At the lower end of the runway 63 is provided a laterally movable receptacle 64, which has a receiving capacity of one ball only. Said receptacle comprises a base 65 and perpendicular stop 66. The base 65 is connected to the floor member 54b of the runway 63 by a horizontally disposed hinge 67, and to it is also affixed a plate 68, carrying a downwardly extending lever arm 69, which is formed at its lower extremity with an outwardly curving portion 70, which is adapted to engage with the spokes 25 of the wheel 24 and be thereby pressed inwardly, the result of which is to depress the outer end of the base 65 of the ball receptacle 64, inclining the same in such position that the ball therein will fall into the adjacent pocket of the wheel 24, the ball being prevented from falling therefrom on the opposite side by the stop 71 secured to the standard 16ª. The center of gravity of the lever arm 69 is such that when the curved lower portion is in its normal forwardly extended position the rear side of the base 65 of the receptacle 64 will be depressed and the forward side elevated, so that the forward side will normally project above the floor level of the runway 63 and serve as a stop to prevent more than one ball occupying any of the space within said receptacle at one time.
The ball-storage runways 51 comprise inclined floor members 72, 72ª, 72b, each having a slight downward inclination longitudinally in the direction of the arrows. They also comprise longitudinally extending walls 73,
74, 75 and 76, one end of the wall 73 being curved to meet one end of the wall 75, leaving a passageway 77 between it and one end of the wall 74. One end of the wall 76 is similarly curved to meet one end of the wall 74, leaving a passageway 78 between it and the other end of the wall 75. There are thus formed parallel runways 79, 80 and 81, with passageways from one to the other, whereby a ball deposited at the other end of the runway 79 will move continuously from that end of the series of runways to the other end. The runway 79 is provided with an end wall 82, and adjacent thereto the longitudinal wall 76 is provided with an opening 76ª to permit the passage therethrough, at intervals, of balls from the power-transmission wheel 24 to the runway 79. Adjacent the wall 82 is perpendicularly disposed pin 82ª whereby the balls, as they pass through the opening in the wall 76 are deflected to pass through the runway 79 in the direction of the arrow.
At the lower end of the runway 81 is provided a laterally movable receptacle 83, which has a receiving capacity for one ball only. Said receptacle comprises a base 84 and end stop 85. Said receptacle is horizontally hinged at 86 to the floor member 72 of the runway 81, and is provided with an outward extension 87, which is adapted to be engaged by a shoulder 88 on the ball pockets 22, and thereby depress the outer edge of the base of the receptacle in such a way as to eject the ball therefrom, and place the same in the pocket of the wheel 19.
It will be seen that the hinge 86 (Fig. 19) is off center and when the base 84 of the receptacle 83 is depressed at the rear the upper end of a pin 89, projecting upwardly from the base 84 contacts with the upper portion of the wall 74, thereby preventing the rear portion of the base being depressed too low. When a ball is in said receptacle, the forward end will be elevated so that a portion of the side edge of the base will be projected above the floor member of the runway 81, serving as a stop to prevent more than one ball occupying any of the space within said receptacle. When one ball moves into a pocket 22, another ball quickly moves into the receptacle, taking its position at the rear thereof. This operation takes place when the base 84 is level with the floor member of the runway 81, the outer end of the base rising as soon as the pocket and its ball have passed by the projection 87.
It will be seen that the energy-storing wheel 19, which takes its motive power through the shaft 18 from the expansion coils, acts to raise the balls or weights from the lower ball runways 51 to the ball storage runways 50. The wheel 19 may act at more or less irregular intervals, while the power transmission wheel 24 acts—and must act—continuously and regularly. This wheel takes and transmits power from the lowering of the balls, which are delivered to it when the pockets are in the position of the one shown uppermost in [Fig. 15], and are discharged from the pockets when in the position of the one shown lowermost in said figure, in which position of the wheel the approximately flat surface of the pocket (Fig. 18) is lowermost, or under the ball, permitting ready discharge of same. From the delivery side of the power transmission wheel 24 the balls are discharged into the runway 79, being deflected into proper direction by the pin 83ª, thence passing through the passageway 78 through the runway 80 in the direction of the arrow, thence through the opening 77 into the runway 81, thence into receptacle 83, and when the shoulder 88 of the energy-storing wheel 19 reaches a point opposite said receptacle the base of the latter is depressed, which results in passing a ball into the wheel pocket; as the wheel turns and the next pocket arrives in position another ball is taken on, and so on, as long as there are any balls in the lower runway. When a ball on the wheel 19 reaches the uppermost position, as shown in Fig. 16, it contacts with the ejector 63ª and is thereby passed into the runway 61 and thence to the lower end of that series of runways, and in the same way the balls following will take position in the upper series of runways.