EP2791921A1

EP2791921A1 - Electronic gaming and/or entertainment device

Info

Publication number: EP2791921A1
Application number: EP13700846.2A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Martin WÖLS; Marek Gawel
Original assignee: Novomatic AG
Current assignee: Novomatic AG
Priority date: 2013-01-14
Filing date: 2013-01-14
Publication date: 2014-10-22
Anticipated expiration: 2033-01-14
Also published as: US20190355207A1; CN105308656A; PL2791921T3; AU2013372359A1; HRP20180119T1; DK2791921T3; WO2014108141A1; US20190066435A1; KR102033208B1; HK1213680A1; KR20150105999A; CN105308656B; US20160055703A1; SG11201506281VA; ES2656537T3; CA2902770A1; EP2791921B1; CA2902770C; PH12015501732B1; AU2013372359B2

Abstract

The present invention relates to a gaming and/or entertainment device, in particular in the form of a coin-operated and/or token-operated slot machine and/or gambling device, having a plurality of separate display units for displaying information, in particular contents of games and/or game information, wherein at least one of the display units is provided with a touch panel for inputting control commands by touch. According to the invention, the touch panel is of continuous design over, in each case, at least part of at least two different display units, at least one display unit of which has a concave display surface. As a result of the touch panel extending over the boundary region or the intermediate space between two display units, it is possible, despite the use of a plurality of display units, to obtain a continuously closed-off device front, as a result of which the design of the corresponding device wall is simplified and the protection against penetration into the housing at gap areas is increased.

Description

Electronic gaming and / or entertainment device

The present invention relates to a gaming and / or entertainment device, in particular in the form of a coin operated and / or monetary value operable gaming machine and / or betting device, with a plurality of separate display units for displaying information, in particular game content and / or game information, wherein at least one of the display units is provided with a touch panel for inputting control commands by touch.

Such game devices may, for example, form electronically formed automatic reel machines, in which a plurality of rotating reels with different game symbols are shown rotating on a display unit and a game prize is issued when the reels with the same game symbols remain standing along a payline. In addition to the display unit, which represents the actual game, for example in the form of said rolls, often at least one further display unit is provided, which displays additional game information such as the winnings won, the stakes and the like. The aforementioned display units may be designed in particular in the form of screens in order to be able to display the said game contents and game information electronically, in which case in particular a plurality of screens can be arranged one above the other in a total tower-shaped housing. Below the display units or screens, an operating panel with operating elements such as money, Gewinnbondrucker and control buttons such as game use buttons or a start-stop button can be provided approximately at belly level of the player standing in front of the game device, which can be actuated mechanically or in other ways by a sensor may and may serve, inter alia, to put rotating rollers into operation or to stop them. In such gaming devices, additional screens are not only built in to be able to display supplemental game information such as other game capabilities of the device or the level of other games, but also to run various games simultaneously, allowing the player additional entertainment during less-stimulating game sections from the other screen can win.

More recently, it has been proposed here to provide the screens or display units with touch panels in order to control the device itself by touching the display or individual display elements, for example to actuate or move display elements on one of the screens, for example the representation of a Rotate Rouletterads or stop the presentation of a rotating roller. The document US Pat. No. 7,479,065 B1 shows a roller-play apparatus in which a touch panel is placed over the display unit for displaying the rollers, which may be in the form of a screen or an actual mechanical roller arrangement, in order to bring about the roller rotation by touching said touch panel to be able to control. In this case, the control assigned to the touch panel is designed in such a way that a device user with a wiping finger movement along the touch panel can set the rollers into corresponding rotation. In this case, a sensor system associated with the touch panel detects said wiping movement, which is then converted by the controller into a corresponding control of the roller drives or a corresponding activation of the screen display. Further examples of gaming devices with touch-screen operation are known from the documents AT 006 316 U1, EP 1 953 632 A2, US 2004/0229693 A1 or US 2009/0069070 A1.

If such game entertainment devices have a plurality of screens formed as touch screens for respectively permitting input of control commands by touch, the formation of the case or the encapsulation of the interior of the gaming machine becomes difficult. Since the touch panel surface must be exposed to allow a corresponding touch, the display units formed as a touch panel can not be enclosed behind a transparent housing panel, for example in the form of a large glass plate, since then touching the touch panel Panel screens would no longer be possible. In this respect, separate viewing windows are usually incorporated into the housing for the plurality of separate display units. However, this complicates the housing training, since care must be taken to various spaces between the individual display units. In addition, the problem of security is exacerbated because of the increased number of spaces and edge areas increased susceptibility to mechanical manipulation, for example, by trying to penetrate with a mechanical object such as a screwdriver in the joints between individual display units.

Furthermore, such touchscreen devices can be improved in terms of handling and visibility of the information presented. Due to the mentioned limitations of the installation situation and the relative rigid user position relative to the device, which is dictated by the operation via touchscreen, light reflection on the screens can blind the eyes and affect visibility without the user simply stepping away or going to the side -Treten remedy, because then the touch screen operability would no longer exist. The present invention is based on the object, an improved Spielbzw. To create entertainment device of the type mentioned, which avoids the disadvantages of the prior art and the latter develops in an advantageous manner. In particular, in a game or entertainment device having a plurality of separate display units with touch-screen operation, simplifies the device housing structure, increases the security against mechanical manipulation and fatigue-free, good visibility of the information displayed on the plurality of display units can be achieved.

