EP0305176A1

EP0305176A1 - Amusement apparatus

Info

Publication number: EP0305176A1
Application number: EP88307866A
Authority: EP
Inventors: William John Askew
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1987-08-27
Filing date: 1988-08-25
Publication date: 1989-03-01
Also published as: GB8720230D0

Abstract

An amusement apparatus for playing a game of skill using coins to obtain a reward is described. The apparatus comprises a casing (1) with an illuminated display (2). The coins are placed in slots (4) and engage a striker plate (5) at the rear of the slots to slow down the speed of the coins directed onto a sloping playing surface (6). The surface (6) has a plurality of "win" apertures (8,9 and 10) connected with rear tubes leading to a forward pay out slot (18). Coins missing the "win" apertures pass into a "losing" slot (12) at the base of the surface (6), along a channel (13) to a collecting box (14). A panel (21) is spaced from the surface (6) to prevent the coins from rolling or bouncing. Micro-switches (19) are provided to operate a logic board delivering a reward from the coin hopper.

Description

This invention relates to an amusement apparatus and more particularly to a game of skill using coins or tokens to obtain a reward.
Various amusement apparatuses are known which utilize coins or other tokens in a game of skill or chance in which the coins or tokens fall in a vertical direction and/or roll horizontally to a winning or losing destination.
An aim of the present invention is to provide an amusement apparatus which provides a greater control of the coin or token during its path to its winning or losing destination.
According to the present invention there is provided an amusement apparatus comprising a sloping playing surface, one or more apertures at the upper end of the playing surface for receiving coins or tokens directed onto the playing surface, a plurality of apertures formed in the playing surface through which the coins or tokens pass to outlet means at the lower end of the playing surface to issue as a reward.
Preferably, the apertures in the sloping playing surface correspond to the peripheral shape of the coin or token.
An embodiment of the amusement apparatus ,according to the invention,will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which;

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the amusement apparatus,and
Figure 2 is a vertical section taken along the line II-II of Figure 1.

The amusement apparatus comprises an outer casing 1 with an illuminated display panel 2 on its front surface. Below the panel 2 is a coin or token ( hereinafter referred to as a coin ) receiving plate 3 with two apertures in the form of slots 4. At the rear of the slots is a striker plate 5 extending diagonally downwards at 45° to the horizontal to reduce the speed of coins placed in the slots 4 so that they strike against the plate 5 and slide slowly down a sloping playing surface 6.
The sloping playing surface has an upper vertical section 7 and a series of "win" holes to receive coins sliding over and into the holes. These "win" holes comprise a single central hole 8 which pays out a £2 reward, two middle holes 9 which pay out 50 pence rewards and nine lower holes 10 which pay out 10 pence rewards. Arranged over the sloping playing surface 6 are a number of pins 11 which deflect the path of the sliding coins striking against the pins.
At the lower end of the sloping playing surface is an elongated "losing" slot 12 which serves to direct coins, not entering any of the "win" holes, along a channel 13 to a coin collecting box 14. At the rear of each of the £2 and 50 pence "win" holes is a tube 15 which leads to a chute 16, while each 10 pence "win" hole 10 has a tube 17 leading at its lower end to the chute 16 which in turn leads to a forward pay out slot 18 from which the player collects his reward winnings.
Located in the path of each of the tubes 15 is a micro-switch 19 which are connected to a standard coin hopper controlled by a logic board ( not shown ). As a coin passes one of the micro-switches 19 an appropriate reward of £2 or 50 pence is released into the chute 16 for collection by the player.
The sloping playing surface 6 is covered by a transparent panel 20 e.g. of glass with the interposition of an acrylic panel 21 spaced from the sloping playing surface 5 by approximately¾ of an inch to sandwich the coins between the surface 6 and this panel 21 thus preventing the coins from rolling or bouncing.
The acrylic panel may be provided with a decorative artworked screen designating the location of the winning holes with their appropriate rewards.
In operation the player of the amusement apparatus places his 10 pence coin 22 in one of the slots 4 , the coin hits against the striker plate 5 and slides down the sloping playing surface 6. If its periphery locates precisely in the £2 or 50 pence "win" holes then it falls down the tube 15 actuating the micro-switch 19 which energises the logic board to release an appropriate number of 10 pence coins into the schute 16 to be collected by the player. If the coin 22 is deflected by the pins 11 then it may fall through one of the nine 10 pence "win" holes to be returned to the player as a reward or alternatively it may be collected at the lower end of the sloping playing surface 6 by the "losing" slot 12 and is directed by the channel 13 to the coin collecting box 14.
It will be appreciated that as the coins are made to slide instead of roll or fall then the player has a greater chance to exert his skill in directing his coin to a winning destination.
Various modifications may be made to the invention, for example, the display panel 2 can be provided with electrical illuminating devices to signal when a winning reward is paid out or the coin has been lost. The pins 11 may also be arranged to have a slight degree of lateral movement if desired, this movement being controlled by a player. Further, the invention is not restricted to the use of 10p coins but coins of any other suitable denomination or tokens may be used instead if desired.

Claims

1. An amusement apparatus comprising a sloping playing surface, one or more apertures at the upper end of the playing surface for receiving coins or tokens directed onto the playing surface, a plurality of apertures formed in the playing surface through which the coins or tokens pass to outlet means at the lower end of the playing surface to issue as a reward.

2. An amusement apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the apertures in the sloping surface correspond to the peripheral shape of the coin or token.

3. An amusement apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein a surface is placed adjacent the playing surface to prevent the coins or tokens from rolling or bouncing along the surface.

4. An amusement apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein a striker plate is located at the rear of the apertures at the upper end of the playing surface to reduce the speed of fall of the coin or token.

5. An amusement apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim wherein a tube is located at the rear of each of the apertures in the playing surface which lead to the outlet means at the lower end of the playing surface from which the reward is issued.

6. An amusement apparatus as claimed in claim 5, wherein a micro-switch is located in one or more of the tubes to operate a coin hopper controlled by a logic board.

7. An amusement apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the sloping playing surface has a plurality of strategically placed pins to deflect the path of a sliding coin or token striking a pin.

8. An amusement apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the apparatus has an illuminated display panel.

9. An amusement apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.