MXPA97008053A - System of measures of hopper of coins and cont - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a weighing apparatus for weighing coins accumulated in a coin hopper (10) using a feed cell (12). By periodically monitoring the hopper and calculating the number of coins in the hopper, the theft of coins and other irregularities can be detected easily and in time. The withdrawal without authorization of coins during the maintenance procedure can be detected by determining a number of coins before an access door (2) is opened, counting the number of coins once the door is closed, and using these two amounts to determine the change in the number of coins in the hopper. In a preferred embodiment, the identity of the person opening the door and the time at which the door is opened and closed are recorded, along with any discrepancy detected in the amount of moned.

Description

COINS HOPPER AND CONTROL SYSTEM MEASUREMENT SYSTEM Crossing With References To Related Requests.

This patent application is related to an American patent application entitled "KEJO Coin Hopper" which was filed on May 13, 1995 by John L. Rolofson, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference.

This patent application is related to an American provisional patent application entitled "Control Hopper System and Coin Measures", American application number 60 / 005,312, which was filed on October 16, 1995 by Peter L. Filiberti, the disclosure which we claim as a priority and is incorporated as a reference.

NOTICE OF COPY RIGHT A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material that is subject to protection via copy right. The owner of the copy right has no objection to the xerographic reproduction of either the patent document or the patent disclosure in exactly the way it appears in the patent or registry file of the Trademark and Patent Office, but otherwise reserves all rights of copy right.

Crossing with References to Related Requests.

This request is a partial continuation of the application with serial number 08 / 414,238 filed March 31, 1995, which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. A patent application (application serial number 08 /), filed on the same day as the present application and entitled "Improved Coin Hopper" is hereby incorporated as a reference for all purposes.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to hoppers used to collect and distribute coins used in games and vending machines. More particularly, the present invention relates to a Coin Hopper that is reliable to jam-proof and easily assembled.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to the field of handling of discs or coins.

More specifically, in one embodiment the invention provides an improved method and apparatus for the control of counting of coins and disks in machines with slots and other gaming machines.

Because casinos distribute large amounts of cash, they are stolen by dishonest people and are particularly vulnerable to being robbed by dishonest employees. And in this way, a dishonest technician can take a few coins from each slot machine in the service and use them. However to take several times and by several technicians can become a significant amount, since each individual only takes a small amount the casinos have resigned themselves to being stolen and treat robberies as a business expense. Casinos have tried to combat this problem by assigning two or more technicians to each task requiring an open game machine. However, this means an additional labor cost and does not help if the assigned technicians are dishonest.

An alternative solution is to seal the coin or banknote container in such a way that only reliable clerks in the handling of coins working in a cashier's cage can have access to the coins or bills. Coin receivers are more difficult to seal than bill receivers because coin receivers have to allow coins to go out as well as receive them, since the coin receivers simply store the bills, and because the coins are more susceptible to them. jam a hopper that the folding tickets. If the jam is not taken into account, then the hoppers can be sealed. However, where clogging is a possibility, sealing the hoppers could result in a long downtime for the gaming machines, which is a loss for the casinos that may be larger than for losses due to theft.

The patent application filed at the same time (application with serial number 08 /) referred to above describes an improved hopper that is much less feasible to jam than the hoppers of the state of the art. However, even with a jam-free hopper, the hopper can occasionally be opened for coin fillings after the deposit is hit and yet its sealing is not easy to carry out. Even if the hopper is sealed, it may not prevent a coin changer from removing coins when loading coins into the hopper.

As can be noted after reading the above, the fact of just counting the coins that have been loaded into the hopper and counting the coins that came out of the hopper will not prevent theft, in the same way that a physical inventory will only indicate Missing coins, not who took them.

