WO2007080421A1 - Roues de roulettes - Google Patents

Roues de roulettes Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2007080421A1
WO2007080421A1 PCT/GB2007/000103 GB2007000103W WO2007080421A1 WO 2007080421 A1 WO2007080421 A1 WO 2007080421A1 GB 2007000103 W GB2007000103 W GB 2007000103W WO 2007080421 A1 WO2007080421 A1 WO 2007080421A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
wheel
ball
roulette
sensors
rotatable
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/GB2007/000103
Other languages
English (en)
Other versions
WO2007080421B1 (fr
Inventor
Anton James Churchill
Steven James Slough
Original Assignee
Casino Technologies Limited
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Casino Technologies Limited filed Critical Casino Technologies Limited
Publication of WO2007080421A1 publication Critical patent/WO2007080421A1/fr
Publication of WO2007080421B1 publication Critical patent/WO2007080421B1/fr

Links

Classifications

    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
    • A63F—CARD, BOARD, OR ROULETTE GAMES; INDOOR GAMES USING SMALL MOVING PLAYING BODIES; VIDEO GAMES; GAMES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • A63F5/00—Roulette games
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
    • A63F—CARD, BOARD, OR ROULETTE GAMES; INDOOR GAMES USING SMALL MOVING PLAYING BODIES; VIDEO GAMES; GAMES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • A63F5/00—Roulette games
    • A63F5/04—Disc roulettes; Dial roulettes; Teetotums; Dice-tops
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
    • A63F—CARD, BOARD, OR ROULETTE GAMES; INDOOR GAMES USING SMALL MOVING PLAYING BODIES; VIDEO GAMES; GAMES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • A63F5/00—Roulette games
    • A63F5/0076—Driving means
    • A63F5/0082—Driving means electrical

