1. An inertial igniter comprising:
a body having a base and three or more posts extending from the base, each of the three or more posts having a hole;
at least one locking ball corresponding to each of the three of more posts, wherein a first portion of the locking balls are disposed in the hole;
a striker mass movably disposed relative to the three or more posts and having a surface corresponding to each of the three or more posts, the movement of the striker mass being guided by the surfaces, the striker mass further having a concave portion corresponding to each of the locking balls, wherein a second portion of each locking ball is disposed in a corresponding concave portion for retaining the striker mass relative to the three or more posts;
a collar movable relative to the three or more posts; and
a biasing element for biasing the collar in a first position which retains the locking balls within the concave portions, the biasing element permitting movement of the collar to a second position in which the locking balls can be released from the concave portions to release the striker mass relative to the three or more posts upon a predetermined acceleration profile experienced by the body.
2. The inertial igniter of claim 1, wherein the surfaces are planar.
3. The inertial igniter of claim 1, wherein the biasing element is a compression spring disposed between a portion of the base and a portion of the collar.
4. The inertial igniter of claim 3, wherein the compression spring is a wave spring having a rectangular cross-section.
5. The inertial igniter of claim 3, wherein the collar further comprises a guide having a bottom and an opening at a top, wherein the bottom and top are oriented in a direction of acceleration, a third portion of the locking balls being seated at the bottom.
6. The inertial igniter of claim 5, wherein the guide is formed around a continuous surface of the collar.
7. The inertial igniter of claim 5, wherein the guide comprises three or more guides, each corresponding to each of the three or more locking balls.
8. The inertial igniter of claim 1, further comprising one or more pyrotechnic materials disposed on the base for creating a spark upon contact of the striker mass with the base.
9. The inertial igniter of claim 8, wherein the base further includes at least one opening for allowing the spark to pass into a thermal battery attached to the base.
10. The inertial igniter of claim 8, wherein the striker mass further includes a first projection for facilitating ignition of the one or more pyrotechnic materials when the striker mass contacts the base.
11. The inertial igniter of claim 9, wherein the base further includes a second projection corresponding to the first projection and covered by the one or more pyrotechnic materials, the second projection being aligned with the first projection such that the first and second projections contact first when the striker mass contacts the base.
12. The inertial igniter of claim 8, wherein the one or more pyrotechnic materials is a one-part pyrotechnic material formed on the base.
13. The inertial igniter of claim 12, wherein the one-part pyrotechnic material is lead styphnate.
14. The inertial igniter of claim 1, further comprising a percussion cap primer disposed on the base for creating a spark upon contact of the striker mass with the base.
15. The inertial igniter of claim 1, wherein the base and three or more posts are integrally formed.
16. The inertial Igniter of claim 1, further comprising a housing connected to the base for sealing the inertial igniter.
17. The inertial igniter of claim 16, wherein the housing is crimped to the base.
18. The inertial igniter of claim 16, wherein the base further includes at least one opening and a membrane disposed over the at least one opening, wherein the membrane opens after ignition of a pyrotechnic material formed on the base to allow a generated spark to pass into a thermal battery attached to the base.
19. The inertial igniter of claim 1, wherein the base extends radially from the three or more posts to form a top cap for a thermal battery attached to the body.
20. The inertial igniter of claim 1, wherein the base further includes at least one opening for allowing a spark generated from contact of the striker mass with at least a portion of the base to pass into a thermal battery attached to the base.
21. The inertial igniter of claim 20, wherein the hole comprises one of one or more holes disposed in the base, one or more openings on a side of the body and one or more holes formed through the striker to allow the spark to exit from the top of the igniter.
22. A thermal battery comprising:
a housing having a first compartment and a second compartment;
a thermal battery housed in the first compartment; and
an inertial igniter housed in the second compartment;
wherein the first and second compartments are separated by a rigid member.
23. The thermal battery of claim 22, wherein the second compartment is oriented on top of the first compartment in the direction of an acceleration.
24. The thermal battery of claim 22, wherein the first compartment is oriented on top of the second compartment in the direction of an acceleration.
