Abstract:
An enhanced bezel intended for use with a bill acceptor. The enhanced bezel includes a processor to monitor detailed information about the status of the bill acceptor, and other information related to its operation. The processor displays this information through multiple indicators on the enhanced bezel.

Description:
This is a Divisional Application of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/804,333 filed Mar. 12, 2001, U.S. Pat. No. 6,712,191, issued Mar. 30, 2004. 

   FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention relates to an enhanced bezel intended for use with a currency or bill acceptor which is to be incorporated into an electronic gaming machine, vending machine, point of sale devices and similar host machines. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   Bill acceptors are now in widespread use in host machines such as gaming machines, vending machines and point of sale devices. Bill acceptors receive paper currency or notes and, using a validator having both hardware and software components, the received currency or note is scanned with a variety of sensors. The sensor information is analyzed to determine authenticity and denomination of the currency or note. If the note is determined to be authentic, e.g. a United States $1, $5, $10, $20, $50 or $100 bill or other legal tender, the note is transported to a cash box within the bill acceptor for storage. Further, based upon the denomination of the accepted currency or note, a signal is sent from the validator to the host machine&#39;s controller or processor to cause the host machine to credit or accumulate a corresponding amount within the machine&#39;s credit meter representing the cash value available for purchasing products or wagering. Bill acceptors of this type are known and are discussed for example in U.S. Pat. No. 5,863,039 issued Jan. 26, 1999 to Suzuki. 
   The use of bill acceptors has given rise to a problem associated with users who believe that they have inserted a bill having a higher value than what the machine provides as credits. For example, the user may believe that he or she has inserted a twenty dollar bill while the machine only provides ten dollars in credit. This problem generally requires the attention of an attendant who may be required to open the machine to show the user the last bill inserted to resolve the dispute. Alternatively, the attendant may have to place the machine into a “diagnostic mode” to allow extraction of the information on the correct denomination of the last inserted bill. These types of activities are both labor intensive and inefficient as the machine is taken out of operation until the issue is resolved. 
   A bill acceptor generally has a rectangular slot where the note or currency is to be inserted. The location of the rectangular slot may be readily identified by a bezel which, in the context of gaming machines, vending machines or the like, is a structure projecting from the front portion of the bill acceptor below the intake slot. The use of bezels in the gaming machine industry has been limited to providing passive functions. For example, it is known to have bezels with several light emitting devices (LEDs) arranged to flash in a runway sequence to attract the patron&#39;s attention and identify where the note is to be inserted. It is also known that bezels with different color LEDs, i.e. green and red, are available to provide an indication of whether the bill acceptor is operational. The status information available from these bezels is, however, very limited, i.e. whether the bill acceptor of the machine is enabled or disabled, and it does not provide any other functional utility. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention is generally directed to a note or bill acceptor, and- more particularly, to an enhanced bezel positioned at or near the intake slot of the bill acceptor. The enhanced bezel is adapted to display detailed information about the status of the bill acceptor, and other information related to its operation. 
   The enhanced bezel of the present invention employs multiple indicators to visually display information. For example, the enhanced bezel may include indicators to display error conditions such as “note box full” or “transport path jammed” conditions, and other information useful for maintenance and diagnostic purposes. Additional visual indicators may display set up information, such as which denominations the bill validator of the machine is programmed to accept, display prompts or instructions to assist the player, such as a display of the denomination of the last bill accepted, or even simple decorative patterns. 
   More specifically, the enhanced bezel may include a display area to provide a visual display of information about the bills, vouchers, script and/or currency (hereinafter, collectively “notes”) accepted by the bill acceptor. For example, the display may have a visual depiction or back-lighted display to show if the received bill has a $1, $5, $10, $20, $50 or $100 denomination. The display is connected to the bill acceptor&#39;s processor which receives information from the note validator which senses the authenticity, denomination, amount and type of the note passing through the bill acceptor and which issues a signal corresponding to the note type to the bill acceptor processor and the host machine&#39;s processor for accumulation of credits. The same information can be used to control the display on the enhanced bezel. 
   Further, the bill acceptor will include a note box provided to receive deposited notes and a transport assembly for transporting notes accepted through the note validator to the note box. The bill acceptor processor controls the transport assembly to direct notes received through the note validator to the note box and detects any interference with the operation of the bill acceptor. The bill acceptor&#39;s processor also keeps track of the number of bills sent to the note box for retention. Thus, by connecting the processor to the enhanced bezel, additional status information, such as a jammed transport path or full note box may be visually displayed by the enhanced bezel. 
   The enhanced bezel display system of the present invention thus provides an easy method of interacting with the user of the machine to provide a verification of the denomination of received notes. The enhanced bezel display system of the present invention also enables the attendant of the machine to quickly retrieve information regarding various operations, including the status of the bill acceptor, without having to interrupt the use of the machine. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  shows a gaming machine including the bill acceptor having an enhanced bezel according to the present invention; 
       FIG. 2  shows a perspective view of a bill acceptor having the enhanced bezel according to the present invention; and 
       FIG. 3  shows a detailed front view of one version of the enhanced bezel according to the present invention. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   The present invention can be used in gaming machines, vending machines and pay point machines, where currency or bills are accepted for credits. For purposes of detailing the invention, however, the description herein as shown in  FIG. 1 , is tailored to the application of the invention in a gaming machine  10 . The gaming machine  10  includes a bill acceptor  12  having an enhanced bezel according to the present invention. 
