Flexibly configurable button panels for gaming machines
First Claim
1. A gaming machine adapted for accepting a wager, playing a game based on the wager and granting a payout based on the result of the game, comprising:
- an exterior housing arranged to contain a plurality of internal gaming machine components therein;
a master gaming controller in communication with at least one of said plurality of internal gaming machine components and adapted to execute or control one or more aspects of said wager based game; and
a flexibly configurable button panel in direct or indirect communication with said master gaming controller and adapted to provide a plurality of input buttons that can be arranged into multiple distinct button panel configurations, said flexibly configurable button panel including;
a flexible cable having a plurality of separate printed circuit lines running therethrough,a plurality of cable connectors spaced along and coupled to said flexible cable, wherein each of said plurality of cable connectors comprises a unique address along said flexible cable, and wherein each of said plurality of cable connectors is adapted to provide electrical access to at least a portion of said plurality of separate printed circuit lines, anda plurality of button assemblies coupled to said flexible cable via at least a portion of said plurality of cable connectors such that each of said plurality of button assemblies is provided electrical access to at least a portion of said plurality of separate printed circuit lines, wherein the relative physical locations of said plurality of button assemblies with respect to each other are substantially reconfigurable to form different button panel configurations while said plurality of button assemblies remain coupled to said flexible cable via said respective portion of cable connectors.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Flexibly configurable button panels for electronic devices and dynamic display systems for wager based gaming machines are disclosed. Button panels include a flexible cable, surface mount or other cable connectors spaced along and coupled thereto, and button assemblies coupled thereto via the cable connectors to provide electrical access from buttons to circuit lines. Relative physical locations of buttons are then reconfigurable to form different button panel configurations while the buttons remain coupled to the flexible cable. A dedicated dynamic button panel controller for processing button functions and a button panel identification device having an identification code can also be provided. Buttons can be removably coupled to the cable connectors, and can also include dynamic displays thereupon. Other gaming machine dynamic displays can also be provided. Separate dynamic display controllers can be provided to control dynamic displays directly to alleviate processing burdens on the master gaming controller.
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. A gaming machine adapted for accepting a wager, playing a game based on the wager and granting a payout based on the result of the game, comprising:
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an exterior housing arranged to contain a plurality of internal gaming machine components therein; a master gaming controller in communication with at least one of said plurality of internal gaming machine components and adapted to execute or control one or more aspects of said wager based game; and a flexibly configurable button panel in direct or indirect communication with said master gaming controller and adapted to provide a plurality of input buttons that can be arranged into multiple distinct button panel configurations, said flexibly configurable button panel including; a flexible cable having a plurality of separate printed circuit lines running therethrough, a plurality of cable connectors spaced along and coupled to said flexible cable, wherein each of said plurality of cable connectors comprises a unique address along said flexible cable, and wherein each of said plurality of cable connectors is adapted to provide electrical access to at least a portion of said plurality of separate printed circuit lines, and a plurality of button assemblies coupled to said flexible cable via at least a portion of said plurality of cable connectors such that each of said plurality of button assemblies is provided electrical access to at least a portion of said plurality of separate printed circuit lines, wherein the relative physical locations of said plurality of button assemblies with respect to each other are substantially reconfigurable to form different button panel configurations while said plurality of button assemblies remain coupled to said flexible cable via said respective portion of cable connectors. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A flexibly configurable button panel adapted to provide a plurality of input buttons that can be arranged into multiple distinct button panel configurations for an associated electronic device, said flexibly configurable button panel comprising:
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a flexible cable having a plurality of separate circuit lines running therethrough; a plurality of cable connectors spaced along and coupled to said flexible cable, wherein each of said plurality of cable connectors is adapted to provide electrical access to at least a portion of said plurality of separate circuit lines; and a plurality of button assemblies coupled to said flexible cable via at least a portion of said plurality of cable connectors such that each of said plurality of button assemblies is provided electrical access to at least a portion of said plurality of separate circuit lines, wherein the relative physical locations of said plurality of button assemblies with respect to each other are substantially reconfigurable to form different button panel configurations while said plurality of button assemblies remain coupled to said flexible cable via said respective portion of cable connectors. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A method of manufacturing an electronic device having user input buttons, comprising:
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selecting a flexibly configurable button panel having a flexible cable with a plurality of separate circuit lines running therethrough, a plurality of cable connectors spaced along and coupled to said flexible cable, wherein each of said plurality of cable connectors is adapted to provide electrical access to at least a portion of said plurality of separate circuit lines, and a plurality of button assemblies coupled to said flexible cable via at least a portion of said plurality of cable connectors such that each of said plurality of button assemblies is provided electrical access to at least a portion of said plurality of separate circuit lines; electrically coupling said flexibly configurable button panel to a processing unit associated with said electronic device, said processing unit being adapted to process input from said plurality of button assemblies; and arranging the relative physical locations of said plurality of button assemblies with respect to each other to form a specific button panel configuration in accordance with a pre-designed button panel configuration for said electronic device while said plurality of button assemblies remain coupled to said flexible cable via said respective portion of cable connectors. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28)
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Specification