Definitions

  • This invention relates to roulette wheels and more particularly to roulette wheels which are adapted to enable secure, accurate and monitored operation particularly in conjunction with distributed play, i.e. play in which participation is not limited to a relatively small number of people physically gathered around a roulette table.
  • the croupier calls a halt to the placing of further bets, usually just before the ball starts to approach the rotating wheel portion.
  • roulette Since its development, roulette has been a popular casino game, part of its attraction being its transparency of operation. Rendering the outcome, i.e. which numbered pocket of the rotating wheel portion of the roulette wheel the ball falls into, otherwise than random is difficult, and the result is instantly and clearly visible to those playing.
  • the variety of the different types of bets which may be placed allows for different game playing strategies to be practised and the game remains very popular.
  • sensing means may be associated with the roulette wheel itself with a view to determining parameters such as the direction of spin of the rotatable wheel portion, the direction of rotation of the ball in the annular track, see e.g. US-A-4396193, EP-A-0046306, DE- 20320888 C1 and the detection of which of specific numbered pocket the ball comes to rest in, see e.g.
  • a separate area of development relates to the desire by casino operators to attract more people to play a game of roulette.
  • the physical space around a traditional roulette table restricts the number of people who can effectively play at any one time and while this may be satisfactory from the point of view of the casino operator if the stakes are sufficiently high, in general terms, it can be seen as restricting their profits.
  • Systems have accordingly been developed to enable players who are not situated immediately adjacent the roulette table to play, for example by a remote display of what is going on at any particular roulette table and which can be within the same general physical location such as a casino, or, more recently, by making use of the wholly remote display possibilities afforded by means of high speed network communications technology.
  • a roulette wheel consisting of a rotatable wheel having a series of peripheral pockets and set in a surrounding casing, wherein the casing has an annular surface providing a track around which a ball may travel, the lower edge of the annular surface being substantially located at the same height as the edge of the rotating wheel when the roulette wheel is in use wherein, located at a number of angularly spaced positions around the track, sensors are provided to enable detection of the passage of a ball past the sensor as it circulates in the track, wherein sensors are provided to detect which pocket on the wheel a ball falls into, and wherein the sensors are unobtrusive and the outputs from the sensors are fed to a processing and recording device to enable the performance of the wheel to be analysed.
  • a roulette wheel comprising a rotatable segmented wheel mounted for rotation about a generally vertical axis in an external housing, the rotatable wheel having a set of angularly spaced segments with a depression in each segment adapted to receive a ball rolling from a surface of the housing on to the surface of the rotatable wheel under the effect of gravity, and characterised in that the base of the pocket is formed of transparent material and that, at two or more angularly spaced positions below the rotatable wheel, there is located an emitter/sensor unit, wherein the emitter is capable of emitting radiation which will pass through the transparent window and be reflected from a ball above the window (if present) and the sensor is adapted to detect emitted radiation reflected from the ball.
  • the provision of at least two such emitter/sensor units materially improves the monitoring capacity compared to that possible with the system shown in EP-A-0046306.
  • the direction of emitted and reflected radiation is not at an angle substantially normal to the transparent window itself.
  • the rotatable wheel also carries a position coding disc or ring and, adjacent the position coding disc or ring, in fixed relationship to the housing, is a detector unit capable of sensing the coding on the ring and providing a signal representative thereof.
  • an alternative approach to the detection of the pocket into which the ball has dropped is to provide an unobtrusive optical detector mounted around the annular track.
  • the roulette wheel includes, located around the track, an annular base member having mounted on it at angularly spaced positions around it, a plurality of sensors, at least two of which are arranged to detect the passage of a ball in the track past the sensors and at least two of which are arranged to detect the passage of a ball located in a pocket.
  • the individual features of the invention indicated above may be used separately or, preferably, are used in combination in order to provide a roulette wheel which may be used in a conventional casino type environment, i.e. located at one end of a roulette table and supervised by a human croupier, but which at the same time may be enabled, by suitable electronics, to link with not only an appropriate audit and data storage system, either located in the casino itself or managed remotely by a casino operator and/or regulator, but additionally to enable the position of the wheel and the location of the ball to be transmitted essentially instantaneously via a communications network to players remote from the physical location of the wheel itself.
  • the details of each "play" may be continuously monitored and appropriate details recorded for audit purposes.
