Games machine with mechanical counters as laid down by regulations, and with electronic payment mechanism
First Claim
1. A payment system for a games machine required by law to have mechanical counters, the games machine payment system comprising:
- the mechanical counters required by law, the mechanical counters being connected to the games machine,pay-out control units for controlling the paying out of winnings to a player of the games machine, the pay-out control units being connected to the games machine,wager-placing units which permit the player to place a wager with credits, the wager-placing units being connected to the games machine,an electronic payment mechanism, the electronic payment mechanism being connected to the games machine, and the electronic payment mechanism having an input and an output.wherein, when the electronic payment mechanism contains a valid chip card,the input receives a pay-out control signal from the pay-out control units,the output transmits a payment signal which simulates a signal transmitted by one of a coin-operated payment mechanism and a banknote-operated payment mechanism, andthe electronic payment mechanism enables the placing of wagers and the paying out of winnings through the chip card without receiving or delivering tokens.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Gaming machines provided with mechanical counters according to the regulations, to which there is grafted an electronic payment mechanism working on the basis of a chip card. It consists in diverting a certain number of links of the units of the machine by the electronic payment mechanism to enable wagers to be placed and payments to be made through the chip card, without the receiving or issuing of tokens and, preferably, without the modifying of the contents of the TOTAL IN and TOTAL OUT counters. A downgraded version modifies the contents of these counters and the balance of the feeder box containing the coins is obtained by modifying the formula used to compute this balance. It enables the efficiency of gaming machines to be raised.
130 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A payment system for a games machine required by law to have mechanical counters, the games machine payment system comprising:
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the mechanical counters required by law, the mechanical counters being connected to the games machine, pay-out control units for controlling the paying out of winnings to a player of the games machine, the pay-out control units being connected to the games machine, wager-placing units which permit the player to place a wager with credits, the wager-placing units being connected to the games machine, an electronic payment mechanism, the electronic payment mechanism being connected to the games machine, and the electronic payment mechanism having an input and an output. wherein, when the electronic payment mechanism contains a valid chip card, the input receives a pay-out control signal from the pay-out control units, the output transmits a payment signal which simulates a signal transmitted by one of a coin-operated payment mechanism and a banknote-operated payment mechanism, and the electronic payment mechanism enables the placing of wagers and the paying out of winnings through the chip card without receiving or delivering tokens. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method of operating a payment mechanism of a games machine to ensure compliance with a law, the method comprising the steps of:
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providing a plurality of mechanical counters for counting tokens received into the games machine and delivered by the games machine, the plurality of mechanical counters being required by the law; accepting non-chip card payment, the step of accepting non-chip card payment being performed by one of a coin-operated payment mechanism and a banknote operated payment mechanism; accepting chip card payment, the chip card payment accepting step comprising the steps of providing the games machine with an electronic payment mechanism, and transmitting a payment acceptance signal from the electronic payment mechanism to one of the games machine, a wager-placing unit and a counter of total inputs, the payment acceptance signal simulating a signal transmitted by one of the coin-operated payment mechanism and the banknote operated payment mechanism; paying out winnings with tokens, the paying out step comprising the step of transmitting a payout signal to a token output box; paying out winnings by way of the chip card, the chip card paying out step comprising the step of transmitting the payout signal to the electronic payment mechanism instead of to the token output box; and wherein, during operation of the games machine, both tokens and chip cards can be used without affecting the counting of tokens received or delivered. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A payment mechanism for a games machine required by law to have mechanical counters, the games machine comprising
a token reception mechanism, the token reception mechanism being connected to the games machine, and the token reception mechanism being adapted for receiving tokens into the games machine; -
a token discharge mechanism, the token discharge mechanism being connected to token reception mechanism, and the token discharge mechanism being adapted for discharging tokens from the games machine; an electronic payment mechanism, the electronic payment mechanism being connected to the games machine, and the electronic payment mechanism being adapted for receiving payment from a chip card and for paying out winnings into the chip card; a first counter, the first counter being connected to the games machine, the first counter counting the total number of tokens which have been inserted into the games machine via the token reception mechanism, and the first counter treating chip card payment as if it were in the form of tokens received from the token reception mechanism; a second counter, the second counter being connected to the games machine, the first counter counting the total number of tokens which have been discharged into the games machine, and the second counter treating the paying out of winnings into the chip card as if it were in the form of tokens discharged by the token discharge mechanism; a credit counter, the credit counter being connected to the games machine, and the credit counter being indicative of a number of credits available to the player for wagering; a credit cancellation counter, the credit cancellation counter being connected to the games machine, and the credit cancellation counter counting payments to the player in the form of payment vouchers; a cash outlet button, the cash outlet button being connected to the games machine, and the cash outlet button permitting the player to communicate to the payment system that he wishes to have his winnings paid out; and a cancellation key, the cancellation key being connected to the games machine, and the cancellation key being adapted for resetting the credit counter; and wherein, during the operation of the games machine, the electronic payment mechanism, the credit counter, the credit cancellation counter, the cash outlet button, and the cancellation key cooperate such that both tokens and chip cards can be used without affecting the counting of tokens received or discharged. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification