Casinos are typically crowded environments where difficulties in locating available gaming machines at bars, keno lounges, restaurants, sports book areas, etc are often encountered by patrons. In order to maximize the available floor space of a gaming establishment, gaming operators have resorted to installing gaming machines at a variety of different locations within a casino including, for example, restaurants, bars and/or other more non-conventional locations. For example, it is now quite common now, in gaming jurisdictions, to see bar tops with “drop-in” installed gaming machines mounted directly into them.
Generally, these bar top, or “drop-in” installed gaming machines are compact designs that mount into a specially designed counter top of a restaurant, bar and/or other facility. Typically, such gaming machines are literally “dropped-in” through an opening in the top of the table or bar top, wherein a substantial portion of the gaming machine components/hardware is located within or under the tabletop of the bar cabinet.
Often the opening in the tabletop is sized just slightly larger than the vertical footprint of the gaming machine. Such close tolerances between the gaming machine peripheral footprint and tabletop opening minimizes any gaps therebetween, increasing usable tabletop surface area and/or increasing the density of gaming machines per table or bar top.
Unfortunately, maintenance access to the internals of these “drop-in-bar” machines is difficult due to such tolerance issues, and due to the fact that often, side mounted service door may not be available due to its placement with in the tabletop or bar top. Maintenance access to the internal component, thus, may sometimes only be available through a hinged top panel of the “drop-in-bar” machine, and/or may require complete removal thereof.
Coupled with the conventional practice in the gaming industry of reducing the overall dimensions of the gaming machine frames by eliminating non-essential components of gaming machines (e.g., carrying handles), handling of these relatively heavy and bulky “drop-in-bar” machines is cumbersome at best. As mentioned, these relatively bulky units are literally “dropped-in” through the top opening in the tabletop. Without the addition of unsightly handles upstanding from the face of the gaming machine, handling of these relatively heavy units has proven problematic.
One common installation technique is to lift the machine onto the bar with the top panel open, and have a technician (which is standing on the bar top surface) pick the machine up by the open sides of the top panel, and lower the machine into the cavity. Typically, because the gaming machine has no additional space to accommodate handles, the top panel is often used as a handle. These top panels, of course, were not designed to be used as such, and can sometimes be damaged.
Accordingly, it is desirable to improve the handling and installation of these “drop-in” installed gaming machines by providing repositionable handle assemblies that are stout and secure when affixed to the gaming machine, yet can be easily removed with minimal effort.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds