Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02525156 2005-10-28
PILFER-PROOF CASH REGISTER
This invention relates to cash registers and more particularly relates to a
cash register
construction having means for preventing pilfering of cash by the operator.
A common problem for a store owner is the pilfering of cash by the
untrustworthy
employee operating the cash register. This is particularly prevalent in small
size general stores in
which the owner is unable to operate the cash register all the time and only a
few employees
would have to be employed in order to minimize the overhead expenses. For
example, in a
convenient general store or gas station, only one employee runs the store as
well as operates the
cash register. In such working condition, a dishonest employee could easily
and unscrupulously
steal a portion of the money from the sales by either entering only a much
smaller amount of each
sale into the cash register or not at all. Normally, a cash register serves
only as a temporary
storage of cash. It is not intended to store a large amount of money, and
money in the cash
register drawer must be removed and transfer to other safe storage such as a
safe or safety deposit
box for subsequent tallying and depositing to the bank. Only sufficient amount
of money remains
in the cash register for normal transaction in sale, and it would also reduce
loss in case of robbery
particularly during night shift. It is during the transfer of the money to the
safe storage that the
amount of money equal to the difference between the actual cash received from
sales and the
false amount of cash register entries is stolen by the employee. In this
manner, the amount of
money stolen is unknown since the amount of money in the safe deposit would
agree with the
records in the cash register. It has been estimated that loss of revenue from
such prevalent
pilfering and stealing by a dishonest employee may often amount to thousands
or tens of
thousands of dollars in this way. Such loss of revenue is particularly
detrimental to a small
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general store owner. Video devices employed for monitoring the cash register
can not detect the
stealing since the actual stealing act is carried out away from the cash
register. Common cash
registers have security constructions for preventing the register itself from
being stolen in robbery
or preventing unauthorized operation thereof but they do not have any
provision from preventing
pilfering of cash by the operator.
The above problem is obviated in the present invention by eliminating the
necessity of
having physically removing money from the cash register and transferring it to
the safe storage
locating away from the cash register. Money is removed and transfer to the
safe storage directly
without requiring the employee to remove and transfer the money physically
from the cash
register thus eliminating the opportunity for a dishonest employee to steal
any money. Any
attempt to remove money from the cash register apart from making change to the
customer
would be readily caught by the video monitoring system of the cash register.
Furthermore, the direct transfer of money to the safe storage would also
drastically reduce
the loss in case of robbery.
It is a principal object of the present invention to provide a cash register
having a unique
construction for reducing or preventing cash from being pilfered by the
operator.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a cash register which
automatically
transfers money from the cash tray to a safe storage.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a cash register
having an effective
pilfering prevention means which is simple in structure.
Figure 1 is a perspective top and side elevation view of the cash register
according to the
present invention.
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Figure 2 is a perspective bottom elevation view of the cash register showing a
cash
discharge opening formed in its bottom panel.
Figure 3 is a perspective top elevation view of the cash tray of the cash
register according
to the present invention showing a release opening formed in a designated cash
slot therein.
Figure 4 is a perspective bottom elevation view of the cash tray thereof.
Figure 5 is a perspective bottom elevation view of the cash register with the
bottom panel
removed showing the provision of a hinge-mounted covering door located at a
transfer opening
formed in the bottom panel of the sliding drawer.
Figure 6 is a perspective bottom elevation view of the cash register of Figure
5 with the
covering door unlatched in the opened position.
Figure 7 is a perspective bottom elevation view of the bottom panel of the
cash register
showing the covering door swung open through the discharge opening of the
bottom panel.
Figure 8 is an enlarged isolated rear elevation view showing the latching
construction of
the covering door..
Figure 9 is a partially sectional side elevation showing the placement of the
cash register
on a counter top having a safe deposit box located the counter top for
receiving the money
discharged from the cash register.
Figure 10 is a sectional side elevation view of the enclosure showing the
sliding drawer
positioned completely within the enclosure and at which the latch may be
operated to open the
transfer door panel.