There are systems in the art of weighing coins counting the same, and many such instruments can be used in a quarter of a casino's money. For example, U.S. Patent No. 5,193,629 to Lare and U.S. Patent No. 4,412,428 to Bullivand describe apparatus for weighing coins. While such weight measuring instruments may be desirable for weighing coins in a quarter of a coin, they are undesirable in an environment of gaming machines, where the hoppers may be enclosed to prevent theft by players, as well as being remotely accessible, operating In an electrical noise and vibration environment and capable of detecting theft at the time of the theft of what is seen above it is possible to conclude that a method and apparatus for coin counting and improved theft prevention is necessary.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a weighing apparatus for weighing coins accumulated in a coin hopper using a load cell and automatically taking a periodic reading of the number of coins accumulated in the hopper. By being periodically monitoring and automatically calculating the number of coins in the hopper, the theft of coins and other irregularities can be easily and timely detected. The unauthorized removal of coins during a maintenance procedure can be detected by means of an automatic determination of the amount of coins before the door to the hopper is opened, automatically counting the number of coins once the door is opened. closed, and using these two accounts determine the change in the number of coins in the hopper and the time of the change. In a preferred embodiment, the identity of the person opening the hopper door and the time at which the hopper door is opened and closed is recorded, together with any discrepancies detected between the change in the counting of coins and a expected change, if there is one in a currency control. An expected change, for example, may exist when a technician is called to open the machine and remove coins (which will be counted later). The number of coins in the hopper at any given time is determined by the combined weight of the hopper and the coins accumulated in it. During a calibration process, a tare (zero) of weight equal to that of the hopper is determined, and an operator is giving the opportunity to have a weight per coin determined by automatically placing a known amount of coins in the hopper and measuring the weight combined and the known amount of coins. Knowing the weight of the hopper tare and the weight per coin, the number of coins accumulated in a hopper can be calculated from the combined weight of the hopper with the coins accumulated in it.

A natural understanding of the nature and advantages of the disclosed invention can be made by reference to the remaining portions of the specifications and the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a front view with a slot machine with its door open showing a coin hopper.

Figure 2 is a more detailed side view of the coin hopper shown in Figure 1 illustrating the cantiliver assembly of the hopper in the feed cell.

Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the electronic circuit of the computer system and coin hopper shown in Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a flowchart of a counting process for counting coins in a coin hopper of the type in which a theft is periodically detected.

Figure 5 is a flow chart of a process for automatically taking periodic measurements to determine a coin count of the coins in the hopper.

Figure 6 is a flow diagram of a process for calibrating a hopper tare weight and a weight per coin.

Figure 7 is a flow chart of a process for obtaining an accurate hopper weight during calibration in the presence of noise and / or vibration.

Figure 8 is a flow chart of a process for obtaining a precise count of coins in the presence of noise and / or vibrations.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED MODALITY Figure 1 illustrates how a coin hopper ten is frequently mounted in a slot machine 1. To show the location of the hopper, a door of the hopper 2 of the slot machine 1 has been opened. During operation, the door of hopper 2 can usually be locked to prevent the theft of coins by players. As shown here, hopper ten is often located below a slot 3 for coin insertion and above a four coin payment plate. To start a game, a player must insert one or more coins into the coin insertion slot 3 and these coins will fall into the hopper 10. Although not shown in Figure 1, the coins will generally pass through a unit. of coin handling on its way to hopper 10, where the currency handling unit carries out some tests (size, weight, angular momentum, etc.) to determine whether the coin is real or of an appropriate denomination. The coin handling unit, or other device, will provide a signal, such as an electric pulse of "coins inside" to a logic board to indicate that a valid coin has been inserted. If a game is a winning game, or the player draws his credit with the slot machine 1, the hopper 10 drives the correct number of coins from the drive slot 5 within the pay plate 4. In some embodiments, such As the so-called "slant-top" slots machine, the hopper is actually located under the payment plate and a lifting mechanism or ladder is used to raise the payment coins higher than the payment plate in such a way that the Coins can fall into the payment dish and then be accessible to the player.

