Other

Alexander Stefan

Verne F Holmes, Jr

After making a wager to participate in a game, a player is dealt two distinct hands at the beginning of the game, each hand being dealt from a separate deck of playing cards. The card values for only one of the hands is fully revealed to the player, and the player is required to select which of the two hands will be played in the game. The unselected hand is removed from further play. If the fully revealed hand is not selected, the value of any remaining unknown cards is revealed to the player, and play proceeds in a conventional manner. If the hand having card values not fully revealed is selected by the player, the payout table is modified by removing a previous winning result to accommodate the changed odds in the player's favor.

Double deal

An electronic video gaming machine is programmed to play a multi-hand video poker game which initially displays to the player a five-by-five matrix of twenty-five cards. This five-by-five matrix generates twelve five card hands&mdash;the five horizontal rows, the five vertical columns and the two diagonals. The player makes a wager of fifty credits which makes the player eligible for all twelve hands, with five credits applied to each hand, in effect given the player two free hands at five credits each. Five separate decks of playing cards are used with the five cards in each horizontal row being dealt from a separate deck of cards. The player may select one card from each horizontal row to be held and the selected card is also duplicated into an adjacent row location in that row. Replacement cards for the discarded cards are dealt into each horizontal row. Each of the twelve different five card hands are analyzed to determine its poker hand ranking and winning hands are paid in accordance with a pay table. The suits of the cards can be ignored in the analysis of the hands. This eliminates the need to consider any flush card combinations and simplifies the pay table.

Floater bonus poker

A plurality of gaming machines are linked together and controlled by a central computer. A bonus system is incorporated into the play of the gaming machines and the central computer tracks the bonus system activity and makes the appropriates payouts. In the play of the gaming machines, a portion of the coins wagered are allocated to a bonus payout. Each player plays his gaming machines for a fixed time period (say 30 seconds) and the player with the highest payout during that time period wins the bonus jackpot. However, if two players tie during the time period, then the bonus payout money carries over to the next round of play. This allows the bonus payout to accumulate to a potentially large sum of money over a series of time periods if two or more players repeatedly tie each round of play. Eventually, a single player will have the highest winning amount during a time period and, not having been tied by another player, win a large bonus payout.

Game of chance

Disclosed is a modular assembly for an enclosure for the equipment of a device, such as a gaming device, the assembly comprising panels that are adapted to be affixed to each other quickly and easily to form an enclosure using fasteners such as pop rivets in a manner that conceals the fasteners from view, and includes a top, bottom, back, and opposing side panels, each panel having four sides, a planar portion, and flanged edges along each side. A first type of flanged edge is bent through two right angles to provide one flanged member perpendicular to the planar portion and a second flange member spaced from, and parallel to the planar portion, and having holes spaced apart there along. The other type of panel edge is a single lip at right angles to the periphery to the planar portion and it has a plurality of spaced-apart holes along is length. The panels have an assembled position wherein the flange holes of each panel are aligned with flange holes of an adjacent panel and fasteners such as pop rivets are affixed through the aligned holes to secure the enclosure in its assembled position.

Enclosure assembly for the equipment of a gaming device or the like

Slot machine cabinet

A tape dispenser, particularly suited for masking tape or like low-tensile strength adhesive tape, and having a frame with a hub portion that provides a cylindrical surface for rotatably mounting a roll of tape and having a central finger-receiving aperture therein. A support wall extends radially from a first side of the hub portion to hold an axially extending flange spaced from a minor segment of the cylindrical surface, whereby the finger-receiving aperture and the flange provide means for grasping the dispenser and not interfering with the rotation of a roll of tape mounted on the dispenser. A swinging arm has one end mounted to the first side of the hub portion, at a location generally radially opposite the flange for rotation about an axis parallel to the axis of the cylindrical surface, and has an application roller mounted at its other end to also rotate about an axis parallel to the axis of the cylindrical surface. There is means for limiting the range of swinging motion of the swinging arm so that it is rotatable in one direction to a first position in which further rotation is prevented and in which the roller is held spaced from the periphery of a mounted roll of tape, and rotatable in the other direction to bring the roller into rollable contact with the roll periphery. This tape dispenser construction allows a form of tape dispensing unto an article surface in which tape passes from the roll around the roller and unto the article surface as the roller is pressed between the periphery of a rotating roll of tape and the article surface.

