GB2320353A

GB2320353A - A demountable cash register housing

Info

Publication number: GB2320353A
Application number: GB9716590A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Tsung-Kan Cheng
Original assignee: Mustek Corp
Current assignee: Mustek Corp
Priority date: 1996-12-11
Filing date: 1997-08-05
Publication date: 1998-06-17
Anticipated expiration: 2017-08-05
Also published as: GB9716590D0; CN2281571Y; GB2320353B

Abstract

A demountable cash register housing structure comprises a lower housing 1 and an upper housing 2. The upper housing 2 further comprises a front upper housing 3 and a rear upper housing 4. The rear upper housing 4 is provided at two inner side wall surfaces with a plurality of inward projected retaining blocks 41, each of said retaining blocks being formed with a through hole 42. The lower housing 1 is likewise provided at two outer side wall surfaces with a plurality of openings 11, each having an associated plate 12 on which a through hole 13 is formed, and each said opening 11 receives a retaining block 41 therein. The through holes 42,13 of the retaining blocks 41 and the plates 12 are aligned, so that two elongated rods 5 can be extended through the holes 42,13 to lock the rear upper and the lower housing together. The front upper housing 3 is attached to the rear upper housing 4 using hooks 32 and rim 43 respectively. A lock 33 is provided at a front surface of the front upper housing 3 to lock it to the lower housing 1. The whole housing can therefore be easily assembled and dissembled.

Description

A CASH REGISTER HOUSING STRUCTURE ALLOWING QUICK ASSEMBLING AND DISASSEMBLING BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a cash register housing sturcture which can be easily and quickly assembled and disassembled without the risk of damaging internal parts of the cash register.

Generally, a cash register includes an upper housing and a lower housing. All kinds of necessary parts and circuits of the cash register are mounted in the lower housing. To assemble and fasten the upper housing to the lower housing, a plurality of screws are upward screwed from the lower housing to the upper housing.

In case of an aftersales service or troubleshooting, the upper housing must be removed from the cash register to check or repair the internal parts or circuits. Since the upper housing is locked to the lower housing by screws, it is necessary to loosen the screws before removing the upper housing. Moreover, since the screws are upward screwed from the lower housing to the upper housing, the whole heavy cash register must be turned over to access the festening screws.

This is of course very inconvenient and dangerous and will very possibly damage the internal parts and circuits of the cash register. When the service or repair is done, the heavy cash register must be turned over again to fasten the screws and causes the same danger to the cash register.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a cash register housing structure which allows upper and lower housing of the cash register to be quickly and conveniently assembled and disassembled without the need' of fastening or loosening screws. Nor does the heavy cash register need to be dangerously turned over.

The cash register housing structure according to the present invention includes a lower housing and an upper housing.

The upper housing further includes a front upper housing and a rear upper housing. The rear upper housing is provided at two inner side wall surfaces with a plurality of inward projected retaining blocks. Each of the retaining blocks is formed with a through hole. The lower housing is formed at its rear half at two outer side wall surfaces with a plurality of openings to each receive a retaining block therein. The openings each have an associated plate on which a through hole is also formed. The through holes of the retaining blocks and of the plates associated with the openings at each side of the upper and the lower housing align with one another, so that two elongated rods can be extended through the holes to lock the rear upper and the lower housing together. A lock is provided at a front surface of the front upper housing to lock it to the lower housing. The whole housing can be easily disassembled simply by pulling out of the two elongated rods from the upper and the lower housings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The structure, the features, and the function of the present invention can be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings, wherein Fig. 1 is an exploded perspective of the present invention; Fig. 2 is a perspective of the present invention wherein the rear upper housing has been assembled to the lower housing of the cash register; and Fig. 3 is a perspective of the present invention in an assembled state.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Please refer to Figs. 1 to 3. The present invention relates to a housing structure for a cash register. The housing of the cash register includes a lower housing 1 and an upper housing 2. All kinds of necessary parts and circuits (not shown) of the cash register are mounted inside the lower housing 1. The upper housing 2 further includes a front upper housing 3 and a rear upper housing 4 forming a front half and a rear half of the upper housing 2, respectively.

The rear upper housing 4 also corresponds to a rear half of the lower housing 1. The rear upper housing 4 is provided at two inner side wall surfaces with a plurality of inward projected retaining blocks 41. Each of the retaining blocks 41 is formed with a through hole 42 which extend parallelly to the side walls of the rear upper housing 4 and in alignment with one another. The lower housing 1 is formed at its rear half at two outer side wall surfaces with a plurality of openings 11 corresponding to the retaining blocks 41 on the rear upper housing 4. The openings 11 are so formed that a plate 12 outward projects from an end of each of the openings 11. Each of the plates 12 is formed with a through hole 13 axially corresponding to the through holes 42 of the retaining blocks 41. The front upper housing 3 is provided at a top surface with a key pad 31 and at a rear edge with more than one hooks 32 for hooking to a rib 43 formed at an inner front edge of the rear upper housing 4. The front upper housing 3 corresponds to a front half of the lower housing 1 and is provided at a front surface with a lock 33 to lock the front upper housing 3 to the lower housing 1.

To assemble the present invention, first cover the rear upper housing 4 over the rear half of the lower housing 1.

Due to a flexibility of the rear upper housing 4 which has a downward opening, the retaining blocks 41 of the rear upper housing 4 can be slightly forced to engage into a corresponding openings 11 on the lower housing 1, allowing the through holes 42 of the retaining blocks 41 at each side to align with the through holes 13 of the plates 12 at the same side. At this point, two elongated latching rods 5 are threaded through the aligned through holes 42 and 13 at two sides of the rear upper housing 4 and the lower housing 1 and thereby lock the rear upper housing 4 and the lower housing 1 together. Then, cover the front upper housing 3 over the front half of the lower housing 1 and lock the lock 33 to fixedly connect the front upper housing 3 to the lower housing 1. And, the assembling of the whole cash register housing is now completed.

To disassemble the housing of cash register for the purpose of maintenance or repair, simply do the above steps in the reverse order. That is, unlock the lock 33 to remove the front upper housing 3 from the lower housing 1; pull out the two elongated latching rods 5 to release the rear upper housing 4 from the lower housing 1; and exert a small force to remove the rear upper housing 4 from the lower housing 1.

All the above described assembling and disassembling steps can be done with the cash register completely in its normal position. No screw is required to lock different parts of the housing. The heavy cash register need not to be turned over for loosening any screw from a bottom thereof. With the present invention, the cash register can be safely and effortlessly assembled or disassembled directly from a front side thereof without damaging its internal parts or circuits.

Claims

What is claimed is:

A cash register housing structure, comprising: a lower housing being formed at a rear half at two outer side wall surfaces with a plurality of openings, said opening each having a plate outward projected from one end of said opening, and said plate each having a through hole formed thereon; a rear upper housing corresponding to the rear half of said lower housing for covering thereover, said rear upper housing being provided at two inner side wall surfaces with a plurality of retaining blocks corresponding to said outer side wall openings of said lower housing, such that each of said retaining block can be forced to engage into one of said opening; said retaining block each being formed with a through hole to align with said through hole formed on each said plate associated with each opening on said lower housing; two elongated latching rods being separately threaded through said through holes at two side walls of said rear upper housing and said lower housing to lock said rear upper housing and said lower housing together; and a front upper housing corresponding to a front half of said lower housing for covering thereover, said front upper housing being provided at a rear edge with more than one hook to hook at a rib formed at a lower front edge of said rear upper housing, and at a front surface with a lock for locking said front upper housing to said lower housing.
2. A cash register housing structure substantially as herein described with reference to and/or as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.