WO1998038604A1

WO1998038604A1 - Device for a cash register

Info

Publication number: WO1998038604A1
Application number: PCT/NO1998/000063
Authority: WO
Inventors: Morten Sanne; Jan Henrik Ulvik
Original assignee: Morten Sanne; Jan Henrik Ulvik
Priority date: 1997-02-26
Filing date: 1998-02-26
Publication date: 1998-09-03
Also published as: NO970853D0; NO970853L; AU6312698A

Abstract

A device (20) is described for safeguarding a cash register where the cash register comprises a hollow compartment which accommodates a drawer (24) which slides in and out and holds means of payment, and comprising a first section (35) for ordinary insertion/removal of means of payment, and a second section (37) which comprises a compartment to which means of payment can be transferred through an insertion opening (56), but from which the means of payment are only accessible once an opening mechanism has been activated. The device is characterised in that the cash register comprises blocking means (74, 76) which ensure that during normal operation of the cash register the drawer can only be partly pushed out of the hollow compartment (20) so that the first section becomes available for operation, but the second section (37) is located inside the box housing's hollow compartment (20) and is only accessible via the above-mentioned insertion opening (56), and the opening mechanism involves activating a mechanism that inactivates the blocking elements a given period of time after activation, whereby the drawer can be pushed further out of the hollow compartment (20) and the second section (37) becomes accessible.

Description

DEVICE FOR A CASH REGISTER

The present invention concerns a safety device for a cash register as defined in the introduction to claim 1. Defined more precisely, the invention concerns a device which can prevent the theft of means of payment in the form of bank notes, cheques etc. apart from change from cash registers.

Cash registers comprise a housing with a keypad, a screen which shows what is keyed in, as well as a computer with a calculator to perform calculations via the keypad. The lower box-shaped part of the housing has a hollow compartment with an opening with room for the drawer itself with a coin and note box, which drawer is pushed into the opening. The housing also includes a release mechanism connected to the computer, which pushes out the drawer when a total is registered, or when a special key on the keypad is pressed. When the drawer is fully pushed into the hollow compartment, a locking mechanism is activated which keeps the box closed or locked with the drawer pushed in.

The location of these elements with respect to each other can vary, e.g. it is usual for the keypad and screen to be separated from the coin/note housing.

Thefts from cash registers are well known, and it is therefore desirable to keep as few notes as possible in the cash box. It is therefore common for notes to be put in a safer location at regular intervals, e.g. by removing bundles of notes from the cash boxes and putting them in special locked boxes that can be fixed to the floor under the counter. The boxes only have a long and narrow slot through which the notes can be put. It is time-consuming and difficult to get the bundles of money out of such boxes, and thefts are thereby prevented.

It is also known for this type of protective device to be embodied in the drawer insert itself with the coin and note box. Cash registers were previously known where, in connection with the drawer insert, a closed-off compartment is arranged into which notes and the like can be introduced via a slot. Various solutions using this principle are known. For example, EP 488.480 describes a closed-off compartment in the same level as the rest of the drawer insert, while in EP 538.847 there is a description of a closed-off compartment in the same level as the rest of the drawer fitting. Thus the known solutions are based on preventing access to the locked compartment by means of a special cover design that is complicated and time-consuming to open, or by locking the coin box to the drawer by means of a mechanism that is time-consuming and complicated to release.

One aim of the present invention is to produce a new design for safeguarding against the theft of notes and coins from cash registers .

A further aim of the invention is to improve security against the theft of means of payment in the form of notes and cheques from cash registers, and which will simplify the cash register operator' s task of "hiding" notes and cheques. According to the invention this aim is achieved by means of a device that is characterised by the features that appear from the characterising clause of claim 1.

Preferred embodiments of the device according to the invention are evident from the dependent claims.

The present invention will be understood more easily if read in conjunction with the following description and accompanying diagrams, wherein:

Figures 1 and 2 show respectively a perspective diagram and a cross-section of an ordinary cash register in which the device according to the invention is used.

Figure 3 shows a perspective diagram of a drawer insert using the device according to the invention.

Figure 4 shows a cross-section of the insert according to figure 3, taken along the line IV- IV.

Figure 5 shows details of the design of a locking mechanism.

Figure 5A shows details of the blocking mechanism itself.

Figure 6 shows a cross-section of a cash register's lower part with the drawer in the pushed-in position, i.e. the cash register is closed and where the locking mechanism according to figure 5 is represented schematically.

Figure 7 shows the same detail as figure 6, but with the drawer pulled out as far as possible during normal operation and where the compartment 39 is only accessible via the slot 56.

