Wide screen gaming apparatus

• US 8,033,902 B2
• Filed: 03/16/2006
• Issued: 10/11/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/28/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Chauncey W. Griswold, William R. Wells
• Original Assignee: Chauncey W. Griswold, William R. Wells
• Inventors: Griswold, Chauncey W., Wells, William R.
• Primary Examiner(s): D'AGOSTINO, PAUL ANTHONY
• Application Number:
  US11/377,070
• Publication Number:
  US 20060160598A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,035 Days
• Field of Search: 463/7, 463/46, 463/30, 463/25, 248/917, 248/919, 248/920, 248/922, 248/923
• US Class Current: 463/7
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3209 Input means, e.g. buttons, touch screen
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3211 Display means
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3213 Details of moving display elements, e.g. spinning reels, tumbling members
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3216 Construction aspects of a gaming system, e.g. housing, seats, ergonomic aspects
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3225 Data transfer within a gaming system, e.g. data sent between gaming machines and users
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3244 Payment aspects of a gaming system, e.g. payment schemes, setting payout ratio, bonus or consolation prizes
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/329 Regular and instant lottery, e.g. electronic scratch cards
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3293 Card games, e.g. poker, canasta, black jack
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/34 depending on the stopping of moving members in a mechanical slot machine, e.g. "fruit" machines

Abstract

A gaming apparatus comprising a display unit capable of generating video images is described. The display unit can be a flat panel display with aspect ratio having a magnitude greater than or equal to 16/10. A wager-based game can be provided on the display unit.

Claims

1. A gaming apparatus, comprising:

a display support structure extending substantially vertically from a horizontal support base;

a display unit capable of generating video images and comprising;

a flat-panel display screen having a width and a height, said width of said flat-panel display screen being larger than said height of said flat-panel display screen, said width of said flat-panel display screen divided by said height of said flat-panel display screen forming an aspect ratio having a magnitude greater than or equal to 16/10, the display unit being attached to the display support structure so as to be non-rotatable about a first axis substantially perpendicular to the display screen and rotatable about a horizontal axis located in a plane substantially parallel to the display screen wherein, a player'"'"'s angle of viewing the display unit may be adjusted by vertical translation of the display unit on the display support structure, over a vertical range of motion, and by rotation of the display unit about the horizontal axis;

a control panel including a plurality of buttons for playing one or more wager-based games, disposed below the display unit, said control panel coupled to said display unit such that both the display unit and the control panel rotate in unison about the horizontal axis;

a value input device;

a controller operatively coupled to said display unit and said value input device, said controller comprising a processor and a memory operatively coupled to said processor, said controller being programmed to allow a player to make a wager, said controller being programmed to generate a video image of a selectable number of the one or more wager-based games to be simultaneously presented on said display unit, and said controller being programmed to determine a value payout associated with an outcome of each said game;

a display interface operatively connected to said controller and said display unit; and

a touchscreen sensor coupled to said display unit and associated with said flat-panel display screen, the controller further being programmed to simultaneously generate on said display unit a playable version of each wager-based game wherein;

a front face of the display structure presents, in a region proximate to the vertical range of motion, a concave side of a curved surface.

2. The gaming apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller is further programmed to generate on the display unit a video image of the wager-based game at a first size on the display unit at a first time and a video image of the wager-based game at a second size at a second time.

3. The gaming apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller is programmed to display, in response to receiving an input signal from the player, multiple instantiations of the one or more wager-based games on the display unit and to receive separate wagers on each of the multiple instantiations of the wager-based game.

4. The gaming apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller is programmed to generate on the display unit, in response to receiving an input signal from the player, different arrangements of images including game images and one or more of pay-table images, bonus game images, input button images or game status images wherein at least one of a location, a size or combinations thereof of the gaming images and the one or more pay-tables images, bonus game images, input button images or game status images differs between the arrangements.

5. The gaming apparatus of claim 1 wherein the display support structure is curved and has a top end, a bottom end, and middle region, wherein the top end and the bottom end are approximately aligned with a line extending vertically from a mid point of the horizontal support base, and a rear-most part of the middle region is approximately aligned with a line extending vertically from a rear-most part of horizontal support base.

6. The gaming apparatus of claim 1 wherein the display unit is attached to the display support structure at a position below a midpoint of the height of the display.