EP1008970A1

EP1008970A1 - Cyclic visor for recreational machines

Info

Publication number: EP1008970A1
Application number: EP97935577A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Bernardo Sierra Picon
Original assignee: Sega SA
Current assignee: Sega SA
Priority date: 1997-02-13
Filing date: 1997-08-06
Publication date: 2000-06-14
Also published as: WO1998036389A1; ZA977107B

Abstract

It consists of a dihedral support (7) equipped with a large circular window (8), extended through the two faces of the support (7), immediately behind which is established a disc (1), of flexible transparent or translucid plastic, provided at its circumference with an alignment of images (2), participating in the machine game, such that said disc (1) is retained by the support (7) across its circumference, being interlocked through its center to the shaft (3) of an electric motor, preferably a step to step synchronous motor, suitably controlled by means of, for example, a phototransmitter-receiver, such that in the rotational movement of said motor, supplied to the image carrying disc (1), said disc permanently maintains a dihedral configuration, due to its flexible nature, showing the observer an alignment of images (2) according to a circumference arc of variable amplitude, according to the level of concealment of the front face of the assembly. The disc is susceptible of also being applicable to several machines, permitting that in all of them, the corresponding images are offered, through their respective windows arranged in the front of each one of the machines. If the disc is applicable to several machines simultaneously, it should be equipped with two bracings near and parallel to each one of its diameters, to determine two almost semicircular sectors, one in the front and the other in the rear, whilst across the intermediate sector the assembly is installed over the corresponding furniture.