Figure 11 is a sectional side elevation view of Figure 10 with the transfer
door panel
unlatched and swung open downwards when the sliding drawer lies completely
within the
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enclosure of the cash register.
Figure 12 is a sectional side elevation view of the enclosure showing the
transfer door
panel being automatically closed by abutting the wheel when the sliding drawer
moves outwards.
Figure 13 is a sectional side elevation view of Figure 12 showing the complete
closing of
the transfer door panel by the wheel such that its rear edge is again engaged
with latch when the
sliding drawer moves further outwards.
With reference to the drawings in which same reference numerals designate
corresponding parts in the different views, a cash register 10 has a sliding
drawer 11 and a
removable cash tray 12 in a convention manner. The cash tray 12 is located in
the sliding drawer
11, and which has divided compartments 13, 14, 15, 16,17, 18 and 19 for
holding bills and coins
of various different denominations. According to the present invention, a
rectangular release
opening 20 is formed in the bottom pane121 of a selected compartment of the
cash tray 14. The
rectangular release opening 20 is larger than the size of the paper money. A
rectangular transfer
opening 22 is formed in the bottom panel 24 of the sliding drawer 11. The
transfer opening 22 is
larger than the size of the release opening 20 of the cash tray 12 and located
directly below the
release opening 20 of the cash tray 12 when the latter is completely located
inside the cash
register. A rectangular transfer door panel 23 is located over the transfer
opening 22. The transfer
door pane123 is slightly larger than the size of the transfer opening 22 with
its front edge
hingedly mounted to the bottom pane124 of the sliding drawer 11 by a hinge 25
and its rear edge
extends slightly beyond the rear edge of the bottom panel of the sliding
drawer 11. A rectangular
panel member 26 is made of the same material of the bottom panel of the cash
tray 12 and having
dimensions equal to the release opening 20 and it is affixed on the top
surface of the transfer door
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panel 23. The rectangular panel member 26 may be provided by the rectangular
portion removed
from the bottom panel of the cash tray 12 to form the release opening such
that when the transfer
door 23 is in the closed position covering over the transfer opening 22, the
rectangular panel
member 26 will snugly locate within the release opening 20 of the cash tray 12
so that when
viewed from top of the cash tray 12 the bottom panel 21 of the cash tray 12
will appear intact
without any portion therein having been removed from its bottom panel 21. A
spacer layer 26A
such as a foam sponge may be provided between the transfer door 23 and the
rectangular panel
member 26 in order to ensure the rectangular panel member 26 will firmly and
snugly locate
within the rectangular release opening 20 of the cash tray 12.
A latch 27 is pivotally mounted at the rear panel 28 of the sliding drawer 11
by a
supporting bracket 29. The latch 27 has a latching hook 30 facing the rear
edge of the transfer
door 23. The latch 27 is spring-biassed such that the latching hook 30 is
normally engaged with
the rear edge of the transfer door 23 to hold the latter in the closed
position. The latch 27 has a
horizontal arm 31 extending rearwards such that the latching hook 30 may be
operated to
disengage from the rear edge of the transfer door 23 by pivoting the
horizontal arm 31 upwards
against the biassing spring force.
