Reversible motor

• US 4,357,567 A
• Filed: 10/15/1980
• Issued: 11/02/1982
• Est. Priority Date: 10/19/1979
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Barcrest Limited Richmond St Ashton-Under-Lyne Lancashire England UK A Company of
• Original Assignee: Barcrest Ltd. (International Game Technology)
• Inventors: Rock, Brian
• Primary Examiner(s): Dobeck, B.
• Application Number:
  US06/197,186
• Time in Patent Office: 748 Days
• Field of Search: 318/687, 318/135, 318/288, 318/289, 318/290, 318/296, 318/297
• US Class Current: 318/687
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3213 Details of moving display elements, e.g. spinning reels, tumbling members
• CPC Class Codes: H02K 17/08 Motors with auxiliary phase obtained by externally fed auxiliary windings, e.g. capacitor motors
• CPC Class Codes: H02K 41/025 Asynchronous motors
• CPC Class Codes: H02P 23/24 Controlling the direction, e.g. clockwise or counterclockwise

Abstract

A reversible linear motor has a coil arrangement arranged alongside a conductive body such as a rotatable aluminium disc. The coil arrangement is made up of three separate coils: namely an inner coil and two interconnected outer coils on opposite sides of the inner coil. The coils are connected to a single phase a.c. supply and the drive of the disc can be reversed by reversing the connection of the inner coil relative to the two outer coils. The linear motor may be used for driving a reel of an entertainment machine of the fruit machine kind.

Claims

1. A reversible linear motor comprising a coil arrangement and a conductive body which are mounted so as to be movable one relative to the other, wherein the coil arrangement has three separate coils disposed adjacent the conductive body:

namely a pair of interconnected coils spaced from each other in the direction of said relative movement of the body and the coil arrangement, and a third coil between the pair of coils, the coils being arranged for connection to a single phase a.c. supply, and reversing means being provided for reversing the connection of the third coil, or the interconnected pair of coils, relative to the supply, and wherein the two outer coils are substantially identically would coils of opposite hand interconnected via a tuning capacitor to give a singly tuned pair, and the central coil is predominantly inductive, whereby the magnetic fluxes of the two outer coils are anti-phase to each other (180°

apart) and the pase of the magnetic flux of the central coil lies between the outer coils (spaced by 90°

from each coil).

2. A motor according to claim 1, characterised in that the conductive body is an axially rotatable metal disc.

3. A motor according to claim 1, characterised in that each coil has a core straddling the conductive body.

4. A motor according to claim 1, characterised in that a magnet is positioned alongside the disc to clamp rotation thereof.

5. A coin-operated entertainment machine having a plurality of members mounted on a support structure so as to be rotatable relative thereto through a plurality of predetermined stopping positions, means operable to effect said rotation and subsequently to cause the members to stop in ones of said stopping positions, and an electrical position identifying system for identifying said ones of said stopping position, characterized in that for each said member there is provided a reversible linear motor for driving same, said motor comprising a coil arrangement and a conductive body which are mounted so as to be movable one relative to the other and thereby effect rotation of the said member, wherein the coil arrangement has three separate coils disposed adjacent the conductive body:

namely a pair of interconnected coils spaced from each other in the direction of said relative movement of the body and the coil arrangement, and a third coil between the pair of coils, the coils being arranged for connection to a single phase a.c. supply, and reversing means being provided for reversing the connection of the third coil, or the interconnected pair of coils, relative to the supply, and wherein the two outer coils are substantially identically wound coils of opposite hand interconnected via a tuning capacitor to give a singly tuned pair, and the central coil is predominantly inductive, whereby the magnetic fluxes of the two outer coils are anti-phase to each other (180°

apart) and the phase of the magnetic flux of the central coil lies between the outer coils (spaced by 90°

from each coil).

6. A machine according to claim 5, characterised in that for each member said conductive body comprises an axially rotatable disc separate to but directly drivably connected to the said member.

7. A machine according to claim 7, wherein indexing means is provided for stopping the member in any of the said predetermined stopping positions thereof characterised in that said indexing means comprises retaining means interengageable with the disc.

8. A machine according to claim 7, characterised in that said position identifying system is adapted to read position identifying structures on said disc.