Normally, a motorized conveyor assembly (not shown in hopper ten) causes the coins to be driven to the payout plate or elevator and the conveyor assembly operate until a "coin out" counter indicates that the correct number of coins has been driven. . Then, the theft can be detected by taking an initial manual inventory of the coins in the hopper 10, then dragging the pulses "coin in" and "coin out" and taking a closed inventory. However, this process requires two steps of manual inventory, which does not detect who took the missing coins or when, and does not count coins that have been taken out of the hopper 10 and fallen into other areas within the slot machine 1 , such as the area 8. To solve these problems an electronic weight sensor, specifically a feed cell 12 is provided as shown in Figure 2 illustrates the assembly of the hopper 10 in a slot machine base 1 using a supply cell 12 and spacers in cantilever 16. The hopper 10 and the coins inside it are fully supported by the supports in cantiliver 16 a, which are in turn fully suted by the feed cell 12 which in turn is fully suted by the spacer in cantiliver 16 b, mounted directly on the base 14. Then, the weight of the hopper and the coins inside is by applying to a feed cell 12 causing a deformation in the feed cell 12 which is a function of the weight of the hopper and the coins inside this deformation is measured by a strain gauge 18 and the strain can be measured by reading the electrical signals in the cabling lines 20. In a preferred embodiment, the power cell 12 is a 36 kilogram feed cell sold by HBM, Inc. of Connecticut with a sensor attached to the one manufactured by Cirrus Logic. For larger hoppers, a 72 kilogram feed cell sold by HBM Inc. can be used. Of course, any convenient power cell can be used.

Referring now to Figure 3, a schematic of a logic board 100 used in a preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown. In an alternative embodiment, the role of the logic board is assumed in a central tool machine control system. The logic board comprises an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) 102 coupled to the power cell 12 for converting a signal fed from an analog signal to a digital power cell sample. As shown, a feed cell specimen has a resolution of 14 bits (whereby the 14 lines of the signal carry the signal in parallel), but another A / D converter resolution can also be used. With 14 bits, an integrated circuit corresponding to the digital load cell specimen can handle from 0 to 16,383. With proper calibration and an appropriate selection of feed cell 12, a fully loaded hopper will cause a reading near the end of the range, so that the best resolution is obtained. the ADC 102, provides its output to an output input controller (I / O) 104, which in turn provides samples, as required, to a central processing unit (CPU) 106. The CPU 106 executes the programs stored in the program memory 108 and uses a memory variable 1 10 to store the incident information about the execution of these programs. The programs executed by the CPU 106 comprise instructions for following the processes described in Figures 4 to 8, however the CPU 106 may also execute other programs not described here. In some embodiments, a CPU with output control (I / O) and / or memory functions may be used, however the description of FIG. 3 also applies to such integrated systems.

Figure 3 shows various I / O signals being provided to, or by, an I / O controller 104. For example, "coin-out" and "coin-in" signals are provided from the coin handling devices . These signals may be pulses (one pulse per coin) or may be another signal indicating a quantity, as is well known in the state of the art. The I / O copier 104 may also provide motor, sound, light and screen signals, if the CPU 106 or the I / O controller 104 is programmed to handle such functions of the slot machine 1. The I / O controller 104 receives switch signals from a variety of sources, of which a calibration switches 1 12, a start switches 1 14, a reset switches 1 16 and a door switch 1 18 are shown . Figure 3 also shows an internal screen 120 which is used as explained below.

Also shown in Figure 3 is a drop box feed cell 12 (a) and an ADC 102 (a) coupled to the I / O controller 104. The drop box feed cell 12 (a) performs a similar function to the feed cell 12, in which it provides an indication of the weight of a drop box (not shown) and the coins it contains. A drop box is a common part of some slot machines, and is used to contain the excess coins of the hopper capacity. For example, in Figure 1, a drop box can be installed below the hopper 10. A drop box is similar to a hopper, in that the former handles a collection of coins, but differs from a hopper in that the coins they are not pushed out of the drop box. Without a drop box it is used, a hopper can have a sensor that detects when the hopper is full (or can use the present invention to determine if more than a limit number of coins are in the hopper), and pushes out the coins , in such a case that the coins pushed out fall into the drop box instead of inside the payment plate 4. Of course, the power cell 12 (a) and ADC 102 (a) are not necessary where the computation of coins from the coins of the drop box is made separately or the drop box is not used.

