GB2477024A

GB2477024A - Playing piece tumbler used in a gaming machine

Info

Publication number: GB2477024A
Application number: GB201100428A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Eugene Francis Duffy
Original assignee: Bell Fruit Games Ltd
Current assignee: Bell Fruit Games Ltd
Priority date: 2010-01-13
Filing date: 2011-01-11
Publication date: 2011-07-20
Also published as: GB201100428D0

Abstract

A playing-piece tumbler unit 10 comprises a playing-piece container 16 arranged to hold a playing-piece 28. The playing-piece container 16 comprises a funnel portion 18 provided by three surfaces 30a, 30b, 30c, and a playing-piece seat 20 established by engagement of the three planar surfaces which provides an apex of the three surfaces. The funnel portion 18 is arranged to guide a playing-piece 28 to the playing-piece seat 20, the playing-piece seat 20, which may vibrate, being arranged to allow the playing-piece 28 to be seated in a one of a plurality of predetermined orientations. Also provided is an impulse imparter 22, 32, which may have an adjustable position, arranged to impart an impulse to a playing-piece 28 within the playing-piece seat 20. The unit 10 is arranged such that a player can view a playing-piece 28 when it is resting in the seat 20. The playing piece 20 may be a die with different coloured surfaces and the unit 10 may have colour detection sensors so the orientation of the die can be determined. The unit 10 is preferably included in an entertainment or gaming machine in which users may have greater trust.

Description

ENTERTAINMENT MACHINE

Field of the invention

This invention relates to an entertainment machine and also to a tumbler unit arranged to be used in such an entertainment machine.

Background of the invention

Entertainment machines are provided for a player's entertainment.

However, in order for players to find such machines entertaining, the player needs to feel that he/she is getting value for money by playing the machine. Problems can arise where the player feels that they have not had a fair game. This might be particularly the case with electronic games that simulate random events; a player does not know if the machine is acting in a random manner or whether the machine is deciding that the player should lose.

Games that involve physical playing-pieces are not provided in machines, as it is a problem to reliably detect the outcome of movement of the playing-piece. For example, it is difficult to know the outcome of a roll of a dice since, by its very nature, the path of a rolled dice is

unpredictable.

Summary of the invention

According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a playing-piece tumbler unit comprising: a playing-piece container arranged to hold a playing-piece, the playing-piece container comprising a funnel portion provided by three surfaces and a playing-piece seat established by engagement of the three surfaces which provides an apex of the three surfaces wherein the funnel portion is arranged to guide a playing-piece to the playing-piece seat, the playing-piece seat being arranged to allow the playing-piece to be seated in a one of a plurality of predetermined orientations; and an impulse imparter arranged to impart an impulse to a playing-piece within the playing-piece seat; wherein the unit is arranged such that a player can view a playing-piece when that playing-piece is resting in the seat.

Such a tumbler is advantageous as the combination of the funnel portion and seat allow the playing-piece to move randomly within the container whilst providing enough of a constraint on the movement to allow the outcome of the movement of the playing-piece to determine relatively easily.

The construction of the funnel from three surfaces which co-operate to provide the playing-piece seat at an apex of the three surfaces is believed advantageous because it helps to ensure that the playing-piece falls into a known orientation when seated in the seat. Prior-art devices have not used such an arrangement as such have tended to suffer from problems in which the playing-piece can become seated in indeterminate positions which leads to problems in the games that the machines provide. Use of the so-formed apex is believed advantageous in overcoming this problem

of the prior art.

Typically, the three surfaces are substantially planar in nature but the skilled person will appreciate that this need not be the case.

Moreover, the apex may be a frusto-apex. That is a corner portion of the apex could be removed and yet allow the playing-piece seat to function as desired.

Further, such a machine is advantageous since there may only be a single moving part within the tumbler-unit; the impulse imparter. As such, the machine may be mechanically robust and less likely to fail than a tumbler unit with more moving parts.

