GB2379399A

GB2379399A - A gaming machine with vibrating parts as a method of providing cues

Info

Publication number: GB2379399A
Application number: GB0121430A
Authority: GB
Inventors: John Lawrence Wain
Original assignee: Bell Fruit Games Ltd
Current assignee: Bell Fruit Games Ltd
Priority date: 2001-09-05
Filing date: 2001-09-05
Publication date: 2003-03-12
Anticipated expiration: 2021-09-05
Also published as: GB0121430D0; GB2379399B

Abstract

A gaming machine of the type found in amusement arcades is arranged to be fed by coins, tokens or other credits having a driven vibration mechanism to provide cues to the player using the gaming machine. The vibration producing mechanism may be a rotor (46 figure 3) with an off centre mass (44 figure 3) driven by an electric motor (42 figure 3), or a coil and armature arranged such that the coil moves the armature to produce vibrations or by the use of piezo electric crystals so arranged to be driven to provide vibrations. The vibration producing mechanism may be controlled by the processing circuitry 22 of the gaming machine which may produce vibrations at its natural frequency and modulated with the required frequency or frequency pattern to provide an audio cue to the player. The vibration producing mechanism may be a mat 28 on which the player stands or a button or switch 6,8,10 so arranged that a player touches the switch in order to be provided with a vibrational cue. The vibration producing mechanism being used as a method of providing cues to the player as an indication on what to do next.

Description

AN ENTERTAINMENT MACHINE This invention relates to an entertainment machine and related improvements and especially, but not exclusively, to such machines that are coin, token, credit, or credit-card, freed for play.

Sound has become an integral part of modern entertainment machines, and is arranged to provide audio cues as to what will occur next in a game being provided by the entertainment machine, as well as providing appealing music, etc. arranged to make the machine appealing to players.

In certain environments the sounds provided by entertainment machines can be invasive and unwanted. However, because the sound is providing audio cues the game provided by the machine becomes much harder, if not impossible, to play without the sound. Further, the lack of sound may make the machine less appealing. Therefore, for certain locations of entertainment machine there are conflicting requirements: to provide an entertainment machine that is playable and that is appealing to players; and to reduce the noise pollution caused by the machine.

It is known to provide entertainment machines that simulate electric shocks by the provision of vibration and such an example is shown in GB 2 317 836. However, this simulation is the basis of the game and does not provide a cue to a player playing the game.

This invention addresses this problem, and aims to provide a solution, or at least reduce the problems of the prior art.

According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided an entertainment machine arranged to be freed for play by coins, tokens, or other credits, said machine being provided with a vibration producing

mechanism arranged to be driven to produce vibrations to provide cues to a player playing the entertainment machine.

A particular advantage of such a machine is that it can be used in locations in which machines relying on audio cues to the player are unsuitable because of the noise that they produce.

Preferably, the machine is arranged to make awards to players achieving a predetermined level of success in a game. The award may be by way paying a one or more coins, tokens, credits, etc. back to the player.

The vibration producing mechanism may be arranged to provide vibrations on the order of roughly anywhere between 10Hz, and 20kHz.

For example roughly any of the following frequencies may be suitable: 100Hz, 500Hz, 1kHz, 2kHz, 3kHz, 4kHz, 5kHz, 10k Vibrations produced by the vibration producing mechanism may be provided by any one of the following arrangements: piezo electric crystals arranged to be driven to provide vibrations; a coil and armature in which the coil is driven to move the armature to produce vibrations; a motor having an off centre mass mounted on the rotor thereof so that running the motor produces vibrations; Any of the above identified arrangements are suitable because they are readily controllable by a processing circuitry of the entertainment machine to provide the necessary vibrations.

The vibration producing mechanism is preferably driven at its natural frequency and modulated with the required frequency, or frequency pattern to provide the audio cue. Such an arrangement may be more convenient than driving the vibration producing mechanism at varying frequencies.

The vibration producing mechanism may be arranged to provide a variety of signals. The variety of signal may be provided by providing signals at a variety of different vibrational frequencies, different patterns of vibration, etc. An advantage of such an arrangement is that a player can readily discern different cues.

The vibration producing mechanism may comprise a mat arranged such that a player stands on the mat when playing the game. Such an arrangement is convenient because it provides a mechanism that is convenient for a player; they do not have to do anything different than previously in order to play the machine and be provided with cues.