Description

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

This invention refers to a cyclic viewer, usable in slot machines. Said viewer permits either the simultaneous viewing of several symbols or images, distributed according to a circumference arc and which sequentially change or the viewing of only one image, which changes within the corresponding viewing window.
The viewer described is especially suitable for slot machines giving cash prizes, obtainable as from a combination of symbols, sequentially appearing in said viewers, either as a main game, according to a winnings plan suitably indicated on the machine screen or as an auxiliary game, complementary to the mentioned main game.
The viewer may be constructed, such that it is applicable to two, three, four or more slot machines at the same time, all of them simultaneously satisfying their function, which is none other than offering corresponding images through the respective windows foreseen in the front of each machine.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Slot machines of the type mentioned above have been known for several years and at an international level are based on rotating drums of a large diameter carrying on their perimeters the images participating in the game.
This type of slot machine, forbidden in Spain until recently, were authorized later on with determined limits including that related to their rotating drums which could not exceed four centimeters diameter. Obviously this limit supposes that if the images are directly arranged over the drum, their number and size are very reduced, such that the functionality of the machine is considerably reduced.
Several solution based on different systems have been adopted to get around this problem, such as, for example, projection systems permitting a magnification of the images, fixed plate systems, transparent and superimposed allowing viewing of the images by light refraction, systems based on a continuous band, carrying the images to be viewed, a flexible band arranged over a series of drums, exclusively acting as guides and to drag them, such that said drums may have a diameter less than that determined as a maximum by the legislation in force, whilst the continuous band, on being a laminar body, may have any length, with no limit.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The cyclic viewer proposed by the invention approaches the last type mentioned in the previous paragraph, which refers to the use of a laminar and flexible body as a support for the symbols or images to be viewed, but with a totally different conception.
Compared with the continuous clasical band, closed over itself, and foreseen with a longitudinal alignment of images, the cyclic viewer described incorporates as a support for said images, a disc, incorporating said images on its circumference, preferably with a uniform distribution. This disc, which basically may adopt any diameter, suitable to the number and size of the images to be viewed, is affected by an orthogonal bracing, such that its discoidal configuration is not affected by the legal restraints referred to previously and consequently, with the same a dihedral support collaborates, preferably straight, which at least in one of its faces, which should be the visible face of the viewer has a wide windown, in form of a circular sector, whose edge acts as a means of retention for the disc circumference, which and thanks to its flexible nature may rotate over its center, permanently maintaining the dihedral configuration which it is forced into by the support aiding it.
As a complement to the structure described and similar to other conventional viewers, the image carrying component, and in this case, the flexible disc, is assisted by an electric motor, preferably a step by step synchronous motor aided by a phototransmitter-receiver to control the mentioned motor and consequently to control the drive of the image carrying disc. Likewise, to that occurring in other conventional viewers of this type, behind the image carrying component, in this case behind the flexible disc and specifically in the operative sector thereof, will be established a series of luminous lamps, preferably separated by partition walls created in individual boxes or in a multiple box.
The invention likewise refers to some improvements of the disc, part of the mentioned viewer, permitting the same to be jointly installed over several slot machines, without exceeding the dimensions established by the current legislation to be exceeded.
More specifically, the disc, part of the viewer and purpose of the invention, according to the improvements, instead of having the L configuration referred to previously, has a U configuration, in this way reducing the depth, even when the disc diameter is high, in this way permitting its simultaneous use or application in several machines, within the permissible size limits.
The disc in this U configuration will offer an intermediate band or section and two sectors determining the surfaces in arc or almost semicircular, one of which will represent the front part, that is, that equipped with the corresponding images, whilst the other part will be consider as the rear.
The disc arranged in this way will be installed over a piece of furniture to be arranged over the group of slot machines where said disc is jointly applicable. Said piece of furniture will contain the edge guides corresponding to the two semicircular sectors of the disc during its rotation, at the same time that it will count with a foldable door in the part considered as the front, across a folding bracket foreseen in the lower front part of the furniture, which in turn, will count with means for the installation of the corresponding motor-reducer and to prevent or regulate the position of the latter, both in height and in location towards the right and towards the left and in depth, permitting the exit shaft of said motor-reducer to be perfectly centered with respect to the ideal point, to position the center of the disc itself.
The way to regulate the position of the motor-reducer is based on a support consisting of a static part, fixed in the corresponding furniture and another mobile part displaceable in an ascendent and descendent sense, as well as towards one side and another with respect to the static part and even with the components in which the motor itself is correctly fixed, which is also variable in position to regulate the own position of the motor.
The assembly of the disc, part of the viewer, with respect to the motor shaft is made by means of the collaboration of a series of protection discs, aided by a bushing fixed to the motor shaft itself and which, in turn, the disc is fixed over which the optic reader activates, controlling the rotation of said disc and hence the motor reducer.
On the other hand, it should likewise be mentioned, the fact that the front foldable door of the furniture were the image carrying disc is installed, and part of the viewer itself, permits its dismantling to replace it for another, in case of deterioration thereof or to make a change of the corresponding images, making the change by dismantling the protecting discs, collaborating in the assembly of the image carrying disc itself, with respect to the motor shaft, a bushing intervening in this assembly and which is fixed to the motor shaft and with which the disc over which the reader activates is jointly fixed, whilst the protecting discs form a "sandwich" jointly with the image carrying disc, all this assembly or sandwich fixable to the previously referred bushing, the latter being equipped with notching in which screw fixing holes have been foreseen, which fix the components forming this sandwich.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

To complement the description being made and to permit a greater understanding of the characteristics of the invention, this descriptive report is accompanied by a set of drawings as a part of the same, where with an illustrative and non-limiting character the following is represented:
Figure 1.- This shows a view in perspective of a cyclic viewer for slot machines made in accordance with the purpose of this invention.
Figure 2.- This shows a plan view of the same, in which, due to the transparency of the image carrying disc, the multiple box containing the luminous lamps is seen, which appears partially sectioned.
Figure 3.- This shows a rear elevated view of the same viewer.
Figure 4.- This shows a transverse section of the viewer, according to the cutting line A-B of figure 3.
Figure 5.- This shows a representation according to a general perspective of the flexible image carrying disc to form a cyclic viewer according to a second method of execution being an improvement over the previous one, whose disc has a pair of bracings in a diametric sense, determining a U profile, observing in this figure, the support and means for adjustable assembly of the motor reducer and the discs intervening in the assembly of the image carrying disc itself, with respect to the motor reducer.
Figure 6.- This shows an expanded view of the different components intervening in the assembly of the U disc represented in the previous figure.
Figure 7.- This shows a schematic view in side elevation, with a section through a vertical plane of the disc represented in the two previous figures assembled over a furniture destined to be arranged on the upper part of several slot machines, such that the mentioned disc, part of the cyclic viewer may be simultaneously used by this group of machines.
Figure 8.- Finally, this shows a schematic view according to a front elevation with a section through a vertical plane of the support and means for the adjustable assembly of the motor reducer and the discs intervening in the assembly of the image carrying disc, made according to the improvements and represented as from figure 5.

