EP0424355B1 - Device for sorting chips at game-tables - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a device for sorting chips on gaming tables, which is arranged below the gaming table and provides the sorted chips in stacks for removal by the croupier.

In casino operations, it is common practice internationally to play with so-called live games, not with cash, but with 'tokens' or 'chips'. The winnings are also paid out with chips. Each chip represents a certain value and must be bought before the game starts. The chips won can be exchanged for cash at any time. This enables every guest to play, regardless of whether they come to a casino with dollars or shillings. In addition, the player has no direct money-value relationship due to the chips and can therefore concentrate more on playing.

When playing roulette there are two different types of table. The French table, on which only so-called value chips are played (these are chips that have a numerical value printed on them) and the American table, on which value chips and 'CUTJETONS' are played. Cutjetons are chips that have no value print and differ in different colors. If a player comes to such a table, he can choose a token color and determine the value of the tokens himself. If the player chooses the color RED and rates the chip with 100, the color RED is used exclusively for this player and the price of the tokens is 100. The player now swaps his tokens for the red tokens and can play on this table. This system allows the player to place as many bets on the table as they want without losing sight of the fact that all red chips are his. Each of these tables has seven colors for seven players. In addition, there is also the possibility to play with value chips on this table. Another advantage of this type of game is that the game sequence is fast and the tension phases between profit and loss are frequent.

So far, after the game, all chips and tokens that were lost in a game were collected by the croupier with both hands. The individual colors were then selected from the so-called 'SALAT'. This activity is time consuming and distracts both the player and the croupier from the actual game.

From AT-B-169 894, for example, a device for removing marks lying on a roulette table is known through corresponding openings in the table top with an underlying conveyor.

Sorting machines are also known which separate tokens of the same size with seven different colors below the table and prepare the tokens in sloping shelves for removal by the croupier. However, the area of use of the known machine is limited and the provision in inclined storage has not proven to be favorable.

The invention has set itself the goal of creating a device of the type mentioned at the outset which does not have the disadvantages of the known device and in particular sorts chips of different sizes and stores them in vertical stacks. This is achieved by the fact that below the gaming table a continuous conveyor rotating in a horizontal plane with vertically movable receiving plates is provided for the chips thrown in via an insertion opening and in the direction of movement of the endless conveyor a device for moving the chips into a horizontal position, then a color recognition and reading head and at it a plurality of chip cylinders is then arranged, each of which is assigned to a predetermined type of chip, the color recognition and reading head controlling lifting and guiding elements which lift and guide a chip into the associated chip cylinder, and a lifter which is guided in each chip cylinder When a predetermined number of chips are reached, they are placed in a vertical stack above the table.

A simple construction, in particular with regard to the drive, results if the device for moving the chips into a horizontal position is designed as a drum which rotates about a vertical axis and is driven by the endless conveyor.

The endless conveyor is advantageously designed as a plastic link chain and the receiving plates are attached to lifting plungers which are mounted on the chain so that they can move vertically and whose lower part is used to interact with a ramp, cam or the like controlled by the color recognition and reading head. is trained. Such a device has a silent mechanical drive and there are also no vibrations which have a detrimental effect on the roulette wheel.

In a simple and safe embodiment, the chip is fed into the associated chip cylinder in that each chip cylinder is assigned a fixed scraper which lies above the path of movement of the chips when the receiving plate is not raised and in the path of the chips when the receiving plate is raised. The receiving plate expediently has a rolling edge that presses the chip along the scraper.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the chip cylinder has at least two, preferably four bars which are radially movable relative to one another and the movement of the bars relative to one another is controlled as a function of a predetermined number of chips in the chip cylinder. This makes it possible to insert chips into the chip cylinder, which have a smaller diameter than the chip cylinder, by moving the bars in order to lift them after the centering process as a closed stack on the table.

An embodiment in which only one pneumatic cylinder is required for centering and lifting the stack is characterized in that the lifter guided in the chip cylinder and actuated by a pneumatic cylinder has a part provided with a half-notch and a part which complements the notch under the action a spring force pushing it upward, furthermore the mutually movable beams are provided with lugs which can be snapped into the notch, the spring-loaded notch part being movable between a position below the lugs and a position above the lugs.

The color detection and reading head expediently has several, preferably three, CCD sensors, each of which is preceded by a color filter, and that the analog color signals are converted into digital values and transmitted to a microprocessor, with the chronological sequence of the measured value acquisition from the movement sequence of the chain is derived. The mechanical structure of the color detection and reading head therefore does not have to be adjusted mechanically.

The invention is described in more detail below on the basis of an exemplary embodiment shown in the drawings. 1 shows a schematic overall view of a device according to the invention; 2 shows the lifting and guide elements in the raised state; 3 the lifting and guiding elements in the lowered state; 4 shows a plan view of FIG. 2; 5 to 7 a chip cylinder in different working positions and FIG. 8 a schematic illustration of the color recognition and reading head.

