Australian Patents Act 1990 - Regulation 3.2A Original Complete Specification, Standard Patent Invention Title: A Tower Light for a Gaming Machine The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to the applicant: This application is a further application in respect of an invention disclosed in Australian patent application no. 2006246654, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. 5 Field of the invention The present invention relates generally to gaming consoles, gaming machines or networked gaming machines and, more particularly, to tower lights used for gaming machines found in casinos or betting environments. /0 Background of the invention Gaming machines otherwise known as gaming consoles, slot machines, poker machines, pokies or EGMs, have proven very popular and for many years have become one of the base elements of the gaming industry. Over the years, there have been many adaptations 15 used in gaming machines to both advertise and promote certain gaming machines to encourage players to invest money in the chance to win substantial prizes. In particular, gaming machines new to a casino, are often advertised as 'new machines' but the advertising space to do so is quite restrictive. It is common place to see a sticker or cardboard marker indicating a new machine. In either instances, the marker or sticker are 20 generally obtrusive to actual game play, or not distinguishing enough to grab a players attention. One such place that may be utilised for such advertising is the top of a gaming machine. However, there is the problem that the top of the gaming machine is already occupied by a 25 tower light used to indicate gaming machine events. A tower light, also known as a gaming machine candle, has the general function of alerting staff of a gaming machine malfunction or warning status such as the main door of a gaming machine having been opened. Further 1 uses of a tower light may be to indicate to staff that a gaming console has been halted due to an abnormally large payout, a coinage problem, or other such instances where an attendant may need to attend a gaming console at the gaming console's request. A further use for the tower light can arise from the service button, where a player activates a service 5 button to manually tell a gaming console to signal an attendant for them. Where the tower light itself extends from the top of a gaming machine, this prevents the top of a gaming console being used for any valuable advertising space which may be used to advertise the gaming machine itself. In the past this problem has been alleviated by 10 making signage commonly called a Topper, to be placed on top of the gaming machine behind, underneath, above or around the tower light, adding expense to the signage due to any lack of standardisation. It is therefore a preferred aim of this invention to alleviate or at the least provide a valid 15 alternative to the problems in the described prior art. Summary of the Invention In one broad form, the invention provides a tower light for a gaming console, the tower light being adapted to extend from a top or side surface of the gaming console. The tower 20 light comprises at least two indicators at least in part made from one or more pieces of at least partially transparent material with said indicators being at least partially segregated by one or more cavities penetrating at least partially though said partially transparent material to at least partially separate each said indicator from adjacent indicators and to reduce light spillage from one indicator to another. At least one indicator is a game indicator with 25 illumination means at least partially controlled by controller means, and at least one indicator is a machine event indicator with illumination means being at least partially controlled by said gaming console. At least one game indicator includes a video display. Advantageously, the tower light further comprises a base mount. 30 One or more pieces of at least partially opaque material can be inserted into the one or more cavities for separating the at least two indicators and reducing or minimising light spillage between said at least two indicators. The at least two indicators and one or more pieces of at least partially opaque material form a replaceable single unit. The indicators 2 with the one or more pieces of at least partially opaque material being inserted in the one or more cavities are interchangeably mountable as a unit to said base mount. In a further embodiment, the at least two indicators may include a plurality of cavities, and 5 each of the cavities can be filled with a piece of at least partially opaque (non-transparent) material. The base mount together with the illumination means can form a base unit, and the at least two indicators and the one or more pieces of at least partially opaque material inserted in 10 the one or more cavities of said indicators are mountable and demountable as a unit to and from said base unit with the illumination means being held at said base mount. In another broad form, the invention provides a gaming machine or gaming console having a tower light as described above. 