Granted Patent B2

US 8,662,984 · App. 11/942,677 · Granted Mar 4, 2014

Abstract

Claims (59)

1. A reel assembly for a gaming machine, the reel assembly including:

(a) a mounting bracket including a substantially planar mounting bracket body, the mounting bracket further including a first lateral side, a second lateral side, a top edge, a bottom edge, a back edge, and a front edge;

(b) a reel motor connected to the first lateral side of the mounting bracket;

(c) a reel superstructure connected to be driven by the reel motor about a rotational axis extending substantially perpendicular to the plane of the mounting bracket body;

(d) a mounting flange at the top edge of the mounting bracket, the mounting flange extending along the entire length of the top edge of the mounting bracket and including a substantially planar surface lying in a plane extending transversely to the plane of the mounting bracket body, the mounting flange constructed to fit within a receiving structure associated with the gaming machine so that when the reel assembly is in an installed state, the reel assembly is suspended from the receiving structure;

(e) a stabilizing structure located at the rear edge of the mounting bracket in a spaced apart relationship with the mounting flange; and

(f) a locking structure located at an intersection of the top edge of the mounting bracket and the front edge of the mounting bracket, the locking structure securing the reel assembly in a predefined position with respect to the gaming machine.

2. The reel assembly of claim 1 wherein the mounting flange includes:

(a) a first flange part extending from one of the first lateral side or the second lateral side of the mounting bracket, the first flange part being integrally formed with the mounting bracket body and comprising an extension from the mounting bracket body bent so as to extend perpendicular to the plane of the mounting bracket body; and

(b) a second flange part extending from the other one of the first lateral side or second lateral side of the mounting bracket, the second flange part comprising an extension from a base part which is connected to the mounting bracket, the extension comprising the second flange part being bent with respect to the base part so as to extend perpendicular to a plane of the base part and the plane of the mounting bracket body.

3. The reel assembly of claim 1 wherein the stabilizing structure includes one or more stabilizing projections extending from the rear edge of the mounting bracket.

4. The reel assembly of claim 3 wherein the mounting bracket includes a rear flange located at the rear edge thereof, the rear flange lying in a plane extending substantially perpendicular to the plane of the mounting bracket, and wherein the one or more stabilizing projections extend from the rear flange.

5. The reel assembly of claim 4 further including an electrical connector extending from the rear flange at a location spaced apart from the mounting flange.

6. The reel assembly of claim 1 wherein the locking structure includes:

(a) a locking flange lying in a plane extending substantially perpendicular to the plane of the mounting bracket body and to the plane of the mounting flange; and

(b) a fastener mounted on the locking flange.

7. A reel-type gaming machine including:

(a) a cabinet defining an interior volume between two cabinet sides and also defining a front opening;

(b) a front door connected to the cabinet to cover a portion of the front opening when the front door is placed in a closed position, the front door including a viewing panel;

(c) a mounting plate mounted in the interior volume of the cabinet in a location above the viewing panel of the front door when the front door is in the closed position, the mounting plate extending laterally between the cabinet sides;

(d) for each reel to be included in the gaming machine a respective slot structure, each slot structure being supported on the mounting plate and including a downwardly facing slot defined between a first side component and a second side component, and further including a receiver area made up of (i) a first side receiver area defined between a lower surface of the mounting plate and a portion of the first side component, and (ii) a second side receiver area defined between the lower surface of the mounting plate and a portion of the second side component, the slot structure being constructed so that when a reel is in an installed position, the reel is suspended from the mounting plate;

(e) each slot structure being associated with a respective stabilizing receiver, the respective stabilizing receiver being positioned on a back structure of the gaming machine directly below the respective slot structure with which it is associated;

(f) each slot structure also being associated with a respective electrical socket mounted at a back of the cabinet; and

(g) each slot structure also being associated with a respective lock element located at a front edge of the mounting plate adjacent to the respective slot structure with which it is associated, each lock element securing the respective reel in a predefined position with respect to the mounting plate.

