COIN OPERATED WASHER-DRYER CONTROL MODULE

• US 3,774,742 A
• Filed: 03/27/1972
• Issued: 11/27/1973
• Est. Priority Date: 03/27/1972
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: George Magnanelli
• Original Assignee: George Magnanelli
• Inventors: Magnanelli, George
• Primary Examiner(s): Reeves, Robert B.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Rolla, Joseph J.
• Application Number:
  US05/238,288
• Time in Patent Office: 610 Days
• Field of Search: 194/1,97 70/232 109/64,50,58,79 232/66,43.2,15
• US Class Current: 194/342
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/20 for washing or drying articles, e.g. clothes, motor cars
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 5/18 specially adapted for controlling several coin-freed apparatus from one place
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 9/002 Vending machines being part of a centrally controlled network of vending machines
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 70/5867 Encased

Abstract

To prevent damage to coin operated laundry appliances, such as washers and dryers, by vandals attempting to obtain access to the coin storage area, a coin operated control module is provided completely separate from the laundry appliances and rigidly fabricated from welded steel plate so as to have a rectangular base with three vertical side walls and a rectangular housing portion with three overlapping vertical side walls being secured to the base along the fourth side by hinge means. Threaded fasteners are used to maintain the housing portion and base in its closed position and are accessible only upon removal of a security lock. Conventional manual coin slides are provided solely in the housing portion along with coin storage means to be pivoted away from the base, which carries the timers when access is desired for maintenance purposes, but the coin storage area is separately locked from access by maintenance personnel. The overlapping walls are reinforced along their respective outer edges, hoods are provided around each of the coin slides for their protection, and a removable security locked bar is provided transversely underneath the outermost ends of each of the cantilevered coin slides to normally prevent their damage, but removable for maintenance purposes. A pedestal mount employs a floor plate embedded in concrete and a pipe extending upwardly, with concrete and reinforcing rods within the pipe to resist cutting by sawing, a torch, or the like.

Claims

1. An appliance center, comprising a coin receiving separate control module to be placed at a convenient location for remote electrical connection to and for controlling the operation of a plurality of appliances;

said module having a module base;

a housing portion mounted said base for movement between a first closed position completely enclosing, with said base, a chamber and a second position opening said chamber for free access to said chamber;

security lock means for securing said housing portion and base in said first closed position;

a plurality of coin receiving and discriminating means carried by said module for selective operation of the appliances upon receipt of the proper coins and for storing the coins in said chamber;

a plurality of laundry appliances corresponding in number with said coin receiving and discriminating means separate from each other and said control module;

electric wire means for serially connecting said module in circuit with said laundry appliances and a source of electric power;

a pipe rigidly connected at its upper end to said base;

said base including a first lower plate integrally mounted on the upper end of said pipe, an upper plate mounting thereon said housing portion, and a plurality of releasable fastener means fixedly connecting said upper and lower plates together and being actuateable only from above said upper plate within said chamber;

anchor means connected to the lower end of said pipe;

at least one steel reinforcing rod extending substantially the entire length internally of said pipe;

concrete embedding therein said reinforcing rod and filling the remaining interior of said pipe; and

a concrete floor slab embedding therein said plate and said anchor means of said pipe.

2. The device of claim 1, including hinge means mounting said housing portion on said upper plate to interconnect said upper plate, said coin receiving and discriminating means and housing portion as a head unit completely separable from said lower plate upon actuation of said fastener means.

3. A coin receiving separate control module to be placed at a convenient location for remote electrical connection to and for controlling the operation of a plurality of appliances, comprising:

a module base;

means stationarily supporting said base;

a housing portion mounted on said base for movement between a first closed position completely enclosing with said base, a chamber and a second position opening said chamber for free access to within said chamber;

first security lock means for securing said housing portion and base in said first closed position;

a plurality of coin receiving and discriminating means carried by said housing portion for movement therewith between its two positions and for selective operation of the timers of the appliances upon receipt of the proper coins;

coin storage means within said chamber for receiving coins from said coin receiving and discriminating means;

said coin receiving and discriminating means each including a manual coin receiving slide generally horizontally cantilevered from the housing portion for transferring coins from outside of said chamber to inside of said chamber with sliding manual movement thereof;

