A safety cash box

Abstract

 A safety cash box comprising a housing body (25) and a slide drawer (26, 27) which can be moved back and forth within the housing is disclosed, wherein the drawer can be brought into a retracted, locked and further jammed condition when, at the occurrence of disturbing conditions, an outer pushbutton is pressed, or when a remotely generated electrical signal is applied to act on an electromagnet triggering device (14, 15, 16) arranged in the safety cash box. The safety cash box comprises, a mechanical arrangement intended to keep the slide drawer firmly in a locked position prevented from being shifted forward and, may also comprise, co-operating backup security means which act to cause the drawer to become forcibly wedged in place in response to mechanical failure brought about on the locking arrangement. To this effect, the shearing strength of the locking device is purposely worked out to have a breaking down point, which when exceeded by a shearing stress so applied as to have the drawer dislodged, the back-up security means is actuated.

Description

[0001] _' THtS INVENTION relates to a safety cash box suitable for keeping and handling money, for use, for instance in commercial and business premises.

[0002] Cash registers are known wherein a cash drawer is ejected from a safe-compartment when a prescribed set of conditions have been met, and wherein a sound signal is concomitantly generated, each time the drawer is ejected.

[0003] In one aspect, the invention provides a safety cash box having a housing body including respective upright sidewalls and respective spaced apart top and bottom walls, a back wall and a front opening, and a slidable drawer which in the course of its normal operation is movable back and forth toward retracted and extended positions lengthwise within said housing, characterised by: a slide drawer structure including a rear drawer section and affront drawer section, said rear and front drawer sections having respective bottom walls and respective upright sidewalls and being rigidly joined together by transverse fastening means connecting said respective upright sidewalls of said drawer sections, wherein said front section is shiftable with respect to said rear section when the breaking down point of said transverse connecting means is exceeded by a force applied to said drawer front section, said slide drawer structure being provided with a thrust bearing member for receiving a backwardly exerted thrust from motive means including a drive belt supporting a thrust applying member thereon, with said motive means being operably coupled through an idler pulley breaking means to a trigger device for triggering said motive means, said motive means being further operably coupled through said thrust applying member to a locking arrangement for locking said slide drawer when the drawer is drawn backward by the action of said thrust applying member against said thrust bearing member; said locking arrangement including respective co-operating rack bars and respective ratchet means, with said rack bars being fixedly joined longitudinally to the underside of the said slide drawer bottom, and said ratchet means being supported on a pivot shaft which is provided with an abutment lug by means of which said pivoting shaft is normally coupled to said thrust applying member of said motive means, said pivot shaft being urged by coil spring means which normally act to bring said ratchet means into engagement with said respective rack bars when said thrust applying member ceases to rest on said abutment lug.

[0004] Preferably the safety cash box also includes jamming means operable in response to forward shifting of said drawer front section respective to said drawer rear section when said transverse connecting means are made to break down, said jamming means including one double wedge block fixedly attached to each of said slide drawer upright sidewalls and outwardly protruding therefrom, said double wedge blocks having slanted surfaces with one of the protruding slanting surfaces of said double wedge blocks facing upwards and the other slanting surface directed downwards, one set of bolts securely installed on the inner face of each said housing upright sidewall, with each of said sets of bolts being comprised of respective upward and downward vertically shiftable locking bolts which are axially extendable when said slanting surfaces are brought into wedge-and-bolt sliding contact with said protruding blocks are forwardly shifted as a result of breakage caused in said transverse connecting means, pairs of vertically distanced apart parallel top and bottom rack bars firmly positioned lengthwise inside said body housing with one pair of said parallel top and bottom rack bars being comprised in the same vertical plane containing each set of said shiftable bolts, whereby said upwardly and downwardly shiftable bolts are axially extended to engage respectively with said top and said bottom rack bars of each pair of rack bars when said double-wedge block slanting surfaces come into wedge-and-bott sliding contact with said respective axially extendable bolts, thereby causing said slide drawer to become wedged into said body housing when the said transverse connecting means are stressed above their breaking point.