Controller I / O 104 also reads / writes data from data pin 124 (see figure 1) as explained below. In a preferred embodiment, the data pin 124 is part of a communication system manufactured by Dallas Semiconductors. Variable data (not shown) is a battery hand-held instrument with an internal computer that communicates with an I / O controller 104 through simple signal lines and a chassis ground connection.

In operation, the power cells 12, 12 (a) are provided with a power cell from a power source of power cell 122 and generate an analog voltage that is a function of its power, such analog voltage is introduced to the power cell. ADC 102 or 102 (a) of the power cell. In operation, the states of the various switches shown in Figure 3 are monitored, as explained in connection with Figure 4.

Figure 4 is a flow chart of a process for periodically detecting coin removals without authorization as does the CPU 106 according to the instructions stored in the program memory 108. Each step in Figures 4 to 8 are numbered with a step number and the step number with each figure following a sequential order of execution of the steps, except when noted otherwise.

The process shown in Figure 4 begins when the hopper 2 door (see Figure 1) is opened (S1). This process assumes that the main mode of stolen coins is by dishonest technicians or other casino employees when opening the door 2 of the slot machine to perform maintenance and take coins from hopper 10 while door 2 of the hopper is open. Presumably, a game can not be played and a payment can not be made while door 2 is open and therefore a coin count will not change except in the case of authorized exit of coins. In a preferred embodiment, the hopper door 2 is secured by an electronic switch, such as a solepoid 126 (see figure 1), which can only be activated by the technician or employee who touches the data assigned on the data pin 124. As a part of the initial processes, the CPU 106 registers an IDE employee communicated from the variable data before activating the solenoid 126 to open the hopper door 2. Alternatively the hopper door 2 can be opened by an ordinary key and the open door can be detected by the door switch 18. In any case, a preferred embodiment records the opening time.

When the door 2 of the hopper is being opened, or preferably just before the access is made or the door 2 of the hopper is moved, a coin count is obtained (S2) and the count is stored equal to the count of opening (OC). If the CPU 106 does periodic and continuous readings, then the count of openings will be the most recent periodic reading before door 2 of the hopper was opened and after the last game was made.

In step S4, the door is monitored until it is closed, and another coin count is taken (S5). In a preferred embodiment, this second count of coins is a reading taken after the slot machine 1 has been stabilized after closing the door. This coin count C, is stored (S6) as well as the closed count (CC). Next (S7), an expected change of the computation (EC) is determined. This computation of expected change is positive in the case where a technician is sent to a slot machine to add coins to a half full hopper, is negative when the technician is sent to remove coins from the slot machine, and is zero when the technician It is simply sent to provide maintenance to the slot machine. Of course, other variations of this scheme are possible. For example, the expected computation of change may not be known at the time the coins are removed, but later determined that the technician subtracted the coins removed from the slot machine.

If the expected change calculation is known at the moment when the door is closed, a deficiency can be easily calculated (S7), subtracting the closing count (CC) of the opening count (OC) and adding the change count expected (EC). If the deficiency result (D) is not equal to zero (S9), then an alarm can be initiated (S10). When the slot machine does not automatically determine the identification of the technician or another employee who opens the slot machine the start of the alarm results in a blinking light being immediately activated, so that the unauthorized coin remover can be detected by a Floor handler while the thief is still present near the machine. However, in a preferred embodiment, the slot machine detects the opening and closing time as well as the identification of the person opening the machine, by means of which the deficiency is allowed to be easily traced to a specific employee . In an alternative mode, where the slot machine is not able to determine the identity of the person opening the slot machine, the slot machine will only record the time of entry and the deficiency to later compare to a record that shows which employees have access to which slot machine and at what time. In a preferred embodiment, the alarm is not only a local alarm in the form of a scintillating light in the slot machine or the like, but an alarm recorded by the CPU 106 and communicated to a central security station. (not shown) without taking into account whether there is an alarm or not, the process returns to step S1, where it remains until the hopper door is opened once more.

