BANKING / FINANCE

Commercial Guardian, an Anaheim manufacturer of automated cash registers, has picked up $1.5 million from a Los Angeles venture capital firm to pay for further research and development and to study market penetration.

Commercial Guardian’s product is billed as the next evolution in the cash register--a no-access cash drawer that operates much like a safe. Currency and coins are deposited into the drawer, and any change due a customer is automatically emitted.

The process is aimed at cutting down both on employee error and theft and discouraging robberies, said David B. Jones, a partner in InterVen Partners, the venture firm.

With its $1.5-million investment, InterVen Partners acquired a “substantial minority” interest in the company, Jones said. He would not specify the exact amount.

Commercial Guardian’s management bought control of the company last year from the company’s former parent, ice cream maker Baskin-Robbins, which had invested more than $20 million in developing the technology and now owns less than 10% of its former subsidiary. InterVen and Baskin-Robbins together own less than 50% of Commercial Guardian, Jones said.