[0005] Preferably said trigger device operably coupled to said motive means comprises a pawl and ratchet wheel arrangement wherein a common shaft rigidly connects the ratchet wheel to said idler pulley braking means, and said pawl is associated with externally operable means for releasing said pawl from its engaged position, whereupon said idler pulley is set free to release said drive belt causing said thrust applying member to be translated, along with the drive belt to collide against said thrust bearing member while at the same time causing said pivot shaft to rotate to bring said respective ratchet means into locking position with said respective co-operating rack bars.

[0006] The pawl that co-operates with said ratchet wheel may be associated with the armature of an electromagnetic device whereby said electromagnetic device acts to disengage the pawl from said ratchet wheel in response to a signal from a remote location, whereupon said idler pulley is set free to release said drive belt and said thrust applying member is moved along said drive belt to strike against said thrust bearing member to push said slide drawer back into its housing, while at the same time said pivot shaft is made to pivot under the pull exerted by said coil spring means to bring said respective ratchet means into engagement with respective rack bars fixedly joined to the underside of the bottom of said slide drawer.

[0007] Said electromagnetic device having its armature associated with said pawl may in turn be associated with further electromagnetic means which operate to restore the action brought about by said electromagnetic device.

[0008] The slide drawer structure preferably comprises: a front member and a rear member; said front member having a double-panel bottom and double-panel upright sidewalls, the two panels of the double-panel bottom and sidewalls being so spaced apart that a void space is defined therebetween; said rear member having a single-panel bottom and single-panel upright sidewalls with the marginal leading edges thereof being snugly fitted into said void space provided between said spaced apart panels forming said front member; and transverse connecting means holding said front and rear members rigidly assembled together.

[0009] Desirably, a cutaway portion in each of said double-panel sidewalls is arranged to provide therein respective openings through which respective slanting surfaces of said double-wedge block protrude outwardly of said sidewalls and said transverse connecting means have a predetermined maximum shear strength which when surpassed by a shear stress lengthwise applied on said slide drawer front member causes said transverse connecting means to yield whereby said double-wedge blocks are shifted forwardly along with said front member to engage their outwardly protruding slanting surfaces against said sets of shiftable locking bolts thereby causing said bolts to be axially extended into engagement with said parallel top and bottom rack bars.

[0010] Thus, in a preferred embodiment a safety cash box comprises mechanical and/or electrical devices which operate in order to allow money and like articles to remain protected if an emergency state requiring immediate action, such as a holdup, theft attempt or the like, should occur. The security system can be operated manually by a cashier acting on accessible mechanical means or by an electrical signal originated from a remote location to energize an electromagnetic trigger device. In either case, irrespective of the position of the slide drawer of the cash box the trigger mechanism operates to automatically move the drawer towards a retracted, locked condition within the safety-box housing. Back-up means may also be provided to forcibly jam the drawer closed, for instance if, after initial locking, substantial effort is exerted in an attempt to break the slide drawer open.

[0011] In a preferred embodiment, a spring-winding motive system_' comprises: a first rear spring-wound drive and a second front spring-wound drive, said rear spring-wound drive having a tractive force (the spring tension or torque) greater than the tractive force of said front spring-wound drive; and has a drive belt, or drawband, connecting the spring-wound drives. The drive belt is held under tension during normal operation of the safety cash box and is stabilized by idler pulley braking means which in turn are held set by a pawl and ratchet-wheel arrangement to which the idler pulley is connected. The belt connecting the spring-wound drive mechanisms has a drag block fixedly mounted thereon at a point along its length. In operation, when the pawl and ratchet-wheel mechanism is so acted on as to release the idler pulley, this ceases to exert a stabilizing effect or braking action upon the drive belt, whereby the spring-winding motive system is triggered. As a result, the rear spring-wound drive, which has the greater pull, draws the drive belt backwardly, together with the drag block, fixedly mounted thereon, which is thus moved to engage thrust means provided on the slide drawer to return the drawer to its housing.