  • the sensors located in the housing at spaced positions round the annular ball track may provide signals which indicate the direction of rotation of the ball in the track as well as essentially counting the number of times the ball rotates in the track before it falls downwardly on to the rotating wheel. If the number of laps traversed by the ball is insufficient for the play to be a valid one under local regulations, that play can be instantaneously aborted and, by using appropriate visual or audio-visual signalling means, the croupier and the players may be alerted to this fact. Also, the decision as to when to cut off the betting may be automatically generated and signalled to those at the table as well as to remote players.
  • the length of time between the ball leaving the track and coming to rest in one of the pockets in the rotating wheel may likewise be monitored and, as soon as the ball has come to rest in one of the pockets, it is possible very rapidly to determine which pocket it is since, sooner or later, that pocket will travel past e.g. an emitter/sensor unit located below it or a sensor mounted on a ring above the track, and a signal representative of a ball being present may be combined with a signal derived from the coding disc to enable the electronics to identify the number associated with the pocket and display it or (using standard voice synthesis technology) announce it.
  • the invention may be applied to roulette wheels which are purely hand-spun and to those driven in continuous rotation.
  • Figure 1 is a part broken away general perspective view of a roulette wheel in accordance with the present invention
  • Figure 2 is a diagrammatic illustration relating to the detection of the presence of a ball
  • Figure 3 is a diagrammatic representation of a modular sensor unit for installation below the rotating wheel portion in the housing of the roulette wheel
  • Figure 4 is a diagrammatic representation of a sensor ring
  • Figure 5 is a diagrammatic vertical partial section through the wall of a roulette wheel showing how the ring of Figure 4 is mounted thereon.
  • a particular embodiment of a roulette wheel according to the invention illustrated in the drawings consists of a rotatable wheel 1 set in a generally cylindrical outer casing 2.
  • the wheel itself is mounted on a central bearing assembly generally indicated at 3 and has an upwardly projecting vertical stub shaft 5 which may be twisted to rotate the wheel 1 about a vertical axis.
  • the mass, and accordingly the inertia of the wheel when rotating, are substantial so that, once set in rotation, the wheel will continue to rotate, in whichever direction it is spun, for some time before gradually slowing down.
  • the upper surface of the wheel consists of an inner generally frusto-conical surface 6 which extends from the base of the stub shaft 5 downwards to a ring of pockets 7.
  • a marked annular frusto-conical section 10 which bears the numbers 1 to 36, 0 and, if appropriate, 00 in conventional fashion, displayed in red and black as is traditional.
  • a sloping frusto-conical surface 12 Surrounding the outer rim of the wheel 1 is a sloping frusto-conical surface 12 having a series of raised lozenge-shaped bumps formed in it or set on to it, these being denoted 14 in the drawing and being arranged to interfere with the direction of travel of the ball which passes across surface 12 when a "play" of roulette is carried out.
  • Surface 12 merges into an annular ring surface 16 which, in cross-section in a vertical plane, is concave and shaped so that if a roulette ball is projected in a direction substantially tangential to but slightly spaced from the edge of the rotating wheel, it then is forced to roll around against the surface 16, held against that surface by centrifugal force so long as its speed is sufficient.
  • the ball drops towards the surface 12 rolling as it does so, usually then impacting on one or more of the raised areas 14 and eventually rolling across surface 10 and into one of the pockets 7. It may do so without venturing on to the frusto-conical surface 6, but sometimes the momentum possessed by the ball is sufficient that it initially jumps the ring of pockets 7 and then rolls back down from surface 6 to lodge, sooner or later, in one of the pockets 7.
  • each pocket 7 is made of transparent material.
  • transparent material By this is not necessarily meant a material which, to the human eye, looks transparent, but rather one which is transparent to light type radiation from an appropriate source, in particular transparent to infrared radiation.
  • the base of each pocket may be made to look exactly like the normal base of a conventional roulette wheel, but nevertheless be transparent to radiation which may be reflected from a ball, if there is one in the pocket.
  • sensor support plates 25 Located at three equally angularly spaced positions about the axis of rotation of the wheel, and underneath the wheel in the casing 2, are three generally wedge-shaped sensor support plates 25. These contain various sensors, the operation of which will be described below. In particular, radially inner sensors may detect markings on the undersurface of a disc 26 which is fixed to the underside of the rotatable wheels 1. Turning now to the sensor support plates 25, one of these is illustrated in an enlarged scale, diagrammatically, and not installed in the roulette wheel itself, in Figure 3.
  • Emitter 30 is configured to emit light of a given wavelength, most preferably infrared, while the sensor 31 is sensitive to such radiation.
  • Angularly spaced from emitter 30 and sensor 31 is a second emitter/sensor pair 30', 31 '.
  • Diagrammatically indicated in Figure 3 is the location of the generally trapezoidal-shaped base of one of the pockets 7, denoted 33 in Figure 3. Additionally to that, the position of a ball in such a pocket is indicated at 34.