Typically, the funnel and playing-piece seat are arranged such that none of the three surfaces lies in a vertical plane with respect to the ground when the tumbler unit is mounted within a machine. Such an arrangement again helps to ensure that the playing-piece can only occupying one of a predetermined number of positions when sitting in the seat; ie in the case of a six sided dice the playing-piece can only occupy six predetermined positions.

Conveniently, the apex is provided at substantially the lowermost point of the funnel portion when the tumbler unit is mounted within a machine.

Again, such arrangements help to ensure the desired functionality of the tumbler unit.

Generally, the tumbler unit also comprises a detector arranged to detect the orientation of a playing-piece resting in the seat. It is however, conceivable that the tumbler unit is provided without a detector, a detector, for example, being provided within a machine to which the tumbler unit is fitted.

The detector is conveniently arranged to detect the colour of the playing-piece. Colour detection may provide a simple and yet accurate means to detect the orientation of the playing-piece.

The impulse-imparter may comprise a solenoid. The armature of the solenoid may be arranged to impact the playing-piece thereby imparting the impulse to the playing-piece. It may be that the impulse-imparter (which may be the armature) has an impact position adjustment mechanism, allowing for the direction of the impulse imparted to the playing-piece positioned in the seat to be varied. The impulse-imparter, etc. may for example be mounted on a rocker assembly actuated to alter the impact position of the armature on successive playing-piece impacts.

This may increase the perceived and/or actual randomness of the playing-piece tumbler unit.

In alternative embodiments the impulse-imparter may comprise a pneumatic system whereby a burst of air is generated to impart an impulse to the playing-piece. The pneumatic system may for example comprise an air pump. Conveniently, the air pump is an electric air. Some embodiments may include a reservoir arranged to store a supply of compressed air.

In some embodiments a prolonged burst of air could be generated to suspend the playing-piece in mid-air against the force of gravity. Such a prolonged burst of air may cause the playing-piece to rotate in the air whilst suspended. Increasing player appeal and/or the randomness of roll' of the playing-piece.

As such, the prolonged burst of air may be arranged to last for roughly any of the following periods: is, 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s, lOs, 15s, 20s, 30s or any other suitable period.

It may be that the player has an opportunity to control the duration of the prolonged air burst. When the prolonged air burst is ceased the playing-piece may fall back into the seat. The use of a prolonged air burst to suspend the playing-piece may be employed in a playing-piece tumbler unit using any impulse imparter; ie the air blast may be provided in addition to another impulse-imparter. It may however be particular convenient if this system is employed in combination with a pneumatic impulse imparter as previously discussed, as some or all of the air burst generation components required may be utilised by both systems.

In some embodiments it may be that it is possible for the playing-piece to rest in a misaligned position in the seat. This may be undesirable as the player may be uncertain as to the outcome of the tumble and/or the detector may be unable to determine the orientation of the playing-piece.

Consequently a mechanism may be provided for vibrating the seat in order that the playing-piece may be jolted into alignment. Activation of the vibration mechanism may be automatic, either as a matter of course following a tumble or when a misalignment is detected or alternatively may be initiated by the player. Alternatively the impulse imparter may be arranged to align the playing-piece as necessary.

Generally, the container provides a closed environment in which the playing-piece moves. Such an environment is convenient as it prevents a player from interfering with the path of the playing-piece. However, in some embodiments, the closed environment may be provided when the unit is fitted to an entertainment machine.

In some embodiments, the tumbler unit may be provide with a viewer which may comprise a transparent, or at least translucent material, provided as a top surface of the container.

In other embodiments, the container may comprise an open box. Such an arrangement is convenient as it may reduce the amount of material required to fabricate the tumbler unit. However, when the unit is, in use, attached to an entertainment machine, then the glass' of the machine may be utilised to close the container, thereby preventing a player from interfering with the playing-piece.

According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a tumbler unit according to the first aspect of the invention in combination with a playing-piece.

Conveniently, the playing-piece is arranged such that each face thereof has a characteristic that is differentiable from other faces of the playing-piece. Such an arrangement allows for more readily achievable determination of the orientation of the playing-piece resting within the seat.

