Skill crane cabinet - Patent Review 5549372

Description Submit all comments and votes

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Skill cranes have been in use for many years wherein a plurality of various prizes are contained within a cabinet having a claw mechanism contained therein, and actuated by a person outside of the cabinet, whereby an attempt is made to grasp and retrieve one of the prizes from the cabinet within a predetermined period of time.

These skill cranes are usually found at amusement parks and arcades but they can now be found in today's busy, customer-service oriented business establishments, such as restaurants; accordingly, it is desirable to eliminate the arcade appearance of the cabinet; accordingly, the cabinet of the present invention has been devised to be capable of having various appearances to blend in and compliment the decor of the particular business establishment in which it is placed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The skill crane cabinet of the present invention comprises, essentially, an extruded aluminum frame assembly secured to a top wall and a bottom wall of heavy gauge, cold rolled, steel. The extruded aluminum frame assembly is formed with channels for selectively receiving panels of various appearances in keeping with the decor of the business establishment in which it is placed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the skill crane cabinet of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a view taken along line 2--2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view taken along line 3--3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a view taken along line 4--4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the cabinet;

FIG. 6 is a view taken along line 6--6 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary perspective view of the bottom of the cabinet and the lower front right corner thereof; and

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary perspective view, partly in section, showing a portion of the bottom and the front right edge of the cabinet side wall.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to the drawings and more particularly to FIG. 1, the skill crane cabinet 1 of the present invention comprises, an extruded aluminum frame assembly 2 having opaque decorative panels 3, 4, 5 and 6, selectively mounted therein, together with transparent glass panels 7 and 8 to thereby provide a side and the front of the cabinet 1, it being understood that the opposite side of the cabinet is identical to the side containing panels 3, 4 and 7, and a back of the cabinet can have panels similar to the sides of the cabinet or have a single opaque panel.

The cabinet 1 contains a plurality of prizes 9, such as stuffed animals, adapted to be grasped by a claw assembly 10 operated by a person using a joystick 11 mounted on the front of the cabinet 1. A plexiglass partition 12 is mounted in the cabinet 1 to provide a chamber 13 within the cabinet communicating with a chute 14 having an opening 15 in the front of the cabinet, whereby a prize 9 grasped by the claw assembly is deposited into the chute 14 and retrieved therefrom by the person operating the machine.

The front of the machine also includes a dollar bill receiving slot 16 and coin receiving slots 17. Lights 18 and 19 are also provided adjacent the joystick 11 to advise the operator of the start and expiration of the allowed time for grasping a prize.

The details of the basic components of the extruded aluminum frame assembly are disclosed in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 wherein a full corner 20 is shown in FIG. 2, a half corner 21 is shown in FIG. 3, and a straight section 22 is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. The full corner component 20 comprises a right angle extruded member having outer leg members 20a extending normal to each other, and inwardly spaced inner leg members 20b extending normal to each other. A short flange member 20c is integral with the right angle extruded member and is positioned between the leg members 20a and 20b to thereby form a pair of channels 20d and 20e. The right angle extruded member is provided with an entrant portion 20f which is closed by a plastic decorative strip 20g slidably mounted in slots 20h provided in the side walls of the entrant portion 20f. The outer surface of the leg members 20a are similarly formed with a decorative surface 20i which can be scalloped or corrugated.

The half corner 21 is similar to the full corner 20 except only one inner leg 21b and one short flange 21c are provided.

The straight section 22 comprises a pair of spaced, parallel outer and inner legs 22a and 22b, respectively, having an integral, transversely extending web portion 22c extending therebetween. A pair of oppositely extending flange members 22d and 22e are integral with the web portion 22c and spaced inwardly from the legs 22a and 22b to provide channels 22f and 22g.

The full corner 20 shown in FIG. 2 extends vertically and provides the left rear corner of the cabinet 1 with the glass panel 7 inserted into the channel 20e. The back wall 23 of the corner is inserted into the space between the outer and inner legs 20a and 20b.

The straight member 22, shown in FIG. 3, also extends vertically and the channel 22g receives the glass panel 7, and a vertically extending piano type hinge 24 is fastened between the outer leg 21a of the half corner 21 and the outer leg 22a of the straight section 22, whereby the front of the cabinet provides a hinged door to provide access to the interior of the cabinet.

FIG. 4 illustrates the cabinet bottom wall 25 of heavy gauge cold rolled steel having an upturned flange 26 fastened to the inner leg 22b of a horizontally extending straight member 22 by means of screws 27. The decorative panel 4 is inserted in the space between the outer and inner legs 22a and 22b, the panel 4 being either a laminate structure having a 1/8" thick outer layer of plexiglass and a 5/8" thick inner layer of melamine, or a 3/4 thick solid wood panel.

FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate the top of the cabinet wherein a wall 28 of heavy gauge cold rolled steel having a down-turned peripheral flange 29 is fastened to the inner leg members 20b of the left rear full corner component 20, and the inner leg members 30b of the right rear full corner component 30, the fastening being accomplished by screws similar to screws 27 for securing the bottom wall 25 in place. The down-turned flange 29 of the top wall 28 is similarly fastened to the inner leg 22b of the straight member 22 at the front left side of the cabinet and to the inner leg 3lb of the straight member 31 positioned at the front right side of the cabinet. Channeled trim members 32 and 33 extend between each full corner member 20 and 30 and a respective straight member 22 and 31. The front of the cabinet is also provided with a channeled trim member 34 extending between the half corner component 21 at the left front of the cabinet and a full corner component 35 at the front right side of the cabinet. It will thus be seen that the half corner component 21, trim member 34, full corner component 35 and associated panels 5, 6 and 8, FIG. 1, provide a door to the interior of the cabinet.

Referring to FIG. 7, at least four caster wheels 36 are secured to the bottom wall 25 of the cabinet to facilitate transporting the cabinet, and another caster wheel 37 is secured to the lower end of the front right full corner component 35 to facilitate the movement of the front door during the opening and closing thereof.

FIG. 8 illustrates the bottom wall 25 being fastened to the inner leg 31b of straight member 31 by the screws 27 passing through the upturned flange 26. An aperture 38 is provided in the bottom wall for receiving the lower end of a lock bar.

From the above description, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that the extruded aluminum frame assembly provided by the full cornered channel members 20, 30, 35, half corner channel member 24, and straight channel members 22, 31, 32 and 33, facilitate the assembling of the cabinet 1 which can selectively receive panels of various appearances in keeping with the decor of the room in which it is placed.

It is to be understood that the form of the invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same, and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to, without departing from the spirit of the invention or scope of the subjoined claims.

* * * * *