Alternatively, or additionally, the vibration producing mechanism may be a button, switch, or the like, arranged such that a player touches the switch in order to be provided with the vibrational cue. There may be provided more than one switch arranged as a vibration producing mechanism.

In yet a further additional, or alternative embodiment the vibration producing mechanism may be provided by at least one area of the cabinet of the machine. The area of the cabinet may be arranged to look the same as the rest of the machine, or alternatively, the area of the cabinet may be arranged so that it readily discernible from the remainder of the cabinet.

A plurality of areas of the cabinet may provide vibration producing mechanisms.

An advantage of providing the vibration producing mechanism as a switch, or area of the cabinet is that the plan area of the machine is not increased, which does not decrease the transportability of the machine.

The machine may, or may not, be arranged to produce sound in addition to providing vibrational cues to a player. The machine may be user configurable as to whether or not it provides sound. Indeed, the machine may be user configurable as to whether or not it provides vibrational cues. Such a machine is advantageous because its versatility: it can provide either or both audio and vibrational cues to a player.

The machine may be arranged to provide audio cues for any one or more of the following events: in response to a player input, to prompt a player for an input, to highlight a predetermined action in the game, to announce a feature or a bonus awarded by the game, to celebrate the winning of a prize, or an award.

The machine may be of the type referred to as any of the following: Amusement With Prizes (AWP), Skill With Prizes (SWP), all cash, or gaming machines all as defined under British gaming legislation. Of course, the machine is not limited to these types of machine and these are mentioned as examples only.

According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a method of providing a player of an entertainment machine with cues about the game being provided by the machine comprising providing the machine with a vibration producing mechanism and driving the mechanism to provide a cue to the player.

The method may provide an area with which the player remains in substantially constant contact. Such an area is advantageous because it is convenient to a player; he/she does not have to alter his/her actions in order to receive the virational cue.

Alternatively, or additionally, the method may provide an area that is arranged such that a player touches at appropriate times to receive a vibrational cue.

In one embodiment a mat is provided arranged such that a player can stand thereon.

In another embodiment an area of the machines cabinet is arranged to provide a vibration producing mechanism.

In yet another additional, or alternative, embodiment a button, switch, or the like, of the machine is arranged to provide the vibration producing mechanism.

According to a third aspect of the invention there is provided a method of increasing the appeal of an entertainment machine arranged to be freed for play by coins, tokens, or other credits, and further arranged to make awards to players reaching a predetermined level of success in the game, said method comprising providing the machine with a vibration producing mechanism.

There now follows by way of example only a detailed description of embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings of which:

Figure 1 shows an entertainment machine according to the present invention; Figure 2 shows a section through a mat provided on the machine of Figure 1; Figure 3 shows an example of a mechanism to produce vibrations; and Figure 4 shows an enlargement of a switch arranged to provide a vibration producing mechanism.

The entertainment machine 1 of Figure 1 comprises a cabinet 2 having at a top region thereof a game playing region. 4 (comprising in this embodiment a group of reels 5 arranged to be used in a conventional manner, and a trail 3 arranged to provide a feature, or secondary game, as is well known in the art). At a convenient user operable height are a range of manual switches 6,8, 10 providing user operable inputs, which a user can operate to control the action of the machine 1. On a front face 12 of the machine are provided a pay-out slot 14 to return winnings that a user wins. Further, there is a coin input mechanism as is well known in the art, having a coin input slot 18 and a coin return button 20.

The entertainment machine further comprises processing circuitry 22 which includes a micro-processor, or controller, together with an associated memory arranged to provide the game, and control the game playing region 4 in order to display the game to the user. The manual switches 6, 8,10 provide inputs to the processing circuitry allowing the user to control the game being played on the machine 1.

The machine 1 of Figure 1 is also provided with a pair of speakers 24,26 that can be driven by the processing circuitry 22 to provide a player with stereo sound. The machine 1 is also provided with a mat 28 in front of the machine, arranged such that when a player is playing the machine they stand on the mat 28, and provides a vibration producing mechanism.