  • FIG. 2 This essentially shows a vertical section through the floor of one of the pockets 7 which, as illustrated, consists of a thin sheet of acrylic plastics material denoted 40.
  • the emitter 30 or 30' is a conventional packaged component which is arranged to emit a beam of infrared radiation in a specific direction and this emitted beam is denoted 41 in Figure 2.
  • the surface of a roulette ball is conventionally highly polished metal and this constitutes a good mirror reflective surface so that, instead of an emergent beam 42, a reflected beam 45 travels back from the ball through the acrylic sheet 40.
  • a reflected beam 45 travels back from the ball through the acrylic sheet 40.
  • there are minor reflective losses denoted 46 which, from obvious geometrical considerations, are directed oppositely to the stray reflection beams 43, but, as can be seen, the reflected beam 45 is pointing back at the location of the emitter and accordingly if the emitter 30, 30' is placed adjacent the respective sensor 31 , 31', then the sensor will pick up the reflected beam 45 and the processing electronics connected to the sensor can then interpret the reflection as indicating the presence of a ball.
  • infrared radiation emitters and detectors are convenient not least because the radiation they emit is invisible to the human eye and accordingly, combined with the fact that the sheet 40 may be non- transparent to optical wavelengths means that the detection is completely invisible, i.e. the roulette wheel looks just as it does normally.
  • background noise in particular from lighting apparatus, for example, in the context of the present invention, the high-powered down lighters which conventionally illuminate the playing area of a roulette table and, more particularly, the wheel, so that everyone can see what is going on.
  • the signals from emitter/sensor combination 30, 31 and emitter/sensor combination 30, 31' may be compared.
  • the signal resulting from reflection from the ball 34 may be identified, so substantially increasing the reliability of proper detection, and this may be further increased by providing, as shown in Figure 1 , more than one sensor support plate and arranging the software to delay the announcement of which pocket the ball has lodged in until, for example, the same result has been produced by two successive ball detections.
  • a further feature which may be incorporated into the processing of the signals from the sensors 31 , 31' is to look at the signals only at a point in time when the sensors are "looking at" the underside of the base of each pocket, and correspondingly ignoring the signal when the sensor is pointing at the dividing wall between two adjacent pockets.
  • dividing walls are normally made of metal and can accordingly give rise to substantial spurious reflections of the beam from the respective emitter, so it is best to look at the signals from the sensors only when the dividing walls are out of the way. This may be easily achieved electronically, particularly since the precise angular position of the wheel as it rotates is continuously being detected by the row of sensors 28 and their associated electronics, the sensors reacting to the coded disc on the underside of the rotatable wheel 1.
  • Figures 4 and 5 show an alternative approach to producing a roulette wheel which likewise is adapted for monitoring.
  • the approach shown in Figures 4 and 5 is of particular value where a casino operator wishes to enhance the effect of a given roulette wheel by making its operation available to a wider audience and who separately wishes to be able to monitor the operation of that wheel (and its croupier) appropriately, but who does not wish to invest in original equipment in the form of a new wheel, for example, of the construction described above.
  • the system show in Figures 4 and 5 consists of a ring 50 of rigid material having recesses at a number of spaced angular positions around it each of which receives a sensor block 51 or 52.
  • a sensor block 51 or 52 there are two sensor blocks 51 which are designed to detect the presence of a ball in the pocket, while there are five sensor blocks 52, each of which is configured to enable detection of the passage of a bail rolling in the annular track past the sensor block.
  • the sensor blocks 51 and 52 look in the direction of the track, their field of vision being denoted 55 in Figure 5, or of the pockets at the rim of the rotating wheel member, the field of vision denoted 56 in Figure 5, respectively.
  • Figure 5 is a notional vertical section, both the angle of view of the detectors on detector blocks 51 , denoted 58 and that of the detectors on detector blocks 52 (denoted 59) is shown, even though these are angularly spaced from one another around the ring 50.
  • Signals from the detector blocks 51 and 52 are fed out through a suitable signal lead 60 and connected to an appropriate signal processing device, for example an appropriately programmed computer.
  • the ring 50 sits on top of the heavy roulette wheel base 62 and is covered by an annular covering 64.
  • the ring 64 may have an entirely plain upper surface, or, for example, bear an appropriate decorative pattern but, in either event, it simply looks like the top rim of the housing which contains the rotating wheel.
  • the sensors may rely on reflections from the ball as it passes at wavelengths which are not visible to the human eye, and accordingly their operation cannot be seen.
  • the overall appearance of the wheel is accordingly that of an entirely traditional roulette wheel.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Multimedia (AREA)
  • Length Measuring Devices By Optical Means (AREA)
  • Toys (AREA)

