Automatic World

AUTOMATIC
June, 1932
WORLD
HelpFul Hints For Operators
By MORRIS MAYNOR, Jr.
THOSE MANY KEYS
D
O YOUR keys cause you a
great deal of trouble? Most
operators I find have a great
deal of trou ble fin ding the right key
for the lock that is to be open ed, at
the right time. H e generally has to
try a ll the way from one to some-
times as many as twenty keys be-
fore he finds t he one that fits his
lock.
On my route I have three rings
of keys. Many of the keys are sim-
ilar but no two are alike. F or a
long t ime I had much tro uble and
confusion ev·e ry time I had to open
one of my machines, so that is why
I am passing this word of advice to
my fe llow operators.
I have devised a color scheme from
my collection of lacquer and paint
which I use to reto uch up the f inish
on my machines when they need it.
I have my key rings col ored as fol-
lows: On e yellow, one green, on e
red. This gives me a start on divid-
ing my keys. Now take the yellow
ring and ·e very lock that I have a
key for on this ring I made a small
yellow circle. N ext I made a small
green circle on the locks that the
keys on the red ring fit. Now when
I go to a machine one glance at the
lock will tell me which ring the key
to fit that lock is on. With three
rings of keys this automatically re-
duces the number of possible try
and errors to one-third. If you have
mor·e than three rin gs just add more
colors to your collection.
Now for further classification with
color. The next step I took, and I
would -advise you to do likewise, was
to take my yellow ring with all of the
locks and with the yellow circles on
them and mark them as follows : The
fil'st key and lock that fit, mark the
lock with a small narrow mark be-
side the yellow circle, a n d on the
key to this lock just make one yel-
low mark as near as possible like the
second mark on the lock. The mark-
ing on the lock should appear when
finished with a yellow circle and on e
mark of yellow. The key to this lock
has only the yellow mark as the yel-
low rin g to which it is attached takes
t he meaning of the yellow circle.
The next key a n d lock are n ow
marked with a nother color- we'll say
green.
This combination when
properly marked would be as fol-
lows: On the lock a yellow circle and
a green mark; on the key to this lock
there would be only a green mark
like the one on the lock. Each lock
and key are then similarly marked
with different colors. If there are
Seven teen
more keys on the ring than you have
colors, then you can double up on
your colors or your number of marks,
or both. That is, have two marks of
the same color or differen t colors,
or change the design of the marks
completely. Some changes in marks
after the circles can be as follows:
One horizontal mark, two horizon-
tal marks" etc.; one horizontal a nd
·one perpendicular; two perpendicu-
lar; a cross or X, etc. Now the same
marks may be repeated on the key
( Cont inued on P age 24)
Every Operator
Likes to Deal with
W.J. c.
Vending Co.
Because . - - He
knows he'll get faster,
mor e efficient and courteous service as well
as lower prices.
Four
Branches
to
Serve
We Don't Brag but - .. Just write in
and find out why so many operators are daily
buying from "W. J . C." and no one else.
You'll soon learn why we hav·e been able to
expand to four branches.
You
Service-Plus . - .
Operators
deal with us because they get their
in a hurry. We don't "stall" the
off by carrying just one sample
Machines advertised are already
ready for immediate delivery.
like to
machin es
operator
machine.
in stock
F OR THIS MO NT H ONLY
MIXED LOT BARGAIN
of the better known, and more profitable pin
games. This great bargain is outstanding in
the industry today because no other jobber or
manufacturer has yet dared to offer a nything
like it.
Don't Forget
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