U.S. patent application number 13/705749 was filed with the patent office on 2013-07-04 for bill acceptor for a gaming machine.
The applicant listed for this patent is James Rist. Invention is credited to James Rist.
Application Number | 20130173053 13/705749 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 21798863 |
Filed Date | 2013-07-04 |
United States Patent
Application |
20130173053 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Rist; James |
July 4, 2013 |
Bill Acceptor For a Gaming Machine
Abstract
A bill acceptor 24.2 for a gaming machine includes a receiving
zone for receiving a tendered bill. A sensing device 48 is arranged
at an input region of the receiving zone for sensing at least one
characteristic of the bill A controller 52 is in communication with
the sensing device 48 for receiving an output signal from the
sensing device 48. An annunciator 58 is controlled by the
controller 52 to be activated when a bill acceptance rate of the
controller 52 drops below a predetermined threshold.
Inventors: |
Rist; James; (Lane Cove,
AU) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Rist; James |
Lane Cove |
|
AU |
|
|
Family ID: |
21798863 |
Appl. No.: |
13/705749 |
Filed: |
December 5, 2012 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
13030783 |
Feb 18, 2011 |
8348751 |
|
|
13705749 |
|
|
|
|
10020484 |
Dec 12, 2001 |
7677969 |
|
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13030783 |
|
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
700/241 ;
194/302; 340/540 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G07F 17/3234 20130101;
G07D 7/00 20130101; G07F 17/32 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
700/241 ;
340/540; 194/302 |
International
Class: |
G07D 7/00 20060101
G07D007/00 |
Claims
1. A bill acceptor for a gaming machine, the bill acceptor
comprising a receiving zone for receiving a bill; a sensing device
at an input region of the receiving zone for sensing at least one
characteristic of the bill; a controller in communication with the
sensing device for receiving an output signal from the sensing
device; and an annunciator controlled by the controller to be
activated when a bill acceptance rate of the controller drops below
a predetermined threshold.
2. The bill acceptor of claim 1, in which the receiving zone
incorporates a platen on which the bill is received and a slot at
an end of the platen into which the bill is to be inserted.
3. The bill acceptor of claim 2, in which the sensing device is
arranged inwardly of the slot.
4. The bill acceptor of claim 1, in which the sensing device senses
at least one of optical, magnetic and dimensional characteristics
of the bill.
5. The bill acceptor of claim 2, in which the receiving zone
includes an attracting means for indicating to a patron where the
bill is to be inserted into the slot.
6. The bill acceptor of claim 5, in which the attracting means
comprises an array of illuminating elements arranged in the platen
of the receiving zone.
7. The bill acceptor of claim 6, in which the annunciator is
arranged in the receiving zone.
8. The bill acceptor of claim 7, in which the controller causes the
array of illuminating elements to be illuminated in a
predetermined, first pattern and the annunciator is implemented in
the form of an illumination of the illuminating elements in a
second, different pattern.
9. The bill acceptor of claim 8, in which the second pattern is
activated after completion of the first pattern when the bill
acceptance rate has dropped below said predetermined threshold.
10. The bill acceptor of claim 1, in which, when the controller is
connected to a network, a network monitoring system monitors the
acceptance rate of bills by the controller and activates an alarm
means when the acceptance rate drop below the predetermined
threshold.
11. A method of operating a bill acceptor of a gaming machine, the
method including the steps of: sensing at least one characteristic
of a bill inserted into the bill acceptor; monitoring a bill
acceptance rate by a controller; and activating an annunciator when
the bill acceptance rate drops below a predetermined threshold.
12. The method of claim 11, which includes energising illuminating
elements of the bill acceptor in a predetermine pattern and, when
the bill acceptance rate drops below said threshold, energising the
illuminating elements in a second, different pattern, said second
pattern of illumination of the illuminating elements serving as the
annunciator.
13. The method of claim 12, in which the second pattern of
illumination of the illuminating elements follows completion of the
first pattern.
14. The method of claim 11, which includes transmitting a signal on
a network to which the gaming machine is connected to a network
monitoring system to activate an alarm means when the bill
acceptance rate drops below said predetermined threshold.
Description
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of application Ser. No.
13/030,783 which was filed on Feb. 18, 2011, which is a
continuation of co-pending application Ser. No. 10/020,484 which
was filed on Dec. 21, 2001, which are hereby incorporated by
reference herein in its entirety.
FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
[0002] [Not Applicable]
MICROFICHE/COPYRIGHT REFERENCE
[0003] [Not Applicable]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0004] This invention relates to a gaming machine. More
particularly, the invention relates to a bill acceptor for a gaming
machine and to a method of operating a bill acceptor of a gaming
machine.
[0005] It is becoming more and more prevalent for gaming machines
to accept "paper" money or bank notes from players wishing to play
gaming machines. As a result, more and more gaming machines include
bill acceptors for such bank notes.
[0006] It is important that a bill acceptor be extremely accurately
set to ensure that the insertion of false or counterfeit bank notes
is kept to a minimum thereby minimising losses which the gaming
machine operator may suffer.
[0007] Because the bill acceptor is a sensitive item, it may have a
tendency to have a high rejection rate. As a result, a gaming
machine equipped with such a bill acceptor may not be frequented by
players wishing to use bank notes due to the rejection of the bank
notes by the bill acceptor.
[0008] It is also desirable that, should one wish to alert a
technician to the fact that a bill acceptor may be malfunctioning,
it be done in a discrete manner so as not to disturb a player
playing that gaming machine who may have been using another form of
credit such as coins, tokens, cards, or the like.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0009] According to a first aspect of the invention, there is
provided a bill acceptor for a gaming machine, the bill acceptor
comprising:
[0010] a receiving zone for receiving a bill;
[0011] a sensing device at an input region of the receiving zone
for sensing at least one characteristic of the bill;
[0012] a controller in communication with the sensing device for
receiving an output signal from the sensing device; and
[0013] an annunciator controlled by the controller to be activated
when a bill acceptance rate of the controller drops below a
predetermined threshold.
[0014] The term "bill" is to be understood in this specification,
unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, as a form of paper
currency such as a bank note. Further, the term "bill acceptance
rate" as it is used in this, specification is to be understood,
unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, as the number of
bills which are accepted in a batch of bills tendered to the gaming
machine. It does not refer to the speed with which the controller
accepts or rejects a tendered bill.
[0015] The receiving zone may incorporate a platen on which the
bill is received and a slot at an end of the platen into which the
bill is to be inserted. The platen may be arranged in a midtrim of
the machine.
[0016] The sensing device may be arranged within the machine,
inwardly of the slot. The sensing device may sense at least one of
optical, magnetic and dimensional characteristics of the bill. In
use, more than one of these characteristics may be sensed by the
sensing device to reduce the prevalence of fraudulent or
counterfeit bills.
[0017] The receiving zone may include an attracting means for
indicating to a patron where the bill is to be inserted into the
slot. The attracting means may comprise an array of illuminating
elements arranged in the platen of the receiving zone.
[0018] In addition, the annunciator may also be arranged in the
receiving zone.
[0019] The controller may cause the array of illuminating elements
to be illuminated in a predetermined, first pattern and the
annunciator may be implemented in the form of an illumination of
the illuminating elements in a second, different pattern. The
illuminating elements may be, for example, light emitting diodes
(LED's). The LED's may be arranged in two rows. The rows may
converge towards the slot. The first pattern may comprise
sequential energising of corresponding LED's in each row followed
by sequential de-energising of the corresponding LED's in each row.
This may then constitute the first pattern. Upon completion of the
first pattern, all the LED's may be energised so that they are all
simultaneously illuminated and this may constitute the second
pattern being the implementation of the annunciator.
[0020] Accordingly, the second pattern may be activated after
completion of the first pattern when the bill acceptance rate has
dropped below said predetermined threshold. This predetermined
threshold may be set as desired by an operator of the gaming
machine. For example, the threshold may be a bill acceptance rate
of about 70% to 90% of tendered bills, preferably about 75% to 85%
of tendered bills and, optimally, about 80% of tendered bills.
[0021] The gaming machine may be connected to a network. When the
controller of such a gaming machine is connected to the network, a
network monitoring system may monitor the acceptance rate of bills
by the controller and may activate an alarm means when the
acceptance rate drops below the predetermined threshold. This gives
venue operating and service personnel an on-line and immediate
indicator of the performance of the bill acceptor of the gaming
machine. The monitoring system may activate a visual or audible
alarm indicating the need for attention to the bill acceptor.
[0022] According to a second aspect of the invention, there is
provided a method of operating a bill acceptor of a gaming machine,
the method including the steps of:
[0023] sensing at least one characteristic of a bill inserted into
the bill acceptor;
[0024] monitoring a bill acceptance rate by a controller; and
[0025] activating an annunciator when the bill acceptance rate
drops below a predetermined threshold.
[0026] The method may include energising illuminating elements of
the bill acceptor in a predetermined pattern and, when the bill
acceptance rate drops below said threshold, energising the
illuminating elements in a second, different pattern, said second
pattern of illumination of the illuminating elements serving as the
annunciator. The second pattern of illumination of the illuminating
elements may follow completion of the first pattern.
[0027] As indicated above, when the gaming machine is connected to
a network, the method may include transmitting a signal on the
network to which the gaming machine is connected to a network
monitoring system to activate an alarm means when the bill
acceptance rate drops below said predetermined threshold.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
[0028] The invention is now described by way of example with
reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
[0029] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a gaming machine;
[0030] FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of a control circuit of the
gaming machine;
[0031] FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of a controller of a bill
acceptor of the gaming machine;
[0032] FIG. 4 shows a sequence of illumination of illuminating
elements of the bill acceptor of the gaming machine; and
[0033] FIG. 5 shows operation of an annunciator of the bill
acceptor of the gaming machine.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0034] In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 generally designates a
gaming machine, including a game, in accordance with the invention.
The machine 10 includes a console 12 having a video display unit 14
on which a game 16 is played, in use. The game 16 is a spinning
reel game which simulates the rotation of a number of spinning
reels 18. A midtrim 20 of the machine 10 houses a bank 22 of
buttons for enabling a player to play the game 16. The midtrim 20
also houses a credit input mechanism 24 including a coin input
chute 24.1 and a bill collector 24.2. The mechanism 24 may, in
addition to the coin input chute 24.1 and the bill collector 24.2,
include a credit card reader (not shown) or any other type of
validation device.
[0035] The machine 10 includes a top box 26 on which artwork 28 is
carried. The artwork 28 includes paytables, details of bonus
awards, etc.
[0036] A coin tray 30 is mounted beneath the console 12 for cash
payouts from the machine 10.
[0037] Referring to FIG. 2 of the drawings, a control means or
control circuit 32 is illustrated. A program which implements the
game and user interface is run on a processor 34 of the control
circuit 32. The processor 34 forms part of a controller 36 which
drives the screen of the video display unit 14 and which receives
input signals from sensors 38. The sensors 38 include sensors
associated with the bank 22 of buttons and touch sensors mounted in
the screen. The controller 36 also receives input pulses from the
mechanism 24 indicating that a player has provided sufficient
credit to commence playing.
[0038] Finally, the controller 36 drives a payout mechanism 40
which, for example, may be a coin hopper for feeding coins to the
coin tray 30 to make a pay out to a player when the player wishes
to redeem his or her credit.
[0039] The bill acceptor 24.2 includes a platen 42 leading to an
input slot 44. An illuminating means in the form of an array of
light emitting diodes (LED's) 46 is arranged in the platen 42 of
the bill acceptor 24.2.
[0040] The bill acceptor 24.2 further includes a sensing device in
the form of a sensor array 48 (FIG. 3). The sensor array 48 senses
optical, magnetic and dimensional characteristics or properties of
a bill tendered to the bill acceptor 24.2 of the gaming machine 10.
The sensor array 48 outputs signals on line 50 to a controller 52.
The controller 52 is a bill acceptor controller and communicates
with the controller 34 of the gaming machine 10.
[0041] The controller 52 includes a group of counters 54. A first
counter of the group of counters 54 is incremented each time a bill
is accepted by the bill acceptor 24.2.
[0042] Accordingly, when a bill is tendered to the bill acceptor
24.2 by being placed on the platen 42 it is received in the slot 44
and is drawn into the sensor array 48 by a transport motor 56 under
the action of the controller 52. The bill is then sensed by the
sensor array 48 which determines whether or not its optical,
magnetic and dimensional properties meet the required criteria. If
the bill is accepted, the transport motor 56 is again energised
which feeds the bill to a receptacle (not shown) contained within
the console 12 of the gaming machine 10. The first counter of the
group of counters 54 is incremented by one.
