A tilting-floor bucket coin escrow

Abstract

 The tiling-floor bucket coin escrow includes a body having an orifice for the reception of coins and a tiltable floor which together form the escrow for the coins. The body is shaped in such manner that the parts of the floor within the confines of the body remain in close proximity to the body preventing coins jamming between the body and the floor, said body is provided with at least one exit orifice which opens as the floor is tilted to permit coins to leave the escrow.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a tilting-floor bucket coin escrow for use in prepayment devices, such as pay telephones.

[0002] A known form of bucket coin escrow takes the form of a container having a V-shaped floor. Each side of the V-shaped floor acts an independently operable gate. One gate would be opened to accept coins for payment of a facility, and the other opened to refund coins to a user. Such a device is mechanically complicated, requiring locks and levers to keep each gate in position. Many sensors are also required to detect which gate is open or closed. Such devices are therefore expensive to manufacture.

[0003] An aim of the present invention is to provide a bucket coin escrow which is not mechanically complicated as known devices and is cheaper to manufacture.

[0004] According to the present invention there is provided a tilting-­floor bucket coin escrow including a body having an orifice for the reception of coins and a tiltable floor which together form the escrow for the coins, the body being shaped in such a manner that the parts of the floor within the confines of the body remain in close proximity to the body preventing coins jamming between the body and the floor, said body being provided with at least one exit orifice which opens as the floor is tilted to permit coins to leave the escrow.

[0005] According to an aspect of the present invention, the escrow is provided with a further orifice which opens as the floor tilts in an opposite direction to that which permits the first orifice to open.

[0006] According to a further aspect of the present invention, the orifices are provided at floor level, allowing the coins to fall in a downwardly direction.

[0007] According to yet a further aspect of the present invention, the orifices are provided at the front and back of the escrow, below the axis of the floor, and the floor is shaped to assist in urging the coins through the respective orifices as the floor is tilted in each direction.

[0008] An embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawing which shows a perspective view of a tilting bucket coin escrow.

[0009] The escrow comprises a body portion A, having an opening B, through which coins can pass. A moveable floor C, is axially pivoted in the base of the body A. The dimensions of the floor C are such that it fits in close proximity with the inner walls of the body A. The body A is therefore substantially semi-circular so that the floor C remains in close proximity to the inner walls of the body A as the floor C is tilted, therefore preventing coins from jamming between the floor C and the body A. A motion imparting means, such as a reversable motor or gearbox D, for example, has its output connected to a shaft lying on the floor axis, enabling the floor C to be tilted in a clockwise or anti-clockwise direction When the floor C it tilted in an anti-clockwise direction, as shown in the drawing, an orifice E appears on the left-hand side of the escrow, allowing any coins within the escrow to drop in a downwardly direction. Conversely, a second orifice would appear on the right-hand side when the floor C is tilted in the opposite direction. The left-hand orifice, could be used to cash the coins in the escrow, and the right-hand orifice could be used to refund the coins in the escrow to the user.

[0010] The floor C may be bowed so that the coins tend to gather towards the axis, thereby keeping them away from the extremities of the floor. The edges of the floor C may be raised to assist in preventing coin jamming.

[0011] The orifices could be provided in the front and rear faces of the escrow, below the axis of the floor C and the floor shaped so that when the floor C is tilted in one direction the coins are urged out of the front orifice, and vice versa.

[0012] Stops and sensors (not shown) are provided to limit the degree of tilt of the floor C in each direction and to sense when the floor C has reached the stops. After detecting when a stop is reached, the floor C is returned to the horizontal position.

[0013] When the escrow is used with a motor D for example, the extra current required to attempt to tilt the floor C when the escrow is full, thereby causing the motor D to tend to stall, may be detected and used to indicate that the escrow is full.

[0014] When the escrow is operated and has reached its fully open position against a stop the motor will tend to try and keep going. The extra power required by the motor could be used as a signal that the escrow is fully open and that the motor should be switched off.

[0015] The above description is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. For example, alternative motion imparting means may be used and readily identifiable by those skilled in the art. Various mechanically alternatives will also be apparent by those skilled in the art, in respect of floor and body shape and the positioning of the orifices.

Claims

1. A tilting-floor bucket coin escrow including a body having an orifice for the reception of coins and a floor tiltable about an axis, which together form the escrow for the coins, the body being shaped in such manner that the parts of the floor within the confines of the body remain in close proximity to the body preventing coins jamming between the body and the floor, said body being provided with at least one exit orifice which opens as the floor is tilted to permit coins to leave the escrow.

2. A tilting-floor bucket coin escrow as claimed in claim 1 wherein the escrow is provided with a further orifice which opens as the floor tilts in an opposite direction to that which permits the first orifice to open.

3. A tilting-floor bucket coin escrow as claimed in claim 2 wherein the orifices are provided at floor level, allowing the coins to fall in a downwardly direction.

4. A tilting-floor bucket coin escrow as claimed in claim 2 wherein the orifices are provided at the front and back of the escrow, below the axis of the floor, and the floor is shaped to assist in urging the coins through the respective orifices as the floor is tilted in each direction.

5. A tilting-floor bucket coin escrow as claimed in claim 3 wherein the floor is bowed so that coins gather towards the floor axis.

6. A tilting-floor bucket coin escrow as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the floor is tilted by a reversible motor or gearbox.

7. A tilting-floor bucket coin escrow as claimed in claim 6 wherein the motor current required to tilt the floor when the escrow is full is arranged to be detected to indicate a full escrow.

8. A tilting-floor bucket coin escrow substantially as hereinbefore described.

9. A tilting-floor bucket coin escrow substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawing.

Drawing