Abstract:
A coin bag storage apparatus including a bag storage cassette tower having a compartment sized to store a plurality of bags, one on top of the next, and a spring-mounted platen located within the storage compartment for receiving each of the bags and progressively lowering a first bag into the compartment as a second bag is placed upon the first bag. In response to addition or removal of a bag, the spring-mounted platen is designed to automatically raise or lower the platen by the thickness of a bag. The cassette tower is further adapted to cooperate in an integrated handling and storage system comprising a dolly, a transport cart, and a storage cabinet cooperating to facilitate easy transportation and secure storage of the loaded cassette towers.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
   The following disclosure relates generally to bag and money handling apparatus and more particularly to a cassette-based coin bag storage system and apparatus particularly useful in the gaming industry. 
   DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART 
   The storage and handling of large amounts of coin generated in gaming and other environments has continued to be problematic. One effort to address the situation is the provision of improved money transport carts such as illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 6,123,346. 
   SUMMARY 
   The following is a summary of various aspects and advantages realizable according to various embodiments of money handling apparatus according to the invention. It is provided as an introduction to assist those skilled in the art to more rapidly assimilate the detailed design discussion which ensues and does not and is not intended in any way to limit the scope of the claims which are appended hereto in order to particularly point out the invention. 
   One aspect of the present invention resides in a coin bag storage apparatus comprising a bag storage compartment sized to store a plurality of bags, one on top of the next, and a spring-mounted platen located within the storage compartment for receiving each of the bags and progressively lowering a first bag into the storage compartment as a second bag is placed upon the first bag. Such apparatus may be advantageously designed such that, in response to addition of a bag to the platen, the spring automatically lowers the platen by the thickness of that bag and such that, in response to removal of a bag from the platen, the spring automatically raises the platen by the width of a bag. 
   Another aspect of the invention is the incorporation of such bag storage apparatus into an integrated bag handling system. One aspect of such a system comprises a wheeled dolly for transporting the bag storage apparatus, the dolly including a powered plate lowerable to a first position for engaging the storage apparatus and, after insertion, raisable to a desired second position. A second component of the integrated bag handling system may comprise a cart having a bed indexed to receive a plurality of bag storage compartments and wherein the powered plate of the dolly is raisable to a height selectable to enable transfer of the compartments on the cart bed. A third component of an integrated bag handling system may include a storage cabinet adapted to store a plurality of cassettes, and a bed movable horizontally in and out of the cabinet. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate presently preferred implementations and are described as follows: 
       FIG. 1  is a front elevational view of a cassette coin bag storage tower according to a preferred embodiment of the invention. 
       FIG. 2  is a side elevational view of the cassette tower of  FIG. 1 . 
       FIG. 3  is a top view of the cassette tower of  FIG. 1 . 
       FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a bottom section component of the cassette tower of  FIGS. 1–3 . 
       FIGS. 5–7  are perspective views of the cassette tower illustrating the progressive loading of coin bags therein. 
       FIG. 8  is a front elevational view of an illustrative embodiment of a cassette transport dolly. 
       FIGS. 9 and 10  are side views of the dolly of  FIG. 8 . 
       FIG. 11  is a perspective view of a dolly according to  FIG. 8 . 
       FIG. 13  is a rear view of the cart of  FIG. 12 . 
       FIG. 14  is a perspective view of a cart according to  FIG. 12 . 
       FIG. 16  is a side sectional view of the storage compartment of  FIG. 15 . 
       FIG. 17  is a perspective view of a storage compartment according to  FIG. 15 . 
       FIG. 18  is a broken out side view schematically illustrating design of a storage compartment carriage mechanism according to an illustrative embodiment. 
       FIGS. 19 and 20  are respective side and front views of an alternative embodiment cassette transport cart. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     FIGS. 1–4  illustrate a preferred embodiment of a “pop-up” bagged money storage cassette  11 . The cassette includes first and second elongated side panels  13 ,  15 . Each of these panels  13 ,  15  comprise rectangular side surfaces formed at right angles to respective front and back portions  17 ,  19 . The respective front portions  17  and respective back portions  19  define respective v-shaped slots or grooves  23 ,  25 , each opening at the top of the cassette  11  and extending to the top edge of respective side plates  29  of bottom section  27  ( FIG. 4 ). The plates  29  join the side panels  13 ,  15  together to form a box-like tower structure of rectangular cross section, as seen in the top view of  FIG. 3 . The side plates  29  may be attached to the panels  13 ,  15  by suitable fastening means, such as, for example, rivets  31 , other similar mechanical fasteners such as bolts, screws, etc., or by welding or other conventional attachment procedures. 