[0012] The locking means comprise a bearing plate or abutment lug attached to a pivoting shaft, and an arrangement of two ratchets mounted spaced apart thereon and disposed to mesh with respective rack bars. The rack bars are parallel, and longitudinally located and rigidly joined to the underside of the front section of the bottom of the slide drawer. When the ratchets and the respective rack bars are engaged the slide drawer is locked, and is thus prevented from being moved forward.

[0013] Upon backward travel, the drag block collides against a thrust- supporting abutment fixedly extending beneath the shiftable drawer so that, as a result, the drawer is moved to a wholly retracted position, regardless of its position at the time when the locking operation is started. It will be appreciated that if the locking operation is initiated when the drawer is closed then the collision between the drag block will still occur but no further movement of the drawer will follow.

[0014] The pawl associated with the ratchet-wheel arrangement that provides for locking of the idler pulley braking means, which engages the driving belt, can be shifted out of its engaged position in one of two ways:

a) The cashier may manually depress an exposed push-button which, through a connecting rod, operates to shift the ratchet-wheel pawl out of engagement to release the ratchet wheel.

b) Alternatively, where the pawl is constructed of a magnetic material and is arranged in the manner of an armature for an electromagnet, operation of the electromagnet may act to disengage the pawl. The provision of such an electromagnetic arrangement allows the motive system to be triggered from a remote location so that, for example, a single alarm signal can automatically bring a number of like safety cash boxes into a locked condition.

[0015] In addition to the above described drawer locking mechanism, a safety cash box according to this invention may be provided with a forcible jamming arrangement, purposely designed to be mechanically stronger than the drawer locking mechanisms, as will be explained further below.

[0016] The slide drawer preferably comprises a rear section and a front section, the rear section being formed by a single-walled bottom and single sidewalls, whereas at least the bottom and sidewalls of the front section are constructed from double-panels, the pair of panels forming each of the double-panelled bottom and sidewalls being spaced apart to form' a void space therebetween. The void space so formed is sized to snugly receive the leading edges of the single panels forming the drawer rear-section walls and bottom. Thus, the slide drawer is formed by nesting the single-panel bottom and sidewalls of the drawer rear section in the void spaces provided in the respective double-panel bottom and sidewalls of the drawer front section, the two sections being held firmly together by means of a rivet joint. The connecting rivets used are designed as safety pins having a specified maximum shearing strength (adapted for a purpose to be described later). The rivet joint between the drawer's two sections is designed to withstand the forces exerted during use of the drawer under normal working conditions, but is purposely designed to fail if excessvie forces are exerted. For example, when a lengthwise applied shearing stress tending to detach the drawer sections from each other (such as might be the case if a force were exerted on a locked drawer to break it open) exceeds the maximum shearing strength of the connecting rivets; the rivet joint will fail. As the rivets yield, the rear section can, to a certain extent, be moved telescopically with respect to its associated front section.

[0017] The jamming device comprises two pairs of top and bottom rack bars firmly set up lengthwise inside the housing body, and vertical bolt mechanisms fixedly attached to each of the housing-body inner sidewalls so that each one of said bolts can be shifted into engagement with respective top and bottom rack bars. Preferably the bolts are round-headed bolts, so installed that their shanks can be vertically moved in tight, but sliding, engagement through guide collars. Further, a double-wedge block is firmly attached laterally in each of the double sidewalls of the slide-drawer front section, such that each block is permitted to protrude outside the respective sidewall on which it is mounted, and is placed behind the vertical axis of the bolt mechanism. The double-wedge blocks are identical, each being a generally trapezoidal block arranged so that one of its slanting surfaces is directed upwards and the other is directed downwards, with its major base being rearwardly directed, and disposed in vertical plane containing a set of bolts and one pair of top and bottom rack bars, so that a wedge-and-bolt sliding contact can be established in order to vertically shift the bolts when the-double-wedge blocks are caused to travel forward.