a separate hood peripherally spaced from and extending completely around each of said coin receiving slides, said hoods extending generally horizontally from said housing portion to at least as far away from said housing portion as said coin receiving slides for protection thereof;

said hoods having horizontally aligned holes therethrough of a uniform size;

said coin receiving slides being generally horizontally in side By side alignment and slide parallel to each other; and

a single metallic bar of said uniform size extending transversely to the slide direction closely underneath the outer free terminal end of each of said coin receiving slides and through the aligned holes in said hoods;

said hoods forming said holes and said bar constituting means for reinforcing said coin receiving slides against downward blows that would otherwise bend and disable them; and

security lock means removably mounting and securing said bar in its operative position.

4. A coin receiving separate control module to be placed at a convenient location for remote electrical connection to and for controlling the operation of a plurality of appliances, comprising:

a module base;

means stationarily supporting said base;

a plurality of separate appliance timer means fixedly mounted on said base for respectively operating the appliances;

a housing portion mounted on said base for movement between a first closed position completely enclosing, with said base, a chamber having therein said timer means and a second position opening said chamber for free maintenance access to said timer means connected in said chamber;

first security lock means for securing said housing portion and base in said first closed position;

a plurality of coin receiving and discriminating means carried by said housing portion for movement therewith between its two positions;

said coin receiving and discriminating means corresponding in number to said timers and selectively operating said timers upon receipt of the proper coins;

coin storage means within said chamber for receiving coins from said coin receiving and discriminating means;

said coin storage means being carried solely by said housing portion for movement therewith between its two positions relative to said base; and

separate second lock means for preventing access to said coin storage means and being located completely within said chamber in the first closed position of said housing portion.

5. The device of claim 4, including in combination a plurality of laundry appliances separate from each other and said control module, and electric wire means for serially connecting said timers respectively in circuit with said laundry appliances and a source of electric power.

6. The device of claim 4, wherein said coin storage means includes a coin receptacle having a bottom plate hingedly connected along one edge to the remainder of said coin receptacle and upwardly extending opposed L-shaped coin abutment walls secured to the upper face of said bottom plate and spaced apart at their adjacent edged opposite said hinge connection to provide a dispensing opening therebetween for the coins carried therein upon pivoting said bottom plate about its hinge connection downwardly away from the remainder of said coin receptacle in the open position of said housing portion;

and said second lock means locking said bottom plate in its closed position.

7. The device of claim 4, wherein said base and housing portion are substantially rectangular in plan view in their closed position;

including hinge means interconnecting said base and housing portion axially extending along and connected respectively to adjacent sides of said rectangular base and housing portion;

the remaining three sides of said base and adjacent remaining three sides of said housing portion each having vertically extending side walls respectively vertically overlapping and closely adjacent each other in the closed position; and

the outer ones of the opposed side walls of said base and housing portion extending perpendicular to said hinge means axis have horizontal means reinforcing means rigidly secured to and extending along substantially their entire upper edge.

8. The device of claim 7, including a plurality of coin receiving and discriminating means carried by said housing portion for movement therewith between its two positions and for selective operation of the timers upon receipt of the proper coins;

said coin receivIng and discriminating means each including a manual coin receiving slide cantilevered from the housing portion for transferrring coins from outside of said housing portion to inside of said housing portion with sliding manual movement thereof;

a separate hood peripherally spaced from and extending completely around each of said coin receiving slides, said hoods extending from said housing portion to at least as far away from said housing portion as said coin receiving slides for protection thereof; and

said housing portion and base side walls parallel to and opposite from said hinge means overlapping inwardly of said hoods and the outer one being carried by said base and extending up to said hoods to a terminal edge closely adjacent the connection between said hoods and housing portion in the closed position.

9. The device of claim 8, including a horizontally extending reinforcing strip rigidly secured to said base outer wall opposite said hinge means along the outer portion of its free terminal edge closely adjacent said hoods in the closed position.

10. The device of claim 4, said first lock means including a hollow connector housing integrally connected to and depending from said base, an operable security lock to provide the sole access to the interior of said connector housing, and threaded fastener means extending operatively between said base and housing portion in the closed position for rigidly securing the two together and being accessible for operation only from within said connector housing interior upon removal of its operable security lock.