Technological background to the invention The current state of the art offers a vast range of terminals provided with keyboard and display screen, for use in managing games, such as those which are known in Italy as"Totocalcio", associated with football pools, or"Enalotto" corresponding to a national lottery, and others.

In particular, in connection with these games, these terminals are designed to read the data marked on documents, such as coupons, compiled by the user of the terminal, i. e. by the player, and to provide the latter with a certificate or receipt indicating the bet made.

Generally these terminals are provided for installation in betting offices, and/or various types of public places, such as bars and others, distributed throughout the country to allow the users to make bets.

Obviously these terminals for games, considering the kind of use they are intended for, must be conforming to certain requirements, and among other things they must be able to satisfy requirements of comfort, practicality and ease of use, both for the players who use the terminals to place their bets, and for the operators of the relative points of installation, who are responsible for supervising and acting to keep the terminals constantly in good working order.

Summary of the invention A first object that this invention has set to attain is therefore that of producing an electronic terminal particularly, though not exclusively, suitable for use in the management of games, that can offer performances, in terms of comfort, practicality and ease of use and maintenance, considerably better than those offered by the currently existing terminals.

A second object of this invention is that of defining a games terminal that integrates, in a highly compact structure permitting smooth installation of the terminal in the public places authorized to receive bets, the functions of data entry, reading coupons or other documents with data compiled by the player, displaying the data and/or other information entered, and issuing a receipt as proof of the bet made.

The above objects are achieved by the electronic terminal having the characteristics set down in the first main independent claim.

These and other objects, characteristics and advantages of this invention will come across in clear and transparent fashion in the following description of a preferred embodiment, provided by way of non-restrictive exampie, with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Brief description of the drawings Fig. 1 is a front perspective view of a terminal, in particular for controlling games, according to the present invention, in a first operating configuration with a closed upper cover and a display screen folding on the cover; Fig. 2 is a front perspective view of the terminal of Fig. 1, in a second operating configuration with the upper cover open; Fig. 3 is a rear perspective view of the terminal of Fig. 2, with the relative upper cover open; Fig. 4 is a front perspective view of the terminal of Fig. 1, in a third working configuration with the upper cover closed and the display screen raised with respect to the cover; Fig. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of the terminal of Fig. 1, which represents, separately from the other parts, a group for reading games coupons, suitable for insertion in the terminal and

Fig. 6 is a section along a longitudinal median plane of the terminal of Fig. 1, in the relative first operating configuration.

Description of a preferred embodiment of the invention With reference to Figs. 1-4, an electronic terminal, made according to the present invention, is indicated generically with numeral 10.

As a general rule, the electronic terminal 10 is intended for being used in a variety of applications, but preferably, even though not exclusively, it is intended for use in the management of games, chiefly to receive and process documents , compiled with the game data by numerous players, and to issue to each of the former a receipt testifying to the gaming operation effected.

In greater detail, the electronic terminal 10 possesses a generally parallelepiped shape, which has a front side 10a, facing the operator of the terminal 10, and a rear side 10b.

In addition, the terminal 10 comprises a fixed external structure 11, which also constitutes an outer casing for the terminal 10; a printer 12, housed inside the structure 11; an upper cover 13 fulcrum-mounted on the fixed structure 11 and suitable for assuming a closed position indicated with P1, flush with the structure 11, as shown in Fig. 1, and an open position indicated with P2, raised with respect to the fixed structure 11 and suitable to allow access to the inside of the terminal 10, in particlllar to the printer 12, as showll in Fig. 2.

The upper cover 13 is fulcrum-mounted on the fixed structure 11 by means

of a hinge-type connection, generically designated with the numeral 17, arranged towards the top along the rear side 1 Ob of the terminal 10.

The terminal 10 also comprises a keyboard 14, of known type, allowing the user to enter data and commands suitable for controlling the terminal 10, and a screen 16, atso of known characteristics, for displaying data and information processed by the terminal 10.

The keyboard 14 is preferably of the flat, membrane type, comprising a sheet bearing numerous alphanumeric symbols, each associated with a transducer suitable for converting into a corresponding signal the pressure exerted on it by the user.

In turn, the display screen 16 is rigidly mounted on a support frame 16a and is preferably of the liquid crystal type which implies limited thickness.

The printer 12, housed inside the casing 11, is preferably of the dot matrix type, for instance operating according to the so-called thermal technology, and is provided for printing data and information on a slip of paper 22a coming from a roll 22, in turn accommodated in a respective seat 26 (Fig. 6), also formed inside the casing 11 of the terminal 10.

The printer 12 is also associated with a cutter 23 the function of which is to cut the slip of paper 22a, after it has been printed, so as to produce a receipt 22b (Fig.

4) to be issued to the user of the terminal 11 at the end of the gaming operations, as shown schematically by the arrow 25.

In particular this receipt 22b is suitable for reproducing the gaming data marked by a user on a games coupon, which has first been inserted into the terminal 10, where it is read, as will be described in greater detail below.

