EP1466103A1 - Hub assembly for a roulette wheel - Google Patents
Hub assembly for a roulette wheelInfo
- Publication number
- EP1466103A1 EP1466103A1 EP02787206A EP02787206A EP1466103A1 EP 1466103 A1 EP1466103 A1 EP 1466103A1 EP 02787206 A EP02787206 A EP 02787206A EP 02787206 A EP02787206 A EP 02787206A EP 1466103 A1 EP1466103 A1 EP 1466103A1
- Authority
- EP
- European Patent Office
- Prior art keywords
- spacer
- hub assembly
- pairs
- housing
- axle
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Withdrawn
Links
Classifications
-
- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F16—ENGINEERING ELEMENTS AND UNITS; GENERAL MEASURES FOR PRODUCING AND MAINTAINING EFFECTIVE FUNCTIONING OF MACHINES OR INSTALLATIONS; THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL
- F16C—SHAFTS; FLEXIBLE SHAFTS; ELEMENTS OR CRANKSHAFT MECHANISMS; ROTARY BODIES OTHER THAN GEARING ELEMENTS; BEARINGS
- F16C33/00—Parts of bearings; Special methods for making bearings or parts thereof
- F16C33/30—Parts of ball or roller bearings
- F16C33/32—Balls
-
- A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
- A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
- A63F—CARD, BOARD, OR ROULETTE GAMES; INDOOR GAMES USING SMALL MOVING PLAYING BODIES; VIDEO GAMES; GAMES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- A63F5/00—Roulette games
-
- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F16—ENGINEERING ELEMENTS AND UNITS; GENERAL MEASURES FOR PRODUCING AND MAINTAINING EFFECTIVE FUNCTIONING OF MACHINES OR INSTALLATIONS; THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL
- F16C—SHAFTS; FLEXIBLE SHAFTS; ELEMENTS OR CRANKSHAFT MECHANISMS; ROTARY BODIES OTHER THAN GEARING ELEMENTS; BEARINGS
- F16C32/00—Bearings not otherwise provided for
- F16C32/04—Bearings not otherwise provided for using magnetic or electric supporting means
- F16C32/0406—Magnetic bearings
- F16C32/0408—Passive magnetic bearings
- F16C32/041—Passive magnetic bearings with permanent magnets on one part attracting the other part
- F16C32/0417—Passive magnetic bearings with permanent magnets on one part attracting the other part for axial load mainly
-
- A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
- A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
- A63F—CARD, BOARD, OR ROULETTE GAMES; INDOOR GAMES USING SMALL MOVING PLAYING BODIES; VIDEO GAMES; GAMES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- A63F5/00—Roulette games
- A63F5/0011—Systems for braking, arresting, halting or stopping
- A63F5/0052—Braking effect by friction surface
-
- A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
- A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
- A63F—CARD, BOARD, OR ROULETTE GAMES; INDOOR GAMES USING SMALL MOVING PLAYING BODIES; VIDEO GAMES; GAMES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- A63F5/00—Roulette games
- A63F5/0076—Driving means
-
- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F16—ENGINEERING ELEMENTS AND UNITS; GENERAL MEASURES FOR PRODUCING AND MAINTAINING EFFECTIVE FUNCTIONING OF MACHINES OR INSTALLATIONS; THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL
- F16C—SHAFTS; FLEXIBLE SHAFTS; ELEMENTS OR CRANKSHAFT MECHANISMS; ROTARY BODIES OTHER THAN GEARING ELEMENTS; BEARINGS
- F16C2316/00—Apparatus in health or amusement
- F16C2316/30—Articles for sports, games and amusement, e.g. roller skates, toys
Definitions
- This invention relates to a hub assembly for a roulette wheel and more particularly to such a hub assembly incorporating a magnetic bearing system.
- a roulette wheel is required, by most gaming authorities, to spin unaided for a minimum time of twenty minutes from a starting speed of approximately 20 rpm (determined by when looking down on the rotating number ring, the numbers appear to be just going blurred) to rest.
- a bearing system of minimum drag is required.
- Current practice to obtain this result is to use steel ball races with the thinnest of lubricant and the weight of the wheel is taken by either a ball race or a hardened pointed screw running on the hardened top of the axle (which also serves to adjust the height alignment between the wheel rim and bowl rim.
- Current bearing systems have a major drawback in that regular re- lubrication of the bearing system is required. With oil in the bearings and the bearings unshielded dust is attracted.
- a hub assembly for a roulette wheel comprising:- (i) a housing defining a hollow body having first and second open ends,
- each magnetic pair comprising an inner disc magnet and an outer ring magnet with an air gap therebetween, the inner disc magnets being fixed to the axle and the outer ring magnets being fixed to the housing, and
- each spacer pair comprising an inner disc spacer and an outer ring spacer with an air gap therebetween, the inner disc spacer being fixed to the axle and the outer ring spacer being fixed to the housing.
