Elcotel, Inc.

Inmet Systems, Inc.

Manfred Waldecker

Darrell C Taylor

David Tarbill

Tuan Nguyen

Nikhil Bhatt

David K Lehman

Lee Smith

A coin return assembly having enhanced protection against stuffing or ignition, is disclosed. A flapper member is hingedly attached to the upper portion of the coin return chute such that it is biased against displacement against the flow of coins through the coin chute. The hinge allows movement of the coins from the upper portion of the telephone through to the lower bucket area. The flapper seals substantially the entire coin path thereby preventing the insertion of stuffing material into the coin return chute or the passage of flames therethrough.

Anti-stuffing device

A coin turning entrance chute for coin-operated devices descends from an upper coin-entry slot to a lower exit slot floor and curved sidewalls. The sidewalls have different radii of curvature to define a wider coin path at the curvature to allow the coin to turn. An exit slot is provided. The entrance chute rotates the coin from an initial edge-forward orientation to a face-forward orientation when passing through the exit slot.

Coin turning coin-entrance chute

A coin escrow apparatus for use with pay telephones including side members at least partially defining a coin hopper, a door mounted between the side members for selective movement between an escrow position for supporting coins in the hopper, an acceptance position for releasing coins from the hopper in a first direction, and a return position for releasing coins from the hopper in a second direction. The door has an underside portion and one or more guides associated with the door for guiding the door for pivotal movement between the escrow, acceptance and return positions. A support member is pivotally positioned below the door and has an upper portion. The support member is capable of pivoting about a pivot axis below the door. One or more roller bearings is attached to the upper portion of the support member for engaging the underside of the door. An actuator for pivoting the support member is also provided.

Coin escrow apparatus

The microfilm storage and retrieval (MegaSAR-420) system of the present invention puts microfilm images on line in a document imaging system. A MegaSAR-420 could be connected to a PC LAN base document imaging system with specialized software. A remote user then has the ability to retrieve images of the stored microfilm. The MegaSAR-420 doubles the capacity of devices in the prior art, specifically including at least twenty-eight spoked hub units and using cartridges having greater storage capacity.

Growing community of inventors

Lawrenceville, GA, United States of America

Manfred Waldecker