The mat comprises a frame 30 connected to the cabinet 2 inside which is provided a plurality of layers as shown in Figure 2. There is a top layer 32 fabricated from a material such as aluminium, or the like, to provide a wear resistant layer on which a player can safely and comfortably stand, but which is also arranged to readily pass vibrations.

There is a base layer 34 to provide rigidity to the structure. Between the top layer 32 and the base layer 34 there are a plurality of spacers 36, which in this embodiment are fabricated from a resilient plastics material, and are arranged to maintain the top 32 and base 34 layers at a relatively constant separation. There are voids 38 between the spacers 36 in which there are provided vibrating elements 40.

Each vibrating element 40 comprises a self-contained unit that can be controlled by the processing circuitry 22. The self-contained unit can comprise a variety of mechanisms arranged to provide vibrations. In this example the mechanisms comprises a small DC electric motor 42 with an off centre mass 44 on the rotor 46, as shown in Figure 3. The motor is driven at the resonant frequency of the motor and mass system, and modulated to produce the desired effect.

In alternative embodiments the vibrating element 40 could comprise a variety of other mechanisms arranged to produce vibrations. For example the vibrating element could comprise piezo electric crystals, that could be driven by the processing circuitry to produce vibration; a coil with an armature that can be driven to produce vibrations.

In an alternative embodiment, or in addition to the mat 28 described above, one or more of the switches 6,8, 10 are arranged such that their touchable surface can be made to vibrate, and thus provide vibration producing mechanism. This is explained with reference to Figure 4. The switch 6,8, 10 is mounted through hole 48 in a wall 50 of the cabinet 2. The switch 6,8, 10 is well known in the art but will be briefly described here for ease of reference. A plunger 52 passes through the hole 50 and is connected to a user pressable disc 54. Although not shown the pressable disc 54 is sprung loaded away from the wall 48. The plunger 52 presses a micro switch, or the like to provide an input to the

it. x It A : r L"ratr processing circuitry 22. Mounted in the plunger 52 is a vibrating 22. lvi L LL I I Lil I Jlr-I lu I element 56, which is connected via wires 58 to the processing circuitry.

In yet another alternative embodiment, or in addition to either or both of the examples described above, the machine 1 may be provided with a further vibration producing mechanism. As can be seen with reference to Figure 1 an area of the cabinet, or a vibrateable pad 60 is provided adjacent the switches 6,8, 10. In this embodiment the location of the pad 60 is drawn to the players attention via graphics on the cabinet 2, but in other embodiments it may simply appear as a standard part of the cabinet.

The vibrateable pad 60 comprises an aluminium sheet arranged to transmit vibrations, attached to a vibration producing mechanism. This mechanism can be any of the mechanism described above (piezo electric crystals, off centre mass on motor, armature and coil).

In use the machine 1 has the speakers 24,26 disabled so that sound is not produced (indeed, the speakers may not be provided) to avoid generating sounds that may be unacceptable. The player plays the game provided by

the machine in the normal way, but maintains contact with at least one of the vibration producing mechanisms discussed above (the mat 28, the switch 6,8, 10, or the pad 60). When the machine produces a sound to give an audio cue (for example any one or more of the following would generally generate such a cue: in response to a player input, to prompt a player for an input, to highlight a predetermined action in the game, to announce a feature or a bonus awarded by the game, to celebrate the winning of a prize, or an award. ) the vibration producing mechanism is driven by the processing circuitry 22 so that it vibrates. Thus, the provided with a cue in the same manner as they would have been by the sound produced by the speakers 24,26, but that is silent.

The vibration producing mechanisms can be driven so that the player is aware of different audio cues: the mechanisms could be driven at different frequencies, different patterns of vibration could be provided, etc.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. An entertainment machine arranged to be freed for play by coins, tokens or other credits, the machine being provided with at least one vibration producing mechanism arranged to be driven to produce vibrations to provide cues to a player playing the machine.
2. The machine according to Claim 1 in which the vibration producing mechanism comprises a motor having a rotor and an off-centre mass mounted on the rotor thereof arranged such that running the motor produces vibrations.
3. The machine according to Claim 1 or Claim 2 in which the vibration producing mechanism comprises a coil and armature arranged such that driving the coil moves the armature to produce vibrations.
4. The machine according to any one of the preceding Claims in which the vibration producing mechanism comprises an arrangement of piezo electric crystals, arranged to be driven to provide vibrations.
5. The machine according to any one of the preceding Claims in which the machine is provided with a processing circuitry and the or each vibration producing mechanism is controllable by the processing circuitry.
6. The machine according to any one of the preceding Claims in which the or each vibration producing mechanism is driven at its natural frequency and modulated with a required frequency or frequency pattern to provide the cue.

