As a locksmith we often get to work on safes and all kinds of locks, this week we had a cash box from a slot machine.
I have no clue as to what machine or how the whole thing works, as I did not have to remove it from the machine, but we were able to make a key and get the lock working with the key.
Its always interesting to see how the mechanisms work and how the box stacks the cash and keeps it safe.
The box itself is very interesting, the design is from years and years of continual modification until we have the design as seen in the video.
Everything from the little windows to view the cash to the locking system has been designed very well for security and strength.
The rest of the box has special clips and buttons for mounting and monitoring.
From what I can see when looking over the cash box is that the note is fed into the slot, assisted by some rollers at the front that are working off cogs located at the front next to the note slot.
There is no motor in the box so the motors are located in the machine and marry up to the cogs in the box when reinserted into the machine.
The note is then inside the box resting on a ledge on the left and right of the note.
This is the interesting part, then a rectangle part located in the middle below the note is then extended on a scissor lift mechanism to move the note past the ledge it’s sitting on, once it clears the ledge the note is then pushed down by two big springs located above that supply pressure to the top of the notes, keeping them all flat and compact.
Once a new note is inserted the process repeats and the notes stack up inside the box and can be viable threw the small window in the box.
The engineering to design such a box would have been done over the years with improvements being added, this seems to be the current version that is still in use today.
We were not able to see the rest of the locks used on this type of machine, we only had the cash box to make a key for.
The lock on the cash drawer is not a high-security lock but does offer more security them most standard cam locks, the idea is that the machine is built very strong and has high-security locks on the machine, so there is no need to use high-security locks internally.
Most machines would have some other alarm system, so the chances of a thief getting to the cash box are very low, and getting any money out of it is even lower.
The cash box is often the most guarded part of the machine as it’s filled with cash most of the time. This time it’s empty and we get to have a look.
If you need keys for a lock or item like this, please take it to your local Locksmith shop, we do not have a retail shop, so we can not offer this service over the counter.
The only way we can make keys for an item like this is if you send us photos first and then post them to our locksmith to work on. The process does take time.