The differentiable characteristic may be provided by a colouring the face of the playing-piece, generally to be different from each of the other faces of that playing-piece. Colour detection may provide a convenient mechanism by which to identify the face which is accurate but which also requires a low amount of processing power.

Where colour detection is used, a detection chamber may be created between the playing-piece and the detector when the playing-piece is resting in the seat. The light detection chamber may be substantially or completely light-proof. This may be advantageous as it may decrease or eliminate background light radiation detected by the detector during colour detection. Colour detection may be achieved by a series of differently coloured LED light pulses shone into the detection chamber, the detector being positioned to receive light reflected from the playing-piece.

Other embodiments may for example image process an image of the playing-piece, for example to count the pips on a face thereof. Yet further embodiments may detect a Radio Frequency ID (RFID) chip associated with a face of the playing-piece, or detect a machine readable identification such as a barcode.

The playing-piece may be a die. The die may be a six sided die.

However, in alternative embodiments, the die may have any other number of faces. For example, the die may have 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, or more faces. A two sided die may be similar in nature to a coin; i.e. a cylinder having two opposing faces.

If a die with an odd number of faces is used it may be that two or more detectors are employed. If each detector identifies one side of the die, verification of the face of the die presented to the player may be facilitated.

One or more faces of the die may be recessed. Such an arrangement may help prolong the life of the die. It will be appreciated that the tumbling nature of the movement of the die within the tumbler unit will lead to abrasion of the faces which eventually may reduce the reliability of a detector arranged to detect the differentiable characteristic of the face of the die. Such a recess may help to reduce this abrasion.

According to a third aspect of the invention there is provided an entertainment machine which comprises one or more tumbler units according to a first aspect of the invention together with a processing circuitry arranged to control the tumbler unit.

The machine may comprise two tumbler units. Such an arrangement may be convenient for providing a game such as craps, or any other game requiring two dice.

Conveniently, the tumbler unit is attached to an inside surface of the glass of the entertainment machine such that a player can see the inside of the container and a playing-piece therein through the glass.

The term glass is being used to refer to the transparent material generally used on a front portion of a machine. Commonly this will be glass, i.e. a silica based material, however, this need not be the case and any suitable transparent or translucent material may be used.

The tumbler unit is typically arranged to be affixed to a substantially vertical or near vertical glass of a gaming machine. Such an arrangement is advantageous since it consistently orientates the playing-piece, such as a die, to come to rest on its apex which would allow the die to be viewed from the side through the glass of the entertainment machine. Such a tumbler unit mounted on the glass may therefore allow the playing-piece (especially a die) to be viewed at eye level when standing. The skilled person would appreciate that if a die were viewed from directly above that three sides of the die would be seen equally.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention there is provided a machine readable medium containing instructions which when read by a machine cause that machine to control a tumbler unit according to any of the aspects of the invention.

According to a fifth aspect of the invention there is provided a playing-piece tumbler unit comprising: a playing-piece container arranged to hold a playing-piece, the playing-piece container comprising a funnel portion and a playing-piece seat wherein the funnel portion is arranged to guide a playing-piece to the playing-piece seat, the playing-piece seat being arranged to allow the playing-piece to be seated in a one of a plurality of predetermined orientations; and an impulse imparter arranged to impart an impulse to a playing-piece within the playing-piece seat; wherein the unit is arranged such that a player can view a playing-piece when that playing-piece is resting in the seat.

In any of the above aspects of the invention the machine readable medium may comprise any of the following: a floppy disk, a CD ROM, a DVD ROM I RAM (including a -R/-RW and + R/+RW), a hard drive, a memory (including a USB memory key, an SD card, a MemorystickTM, a compact flash card, or the like), a tape, any other form of magneto optical storage, a transmitted signal (including an Internet download, an FTP transfer, etc), a wire, or any other suitable medium.

The skilled person will appreciate that any feature of one of the aspects of the invention may be applied mutatis mutandis to any other aspect of the invention.