15 In a preferred embodiment, the tower light indicators are constructed from a single piece of at least partial transparent material such as acrylic, poly carbonate, or plastic material for conducting light. The purer the transparency, the better the material will be at conducting and illuminating light onto etchings, markings, or resin within the transparent material. The 20 tower light indicators to signal machine events preferably also include etching, embossing, or engraving on the transparent material to add to the overall effect. It should therefore be understood that any reference to an indicator where the indicator is made of a material used to conduct light, that etchings, embossing or engravings would preferably also appear on them. 25 In a further embodiment, the illumination means for illuminating the machine event indicators and game indicators comprises one or more LED light sources located in the base mount to which the tower light indicators are affixed, though it should be appreciated any such light source may be used. As light shines though the transparent material, any 30 etching made in the transparent material will be lit up as light spills into the actual indicators. Etchings or engravings in this regard aid in focusing any illumination into specific patterns, such as letters or symbols. The etchings or engravings may also be filled with a resign creating a glow to aid in the cosmetic distribution of light when forming images on the indicators. 3 The cavities used to separate the indicators may penetrate completely though the light conductive material. However the cavities may only need to penetrate partially though the light conductive material where light spillage is not overly crucial and where it would be 5 more convenient to fill the cavity with a flowable material that may harden over time, such as an opaque resin. By segregating the indicators in the tower light with at least partially opaque material, such as inserted strips of metal, plastic or other preferably non-light conductive material, light can be relatively contained to not overly spill from one indicator to another. The light can thus be shone directly and with more luminance into one indicator 10 without adversely affecting neighbouring indicators, allowing a player, attendant or any other person to instantly identify which indicator is being illuminated. In yet a further embodiment, the transparent material making up the indicators in the tower light may be made of multiple pieces of transparent material having been affixed together 15 by an adhesive material, or being bonded together by a tight frame. Any non- transparent material may then be used to separate the indicators by simply placing the non-transparent material between the indicators before they are bonded together, or by leaving sufficient cavities empty between the indicators as required to prevent light spillage. 20 To further assist in keeping light within the tower light indicators, thereby increasing brightness of the indicators when lit, a layer of non-transparent material may be applied to the external borders of the transparent material leaving only the area where the light initially enters the tower light exposed to the tower lights illumination means. 25 Typically, a machine event uses an indicator to signal a service attendant to attend the gaming machine whereas a game indicator is used to convey a message to the players themselves. For example a lit indicator of the tower light is used to signal the service attendant while a separate indicator of the tower light in the form of a logo may continue to advertise the game on the gaming console to the player. As such, a machine event may best 30 be understood as a request made by the gaming console for an attendant to service it, whereas a game indicator is used to inform players of something relating to the game or a feature of the gaming console itself. For example, the gaming console may use a game machine event to draw attention to itself when its main door has been opened. On the other 4 hand, a game indicator may be used to advertise the game name, or inform the player the game on the gaming console is a new product. Should the game indicator also incorporate a display unit, such as an LCD display, plasma 5 display or other such display means, live jack pot feeds for example may also be displayed. As such, the tower light itself need not be made entirely of a transparent material, but incorporate a video display, carrying the name of the game, various promotions related to a game, recent jackpot wins for a gaming console, or other such game indications. Alternatively, the game indicator may be a static display showing the price required to play 10 the gaming console. It should also be noted that a single display may be used to show both game machine events and game indicators either as separate indicators, or by sharing use of the display at given intervals. It should also be appreciated that the tower light of this invention may be used 15 interchangeably with other gaming consoles with a common base means which is used by all like tower light. As long as the tower light indicators are located in the same positions, the same base means may be used. As a gaming console no longer is considered new and the current game interaction has "new game" on it, the indicators of the tower light may be removed and replaced with more appropriate tower light indicators. For example, in an 20 acrylic version with transparent panels making up the indicators, the acrylic portion is simply substituted for a more up to date unit. This allows the tower light and base means to be reused with different gaming consoles as is required. In one embodiment, the base unit of the tower light is arranged with LEDs or other illumination means in an inner compartment. The LEDs are arranged to match up with corresponding indicators, allowing 25 the indicators to be illuminated by simply turning on its corresponding LEDs. Where a controller means is employed to control illumination of the indicators via an illumination means, the controller means may be a part of the game console or be located on an independent unit included in