GB2363996A - Coin pushing machine with a coin diverter - Google Patents

Abstract

A coin pushing machine comprises a playing deck 1 having "lose" pockets 3 and 4 on one or both sides of the playing deck and a "win" pocket at the front edge wherein the playing deck has at least one adjustable coin diverter 7 whose angle of inclination to the direction of travel of coins from rear to front of the playing deck 1 is adjustable. The diverter may comprise of a hemispherical member having at least one flat in the side acting as the obstructing surface to divert coins into the "lose" pockets 3 and 4, and being rotated either manually or by servo motors to present a coin obstructing surface, thus allowing the machine operator to vary the income taken from the coin pushing machine, with the hemispherical shape causing the coins to stack and thus obscure the diverters from the player.

Description

2363996 DESCRIPTION "A COIN-PUSHING MACHINE" The present invention relates

to a coin-pushing machine such as are found in amusement arcades, casinos and the like.

Coin-pushing machines generally comprise a playing deck and at least one coin feeder deck positioned above and to the rear of the playing deck The coin feeder deck is moveable backwards and forwards relative to the rear edge of the playing deck and relative to a fixed wall extending laterally across its upper surface.

To each side of the playing deck is an opening or "lose" pocket through which coins are directed to a collector within the body of the machine and beyond the front edge of the playing deck is a win chute through which coins fall into an open tray at the front of the machine.

Before the machine is played by the public both the playing deck and the feeder deck are generally primed with coins by the operator This entails covering the upper surface of both decks with coins To play the machine coins are feed one at a time through each of one or more coins slots in the front of the machine from which they either fall or are propelled onto the feeder deck On reaching the feeder deck a coin may come to rest in front of the forward line defined by the wall as the feeder deck moves rearwardly relative thereto, in which case the coin will not move again until it is pushed forward by another coin introduced onto the feeder deck behind it Alternatively, it may come to rest across or behind the said forward line in which case the next time the feeder deck moves rearwardly relative to the said wall the coin is pushed by the wall over the deck until it lies in front of the said forward line It will be apparent that when this occurs any coins in front of the moving coin will be pushed forwards towards the front edge of the feeder deck and further, that if sufficient coins are introduced the furthest forward will eventually be pushed off the feeder deck onto the main deck.

The forward movement of the feeder deck over the playing deck defines a forward line beyond which coins on the playing deck cannot be pushed by the feeder deck It follows that each time a coin falls from the feeder deck onto the playing deck it will be pushed forward until its rear edge crosses this line, causing as it does so any coins directly in front of it to move forwards as well A player "wins" when coins at the very front of the playing deck fall over the forward edge thereof and into the "win" tray from which they can be retrieved The operator relies for his return on the machine on the fact that a proportion of the coins in play fall into the "lose" pockets on each side of the playing deck.

Players of coin-pushing machines hope that the introduction of a new coin onto the feeder deck will result in two or more coins being pushed over the front edge of the playing deck and into the "win" tray In order to improve the prosects of this happening (albeit that wins occur on an infrequent basis) it is necessary for the coins to stack up one on another as they progress towards the front edge of the playing deck This is achieved by providing a relatively narrow, upwardly inclined ramp along the front edge of the playing deck and a plurality of round or domeheaded screws, studs or the like in the surface of the playing deck As the coins are pushed forward over the playing deck those that come into contact with the screw heads are lifted upwards allowing any coins pushing up behind them to slip in underneath This effect is enhanced by the braking action exerted by the ramp on the coins at the front of the playing deck After a while the coins reach a "steady state" depth on the playing deck which is at its greatest across the front edge thereof and at its least across the rear thereof Each time coins fall from the playing deck, either into the "win" tray or into the "lose" pockets, further coins are required to be introduced to build back up to this "steady state".

Conventional coin-pushing machines do not allow the rate of return, that is to say the ratio of won to lost coins to be varied it is essentially fixed for each machine This is unsatisfactory in that operators cannot adjust the return on the machine, and hence the incentive to play the machine, to take account in changes in demand.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a coin-pushing machine which allows adjustment of the ratio of coins played to coins lost.

According to the present invention there is provided a coin-pushing machine comprising a playing deck having a "lose" pocket on one or both sides thereof and beyond the front edge thereof a "win"l pocket, characterised in that for each lose pocket there is provided at least one adjustable coin diverter in the surface of the playing deck, each diverter defining a coin obstructing surface whose angle of inclination to the direction of travel of coins from rear to front of the playing deck can be varied.

By varying the angle of inclination of the coin diverter it is possible to direct coins towards or even away from the lose pocket at the side of the playing deck, and in this way to vary the win/lose ratio of the machine.

Preferably, the or each diverters is positioned in the playing deck behind the forward edge of the lose pocket with which it is associated.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention the diverter comprises a hemispherical member which projects the surface of the playing deck and which has at least one flat in the side thereof Preferably, however, the diverter is flat or plate like and is semicircular around its periphery One side of the plate is presented to the direction of travel of coins over the deck to divert them The curved periphery of the plate allows coins to ride up over the diverter and build up around it, thus obscuring it from the view of the players.

