EP0803845A1

EP0803845A1 - Bill aligning machine

Info

Publication number: EP0803845A1
Application number: EP94927089A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Takatoshi c/o K.K. Ace Denken TAKEMOTO; Yoshihide c/o K.K. Shinko Seisakusho KURIHARA
Original assignee: Ace Denken KK
Current assignee: Ace Denken KK
Priority date: 1994-09-22
Filing date: 1994-09-22
Publication date: 1997-10-29
Also published as: WO1996009612A1; EP0803845A4; AU7666294A

Abstract

The bill aligning machine comprises a bill insertion inlet 2 through which a bill paid for playing a game is inserted, formed on an outer surface of a game machine 1; a conveying mechanism 50 for conveying the bill inserted through the bill insertion inlet 2 to the inside of the game machine 1; a rotary table 60 on which a plurality of bill storage boxes each having an intake formed thereon for taking in the bill conveyed by the conveying mechanism 50 are placed; a drive mechanism 70 for rotating the rotary table 60 so that the bill conveyed by the conveying mechanism 50 is fed into any one of the intakes of the plurality of bill storage boxes.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to a bill aligning machine for feeding bills into a bill storage box, and in particular, to a bill aligning machine which is provided for a game machine with which a player plays a game.

BACKGROUND TECHNIQUE

Game machines with which games are played using cards are conventionally known, and there is known a game machine having a bill storage box detachably provided therein for storing bills paid for playing a game. The game machine is provided with a bill aligning machine comprising a bill insertion inlet through which bills are inserted and a conveying mechanism for conveying the bills inserted through the bill insertion inlet to the bill storage box.
However, according to a conventional bill aligning machine, bills can be conveyed to only one bill storage box arranged in the game machine.
Accordingly, the bills must be stored in the one bill storage box so that the box soon becomes full. When the bill storage box is full, the box must be replaced with an empty box, and repetition of the replacement operation is troublesome.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