A rocker arm 32 is pivotally mounted on a support bracket 33 which is fixedly
mounted
within the rear compartment 34 located between the sliding drawer 11 and the
rear panel 35 of
the enclosure of the cash register 10. The rear compartment 34 houses the
control mechanism 36
for operating the sliding drawer 11. The control mechanism 36 will retain the
sliding drawer 11
in the pushed-in position to locate within the cash register normally, and it
will push the sliding
drawer 11 outwards with a compression spring 37 when an electronic control
(not shown) is
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operated by entering the sale through the control keyboard 38 in a
conventional manner for
exposing the cash tray 12 in order that money may be deposited into the cash
tray or may be
retrieved therefrom to provide change to the customer. A free end 39 of the
rocker arm 32 abuts
the lower surface of the horizontal arm 31 of the latch 27. The other end of
the rocker arm 32 is
coupled to an extensible shaft 40 of an electrically operative spring-biassed
solenoid 41 which
may be also mounted to the support bracket 33. The solenoid 41 may be operated
to pivot the
rocker arm 32 to turn the horizontal arm 31 upwards so as to release the
engagement of the
latching hook 30 from the rear edge of the transfer door 23. The electrical
power for operating
the solenoid 41 may be provided through a step-down transformer 42 mounted to
the support
bracket 33. As best shown in the enlarged isolated view of Figure 8 the rocker
arm 32 is
positioned perpendicular to the horizontal arm 31. Alternatively, the rocker
arm 32 may be
positioned in parallel and aligned with the horizontal arm 31 as shown in
Figures 9 through 13.
As best shown in Figures 7 and 9, a large rectangular discharge opening 43 is
formed at
the bottom pane144 of the cash register 10 and located directly below the
transfer door 23 when
the sliding drawer 11 is located completely within the cash register 10.
The cash register 10 of the present invention can be placed on a counter top
45 having a
large rectangular dispensing opening 46 formed therein with the transfer
opening 22 aligned with
the large rectangular dispensing opening 46 of the counter top 45. An open top
cash receiving
safety deposit box 47 is mounted under the counter top 45 directly below the
dispensing opening
46. The safety deposit box 47 is provided with a safe locking door in the
conventional manner for
accessing the money therefrom.
As shown in Figure 10, normally the transfer door 23 is maintained closed with
its rear
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edge engaged with the latching hook 30. When the operator makes a sale entry,
the sliding
drawer 11 with the cash tray 121ocated therein will slide outwards of the
register to allow the
operator to place the money into the drawer and to provide change to the
customer. The money
may be placed in different compartments 13 through 19, while the bills of
large denominations
may be placed in the designated compartment 14. When the designated
compartment 14 is almost
full, the operator, after the sliding drawer 11 has been pushed back
completely into the enclosure
of the cash register 10, would depress a control button 48 located on the
enclosure to actuate the
solenoid 41 for disengaging the latch such that the transfer door 23 would
swing open
downwardly by gravity relative to the hinge 25 to release the money from the
designated
compartment 14 into the safe deposit box 47. The operator may also perform
this operation to
empty the money in the designated compartment 14 into the safe deposit box 47
and leaving just
sufficient money in the other compartments for making change so as to reduce
the amount of
money in the cash register 10 in the night shift in which time there is higher
potential of robbery
occurring. The cash register operator is instructed to place all paper money
as well as the coins in
the designated compartment 14 at the completion of a work shift and from time
to time, and to
operated the control button 48 so as to transfer all money in the designated
compartment 14 to
the safety deposit box 47 leaving the cash tray 12 completely empty.
A rotary whee149 is mounted on the bottom panel 44 of the cash register 10.
The opened
transfer door 23 will abut this rotary wheel 49 when the sliding drawer 11
slides outwards to
expose the cash tray 12 for depositing money therein and to provide change to
the customer. The
rotary wheel 49 will cause the transfer door 23 to swing upwards with the
outward sliding
movement of the sliding drawer 12 until it is again completely latched in
place by the latching
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hook 30.. Thus, whenever the sliding drawer 11 is opened, the transfer door 23
will be closed
automatically and tightly to the bottom panel of the cash tray 12 to provide
an integral
appearance of the cash tray bottom panel when viewed from top.
The cash register of the present invention alleviates the necessity for the
cash register
operator to remove and transfer money from the cash register to another
location remote from the
cash register. Thus, it eliminates the opportunity as described above that the
operator can pilfer
any money.
While the present invention has been shown and described in the preferred
embodiments
thereof, it will be apparent that various modifications can be made therein
without departing
from the spirit of the essential attributes thereof, it is desired therefore
that only such limitations
be placed thereon as are imposed by the following appended claims.
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