8. The gaming machine of claim 7 further including a respective reel assembly for each respective slot structure, each respective reel assembly including:

(a) a mounting bracket including a substantially planar mounting bracket body, the mounting bracket further including a first lateral side, a second lateral side, a top edge, a bottom edge, a back edge, and a front edge;

(b) a reel motor connected to the first lateral side of the mounting bracket;

(c) a reel superstructure connected to be driven by the reel motor about a rotational axis extending substantially perpendicular to the plane of the mounting bracket body;

(d) a mounting flange at the top edge of the mounting bracket, the mounting flange including a substantially planar surface lying in a plane extending transversely to the plane of the mounting bracket body;

(e) a stabilizing structure located at the rear edge of the mounting bracket in a spaced apart relationship with the mounting flange;

(f) a locking structure located at an intersection of the top edge of the mounting bracket and the front edge of the mounting bracket; and

(g) wherein the mounting flange is received in the receiver area of a respective one of the slot structures with the mounting bracket body received in the slot of that respective slot structure with the rear edge of the mounting bracket against the backplane, with the stabilizing structure received by the stabilizing receiver associated with that respective slot structure, and with the locking structure cooperating with the locking element of that respective slot structure to lock the reel assembly in place relative to that respective slot structure, and wherein an electrical connector of the reel assembly is operatively connected with the electrical socket of that respective slot structure.

9. The gaming machine of claim 8 wherein the stabilizing receiver associated with each slot structure includes a stabilizing slot having a first width dimension and wherein the stabilizing structure associated with each reel assembly includes a projection having substantially the first width dimension received in the respective stabilizing slot.

10. The gaming machine of claim 9 further including a cabinet electrical connector which makes a connection with an electrical connector located at the rear edge of the mounting bracket in a spaced apart relationship with the mounting flange.

11. The gaming machine of claim 8 wherein

the mounting flange of the reel assembly mounted in the respective slot structure includes

a first flange part extending from the first lateral side of the mounting bracket, and

a second flange part extending from the second lateral side of the mounting bracket so that the first flange part and second flange part together form a T-shape with the mounting bracket body.

12. The gaming machine of claim 8 wherein:

(a) the locking structure includes a locking flange lying in a plane extending substantially perpendicular to the plane of the mounting bracket body and a male threaded fastener mounted on the locking flange; and

(b) the lock element of the respective slot structure includes a threaded opening adapted to threadingly receive the male threaded fastener.

13. The gaming machine of claim 8 wherein the mounting plate comprises a sheet of rigid planar material having a first lateral edge supported at a first one of the two cabinet sides and having a second lateral edge supported at a second one of the two cabinet sides so that the mounting plate lies in substantially a horizontal plane when the gaming machine is in the operating position.

14. A gaming machine including:

(a) a cabinet defining an interior volume and a front opening;

(b) a front door connected to the cabinet to cover a portion of the front opening when the front door is placed in a closed position, the front door including a viewing panel;

(c) a number of reel assemblies, each reel assembly including,

(i) a mounting bracket including a substantially planar mounting bracket body, the mounting bracket further including a first lateral side, a second lateral side, a top edge, a bottom edge, a back edge, and a front edge,

(ii) a reel motor connected to the first lateral side of the mounting bracket,

(iii) a reel superstructure connected to be driven by the reel motor about a rotational axis extending substantially perpendicular to the plane of the mounting bracket body,

(iv) a mounting flange at the top edge of the mounting bracket, the mounting flange extending the entire length of the top edge of the mounting bracket and including a substantially planar surface lying in a plane extending generally perpendicular to the plane of the mounting bracket body,

(v) a stabilizing projection extending from the rear edge of the mounting bracket in a spaced apart relationship to the mounting flange, and

(vi) a locking structure located generally at an intersection of the top edge of the mounting bracket and the front edge of the mounting bracket, the locking structure securing the reel assembly in a predefined position with respect to the gaming machine;

(d) a mounting plate located in the cabinet above the level of the viewing panel when the gaming machine is in the operating position and the front door is in the closed position, each respective reel assembly having its respective mounting flange received in a respective slot structure associated with the mounting plate so that each of the reels is suspended from the mounting plate, and the rotational axis of each reel superstructure is aligned along a common axis extending through the interior volume of the cabinet substantially parallel to the plane of the viewing panel; and

(e) a cabinet back located in the cabinet below the mounting plate, the cabinet back including a stabilizing slot for each reel assembly, each respective stabilizing slot being located so that the respective stabilizing projection of a respective reel assembly is received therein.

15. The gaming machine of claim 14 wherein:

(a) the mounting plate includes a front flange; and

(b) the locking structure of each reel assembly includes a respective threaded element threaded into a respective corresponding threaded opening in the mounting plate front flange.

16. The gaming machine of claim 15 wherein the respective mounting flange of each respective reel assembly is received in a respective slot structure associated with the mounting plate.

17. The gaming machine of claim 16 wherein each slot structure includes a downwardly facing slot defined between a first side component and a second side component, and further includes a receiver area made up of (i) a first side receiver area defined between the first side component and the mounting plate, and made up of (ii) a second side receiver area defined between the second side component and the mounting plate.

Assignments (16)