According to FIG. 1, the device according to the invention is arranged below a roulette table 1 indicated in outline, which is provided with a roulette wheel 2. There is an opening in table 1 3, into which the croupier simply drops all chips and tokens of various sizes to be sorted. The thrown-in chips fall into a drum 4 rotatable about a vertical axis, in which they are brought into a horizontal position. A plastic link chain 6 guided over gears 5 or driven by them drives the drum 4.

The plastic chain 6 carries receiving plates for the chips removed from the drum 4, which receiving plates are explained in connection with FIGS. 2 to 4. In the direction of movement of the plastic chain 6 there is a color recognition and reading head 7 after the drum 4 and then, but in the returning run a plurality of chip cylinders 8, in the example twelve chip cylinders are arranged along a curve adapted to the roulette wheel 2.

The color recognition and reading head 7 controls compressed air cylinders which act on pivotable ramps 9, the mode of operation of which can be seen from FIGS. 2, 3 and 4. A ramp 9 and a fixed scraper 10 are assigned to each chip cylinder 8. Elevating plungers 12 are mounted on the plastic link chain 6 in height-adjustable fashion in bushings 11, which carry the receiving plates 13 for the chips 14 at their upper end. The underside of the lifting plunger 12 is provided with a head 15 which interacts with the ramp 9. On the receiving plate 13, a rolling edge 16 is also arranged.

If the color recognition and reading head 7 has recognized a chip and the microprocessor has made the corresponding assignment to one of the chip cylinders 8, the corresponding ramp 9 is lifted by its compressed air cylinder (FIG. 2) and the head 15 of the arriving lifter 12 is lifted by the ramp 9 led to the subsequent fixed ramp 17. As a result, the chip 14 lying on the receiving plate 13 comes into the effective range of the fixed scraper 10 and the chip 14 becomes with the participation of the rolling edge 16 pressed into the associated chip cylinder 8. This sequence of movements is illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 4.

In the case of the chip cylinders 8 which do not correspond to the chip, the ramp 9 is not actuated and the chip 14 is moved past below the fixed scraper 10 (FIG. 3).

2A shows a variant for lifting the lifting plunger 12 together with the receiving plate 13, in which the lifting is effected by energizing an electromagnet instead of via a compressed air cylinder. In this embodiment, the head 115 of the lifting plunger 12 is made of iron and instead of the ramp 17 a box profile 117 is provided which has a slot 119 at the top for the passage of the lifting plunger 12. One leg of the profile 117 is surrounded by a coil E which can be connected to a direct current source.

The head 115 of the lifting plunger 12, which moves into the profile 117 in the position shown in broken lines, is lifted when the current flows through the coil E due to the electromagnetic effect, and the chip lying on the receiving plate, as in the exemplary embodiment according to FIGS of the scraper 10.

This embodiment has the advantage that the ram 12 is raised without contact and without noise.

5 shows the state corresponding to FIGS. 2 and 4 in connection with the chip cylinder 8. Each chip cylinder has four mutually movable beams 18 and a lifter 19 actuated by a pneumatic cylinder. This lifter has a part 20 provided with a half-notch. A part 22 complementing the notch 21 is displaceably mounted in the chip cylinder 8 and is under the action of springs 23 urging it upward. The bars 18 are provided with projections 24 which can snap into the notch 21.

In the state shown in Figure 5, the lifter 19 is in its lowermost position, the part 22 and thus the notch 21 are accordingly shifted downwards. The lugs 24 are pressed outwards by the part 20 and the bars 18 are accordingly also in their outer position. The chips 14 inserted into the chip cylinder 8 when the ramp 9 is raised by the scraper 10 fall onto the lifter 19, with a more or less non-centered position depending on the diameter of the chips. When a predetermined number of chips in the chip cylinder 8, e.g. twenty pieces, is lifted by the pneumatic cylinder 19 into the position shown in Fig.6, in which the lugs 24 snap into the complete notch 21. The bars 18 move towards each other and the chips in the stack are centered. During the subsequent further lifting movement of the lifter 19, the chips are lifted through openings 25 onto the table 1, on the other hand, the springs 23 press the part 22 into its upper position, so that the lugs 24 and thus the wall parts 18 are pushed outwards. The sector-shaped flaps 26 partially closing the openings 25 close when the lifter 19 moves back and hold the chip stack in a vertical position. No chip is inserted into the corresponding chip cylinder either during the centering process (FIG. 6) or during the lifting and lowering process of the lifter 19 (FIG. 7).