The cash register 10 which is shown in figures 1 and 2 in perspective and cross-section respectively is used for the safekeeping of means of payment which an operator receives as payment for services, the sale of goods or the like. The cash register comprises a housing 12 which includes a keypad 14, a screen 16 which shows what is keyed into the keypad, as well as a computer 18 with a calculator function for performing calculations via the keypad 14. The lower part of the housing consists of a hollow compartment 20 with an opening 22 with room for the drawer 24 itself which accommodates a coin and note box 26, and which is pushed into the opening. The drawer 24 is designed to be moved along rails mounted in either side wall of the housing's hollow compartment. At the very back of the hollow compartment the housing also comprises a triggering and sliding mechanism 28 connected to the computer 18, and which via a drawer pushing mechanism, such as a spiral spring, pushes the drawer 24 out when the situation requires it, or a special key 30 on the keypad is pressed, or pulls the drawer completely inwards (the cash box locked) when the operator indicates on the keypad that the operation is completed.

The mechanism is, for example, designed in such a way that an electromagnet in its de-energised state keeps a blocking element active and prevents the spiral spring from pushing the drawer out. When current is supplied to the magnet, the blocking element is inactivated and the drawer is pushed open out by the force of the spring. When the drawer is pushed in by hand, the spring is compressed and the blocking mechanism re-activated so that the cash box 10 is kept closed or locked.

On Figure 3 a preferred embodiment of a note and coin insert or box 26 is shown. The box consists of side walls 30, 32, front and back walls 34, 36, as well as a base plate 38. The front, first section 35 of the box 26 is open on top for normal putting in/taking out of means of payment, while access to the back section 37 from the top is closed off by means of a plate-like cover 40 thus defining a compartment 39 at the back of the box with room for notes, and to which access cannot easily be gained. The cover 40 can be freely tilted up around an axis 41 on the back edge and which is parallel to the back wall 36, whereby access to the compartment is created.

In the box there are also arranged vertical longitudinal partition walls 42,44 and 46, as well as transverse partition walls 48, 50 and 52. The partition walls delimit smaller boxes for putting in coins with the usual different values. The back partition walls 44 and 46 have a tilted position for a natural tilted stacking of notes. At the top the back partition wall comprises a narrower, backwards turning horizontal guide-plate part 54 which together with the cover part 40 defines a narrow longitudinal slot 56. The guide plate 54 facilitates the introduction of the notes in the direction of the opening of the slot 56. Notes/cheques and the like are transferred from the box in front through the slot 56 to the inaccessible compartment at the back. The slot 56 is so narrow, for example a width of 1 cm, that a person's hand or fingers cannot be put through the slot and pull notes out of the closed compartment. Figure 4 shows a cross-section of the insert according to figure 3, taken along the line IV- -IV. The coin and note box 26 is also designed in such a way that it fits precisely down into the drawer 24, i.e. the drawer 24 must be fully pulled out of the cash box housing in order for the box 26 to be able to be inserted into or removed from of drawer 24.

According to the invention the cash register comprises a blocking mechanism that means that the drawer can only be pushed about halfway out of the hollow compartment 20 during the normal operation of the cash register, so that the back compartment of the coin box is only accessible via the insertion slot 56. In the position where it is pulled forward to the maximum extent the slot 56 is positioned right in front and at the front edge 11 of the cash register 10 at the mouth to opening 20, and means of payment such as notes, cheques and the like can be freely put into the closed compartment via the slot 56. The cover 40 can thus not be tilted up since the cash box housing blocks this.

A preferred embodiment of a blocking mechanism 62 is shown as an example in figures 5 and 5A. The mechanism is arranged in the base surface or basis plate 60 of the hollow compartment in the cash box housing. The blocking mechanism is mounted on a special plate 64 and comprises an electromagnet 65 designed to push a sliding stay 66 out and pull it back a given distance. The locking element itself comprises a locking plate 70 mounted at its centre and rotatable around a fixed pin 68 (axis) . One arm 72 of the plate is connected to the locking stay 66, while the other arm 74 forms a locking hook 75 (see figure 5A) . When the stay 66 is pushed out, the locking hook 75 of the locking plate 74 is turned out of the locking position, whereas when the stay 66 is pulled back, the locking hook is turned into the blocking position. The blocking position means that a stop 76 which is shaped in and projects down from the bottom part of drawer 24 will abut against the locking hook 75 of the arm 74 so that the drawer cannot be pulled out any further. When current is supplied to the electromagnet 65, the stay 66 is pushed out and turns the locking plate 70 with its locking hook 75 out of the locking position into the position which is shown in figure 5 by a dotted line. The stop 76 then clears off (miss) the locking hook 75 and the box 24 can be pulled out freely.