PREFERED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

As from these figures, it may be observed how the viewer described is structured, as a basic component, as from a disc (1), of a transparent or translucid nature, carrying at its circumference an alignment of images (2), destined to participate in the game of the machine and to be shown to the observer cyclically, with the special particularity that the mentioned flexible disc (1), associated through its center to a shaft (3), corresponding to an electric motor (4), specifically a step by step synchronous motor, although any other appropriate driving component may be used, said motor (4) being, equal to the printed circuit (5) assisting it, established over a support (6) which, in turn, is interlocked with a second support (7) adopting a dihedral straight configuration, which is affected by a wide circular window (8), with dimensions slightly less than those of the disc (1), which acts as a means of retention over the circumference of said disc and which consequently forces the same to adopt its own dihedral configuration, which is maintained constant during the rotational movement of the disc (1), thanks to its flexible nature.
More specifically, the disc (1), carrying the images, is fixed by its center to the motor (4) shaft (3) with the help of a clamp made in a cylindrical core (9) and a circular cap (10), as may be especially observed in figure 4, and conveniently interlocked with each other and the shaft (3).
From the core (9), a strip (11) protrudes radially which, acting over a phototransmitter-receiver assembly (12), permits the establishment of the zero setting of the viewer, to decide the starting point of its image carrying disc (1) from which the images (2) may be counted by means of the motor (4) pulses, such that the stoppage of said disc (1) is produced in the pre-selected image (2) according to the operational programme of the machine.
Finally, the support (6) likewise constitutes the support for a multiple box (13) in each one of its, inside of whose troughs or parabolas (14) is established a luminous light (15) improving the viewing conditions of the corresponding image (2) across the front of the machine.
The cyclic viewer has been foreseen to be basically used as an auxiliary game within the context of a slot machine of the previously mentioned type, but may also be used as a component of the set of viewers corresponding to the main game of the machine, where the classical combinations of images susceptible of winning a prize are established, in which case, the mentioned support (7) may adopt a general configuration in "U", such that the flexible disc is affected by two orthogonal bracings, exclusively offering the observer the diametric band between the two bracings, or more specifically one of the end thereof, showing only one figure with a reduced number of figures and permitting the necessary lateral coupling between viewers to obtain the different combinations susceptible of winning prizes.
In a variation of execution showing an improvement, the disc (1') presents a pair of bracings (16) near and parallel to one of their diameters, determining a rectangular sector or intermediate section (17) and two almost semicircular sectors (18, 18'), the sector (18) being that which is going to be considered as in the front and over which will, be printed the corresponding images, as has been described and shown in the description corresponding to the viewer (1). These bracings (16) of the disc (1) result that the latter is presented in profile in a "U", being installed inside a furniture (19) equipped with a front and foldable door (20) across the corresponding brackets (21) foreseen in the front lower part of said furniture, in turn, counting with guide rails (22) inside for the corresponding edges to the sectors (18, 18') of the disc (1), one of the rails (22) being fixed in the internal face of the foldable door (20) itself, whilst the other is fixed in an internal partition wall (23) of the furniture (19) itself.
Obviously, inside said furniture (19), there will be supports and different components (24) for the mechanisms and components required in the operation of the machine, such as power supply, CPU, etc.
On the other hand, inside said furniture (19), there is, in turn, a support for the corresponding motor reducer (25) made from a long section (26) having end strips (27) with holes. This section (26) is fixed over the internal partition wall (23) itself, on top of the edge corresponding to the sector (18') of the disc (1'), said section (26) being equipped in its intermediate zone of inclined holes (28) in a longitudinal direction, permitting that the variation of position of a part in an adjustable bracket (29) in this middle area of the section (26), a bracket (29) having inclined holes (30), in an opposite direction to the holes (28), not only to allow variation of the position towards one or other side of the bracket (29) with respect to the section (26), but to vary the position forwards and backwards of said bracket (29), which in its vertical section is affected by other inclined holes (31) to permit its fixing at a greater or less height, with respect to a mast (32), whose lower end carries a new bracket (33) which may be arranged at a greater or less height with respect to the mast (32) with the particularity that the horizontal branch of this bracket (33) is formed half assembled for the motor-reducer (25), to whose exit shaft (34) is interlocked a disc (35) with numerous holes (36) corresponding with the circumference of the same, which are read in their rotation by an optical reader (37), all the latter such that the control disc (35) fixes the shaft (34) of the motor by means of a bushing (38), mounted over the shaft itself and fixed to it by a stud rivet (39), as shown in figure 6, this bushing (38) being affected by notching (40) on whose annular surface a series of holes has been foreseen and whose function will be explained later.
Besides the control disc (35), a protector disc (41) is included and situated above and a pair of discs (42, 43) between which the intermediate section or sector (17) corresponding to the image carrying disc (1') itself is located, moreover having foreseen that between the latter and the disc (42) another disc (44) of a greater diameter is arranged having a flexible nature comprising a protecting measure against the friction of the internal surface of the image carrying disc (1') itself with respect to the disc (42).
The discs (42, 43, 44), together with the disc (1'), form a sandwich which is strengthened by the screws (45, 46), assembling this sandwich over the bushing (38) by means of the screws (47) threading the holes foreseen in the notching (40) of the repeated bushing (38).
All the mentioned discs are in turn fixed to each other by means of screws (48), whilst to carry out the assembly, it is necessary to establish a relative position among them, which is obtained by means of a screw (49) passing through the holes (50) foreseen in the discs (41, 42, 43).
As already has been said, the assembly of the motor reducer (25) may be perfectly adjusted in position to look for and find the best point in which its shaft (34) coincides with the center of the disc (1'), which is obtained by changing the relative positions of the bracket (29) with respect to the section (26) and the bracket (33) with respect to the mast (32).
As has already been said, when we want to replace the disc (1') for another, as a consequence of the first one being deteriorated or because it is necessary to change the corresponding printing of the images and so as not to lose the synchronism, it is sufficient to loosen the screws (48) to separate the part fixed to the motor and forming the bushing (38) with the control disc (35), with respect to the sandwich forming the discs (1', 41, 42, 43), it being possible to dismantle all this assembly prior to folding of the front door (20) of the furniture, the mentioned door counting with some transparent areas allowing the images and other opaque areas to be seen to prevent vision of the interior.