   The gaming machine  10  generally includes a housing  14  of various potential configurations designed to contain the various components of such machines. The interior of the gaming machine  10  may normally be accessed through opening a front cover or door  16 . Disposed within the housing  14  are the reels  18  for the play of the game, a central processing unit (CPU)  20  which controls the operation of the gaming machine  10 , as well as a coin hopper assembly adapted to receive, hold and dispense coins or tokens in a known fashion. As is known in the industry, the CPU  20  controls the operation of the gaming machine  10 . The CPU  20  controls the selection of the outcome, monitors the amount wagered for each play or “hand,” determines winning payouts to the player, monitors the accumulation of credits at the gaming machine available for play and the like. These features, which are controlled by the CPU  20 , are now well-known in the art. To monitor the performance and operation, the CPU  20  of each gaming machine  10  in a facility may be in communication with a centralized system server (not shown). The system server monitors the revenue or amounts wagered, amounts paid out and the like for each gaming machine  10  in the facility. 
   To play a gaming machine  10 , a player inserts tokens, coins, bills, currency or script, which are sensed and, if valid, are accumulated as credits for gaming. The received coins or tokens are directed to the coin hopper assembly for storage or the coins/tokens may be directed to an auxiliary collection location, for example under the machine. Alternatively, to amass credits for play of the gaming machine  10 , the gaming machine  10  is provided with the bill acceptor  12  having a validator which receives notes as legal tender or script and, based upon the note&#39;s value, assigns a corresponding value of credits within the gaming machine  10  for gaming. 
   The bill acceptor  12 , as shown in  FIG. 2 , includes a validator  26  adapted to scan a note inserted into a rectangular slot or opening  22  to determine the authenticity, type (legal tender or script, if required), denomination and condition (whether the note is worn) of the note. The enhanced bezel  24  is preferably placed on the front of the bill acceptor  12  and below the opening  22 . The enhanced bezel  24  is used as a mechanical interface to the game machine door  16 , as it projects to or through an opening in the door  16 . The enhanced bezel  24  provides a runway surface  34  immediately befor the opening  22  to allow the patron to easily insert the bill into the bill acceptor  12 . The enhanced bezel may also include a display surface  36  vertically mounted at the leading edge of the runway surface  34 . 
   A bill, once inserted over the runway surface  34  and into opening  22 , is captured and transported by a transportation unit  30  past optical and magnetic sensors (not shown) which may, for example, sense light reflected by and/or transmitted through the note, reflectivity and transmission patterns, size of the note and the magnetic characteristics of the inserted note. The various sensors output sensed data output signals which are compared by a validator processor (not shown) to stored data representative of the range of sensor readings corresponding to authentic notes and determine the denomination. 
   If the note is determined to be valid and authentic, based on the comparison with the stored data for authentic notes, the transportation unit  30  transports the note to the note box  32  for storage. Also, upon receipt and determination of validity, a signal is sent to the gaming machine&#39;s CPU  20  signifying receipt as well as the denomination of the note for accumulation of a like value amount of credits in the gaming machine  10 . If the note is not validated, the transportation unit  30  is reversed and the note is ejected through the opening  28  to the customer. 
   The information accumulated by the validator processor, such as the status of the bill acceptor and denomination of accepted notes, is available to be communicated to and displayed on the indicators on the runway surface  34  and/or display surface  36  of the enhanced bezel  24 . The display indicators on the enhanced bezel  24  may be controlled directly by the validator processor, or the enhanced bezel may have its own logic device such as a bezel processor (not shown). The bezel processor may be configured and connected to monitor the communications between the bill validator and the host, or it may receive special signals from the validator processor. The bezel processor determines the state of the validator and/or the host machine, and uses the results to control the visual display indicators. 
   The bezel processor may monitor the status and activity information provided by the validator processor, and use the results to control the indicators. The bezel processor may alternatively be placed on the controller of the bill validator. 
   As shown in  FIG. 3 , the enhanced bezel  24  has multiple display indicators on the runway surface  34 , including a $1 indicator  40 , $5 indicator  42 , $10 indicator  44 , $20 indicator  46 , $50 indicator  48  and $100 indicator  50  which display the denomination of received and accepted notes. In addition, the runway surface may have a “reject” indicator  52 , to visually display when an unacceptable bill has been inserted and rejected. Additional indicators located on the display surface  36  of the enhanced bezel may include a system lock indicator  54 , counterfeit bill indicator  56 , transport jam indicator  58  and service indicator  60 . The display surface  36  may also include additional indicators for the host machine, such as a diagnostic indicator  62 , coin indicator  64 , machine service indicator  66  and validator note box full indicator  68 . It should be understood that the various specific display indicators described herein are representative only, and other types of display symbols may be substituted. 
   For all of the various indicators there are several different methods of displaying the information, for example by back side illumination using, alone or in combination, incandescent lamps, LEDs, electroluminescent emitters, liquid crystals, numeric alphanumeric and graphic displays, and mechanical semaphores. The various indicators are preferably an integral part of a molded or fabricated bill entry piece  38  of the bill acceptor  12 . Alternatively, the indicators may be separate from the bill acceptor or be part of an associated display panel placed on a display surface of the host machine. 
   While the foregoing description and attached Figures define an embodiment of the present invention, it is to be understood that it is subject to many modifications and changes without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.