Gaming machine with dedicated coin-handling microcontroller

Claim 2

The gaming machine of claim 1 wherein the detector includes an optical gate, the optical gate comprising at least a first and a second optical sensor and a plurality of light emitting diodes, the first and second optical sensors disposed opposite the coin path from the plurality of light emitting diodes, the plurality of light emitting diodes being adapted to illuminate the first and the second optical sensors, the first and the second optical sensors adapted to produce signals indicative of the passage of coins between the plurality of light emitting diodes and the first and second optical sensor.

Claim 3

The gaming machine of claim 2 wherein the local microcontroller is adapted to generate an accept coin signal when the coin moves past the optical gate in an acceptable manner.

Claim 4

The gaming machine of claim 1 wherein the detector includes an optical gate, the optical gate comprising a first row of optical sensors, a second row of optical sensors, and a plurality of light emitting diodes, the first and second rows of optical sensors disposed opposite the coin path from the plurality of light emitting diodes, the plurality of light emitting diodes being adapted to illuminate the first and the second rows of optical sensors, the first and the second optical sensors adapted to produce signals indicative of the passage of coins between the plurality of light emitting diodes and the first and second rows of optical sensors.

Claim 5

The gaming machine of claim 4 wherein the local microcontroller is adapted to generate an accept coin signal when the coin moves past the optical gate in an acceptable manner.

Claim 6

The gaming machine of claim 4 wherein the first and second rows of optical sensors are disposed substantially perpendicular to the coin path.

Claim 7

The gaming machine of claim 4 wherein the local microcontroller and the first and second rows of optical sensors are mounted on a common printed circuit board.

Claim 8

The gaming machine of claim 7 wherein the printer circuit board has a coin accepting mechanism interface mounted thereon, the coin accepting mechanism interface disposed between the coin accepting mechanism and the local microcontroller.

Claim 9

The gaming machine of claim 8 wherein the coin accepting mechanism interface includes a plurality of connectors adapted to connect with a plurality of different coin accepting mechanisms.

Claim 10

The gaming machine of claim 9 wherein the local microcontroller is programmed to receive signals indicative of the validity of a coin from the plurality of different coin accepting mechanisms.

Claim 11

The gaming machine of claim 1 wherein the central processing unit issues high-level commands to the local microcontroller, the high level commands including a start accepting coins command so that coins input to the gaming machine may be credited to the game and a stop accepting coins command so that coins input to the gaming machine are not credited to the game.

Claim 12

The gaming machine of claim 1 wherein the local microcontroller is serially connected to the central processing unit.

Claim 13

The gaming machine of claim 1 wherein the low-level coin handling operations include processing signals indicative of coin validity generated by the coin accepting mechanism.

Claim 14

The gaming machine of claim 1 wherein the low-level coin handling operations include monitoring and processing signals generated by the detector in response to the passage of a coin along the coin path.

Claim 15

A gaming machine, comprising: a central processing unit for operating the gaming machine in response to a wager; a coin path adapted to receive coins input to the gaming machine and to guide coins to one or more outputs; a coin accepting mechanism disposed along the coin path adapted to determine validity of each of the coins and to generate a signal indicative of the validity of each of the coins; one or more sensors disposed along the coin path and adapted to generate signals in response to coin movement past the sensors; and a local microcontroller distinct from and coupled to the central processing unit, the local microcontroller coupled to the coin accepting mechanism and the sensors and adapted to receive signals from the coin accepting mechanism and the sensors, the local microcontroller adapted to perform low-level coin handling operations independent from the central processing unit.

Claim 16

The gaming machine of claim 15 wherein the low-level coin handing operations include processing the signal indicative of the validity of each of the coins generated by the coin accepting mechanism.

Claim 17

The gaming machine of claim 15 wherein the low-level coin handling operations includes frequently sampling the signals generated by the one or more sensors to determine whether a coin moves past the sensors in a predetermined time range and in a predetermined direction.

Claim 18

The gaming machine of claim 17 wherein the local micro-controller is adapted to generate an accept coin signal when a coin moves past the sensors in an acceptable manner

Claim 19

The gaming machine of claim 15 wherein the one of more sensors includes first and second sensors linearly aligned parallel to the coin path.

Claim 20

The gaming machine of claim 15 wherein the one or more sensors are optical sensors, the gaming machine further comprising a plurality of light emitting diodes disposed adjacent the transport path opposite the optical sensors, the plurality of light emitting diodes adapted to illuminate the optical sensors.