While the process shown in Figure 4 detects currency removals without authorization when a door 2 of the hopper has been opened, it will not necessarily detect coin removals without authorization when door 2 is closed. This last type of removal without coin authorization is more problematic than the first, since it requires the dishonest employee or technician to modify the slot machine to push out or reroute the coins out of the hopper 10 into other spaces within the Slot machine 1 to retrieve them later. This way of stealing can be countered by monitoring the relationship to which the coins do not reach the hopper 10 or do not get counted when they are pushed out. With centralized monitoring of the activity of the slot machine, the lack of counting for coin losses while the hopper door is closed can be monitored by each slot machine and those slot machines with higher than normal rates of lost coins. They must be carefully inspected for modifications that reduce the number of such lost coins. Coins lost from the hopper to the tilted box during normal operation can be counted through the use of the feed cell 12 (a) and ADC 102 (a), as described above.

In a preferred embodiment, the activity of the slot machine is communicated to a central security station for easy monitoring and early detection of deficiencies. The automatic coin counting process of Figure 4 is a process that can be run independently of the coin counting process shown elsewhere. The use of the present invention to handle other modes of theft or counting of coins may be apparent after reading the present description.

While in Figure 4 a poor detection process is shown, the figure. 5 shows a general process of taking a reading to calculate the counting of coins C. In a preferred embodiment, the process of Figure 4 and the process of Figure 5 run asynchronously, with the process shown in Figure 5 being a process of periodic takings of readings to update the current coin count and store a new coin count as long as it is determined that a stable and reliable reading has been taken, while the process shown in figure 4 (more specifically in steps S2 and S5) it only refers to the storage of the coin count values for the last reliable coin count.

Referring now to Figure 5, the process shown here begins with an initialization of the variables used (S21). the operator is punctuated with a "START" or similar prompt, with the operator specifying the end of the calibration process. The prompt is displayed, in some modalities, in a computer terminal, while in other modalities it is displayed in a LED display 120 coupled to IO 104 (see Figure 3). Preferably, the operator first determines that the hopper and slot machine are stable and the hopper is empty.

In step S22, the CPU 106 (see Figure 3) determines whether the diagnosis was required by the operator. One mode, the operator indicates that the diagnosis was required by sending a predetermined signal from the terminal to the I / O controller 104 such as through the I / O data pin or simultaneously pressing the calibration button 1 12 and the start button 1 14 (see figure 3). If the diagnosis is required, the CPU 106 carries out this diagnosis (S23) and proceeds to step S24. Otherwise, if the diagnosis is not required, the CPU 106 proceeds directly in step S24.

In step S24, the CPU 106 checks to see if the operator has requested a calibration. In the modality shown in Figure 3, the operator required the calibration by pressing the calibration button 1 12. If calibration is required, the calibration process is carried out (S25) to determine the weight of the tare (TW) and one peso per currency (CW). Following the calibration step, which is described in greater detail in Figure 6, or if calibration is not required, the CPU 106 proceeds to step S26, where it is determined whether the hopper was calibrated or not. If the hopper was not calibrated, either because the calibration was not required or because the calibration step was not successful due to an unreliable reading, the CPU goes back to step S24, in this way it creates a loop that only comes out when the hopper is finally calibrated. When the program exits the loop, "I CPU proceeds to perform step S27, where a reading of the weight of the hopper is taken and a count of coins is calculated. This process is shown in greater detail in Figure 8.

Once a coin count obtained (S28), this counting of coins is displayed, transmitted to a remote storage and / or display device or the counting of coins is simply stored in the variable memory 10 (see Figure 3), for later provision of a coin counting value to another process that uses this data. Once the coin count was obtained and processed as described above, the CPU returns to step S24. Then, while the hopper remains calibrated, the CPU performs a periodic loop of taking a reading, calculating a count of coins, and providing the counting of coins to various memory devices or displays, as many as necessary. In a preferred embodiment, a reliable subsequent value for the counting of coins is retained and is not overwritten by any subsequent unreliable coin counting, thus providing a computation value that can be obtained at any time by asynchronous processes.

