Gaming Machine Cash Door Virtual Pivot Hinge Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Standard access door designs for gaming machines, such as hinged lower doors and banana pin type hinges for cash doors, limit the ability to design narrower upright gaming machine cabinets, as they require specific space considerations and are not fully removable, restricting the placement of more machines in a given space.
Innovation Solution
The introduction of a tethered locking arrangement for lower doors and a virtual pivot hinge opening arrangement for cash doors, allowing for fully removable lower doors and swivel motion without physical hinges, enabling a narrower cabinet design that accommodates more machines in the same space.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If standard hinged lower doors are used, then door access function is provided, but cabinet width is increased and space efficiency is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the hinge component entirely from the lower door assembly, extracting the disturbing element that caused space consumption. The door is designed to be removable without hinges, allowing the cabinet width to be reduced while maintaining door access functionality through alternative mounting and removal mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The lower door transitions from a static hinged connection to a dynamic removable connection. The door can be easily attached and detached without requiring hinge mechanisms, providing flexibility in space utilization while maintaining operational ease for accessing the belly region.
2Ease of operation
If banana pin type hinges are used for cash doors, then door pivoting function is achieved, but physical pin space is required and cabinet design flexibility is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The physical pin component is extracted from the cash door hinge mechanism. Instead of using traditional banana pin hinges that require physical pins passing through the door, the patent employs a virtual pivot hinge system that eliminates the need for these physical components, thereby increasing cabinet design flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The mechanical banana pin hinge system is replaced with a virtual pivot hinge system. This substitution eliminates the need for physical pins and associated mechanical components, allowing for greater design freedom in cabinet construction while maintaining the essential door pivoting function.
3Productivity
If narrower cabinet design is implemented, then space efficiency is improved and more machines can be placed, but door access becomes more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
By removing hinges from the lower door assembly, the patent creates a narrower cabinet design that improves space efficiency and allows more machines to be placed in the same area. The hinge removal eliminates the space-consuming component while maintaining door functionality through alternative attachment methods.
4Reliability
If physical hinge components are used, then door mounting is secure, but device complexity increases and maintenance difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes the hinge components from the door assembly, simplifying the overall device structure. By eliminating the complex hinge mechanisms (both physical and virtual), the design reduces component count and maintenance requirements while maintaining secure door mounting through alternative simplified attachment systems.
Data Source
AI summary
An upright gaming machine includes a game determination component that facilitates a wager-based game result, input/output devices coupled to the game determination component, a gaming machine cabinet housing various gaming machine components, and lower and cash access doors located about the gaming machine cabinet. The lower door can be fully removable from the gaming machine, can facilitate access to an internal belly region, and can include a tethered locking arrangement having rotary latches, stationary pins, and a tether. The cash door includes a virtual pivot hinge opening arrangement that moves the cash door in a swivel motion from a closed position to an open position, where the swivel motion of the cash door is about a virtual axis having a center of rotation for which no physical component passes therethrough.