In order to solve the conventional problem as described above, the object of the present invention is to provide a bill aligning machine in which bills inserted through a bill insertion inlet may be stored sequentially in a plurality of bill storage boxes as required.
In a first aspect of the present invention which solves the above-stated problem, there is provided a bill aligning machine which is provided in a game machine, comprising a bill insertion inlet through which a bill paid for playing a game is inserted, formed on an outer surface of the game machine; a conveying mechanism for conveying the bill inserted through the bill insertion inlet to the inside of the game machine; a rotary table on which a plurality of bill storage boxes each having an intake for taking in the bill conveyed by the conveying mechanism formed thereon are placed; a drive mechanism for rotating the rotary table so that the bill conveyed by the conveying mechanism is fed into any one of the intakes of the plurality of bill storage boxes.
In a second aspect of the present invention which solves the above-stated problem, there is provided the bill aligning machine according to the first aspect, wherein the conveying mechanism conveys the bill to the bill storage box in such a manner that a part of the conveying mechanism enters into the bill storage box; and the bill aligning machine further comprises a mechanism for moving a part of the conveying mechanism to a position where the part of the conveying mechanism is out of contact with the bill storage boxes when the rotary table rotates, and to a position where the part of the conveying mechanism enters into one of the bill storage boxes when the rotary table stops.
In a third aspect of the present invention which solves the above-stated problem, there is provided the bill aligning machine according to the first or second aspect, further comprising an operation unit for accepting an instruction for rotating the rotary table, wherein the drive mechanism accepts the operation by the operation unit so as to rotate the rotary table from a position where the bill from the conveying mechanism is conveyed to an intake of one of the plurality of bill storage boxes to a position where the bill from the conveying mechanism is conveyed to an intake of a bill storage box placed next to the one of the plurality of bill storage boxes on the rotary table.
According to the first aspect of the present invention, a bill paid for playing a game is inserted into the bill insertion inlet. The conveying mechanism conveys the bill inserted through the bill insertion inlet to the inside of the game machine. On the other hand, the rotary table has a plurality of bill storage boxes each having an intake for taking in the bill conveyed by the conveying mechanism placed on the rotary table. The drive mechanism rotates the rotary table so that the bill from the conveying mechanism is conveyed to the intake of any one of the plurality of bill storage boxes.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, the conveying mechanism conveys the bill to one of the bill storage boxes in such a manner that a part of the mechanism enters into the bill storage boxes. The part of the conveying mechanism moves to a position where the part of the conveying mechanism is out of contact with the bill storage boxes when the rotary table rotates, and to a position where the part of the conveying mechanism enters into one of the bill storage boxes when the rotary table stops.
According to the third aspect of the present invention, the drive mechanism accepts an operation by the operation unit so as to rotate the rotary table to move from a position where the bill from the conveying mechanism is conveyed to an intake of one of the plurality of bill storage boxes to a position where the bill from the conveying mechanism is conveyed to an intake of a bill storage box placed next to the one of the plurality of bill storage boxes on the rotary table.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a game machine to which an embodiment of a bill aligning machine according to the present invention is applied;
FIG. 2(a) is a front view showing a bill storage box used in an embodiment of the bill aligning machine according to the present invention;
FIG. 2(b) is a top view showing a bill storage box used in an embodiment of the bill aligning machine according to the present invention;
FIG. 2(c) is a side view showing a bill storage box used in an embodiment of the bill aligning machine according to the present invention;
FIG. 3(a) is a cross sectional view taken along a line A-A' of FIG.2(b);
FIG. 3(b) is a cross sectional view taken along a line B-B' of FIG. 2(a);
FIG. 4 is a structural view showing an embodiment of the bill aligning machine according to the present invention;
FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the bill aligning machine according to the present invention;
FIG. 6 is an explanatory view of a part of an embodiment of the bill aligning machine according to the present invention viewed from a front thereof;
FIG. 7 is an explanatory view of a part of an embodiment of the bill aligning machine according to the present invention viewed from a top thereof;
FIG. 8 is an explanatory view of a part of an embodiment of the bill aligning machine according to the present invention viewed from a side thereof;
FIG. 9 is an explanatory view of a part of an embodiment of the bill aligning machine according to the present invention viewed from a front thereof;
FIG. 10 is an explanatory view of a part of an embodiment of the bill aligning machine according to the present invention viewed from a top thereof;
FIG. 11 is an explanatory view of a part of an embodiment of the bill aligning machine according to the present invention viewed from a front thereof;
FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing bill storage boxes used in an embodiment of the bill aligning machine according to the present invention;
FIG. 13 is an explanatory view of a second conveying unit of an embodiment of the bill aligning machine according to the present invention; and
FIG. 14 is an explanatory view of a second conveying unit of an embodiment of the bill aligning machine according to the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The most preferable mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below as an embodiment of the present invention with reference to the figures.