According to the invention, the object is achieved by a game and / or entertainment device according to claim 1. Preferred embodiments of the invention are the subject of the dependent claims.

To solve the problem mentioned is proposed no longer assign each display unit its own separate touch panel, but for at least two separately arranged and formed display units to provide a common touch panel and give at least one of the display units a concave display surface. According to the invention, the touch panel is formed continuously over at least a respective part of at least two different display units, of which at least one display unit has a concavely curved display surface. By extending the touch panel over the border area or the gap between two display units away, despite using multiple display units a consistently completed front panel can be achieved, thereby simplifying the structure of the corresponding device wall and increases security against penetration into the housing at cleavage surfaces. In this case, a simple touch operation with a fatigue-free perceptibility of the information displayed despite a plurality of display units can be combined by the curved design of at least one display unit and an advantageously also curved design of the touch panel. In this case, the touch panel may in particular be designed and arranged such that information from different display units is visible on the same touch panel or a plurality of display units can be activated by touch from the same touch panel. The touch panel thus advantageously forms not only a cover extending over a plurality of display units, but also a functional unit cooperating with a plurality of separate display units, which allows the interactive processing of information displayed on different display units. Different parts or sections of the touch panel are located above different display units. While a first portion of the touch panel is associated exclusively with a first display unit and / or extends solely over said first display unit, a second portion of the touch panel is associated solely with a second display unit and / or extends solely over this second display unit. The various display units are located under different sections of the same touch panel.

The display units themselves can in each case form separate assemblies of their own which, apart from the common touch panel, can be independently designed to be functional. In particular, the display units can form independently mountable or exchangeable display modules and / or independent power supply parts and / or independently designed control modules that control the display elements that are generated on the respective display unit. In the context of the present application, a display unit may in particular be a screen or a mechanical roller assembly with preferably two, three, four or more rotatable rollers, wherein a screen forming a display unit is flat in the sense of a conventional flat screen or curved in the sense of a electronic roller wheel display screen may be formed.

Separate display units are in the context of the present invention, therefore, in particular independently functional display modules, which are independent have visible or perceptible display surfaces and each allow a self-contained, complete game display. The display fields of the separate display units can be arranged transversely to the viewing direction offset from one another and / or one above the other and possibly also spaced from each other, wherein the visible from the device operator display fields or display panel or image detail of the separate display units are preferably outside of each other, in particular such that a from the device operating point visible display field or image section of a display unit outside the display field or image detail of the other display unit is located. Accordingly, then the separate display units associated portions of the touch panel from the device operator's point of view are arranged outside of each other. However, the display units are combined in terms of their arrangement and also in terms of their function by the common touch panel insofar as the visible display surfaces of the display units are at least partially below the common touch panel and / or via the common touch panel, the display of several Display units changed or control commands can be influenced with respect to display elements on different display units.

In this case, the touch panel does not necessarily have to extend over the entire visible display area of the display units assigned to it, in particular if only a portion of the information provided there for the interactive processing is provided on a display unit. Advantageously, however, the touch panel extends over a large area over the entire display area of all the touch panel associated with separate display units, advantageously the touch panel can extend over a large area over the entire display area of the device, which entire display area composed of the display areas of the various separate display units is. If the display units of the gaming or entertainment device are arranged on the front side of the housing in its upper region, as may be the case for example with a so-called stand-alone device, the touch panel advantageously extends substantially over the entire upper one Front of the device housing, optionally, a housing enclosure may be provided at the edge, as is the case for example in a door or window frame.

In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the game or entertainment device may comprise three preferably superimposed separate display units, said continuous touch panel integrally formed integrally over the visible display areas of the three separate display units away.

Advantageously, by the use of a continuous touch panel and display units of different sizes and / or different format and / or different surface contouring can be installed variably without special adaptation of the device housing. The touch panel may extend in a further development of the invention over a plurality of differently formed and / or differently inclined arranged display units away. As a result, a uniformly or continuously contoured device surface is achieved in the region of the display units, even if differently curved or offset from one another or in the format relative to each other display units are used. For example, as display units planar and curved on the surface screens can be installed together, over which a uniformly contoured touch panel extends away, so that it does not need an irregularly structured device housing wall.

In a further development of the invention, the touch panel can be even, but in particular also curved contoured, wherein also mixed forms thereof can be provided, for example, such that connects to a flat panel section an arcuately curved panel section. The use of at least one curved panel portion having touch panel brings regardless of the features previously discussed, even with devices with only one screen special advantages and allows in particular organic housing forms, regardless of a particular Bildschirmkonturierung in a harmonious way with smooth, insbesodere curved outside or visible surfaces can be. According to one aspect of the invention, a touch panel with at least one section that has an at least uniaxial curvature can extend, in particular, over a flat display surface of a display unit of the interactive terminal. In this case, the interactive terminal can in particular be a gaming and / or entertainment machine or weather terminal, but also a currency exchange and / or dispensing machine or a token machine, or another interactive terminal, in particular of the stand-alone type.