Figure 6 shows the calibration process of step S25 in greater detail. At the output of the calibration process, the CPU 106 waits (S41) for a calibration signal, either from a remote device or from the operation of the calibration switch 1 12. If the calibration signal is not received within a predetermined time, the calibration process is aborted and an indication that the calibration has not been completed is given in such a way that the readings (see figure 5) will not be taken before the process of calibration is actually completed successfully. If the calibration signal is received, the CPU 106 proceeds to obtain the weight of the hopper (S42), which is described in greater detail in Figure 7. Prior to receiving the calibration signal, the hopper should be emptied by the operator in such a way that a tare weight of the hopper can be obtained. As well, if the calibration signal is sent using a calibration switch 112, the CPU 106 delays for a predetermined time to allow the machine vibration of slots produced by the actuation of the switch 1 12 not to affect. If the process of weighing the hopper returns an error indicating that a reliable weight of the hopper could not be obtained, the CPU 106 aborts the calibration process (S42). However, if a reliable weight of the hopper is obtained, this weight of the hopper is stored as the new weight value of the tare (TW) for the hopper (S44).

Once the weight of the hopper tare is obtained, the CPU 106 waits for a CURRENCY WEIGHT signal (S45), and when the CURRENCY WEIGHT signal is received, the CPU 106 again measures the weight of the hopper ( S47). After the CURRENCY WEIGHT signal is sent, the process assumes that the hopper now contains N coins. In a preferred embodiment, N = 20, however, it could be apparent that other values of N may be used. If a timeout occurs while waiting for the CURRENCY WEIGHT signal or the weight process of the hopper an error returns, the calibration process is aborted (S46) and only the weight of the tare is updated. When a hopper is modified or moved to a different slot machine, the calibration procedure may be enabled to abort in step S46 without harmful effects, since the previous coin weight may be reused.

Once the weight of the hopper obtained (S47) for the hopper and the N coins, a coin weight is calculated (S48) subtracting the weight of the hopper tare (TW) from the last measured weight of the hopper (HW) and dividing the difference by N. This new weight per coin (CW) is then stored (S49) in the variable memory 110 and the calibration process returned a successful hopper calibration.

Figure 7 shows the process of obtaining a weight of the hopper, the result being the successful return with a weight of hopper (HW) or the return of an error indicating that the hopper was very unstable so that a measurement could have been performed.

At the beginning of the process, the variables used for temporary storage and loop control are initialized (S60) and a digital value sample, L, is taken from the power cell 12 (S61). As may be apparent from this description, the process of Figures 4-8 is equally applicable to the counting of coins using a drop box, with the main difference being that the feed cell 12 (a) is sampled instead of cell 12. The sampled value L is stored as a read reference R (S62), and a main loop is entered.

In the main loop, the power cell is once again sampled (S63) to get a new value for L. If the absolute value of the difference between L and the reference reading R is less than a limit variation, V, then the sample value L is added to an accumulator (HW) and a loop counter (I) is incremented (S65). The CPU 106 then performs a pause for a predetermined separation period of T1 ms (S66) and then the loops return to step S63 to take another reading. This continues until a predetermined number, C_SAMP, of readings has been taken. Once the samples of C_SAMPS have been taken and accumulated, the value in the accumulator (HW) is divided by C_SAMP (S68), to produce a weight of the hopper. In a preferred embodiment, the digital values L and R are integrated in a range of 0 to 16,383, the tolerance of the variance V is 120, T1 is 100 ms and C_SAMP = 40.