An example of a game machine in which the bill aligning machine according to the present invention is applied is shown in Fig. 1. In the figure, a game machine 1 is used for playing a game using a card, and cards and chips being used for games are placed on a top 1a thereof. A bill insertion inlet 2 for inserting a bill exchanged for the chips is also provided on the top 1a of the game machine. The bill aligning machine of the present embodiment sequentially stacks the bills inserted through the bill insertion inlet 2 in a plurality of bill storage boxes (in the present embodiment, bill storage boxes 10, 20, 30) arranged inside the game machine on demand. In the present embodiment, each bill storage box is similar to the other ones, and the structure of the bill storage box 10 which is one of the boxes is shown in Figs. 2 and 3. A placement table 11 and two springs 12a, 12b which urge the placement table 11 in such a manner as to push up the table 11 are provided in the bill storage box 10. At a corner of the bill storage box 10, there is formed an intake 13 for taking in the bills. Rollers 14a and 14b which can rotate only in a direction of taking in the bills (the direction of an arrow A in Fig. 3(a)) are attached inside the intake 13. Handles 15a, 15b for portability are provided on both sides of the bill storage box 10. The bill storage box 10 has a door 16 which can be opened and closed, and the door can be locked with a key 17.
As shown in Fig. 4, the bill aligning machine includes a guide member 40 having the above-described bill insertion inlet 2 formed on a top thereof, a conveying mechanism 50 for conveying bills, a rotary table 60 on which the bill storage boxes 10, 20, 30 (only the bill storage box 10 is shown in Fig. 4) are placed, and a drive mechanism 70 for rotating the rotary table 60. The other part of the bill aligning machine is also shown in Fig. 5.
The guide member 40 is a hollow member which discharges the bills inserted through the bill insertion inlet 2 in a state of being substantially perpendicular to the top 1a of the game machine 1.
The conveying mechanism 50 is constituted so as to have a first conveying unit 510 for conveying the bills discharged from the guide member 40 to an intake of any one of the bill storage boxes (in Fig. 5, an intake 13 of the bill storage box 10), a second conveying unit 530 for conveying the bills taken into the bill storage box further through the intake, and an electrical motor 550 (not shown).
The first conveying unit 510 has six support shafts 511-516 which are arranged so as to be in parallel to each other and rotatably supported, respectively. The support shaft 511 has rollers 511a, 511b, 511c, and the support shaft 514 has rollers 514a, 514b, 514c, and the rollers are fixed in such a state that they are fitted around each support shaft. The support shaft 513 has rollers 513a, 513b, 513c fixed to be at a position of diagonally below the rollers 511a, 511b, 511c, respectively. Similarly, the support shaft 515 has rollers 515a, 515b, 515c fixed to be at a position diagonally below the rollers 514a, 514b, 514c, respectively. The support shaft 512 has rollers 512a, 512b, 512c fixed so as to be between the rollers the support shaft 511 and the rollers of the support shaft 513. A belt 521 is put around the rollers 511a, 512a, 513a. Similarly, a belt 522 and a belt 523 are put around the rollers 511b, 512b, 513b and the rollers 511c, 512c, 513c, respectively. With regard to the rollers fixed to the support shafts 514 and 515, belts 524, 525, 526 are put around each set of the rollers, respectively.
As shown in Figs. 6-8, the roller 511a of the support shaft 511 and the roller 514a of the support shaft 514 are arranged at a position where the bills discharged from the guide member 40 can be sandwiched with the belts 521, 524. Needless to say, the other rollers of the support shafts 511 and 514 are also arranged in such a manner. The rollers fixed to the support shafts 513 and 515 are arranged at a position where the bills can be conveyed on a guide plate 517 provided between the support shafts 513 and 515. In order for the belts 521 and 524 to be able to transport the bills sandwiching them therebetween, the roller 512a of the support shaft 512 is arranged at a position where the belt 512 slightly presses the belt 524. The other rollers of the support shaft 512 are also arranged in the same manner.
There are provided pulleys 516a, 516b on the support shaft 516. On the other hand, a pulley 513d is provided between the rollers 513a and 513b, and a pulley 513e is provided between the rollers 513b and 513c. A belt 527 is put around the pulleys 516a and 513d. The belt 527 can rotate the pulley 516a in a state where the pulley 516a is in contact with a roller 14a of the bill storage box 10. A belt 528 is put around the pulleys 516b and 513e, and the belt 528 can rotate the pulley 516b in a state where the pulley 516b is in contact with a roller 14b of the bill storage box 10. In addition, the support shaft 513 also has pulleys 513f and 513g. A rotary shaft 551 of the electrical motor 550 has a pulley 551a. A belt 529 is put around the pulley 551a and the pulley 513g of the support shaft 513.
The second conveying unit 530 is constituted so as to have rotatably supported support shafts 531, 532. On one end of the support shaft 531, a roller 531a for conveying the bills taken further into the bill storage box is fixed. A similar roller 532a is fixed to one end of the support shaft 532. A part of each roller can come into the bill storage box via holes 18a, 18b (see Fig. 5) formed on the top of the bill storage box.
On the other hand, pulleys 531b and 532b are provided on the other ends of the support shafts 531 and 532, respectively. A belt 541 is put around these pulleys. A pulley 532c is provided at a center portion of the support shaft 532. A belt 542 is put around the pulley 532c and the pulley 513f of the support shaft 513.
The above describes a rough structure of the first and second conveying units. In detail, as shown in Figs. 9 and 10, the support shafts 531, 532 of the second conveying unit 530 are rotatably supported by bearing boards 571, 572. These bearing boards can swing around the support shaft 513 in a direction of rotation of the support shaft. On the other hand, the support shaft 516 of the first conveying unit 510 is rotatably supported by bearing boards 573, 574. The bearing board 571 has a push-up shaft 575 provided thereto which releasably engages with each of the bearing boards 573 and 574 so as to push up these bearing boards. The bearing boards 573 and 574 are connected to the push-up shaft 575 via springs 576a and 576b, respectively. Each spring urges the connected bearing board and push-up shaft so that they approach each other. Due to these springs and the push-up shaft 575, the four bearing boards 571-574 can swing integrally around the support shaft 513. The operation is shown in Fig. 11 focusing on the bearing board 571.
With regard to the pulleys 516a, 516b, in a case as shown in Figs. 6-8, because of the spring action of the above-described springs 576a, 576b, the pulley 516a is pushed towards the roller 14a and the pulley 516b is pushed towards the roller 14b. Accordingly, contact force of each pulley toward the rollers is enforced so that smooth conveyance of bills becomes possible.