The curvature of the touch panel may in principle be designed differently, for example in the form of a uniaxial curvature about an upright axis of curvature substantially parallel to the device longitudinal axis or in the form of a uniaxial curvature about a horizontal axis of curvature approximately parallel to the transverse axis of the device housing. Alternatively, the touch panel may also have multiaxial curved surface curves, for example in the form of a pillow-shaped contouring or a shell-shaped or trough-shaped contouring. For example, corner regions of the touch panel can be curved toward the operator station, wherein advantageously a central region of the touch panel can be designed to be planar or even uniaxially curved.

In particular, a concave curved touch panel can be installed across display units, whose display surfaces are also concavely curved to even in such an array of display units a uniform, the control panel facing the front of the device housing while adjusting the touch panel to the display units to accomplish.

In a further development of the invention, several, in particular all display units can be provided with concave curved display surfaces, wherein the display units are advantageously coordinated with each other in terms of contouring, curvature and positioning, that the display surfaces form part surfaces of a uniformly curved, total harmonically contoured total display area. The display units can be contoured with their display surfaces such that they define a harmonically contoured, at least partially concave envelope surface, for example such that said envelope surface forms a uniaxially curved concave surface and the individual display units form with their display surfaces partial surfaces of this envelope surface. The mutually adapted or coordinated display surfaces can continue each other continuously, possibly with the interposition of a gap, in particular continue the curvature and orientation of the respective adjacent display unit, without kinks or jumps arise as a transition.

In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the plurality of display units may be curved with respect to one or more common axes of curvature or with respect to a common center of curvature, for example, such that the plurality of display units are curved with respect to a common, horizontal, in particular transverse axis of curvature. In multiaxial curvature, the display units may advantageously be contoured curved with respect to a common center of curvature, in particular together form a spherical, concave or harmonically cupped contoured display area.

In a development of the invention, the display units or their display surfaces can at least partially have the same radius of curvature.

In a further development of the invention, the touch panel that extends across the plurality of display units can also be curved and adapted to the curved surfaces of the display units so that the touch panel conforms overall to the display surfaces of the display units. For example, the touch panel may extend continuously over three display units arranged one above the other and / or substantially over the entire game display area of the gaming or entertainment device, wherein the touch panel may have a curved contour whose curvature course in the Can substantially correspond to the curvature of the surfaces of the display units.

In particular, the touch panel can be formed uniaxially curved around a horizontal axis of curvature.

In a development of the invention, the touch panel and the at least one concavely curved display unit can have a common center of curvature or a common axis of curvature. In particular, the touch panel may extend throughout concave curved essentially over the entire display surface of the device and thereby cling to the said entire display area together forming display units such that the touch panel and the display units each have bends whose centers of curvature and / or axes of curvature substantially coincide.

The curvature of the touch panel and / or the curvatures of the underlying display units can basically be dimensioned differently and adapted to the respective device. According to an advantageous aspect of the present invention, the touch panel and / or the at least one underlying, concave contoured display unit a radius of curvature in the range of 0.5 m to 3 m, in particular 0.75 m to 1, 5 m, more preferably about 1, 0 m to 1, 25 m have. As a result, a good visibility with fatigue-free perception without disturbing light reflections and at the same time a simple device operation can be achieved by touching the touch panel.

In a further development of the invention, however, the device may also comprise display units whose display surface is not concavely contoured.

For example, in a roller-type game machine, a spherically contoured, in particular barrel-shaped, display unit which allows a realistic reproduction of the rotating rollers, with an approximately flat or a concave one Display unit, which is arranged lying above or below lying, combined and be covered by a continuous, for example, flat or evenly curved touch panel. Said barrel-shaped display unit may be, for example, a mechanical, drivable roller arrangement or even a curved screen that represents the rotating rollers, while the planar display can serve the display of additional information or another game.

In a further development of the invention, at least one of the display units covered by the touch panel may have a contouring of the display surface deviating from the touch panel located above it. Thus, the touch panel need not be identically contoured to the display surface of the underlying display unit, but may be contoured independently of and spaced more or less widely from the display surface of the underlying display device, i. there is also no need for a uniform gap between the display surface of the respective display unit and the touch panel located above it, although this may nevertheless be the case. The touch panel can in this case rest directly on the display surface of the display device underneath and enter into a point, line or surface contact with it. However, the touch panel can also be arranged completely contactlessly spaced from the display device.

In a further development of the invention different spacings can be provided between different display units on the one hand and the touch panel on the other hand, i. The display units can be installed at different distances from the touch panel, so that a higher degree of freedom in the positioning of the display units is achieved without sacrificing a uniform housing front.

In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the touch panel is transparent, wherein the display units can have separate display surfaces, in particular screen surfaces, but also mechanical display surfaces. in front of which the transparent touch panel extends. Thus, the touch panel does not have to form the display surface of the respective display device. Rather, advantageously, the touch panel is a separate module, each display unit has its own display surface for displaying the respective information or display elements, for example in the form of a screen surface.