If the absolute value of the difference between L and R is larger than or equal to V, indicating too much variance between a weight sample and a reference weight, the reference weight is adjusted by an VSTEP increase (S69). More specifically, R is adjusted in such a way that the absolute value of the difference between L and R is reduced by VSTEP, for example, if R greater than L in a value V, R is reduced by VSTEP and if R is less than L in more than V, R is increased by VSTEP. In a preferred embodiment, VSTEP = 10.

Following the setting of R, the loop counter (I) and the accumulator (HW) is brought to zero (S70) and an unstable reading of count, U, is incremented. If the unstable reading of the counter U is not larger than a maximum UMAX, then the CPU 106 reenters the main loop just before step S66. Otherwise, if U is larger than UMAX, U is reset to zero and a computation error (ERRCNT) is incremented (S72). If the computation error is larger than a maximum error value (ERRCNT >MAXERR), the weight process of the hopper ends and an indication of error is returned. Otherwise, the CPU 106 reenters the main loop just before step S66. In a preferred embodiment, UMAX = 40 and MAXERR = 4. Also, in a preferred embodiment, when the instability is detected, the operator is provided with an indication, such as a dispiay "UNST", to indicate that the instability has been detected, in order to give the operator the opportunity to eliminate the source of instability before a reading is taken. Assuming that a valid hopper weight reading is obtained, it can be used in the calibration process shown in Figure 6.

Figure 8 shows the process of taking a reading, which can result in the return of Counting C currency or in the return of indication of an error. At the beginning of this process an accumulator (HW) and a loop counter (not shown) are initialized. In the main loop (shown as steps S81, S82, S83) a power cell is sampled to obtain an L value, CPU 106 marks a pause of T2 ms, and the sampled value L is added to the accumulator (HW). This loop repeats until N_SAMP samples are taken. In a preferred embodiment, T2 is 200 ms and N _SAMP = 30.

Once N.SAMP samples are taken, the accumulator (HW) is divided by N.SAMP (S85) and the resulting hopper weight (HW) is compared to the weight of the tare (S86). If the weight of the hopper HW is less than the weight of the tare TW, an error signal is generated (S87), otherwise a coin count is calculated according to the formula: C = ROUND ((HW - TW) / CW).

Of course, another suitable formula can be used. The weight reading process of the hopper of figure 8 is less interactive and less error correct than the weight reading process of the hopper of figure 3, since the first shape generally occurs when the slot machine is not open and an unreliable reading can be discarded without harmful effects, while the second process provides tare weight and weights per coin that can not be easily discarded.

Then, in the manner described above, a hopper is periodically weighed and this weight is used, by combining with a determined weight per coin, to determine a number of coins in the hopper. In a specific use of the coin counter, the coins are counted just before the hopper door is opened and then counted once again after the hopper door is closed and its difference is compared to an authorized difference determine if any unauthorized removal of coins from the hopper occurred while the hopper door was open. An application of this system includes a centralized slot machine control system, from which a reliable employee can monitor the opening and closing of each coin machine door, as well as a current inventory of coins in the hopper and / or drop box of each slot machine. The necessary information can be communicated from the slot machines to the centralized control system of slot machines through dedicated communication lines running from each slot machine or can be provided by the data pin system already described . The above description is illustrative and not restrictive. Many operations of the invention may become apparent to those with skill in the field after reading this disclosure. Only by way of example, it may be apparent upon reading the description that different discs of coins or tokens, or even notes or bonds can be counted in the same way as coins, and that the present invention can be used with other gaming machines or vending machines. It will also be apparent that the above-described data pin system can be replaced by a communications network connection of strongly wired slot machines, wireless joints, optical or RF communication junctions, or the like. The scope of the invention may, therefore, be determined not with reference to the above described, but shall be determined with reference to the appended claims throughout their scope of equivalences.

