppercompartment structure is easily removable from the base A, that when it is placed upon the base A the compartments F are closed and complete, and that when it is removed from said base the checks which may have been within the compartments are left arranged in heaps or piles on base A.

Each compartment F is provided at the top with an entry-slot G, out or formed in the top piece 13, through which slot the checks are introduced into the compartment. Each slot G is provided with an inclined downwardlyprojecting lip g, the lower edge of which is slightly beyond a vertical line dropped from the adjoining, edge of the slot, in order that when a check is introduced through the slot it cannot occupy at any time a vertical position, but must pursue the inclined direction, which will cause it to fly first against the opposite wall of the compartment, and in its rebound it will be impossible for it to reverse its position, but will be obliged to fall, as is indicated in Fig. 4, so as to lie on the top of the pile with its face upward, so that its consecutive nu mber,as well as its other imprinted matter, may be visible to any one looking through the glass wall of the box.

In order to secure the compartment structure upon the base, I provide some suitable locking device. One form that I employ consists of a flat longitudinal plate H, secured to the top piece B and extending from end to end thereof, said plate or strip II having slots hin the ends, which project slightly beyond the ends of the top piece B. At each end of the box there is likewise a vertical plate or strip I, having at its upper end a hook 17, adapted to engage the slot it of the plate II, and at its lower end an aperture or orifice t". In the base A is a longitudinal tubular passage J, which registers with the apertures z" t, and through this passage, as well as through the coinciding apertures, is

.dcsigned to pass a rod K, having on one end a head 70, while the other end is slotted at 713' to permit the engagement therewith of a retaining-padlock L. Thus it will be seen that the compartments may be kept securely locked until the proprietor or other person in authority desires to release the confined checks and turn them over to the proper per son for auditing. I preferably place at each of the compartments a number corresponding to the number of the waiter, and this number may be marked on the front side, as well as on the rear side, of the box, thus being simultaneously visible to the cashier and to the waiter, assuming that the box rests on the cashiers desk in a position between him and the waiter.

Numerous changes maybe made in the exact construction and arrangement of the parts without varying from the true intent and scope of my improvement. The box obviously may be made to open on either side.

In usinga cashiers file-box of this character it will be seen that a proprietor receives a val uable protection, in that a cashier and bartender or other salesman is effectually prevented from working dead-wood checks,- inasmuch as the checks must appear in numerical order when the file-box is opened. When checks are dropped in the old-style lockbox or when they are simply impaled upon a spindle all together and not in numerical order, a cashier need not spindle checks if he does not wish it or if he does he can later remove them and destroy them,- remove the amount of cash represented by them from the drawer, and after the work passes through the auditors hands the checks are missing and show against the barman or waiter, as the case may be. The same rule applies to the lockbox, as the cashier may not drop the checks unless he wishes. Hence by the use of my improved file-box the waiter receives protection. The cashier is likewise protected, inasmuch as his work cannot be in any way tampered with, there being no opportunity to molest his work after it has passed through his hands.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The herein-described cashiers file-box consisting in the combination with a supporting-base, of a series of compartmentsone of which is assigned to the checks of each waiter, each compartment being provided with a slot having an inclined lip together with locking means for keeping the compartments securely locked against unauthorized entry.

2. The combination in a cashiers file-box of a base, a series of chambers or compart removable locking-rod engaging the plates; ments, arranged thereon, each compartment substantially as described. is having a slot through which the checks are In testimony whereof I affix my signature introduced said slot being provided with an in presence of two Witnesses.

inclined downwardly-projecting lip or flange JOHN TYLER HICKS; for providing an inclined chute for the checks, Witnesses:

together with locking means consisting of re- FRED E. TASKER,

movable plates atthe ends of the box, and a ROBERT A. MORGAN.

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