Locks – Special application – For closures
Reexamination Certificate
1998-07-02
2001-01-16
Gall, Lloyd A. (Department: 3627)
Locks
Special application
For closures
C070S467000, C070S484000, C194S350000, C292S117000, C292S119000, C292S157000, C292S254000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06173594
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a locking apparatus which locks a door on a main part of a game machine.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a housing constituting a main part of a game machine has a vertically elongated construction and, therefore, a locking apparatus for locking a door on the main part of the game machine is required to lock the door against breaking at a plurality of portions of the door which are spaced in the vertical direction. Hitherto, therefore, a locking apparatus of the kind described has a lock provided on the door at a position near one side edge thereof and a vertically movable locking bar which also is provided on the door. The locking bar is operatively connected to the shaft of the lock such that the locking bar moves up and down in accordance with the rotation of the lock. The locking bar is provided with a plurality of locking pawls which are spaced in the vertical direction, while engaging members engageable with the locking pawls are provided on the main part of the game machine. All the locking pawls are simultaneously brought into or out of engagement with the associated engaging members simply by a vertical stroking of the locking bar. This type of arrangement is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-155118.
In the known locking apparatus of the type described above, the door carries the vertically elongated locking bar, the lock, and all the members which operatively connect the lock to the locking bar. Consequently, the weight of the door assembly undesirably increases to cause various problems or inconveniences. For instance, the door is required to have a high level of rigidity to carry the heavy weight, and the hinge between the door and the main part of the game machine also has to have a strength high enough to support the heavy weight of the door assembly, resulting in a rise of costs of production of the game machine.
The problems described above would be eliminated if the arrangement is such that only the engaging members are carried by the door, while other components such as the locking bar and the lock are mounted on the main part of the game machine. In such a case, however, the number of parts to be secured to the main part of the game machine increases tremendously, so that a large installation space has to be preserved in the main part of the game machine in order to accommodate these parts.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a locking apparatus for a game machine, which is improved to reduce the weight to be borne by the door, without requiring an increase in the installation space to be preserved in the main part of the game machine.
To this end, according to the present invention, there is provided a locking apparatus of a game machine, having a locking bar provided with a plurality of first engaging portions, engaging members having second engaging portions engageable with the first engaging portions, a locking bar actuating member for actuating the locking bar from an engaging position where the first engaging portions engage with the second engaging portions to a disengage position where the first engaging portions are out of engagement with the second engaging portions, and locking means which performs, in accordance with operation of a key, a change-over between an unlocking state which permits the actuation of the locking bar into the disengage position by the locking bar actuating member and a locking state which prohibits the actuation of the locking bar into the disengage position by the locking bar actuating member, wherein the locking bar is disposed on one of a game machine main part and a door which is secured to the main part, while the engaging members, locking bar actuating member and the locking means are disposed on the other of the main part and the door.
The locking bar is an elongated member and, hence, has to have a high level of rigidity in order to offer high strength and tightness of the locking apparatus. The locking bar, therefore, is the heaviest component among the components of the locking apparatus. In accordance with the present invention, the heaviest locking bar is borne by one of the door and the main part of the game machine, while other components such as the engaging members, locking rod actuating member and the locking means are carried by the other of the door and the main part. Consequently, the door is required to bear less weight than in the conventional arrangements in which the door carries the heavy components such as the locking bar, locking bar actuating member and the locking means. In addition, the installation space to be preserved inside the main part of the game machine is not increased significantly, as compared with the case where the major components including the locking bar, locking bar actuating member and the locking means are mounted inside the main part of the game machine.
According to the invention, the arrangement may be such that the engaging members, locking bar actuating member and the locking means are disposed on the door, while the locking bar is disposed on the main part of the game machine.
According to this arrangement, two different operations: namely, an unlocking operation for unlocking the locking means by using a key, and a disengaging operation for bringing the locking bar from an engaging state into a disengaged state through the action of the locking bar actuating member, can be easily and consecutively performed from the outside of the door.
Preferably, the locking bar actuating member has an operation knob operable externally of the door, the locking means has a locking member movable, in accordance with the operation of the key, between a locking position where the locking member prohibits operation of the locking bar actuating member and an unlocking position where the locking member permits operation of the locking bar actuating member, and wherein the locking bar is held in the engaging position when the locking bar actuating member is constrained by the locking member against operation.
According to this arrangement, the change-over between the locking and unlocking states is performed by the action of the locking member through the locking means. The door can be opened by operating the operation knob so as to bring the locking bar from the engaging position to the disengaging position, after the locking member has been moved to the unlocking position by the operation of the locking means. With this arrangement, therefore, all the operations necessary for opening the door, such as unlocking of the locking means, operation of the operation knob and the swinging of the door can be done without requiring any action to be done on the main part, so that the door can be opened easily. The operation knob can be used as a knob on which the manual force is exerted for swinging the door into open position.
Preferably, the arrangement is such that the operation knob of the locking bar actuating member is operable in the same direction as the movement of the locking bar. Therefore, there is no need for provision of a device which would otherwise be necessary for the purpose of transforming the direction of movement of the locking bar actuating member into the direction of movement of the locking bar. Consequently, the number of parts is reduced to prevent any increase in the size of the installation space to be preserved in the game machine.
The locking bar actuating member and the locking means are separate members or may be integrated with each other.
Preferably, the arrangement is such that the first and second engaging portions engage with each other when the locking bar is at the lower end of its stroke, and urging means are provided for urging the locking bar towards the lower end of the stroke.
According to this arrangement, the locking bar is urged into the engaging position by the combined effect of its weight and the urging force exerted by the urging means, so that the locking bar can move t
Gall Lloyd A.
Jordan and Hamburg LLP
Konami Co. Ltd.
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