A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material that is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
This invention relates to gaming machine cabinets and, more particularly, to an upright gaming machine cabinet having a dual chute for both receiving and dispensing currency and/or various currency representative media.
Traditional gaming machines include one opening for receiving currency or other credit-adding media, and another, separate opening for dispensing winnings in some form. This is often confusing for a player, who may incorrectly attempt to insert currency into the dispensing opening in the machine, and/or conversely trying to locate his winnings from the receiving opening of the machine, which will be empty. A gaming machine cabinet having one opening for both receiving and dispensing currency or the like would be a stark improvement in the field of gaming.
Briefly, and in general terms, the present invention provides a gaming machine including a cabinet housing having an opening extending through at least one side thereof, with both a receiving chute and a dispensing chute extending away from the opening. That is, one opening is configured to both receive and dispense currency and other currency- or credit-indicating media. In one embodiment, a receiving chute extends between the opening and a receiver, while a dispensing chute extends between the opening and a dispenser. A bezel may extend through the opening. The receiving chute may be defined by a receiving mechanism, with the dispensing chute being defined by a dispensing mechanism. In this embodiment, the receiving mechanism and the dispensing mechanism may be the same.
The present invention also provides a gaming machine including a cabinet housing which houses a receiver and a dispenser. An opening extends through the housing. A receiver chute extends between the opening and the receiver, with the receiver chute having a first receiver portion. Similarly, a dispenser chute extends between the opening and the dispenser, with the dispenser chute having a first dispenser portion. The first receiver portion and the first dispenser portion are coextensive, such that the cabinet housing both receives and dispenses currency and currency-type media at the opening.
Other features and advantages will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate by way of example, the features of the various embodiments.
Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals denote like or corresponding parts throughout the drawings, and more particularly to
The gaming machine 10 includes a cabinet housing 12 preferably defined as the interior of a first side 14, a second side (not shown), a front wall 16 and a rear wall (not shown). The cabinet housing 12 may also include a base and a top, neither of which are explicitly shown in
In the preferred embodiment, the gaming machine 10 includes a door 22 having a bezel 24 extending therethrough. The door 22 is preferably movable to reach the interior of the cabinet housing 12 for service or other maintenance. It should be noted that the bezel 24 need not extend through the door 22 to practice the present invention. It matters only that there be an opening of some sort, in the preferred embodiment the bezel 24, through the cabinet housing 12.
Turning to
It should be noted that while for aesthetic purposes the preferred embodiment of the present invention contemplates the use of the bezel 24 to define the opening 28, the opening 28 can easily be present in the cabinet housing 12 without the use of the bezel 24. That is, the cabinet housing 12 can define the opening 28 without the use of the bezel 24. Additionally, while the opening 28 in the preferred embodiment is shown through the front wall 16 of the gaming machine 10, the opening 28 could be through and wall of the gaming machine 10 within the scope of the present invention. Additionally, while the preferred embodiment includes a separate receiver 38 and dispenser 50, the present invention can be utilized with a combination receiver/dispenser, such that the receiving chute and the dispensing chute are coextensive. It matters only that at least some portion of a receiving chute and a dispensing chute be coextensive to practice the present invention.
One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that not all gaming machines have all these components and may have other components in addition to, or in lieu of, those components mentioned here. Furthermore, while these components are viewed and described separately, various components may be integrated into a single unit in some embodiments.
The preferred embodiment described above is provided by way of illustration only and should not be construed to limit the claimed invention. Those skilled in the art will readily recognize that the claimed invention can be practiced in a substantially equivalent way with various modifications and changes that may be made to the claimed invention without following the example embodiments and applications illustrated and described herein, and without departing from the true spirit and scope of the claimed invention, which is set forth in the following claims.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/157,175, filed Mar. 3, 2009, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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61157175 | Mar 2009 | US |