Tape dispenser

A massaging machine includes a base support frame, at least one conveyor belt assembly having a pair of horizontally spaced apart drums rotatable on horizontal axes and supporting an endless belt, and a plurality of free-turning belt-spanning rolers engaging the under surface of the upper run of the endless belt to rollingly support it generally in a horizontal plane, and means for driving the endless belt in reciprocal motion. A bed of massage disc is supported by the endless belt and includes a plurality of horizontally spaced parallel axles with their outer ends linked together by pivotable links, and each axle rotatably supporting a pluraltity of free-turning massage discs, and the length of the bed of massage discs being shorter than the endless belt by a predetermined distance. A top, cover sheet of flexible material engages the top of the bed of discs and is held stationarily, and provides an upper surface upon which a person to be massaged may lie, wherein reciprocal motion of the endless belt will turn the massage discs and roll them against the underside of the top sheet causing a massaging effect to be felt by the person lying thereon, as the bed is driven reciprocally.

Massage machine

An open-topped coin collection box is mounted within a cabinet-like enclosure upon which is mounted a slot machine which is adapted to discharge coins downwardly to the collection box. The collection box is slidably supported on an inclined surface which slopes to an opening in the front wall of the cabinet through which the coin box, supported on the inclined surface, may slidably move outward of the cabinet enclosure under the urging of gravitational force. The coin box has a key operated lock for securing it in a fully enclosed position in which the front wall of the coin box will cover the front wall opening. The forward portion of the bottom of the box is equipped with a pivotally mounted flap which is supported against opening by virtue of engaging the enclosure's inclined surface, including when the box is releasably latched into an intermediate, partially opened position to allow inspection of box contents, and the flap is fully openable to allow discharge of coins held in the box when the box is allowed to be further withdrawn so that the flap is moved out of engagement with the inclined surface.

Coin box for a slot machine

Apparatus for lifting and rendering mobile for movement about a floor, a stand upon which a plurality of slot machines are mounted, the stand having a front wall and a rear wall, and a top wall upon which the slot machines are mounted, the invention including wheel-equipped lifting assemblies that are removably mountable to the stand, and each lifting assembly comprising a horizontally extending cross-bar that spans the stand top and lies adjacent thereto, and a pair of wheeled upright members attachable to opposite ends of the cross-bar and lying adjacent the stand side walls, the upper part of each upright being adapted to slidably embrace the cross-bar to firmly hold it at about 90.degree. to the cross bar and to be adjustable therealong with a device to releasably clamp the cross-bar to the upright member. The lower portion of the upright member is adapted to engage a lower edge portion of the stand and the upright member includes a lifting-jack equipped component with a floor-engaging wheel that is operative to extend downwardly to engage the floor and to urge the remainder of the upright member upwardly to engage the stand and raise it off the floor. A plurality of lifting assemblies mounted to the stand at spaced apart locations are operative to support the stand on wheels so that the stand may be rolled to other locations on the floor and lowered into a new position as desired.

Lift for a slot machine stand

Bolting apparatus for use with countertop panels and the like of wooden and laminate construction, for securing a first such panel to a second panel, with an edge of the first panel engaging an edge of the second panel, the disclosure including a draw bolt and attached pressure plate members for engaging depressions in the underside of the two panels and the draw bolt spanning the engaging panel edges, the draw bolt being quickly tightenable to draw the engaging panel edges tightly together.

Draw bolt apparatus for countertop assemblage

A toilet, particularly adapted for handling liquid and solid bodily waste in a zero gravity environment, including a housing with a main wall having a central waste-receiving opening therein, and a plurality of toroidal elements in close stacked relationship in a coaxial array that extends inwardly of the housing from the central opening, and a flexible, resilient inner wall of each element being inwardly expandable and retractable, and air compression and suction means in flow communication with each element for pneumatically expanding and contracting the flexible wall of each element. A flexible bag has an open end that mounts about the central opening, an elongated neck portion that is embraced by the toroidal elements, and another portion for accumulating waste material. The bag is porous to gases and impervious to solids and liquids. Spray means can inject a water spray at the central opening, and housing exhaust means can cause airflow into the open end of the bag and out through its porous walls. Control means for the air pressure and vacuum sources cause the elements of the toroidal array to contract sequentially across the neck of the bag in an inwardly moving peristaltic-like wave.