[0043] Conversely, if the sensor array 48 determines that the bill
is unacceptable, the transport motor 56 is operated in the reverse
direction and the note is ejected from the slot 44 of the bill
acceptor 24.2. A second counter of the group of counters 54 is
incremented by one.
[0044] After each tender of a bill, the controller 52 updates its
calculation of the bill acceptance rate (BAR) according to the
formula:
BAR(%)[A/(A+R)].times.100%,
where A=value of first counter of the group of counters 54; and
R=value of second counter of the group of counters 54.
[0045] When the acceptance rate as determined by the controller 52
is at or above the predetermined threshold, for example, a BAR of
80%, the array of LED's 46 of the bill acceptor 24.2 is energised
in a predetermined, first pattern under the action of the
controller controlling a lighting system 58.
[0046] A typical pattern is as shown in FIG. 4 of the drawings and
is designated generally by the reference numeral 60. The array 46
comprises eight LED's 62 arranged in two converging rows 64. The
rows 64 converge towards the slot 44 of the bill acceptor 24.2.
[0047] Under the control of the lighting system 58, in State 0, all
of the LED's 62 remain de-energised. Thereafter, in a first state,
the first LED 62 in each row is energised. By "first" is meant
those LED's furthest from the slot 44. In the second state, the
first LED's 62 remain energised and the second LED's 62 are also
energised. Similarly, in the third and fourth states the third LED
62 in each row 64 and fourth LED 62 in each row 64 are energised,
respectively. In State 5, the first LED's 62 are de-energised while
the remaining LED's 62 in each row remain energised. In the sixth
state, the second LED 62 in each row 64 is de-energised and in the
seventh state the third LED 62 in each row is de-energised.
[0048] It will be appreciated that this happens reasonably quickly
to create the impression of the LED's 62 being illuminated towards
the slot 44 to create the impression of something being fed towards
the slot 44 to act as an attracting means to a patron wishing to
insert a bill into the bill acceptor 24.2.
[0049] When the BAR is above the predetermined threshold, the
pattern 64 continues indefinitely.
[0050] However, when the BAR drops below the predetermined
threshold, upon completion of the pattern 60, a new pattern (as
shown by reference numeral 66 in FIG. 5 of the drawings) is
interposed between States 7 and 0. In other words, once the last
LED 62 in each row 64 of the array 46 has been energised as in the
case of State 7, all the LED's 62 in each row 64 are energised
before they are all de-energised as is shown for State 0. This new
pattern 66 continues to be inter posed between State 7 and State 0
for as long as the BAR remains below the predetermined
threshold.
[0051] With this arrangement, a technician can, by monitoring the
pattern 60, determine whether or not the BAR of the controller 52
is above the required threshold and, if not, is alerted by the
annunciator as implemented by the pattern 66 to take the
appropriate remedial action.
[0052] It is an advantage of the invention that the pattern 66,
which functions as the annunciator for the technician, is discrete
and that a player playing the gaming machine 10 using other means
of credit input, such as coins or a card, is not disturbed by the
change in pattern on the bill acceptor 24.2.
[0053] The gaming machine 10 may be connected to a network in the
venue. In that case, the controller 52 feeds information regarding
the BAR to a venue network system 68 (FIG. 3) via a network
communications line 70. The system 68 then gives venue operating
and service personnel an on-line and immediate indicator of the
performance of the bill acceptor 24.2 of each gaming machine 10
enabling remedial action to be taken in an expedited manner when
the BAR of any gaming machine in the network drops below the
predetermined threshold. The system 68 could, for example, activate
a visual or audible alarm (not shown) indicating the need for
attention to a bill acceptor 24.2 of any gaming machine on the
network.
[0054] It is an advantage of the invention that a discrete
arrangement is provided for determining the bill acceptance rate of
a bill acceptor 24.2 of a gaming machine 10, whether networked or
not. It will be appreciated that if the controller 52 has a too
high rejection rate of bills, the revenue received by the venue in
which the gaming machine 10 is installed could be adversely
affected as players may not have coins to play the machine instead.
Accordingly, it is important that, when a bill acceptor 24.2 of a
gaming machine 10 has an unacceptable high rejection rate, remedial
action can be taken urgently.
[0055] In addition, the manner in which a technician is alerted to
a malfunctioning bill acceptor 24.2 takes place in a discrete
manner using the invention so that patrons are not disturbed in
their playing of the gaming machine.
* * * * *