Claims
- 1. An amusement game comprising a horizontally-oriented rotating wheel, means to introduce a coin to a central region of said rotating wheel, guide means to direct said coin in a radial direction from said central region of said wheel toward the periphery of said wheel, a plurality of payoff positions located at angular positions on said wheel, and means to determine if a coin introduced to said wheel intersects with said payoff position.
- 2. The amusement game recited in claim 1 wherein said means to introduce said coin onto said wheel is controlled by a player and the travel of the coin is predictable and repeatable.
- 3. The amusement game as recited in claim 1 wherein said means to introduce said coin to said wheel comprises a coin track that allows the coin to roll on its edge.
- 4. The amusement game as recited in claim 1 wherein said means to introduce said coin to said wheel comprises a coin chute that allows said coin to slide on a lateral side.
- 5. The amusement game as recited in claim 1 wherein said wheel is rotated at a constant rate.
- 6. The amusement game as recited in claim 1 wherein said means to determine if said coins intersect with said payoff positions comprises a stepper motor controlled by a Central Processing Unit and a coin detector, said coin detector further comprising a light source and a photodetector, wherein if a coin that intersects with said payoff position interrupts said light beam, said photodetector sends a signal to said Central Processing Unit and said unit correlates said signal with information relating to the position of said payoff positions on said wheel and determines if the signal is received at a time corresponding with a payoff position.
- 7. The amusement game as recited in claim 6 wherein said coin guide directs said coin to said periphery and releases said coin so that a portion of said coin overhangs the edge of said wheel and said coin detector is positioned to detect that potion of said coin that overhangs said wheel.
- 8. The amusement game as recited in claim 1 wherein said means to introduce said coins comprises a debit card reader for the detection of a predetermined credit value on a debit card, and a release button for the release of coins from a coin cache internal to the game.
- 9. The amusement game as recited in claim 8 wherein a player can time to release said coins so that they will be introduced to said wheel at a predictable time.
- 10. The amusement game of claim 1 wherein the release of coins from a coin release mechanism is random so that the chances of having a coin land on a payoff position is also a random event.
- 11. An amusement game comprising a coin acceptor for the reception and analysis of coin from a player and for directing genuine coins to a coin track, said coin track inclined on an angle and allowing said genuine coin to roll down said coin track to a coin chute, said coin chute for directing a genuine coin from said coin track to a rotating play field, said coin chute oriented to allow said coin to slide on a lateral side, motor means to constantly rotate said play field around a central axis, said play field being horizontally-oriented, a coin guide positioned above said play field and extending from said central axis toward a peripheral edge of said play field, said coin guide adapted to engage the lateral side of said coin that has been introduced to said play field and direct said coin towards said periphery of said play field, a plurality of payoff positions located on said play field and means to determine if said coin intersects with one of said payoff positions.
- 12. The amusement game as recited in claim 11, wherein said coin guide is positioned to release said coin at a location on the edge of said play field to cause a portion of said coin to extend over the edge of said play field and said coin detector detects the portion of said coin that extends of the edge.
- 13. The amusement game as recited in claim 11 further comprising through holes positioned on said play field and coins that fall through said holes that do not reach the periphery of said wheel.
- 14. The amusement game as recited in claim 11 wherein said payoff positions comprise through holes through said play field and coins that fall through said through holes are detected by a coin detector.
- 15. The amusement game as recited in claim 11 further comprising an outer annular area on said play field that allows coins to rest on the rotating area and said coin guide directs and releases coins from said inner region on said play field to this out region and coins released from said coin guide may engage additional coins resting in said regions causing said additional coins resting in said area to be pushed outwardly.
- 16. The amusement game recited in claim 15 wherein said annular area has a floor that is lower than the surface of an area of said play field that passes underneath the coin guide and thereby said annular region will accommodate a number of layers of coins in this region.
- 17. A method of playing an amusement game comprising timing the insertion of a coin into the game to cause it to come to rest on a rotating wheel, said rotating wheel having a stationary coin guide that moves said coins toward payoff positions located on the periphery of said wheel.
- 18. The amusement game as recited in claims 11 wherein said payoff positions are located at random locations around said play field.
- 19. The amusement game as recited in claim 1 wherein the location that the coin is released from the coin guide is not predictable.
- 20. The amusement game as recited in claim 1 wherein the timing of the introduction of the coin to the game is a random event and accordingly, a player cannot exercise skill to try to cause a coin to intersect with a payoff position.
- 21. The amusement game recited in claim 8 further comprising a ticket dispenser wherein a player that successfully plays the games so that a coin intersects with a payoff position will be distributed a number of tickets that correspond with the value of said payoff position.
- 22. A coin operated amusement device comprising means defining a coin track to guide a coin in a predetermined path and introduce said coin on its side to a horizontally-oriented rotating play field, a stationary coin guide for the engagement of a sidewall of said coin and direct said coin from a center region of the wheel to the edge of said wheel, at least one payoff position at an angular position on said wheel, and a coin detector to detect the presence of a coin and a wheel position detector to determine the location of the wheel and a controller to correlate the position of the coin with the position of payoff positions on said wheel.
- 23. A coin operated amusement device as recited in claim 22 wherein said wheel defines a plurality of payoff positions distributed around said wheel.
- 24. A coin operated amusement device as recited in claim 23 wherein said payoff positions have different values and wherein said controller determines the value of the payoff position intersected by a coin.
- 25. A coin operated amusement device as recited in claim 21 further comprising means to dispense a payoff corresponding to the value determined by said value determining means.
- 26. A coin operated amusement device as recited in claim 25 wherein said dispensing means dispenses said payoff in the form of tickets.
Parent Case Info
[0001] The present invention relates generally to an amusement game that can be adapted to make an award to a player based upon the skill of a player or can be configured to make a random award based entirely upon chance. The applicant claims the benefit of the filing date of U.S. application Ser. No. 60/292,530 filed on May 23, 2001 and U.S. application Ser. No. 60/331,259 that was filed on Nov. 13, 2001.
Provisional Applications (2)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60292530 |
May 2001 |
US |
|
60331259 |
Nov 2001 |
US |