Furthermore, as shown in Fig. 11, the bearing board 571 has a projection 571a formed thereon which extends downward. A rotatable wheel 577 is provided to the projection 571a. On the other hand, a support table 61 is fixed at a center portion of the rotary table 60, as shown in Fig. 12. On a top 61a of the support table 61, three cam plates 62, 63, 64 corresponding to each bill storage box are attached. Each cam plate passes the wheel 577 through when the rotary table 60 rotates, and the above-described bearing boards 571-574 move up and down together with the wheel. Each cam plate is in the same shape, and, as an example, the cam plate 62 is shown in Fig. 13. The cam plate 62 has two convex portions 62a, 62c which project from the top 61a of the support table in a shape of a trapezoid and a concave portion 62b indented against the top 61a of the support table 61 in a shape of a trapezoid formed thereon. When conveying the bills into the bill storage box 10, the wheel 577 is placed substantially just over a bottom of the concave portion 62b, as shown in Fig. 13. At that time, with regard to the second conveying unit 530, it is supported by the rollers 531a, 532a (see Fig. 7).
As shown in Fig. 4, the drive mechanism 70 which rotates the rotary table 60 has a drive power source, such as an electrical motor 71, and a belt 66 for transferring the rotation of the electrical motor 71 to a pulley 65 provided underneath the rotary table 60. The electrical motor 71 rotates the rotary table 60 in accordance with an operation with a switch 3 (see Fig. 1) provided outside the game machine 1.
Next, operation of the bill aligning machine of the present embodiment will be explained with reference to the figures.
In Figs. 6-8, when the electrical motor 550 starts driving, the support shaft 513 rotates in a direction of an arrow B (see Fig. 6) via the belt 529. According to the operation, the belts 521, 522, 523 also rotate in the same direction. When these three belts rotate, the belts 524, 525, 526, each of which is in contact with each belt, also rotate in a direction of an arrow C (see Fig. 6). The belts 527, 528 rotate together with the support shaft 513.
On the other hand, the rotation of the support shaft 513 is also transferred to the support shaft 532 via the belt 542. The support shaft 531 rotates together with the support shaft 532 via the belt 541. That is, each of the rollers 532a, 531a rotates in the same direction (a direction of an arrow D in Fig. 6).
When the belts and the rollers are in such a condition, a bill inserted through the bill insertion inlet 2 passes through the guide member 40 and is then sandwiched between the belts 521-523 and the belts 524-526. The bill sandwiched between these belts is conveyed toward the intake 13 of the bill storage box 10 because of the rotation of the belts. Thereafter, the bill is led by the guide plate 517 and is sandwiched between the rollers 14a, 14b in the intake 13 and the pulleys 516a, 516b. The pulleys 516a, 516b rotate under a condition of being pushed toward the rollers due to the above-described spring action, so that the bill sandwiched therebetween is smoothly conveyed to the bill storage box. On the other hand, since the rollers 532a, 531a rotate in the direction of the arrow D, the bill is conveyed further in so as to be put on the placement table 11.
Bills inserted through the bill inlet 2 are stacked on the placement table 11 through such steps. The state of the bills stacked on the placement table 11 is shown in Fig. 9.
When the bill storage box is required to be replaced, the above-described switch 3 of the game machine 1 is operated. When the switch 3 is operated, the rotary table 60 starts rotating. When the rotary table 60 starts rotating, the wheel 577 escapes from the concave portion 62b shown in Fig. 13 and mounts the convex portion 62c. The above-described four bearing members 571-574 lift up in accordance with the movement. That is, the rollers 531a, 532a are pulled out of the holes 18b, 18a of the bill storage box, and the pulleys 516a, 516b move away from the rollers 14a, 14b of the bill storage box.
When the rotary table 60 rotates further, the next bill storage box (In Fig. 12, it is the bill storage box 30 that is to be the next one after the storage operation of the bill storage box 10 is completed.) approaches a position where bill storage is possible. Also, as shown in Fig. 14, when the wheel 577 mounts the convex portion 64a of the cam plate 64 which corresponds to the bill storage box 30, the above-described four bearing members 571-574 lift up in accordance with the movement. Accordingly, there is no possibility of a part of the conveying mechanism 50 coming into contact with the bill storage box 30. Then, the wheel 577 falls into the concave portion 64b along the cam plate 64, and stops above the bottom of the concave portion 64b. When the wheel 577 is in such a condition, the rollers 532a, 531a and the pulleys 516a, 516b return to the above-described positions so that the conveyance of the bills becomes possible again. In addition, at the same time that the wheel 577 is positioned above the bottom of the concave portion 64b, the electrical motor 71 is switched off and the rotary table 60 stops rotating. The stop position is detected by a limit switch which is not shown in the figures. Although only a part is shown in Fig. 14, a convex portion 64c which is similar to the convex portion 62c shown in Fig. 13 is formed next to the concave portion 64b.
As described above, according to the present embodiment, every time the switch 3 is operated, the rotary table 60 rotates a 1/3 rotation, and, on demand, bills can be stacked in each bill storage box.
Accordingly, even when one of the bill storage boxes is full of bills, it is possible by the operation of the switch 3 to start stacking bills in the next bill storage box. When all of the bill storage boxes become full, the boxes are taken out from a rear door 4 (see Fig. 1) and empty bill storage boxes are installed instead. In this way, the bill storage boxes may be installed and taken out at a time, so that the operation time for installing/taking out the bill storage boxes can be reduced.
In addition, if game directors, such as dealers, operate the above-described switch 3 every time they rotate, bills paid for a game which one of the dealers is in charge of are stored in a single bill storage box. That is, with a simple operation, bills can be managed for every dealer.
The rotation command for the rotary table 60 may be given by a key operation instead of the above-described operation of the switch 3. In such a case, the key is to be kept by every dealer. Furthermore, it may be constituted so as to have the rotary table 60 automatically rotate when the bill storage box is detected to be full of bills.