In order to achieve favorable visibility conditions with low cross-glare glare on the display units in an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the plurality of display units can be arranged obtusely inclined to each other, in particular two or three each obtusely inclined screens can be arranged one above the other, so that the viewing axis of the Device operator approximately each perpendicular to the respective display unit falls, wherein one or all of the display units may also have a curved, in particular concave display surface. With such an obtuse-angled arrangement of the display units, the touch panel in an advantageous embodiment of the invention is nonetheless formed kink-free in order to achieve a uniform front of the device and to avoid difficult to shape housing sections. In a particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention, the touch panel in this case have a concave curved contouring, which conforms to the obtusely bent, a polygonal course of the display surfaces of several separate display units or approximates, for example, similar to an inner enveloping circle, which adjoins a Traverse hugs.

In particular, the contouring of the touch panel may be such that the distance of the back of the touch panel from the surface of the display units in the region of the middle sections of two adjacent display units is the lowest, while the distance to the surfaces of the display units to the transition region of the display units out increases and / or also towards the edges of the adjacent display units facing away from one another. takes. The touch panel thus nestles most strongly against the central areas of the mutually obtuse inclined display units.

If at least one of the display units is spherically contoured, in a further development of the invention, the touch panel located above can have a planar or concave contouring.

In a development of the invention, the touch panel can also extend continuously over two or more display units, in particular in the form of flat screens, of which a display unit is viewed from the device operator's point and is partially hidden behind at least one other display unit. Such a staggered arrangement of the display units with offset of the display surfaces into the depth of the device into it can be particularly advantageous if different viewing windows in different formats are to be generated with standard format screens on the device, for example one of the display units only a display area in the form of a narrow strip or to generate an L-shaped display area, although the display device per se has a display area in a standard format.

In order to be able to use one and the same touch panel for various arrangements of display units and to adapt it to its contouring, an advantageously designed development of the invention can use a flexibly designed touch panel which is deformable in such a way that the touch panel assumes different curvatures can. Regardless of whether the touch panel in the installed state to take a flat contouring or a uniaxially curved or multiaxial curved contouring, the same touch panel or the same touch panel type can be used, which deforms during installation in the respectively desired curvature is, for example, by the touch panel is mounted on a correspondingly curved frame or support. Such deformable, preferably elastically flexible touch panels can be formed, for example, by touch-sensitive films which rest on flexible carrier substrates, such as, for example, transparent polycarbonate plates, be applied, for example, be glued by means of a double-sided adhesive tape. Such pressure-sensitive flexible foils can be, for example, PET foils, wherein an electrically conductive polymer layer can be applied or incorporated onto the pressure-sensitive foil and / or between the foil and the carrier substrate, by means of which a finger touch of the touch panel can be detected.

Advantageously, the flexibility of the touch panel is in this case designed such that the touch panel can indeed be brought into the desired curvature state by assembly steps, but the touch panel is then not further deformed by proper finger pressure, at least not permanently, so that the touch panel Panel in its intended use does not change its curvature once it has been fixed by the installation. In particular, the touch panel can have some tension and flexibility that keep the touch panel in the desired surface shape.

Regardless of the optionally staggered in the depth of the device arrangement of the display units or a different surface contouring of the display units forms in an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the touch panel a uniformly contoured, continuous and large, transparent front panel, which is vorgeblendet the display units and fitted into the device housing is and / or the front region forms in particular above an operating section of the device housing.

Regardless of the specific design of the plurality of separate display units, it is advantageous if the touch panel is designed over a large area and forms over at least more than 30% of the device operator facing the front of the device. As a result, a standardized device housing can be used for various game model models whose "inner workings" can be variably configured, for example by incorporating differently contoured and / or different display units more than 50% of Depending on the device model, two or three or four or even more screens can be installed in the device housing, without being set too narrow boundary conditions with regard to the arrangement of the display units.

In order to allow for possibly even greater offset or deviations of the course of the touch panel surface of the display surface of the underlying display units easy meeting the desired Berührpunkts, without the assignment of the actually touched surface portion of the touch panel to an underlying display panel To make error prone, may be provided in a further development of the invention, a parallax compensation device that corrects the vision error caused by the said offset or different curvature. The parallax compensation device provided for this purpose may comprise, for example, detection means for detecting the head position of a device operator and a respectively detected touch point position, in which, for example, a finger touches the touch panel, depending on the detected head position, so to speak different or to the touch point on the touch panel offset display area Assign to the underlying display unit. The so-called parallax describes the physical or optical effect that, if the axis of vision is not exactly perpendicular to the surface of a transparent medium, an object viewed in or behind the medium is actually not located exactly where it is seen. The parallax compensation device takes into account this phenomenon and corrects the visual error as a function of a detected head or eye position of the device operator and certain geometric installation conditions that can be stored in a memory.

In order to be able to consistently use the integrated touch panel across the boundaries of the display units despite the separate design of the display devices, the touch panel in development of the invention is assigned control means which allow display elements from one display unit to another display unit to be interposed therebetween To draw boundaries or gaps between the display units. The universal Touch panel and the touch panel and the display units associated control device are designed so that presentation content can be drawn, for example in the form of information windows by touching the touch panel from one display unit to the other display unit. For this purpose, the control means assigned to the touch panel and to the display units can comprise displacement means by means of which a display element can be pushed continuously over the display boundary onto another display element by moving the finger or the hand on the touch panel. Such a continuous shift operation allows a particularly intuitive operation of the device. Alternatively or additionally, however, it would also be possible to move presentation contents from one display unit to the other display unit not by moving the finger on the touch panel, but only by correspondingly tapping the touch panel, for example initially in the area of a display unit and then to produce in the area of the other display unit. The representation of the displacement process on the display units can be controlled in various ways, for example, digitial switching such that the representation ends on the one display unit and started on the other display unit seamless or staggered. Advantageously, however, the displacement operation can be continuously displayed along a corresponding path, so that the device user can visually understand the shift.

If the shifting process is continuously displayed, the representation of the display element to be shifted can be hidden in regions in the development of the invention in the region of the transition of the two display units. Corresponding blanking means for blanking different portions of the display element may take into account the gap between the display units and hide a correspondingly wide strip of the display element, each time another section is hidden to seamlessly appear the transition of the display of the display element from one display unit to the other in particular in such a way that on the display unit, which leaves the display element, an ever larger area of the display elements is hidden, while on the display unit to which the display element is moved, an ever smaller part of the display element is hidden.

The invention will be explained in more detail with reference to preferred embodiments and associated drawings. In the drawings show:

1 shows a schematic, perspective partial view of a gaming device according to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, which comprises three separate, superimposed display units in the form of screens which are arranged under or behind a common touch panel,

2 is a front view of the game device of FIG. 1,

3 shows a vertical section through the display area of the gaming machine from the preceding figures, wherein the concavely curved design of the plurality of superimposed display units and the adjoining, also concave contouring of the overlying touch panel are shown,

4 shows a sectional view of the touch panel of the gaming machine from the preceding figures, which shows the concave curvature of the touch panel,

3, in which two monitors arranged one above the other are arranged at an obtuse angle to each other and a third concave curved screen arranged underneath is arranged, and a concavely curved touch panel is provided which adjoins the arrangement clinging to the display units,

6 shows a longitudinal section through a game device similar to FIG. 3, wherein, in comparison to the embodiment of FIG. 3, the lower display unit is used for the illustration. tion of rotating rollers is not formed by a barrel-shaped curved screen, but a mechanical roller assembly,

FIG. 7 shows a longitudinal section through a game device similar to FIG. 3, wherein three monitors arranged one above the other are provided, of which the lower two are arranged offset one after the other from a device operating point and a third, upper screen is concaved contours and the touch Panel comprises a flat section and a concave section continuous with it, which clings to the upper screen,

Fig. 8 is a schematic, fragmentary sectional view of the transition region of two separate screens, across the boundaries of a display element can be moved from one screen to another by a finger on the touch panel over the boundary portion is pulled away, and

9 shows a schematic illustration of a flexible touch panel in side and top views, each of which shows different curvature states of the flexible touch panel.

A drawn in Figure 1 game device 1 forms a stand-alone device in the form of a stand-alone device and includes an approximately man-sized, roughly box-shaped device housing 1 1, the upper half of the recording is a display device which comprises a plurality of separate, independently functional display units and in the drawn embodiment consists of three superimposed screens, wherein a first screen 12, a second screen 13 and a third screen 14 are each formed as a curved LCD TFT displays. As Figure 1 shows, the game device housing 1 has in its front page for this purpose only a single window-like cutout 18 for all of the screens mentioned. Said cutout 18 in the device housing 1 1 defines here the game display area 16, in which with the plurality of display units 12, 13 and 14 the game content, game information and possibly additional information are displayed. The gaming device can serve in particular as an entertainment or gambling machine, but also be used as a weather terminal, or alternatively or additionally in the form of a currency exchange and / or dispenser or a token machine, or in the form of another interactive terminal in particular from stand-alone -Type be formed.

Below the screens 12, 13 and 14 and the cutout 18, the game device housing 1 1 has a projecting towards the player control panel section 17 which extends over the entire width of the device housing 1 1 and is substantially box-shaped, see. Fig. 1 and 2. The top of the control panel portion of the device housing 1 is approximately planar and houses the control panel, which may include a plurality of manually operated control buttons in the form of pressure switches. In the illustrated embodiment, the control buttons are mechanical switches, but it is understood that the control buttons can be actuated according to other principles of action, in particular part of a touch screen can be. In a manner known per se, the control panel section can furthermore comprise a cash input and / or output unit which, of course, can be designed differently in a manner known per se and, for example, besides a coin and bill module, also a token and / or ticket module, a receipt printer or an electronic card reading and writing device may include.

Furthermore, the control panel on the front of the panel section next to a handle and a start button on the flat top more control buttons, for example, to increase the game, for retrieving game information or to control other game features.

The games displayed on the screens 12, 13 and 14 are controlled by an electronic control device, preferably in the form of a computer, which is accommodated in the interior of the device housing 1 1 in its lower half. On the one hand, the control device controls the display device and communicates on the other hand with the control buttons of the control panel. It is understood that the profit output device is also controlled by the control device.

In the present case, a single, continuous touch panel 25, which extends beyond the separate screens or display units 12, 13 and 14 and covers them, is arranged from the device control station in front of the aforementioned screens. Fig. 3.

A particular advantage here is that in the construction of the device housing no special consideration must be taken to various spaces between the individual display units, in particular, various intermediate webs can be omitted whereby the security against mechanical manipulation is increased.

As shown in FIG. 3, the display units 12, 13 and 14 can each have a concave curvature, wherein advantageously the curvatures of the display units can be matched to each other, so that the display units 12, 13 and 14 together define an enveloping surface contoured harmonically overall or partial surfaces form such an envelope. In particular, the display units 12, 13 and 14 can be contoured in such a way that their display surfaces continue each other essentially continuously or kink-free and uniformly.

In a further development of the invention, said plurality of display units 12, 13 and 14 may each be uniaxially curved concave around a horizontal, transverse axis of curvature, wherein advantageously the axes of curvature coincide or may be approximately in the same range. In particular, the display units 12, 13 and 14 can be curved with respect to a common axis of curvature with a constant radius of curvature, so that the envelope surface defined by the display units 12, 13 and 14 can form a uniformly concave curved, in particular cylindrical display surface. However, as will emerge from the further embodiments, however, the display units can also have different radii of curvature or can Radius of curvature across one or more display units vary. For example, flat with curved display units can be combined.

As FIG. 3 shows, the touch panel 25 as a whole can also be continuously concavely curved, the curvature of the touch panel 25 being advantageously adapted to the curvatures of the display units 12, 13 and 14, so that the touch panel 25 at least fairly snugly fitted to the mentioned display units 12, 13 and 14.

In particular, an at least approximately constant, small gap can be provided between the touch panel 25 and the display surfaces of the plurality of display units, which is advantageously only a fraction of the thickness of the display units, for example in the range of the thickness of the touch panel 25 can lie. Alternatively to such a spacing, the touch panel 25 can also rest flat on the display units.

The touch panel 25 is advantageously also curved about a horizontal, transverse axis of curvature, preferably with a constant or at least only harmoniously changing radius of curvature. In particular, the touch panel 25 may be curved with respect to a curvature axis which coincides with the curvature axes of the display units 12, 13 and 14 or lies at least in their region.

As shown in FIG. 4, the touch panel 25 can be curved uniaxially and thereby have a constant radius of curvature R, which is advantageously in the range of 0.5 to 3 m, in particular about 1, 0 to 1, 25 m can be.

FIG. 5 shows a game device 1 according to a further exemplary embodiment. In the present case, a touch panel 25 is arranged similar to that shown in FIG. 2, wherein the touch panel 25 is curved, in particular, the touch panel 25 has a concave curvature. There is one corresponding concave curved screen 12 is combined with two planar display units 13 and 14, which are obtuse-angled and positioned along the curved touch panel so that the concave touch panel 25 adjoins the curved first screen and the planar further screens 13 and 14 snugly.

According to a further embodiment, instead of a screen 12, a mechanical roller arrangement 42 may be provided as a display unit, for example having three or five adjacent to each other, about a common axis rotatably mounted rollers, as shown in FIG. Otherwise, these embodiments correspond to those of Figures 2 and 3, respectively.

According to a further embodiment, which Figure 7 shows, the second screen 13 and a third screen 14 are successively staggered and staggered, so that the screen 14 extends partially behind the screen 13 and is partially hidden by this. In this case, the second screen 13 - roughly speaking - arranged in a front screen level substantially immediately below or at the front of the device, while the hidden screen 14 is arranged offset in the direction of the visual axis on the screen deeper into the device body in, so that a portion of its screen surface is hidden in the direction of the viewing axis on the screen behind the screen 13. Despite the unusually narrow (in the vertical direction) but wide viewing window or section, this hidden screen arrangement makes it possible to use a normal-format screen. Advantageously, all / the two mutually offset or mutually covering screens 13 and 14 have the same format. In particular, they can be designed as flat screens, for example in the form of TFT monitors.

According to FIG. 7, two screens 12 and 13 arranged one behind the other in the depth direction of the housing can also be combined with a third screen 14 arranged tilted thereto and / or curved. As shown in FIG. 7, the first screen 12 and the second screen 13 are connected one behind the other. the offset or staggered, so that the second screen 13 is partially hidden behind the screen 13 is arranged. The mentioned second screen

13 is arranged offset in the direction of the visual axis on the screen deeper into the device body into it, so that a lower portion of its screen surface is hidden in the direction of the visual axis on the screen behind the first screen 12. The upper third screen 14, however, adjoins the said second screen 13 with no cover, with the lower longitudinal edge of the upper screen 14 extending approximately parallel along the upper longitudinal edge of the center screen 13, although the upper screen 14 also forms part of it the screen 3 can be arranged concealing. Said upper, third screen 14 is curved, in particular concave and thereby tilts out of the plane of the second screen 13 out to the front, cf. Fig. 7, similar to the embodiment of FIG. 5 is the case. Alternatively, or in addition to the curvature of the screen 14, however, the partially hidden screen 13 and / or the further screen 12 may be curved, in particular concave, for example uniaxially curved about a horizontal transverse axis similar to the screen 14.

As shown in FIG. 7, the touch panel 25 extending across all the screens 12, 13 and 14 may also comprise differently curved sections, for example a flat lower section as shown in FIG. 7 and a concavely curved upper section continuous thereto in the embodiment of Fig. 7 to the forward curved upper screen

14 hugs. Regardless of the tilting of the screens and / or their depth offset, the touch panel 25 may have such or also a different arrangement of differently curved or planar sections, wherein the touch panel 25 is preferably formed continuously contoured without kinks.

According to a further aspect of the invention, a curved course of the touch panel 25 is provided, for example, as in the arrangement of the screens shown in Fig. 3 or another arrangement of a plurality, for example four or more screens, advantageously the curvature is formed about a transverse axis of the game device. The curvature can be at least partially circular arc-shaped or oval-shaped.

According to a further aspect of the invention, a curved course of the touch panel 25 may advantageously be provided about a longitudinal axis of the game device. Alternatively, a curvature of the touch panel 25 is possible both about the transverse axis and about the longitudinal axis, wherein, for example, a pillow-shaped design of the touch panel 25 can be achieved, in which pillow-shaped training, for example, the corner regions of the touch panel 25 are curved towards the workstation ,

The control of the touch panel may include a parallax compensation means for compensating a coordinate position, so that a user of the touch panel, a parallax compensation in different arrangements of the screens, in particular in a depth offset screen is possible. The parallax compensation device can in this case comprise detection means which can be arranged, for example, on the device housing, in particular its front side, and detect the head and / or eye position of a device operator standing in front of the device in order to be able to perform the parallax compensation as a function of the detected eye or head position , In addition to the detected head or eye position, the parallax compensation device accesses stored geometry parameters which determine the position of the screens relative to one another and relative to the touch panel 25 and / or the contouring of the touch panel 25 and / or the contouring of the display surfaces of the display units 12, 13, 14 and 15.

The control of the touch panel is further adapted so that, for example, a continuous movement of a graphical element, for example, from the first screen 12 to the second screen 13 or third screen 14 or further screen 15 is possible, as Fig. 8 illustrates. In this case, the touch panel 25 control means 26 for position control of display elements on at least two different display units 13 and 14 assigned Advantageously, said control means 26 comprise displacement means 27 for displacing a display element 28 from one display unit to another display unit across the boundaries therebetween. Advantageously, said shifting means 27 may in this case comprise masking control means for masking different sections of the display element, the blanking control means advantageously taking into account a gap between the display units 13 and 14 when determining the blanked-out section. In particular, an approximately strip-shaped area piece can be blanked out of the display element to be displaced, which approximately corresponds in its height to the gap between the display units, cf. Fig. 8.

The electronic device may be configured using any suitable hardware and / or software. According to one embodiment, the electronic device may include: said touch panel 25, a touch controller coupled to the touch panel 25, and system control logic coupled to: the touch controller, at least one processor, system memory, non-controller, and the like; volatile memory and / or storage device, and one or more communication interfaces. A communication interface is formed as a respective video interface to the respective screens on which screens graphic elements can be displayed.

The touch panel 25 with the touch controller is provided and designed in particular for providing detected position information.

The touch panel 25 may each be formed using any suitable touch-sensitive technology such as, without limitation, capacitive, resistive, surface acoustic wave (SAW), infrared, and optical imaging. A physical touch of the touch panel 25 is not mandatory but it can also be detected the presence of an object near the surface.

The shifting of a displayed element 28 from a screen 13 to an adjacent screen 14 may comprise a coordinate calculation taking place in constant intervals, the respective current position information of the detected touch being taken into account on the touch panel. The calculations can be made in pixel units. If the graphic element begins to move beyond the edge of the screen during the shifting process, a blanking out of that area of the graphic element can take place which, as it were, protrudes beyond the one screen edge and over that distance which exists to the adjacent screen edge.

As shown in FIG. 9, the touch panel 25 may be flexible in an advantageous development of the invention, so that the touch panel 25 can assume different curvature courses and can be installed in different curvature profiles in the device housing, wherein the touch panel 25 extends consistently across the separate screens or display units and covers them. 9 (a) shows a side view with a substantially horizontal line of sight on the touch panel, while FIG. 9 (b) shows a top view and a side view from above with a substantially vertical viewing axis. As the various bending states of FIGS. 9 (a) and 9 (b) show, the touch panel 25 may be curved uniaxially or multi-axially in different directions, depending on the shape of the front surface of the device housing formed by the touch panel should take.