- the spacer pairs are magnetic spacer pairs.
- each magnetic pair has a top face and a bottom face with the top face being one magnetic pole and the bottom face being the other magnetic pole.
- the magnetic pairs and spacer pairs are assembled on the axial and in the housing in a vertical disposition and wherein there is a top spacer pair between the top magnet pair and the first bearing and a bottom spacer pair between the lower magnet pair and the second bearing.
- Fig. 1 is an exploded view of a hub assembly for a roulette wheel according to one embodiment of the invention
- Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a roulette wheel incorporating the hub assembly of Fig. 1 ,
- Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a hub assembly for a roulette wheel according to a second embodiment of the invention
- Fig. 4 is an exploded view of the hub assembly shown in Fig. 3
- Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of the magnetic pairs and spacer pairs of the hub assembly shown in Fig. 3. MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
- the hub assembly 10 shown in Fig. 1 includes a main housing 11 which defines a hollow body 12 having an open top 13 and an open bottom 14.
- the housing 11 has a skirt 15 and a tapered shoulder 16 which are adapted to engage the inner surface of a roulette wheel assembly.
- An axle 17 located within the body 12 is axially supported by an upper ceramic bearing 18 which is positioned in the open top 13 that is closed by a plug 19 and a lower ceramic bearing 20 positioned in the bearing housing 21 that is a press fit in the open bottom 14 of the body 12.
- the upper ceramic bearing 18 is secured to the upper end of the axle 17 by a countersunk screw 22 with a bearing keeper 23 therebetween and an acetal shim 24 beneath the upper ceramic 18.
- the magnetic pair 25 comprises an inner magnet disc 27 having a central aperture 27a and an outer ring magnet 28.
- the spacer pair 26 consists of an inner spacer disc 29 having a central aperture 29a and an outer spacer ring 30.
- the inner disc magnet 27 of each magnet pair 25 is fixed to the axle 17 which passes through the central aperture 27a and the outer ring magnet 28 of each magnet pair 25 is a press fit within the body 12.
- the inner spacer disc 29 of each spacer pair 26 is fixed to the axle 17 which passes through the central aperture 29a and the outer spacer ring 30 is a pres fit within the body 12.
- the roulette wheel 40 shown in Fig. 2 includes a roulette wheel cylinder 41 which has a central housing 42 that seats on the shoulder 16 of the bearing housing 11 and the skirt 15.
- the roulette wheel 40 also includes a wooden bowl 43 having a central recess 44 which supports an aluminium bowl 45 having a central opening 46 to receive the lower end of the axle 17.
- the mounting flange 32 is supported on the bowl 45 by screws 47.
- the weight of the rotating part of the roulette wheel 40 is supported by the array of ring and disc magnets 25 arranged as a stack of rings 28 separated by the rings 30 of the non-magnetic spacers 26 within the nonmagnetic housing 11 and a stack of discs of similar thickness separated by the discs of the non-magnetic spacers of similar thickness fitted on the hardened steel axle 17.
- the running clearance between the discs and rings is approximately 0.5mm giving an enormous strong axial coupling between them.
- a fixed force is required to provide stabilisation in a radial direction. This is achieved by using the ceramic single row deep groove ball bearings with Teflon cages 18 and 20 located above and below the array of magnets 25. Dust is excluded from this assembly by the sealing plug 19 in the top of the body 12 and the close seal of the bearing housing in the bottom of the body 12.
- the hardened steel axle 17 is a light press fit into to the mounting flange 32. When pressed and the thread engaged a couple of turns, the position of the axle and therefore the wheel rim and bowl alignment can be adjusted by turning the protruding hexagonal axle section clockwise to raise or anticlockwise to lower the wheel.
- FIG. 3 and 4 The embodiment of the invention shown in Figs 3 and 4 is substantially similar to that shown in Figs 1 and 2. Thus, like components carry the same numerals.
- One difference between the embodiments is that the non-magnetic spacer pairs 26 of the first embodiment are replaced by magnetic spacer pairs of the second embodiment.
- the axle 17 is axially supported by the upper ceramic bearing 18 which is located by a glass reinforced teflon sleeve 50 retained in the open top 13 of the housing 11 by a press sleeve 51 and is closed by the plug 19 and the lower ceramic bearing 20 located by a glass reinforced teflon sleeve 52 retained in the lower bearing housing 21 by a pressed sleeve and flange 53.
- Resistance to unwanted rotation of the axle 17 is achieved by two brass friction pads 54 radially disposed around the boss 55 of the upper mounting flange 56, the brass pads 54 being 90 degrees apart.
- the brass pads 54 are located in apertures formed in the boss 54 and are adjusted by grub screws 57 threadingly engaged in the apertures. The required amount of friction to prevent unwanted rotation is achieved by fine adjustment of the screws 57.
