Deposit box

• US 4,442,781 A
• Filed: 12/05/1978
• Issued: 04/17/1984
• Est. Priority Date: 12/05/1978
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Benchmark Electronics Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Avco Corporation (Textron Inc)
• Inventors: Fish, Leonard A.
• Primary Examiner(s): CORBIN, DAVID
• Application Number:
  US05/966,583
• Time in Patent Office: 1,960 Days
• Field of Search: 109/24.1, 109/53, 109/54, 109/55, 109/57, 109/59 R, 109/64, 109/66, 232/43.2, 346/22
• US Class Current: 109/53
• CPC Class Codes: E05G 7/001 Bank depositories automatic safe-deposit box systems E05G1/06
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 11/12 Containers for valuable papers

Abstract

A deposit box for an automatic teller machine equipped with a deposit receiving chamber and an auxiliary or escrow chamber, both of which are provided with access doors communicating with the exterior of the box. Both doors are opened and closed automatically, by inserting and removing the box from the automatic teller machine. An internal door, communicating between the two chambers is provided, and the cover of the box is prevented from assuming a fully seated position unless the internal door is closed.

Claims

1. The combination of a box, formed with a deposit chamber and an escrow-chamber, and a removable cover, said combination being adapted to be advanced into or retracted from an automatic teller,

said removable cover comprising

a top sheet,

a swingable gate pivotally mounted under said sheet and adapted to swing to provide access to said deposit-chamber, said gate being formed to provide a deposit-chamber door,

said gate being further formed with a depressing portion,

a gate cam lock for holding said gate in closed position but operable to permit opening and closing of the deposit-chamber door,

a key-operated cover lock operable to release said gate cam lock,

and means sensitive to linear displacement of said cover relative to said automatic teller for opening or closing said deposit-chamber door,

said box comprising

a manually operable internal door between the chambers,

an external door for the escrow chamber,

means including a linkage-control cam and a linkage for opening and closing said external escrow-chamber door when said linkage-control cam moves to first and second limit positions, respectively, and safety interlock means responsive to said open position of said internal door for restraining said linkage to hold said linkage-control cam firmly in said first limit position to prevent the cover from assuming an assembled condition relative to said box,

said cover normally fitting on said box and placing said depressing surface and control element in cooperative relationship as the cover moves toward the assembled condition with the box, thereby to permit both escrow-chamber door and deposit-chamber door to open and close together, unless said linkage-control cam is held firmly in said first limit position by reason of the manually operable internal door being open, in which case the interlock responds.

2. A box and removable cover combination adapted to be advanced or retracted in relation to an automatic teller of the type formed with a straight cam slot and a steering cam slot angularly diverging from the straight cam slot, said combination comprising

a box unit, said box unit being formed with

a deposit-receiving chamber and

an escrow-receiving chamber, said box unit including

a manually operable internal door swingably mounted between said chambers and providing internal access to said escrow-receiving chamber,

a latch for releasably holding said internal door closed,

an external escrow-chamber door,

a linkage-control cam rotatably mounted adjacent the top of said box, said linkage-control cam being adapted to be engaged and moved clockwise as the cover moves to an assembled condition on the box unit,

a linkage intercoupling the linkage-control element and the external escrow-chamber door in such manner that the external escrow-chamber door is opened when the linkage-control cam is displaced to a first or counter-clockwise limit position and closed when the linkage-control element is displaced to a second or clockwise limit position,

said linkage including a spring which biases the control element to the first limit position,

and interlock safety means intercoupling the linkage and the internal door, said interlock safety means including a link articulated at one end with said linkage and connected at the other end to said internal door so as to move with said internal door, said safety means being so constructed and arranged as to free said linkage if the internal door is in closed position but to restrain said linkage and hold said linkage-control cam in its first limit position when the internal door is in open position, whereby the cover is prevented from assuming an assembled condition relative to the box unit unless the manually operable internal door is closed,

said removable cover normally moving toward assembled condition with the box unit and comprising a top sheet formed with an aperture and a first pin-like follower, said first pin-like follower being adapted to track the straight cam slot when the combination is advanced and retracted,

a lower plate secured to be rigidly spaced from said top sheet and formed to provide an access opening between customer and deposit chamber,

a gate mounted to swing between the sheet and slot, and

a key-operated lock and a gate latch cam and means for yieldably urging said gate toward closed position,

said gate lock cam normally closing said gate and being formed with latching and kick back edges and mounted to have two limit positions, at one of which it engages the closed gate and at the other of which it is kicked by the opening gate back to latching position,

said key-operated lock being formed to hold the cover on the box and manually operable to unlatch said gate lock cam from the gate,

said gate having a set of five formations, of which the first is a deposit-chamber door portion,

the second is a latched edge held by the gate lock cam until unlatched,

the third is a second pin-like follower which projects through an aperture in the top sheet to track the steering cam slot and to swing the gate and deposit-chamber door open when the combination is advanced,

the fourth is a kick back edge which kicks the gate latch cam back to latching position as the gate opens so that the gate is again latched after one opening and closing, and

the fifth is a portion which depresses the linkage-control cam when the gate is in closed position but frees the linkage-control cam as the gate is opened to assure that the gate with its deposit-chamber door and the escrow-chamber door open together,

the last-mentioned two doors closing together as the combination is retracted, the second follower swinging the gate to closed position and the fifth formation on the gate again depressing the linkage-control cam.