   A resilient biasing member, preferably a spring  35 , is positioned on the bottom section  27  by and within four upwardly extending spring retainer members  36  ( FIG. 4 ). The spring  35  supports a platen member  37  of rectangular cross section, which is sized to ride up and down within the cassette  11 . When the cassette  11  is empty, i.e., contains no money bags, the platen  37  resides at its uppermost position, retained there by stop blocks  39 . 
   The spring  35  and cooperating components are preferably designed such that a number of coin bags, e.g.,  38  ( FIG. 5 ), are stackable on the platen  37 , and such that the platen  37  automatically lowers and raises so as to receive each successive bag, while always maintaining the last bag received readily accessible at the top of the cassette  11 .  FIGS. 5–7  illustrate this stacking feature in an illustrative embodiment which is designed to receive and store up to ten casino coin bags, conventionally weighing 25 pounds each. Thus, when fully loaded, such a cassette  11  stores 250 pounds of coin. As can be seen, the platen  37  automatically lowers by the thickness “E” of one coin bag as another bag is placed on the platen, such that a top bag is always readily accessible. 
   Such operation requires special attention to the design of the spring  35  and cooperative dimensioning of the cassette  11 . For example, in an embodiment accommodating ten 25 lb. bags, dimensions “A,” “B” and “C” in  FIG. 2  are 4.4 inches, 22.50 inches, and 26.94 inches, respectively. In the illustrative preferred embodiment, the spring  35  is a coil spring, and Dimension “A” is a maximum allowed compression dimension preferably selected so that the spring  35  is not compressed so much as to be overstressed during operation. The dimension “A” may be selected, for example so that the spring  35  experiences 80% of its maximum stress. Specifications for the spring  35  in this embodiment include an outside diameter “D” of 8.25 inches ±⅛ inch and a spring rate of 9 to 11 pounds with a free length of 29.30 inches. Many variations of such dimensions and specifications are to be expected in various alternate embodiments. 
   As may be further noted, the bottom section  27  preferably includes respective flanges or lips  20  at opposite ends thereof and downturned at 90 degrees. The lips  20  may rest on the floor or other surface and may serve to mount respective guide-forming members, such as L-shaped members  45 ,  47  illustrated in  FIG. 1 . Such guide-forming members may have other shapes; for example, respective channels of U-shaped cross section. Attachment of such guide members is facilitated by holes, e.g., formed in lips  20 . 
   The cassette  11  is preferably adapted to be picked up, lifted, and transported by a powered cassette lifter  48  illustrated in  FIGS. 8 to 11 . The lips  20  and guide members comprise a plate receiving slot  200  which if present, may facilitate such operation. 
   As shown, the cassette lifter  48  is a three-wheeled dolly-like apparatus having a pick-up plate  71  perpendicularly mounted to a drive plate  73 . The drive plate  73  is mounted for up and down movement on first and second rods  75 ,  77  mounted parallel to the side support rails  79 ,  81  of the lifter apparatus  48 . An electric linear actuator  85  is suitably mounted in the base of the lifter  48  and is manually activatable by a switch  87  ( FIG. 11 ) on the handle of the apparatus  48  to vertically raise and lower the drive plate  73  and attached pick-up plate  71 . The linear actuator  85  ( FIG. 9 ) is preferably powered by a battery  88 . 
   Thus, a fully loaded cassette  11  may be picked up by the lifter  48  as illustrated in  FIG. 11  and moved adjacent to a transport or storage apparatus and then raised up to a height where the cassette  11  can be inserted into the apparatus.  FIGS. 12–15  and  16  show illustrative embodiments of such storage apparatus in the form of a powered cassette transport  90 , and a cassette indexing storage compartment  120 , respectively. 
   Thus, a fully loaded cassette  11  may be picked up by the lifter  48  as illustrated in  FIG. 11  and moved adjacent to a transport or storage apparatus and then raised up to a height where the cassette  11  can be inserted into the apparatus.  FIGS. 12–15  and  16  show illustrative embodiments of such storage apparatus in the form of a powered cassette transport  90 , and a cassette indexing storage compartment  120 , respectively. 