<Desc/Clms Page number 11>
7. The machine according to any one of the preceding Claims in which the or each vibration producing mechanism is arranged to provide a variety of signals.
8. The machine according to any one of the preceding Claims in which at least one of the vibration producing mechanisms comprises a mat arranged such that, in use of the machine, a player stands on the mat.
9. The machine according to any one of the preceding Claims in which at least one of the vibration producing mechanisms comprises a button or switch, arranged such that a player touches the switch button or switch in order to be provided with the cue.
10. The machine according to any one of the preceding Claims in which the machine is housed in a cabinet and the vibration producing mechanism is provided by at least one area of the cabinet.
11. The machine according to Claim 10 in which the or each area of the cabinet arranged to vibrate is arranged to be readily discernible from the remainder of the cabinet.
12. The machine according to any of the preceding Claims which is arranged, in use of the machine, to make awards to players achieving a predetermined level of success in a game.
13. The machine according to any one of the preceding Claims which is arranged to be user configurable as to whether a vibrational cue is provided.

<Desc/Clms Page number 12>
14. The machine according to any of the preceding Claims which is arranged, in use of the machine, to produce sound to provide audio cues to a player.
15. The machine according to Claim 14 which is arranged to be user configurable as to whether audio cues are provided to a player.
16. The machine according to any of the preceding Claims which is arranged to provide cues for one or more of the following events: in response to a player input; to prompt a player for an input; to highlight a predetermined action in the game; to announce a feature or a bonus

awarded by the game ; to celebrate the winning of a prize or an award. awarUeU Vy the game ; to celle'L-fra+Lc LIA........
17. A method of providing a player of an entertainment machine with cues about the game being provided by the machine comprising providing the machine with at least one vibration producing mechanism and driving the or each mechanism to provide a cue to the player.
18. The method of Claim 17 further comprising providing the or each vibration producing mechanisms on an area of the machine with which the player remains in substantially constant contact.
19. The method of Claim 17 or Claim 18 further comprising providing an area of the machine that is arranged such that a player touches the area at appropriate times to receive a vibrational cue.
20. The method of any one of Claims 17 to 19 further comprising providing at least one of the at least one vibration producing mechanisms as a mat arranged such that a player can stand thereon.

<Desc/Clms Page number 13>
21. The method of any one of Claims 17 to 20 further comprising providing at least one of the at least one vibration producing mechanism as an area of a cabinet of the machine.
22. The method of any one of Claims 17 to 21 further comprising providing the vibration mechanism as a button, a switch or the like, of the machine.
23. A method of increasing the player appeal of an entertainment machine arranged to be freed for play by coins, tokens, or other credits, and further arranged to make awards to players reaching a predetermined level of success in the game, said method comprising providing the machines with at least one vibration producing mechanism.
24. An entertainment machine arranged to be freed for play by coins, tokens or other credits, the machine being provided with at least one mat comprising a surface arranged to support a player of the game and at least one vibration producing mechanism arranged to be driven to produce vibrations in the mat to provide cues to a player playing the machine.

- :
25. An entertainment machine arranged to be freed for play by coins, tokens or other credits, the machine being provided with at least one button or switch, arranged such that a player of the machine can touch the or each button or switch, the or each button or switch comprising a vibration producing mechanism arranged to be driven to provide cues to a player playing the machine.

-
26. An entertainment machine arranged to be freed for play by coins, tokens or other credits, the machine being provided with a cabinet, the cabinet comprising at least one area arranged such that a player of the machine can touch the or each area the or each comprising a vibration

<Desc/Clms Page number 14>

producing mechanism, arranged to be driven to provide cues to a player playing the machine.
27. An entertainment machine substantially as described herein and with reference to the accompanying Figures 1-4.
28. A method of providing a player of an entertainment machine with cues about the game being provided by the machine substantially as described herein and with reference to the accompanying Figures 1-4.