Abstract

La présente invention concerne des améliorations pour des roues de roulettes. L'invention concerne des capteurs (20) situés autour du bord supérieur interne du logement entourant la partie rotative du moniteur de roue, le passage de la boule de roulette avant qu'elle ne tombe sur la roue pivotante. Séparément, la position de la balle est captée une fois qu'elle est tombée dans une poche. Les bases des poches (7) dans la partie de roue pivotante (1) peuvent être transparentes aux radiations, permettant la détection d'une balle de roulette lorsqu'elle s'est logée dans l'une des poches (7) et, via un codage positionnel de la partie rotative de la roue (26), le nombre associé à la poche dans laquelle la balle est venue reposer, à savoir le numéro gagnant pour ce jeu, peut être automatiquement détecté, puis affiché, permettant aux roues équipées de capteurs de paraître identiques à une roue traditionnelle mais d'être utilisées dans des jeux de roulette où certains au moins des joueurs sont éloignés de la roue elle-même.
PCT/GB2007/000103 2006-01-13 2007-01-15 Roues de roulettes WO2007080421A1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB0600684A GB2434108A (en) 2006-01-13 2006-01-13 Roulette wheels
GB0600684.5 2006-01-13

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO2007080421A1 true WO2007080421A1 (fr) 2007-07-19
WO2007080421B1 WO2007080421B1 (fr) 2007-09-13

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Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/GB2007/000103 WO2007080421A1 (fr) 2006-01-13 2007-01-15 Roues de roulettes

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GB (1) GB2434108A (fr)
WO (1) WO2007080421A1 (fr)

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US7708630B2 (en) 2005-12-09 2010-05-04 Igt Rotor-based gaming device having a system for changing the quantity of potential game outcomes for subsequent plays
US9911281B2 (en) 2005-12-09 2018-03-06 Igt Rotor-based gaming device having a secondary award system

Families Citing this family (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US6890255B2 (en) 2001-12-17 2005-05-10 Igt Multiple wheel roulette game
US8562419B2 (en) 2011-06-30 2013-10-22 Igt Gaming system, device, and method providing a multiple streak game
GB2591754A (en) * 2020-02-04 2021-08-11 Tcs John Huxley Europe Ltd Gaming table monitoring apparatus

Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0046306A1 (fr) * 1980-08-19 1982-02-24 Perner, Erich Jeu de roulette
US4396193A (en) * 1981-05-18 1983-08-02 Imagineering, Inc. Roulette wheel directional sensing apparatus
EP0160157A2 (fr) * 1984-05-02 1985-11-06 Mario Herzenberger Structure de roulette électronique
WO2001032278A1 (fr) * 1999-11-05 2001-05-10 Richard William Cammegh Roulette amelioree
GB2395139A (en) * 2002-11-11 2004-05-19 Donald William Bursill Roulette-based gaming apparatus

Family Cites Families (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JPS58143781A (ja) * 1982-02-22 1983-08-26 パシフイツク工業株式会社 ル−レツト遊戯装置
GB8500135D0 (en) * 1985-01-04 1985-02-13 Mcnally G Automatic roulette apparatus
US5588650A (en) * 1995-07-19 1996-12-31 Eman; Richard G. Automated interactive roulette with progressive jackpot
DE20320888U1 (de) * 2003-10-17 2005-05-12 Klaus, Willi Überwachungseinrichtung für Kugeln von Rollballspielen
JP4225928B2 (ja) * 2004-01-29 2009-02-18 株式会社タイトー ルーレットゲーム機におけるボールの加速減速機構

Patent Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0046306A1 (fr) * 1980-08-19 1982-02-24 Perner, Erich Jeu de roulette
US4396193A (en) * 1981-05-18 1983-08-02 Imagineering, Inc. Roulette wheel directional sensing apparatus
EP0160157A2 (fr) * 1984-05-02 1985-11-06 Mario Herzenberger Structure de roulette électronique
WO2001032278A1 (fr) * 1999-11-05 2001-05-10 Richard William Cammegh Roulette amelioree
GB2395139A (en) * 2002-11-11 2004-05-19 Donald William Bursill Roulette-based gaming apparatus

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US7708630B2 (en) 2005-12-09 2010-05-04 Igt Rotor-based gaming device having a system for changing the quantity of potential game outcomes for subsequent plays
US9911281B2 (en) 2005-12-09 2018-03-06 Igt Rotor-based gaming device having a secondary award system

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
GB0600684D0 (en) 2006-02-22
GB2434108A (en) 2007-07-18
WO2007080421B1 (fr) 2007-09-13

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