Winner every time crane game apparatus and method

Abstract

A prize dispensing game includes a prize retaining housing, a prize dispensing port, a prize dispensing assembly, a play credit registering assembly, a prize dispensing sensor adjacent to the prize dispensing port, and a credit deactivating assembly controlled by the prize dispensing sensor. The retaining housing preferably includes a prize retaining box with a box wall having a prize viewing window. The prize dispensing port preferably includes a passageway having a passageway side wall. The prize dispensing sensor preferably includes an electronic eye in said side wall generating a sensing beam across the passageway. The dispensing sensor preferably additionally includes a circuit for carrying an electronic signal generated by the electronic eye and a signal filtering circuit. The signal filtering circuit preferably includes a circuit for inverting the signal and a resistor. The credit deactivating assembly preferably includes a decade counter integrated circuit for receiving the electronic signal and removing play credit when the signal fluctuates. A method of playing the prize dispensing game includes the steps of registering play credit by inserting a coin into the play credit coin registering assembly, and operating the prize dispensing assembly with a control to place one prize into the prize dispensing port, thereby deactivating the play credit and disabling the game with the credit deactivating assembly.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.