[0018] Accordingly, by virtue of the high-strength of the bolt mechanisms placed on each inner face of the housing sidewalls and by virtue of the respective double-wedge block, fixedly joined to the slide-drawer front section, which laterally protrudes through a respective cutaway section or window provided in the respective sidewall of the slide-drawer front section, when the drawer front section is shifted forwards with respect to the rear section, the double-wedge blocks act to axially shift the bolts respectively upwards and downwards, whereby the belts engage respective top and bottom (high-strength) rack bars, whereupon the drawer becomes jammed. Since, due to the trapezoidal shape, the double wedge blocks are widened at their base, when the blocks are moved to strike against the bolt guide sleeves, the widened bases become further wedged between said sleeves.

[0019] A restoring device, which allows the drawer to be opened after having been brought into its locked condition may be provided. Such a restoring device consists of a striker rod which when operated disengages the ratchets from their respective rack bars thus permitting removal of the drawer from its housing. Such removal, in turn, resets the spring-wound drives to their. original, loaded condition. Access to the restoring striker is guarded by a safety front plate which is held in place by a number of screws and/or locking pins. To gain access to the restoring striker, the front plate must be removed. However, this is a time consuming operation requiring in special tools.

[0020] Additionally, a key lock, which permits the drawer to be separately locked, may be provided. By means of a specially arranged inner plate tampering with this lock while the drawer is still extended can be prevented. This is of value as tampering with the lock could impair the drawer automatic closing operation.

[0021] The ratchets and racks may be arranged to permit checking of the performance of the mechanism which triggers the automatic closing of the drawer, without the need to remove the safety plαte. For example, if the rear ends of the racks fixedly joined to the slide-drawer rear section have no teeth. In such an arrangement, when the drawer is fully extended, if the operator manually holds the drawer handle and at the same time acts on its pushbutton to trigger the automatic-closing motive means, the sensing of a pull tending to urge the drawer backward or its absence will indicate the operating status of the mechanism.

[0022] In order that the invention may be more readily understood, and so that further features thereof may be appreciated, an embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE I is a perspective view of the housing of a safety cash box in accordance with this invention;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective exploded view showing the main mechanisms of a safety cash box according to the invention; and

FIGURE 3 is a sectional side elevation of the safety cash box with its sliding drawer retracted within the housing.

[0023] As illustrated in the drawings, a safety cash box comprises a main housing body 25 including respective upright sidewalls and respective, planar, spaced apart top and bottom walls, which housing body is adapted slidably to receive a slide drawer that comprises a rear section 26 and a front section 27 (Figure 3).

[0024] The slide drawer is constructed from a rear section 26 and a front section 27 combined together. The rear section 26 includes single-panelled bottom, side and back-end walls, whereas the front section 27 includes double-panel upright sidewalls, a double-panel bottom wall and a front-end wall. A void space is defined between each pair of panels forming the side and bottom walls of the front section 27. The void space so formed is sized to receive therein a portion of the leading edges of the bottom wall and sidewalls of the rear section 26 in a snug fit. The two sections 26 and 27 are joined together by the connecting rivets 28, the arrangement of these parts being such that when the rivets 28 become broken the rear section 26 is able to telescope, to a limited degree, with respect to the front section 27.

[0025] A drive belt, or drawband, 3, having its respective ends wound around the spools of a rear spring-wound drive I and a forward spring-wound drive 5, is provided within the lower part of the body housing 25, beneath the combined slide drawer sections 26, 27. The belt 3 is held under tension by an idler pulley 4. The rear spring-wound drive I exerts a net tractive effect on the belt 3. When the idler pulley 4 is set free, by disengagement of a pawl 14 from its associated ratchet wheel 13, the rear spring-wound drive 1 acts to shift rearwardly a drag block 6 that is mounted on the belt 3. The spring-wound drive 5 acts as a tension member for the belt 3. Since the function of the spring-wound drive I is to act as the system motive means it has a pulling effect substantially greater than the controlling torque exerted by the spring winding of the drive 5.