According to a principal feature of the present invention the object of which is to make the electronic terminal 10 especially practical to use, in particular whenever used for managing games, the relative upper cover 13 consists of a first part, indicated with 13a (Fig. 2), adjacent to the fulcrum-mounting zone of the cover 13 on the fixed structure 11, i. e. to the hinge 17, and a second part, indicated 13b, away from the hinge 17 and defining a free edge 13d of the cover 13, in which this second part 13b is intended to support the keyboard 14 for entering data, and in which in addition the screen 16 for displaying data is rotatingly mounted, by means of a hinge 18, on a central area of the cover 13, indicated 13c, between the first and the second part, 13a and 13b respectively.

Therefore, in this configuration, the keyboard 14 is arranged adjacent to the free edge 13d, opposite the fulcrum-mounted edge, of the cover 13, while the display screen 16, thanks to the hinge 18, is of such a type that it may be suitably regulated, according to the desired angle of tilt, with respect to the fixed structure 11, i. e. with respect to the cover 13 when the latter is in the relative closed position P1, as indicated by the double arrow in Fig. 4.

For this purpose the disptay screen 16 is suitabty associated with support posts 19 having one end fulcrum-mounted on the structure 16a supporting the display

screen 16, and the other free end suitable for cooperating with protuberances 21 formed in the outer surface of the structure 11, in such a way as to prop up the display screen 16 in the position corresponding to the desired tilt an I e with respect to the cover 13, when the latter is in the relative closed position P1.

Further, for the purpose of permitting perfect alignment between the surface of the keyboard 14 and the display screen 16, when the latter is completely folded down on the cover 13, the first part 13a of the cover 13, adjacent to the hinge 17, defines a recess 13e suitable for receiving the display screen 16 in this position, as shown in the section of Fig. 6.

A pass-through slot 24 is formed in the second part 13b of the cover 13, parallel to the side of the keyboard 14 that faces the central area of the cover 13, to allow the exit movement of the slip of paper 22a and accordingly the issue of the receipt 22b to the operator of the terminal 10.

As shown in Fig. 4 and in the section of Fig. 6, the terminal 10 also comprises, local to the front side or simply front 1 Oa, a path 27, that extends from an inlet aperture 27a to an outlet aperture 27b, and an optical reader group 31, of known technology, arranged along the path 27.

The path 27 is provided for receiving and guiding a document 28, such as typically a games coupon, inserted by a user in the terminal 10 through the inlet aperture 27a, where s : he function of the optical reader group 31 is to read the games data marked by the user on the coupon 28, and/or other information

marked on the coupon, as it is fed along the path 27.

For this purpose, the path 27 is associated with known feeding means, made for instance of rollers 32 arranged along two opposite sides of the path 27, suitable for feeding the coupon 28 along the path 27, after the operator has inserted it in the inlet aperture 27a, and for finally ejecting the same coupon 28 through the outlet aperture 27b, so as to return it to the operator, after the data has been read by the reader 31, as illustrated schematically by arrows 35.

Conveniently the path 27 is delimited, on one side, by the fixed structure 11, and on the other side by an access door 31 a (Fig. 6), in turn removably mounted in a respective seat defined by the fixed structure 11, in such a way that it may be easily removed as a single piece and placed, whenever necessary, away from the fixed structure 31, as indicated schematically by an arrow 36.

It is accordingly possible to completely uncover the area of the path 27, for example for cleaning purposes, and also to take action easily and smoothly to eliminate any jamming of the coupon 28 along the path 27.

According to this solution, the wheels 32 are rotatingly mounted in part on the fixed structure 11, and in part on the access door 31 a, on opposite sides with respect to the path 27, so as to cooperate together in order to feed the coupon 28 along the path 27.

As anticipated earlier, reading of the collpon 28 is followed Iby printing, using the printer 12, of a receipt 22b which is issued to the player, as proof of the

bet made, and reproducig in particular the games data marked on the coupon 28.

Optionally, on the outer surfac eof the casing 11, the terminal 10 may include a device, generically designated with numeral 33, for the reading/writing of electronic cards in general, also called chip cards, and more in particular for smart cards, and/or for simple memory cards.

The structure and combination of parts described above are such as to confer on the terminal 10 special characteristics of serviceability, simplicity and practicality of use.

In particular the terminal 10 has a very compact structure which, in a very low amount of space, integrates the typical functionalities of a terminal for controlling games, and which is also characterized by the presence of an upper cover, on which a keyboard for entering data is rigidly mounted, and a screen for displaying data, fulcrum-mounted on this upper cover so as to be tiltable.

By way of this structure, the terminal 10 is highly serviceable and practical to use, both under normal working conditions, with the upper cover 13 closed on the casing 11 and the display screen 16 tilted according to the desired angle of inclination with respect to the cover 13, for reading games coupons 28 compiled by the users and for issuing corresponding receipts 22b, and also in those situations in which action needs to be taken to perform maintenance operations on the inside of

the terminal 10, such as to open the cover 13, for example to replace a finished roll of paper 22 with a new one.

In particular, for clarity's sake, Fig. 4 represents the configuration assumed by the terminal 10 during its nominal working conditions, with the cover 13 closed and the display screen 16 placed according to the desired angle of inclination, whereas Fig. 2 shows the configuration assumed by the terminal 10 when, for maintenance operation needs, the upper cover 13 has to be opened.

Clearly changes and improvements may be made to the electronic terminal 10 described up to here, without departing from the scope of this invention.