GB462207A - Improvements in or relating to coin-operated and coin-freed gas meters - Google Patents

Abstract

462,207. Prepayment mechanism for gas meters. BINGHAM, J. H., and METROPOLITAN GAS METERS, Ltd. Jan. 31, 1936, No. 3047. [Class 27] A plural-coin prepayment coin-operated gas meter comprises separate coin slot units A, B, Fig. 2, for pennies and shillings respectively, disposed non-coaxially upon the front of the meter and a single quantity mechanism C common to the units and operatively connected thereto so that when one of the units is actuated the coin driven wheel of that unit drives the coin wheel of the other through the quantity mechanism. At least one of the units is adjustable so that the quantity of gas supplied for each coin insertion therein may be varied without corresponding variation in the other unit. Each unit is of known form and comprises a coin pocket 3, Fig. 3, rotated by a knob 13, the coin engaging between teeth of a coin wheel 2 to drive this. A price-change plate 11 with coin slot 10 is locked in adjusted position by a locking dog 20 and is set to vary the point of insertion of a coin and therefore the amount of rotation given to the wheel 2 according to the price of gas, the coin being discharged through a slot 17 in a surrounding casing 1 to a receiver. When the coin reaches the slot 17, it engages a tail 42 of a pawl 41 and rocks this into engagement with the wheel 2 to prevent binding of the coin in the teeth of the wheel. The quantity mechanism is of the known type comprising a valve operating nut 22 travelling on a screw 23 which is rotated by prepayment. The nut moves along a guide rod 24 which is rotated about the screw by the meter mechanism to move the nut 22 to valve closing position. The coin wheels of the units A, B are fixed to spindles 4, the spindle of the penny unit A being operatively connected to one end of the screwed spindle 23 by a reduction gear 36, 35 giving a 4 : 1 ratio while the spindle 4 of the shilling unit is connected to the other end of the spindle 23 by a multiplying gear 5, 6 giving a 1 : 3 ratio. The knobs 13 of the two units are arranged to be rotated in opposite directions. In a modification, the two units are arranged in a common casing with the change plate of one unit tangential and slightly to one side of the other, so that a single locking- dog 20 locks both change plates and the coins are discharged into a common receiver. In this modification, the shaft 4 of the shilling unit is geared to the shaft 4 of the penny unit, this latter shaft driving through a pair of gearwheels a spindle which is operatively connected by worm gearing to one end of the screwed spindle. According to the Provisional Specification, the connections between the coin slot units and the screw of the quantity mechanism include a free-wheel mechanism permitting independent operation of the screw by the two units.