Claims

A cyclic viewer for slot machines, which on being the type susceptible of offering the observer numerous changing images (2), is basically characterized because it is formed from a disc (1), carrying at its circumference the mentioned images (2), being based on a flexible and transparent or translucid plastic material, suitably motorized, with the special particularity that said disc, linked through its center to the motor shaft, is included in a dihedral, preferably straight, with the assistance of the support (7), adopting the mentioned dihedral configuration and which is affected by a wide window (8) being basically circular, affecting at least one of the two parts of the defined disc through its bracing, which should comprise the front face of the viewer and whose diameter is slightly less than the diameter of the flexible disc, such that the latter is retained by circumference, maintaining its dihedral configuration during its rotational movement.
A cyclic viewer for slot machines, according to claim 1, characterized because the motorized component for bracing the flexible disc (1) is an electric motor (4), preferably step to step synchronous, suitably fixed to a support (6), interlocked to the support (7) of the flexible disc (1) and which at the same time constitutes the support for the printed circuit board (5), which assists the mentioned electric motor (4).
A cyclic viewer for slot machines, according to the previous claims, characterized because the support (6) of the electric motor (4) also adopts a dihedral configuration and simultaneously comprises a support for a multiple box (13) suitably opposite the operative sector of the flexible disc (1), in whose troughs or parabolas are established two luminous lamps (15) improving the viewing of the images (2) established over the circumference of the flexible disc (1) .
A cyclic viewer for slot machines, according to previous claims, characterized because the flexible disc (1) is fixed to the shaft (3) of the motor with the help of a cylindrical core (9), conveniently interlocked to said shaft, and a front disc (10), in turn interlocked to the core (9), it having being foreseen that from said core (9) a strip (11) protrudes radially activating a phototransmitter-receiver motor (12), to control the drive of the electric motor (4) and consequently the positional control of the images (2) carrying disc (1).
A cyclic viewer for slot machines, according to claim 1, which being simultaneously applicable to several slot machines to permit that through the windows of all of them, the different images foreseen in the image carrying disc itself may be seen, and is characterized because the disc (1') simultaneously applicable to several slot machines presents near and parallel to one of its diameters a pair of orthogonal bracings (16) determining a central and diametric sector (17) and two almost semicircular sectors (18, 18'), the first of them considered as the rear and destined to receive the printing of the images, with the particularity that said disc (1') is installed inside a furniture (19) arranged over the combination of the machines, in which the disc (1') itself is simultaneously applicable, a furniture (19) including a front door (20) around some brackets (21) foreseen on the front and lower edge of the furniture, behind whose front door (20) is arranged near and parallel to the same, the image carrying sector (18), this door (20), as well as an intermediate partition wall (23) of the furniture (19) with guides (22) for the sectors (18, 18') of the disc (1') in the latter's rotation, with the particularity that the respective motor-reducer (25) for activation is installed in an adjustable position to permit the centering of its shaft (34) over the center of the intermediate sector (17) of the disc (1').
A cyclic viewer for slot machines, according to claim 5 characterized because the means of adjustable assembly for the motor-reducer (25) are formed from a section (26) with end strips (27) for fixing the partition wall (23), said section (26) having inclined holes (28) in the middle area for the fixing, with an adjustable character, both front-rear and transversely, of a bracket (29) also with inclined holes (30) with an orientation contrary to that of the holes (28) over whose bracket (29) is fixed, with an adjustable character, in an ascending and descending direction, a mast (32), which at its lower end carries a second bracket (33) with inclined holes (31) in a vertical direction to regulate the height of the latter, which is constituted in the middle of the assembly for the motor-reduced (25) on whose shaft (34) is interlocked a rotating disc (35) controlled by an optical reader (37) and a bushing (38) with a lower level (40), the latter with holes to permit the assembly and interlocking over said bushing (38) of a sandwich formed by some protection discs (42, 42, 44) among which is arranged the intermediate sector (17) of the disc (1') itself.
A cyclic viewer for slot machines, according to claims 5 and 6, characterized because the intermediate sector (17) of the disc (1') is arranged between the protection discs (42, 43), with the particularity that between the disc (42) and the intermediate sector (17) itself, there is a disc (44) with a greater diameter, whose complementary protection component for the intermediate sector (17), fixing said sandwich assembly to the bushing (38), by means of screws (47) passing through an intermediate disc (41), linked to the previous ones by means of screws (48) passing through all of them, besides having foreseen that the discs (41, 42, 43, 44) count with a hole (50) for a sole screw (49) by which a relative position between the discs is established for their assembly; likewise having foreseen that the discs (42, 43, 44) and the disc (1') itself are fixed to each other by means of screws (45, 46), such that the sandwich they form may be separated from the bushing (38) and the disc (35) interlocked to the shaft (34) of the motor-reducer (25) to permit the change of the disc (1') or of its images.