The present invention relates generally to gaming machines and, more particularly, to a gaming machine with an overhanging touch screen.
Gaming machines, such as slot machines, video poker machines, and the like, have been a cornerstone of the gaming industry for several years. Generally, the popularity of such machines with players is dependent on the likelihood (or perceived likelihood) of winning money at the machine and the intrinsic entertainment value of the machine relative to other available gaming options. Where the available gaming options include a number of competing machines and the expectation of winning each machine is roughly the same (or believed to be the same), players are most likely to be attracted to the most entertaining and exciting of the machines.
Consequently, shrewd operators strive to employ the most entertaining and exciting machines available, because such machines attract frequent play and, hence, increase profitability to the operator. Many gaming machines possess a touch screen video display including a video display overlapped by a similarly sized touch screen. The touch screen is typically adhered or taped to a front panel of the video display. The touch screen allows players to determine and easily select game options during play. The video display provides useable game play space typically segregated into first and second portions. The first portion is dedicated to dynamic game features such as dynamic graphics and animations. The second portion is dedicated to static game features such as player-selectable indicia and text boxes. As game designers increase the complexity of games, they are constrained by the amount of useable game play space afforded by the video display. For example, the larger the second portion of the video display dedicated to fairly static game features, the smaller the available first portion for presenting dynamic game features. Similarly, the larger the first portion of the video display dedicated to dynamic game features, the smaller the available second portion for presenting static game features.
To create the most entertaining and exciting gaming machine, there exists a need for a gaming machine with a display arrangement that facilitates presentation of both dynamic and static game features without compromising the ability to present one at the expense of the other.
A gaming machine controlled by a processor in response to a wager comprises a display and a unitary touch screen. The display includes a video portion and a non-video portion. The unitary touch screen overlaps both the video portion and the non-video portion. The video portion includes player-selectable first indicia selectable via the unitary touch screen. The non-video portion includes player-selectable second indicia selectable via the unitary touch screen.
The foregoing and other advantages of the invention will become apparent upon reading the following detailed description and upon reference to the drawings.
While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments have been shown by way of example in the drawings and will be described in detail herein. It should be understood, however, that the invention is not intended to be limited to the particular forms disclosed. Rather, the invention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
The present application relates to a gaming machine 10 with an overhanging touch screen that is controlled by a computer microprocessor operating in response to a wager by a machine user. Turning now to the drawings and referring initially to
In the illustrated embodiment of
The touch screen 12 may use an X-Y matrix of optically transparent switches to detect the location of a touch. Alternatively, the touch screen 12 may use well-known techniques such as resistive membranes, acoustic surface waves, and capacitance sensing to detect the location of a touch. Suitable touch screens for implementing the present invention are commercially available from Elo Touchsystems of Fremont, Calif., and MicroTouch Systems, Inc., of Methuen, Mass.
Referring back to
As shown in
Placement of the touch screen 12 so that it partially overlaps a non-video portion 15 of the display 11 allows game manufacturers and creators to devote more space on the video portion 14 of the display 11 to dynamic graphical images and game icons while maintaining display space for static features. Game manufacturers and creators are able to locate static features such as images, text, numerals, and icons on the non-video portion 15 of the display 11, reducing or eliminating the amount of essential display space from the video portion 14 of the display 11 that is occupied by static features. The large touch screen 12 that covers and overlays the video portion 14 and the non-video portion 15 of the display 11 provides users with the appearance of a large display, whereas the manufacturer is only required to provide a video portion of the display that is large enough to display dynamic features and other items requisite for game play. Thus, since the touch screen 12 overlaps the non-video portion 15 of the display 11, wherein some static player-selectable indicia are located, the video portion 14 of the display 11 is maximized for dynamic game play and design.
Increasing the touch screen 12 from a size that merely overlaps the video portion 14 of the display 11 to a touch screen 12 that additionally overlaps the non-video portion 15 of the display 11 does not dramatically or significantly increase the materials cost to a gaming machine manufacturer. In comparison to the modest cost of purchasing an enlarged touch screen, using a video display so that the size of the video display would be equivalent to the size of the overlapping touch screen 12 would be extremely expensive and cost prohibitive to purchase and significantly increase the total material cost of the gaming machine. A larger touch screen that partially overlays a video portion 14 and partially overlays a non-video portion 15, as described above, is much less expensive than a video display that is the same size as the larger touch screen. Thus, purchasing a larger touch screen at a cost that is simply marginally more expensive than the previously sized touch screen and maintaining the video display at the same size as the previous screen creates more space on the video portion 14 for dynamic game features, provides the appearance of a larger display, and allows more entertainment at a lower incremental cost.
A system memory 24 stores control software, operational instructions, and data associated with the gaming machine 10. In one embodiment, the system memory 24 comprises a separate read only memory (ROM) and battery-backed random access memory (RAM). It will be appreciated, however, that the system memory 24 may be implemented on any of several alternative types of memory structures or may be implemented on a single memory structure. A payoff mechanism 26 is operable in response to instructions from the CPU 20 to award a payoff of coins or credits to the player in response to certain winning outcomes that may occur during the basic game or the bonus game. The payoff amounts corresponding to certain combinations of symbols in the basic game and the bonus game are predetermined according to a pay table stored in system memory 24 and accessed by pressing the “Pay Table” button 60.
The graphics and pictures shown on the video portion 14 and non-video portion 15 of the display 11 in
As shown in
After activation of the paylines, the reels 30, 32, 34, 36, 38 may be set in motion by touching one or more of the “Spin Reel” buttons 66. It is also contemplated in accordance with the present invention that a reel game may have a single “Spin Reels” button for activating all of the reels. A player bets the maximum amount per line by using a “Max Bet Spin” button 54. Alternatively, other mechanisms such as, for example, a lever or push button may be used to set the reels in motion. The CPU 20 uses a random number generator (not shown) to select a game outcome corresponding to a particular set of reel “stop positions.” The CPU 20 then causes each of the video reels 30, 32, 34, 36, 38 to stop at the appropriate stop position in accordance with the game outcome. Video symbols are displayed on the reels 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, located on the video portion 14 of the display 11, to graphically illustrate the reel stop position and indicate whether the stop position of the reels represents a winning game outcome.
Winning reel game outcomes (e.g., symbol combinations resulting in payment of coins or credits) are identifiable to the player by a pay table. In one embodiment, the pay table is affixed to the machine 10 and/or displayed by the video display in response to a command by a player (i.e., by pressing the “Pay Table” button 60). A winning reel game outcome occurs when the symbols appearing on the reels along an active pay line correspond to one of the winning combinations on the pay table. A winning combination, for example, could be three or more of the same symbol across an active pay line. If the displayed symbols stop in a winning combination, the game credits the player an amount corresponding to the award in the pay table for that combination multiplied by the amount of credits bet on the winning pay line. The player may collect the accumulated credits by pressing the “Collect” button 64.
When an active payline displays certain symbols or symbol combinations, the CPU 20 enters the bonus game. Upon entering the bonus game, the CPU 20 operates to replace the display of the reels on the video portion 14 of the display 11 with a bonus game screen.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the CPU 20 randomly selects a predetermined number of items to be displayed on the items display screen of
While the present invention has been described with reference to one or more particular embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that many changes may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Each of these embodiments and obvious variations thereof is contemplated as falling within the spirit and scope of the claimed invention, which is set forth in the following claims.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20020142832 A1 | Oct 2002 | US |