25. An ignition system for a thermal battery, the ignition system comprising:
a base plate for connection to the thermal battery; and
two or more inertial igniters formed on the base plate, each of the two or more inertial igniters having a striker mass which ignites one or more pyrotechnic materials upon a predetermined acceleration profile, the base plate having an opening corresponding to each of the two or more inertial igniters for allowing a generated spark to pass into the thermal battery.
26. The ignition system of claim 25, wherein the two or more inertial igniters comprise three inertial igniters.
27. The ignition system of claim 25, wherein each of the inertial igniters comprises two or more posts connected to the base plate for guiding the striker mass towards the one or more pyrotechnic materials, each of the two or more posts further having a hole for housing a ball, the balls retaining the striker mass from striking the one or more pyrotechnic materials unless the predetermined acceleration profile is experienced by the base plate.
28. The ignition system of claim 27, wherein each of the two or more posts are integrally formed with the base.
29. The ignition system of claim 25, further comprising one or more partition walls connected to the base for separating the base into two or more compartments, each of the two or more inertial igniters being disposed in one of the two or more compartments.
30. The ignition system of claim 29, wherein the one or more partition walls are integrally formed with the base.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A remotely updateable network of geographically distributed gaming terminals, comprising:
a central server located at a central server site;
a plurality of gaming terminals located at a plurality of geographically distributed sites;
a local controller located at each of the geographically distributed sites, the local controller being coupled to the central server and to a selected number of the plurality of gaming terminals located at each of the plurality of geographically distributed sites;
a local update database at each of the geographically distributed sites and coupled to the local controller, and
a central update database located at the central server site, the central update database storing updates assigned to the local controller andor updates assigned to the plurality of gaming terminals, wherein the local controller is configured to access the central server, to receive the updates from the central update database, to install the updates assigned to the local controller and to store the updates assigned to the plurality of gaming terminals in the local update database and wherein the plurality of gaming terminals are configured to access the local controller and the local update database upon startup and to automatically search the local update database for any available assigned updates and to download and install any available assigned updates found as a result of searching the local update database.
2. The network of gaming terminals of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of gaming terminals is associated with a unique identifier and wherein the central update database also stores the unique identifier of each of the plurality of gaming terminals to receive the update.
3. The network of gaming terminals of claim 1, wherein the updates include software updates to at least one of the local controller and the plurality of gaming terminals.
4. The network of gaming terminals of claim 1, wherein the updates include updated content for the at least one of the plurality of gaming terminals.
5. The network of gaming terminals of claim 4, wherein the updated content includes at least one of a video sequence, animation and graphics.
6. The network of gaming terminals of claim 1, wherein the local controller is configured to access the central server and the central update database at a predetermined time.
7. The network of gaming terminals of claim 1, wherein the local controller is configured to periodically reset itself and to subsequently search the local update database for recently received updates for the local controller and the at least one of the plurality of gaming terminals.
8. The network of gaming terminals of claim 1, wherein the updates implement a first theme on at least one of the plurality of gaming terminals located at a first one of the plurality of geographically distributed sites, and wherein the updates implement a second theme that is different from the first theme on at least one of the plurality of gaming terminals located at a second one of the plurality of geographically distributed sites.
9. The network of gaming terminals of claim 1, wherein the central server is configured to download first updates from the central update database to a first local update database and to download second updates that are different from the first updates from the central update database to a second local update database that is geographically remote from the first local update database.
10. The network of gaming terminals of claim 9, wherein the first updates implement a first theme on the gaming terminals coupled to the first local update database and wherein the second updates implement a second theme on the gaming terminals coupled to the second local update database.
11. A method of remotely updating a plurality of geographically distributed gaming terminals, comprising the steps of:
accessing a central server over a computer network;
querying a central update database coupled to the central server to ascertain whether any updates for at least one of the plurality the gaming terminals are stored in the central update database;
receiving over the computer network any stored updates for the plurality of gaming terminals in a local update database, the local update database being local to the plurality of gaming terminals;
accessing the local update database upon startup of the at least one of the plurality of gaming machines, automatically searching the local update database for any available assigned updates and downloading and installing any available assigned updates found as a result of searching the local update database.