the base means or hidden within the game console. In a 30 preferred embodiment, a simple controller means may consist of a small general purpose CPU with embedded flash memory, ram, oscillator, input output controllers and timer interrupts. A further driver component may also be used to implement any CPU instructions to the illumination device which may be used. 5 The light source used to illuminate the indicators in the tower light device may comprise of LEDs, light bulbs, neon-lights, cold cathode tubes, florescent lights or any other form of illumination means commonly used in the art. In turn, it should be appreciated that light spillage into an indicator provides sufficient control over an indicator to affect the 5 indicator's usage. In order that the invention may be more fully understood and put into practice, preferred embodiments thereof will now be described with reference to the following drawings. The drawings and embodiments are provided for illustrative purposes and are not intended to 10 limit the scope of the invention described herein. Brief Description of the Drawings In the accompanying drawings: 15 Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a tower light, illumination means, controller means, and base means according to one embodiment of the present invention; Fig.2 is a top down schematic view of an illumination means and control means according to one embodiment of the present invention. 20 Fig.3 is a sectional view of an illumination means, controller means, and base means according to one embodiment of the present invention. Fig.4 is a schematic diagram of a tower light in accordance with an alternate embodiment 25 of the present invention. Detailed description of the drawings Figure 1 shows an upper tower light portion (10). The upper tower light portion (10) is constructed from an at least partially transparent material with a game indicator (20c) 30 having a marking that reads "New Game" and two Machine event indicators (20a & 20b) with markings of arrows pointing in opposite directions. In the example provided, two strips of non-transparent material (30a and 30b) are inserted into cavities in the transparent material of the upper tower light portion (10), thereby assisting the partially separating or shielding the indicators (20a to 20c) from the other indicators' illumination means (50). 6 An illumination means (50) with LEDs (55a to 55c as illustrated in figure 2) is located in a base means or holder means (40) on to which the upper tower light portion (10) is affixed so that when illuminated, the LEDs (55a to 55c) illuminate a specific indicator (20a to 20c) 5 as required. Preferably, non-transparent material is placed within cavities (30a to 30b) between indicators (20a to 20c) being preferably reflective in nature to aid in preventing an excess of light spillage inadvertently illuminating an indicator that is not meant to be illuminated. For example, should the left cavity (30a) not have non-transparent material inserted therein and the game indicator (20c) of figure 1 is illuminated, the left hand side 10 machine event indicator (20a) may also inadvertently be illuminated. Though some spillage may occur where the left hand side cavity (30a) has non-transparent material inserted therein, the amount of spillage will be minimised so as to not affect the overall intention of the indicators (20a to 20c). 15 In a preferred embodiment as shown in figure 1, the actual upper tower light portion (10) comprises a single piece of transparent material such as acrylic, poly carbonate, glass, or other transparent material commonly used in the art. However, multiple pieces of transparent material may be used by sandwiching the material together to resemble a single piece. It should be appreciated that any other material suited for conducting light whilst 20 maintaining a solid form and being able resist the maximum heat generated by the chosen illumination source will also suffice for the disclosed invention. Each of the indicators (20a to 20c) is preferably etched or engraved, so that when light is shone through the upper tower light portion (10) into an indicator (20a to 20c), the light 25 source will illuminate the etching, creating a clear image of the etching in the colour of whatever light colour may be applied. Likewise, where resin has been used, the resin will glow in the colour the resin has been blended with. The upper tower light portion (10) light source in a preferred embodiment is provided by a 30 set of LEDs (55a to 55c as shown in figure 2) controlled by a controller means (60). In one embodiment, the controller means (60) is provided on a separate PSB. However the controller means (60) may be integrated into a gaming console, or alternatively be combined with the actual illumination source means (50). The controller means (60) may 7 be programmed to transmit signals to the LED lights (55a to 55c) turning the LEDs on, off, or placing them in a dimmed state as required. In one embodiment, when a machine event needs to be displayed, the controller means (60) 5 is sent a signal from a gaming console, and in turn sends a signal to the LEDs (55a and 55b) to illuminate either one or both of the shown machine event indicators (20a and 20b). At the same time, the game indicator (20c) which may currently be illuminated may be dimmed or turned off by the controller means (60) by instructing the middle LEDs (55c) to no longer illuminate or illuminate at less intensity. In this way, the gaming console at least 10 partially maintains control over any game event indicators (20a and 20b). In an alternate embodiment, the illumination means (50) may be inserted into a concaved