[0026] The normal position (i.e. when the draw is unlocked and in use) of the drag block 6 is towards the drawer's front end. In this normal position the drag block 6 rests on a bearing plate or abutment lug 8 (see Figure 3) which is rigidly attached to a cross-pivot shaft 39 secured at one end thereof to an oscilating bracket 19. The pivot shaft 39 bears, in spaced apart relationship, along its length ratchets 9 and 10 which are adapted to engage with parallel rack bars I and 12, respectively. The two parallel rack bars I and 12 are fixedly attached lengthwise beneath the bottom edges of the combined slide drawer 26, 27, and vertically depend therefrom. Engagement of each ratchet with its respective rack bar is brought about by activation of a coil spring 38 which causes the bracket 19 to oscilate. In normal use of the cash box, the ratchets 9 and 10 do not engage the rack bars I I and 12. An abutment plate 7 also depends vertically from the bottom edges of the combined slide drawer 26, 27. The abutment plate 7 is centrally provided with an opening to allow the belt 3 to pass therethrough without obstruction.

[0027] The safety cash box is illustrated in its normal (unlocked) condition in Figure 3. When the drag block 6 rests at the left-hand farthest end of its run on the belt 3 (the front end), it abuts the lug 8 and the ratchets 9 and 10, born by the pivot shaft 39, are accordingly disengaged from the respective rack bars II and 12. So long as a key lock 36 is open, the slide drawer can be fully extended or retracted, without restriction, from or into the housing at least in as much as the depending abutment plate 7 (Figures 2 and 3) rides unrestrictedly lengthwise on the belt 3 which freely passes through its central opening.

[0028] When the ratchet wheel 13 is freed, by disengagement of the pawl 14 (in the form of an electromagnetic armature) from the ratchet wheel 13, the idler pulley 4, which is rigidly connected to the ratchet-wheet 13 through a shaft 40, will consequently be released. This allows the belt 3 to be wound around the spool of the tractive spring-wound drive 1. The winding speed is prevented from becoming excessively high, due to the action of a revolution counter device 2 coupled to the spring-wound drive 1. Disengagement of the pawl 14 may be carried out by pushing a pushbutton 16 that acts on a rear arm 15 laterally extending from the pawl (armature) 14, or by magnetic action exerted by a conventional electromagnet which can be energized by means of a remotely generated electrical signal.

[0029] When the belt 3 is being wound around the drive I, the drag block 6 is caused to travel from its forward position, resting on the bearing plate 8, to a rear position. Immediately after the movement of the drag block 6 away from its position contacting the bearing plate 8, the plate 8 is set free, whereupon the ratchets 9 and 10 carried on the pivoting shaft 39, to which the bearing plate 8 is attached, are moved into engagement with the rack bars 11 and 12, respectively. The ratchets are so shaped that in the engaged position, the sliding drawer can enter the housing 25 but can not be removed therefrom. Should the slide drawer be wholly or partially extended out of the housing, the drag block 6 will be carried by the belt 3. until colliding against the abutment plate 7, which depends from the slide-drawer bottom, and thereby the drawer will be completely pushed into its housing. In this manner the drawer is brought into tightly locked condition. In the fully closed position of the drawer, axial pins 23 located in the front face of the drawer, are lodged into bores 37 (Figure 1). This provides greater mechanical strength for the front joint between the slide drawer's front face and the door opening of the body housing.

[0030] A microswitch 18, connected to an alarm system which would concomitantly be activated when the pawl 14 is shifted out of engagement with the ratchet wheel, may also be provided.

[0031] As stated earlier, the safety cash box according to the invention, in addition to the slide-drawer locking arrangement described above may also be provided with a backup jamming system which operates if, and when, mechanical failure in the locking mechanism is brought about. Accordingly, should an attempt be made to force open the safety cash box when its slide drawer is kept in its locked condition by means of the ratchets 9 and 10, or when the drawer has been closed under the key-operated lock 36, the high-strength jamming system would be brought into action to cause the drawer to become forcibly wedged within the housing.

[0032] As best seen in Figure 3, the back-up jamming system comprises top and bottom rack bars 24 fixedly attached lengthwise to each of the inner sidewalls of the housing 25; a pair of vertically disposed bolt mechanisms, including round-headed bolts 32, 33 so mounted in guide sleeves 3 t, 34, respectively, that they can be shifted to engage one of the rack bars 24; and a trapezoidal double-wedge block 30.

