GB2317259A

GB2317259A - Display apparatus for an entertainment machine

Info

Publication number: GB2317259A
Application number: GB9719532A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Paul Gauselmann
Original assignee: ASP Gauselmann GmbH
Current assignee: ASP Gauselmann GmbH
Priority date: 1996-09-13
Filing date: 1997-09-12
Publication date: 1998-03-18
Anticipated expiration: 2017-09-12
Also published as: DE29615932U1; GB2317259B; ES1038207U; GB9719532D0; ES1038207Y

Abstract

Display apparatus for an entertainment machine comprises a display element 2 bearing symbols and a mounting device 3 for mounting the element in a selectable orientation depending on the installation requirements of the particular machine. The element 2 has a first pin 22 engageable in a curved, generally horizontal first guide 9 of the device 3 and a second pin 21 engageable in a generally vertical second guide 8 of the device. The element 2 also has a third pin 20 engageable in a spring catch 13, 15 of the device for locking the element in the selected orientation. The second and third pins 21, 20 are each selected from two alternative spaced-apart pins, the pin selection determining the element orientation. The non-selected pins can be removed.

Description

DISPLAY APPARATUS FOR AN ENTERTAINMENT MACHINE The present invention relates to display apparatus for an entertainment machine, especially to apparatus for the display of symbols in a coin-actuated entertainment machine.

Coin-actuated entertainment machines commonly comprise symbol-bearing equipment in the form of roller-shaped rotating bodies, which are provided with win symbols and are arranged behind viewing windows at a front side of the machine. Two symbols are displayed in outer viewing windows and one symbol in a middle viewing window. A light carrier with reflectors is arranged between a drive motor of the equipment and the rotating bodies. It is disadvantageous that the reflector arrangement for the outer rotating body must always be designed differently than for the middle rotating body.

It would thus be desirable to provide display apparatus whereby the same symbol equipment could be used for all window positions.

According to the present invention there is provided a device for receiving a display element for the display of symbols of an entertainment machine, characterised in that the device comprises a vertically and a horizontally extending guide, and that the horizontal guide extends in curved manner and has a funnel-shaped entry portion, in which a guide pin of the element is layable, that a further pin, at an end, of the element automatically threads itself into the vertically extending guide when the equipment is displaced into a locking position, and that on displacement of the element to an end region, which is opposite the entry portion, of the horizontal guide the element is mechanically positively locked in a display position.

Preferably, the element comprises a base body which has, at side surfaces, pins at the periphery which project into the guides, which are arranged in arms of the device, wherein the arms engage around the base body.

Apparatus embodying the invention may have the advantage that in the case of several symbol-bearing display elements to be arranged adjacent to one another, the same element can be used independently of the arrangement of viewing windows at the front side for display of the symbols. Pins which are arranged at the element and project outwardly at the periphery and into the guides of the device and which are not needed, can be removed during the mounting. Consequently, not only is the production phase simplified, but also replacement part inventorising is reduced, as only one display device instead of two has to be stocked.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be more particularly described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a schematic elevation of apparatus embodying the invention and, in use, arranged behind one viewing window in an entertainment machine; and Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, but of the apparatus arranged behind two viewing windows in an entertainment machine.

Referring now to the drawings, there is shown a rear wall 2 of a coin-actuated entertainment machine, which itself is not illustrated in more detail, to an inner side 4 of which wall are fastened two constructionally identical and adjacently arranged parts of a mounting device 3 for mounting a display element 2 bearing symbols to be displayed.

Each of the two parts of the device 3 is U-shaped and comprises two arms 5 and 6 and a web 7 connecting the arms. Two guides 8 and 9 are arranged at the free ends of the two arms 5 and 6, respectively. The guide 8 in the lower arm 5 extends approximately vertically and is open at the top and bottom. The lower region 10 of the guide 8 is widened in a funnel-like manner. The guide 9 in the upper arm 6 begins at the free end 11 of the arm and extends towards the wall 1. In the region of the free end 11, the guide 9 has an entry portion 12 formed to be funnel-shaped. The guide 9 has a curved course, which extends approximately horizontally and from the portion 12 to a region near the web 7. A web spring 13 with a locking lever, which has a recess 15 at its free end 14, is arranged parallel to the arm 6 and at a spacing from the web 7.

The device 3 is constructed to be longitudinally symmetrical, so that the same guides 8 and 9 are present on both sides of the arms 5 and 6.

The display element 2 comprises a base body 16, which is elliptical in shape and includes a drive, which is not illustrated, and pockets 17 for the reception of light elements (not shown). The pockets 17 are separated by webs 17a. In the regions of the upper and lower ends 18 and 19, the base body 16 has, at the periphery, outwardly directed pairs of pins 20 and 21 arranged at mutual spacings. A further guide pin 22 is arranged between the pin pairs 20 and 21, in the upper third of the element.

The installation position of the display element 2 is determined by removal of a pin from each of the pin pairs 20 and 21. For a vertical orientation (Fig. 1), the outer pin at the periphery is removed from the lower pin pair 21 and the more inwardly disposed pin is removed from the upper pin pair 20. The guide pin 22 is introduced into the entry position 12 of the guide 9. The element 2 automatically fixes itself, so that through displacement of the element in the direction of the rear wall 1 of the machine the outer or lower pin of the pin pair 21 introduces itself into the guide 8 of the device 3. The element 2 adopts its end position through the preset path of the guide 9 and the inner pin of the pin pair 20 passes, by way of a run-up ramp, into the recess 15 of the resilient web spring 13. In conjunction with adjacently arranged elements 2, the entertainment machine has at the front side the same number of viewing windows as display elements, which are used for the representation of symbol combinations signifying wins or not signifying wins.

If another form of window arrangement is used, for example 2/1/2 windows, then due to the webs 17a, which separate the pockets 17, of the base body 16 the middle rotating body or display element must be inclined by its upper end 18 out of the vertical in the direction of the rear wall 1 of the entertainment machine (Fig. 2). For this purpose the inner pin is removed from the pin pair 21 and the outer pin from the pin pair 20. Due to the changed fulcrum position in the device 3, the element 2 is inclined out of the vertical in the direction of the rear wall 1 about the lower pin of the pair 21. The guide pin 22 is guided up to the end of the guide 9. The inner pin of the pin pair 20 is received by the recess 15 of the web spring 13.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. Display apparatus for an entertainment machine, comprising a display element bearing symbols to be displayed by the machine and a mounting device for mounting the element, the element being provided with a first and a second mounting pin and the device with a curved first guide which has an enlarged entrance portion and in use extends substantially horizontally and with a second guide which in use extends substantially vertically and the pins and guides being so arranged that the first and second pins are respectively engageable in the first and second guides on fitting of the element to the device and the device is movable into a preselectable display orientation relative to the device on displacement of the first pin along the first guide in a direction away from the entrance portion, means being provided for positively locking the element in the display orientation.
2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first guide is provided by two guide slots disposed one in each of two arms which in use are each disposed at a respective one of two opposite sides of the element and the second guide by two further such guide slots in two further such arms and wherein the pins comprise pin portions engageable in the guide slots.
3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the second pin is provided by a selectable one of two spaced-apart pins each enabling a respective one of two different display orientations of the element, the other, non-selected one of the two pins being removable.
4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein the means for locking comprises a third pin arranged at the element and engageable in a recess in the device.
5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein the third pin is provided by a selectable one of two further spaced-apart pins each associated with a respective one of said two different display orientations of the element, the other, non-selected one of the two further pins being removable.
6. Display apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
7. An entertainment machine comprising display apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, the display element being mounted in the mounting device.