According to FIG. 8, the color recognition and reading head 7 has a light source 27 which illuminates the chip 14 which is moving past at an angle of approximately 45 °. The image of the chip 14 is transmitted line by line to three CCD sensors 32, 33 and 34 via a deflection mirror 28 and filters 29, 30 and 31. The filter 29 is a reflection filter red, the filter 30 is a reflection filter green and the filter 31 is a pass filter blue. A separate evaluation of the colors red, green and blue is thus possible. The analog color signals are converted into digital values of 0..255 by an 8 bit AD converter. The chip is moving at a constant speed of 0.2 m / min. An evaluation is transmitted to the electronics every 5 msec. This results in an electronic image of the chip with a resolution of 200x50 points. A microprocessor uses these digital values to determine the color, size and appearance of the chip. By comparison with the stored chip data, it is determined which chip cylinder 8 must be used for the recognized chip. A mechanical adjustment of the optics is not necessary, since the chronological sequence of the measured value acquisition is derived from the sequence of movements of the chain. The three separate individual images can then be evaluated separately by the microprocessor.

It has been shown that when using the device according to the invention, a sound is not perceptible to the player. This is due to the use of pneumatic cylinders and a worm gear for driving the plastic link chain. The device according to the invention is also able to sort chips and tokens of different sizes and colors. All ergonomic requirements from the croupier's point of view and the safety of the game are also met. If the electronic control fails, the chips or tokens cannot be damaged. The entire arrangement can also be built up mirror-inverted, which enables operation on left and right roulette tables.

Numerous modifications are possible within the scope of the invention. Thus, the use of a device according to the invention is not only possible with roulette tables, it could rather also be used with other gaming tables.

Claims (9)

1. Device for sorting chips (14) at gaming tables (1), positioned below the gaming table (1) and feeding the sorted chips (14) in stacks for removal by the croupier, with a continuous conveyor (6) horizontally situated below the gaming table (1), into which chips (14) may be introduced through a slit (3), characterized in that the continuous conveyor (6) is equipped with receiving plates (13) of adjustable height, in that the continuous conveyor (6) disposes of a device (4) for transporting the chips (14) into the horizontal position, and in that a multicolour read head (7) and, directly beside it, a number of chip cylinders (8) are situated close by, each cylinder (8) being allocated to a predefined chip type (9, 10), with the multicolour read head (7) controlling lifting and control elements (9, 10) to lift the chips (14) into the appropriate chip cylinders (8) and control them, and with each chip cylinder (8) containing a lifting device (19), which vertically stacks the chips (14) above the table (1) as soon as a preset number of chips (14) has been attained.
2. Device according to Claim 1, characterized in that the device which brings the chips into a horizontal position takes the shape of a drum (4) rotating around a vertical axis driven by the continuous conveyor (6).
3. Device according to Claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the continuous conveyor takes the shape of a plastic band chain, and in that the receiving plates (13) are fastened to lifting tappets (12) which rest on the conveyor (6) in such a way that they may be height-adjusted, and whose lower part (15) cooperates with a lifting device controlled by the multicolour read head (7).
4. Device according to Claim 3, characterized in that the lifting device consists of an electro-magnetically excitable body (117), while the lifting tappet (12) contains a metallic part (115) so that the metallic part (115) of the lifting tappet (12), which is transported or moved across the body (117), is lifted whenever the electromagnet is excited.
5. Device according to Claims 3 or 4, characterized in that one stationary skimmer (10) is allocated to each chip cylinder (8), and in that this skimmer (10) is situated above the trajectory of the chips (14) if the receiving disk (13) is not lifted, and in the trajectory of the chips (14) if the receiving plate (13) is lifted.
6. Device according to Claim 5, characterized in that the receiving plate (13) is equipped with a roll-off edge (16) which presses the chips (14) along the skimmer (10).
7. Device according to one of the Claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the chip cylinder (8) is equipped with at least two, and preferably four, bars (18) which may radially moved towards each other, and in that the interactive movement of the bars (18) is controlled according to a preset number of chips (14) in the chip cylinder (8).
8. Device according to Claim 7, characterized in that the lifting element (19), which is installed in the chip cylinder (8) and actuated by a pneumatic cylinder, has a section (20) equipped with a semi-notch, and in that another section (22) complementing the notch (21) is actuated by a certain elastic force (23) pushing it upwards, and in that the bars (18) moving towards each other are furthermore equipped with projections (24) engaging with the notch (21), with the part of the notch actuated by the elastic force moving between a level below, and a level above, the projections (24).
9. Device according to one of the Claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the multicolour read head (7) is equipped with several, preferably three, CCD sensors (32, 33, 34) with a colour filter (29, 30, 31) preceding each of them, and in that the analog colour signals are digitized and transmitted to a microprocessor, with the time sequence for the evaluation of the measuring results being derived from the phases of the conveyor (6).

Images