Claims (14)

R E I V I N D I C A C I O N S
1. A method for detecting the theft of coins in a gaming machine, characterized by comprising the steps of: a first step of weighing coins into a coin hopper of a slot machine, this by measuring a first weight; a first step of calculating a number of coins in the coin hopper based on the first weight resulting in a first count; allow access to coins in the coin hopper; a second step of weighing coins into a coin hopper of the gaming machine, this to determine a second weight; a second step calculating a number of coins in the coin hopper based on the second weight, resulting in a second count; Y operate an alarm if the second count is less than the first count minus an authorized number of coins to be removed.
2. The method claimed in clause 1, characterized in that the coins are interchangeable chips for money.
3. The method of claim 1, characterized in that the first weighing step is carried out at a time when the coin hopper is firm in the gaming machine and the second weighing step is carried out when the coin hopper is loaded. In the gaming machine, the method further comprises a detection step of whoever had access to the coin hopper during a period in which the coin hopper is not secured between the time the first weighing step is taken to out and the second step of weighing is carried out.
4. The method of claim 3, characterized in that the access to the coin hopper is limited by the use of an electronic key to open a door of the game machine, the method further comprising the step of reading the electronic key and recording of an electronic key identifier.
5. The method of claim 1, characterized in that it further comprises the steps of: dropping the excess number of coins from the coin hopper into a drop box when a level of coins at or above a drop level is detected at the coin hopper; the weighing of coins in the drop box, thereby determining the weight of the coins in the drop box; calculating the number of coins in the drop box from the weight of the coins in the drop box, resulting in a count in the drop box; add the count of the drop box to the first or second count to determine a total count of coins.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first and second steps of coin weighing are weighing steps of unit coins of known weight.
7. The method of claim 1, characterized in that the first and second step of coin weighing are coin weighing steps and the coin hopper.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the coin weighing step comprises the substeps of: measuring an acceleration of the coin hopper relative to the gaming machine; measuring a distortion of a cantiliver beam that is deformed by the weight of the coin hopper and the coins it contains when the acceleration of the coin hopper relative to the gaming machine is practically zero or a known acceleration.
9. A method of securing a gaming machine against removal of coins from a coin hopper in the gaming machine without authorization, characterized by understanding the steps of: detection of a door being opened substance simultaneously with the door being opened or before, measuring a first number of coins in the coin hopper by weight; detection of the door being closed; measuring a second number of coins in the coin hopper by weight after the closing of the door is detected; and determining a difference in the counting of coins by subtracting the first computation of the second computation and electronically reporting the difference to a theft control system.
10. The method of claim 9, characterized by further comprising the step of adjusting the difference to the count for authorized removed coins.
11. The method of claim 9, characterized in that it further comprises a step of driving an alarm when the difference is greater than zero.
12. The method of claim 1, further characterized in that the step of driving an alarm is a step of establishing a flag in a field of a line of a data table associated with a game machine in which the difference is detected.
13. A method of detecting the theft of coins in a gaming machine, comprising the steps of: weighing coins in a coin hopper of the gaming machine to determine a baseline weight at the start of a detection period; calculation of a baseline of currency computation from the baseline of the peso; record of a number of coins inserted; registration of a computer for each authorized payment outlet; calculation of an expected number of currencies by subtracting the computation of each authorized exit or payment from the baseline of the amount of coins and adding the number of inserted coins; the weighing of coins in the hopper at the end of the detection period to determine a final hopper weight; calculation of a final amount of coins from the final weight of the hopper; Y determination of a quantity of discrepancy in the detection period by subtracting the final amount of coins from the expected amount of coins.
14. 14. The method of claim 13, characterized by further comprising the step of reporting the discrepancy as a quantity of stolen coins. SUMMARY The present invention provides a weighing apparatus for weighing coins accumulated in a coin hopper (10) using a feed cell (12). Through periodic monitoring of the hopper and automatic calculation of the number of coins in the hopper, the theft of coins and other irregularities can be detected easily and in time. The withdrawal without authorization of coins during the maintenance procedure can be detected by determining a number of coins before an access door (2) is opened, counting the number of coins once the door is closed, and using these two amounts to determine the change in the number of coins in the hopper. In a preferred embodiment, the identity of the person opening the door and the time at which the door is opened and closed are recorded, along with any discrepancy detected in the amount of coins.