Claims

A bill aligning machine which is provided in a game machine, comprising:
a bill insertion inlet through which a bill paid for playing a game is inserted, formed on an outer surface of said game machine;

a conveying mechanism for conveying the bill inserted through said bill insertion inlet to an inside of said game machine;

a rotary table on which a plurality of bill storage boxes each having an intake formed thereon for taking in the bill conveyed by said conveying mechanism are placed; and

a drive mechanism for rotating said rotary table so that the bill conveyed by said conveying mechanism is fed into any one of said intakes of said plurality of bill storage boxes.
The bill aligning machine according to Claim 1, wherein:
said conveying mechanism conveys the bill to said bill storage box in such a manner that a part of said conveying mechanism enters into said bill storage box; and

said bill aligning machine further comprises a mechanism for moving a part of said conveying mechanism to a position where the part of said conveying mechanism is out of contact with said bill storage boxes when said rotary table rotates, and to a position where the part of said conveying mechanism enters into one of said bill storage boxes when said rotary table stops.
The bill aligning machine according to Claim 1 or 2, further comprising an operation unit for accepting an instruction for rotating said rotary table, wherein said drive mechanism accepts an operation by said operation unit so as to rotate said rotary table from a position where the bill from said conveying mechanism is conveyed to an intake of one of the plurality of bill storage boxes to a position where the bill from said conveying mechanism is conveyed to an intake of a bill storage box placed next to said one of said plurality of bill storage boxes on said rotary table.