Coin dispenser / changer

thingiverse

Dispenses a coin with each pull of the lever. Now you can live out your fantasies of being a train conductor or 50s diner waitress. More usefully, leave one in your car to make correct change at drive throughs. Some caps will probably be necessary, and the shoddy base could be improved. The whole thing is rather beefy as well, but I didn't want anything breaking. The dimensions could probably be reduced. Instructions Print one base, one holder and pusher for each coin, and four cranks. The cranks should be printed with the flat side of the curved arm down. Supports will be necessary for the holders and base. The pushers fit into the trays behind their corresponding holder. They should slide very easily (there are one layer thick rails for low friction at the sides of the holder). Any rough sliding is most likely caused by unevenness at the bottom curve of the coin tower. Some judicious smoothing with a file should fix that. The straight end of the crank fits into the top of the box on the slider, and pivots on the ball hinges. Inserting them onto their hinges can be a bit tricky. Easiest is to slide the straight arm into the space between the tower and the hinge and into the slot in the box, then push it gently forward onto the balls while separating the pivot arms with your fingers. Forward tension needs to be applied on the lower arm of the crank. The original coin changers used a spring, but I found rubber bands work and are easier to come by. Some sort of printed tensioner might work. Each holder attaches to the correct slot on the base through the mating grooves. There is some built-in clearance, but because I drew them with an overhang, there is likely to be some sloppiness and some filing and muscle may be required to get them in. I have provided the CAD file, which is a DesignSpark Mechanical file. DSM is a free version of SpaceClaim, and I hope more Thingiverse users start making use of it. It is very powerful, easy to use, and reminiscent of Sketchup except you end up with manifold models instead of a mess. Watch this video to see the quarter dispenser in action. Here is the 1915 patent which this is (loosely) based on.