Brief description of the drawings

There now follows by way of example only a detailed description of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 shows a playing-piece tumbler unit according to an embodiment of the invention; Figure 2 shows an entertainment machine in which the tumbler of Figure 1 has been mounted; Figure 3 shows a plan view of the tumbler unit of Figure 1; Figure 4 shows a plan view of a further embodiment of an entertainment machine incorporating a tumbler unit; and Figure 5 shows a die suitable for use in the tumbler unit.

Detailed description of the drawings

Referring to Figure 1, the playing-piece tumbler unit 10 of the embodiment being described is arranged to be mounted within an entertainment machine, the glass 12 of which can be seen in cross section in the Figure.

The tumbler unit 10 comprises a housing 14 which is attached to a rear face of the glass 12. The housing 14 is in the form of a rectangular box having an open face which is positioned, when in a machine, adjacent the glass of that machine thereby allowing the insides of the housing 12 to be seen through the glass 12. Attachment may be by any suitable means such as adhesive, mechanical attachment (e.g. screws, bolts or the like), welding, brazing, etc. Within the housing 14 there is provided a playing-piece container 16 which provides a closed environment arranged to hold a playing-piece therewithin. The skilled person will appreciate that both a housing 14 and playing-piece container 16 may not both be required, but a housing may have advantages in protecting further components of the tumbler unit 10.

The playing-piece container 16 comprises a funnel portion 18 arranged to direct a playing-piece within the container 16 toward a playing-piece seat 20. The skilled person will see that the funnel portion 18 is constituted by three planar surfaces 30a, 30b and 30c. Only one of these surfaces is seen in Figure 1 with the second and third surfaces being apparent in Figure 3.

The seat 20 is larger than the playing piece, so as the die has room to adjust its alignment under the action of gravity to the alignment required by the seat 20 and it will be seen that the seat is established by the engagement of the three surfaces 30a, 30b, 30c; it is provided by an apex 32 of the three planar surfaces 30a, 30b, 30c. The playing-piece seat is arranged such that a playing-piece being directed into it by the funnel portion 18 takes up one of a plurality of predetermined orientations. For example, should the playing-piece be a die, the seat is arranged such that one of the six faces of the die is presented toward the glass of the machine in which the tumbler unit 10 is fitted, while three of the other faces abut the seat 20. It will be appreciated that a conventional die has six faces and as such there are six predetermined orientations in which the die could fall into the seat 20. If the playing-piece were a coin, or other disc, then there would be two predetermined orientations (i.e. head facing up or tails facing up).

The number of faces supported by the seat 20 may vary depending on the number of faces, e.g. an eight sided die may have four faces abutting the seat 20. The number of faces abutting the seat 20 may ideally be the minimum number required to create a stable nest for the die, such that it does not tumble further when correctly aligned. In particular the number of abutting faces may be half the total number of faces present on the die.

The glass 12 provides a viewer through which the playing-piece can be viewed at least when it is in the playing-piece seat 20. In this embodiment, the viewer allows a substantial portion of the inside of the container 16 to be viewed such that a player can view the playing-piece moving around inside the container 16. It is conceivable that the viewer may be provided by a camera, or the like, connected to a display that allows a player to view the playing-piece moving within the container and/or resting on the seat 20.

The tumbler unit 10 also comprises an impulse imparter 22 arranged to impart an impulse to a playing-piece that is resting within the playing-piece seat 20. In this embodiment, the imparter 22 is a solenoid.

However, any other suitable mechanism would be suitable and may include a piezo-electric element, a spring mechanism, a pneumatic system or the like. In particular where a pneumatic impulse imparter is used, a prolonged burst of air could be generated to suspend and/or spin the playing-piece in mid-air against the force of gravity before it returns to the seat.

The funnel portion 18, adjacent the seat 20 comprises a window 24 which may simply be a hole within the container 16, or it may be transparent/ translucent to at least some frequencies of light. The window 24 is positioned such that an aligned playing-piece lying within the seat 20 covers the window 24.

Behind the window 24 there is provided a playing-piece detector 26 arranged to detect a playing-piece lying in the seat 20. In this embodiment, the playing-piece detector 26 comprises a colour detector arranged to detect the colour of the playing-piece facing the detector 26.