portion of the upper tower light portion (10) along with a controller means (60) if need be forgoing the need for a base means (40) to hold the illumination, means or the controller 15 means. Figure 2 provides a top down schematic view of the illumination means (50) and controller means (60) used to illuminate specific indicators (20a to 20c) within the upper tower light portion (10). In one embodiment, the controller means (60) is made primarily of a CPU 20 (65a) and accompanying driver chip (65b) to supplement the CPU (65a) in issuing instructions to the LED lights (55a to 55c). However, the need for a driver chip (65b) may depend on the actual CPU (65a). A communications connector (65c) is also provided to receive signals from a gaming 25 console with regard to machine events and any other game console instructions. The communications connector (65c) may also be used to provide power to the controller means (60) and in turn to the illumination means (60) via the illumination means communications connector (90). However an external power supply may also be used to supply power to either the illuminations means (50) or the controller means (60). 30 The CPU (65a) need only operate at a basic level, with minimal storage capacity to coordinate the use of LEDs (55a to 55c) of the illumination means (50) via an illumination means communications connector (90). The sophistication of the actual coordination and amount of instructions, including sequence length of LED (55a to 55c) timing changes, 8 may be increased proportional to the capacity of the controller means (60) CPU (65a) and accompanying components. In one embodiment, the middle LEDs (55c) are kept in a constant 'on' mode to continuously illuminate the game indicator (20c). In yet another embodiment, in accordance with the program on the CPU (65a) or external memory source 5 (not shown), the game indicator (20c) may flash on and off, change colours, or oscillate in a random or scripted manor the LED's (55a to 55c) in use. As such, the type of LEDs used may vary to allow true colour or a single monotone colour output. It should be noted that in one embodiment, control of the indicators (20a to 20c) in the 10 upper tower light portion (10) may be directly made though software in a gaming console thereby forgoing the need for an independent controller means (60). Figure 3 provides a cut sway section of the base means (40) where the front right hand side has been removed to reveal in one embodiment two inner compartments (45a and 45b). 15 The controller means (60) may be inserted into the lower compartment (45b) with the illumination means (50) resting directly on top of the controller means (60). A small outlet (45c) is provided for the communications connector (65c). The actual placing of the internal compartments is not critical to the invention and merely provides one alternative. The upper tower light portion (10) may then be freely inserted into the open slot (45d) in 20 the base means (40) being held by gravity, or some other means such as a fastening device if need be. This allows for convenient replacing of the upper tower light portion (10) at almost any time. A further set of clips or miniature shelves (not shown) may be used to keep the upper tower light portion (10) from making contact with the illumination means (50) or alternatively used to fasten the upper tower light portion (10) in position. The one 25 or more clips, or miniature shelves may be fastened to the inner wall of the open slot (45d) just above the illumination means (50) to prevent any direct contact. Figure 4 provides an alternate embodiment of the disclosed invention. The example tower light (100) of figure 4, provides direct illumination by LED's for the machine event 30 indicators (105a and 105b) when a machine event occurs. The game indicator (105c) in the example is lit by illumination devices from behind the actual viewing area. In such a case, the message to be conveyed need not be etched into the game indicator (1 05c), but may be affixed, embossed or painted over the game indicator (105c) itself Alternatively, the game indicator (105c) may also be a visual display means such as a television, monitor, LCD or 9 other display unit typically used for live advertising. A controller means (60) may be imbedded in the tower light, or placed in an appropriate base means. The machine event indicators (105a and 105b) in the provided example may be used 5 concurrently with the game indicator (1 05c) acting as game indicators to further emphasise a game message, preferably flashing in either a different colour or varied manner. In case machine event indicators (105a and 105b) need to be used as machine event indicators, the game indicator (105c) would preferably be switched off allowing focus to be aimed at the machine event indicators (105a and 105b) to alert attendants to the gaming console. /0 While we have shown and described certain embodiments of the present invention, it should be understood that this invention is subject to many modifications and changes without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims. For example, the tower light may extend from a side surface of the gaming console rather than the top. 15 The term "comprise" and variants of that term such as "comprises" or "comprising" are used herein to denote the inclusion of a stated integer or integers but not to exclude any other integer or any other integers, unless in the context or usage an exclusive interpretation of the term is required. 20 Reference to prior art disclosures in this specification is not an admission that the disclosures constitute common general knowledge in Australia. 10