In a single conveyor tube banking service pneumatic tube system of a type having a conveyor tube extending between a teller terminal and a remote customer terminal supplied with vacuum or pressure from system blower and air shifter units to transport a carrier between such terminals;
- the improvement in which the customer terminal includes:
- (1) walls forming a terminal housing, and an access opening formed in one of the housing walls;
- (2) means connecting a horizontally extending axis end of a system conveyor tube to an opening in another housing wall;
- (3) a door, a cradle pivotally mounted on the door on a horizontal axis, the cradle-door assembly being pivotally mounted on the housing on a horizontal axis spaced from and parallel with both the cradle pivot axis and the conveyor tube axis to form a closure for the access opening movable between closed and open positions;
- (4) the cradle having a bottom ramp wall, and having first and second spaced side walls and first and second spaced end walls projecting from the bottom ramp wall to form a cradle pocket on said ramp wall, said first side wall being located adjacent the cradle pivot axis and having a semicircular shape in cross section formed on an axis coinciding with the conveyor tube axis when the cradle-door assembly is closed, said cradle end walls being perpendicular to said semicircular side wall axis, a circular carrier entrance opening formed in said first cradle end wall on a center lying in the coinciding semicircular wall and conveyor tube axes when the cradle-door assembly is closed, and an opening of reduced size with respect to said carrier entrance opening formed in said second cradle end wall aligned with said carrier entrance opening;
- (5) a clamshell-like closure member pivotally mounted in said housing having a generally semicircular wall extending in one direction from said pivot mounting and having an internal curved surface formed on a diameter approximating that of the inner surface curvature of said semicircular cradle side wall, the closure member pivot mounting being spaced from but parallel with the cradle-door assembly pivot axis, said closure member having a portion extending in a second direction from said pivot mounting engaging said semicircular cradle wall when the cradle-door assembly is closed, holding said closure member in position to complete the formation inside the housing of a tubular extension of said conveyor tube, and means biasing said closure member away from said tube extending position when the cradle is disengaged from the closure member during opening movement of said cradle-door assembly;
- (6) power means for moving the cradle-door assembly between open and closed positions;
- (7) the cradle ramp wall extending downwardly at an angle with respect to the horizontal from said access opening when the cradle-door assembly is in open position;
- (8) a carrier discharged from the conveyor tube through said carrier entrance opening into the cradle pocket when the cradle-door assembly is in closed position rolling along said ramp wall in said pocket to said second side wall when the cradle-door assembly is moved from closed to open position;
- (9) said second pocket side wall acting as a carrier retainer wall when cradle-door assembly is in open position;
- and
- (10) a carrier when placed in said cradle pocket resting against said retainer wall when the cradle-door assembly is in open position rolling along said ramp wall to said semicircular cradle side wall as the cradle-door assembly is moved from open to closed position.