12. The method of claim 11, wherein the querying step is carried out by a local controller coupled to a grouping of gaming terminals.
13. The method of claim 12, wherein the querying step is carried out at one of a predetermined time interval and responsive to a predetermined event.
14. The method of claim 13, wherein the predetermined event includes a re-booting or resetting of the local controller.
15. The method of claim 12, wherein the updates include software updates to at least one of the local controller and at least one of the plurality of gaming terminals.
16. The method of claim 12, wherein the updates include updated content for at least one of the plurality of gaming terminals.
17. The method of claim 16, wherein the updated content includes at least one of a video sequence, animation and graphics.
18. The method of claim 11, further comprising a step of associating each update with at least one of the plurality of gaming terminals.
19. The method of claim 11, wherein the updates in the accessing step implement a first theme on at least one of the plurality of gaming terminals located at a first one of the plurality of geographically distributed sites, and wherein the updates implement a second theme that is different from the first theme on at least one of the plurality of gaming terminals located at a second one of the plurality of geographically distributed sites.
20. The method of claim 11, further including steps of the central server downloading first updates from the central update database to a first local update database and downloading second updates that are different from the first updates from the central update database to a second local update database that is geographically remote from the first local update database.
21. The method of claim 20, wherein the first updates implement a first theme on the gaming terminals coupled to the first local update database and wherein the second updates implement a second theme on the gaming terminals coupled to the second local update database.
22. A remotely updateable network of geographically distributed gaming terminals, comprising:
a central server located at a central server site;
a plurality of gaming terminals located at a plurality of geographically distributed sites;
a local controller located at each of the geographically distributed sites, the local controller being coupled to the central server and to a selected number of the plurality of gaming terminals located at each of the plurality of geographically distributed sites;
a local update database at each of the geographically distributed sites and coupled to the local controller, and
a central update database located at the central server site, the central update database storing updates assigned to the local controller andor updates assigned to the plurality of gaming terminals, wherein the local controller is configured to access the central server, to receive the updates from the central update database, to store the updates assigned to the plurality of gaming terminals in the local update database and wherein the plurality of gaming terminals are configured to subscribe to selected predefined events within the local update database and wherein the local controller is configured, upon occurrence of one of the selected predefined events, to publish selected ones of the updates to those gaming terminals having subscribed thereto.
23. The network of gaming terminals of claim 22, wherein each of the plurality of gaming terminals is associated with a unique identifier and wherein the central update database also stores the unique identifier of each of the plurality of gaming terminals to receive the update.
24. The network of gaming terminals of claim 22, wherein the updates include software updates to at least one of the local controller and the plurality of gaming terminals.
25. The network of gaming terminals of claim 22, wherein the updates include updated content for the at least one of the plurality of gaming terminals.
26. The network of gaming terminals of claim 25, wherein the updated content includes at least one of a video sequence, animation and graphics.
27. The network of gaming terminals of claim 22, wherein the local controller is configured to access the central server and the central update database at a predetermined time.
28. The network of gaming terminals of claim 22, wherein the local controller is configured to periodically reset itself and to subsequently search the local update database for recently received updates for the local controller and the at least one of the plurality of gaming terminals.
29. The network of gaming terminals of claim 22, wherein the gaming terminals are configured to store and install the published updates to which they have subscribed.
30. The network of gaming terminals of claim 22, wherein the updates implement a first theme on at least one of the plurality of gaming terminals located at a first one of the plurality of geographically distributed sites, and wherein the updates implement a second theme that is different from the first theme on at least one of the plurality of gaming terminals located at a second one of the plurality of geographically distributed sites.
31. The network of gaming terminals of claim 22, wherein the central server is configured to download first updates from the central update database to a first local update database and to download second updates that are different from the first updates from the central update database to a second local update database that is geographically remote from the first local update database.
32. The network of gaming terminals of claim 31, wherein the first updates implement a first theme on the gaming terminals coupled to the first local update database and wherein the second updates implement a second theme on the gaming terminals coupled to the second local update database.