Thereby, by arranging the playing-piece to have a different colour on each face thereof, it is possible to determine the orientation of a playing-piece within the seat 20.

The skilled person will appreciate that other detectors 26, other than colour detectors, may equally be suitable. For example, a camera and image recognition apparatus, RFID tags and detectors, barcodes and barcode readers or the like may provide suitable alternatives.

The Figure shows a tumbler unit 10 in which a die 28 is situated in the seat 20 as an example of a playing-piece. As discussed above, the tumbler unit 10 is not limited to dice and can contain other playing-pieces.

However, in the embodiment being described, the die 28 has a different colour on each of its faces which are in a known orientation.

It is well known that opposite faces of a conventional six sided die are arranged so that they total seven. That is, the numbers one and six are on opposite faces, as are the numbers two and five; and the numbers three and four. Thereby, knowing the identity of the die face that is adjacent the window 24 allows the identity of the face adjacent the glass 12 to be determined. This would be true for any other playing-piece in which the identity of the faces thereof had a relationship to another face thereof.

Figure 2 shows a machine 200 to which a playing-piece tumbler unit has been fitted. The impulse imparter 22 and detector 26 are connected to processing circuitry 201 which is arranged to receive signals from the detector 26, process these signals and determine whether or not the playing-piece is within the seat 20 and also to determine the value shown to a player of the machine through the viewer 12. The processing circuitry is also arranged to generate signals to cause the imparter 22 to activate.

In this embodiment, the processing circuitry 201 comprises a processor 202, memory 204 and the like.

Looking at Figures 1 and 3, it will be apparent that when installed in a machine 200 none of the planar surfaces lie in a vertical plane with respect to the ground. Further, it will be seen that the apex 32 is provided at substantially the lowermost point of the funnel portion Thus, in use, the die 28 will initially be resting in its seat 20. The impulse imparter 22 then applies an impulse to the die 28 causing it to move within the container 16. It will be appreciated that the flight of the die 28 within the container 16 follows a random path. Eventually, the die 28 will fall and is guided toward the seat 20 by the funnel portion 18 of the container 16.

The seat 20 and funnel portion 18 are arranged such that the die 28 comes to rest with a single face thereof facing the glass 12. Once the die 28 has come to a rest, the detector 22 is used to determine which face of the die 28 is facing a player of the machine through the glass 12. In this embodiment, this is achieved by determining the colour of the face of the die 28 adjacent the detector 22.

Whilst the seat 20 is arranged to allow the die 28 to rest in a particular alignment it is conceivable that the die 28 may occasionally fall such that it does not have a face facing the glass 12. Some embodiments of the invention may be arranged to detect this and subsequently operate the impulse imparter 22 to cause the playing-piece to become dislodged within the container once more. Generally, this will result in the playing-piece being aligned (seating itself correctly) within the seat 20. In alternative embodiments a mechanism may be provided for vibrating the seat 20 in order to jolt the die 28 into alignment.

Further, in some embodiments, the detector 26 is arranged to detect when a playing-piece is resting in the seat 20. This may be achieved by determining the level of light falling upon the detector 26; ie when no playing-piece is resting in the seat 20 the light levels reaching the detector 26 are likely to be higher when compared to the situation in which a playing-piece is resting in the seat 20. Thus, as a playing-piece is disturbed by the impulse imparter 22 the light level reaching the detector is likely to change from a first level (before the imparter 22 is activated) through a second level (when the playing-piece is not in the seat 20) back to the first level when the playing-piece returns to the seat 20. This, what may be thought of as, a dark-light-dark sequence may be used to determine whether the playing-piece is aligned. If the playing-piece is not aligned then it is unlikely that the light reaching the detector will return to the first level and instead return to a value intermediate the first and second levels.

The plan view shown in Figure 3 shows what a viewer sees of the inside of the container 16. The playing-piece, in this embodiment a die 28, is shown at rest in the seat 20. It will be seen that the numeral six is facing a player through the glass 12 and as such the detector 26 detects the numeral one through the window 24. In use, and when the imparter 22 is activated, the die 28 is caused to tumble around the inside of the container 16, which the player can see, before returning to the seat 20.

