Currency acceptors have been utilized for many years in both vending machines and gaming devices. Paper currency is inserted by the user into the currency acceptor to activate the vending machine to vend articles or to activate a gaming machine to allow the user to participate in a game of chance.
A typical currency acceptor uses one or more drive belts connected to a drive motor to pull the paper currency into and through the currency acceptor. On the interior of the currency acceptor is located a sensor which reads the printing on the face of the currency. The printing is read along a narrow track running the length of the currency. The width of this track is determined by the width of the sensor. Usually, a light sensitive sensor is used which includes not only a light source that transmits light that bounces off or passes through the paper currency but also a receiver that detects the reflection or transmission of the light, as the case may be.
As the currency passes under the sensor, the sensor detects the locations on the face of the currency that are either printed or unprinted. The sensor converts these readings into digital signals which are then compared to the valid readings that are stored in a microchip that forms part of the currency acceptor. If the digital signals favorably compare to what is stored in memory, then the paper currency is validated and the vending machine or gaming device is activated for use. If the digital signals do not favorably compare, then the paper currency is rejected by reversing the drive motor and the drive belts to fed the paper currency back out of the acceptor.
Many electronic gaming devices also are interconnected to magnetic card reader systems. Typically a side box is connected to the gaming machine and the side box includes a magnetic card reader that is electronically interconnected to the gaming machine and is used as a player tracking system. Many gaming establishments issue player identification cards to their patrons and these player identification cards are used in the player tracking system. For example, a player inserts his player identification card into the magnetic card reader mounted on the side of the gaming machine. The magnetic card reader reads the player identification card and a screen display on the gaming machine recognizes the player. As the player uses the gaming machine, electronic signals are sent through a computer network to the computer system database operated by the gaming establishment to keep track of the amount of play of the gaming machine by the player. In many gaming establishments, players earn credits based on the amount of gaming machine play. These credits are redeemable in many different formats such as cash, gifts, complimentary rooms and meals and other benefits.
Most player tracking systems use plastic identity cards with a magnetic strip thereon. Each gaming establishment issues cards that are unique to its establishment and only accrue credits when used in that particular gaming establishment. The major drawback of these player tracking systems is that the side box that is mounted on the side of the gaming machine has only a single purpose application--reading a magnetic player identity card and tracking the gaming play of that player.
As the gaming business moves away from the use of coins and tokens, currency acceptors have become increasingly desirable as part and parcel of a gaming machine. These currency acceptors allow the player to insert paper currency to operate the gaming machine. Typically, currency acceptors are incorporated into a gaming machine either as an integrated component of the gaming machine or as a side box electronically connected to the gaming machine. Representative of the side box technology is the MoneyMaker.RTM. currency acceptor manufactured by Sevens Unlimited, Inc., Las Vegas, Nev.
These currency acceptors also have a single purpose application which is to accept currency inserted by the player and provide the player with credits on the credit meter of the gaming machine that the player can use to operate the gaming machine. Any gaming machine that has a side box currency acceptor and a side box player tracking magnetic card reader is a quite cumbersome arrangement and requires multiple electronic interconnections to function properly.
Thus, there is a need in the gaming business for a currency acceptor that includes a magnetic card reader so that both currency acceptance functions and player tracking functions can be performed in the same unit.
Currency acceptors are also widely used in the vending business. As the variety of vended articles expands, the price of these vended articles often exceeds the small amounts of loose change that many people carry. The use of currency acceptors in vending machines allows paper currency to be used to purchase the vended articles. Plastic identity cards using a magnetic strip for identification or the tracking of purchases can be quite useful in the vending machine business. Operators could reward frequent users of the vending machine by providing bonus points or complimentary gifts and other incentives and the plastic identity card could be used to track these frequent users. It may also be desirable to limit access to certain vending machines to authorized persons and a plastic identity card could be issued to selected persons and required to be inserted into the vending machine before the vending function would be operable. Many hotels and resorts could issue plastic identity cards to their guests which allow use of the vending machines, perhaps at a discounted price than that available to the general public.
Thus, there is a need in the vending machine business for a currency acceptor that includes a magnetic card reader so that both currency acceptance functions and vending use functions can be performed in the same unit.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a combined currency acceptor and magnetic card reader that utilizes the same size and space as a conventional currency acceptor.
It is a feature of the present invention to provide a combined currency acceptor and magnetic card reader that has a drive mechanism for receiving currency and a drive mechanism for receiving magnetic cards, both operated by the same drive motor. The combined currency acceptor and magnetic card reader includes multiple sensors that detect the presence of both currency and a magnetic card and operates a currency gate to control the receiving of the currency.
It is an advantage of the present invention that player tracking systems using a magnetic card can be combined into a currency acceptor and incorporated into a gaming machine in no more space than is currently used by a currency acceptor alone.
Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description.