[0033] If, in an attempt to break open the safety box, a force is exerted which generates a component exceeding the maximum shearing strength of the connecting rivets 28 the breaking of the rivets 28 thus brought about permits a small forward shift of the drawer front section 27 to bring slanted surfaces of the double-wedge block 30 into wedge-and-bolt sliding contact with the round-headed bolts 32 and 33. The shank of each of the bolts 32 and 33 is held in tight but sliding fit within the guide sleeves 31 and 34, respectively.

[0034] When the double-wedge block 30 is slid towards the left-hand side (as seen in Figure 3) the wedging action so exerted will cause the bolts 32 and 33 to be extended downwards and upwards, respectively, through their respective guide sleeves 31 and 34, to engage teeth of respective top and bottom rack bars 24, whereupon the drawer jamming effect is attained. The bolt mechanism just described is constructed to have high mechanical strength. Further, the double-wedge block 30, because of a widening at its major base, which is arranged parallel to the vertical axis of the bolts 32 and 33, will also obstruct the drawer front section if dragged until striking against the guide sleeves 31 and 34.

[0035] The combination of ratchets-bolt-racks, provides that, if locking is actuated when the till has not yet reached its closed position, for example when, in the course of a closing operation carried out in haste, a sheaf of bills becomes jammed, it will still not be possible to re-open the drawer.

[0036] The double-wedge blocks 30 are able to be shifted forwardly because they are located opposite a window 29 suitably provided in the respective sidewalls of the slide-drawer front section.

[0037] In order to enable the drawer to be opened once it has been locked in the housing under the action of the automatic-closing motive means, a striker device 20 is provided. Operation of the striker 20 causes a springloaded bracket 19, attached at one end of the pivot shaft 39, to move against the tension of a coil spring 32. In this manner, as the bracket 19 moves, through a limited angle, the pivot shaft 39 attached thereto is correspondingly rotated and thus the ratchets 9 and 10 are caused to move such that they are disengaged from respective racks I I and 12.

[0038] In order to gain access to the striker 20, it is necessary to remove a safety front plate 21 (Figure 2). This requires the removal of a number of screws 22 or the like securing means. Such removal operations are, on the whole, a hard, time-consuming, and toilsome effort, requiring the use of special tools.

[0039] The key lock 36 installed in the safety cash box housing 25 permits independent locking of the slide drawer when a latch shaft is moved into a hole 41 provided in a bridge 35 which is firmly joined to the slide drawer. The latch shaft can only register with the hole 41 when the slide drawer is completely closed. Thus, in order to lock the drawer using key lock 36, it is necessary to have the drawer fully retracted.

Claims

I. A safety cash box having a housing body including respective upright sidewalls and respective spaced apart top and bottom walls, a back wall and a front opening and a slidable drawer which in the course of its normal operation is movable back and forth toward retracted and extended positions lengthwise within said housing, characterised by: a slide drawer structure including, a rear drawer section and a front drawer section, said rear and front drawer sections having respective bottom walls and respective upright sidewalls and being rigidly joined together by transverse fastening means connecting said respective upright sidewalls of said drawer sections, wherein said front section is shiftable with respect to said rear section when the breaking down point of said transverse connecting means is exceeded by a force applied to said drawer front section, said slide drawer structure being provided with a thrust bearing member for receiving a backwardly exerted thrust from motive means including a drive belt supporting a thrust applying member thereon, with said motive means being operably coupled through an idler pulley breaking means to a trigger device for triggering said motive means, said motive means being further operably coupled through said thrust applying member to a locking arrangement for locking said slide drawer when the drawer is drawn backward by the action of said thrust applying member against said thrust bearing member; said locking arrangement including respective co-operating rack bars and respective ratchet means, with said rack bars being fixedly joined longitudinally to the underside of the said slide drawer bottom, and said ratchet means being supported on a pivot shaft which is provided with an abutment lug by means of which said pivoting shaft is normally coupled to said thrust applying member of said motive means, said pivot shaft being urged by coil spring means which normally act to bring said ratchet means into engagement with said respective rack bars when said thrust applying member ceases to rest on said abutment lug.