- a lower mounting flange 58 is coupled to the upper mounting flange 56.
- the magnet pairs are formed of rare earth magnets.
- the mechanical device consists of the housing 11 and the axle 17 which is supported by the ceramic bearings 18 and 20 which prevents any axial contact between the inner disc magnet 27 and the outer ring magnet 28.
- This arrangement allows the forces needed to separate an inner disc from an outer ring (axially) to be cumulative or in series - that is, if the force to separate one magnetic disc from its associated ring is say 20 kg then the force needed to separate the stack of four magnetic discs of Fig. 5 is four times that or 80 kg.
- this characteristic of the stack is utilised as a load carrying device and supports the weight of the roulette wheel thus taking any axial load of the ceramic bearings and consequently removing the drag or friction in the ceramic bearing to a very low value thus providing very long run times for the roulette wheel.
- the weight of the wheel (approximately 30 kg) causes a slight deflection in the axial relationship between the magnetic discs and rings to a position where the reactive forces of the attempted separation equals the weight of the wheel.
- This deflection occurs, there is an axial load applied to the ceramic bearings to remove any effects of the drag caused in the ceramic bearings by the axial deflection.
- the ceramic bearings are located circumferentially within the glass filled teflon sleeve (at each end of the housing 11) which, having a very low coefficient defriction, allows the ceramic bearings to axially relocate themselves to a position of minimum axial loading.
- the glass filled teflon bearing retaining sleeves have an internal diameter of .01 mm less than the outside diameter of the ceramic bearings.
Abstract
Description
Claims
Applications Claiming Priority (3)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
AUPP975101 | 2001-12-24 | ||
AUPR9751A AUPR975101A0 (en) | 2001-12-24 | 2001-12-24 | Bearing system |
PCT/AU2002/001750 WO2003056196A1 (en) | 2001-12-24 | 2002-12-24 | Hub assembly for a roulette wheel |
Publications (2)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
EP1466103A1 true EP1466103A1 (en) | 2004-10-13 |
EP1466103A4 EP1466103A4 (en) | 2006-08-23 |
Family
ID=3833363
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
EP02787206A Withdrawn EP1466103A4 (en) | 2001-12-24 | 2002-12-24 | Hub assembly for a roulette wheel |
Country Status (3)
Country | Link |
---|---|
EP (1) | EP1466103A4 (en) |
AU (2) | AUPR975101A0 (en) |
WO (1) | WO2003056196A1 (en) |
Family Cites Families (2)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US4072370A (en) | 1976-08-24 | 1978-02-07 | Spectra-Flux, Inc. | Radial magnetic bearing |
DE3032938A1 (en) * | 1980-09-02 | 1982-04-15 | Thyssen Edelstahlwerke AG, 4000 Düsseldorf | PERMANENT MAGNETIC RADIAL BEARING |
-
2001
- 2001-12-24 AU AUPR9751A patent/AUPR975101A0/en not_active Abandoned
-
2002
- 2002-12-24 AU AU2002351877A patent/AU2002351877B2/en not_active Ceased
- 2002-12-24 WO PCT/AU2002/001750 patent/WO2003056196A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation
- 2002-12-24 EP EP02787206A patent/EP1466103A4/en not_active Withdrawn
Non-Patent Citations (2)
Title |
---|
No further relevant documents disclosed * |
See also references of WO03056196A1 * |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
AU2002351877A1 (en) | 2003-07-15 |
WO2003056196A1 (en) | 2003-07-10 |
AUPR975101A0 (en) | 2002-01-24 |
AU2002351877B2 (en) | 2008-10-09 |
EP1466103A4 (en) | 2006-08-23 |
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Legal Events
Date | Code | Title | Description |
---|---|---|---|
PUAI | Public reference made under article 153(3) epc to a published international application that has entered the european phase |
Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: 0009012 |
|
17P | Request for examination filed |
Effective date: 20040709 |
|
AK | Designated contracting states |
Kind code of ref document: A1 Designated state(s): AT BE BG CH CY CZ DE DK EE ES FI FR GB GR IE IT LI LU MC NL PT SE SI SK TR |
|
AX | Request for extension of the european patent |
Extension state: AL LT LV MK RO |
|
A4 | Supplementary search report drawn up and despatched |
Effective date: 20060724 |
|
17Q | First examination report despatched |
Effective date: 20071129 |
|
GRAP | Despatch of communication of intention to grant a patent |
Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: EPIDOSNIGR1 |
|
STAA | Information on the status of an ep patent application or granted ep patent |
Free format text: STATUS: THE APPLICATION IS DEEMED TO BE WITHDRAWN |
|
18D | Application deemed to be withdrawn |
Effective date: 20091128 |