Figure 4 shows and embodiment in which two tumbler units lOa, lOb are provided within an entertainment machine. Such an arrangement allows two playing-pieces to be tumbled independently of one another. Other embodiments may provide two or more seats 20 within the same container in order to tumble two playing-pieces.

Figure 4 also shows an input 400 which when pressed by a user, provides an input to the processing circuitry. In turn, the processing circuitry then causes the impulse imparter 22 to unseat each of the playing-pieces.

Figure 5 shows a die 500 that is suitable for use in the above described embodiments, although it is shown without the faces being coloured.

Three faces 502, 504, 506 are visible in the Figure and it can be seen that each of the faces is recessed below the maximum height of lip 508 surrounding each face 502-506. Such a lip 508 is convenient to protect the faces of the die 500 from wear which may otherwise reduce the reliability of the detector 26. To further protect the die 500 as well as the funnel portion 18 and seat 20 from wear, all of these items are made from materials having similar hardnesses. In other embodiments the items may even be fabricated from the same material.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A playing-piece tumbler unit comprising: a playing-piece container arranged to hold a playing-piece, the playing-piece container comprising a funnel portion provided by three surfaces and a playing-piece seat established by engagement of the three planar surfaces which provides an apex of the three surfaces wherein the funnel portion is arranged to guide a playing-piece to the playing-piece seat, the playing-piece seat being arranged to allow the playing-piece to be seated in a one of a plurality of predetermined orientations; and an impulse imparter arranged to impart an impulse to a playing-piece within the playing-piece seat; wherein the unit is arranged such that a player can view a playing-piece when that playing-piece is resting in the seat.
2. A unit according to claim 1 in which the funnel portion and the playing-piece seat are arranged such that none of the surfaces lies in a vertical plane with respect to the ground when the tumbler unit is, in use, mounted in a machine.
3. A unit according to claim 1 or 2 in which the apex is provided at substantially the lowermost point of the funnel portion when the tumbler unit is, in use, mounted within a machine.
4. A unit according to any preceding claim which comprises a detector arranged to detect the orientation of a playing-piece resting in the seat.
5. A unit according to claim 4 in which the detector is arranged to detect the colour of the playing-piece.
6. A unit according to any preceding claim in which the impulse-imparter comprises a solenoid wherein the armature of the solenoid is conveniently arranged to impact the playing-piece thereby imparting the impulse to the playing-piece.
7. A unit according to claim 6 in which the armature has an impact position adjustment mechanism, allowing for the direction of the impulse imparted to the playing-piece positioned in the seat to be variable.
8. A unit according to any preceding claim in which a prolonged burst of air is selectively generated to suspend the playing-piece in mid-air against the force of gravity.
9. A unit according to any preceding claim in which a mechanism is provided for vibrating the seat in order that the playing-piece may be jolted into alignment.
10. A unit according to any preceding claim in which the container comprises an open box.
11. A tumbler unit according to any of claims 1 to 10 in combination with a playing-piece.
12. A combination according to claim 11 in which the playing-piece is arranged such that each face thereof has a characteristic that is differentiable from other faces of the playing-piece.
13. A combination according to claim 12 in which the differentiable characteristic is provided by a colouring on the face of the playing-piece.
14. A combination according to any of claims 11 to 13 in which the playing-piece is a die.
15. A combination according to claim 14 wherein one or more faces of the die are recessed.
16. An entertainment machine which comprises one or more tumbler units according to any of claims 1 to 15 together with a processing circuitry arranged to control the or each tumbler unit.
17. A machine according to claim 16 wherein the tumbler unit is attached to an inside surface of the glass of the machine such that a player can see the inside of the container and a playing-piece therein through the glass.
18. A machine readable medium containing instructions which when read by a machine cause that machine to control a tumbler unit according to any preceding claim.
19. A tumbler unit substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.
20. An entertainment machine substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.