2. A safety cash box according to claim I, further comprising jamming means operable in response to forward shifting of said drawer front section respective to said drawer rear section when said transverse connecting means are made to break down, said jamming means including one double wedge block fixedly attached to each of said slide drawer upright sidewalls and outwardly protruding therefrom, said double wedge blocks having slanted surfaces with one of the protruding slanting surfaces of said double wedge blocks facing upwards and the other slanting surface directed downwards, one set of bolts securely installed on the inner face of each said housing upright sidewall, with each of said sets of bolts being comprised of respective upward and downward vertically shiftable locking bolts which are axially extendable when said slanting surfaces are brought into wedge-and-bolt sliding contact with said protruding blocks are forwardly shifted as a result of breakage caused in said transverse connecting means, pairs of vertically distanced apart parallel top and bottom rack bars firmly positioned lengthwise inside said body housing with one pair of said parallel top and bottom rack bars being comprised in the same vertical plane containing each set of said shiftable bolts, whereby said upwardly and downwardly shiftable bolts are axially extended to engage respectively with said top and said bottom rack bars of each pair of rack bars when said double-wedge block slanting surfaces come into wedge-and-bolt sliding contact with said respective axially extendable bolts, thereby causing said slide drawer to become wedged into said body housing when the said transverse connecting means are stressed above their breaking point.

3. A safety cash box according to claim I or claim 2, wherein said trigger device operably coupled to said motive means comprises, a pawl and ratchet wheel arrangement wherein a common shaft rigidly connects the ratchet wheel to said idler pulley braking means, and said pawl is associated with externally operable means for releasing said pawl from its engaged position, whereupon said idler pulley is set free to release said drive belt causing said thrust applying member to be translated, along with the drive belt, to collide against said thrust bearing member while at the same time causing said pivot shaft to rotate to bring said respective ratchet means into locking position with said respective co-operating rack bars.

4. A safety box according to claim 3, wherein said pawl co-operating with said ratchet wheel is associated with the armature of an electromagnetic device whereby said electromagnetic device acts to disengage the pawl from said ratchet wheel in response to a signal from a remote location, whereupon said idler pulley is set free to release said drive belt and said thrust applying member is moved along said drive belt to strike against said thrust bearing member to push said slide drawer back into its housing, while at the same time said pivot shaft is made to pivot under the pull exerted by said coil spring means to bring said respective ratchet means into engagement with respective rack bars fixedly joined to the underside of the bottom of said slide drawer.

5. A safety cash box according to claim 4, wherein said electromagnetic device having its armature associated with said pawl is in turn associated with further electromagnetic means which operate to restore the action brought about by said electromagnetic device.

6. A safety cash box according to any one of claims I to 5, wherein said slide drawer structure comprises: a front member and a rear member; said front member having a double-panel bottom and double-panel upright sidewalls the two panels of the double-panel bottom and sidewalls being so spaced apart that a void space is defined therebetween; said rear member having a single-panel bottom and single-panel upright sidewalls with the marginal leading edges thereof being snugly fitted into said void space provided between said spaced apart panels forming said front member; and transverse connecting means holding said front and rear members rigidly assembled together.

7. A safety cash box according to claim 6 when dependent upon any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein a cutaway portion in each of said double-panel sidewalls is arranged to provide therein respective openings through which respective slanting surfaces of said double-wedge block protrude outwardly of said sidewalls and said transverse connecting means have a predetermined maximum shear strength which when surpassed by a shear stress lengthwise applied on said slide drawer front member causes said transverse connecting means to yield whereby said double-wedge blocks are shifted forwardly along with said front member to engage their outwardly protruding slanting surfaces against said sets of shiftable locking bolts thereby causing said bolts to be axially extended into engagement with said parallel top and bottom rack bars.

8. Every novel feature and every novel combination of features disclosed herein.

Drawing