The diverter is rotatable relative to the direction of travel of coins over the playing deck to vary the angle presented by the said flat thereto Conveniently, the diverter is connected to a shaft which passes through a mounting plate secured to the surface of the playing deck and the angle of the flat is determined by locating one or more pegs on the diverter in holes in the mounting plate Preferably, the diverter is spring biased into engagement with the mounting plate Alternatively, the diverter may be connected to the shaft of a servomotor mounted beneath the playing deck and rotated thereby.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a schematic view of a coin-pushing machine embodying the present invention; Figure 2 is a detailed view of an adjustable coin diverter from the machine shown in Figure 1; and Figure 3 shows a side view of the playing deck of a coin-pushing machine with an adjustable coin diverter mounted in it, and shows how coins build up around the diverter.

Referring to Figure 1 the coin-pushing machine comprises a playing deck 1 onto the surface of which coins are feed by a coin feeder deck 2 In conventional fashion the coin feeder deck 2 moves backwards and forwards as illustrated by arrow A relative to the rear of the playing deck 1 and also to a fixed wall (not shown) positioned laterally across the coin feeder deck 2 to cause coins dropped onto the coin feeder deck 2 by players to drop down onto the playing deck 2 and then to move forward over its surface towards the front edge thereof To each side of the playing deck 1 there is provided a pocket 3 the "lose" pocket into which coins pushed off the side of the playing deck 1 fall Each pocket 3 is connected via a chute 4 to a collection vessel or safe inside the machine These coins are kept by the machine operator and represent his return on operating the machine Extending the full width of the front edge of the playing deck 1 is another chute 5 which leads to an open collection tray at the front of the machine Those coins which are pushed off the front of the playing deck are returned via chute 5 to the player and represent the players winnings.

As with conventional coin-pushing machines a plurality of round headed screws or studs 6 are inserted in the surface of the playing deck 1 in a zig-zag pattern across the width thereof These screws or studs 6 cause coins travelling from rear to front of the playing deck to stack one above the other so that by the time they reach the front edge thereof they may be several thick To assist with this a relatively narrow, upwardly inclined ramp may be formed along the front of the playing deck 1.

To each side of the playing deck and in relatively close proximity to each of the "lose" pockets 3 there is provided a pair of coin diverters 7 It will be seen that the furthest forward of these on the playing deck 1 is closer to the respective "lose" pocket 3 than the other Each diverter 7 comprises a flat or planar semiconductor shaped member 8 mounted on a shaft 9 which extends through a mounting plate 10.

The mounting plate 10 is intended in use to be mounted flat in the surface of the playing deck 1 A helical spring 11, held in compression on the shaft 9 between the mounting plate 10 and a butterfly nut 12, serves to bias the stud 8 onto the mounting plate 10 By turning the planar member 8 the angle presented by the flat side 13 to coins travelling over the playing deck is varied which in turn changes the direction of coin flow past it The member 8 is fixed in a particular position by locating each of two pegs 14 on the bottom of the planar member 8 in any of three pairs of holes in the mounting plate 10.

It will be understood that as the angle presented by the flat 13 of the planar member 8 to the direction of travel of coins from the rear to the front of the playing deck 1 is adjusted coins are directed towards or away from the "lose" slot 3 to a greater or lesser extent Indeed, by angling the flat 13 towards the middle of the playing deck 1 the diverter can act to positively direct coins away from the "lose" slot.

The extent to which the coin diverters 7 affect the passage of coins across the playing deck 1 is also determined by the number thereof and their relative positioning on the playing deck By judicious selection of these various criteria it is possible to determine with considerable accuracy the pay out rate of a machine across a wide range.

Referring to Figure 3 it can be seen that the rounded edge of the planar member 8 allows coins to ride up over it and over the coins around it to observe it from the view of players This is useful in that it prevents players from judging whether the machine is set to a high or low pay out rate.

In the embodiment of the present invention described with reference to the accompanying drawings the coin diverter takes the form of a simple manually adjustable device and it would usually be set up during priming of the machine with coins However, it will be understood that the present invention includes alternative designs of coin diverter, including remotely controlled diverters which can be operated to adjust the pay out rate of a machine whilst it is in use This may be achieved by, for example, providing servo motors to rotate the diverters.

Claims (9)

1 A coin-pushing machine comprising a playing deck having a "lose" pocket on one or both sides thereof and beyond the front edge thereof a "win" pocket, characterised in that for each lose pocket there is provided at least one adjustable coin diverter in the surface of the playing deck, each diverter defining a coin obstructing surface whose angle of inclination to the direction of travel of coins from rear to front of the playing deck can be varied.

2 A coin-pushing machine according to claim 1, wherein the or each diverter is positioned in the playing deck behind the forward edge of the lose pocket with which it is associated.

3 A coin-pushing machine according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the diverter comprises a substantially hemispherical member having at least one flat in the side thereof defining the said coin obstructing surface.

4 A coin-pushing machine according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the diverter comprises a substantially semi-circular plate, one side of which defines the said coin obstructing surface.

A coin-pushing machine according to any preceding claim, wherein the diverter is rotatable relative to the direction of travel of coins over the playing deck to vary the angle presented by the said coin obstructing surface thereto.

6 A coin-pushing machine according to claim 5, wherein the diverter is connected to a shaft which passes through a mounting plate secured to the surface of the playing deck and the angle of the coin obstructing surface is determined by locating one or more pegs on the diverter in holes in the mounting plate.

7 A coin-pushing machine according to claim 6, wherein the diverter is spring biased into engagement with the mounting plate.

8 A coin-pushing machine according to any of claims 1 to 5, wherein the diverter is connected to the shaft of a servomotor mounted beneath the playing deck and rotated thereby to vary the angle presented by the coin obstructing surface to coins passing over the playing surface.

9 A coin-pushing machine substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.