Claim 21

The gaming machine of claim 15 wherein the local microcontroller is serially connected to the central processing unit.

Claim 22

The gaming machine of claim 15 wherein the local microcontroller and the sensors are mounted on a common printed circuit board.

Claim 23

The gaming machine of claim 22 where the printed circuit board has a coin accepting mechanism interface mounted thereon, the coin accepting mechanism interface disposed between the coin accepting mechanism and the local microcontroller.

Claim 24

The gaming machine of claim 23 wherein the coin accepting mechanism interface includes a plurality of connectors adapted to receive one of a plurality of different coin accepting mechanisms.

Claim 25

The gaming machine of claim 24 wherein the local microcontroller is configured to process signals indicative of the validity of a coin from a plurality of different coin accepting mechanisms.

Claim 26

The gaming machine of claim 15 wherein the central processing unit issues high-level commands to the local microcontroller, the high level commands including a start accepting coins command so that coins may be credited the game and a stop accepting coins command so that coins are not credited to the game

Claim 27

A gaming machine, comprising: a central processing unit for operating the gaming machine in response to a wager; a coin path adapted to receive coins input to the gaming machine and to guide coins moving under the force of gravity to one or more outputs; a coin accepting mechanism disposed along the coin path adapted to determine the validity of each of the coins and to generate a signal indicative of the validity of each of the coins; a first sensor row of optical sensors and a second row of optical sensors, the first and second rows of optical sensors disposed adjacent the coin path, the first row of optical sensors disposed substantially parallel to the second row of optical sensors, the first and second rows of optical sensors disposed substantially perpendicular to the transport path, each of the optical sensors in the first and second rows of optical sensors adapted to generate signals in response to the movement of coins past each of the sensors; and a local microcontroller distinct from and coupled to the central processing unit, the local microcontroller coupled to the coin accepting mechanism and each of the optical sensors and adapted to receive signals from the coin accepting mechanism and each of the optical sensors, the local microcontroller adapted to perform low-level coin handling operations independent from the central processing unit including processing signals received from the coin accepting mechanism and frequently sampling the signals received from the optical sensors to determine the direction of coin travel and the time for a coin to move past the first and second rows of optical sensors, the local microcontroller generating an accept coin command when a coin has past the first and second rows of optical sensors in an acceptable manner.

Claim 28

The gaming machine of claim 27 wherein the local microcontroller is serially connected to the central processing unit.

Claim 29

The gaming machine of claim 24 wherein the local microcontroller and the first and second sensor rows of optical sensors are mounted on a common printed circuit board.

Claim 30

The gaming machine of claim 29 where the printed circuit board has a coin accepting mechanism interface mounted thereon, the coin accepting mechanism interface disposed between the coin accepting mechanism and the local microcontroller.

Claim 31

The gaming machine of claim 30 wherein the coin accepting mechanism interface includes a plurality of connectors adapted to receive one of a plurality of different coin accepting mechanisms.

Claim 32

The gaming machine of claim 31 wherein the local microcontroller is configured to process signals indicative of the validity of a coin from a plurality of different coin accepting mechanisms.

Claim 33

The gaming machine of claim 27 wherein the central processing unit issues high-level commands to the local microcontroller, the high level commands including a start accepting coins command so that coins may be credited the game and a stop accepting coins command so that coins are not credited to the game.

Claim 34

The gaming machine of claim 27 wherein low-level coin handling operations include detecting the presence of a plurality of error conditions when a coin has not passed the first and second sensor rows in an acceptable manner.

Claim 35

The gaming machine of claim 34 wherein the central processing unit issues high-level commands to the local microcontroller, the high level commands including a status query command, and wherein the local microcontroller is adapted to generate a signal indicative of the presence or absence of error conditions.

Claim 36

A gaming machine, comprising: a central processing for operating the gaming machine in response to a wager; and a local microcontroller distinct from and coupled to the central processing unit, the local microcontroller performing low-level coin handling operations independent from the central processing unit including whether to command the central processing unit to issue credit for an input coin.

Claim 37

The gaming machine of claim 36 further comprising a detector disposed along a coin path, and wherein the low-level coin handling operations includes frequently sampling signals generated by the detector indicative of movement of a coin along the coin path.

Claim 38

The gaming machine of claim 36 wherein the local microcontroller is serially connected to the central processing unit.