Coin handling – Deliverer – Delivery of a distinct number of plural coins from a single...
Reexamination Certificate
2002-11-27
2004-09-07
Walsh, Donald P. (Department: 3653)
Coin handling
Deliverer
Delivery of a distinct number of plural coins from a single...
Reexamination Certificate
active
06786814
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a coin counting device, and more particularly to a coin counting device having a simplified and durable structure.
2. Description of Related Art
A coin counting device is mounted on a gaming machine to discharge coins to a player when the player wins a game. A conventional coin counting device in accordance with the prior art comprises a base, a rotating disk, a coin container and a coin discharging device. A driving device with a shaft is mounted on the base. The rotating disk is securely connected to the shaft of the driving device so as to be rotatably attached to the base. The rotating disk has multiple coin holes defined around the rotating disk in a circle. The coin container is attached to the base and has a coin inlet aligning with at least one of the coin holes in the rotating disk. The coin counting device is attached to the base and has a discharging channel and a counting sensor.
When the driving device is switched on, the rotating disk will rotate relative to the base. The coins contained in the coin container will enter and be received in the coin holes in the rotating disk, and the coins will rotate with the rotating disk. When a coin is led to correspond to the discharging channel of the coin discharging device by the rotating disk, the coin will be pushed into the discharging channel and be sent to a game winner. The counting sensor will count the amount of the coins passing through the discharging channel to turn off the driving device when a desired of amount of coins is sent out from the counting device.
To make the rotating disk freely rotate relative to the base, multiple rollers are mounted on the rotating disk and abut the base. However, the rollers have a heavy load due to the weights of the coins received in the coin holes in the rotating disk. The rollers and the base are easily damaged after a period of using with the heavy load provided by the coins, thus the conventional coin counting device is not durable. Furthermore, noise and unstable rotation of rotating disk easily occur due to the damage of the rollers. To prevent noise and unstable rotation of the rotating disk, the damaged roller must be replaced with a new one. However, because the rollers of the conventional counting device are attached to the rotating disk, the whole rotating disk with the rollers must be replaced with a new one. It is wasteful to replace an undamaged rotating disk. In addition, the structure of the rotating disk for the roller rotatable attached thereto is complex, and the cost for manufacturing the rotating disk is high.
To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention tends to provide a coin counting device to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The main objective of the invention is to provide a coin counting device that has a simplified and durable structure and involves a low cost for replacing a damaged element. The coin counting device has a base, a driving device, a rotating disk, a bearing ring, a coin container and a coin discharging device. The driving device is mounted in the base and has a rotatable shaft. The rotating disk is rotatably mounted on the base and is securely connected to the shaft of the driving device. The rotating disk has multiple coin holes defined through the rotating disk and arranged in a circle around the rotating disk. The bearing ring is detachably attached to the rotating disk and has multiple rollers rotatably attached to the bearing ring. The coin container is securely attached to the base and has coin inlet communicating with at least one of the coin holes in the rotating disk. The coin discharging device is attached to the base and has a counter to count the amount of the coins. In such an arrangement, the bearing ring can be detached from the rotating disk when one of the rollers on the bearing ring is damaged. To replace the rotating disk is not necessary, and the cost for repairing the counting device is lowered.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5098339 (1992-03-01), Dabrowski
patent: 5254032 (1993-10-01), Abe
patent: 5616074 (1997-04-01), Chen
patent: 5688166 (1997-11-01), Chen
patent: 6261170 (2001-07-01), Bell et al.
patent: 6685552 (2004-02-01), Nomura
Beauchaine Mark J.
Dellett & Walters
Walsh Donald P.
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