Zero gravity toilet

System for rescuing occupants of a tall building having at least one generally planar windowed face is disclosed, which system includes a first and a second boom mounted respectively at opposite sides of the building face at a building level above that face. Each boom has a retracted position and is shiftable to a cantilevered position in which its outer end overhangs the side of the building. A first and a second hoist cable extends respectively from the outer ends of the booms. A rescue cage has a top, a bottom and a flexible, collapsible, heat-shielding wall extending between the peripheries of the top and bottom to provide a shielded compartment. A pair of hoists are mounted to the cage top and engage individually the first and second hoist cables in order to drivingly support the cage adjacent the building face. The hoists are controllable so as to be driven differentially to move the cage transversely of the building face, and driven in the same direction for vertical motion. The cage is vertically collapsible to a compact configuration in which the top and bottom are in close proximity with the flexible wall portion folded therebetween.

Rescue system for tall buildings

A device for storing and retrieving disc-shaped articles, such as compact recording discs, and including a support frame adapted to rest on a horizontal surface and including a tiltable housing that is pivotally mounted within the support frame for limited rotation about a horizontal axis from a rest position to a dispensing position, the housing including first and second spaced apart side walls. Mounted to the tiltable housing is slotted means for storing a multiplicity of upright, side-by-side discs, and there is a multiplicity of release elements adapted to releasably hold discs mounted in storage against forward movement out of their storage locations. A disc carrier, with a through-slot for releasably holding a disc, is slidably mounted on horizontal guide means for movement from one end of the disc storing means to its other end. The carrier is alignable with any selected one of the slotted disc storage locations. A control lever, pivotally mounted to the carrier, is operable to engage the release elements to unblock the storage slot to which the carrier slot is aligned, so that, under gravitational urging a disc may roll from the carrier into the storage slot when the housing is tilted in its rest position, and out of a storage slot and into the carrier slot when the housing is tilted in its dispensing position.

Device for storage and retrieval of disc-shaped articles

Disclosed is a stroage rack system for cylindrical cans which has a limted number of standardized component parts that allow assembly into a rack of any capacity desired. There are at least two rectangular panels each of which in its disassembled state has both of its major surfaces grooved with mortises. Flexible elongated moldings have tenon portions which are insertable in the panel mortises to form can-supporting rails. The assembled rack includes at least two upright panels, horizontally spaced apart and laterally aligned, with horizontally extending rod connectors supporting the panels in their spaced relationship. Shorter pairs of the flexible moldings are inserted in mortises of the upright panels to form short rail pairs and, similarly, longer pairs of the flexible moldings are inserted in the upright panels to form longer rail pairs, which longer and shorter rail pairs cooperate to provide a serpentine, downward passage for a cylindrical can placed on a shorter rail pair at the uppermost location of a shorter rail pair. Suitable stop means are provided at the front of the lowermost longer rail pair to retain cans in the rack, but the lowermost can may be readily lifted out as required.

Storage rack for cylindrical cans

Disclosed is a convertible computer desk with a construction that allows it to convert from a conventionally appearing desk into a configuration in which computer equipment, such as a monitor and related equipment, is raised to desktop level from internal storage and a keyboard is exposed. A pair of upright, space-apart support walls extend from the front to the rear of the desk and are provided with tracking means along their upper portions, and a concealable keyboard support shelf extends between forward parts of the support walls. A storage compartment located between the support walls holds an elevatable equipment platform for raising equipment from within the compartment to desktop level. A pair of rectangular desktop panels are mounted to the tracking means in a manner which allows them to be manipulated during conversion from one desk configuration to another.

Growing community of inventors

Las Vegas, NV, United States of America

Alexander Stefan