   The powered cassette transport  90  illustrated in  FIGS. 12–13  accommodates six cassettes, and includes suitable guide plates  91  located between end plates  93 ,  95  so as to define respective cassette storage positions. Retractable locking side rails  99 ,  100  are preferably provided to secure or lock the cassettes  11  in position once they are loaded. The cassette lifter  48  is thus designed such that it can lift a cassette  11  to the proper height to permit a cassette  11  to be easily inserted or installed in a selected receptacle, e.g.,  101 , on the cassette transport  90 . The cassette transport  90  is powered by conventional means, such as an electric motor drive  104  with controls conveniently located on a handle  103 . An illustrative drive train comprises a motor gearbox (24V, 11.68 A, 128.7 rpm, 127.4 lbs.) as available from Rae Corporation, a differential drive model 100-021A as available from Tecumseh Products, and a pair of 8.0″ dia. by 2.0″ wide drive wheels, available from R&amp;K Products. 
   A suitable on board battery charger  105  may be provided so that the unit may be simply plugged-in to recharge the batteries supplying power to the electric motor  104 . Optionally, the electric drive may be omitted in favor of manually pushed operation. With a ten cassette system as described above, the transport  90 , when fully loaded, carries six cassettes  11  having a total weight of 1,500 pounds. In one illustrative application, cassettes can be located at desired locations throughout a casino and then picked up when convenient by a transport  90  operated by one individual. 
   The cassette indexing storage cabinet  120  shown in  FIGS. 15–17  is a rectangular metal cabinet with a roll-up door  122  or other suitable front cover. The roll-up door  122  may be a commercially available or custom made unit composed, for example, of pivotable interlocking extruded aluminum segments. After opening the door  122 , an indexing carriage  123  is activatable to move out of the cabinet to an extended position as illustrated in  FIG. 17  wherein a cassette lifter  48 , such as illustrated in  FIGS. 8–10 , may be used to raise a cassette  11  to an appropriate height for placement on the carriage  123 . The carriage  123  includes a horizontal base plate  134 , on which are mounted a plurality of end plates  125  and divider plates  127 , suitably spaced to index, i.e., define the storage location of, a plurality of cassettes  11 . 
   After cassette loading, the carriage  123  may be retracted to return the installed cassettes  11  to a stored and locked position with the front cover  122  closed. In the illustrative embodiment of  FIG. 16 , an electric linear actuator  131  is employed to drive the carriage  123  in and out of the storage cabinet  120 . To facilitate extension and retraction, the carriage  123  includes suitable rollers or wheels  133 ,  143 . 
     FIG. 18  particularly illustrates an advantageous design feature implemented in connection with the illustrative preferred storage cabinet  120 . As shown, the carriage mechanism  123  includes a plurality of carriage arms  141 , each of which rotatably mounts a respective wheel  133 . Each wheel  133  rides in and out on a respective lower rail or track  142 , limited by a front stop  144 . The horizontal base plate  134  is attached to the top of the carriage arms  141 . 
   At the rear of each arm  141  is a rotatably mounted guide wheel  143 , which rides against an upper guide rail or track  145 , positioned in parallel to the lower guide rail or track  142 . The construction of  FIG. 18  thus provides a cantilevered arrangement wherein the upper guide rail  145  and wheel  143  prevent tipping of the carriage  123  when the cabinet  120  is open and the carriage is in the extended position, placing a large weight suspended over the floor surface. 
     FIGS. 19 and 20  illustrate an alternate embodiment cassette transport cart  151  configured as a narrower “single wide” unit. The cart  151  may be constructed in a manner analogous to that of  FIGS. 11–13 , with the exception that the cart  151  is made narrower to accommodate a single row of cassettes  11 .  FIG. 19  particularly illustrates two cassettes in a row; however, in different embodiments, the length of the cart may be selected to accommodate a different number of cassettes; e.g., one, three, or four. 
   Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the above-described apparatus may provide an integrated coin bag pick-up, transport and storage system, greatly increasing economy, safety, and security in various operating environments. While particularly useful in the gaming industry, the invention may find application in various other environments where heavy, bagged material is involved. 
   The cassette  11  itself, as well as the other system components, is subject to various modifications and adaptations. For example, separate parts may be formed as a unitary part and vice versa, and dimensions and other parameters and specifications altered to accommodate various sizes and numbers of coin bags. In addition, hydraulic mechanisms, for example, incorporating a hydraulic cylinder, could be substituted for the linear actuator mechanisms discussed in various illustrative embodiments. A pneumatic cylinder with an accumulator device could be arranged to provide the functionality of spring  35 . 
   While the present invention has been described above in terms of specific embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. On the contrary, the present invention is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent methods and structures included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.