Figures 6 and 7 both show cross-sections of the lower part of the cash register with the drawer in its two usual operating positions respectively, i.e. pushed in and pushed out. It is consequently apparent how the blocking mechanism is placed in the base plate of the cash box opening 20, in that only the locking plate 74, the stop 76 in the bottom side of the drawer, the regulating stay 66 and the release unit 65 are shown. Figure 7 also shows the spring with reference number 80, and it pushes the drawer 24 out into the opening right until the stop 76 abuts against the plate 74.

In addition, the three relevant cash box positions are shown in more detail on figures 8A, where the box drawer 24 is fully pushed in, 8B, where it is in the blocked position 8C, where it is in a free and fully pulled out position. Figures 8 A--C only show the base plate 60 in the box housing opening, the blocking device 62 and the drawer 24 for the sake of an overall view. The positions of the stop 76 and the locking plate 74 are also indicated.

Alternatively the locking system can comprise pins that are designed to project down from the cash box housing itself and into a gap that is formed between the outside of the coin box and the inside of the drawer. When the drawer is pulled out, it will be stopped when the pin abuts against the back wall of the drawer. Preferably two such blocking mechanisms are arranged in parallel, one on either side, so that two pins project down vertically to lock the drawer movement .

According to another alternative solution the locking mechanism comprises two locking pins pointed sideways, one on either side of the hollow compartment, and which in the pushed out position project into the respective runners formed in the two side walls of the drawer. The track then has a length that corresponds to the length that the drawer is pulled out from the pushed-in position.

The mechanism may comprise a system with an electromagnet which, when activated, can pull the blocking pin(s) back to release the drawer. In all cases the blocking mechanism is connected to the cash register's computing centre. The computing centre can be programmed via the cash register to activate blocking discontinuation by means of power supply ω ) to to μ>

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Claims

PATENT CLAIMS

1. Device for safeguarding a cash register where the cash register comprises a hollow compartment (20) which accommodates a drawer (24) able to slide in and out, and in which means of payment are kept, and comprising a first section (35) for the usual insertion/removal of means of payment, and a second section (37) which comprises a compartment to which means of payment can be transferred through an insertion opening (56) , but from which the means of payment are only accessible once an opening mechanism has been activated, characterised in that the cash register comprises blocking means (74,76) which ensure that the drawer, during normal cash register operation, can only partially be slid out of the hollow compartment (20) so that the first section (35) is available for operation, while the second section (37) is located inside the hollow compartment (20) of the cash box housing and only accessible via the above-mentioned insertion opening (56) , and the opening mechanism comprises a time delay mechanism acticvation which inactivates the blocking means (74, 76) for a given period of time after activation, by means of which the drawer (24) can be pushed out further of the compartment (20) and the second section (37) becomes available .

2. Device according to claim 1, characterised by the blocking means (74, 76) comprising: blocking element (74) in connection with cash box housing, and which may be converted between a locking position and a non-locking postion, and stop element (76) in connection with the drawer (24) , and which during the pushing out of the drawer abuts against the locking element (74) this being in its locking position.

3. Device according to claim 1 and 2, characterised in that the blocking element (74) comprises a locking plate

(70) rotatable around an axis/pin (68) with a blocking hook (75) , and the locking plate is turned via a stay (66) which is connected to an electromagnet (65) which upon activation expels the stay (66) and turns the blocking hook (75) to its non-locking position.

4. Device according to any of the claims 1-3, characterised in that the blocking element (74) comprises a pin which is designed to project into a groove formed longitudinally in the side walls of the drawer, the outer ends of which defining the drawer's length of extension.

5. Device according to claims 1-3, characterised in that the mechanism is designed to be activated by indicating a code or using a key switch.

6. Device according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that the blocking function is designed to reactivate/reset a given period of time after it has been inactivated, possibly also involving the drawer (24) being pulled back into the housing (20) .

7. Device according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that the blocking means (65, 70) is connected to the cash register's computer (18), and adjustments to codes, time delays and the like are made via the cash register's keypad.

8. Device according to any of the preceding claims, characterised by a separate box for means of payment adapted to be inserted down into the drawer and taken out, and where the box comprises a first section (35) for ordinary insertion/removal of means of payment, and a second section (37) which comprises a compartment into which means of payment can be transferred through an insertion opening (56) , and the compartment in the second section (37) is covered by a plate-like cover (40) which at the front edge defines the insertion slot, which cover is mounted freely pivotable in the back section of the box, and the box is designed to be placed down into a compartment completely open at the top in a cash register drawer.