Claims

Electronic gaming and/or entertainment device patent claims

Gaming and/or entertainment device, in particular a gaming or betting device that can be operated with coins and/or monetary value, with several separate display units (12, 13, 14), in particular screens, for displaying information, in particular game content and/or game information, wherein at least one the display units (12, 13, 14) are provided with a touch panel (25) for entering control commands by touch, characterized in that the touch panel (25) is continuous over at least a part of at least two different display units (12 , 13, 14), of which at least one display unit (12, 13, 14) has a concavely curved display surface (12a, 13a, 14a).

Gaming and/or entertainment device according to the preceding claim, wherein the touch panel (25) extends continuously over several concavely curved display units (12, 13, 14), the respective concavely curved display surfaces (12a, 13a, 14a) advantageously are coordinated with one another in terms of contouring, curvature and positioning in such a way that the display surfaces (12a, 13a, 14a) form partial areas of a uniformly curved, overall harmoniously contoured overall display surface (15).

Game and/or entertainment device according to the preceding claim, wherein the display surfaces (12a, 13a, 14a) of the plurality of display units (12, 13, 14) are each curved at least in sections in a uniaxially concave manner around a lying axis of curvature and connect harmoniously to one another, in particular around one common axis of curvature are curved and have the same radius of curvature that remains constant across the respective display surface.

Game and/or entertainment device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the touch panel (25) extends continuously over three display units (12, 13, 14) which are preferably arranged one above the other and/or essentially over the entire game display area (16) of the game. and/or entertainment device.

Game and/or entertainment device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the touch panel (25) has at least one section which has an at least uniaxially curved contour, wherein the touch panel (25) is preferably continuously concavely curved, in particular uniaxially around one lying axis of curvature is curved.

Gaming and/or entertainment device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the touch panel (25) and the at least one concavely curved display unit (12, 13, 14) have a common center of curvature and/or a common axis of curvature.

7. Gaming and/or entertainment device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the touch panel (25) extends in a continuously concave curve essentially over the entire display surface (15) of the device and is attached to the display units (13) which jointly form this display surface , 14, 15) fits in such a way that the touch panel (25) and the display units (12, 13, 14) each have curvatures whose centers of curvature and/or axes of curvature essentially coincide.

8. Gaming and/or entertainment device according to the preamble of claim 1 or one of the preceding claims, wherein the touch panel (25) has a radius of curvature in the range of 0.5 m to 3 m, in particular 0.75 m to 1.5 m.

9. Gaming and/or entertainment device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein at least one of the display units (12) covered by the touch panel (25) has a display surface that is contoured differently from the touch panel (25) above it and/or that Touch panel (25) extends over a plurality of display units (12, 13, 14, 15) that are designed differently relative to one another and/or are arranged at different inclinations and/or are curved differently.

10. Gaming and/or entertainment device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the touch panel (25) is designed to be transparent and the display units have display surfaces (12a, 13a, 14a, 15a) formed separately from the touch panel (25), in particular Screen surfaces, over which the transparent touch panel (25) extends, the touch panel (25) preferably having an underlying display unit (12, 13, 14) at least in sections from the display surface (12a, 13a, 14a). is spaced apart.

1 1 . Game and/or entertainment device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the touch panel (25) is designed to be flexible in such a way that the touch panel (25) can be brought into different curvature states.

12. Gaming and/or entertainment device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the touch panel (25) extends continuously over at least two screens (13, 14), of which at least one screen (14) is partially behind when viewed from the device control station at least one other screen (13) is arranged concealed.

13. Gaming and/or entertainment device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the touch panel (25) forms a transparent front panel which is shown in front of the display units (12, 13, 14, 15) and which is fitted into a device housing (11). and forms a front area of the device housing facing the device operating station.

14. Gaming and/or entertainment device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the touch panel (25) extends over at least 30% of the area of a housing front of the gaming and/or entertainment device facing a device operating station.

15. Gaming and/or entertainment device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the touch panel (25) is assigned a parallax compensation device which comprises detection means for detecting the head and/or eye position of a device operator and a respective detected touch point position on the touch panel shifts depending on the detected head position and / or assigns it to a display element of the display unit that is offset from the detected touch point position.

16. Gaming and/or entertainment device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the touch panel (25) has control means (26) for position control of display elements on at least two different display settings. units (13, 14), said control means (26) being displacement means (27) for displacing a display element (28) from one display unit (13) to another display unit (14) over the intermediate boundaries of the display units (13, 14).

17. Game and/or entertainment device according to the preceding claim, wherein the displacement means (27) has masking control means for masking out various sections of the display element corresponding to a gap between the display units (13, 14) when the display element (28) exceeds the boundaries of the display units (13, 14) is moved away.

18. Interactive terminal, in particular gaming and/or entertainment or betting device, with at least one display unit (12, 13, 14, 15) for displaying information, the at least one display unit (12, 13, 14, 15) having a Touch panel (25) is provided for entering control commands by touch, characterized in that the touch panel (25) has at least one section which has an at least uniaxially curved contour with a radius of curvature in the range of 0.5 m to 3 m , wherein the curved section of the touch panel (25) extends over a flatly contoured display surface of the display unit (12, 13, 14, 15).