Gaming machine reel alignment

• US 8,998,701 B2
• Filed: 09/14/2012
• Issued: 04/07/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 05/11/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: IGT (International Game Technology)
• Original Assignee: IGT (International Game Technology)
• Inventors: Gowin, Scott Timothy
• Primary Examiner(s): Hylinski, Steven J
• Application Number:
  US13/618,623
• Publication Number:
  US 20130012297A1
• Time in Patent Office: 935 Days
• Field of Search: 463/20, 463/31, 273/143.R
• US Class Current: 463/20
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3202 Hardware aspects of a gaming system, e.g. components, construction, architecture thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3211 Display means
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/34 depending on the stopping of moving members in a mechanical slot machine, e.g. "fruit" machines

Abstract

An electromechanical wager-based gaming machine includes a plurality of reels that are aligned as they are spun so that the reels can be rapidly stopped in response to a player'"'"'s input. One reel is selected as a reference reel and other reels are brought into alignment using feedback from reel position sensors.

Claims

1. A method of controlling a plurality of reels of an electromechanical wager-based gaming machine comprising:

selecting, by a processor of the electromechanical wager-based gaming machine, a reference reel from among the plurality of reels;

determining, by the processor, an offset between the final reel position of the reference reel and the final reel position of each other reel;

spinning the plurality of reels, the reference reel spun according to a predetermined profile, the predetermined profile selected to stop the selected reel at its final position;

sensing positions of each of the plurality of reels during spinning; and

adjusting reel speeds of each of the other reels relative to the reference reel to align the other reels with the reference reel according to their determined offsets from the reference reel.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising stopping the plurality of reels in response to an input from a player while reels are spinning.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the predetermined profile includes delays between pulses used to activate a stepper motor used to spin the reference reel.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the other reels are aligned with the reference reel when their positions relative to the reference reel are equal to their determined offsets plus some additional offsets, the additional offsets providing time delays between reels that stop reels according to a predetermined pattern.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the predetermined pattern is selected by a player from a menu of predetermined patterns.

6. The method of claim 4 wherein the predetermined pattern is automatically selected from a set of predetermined patterns so that a stopping pattern is varied.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein subsequent to the adjusting of the reel speeds, the reels are spun for a period of time with the reels aligned according to their determined offsets from the reference reel.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising indicating, using one or more visual indicators, when the other reels are aligned with the reference reel.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising indicating, for each other reel and using a visual indicator specific to each other reel, when the other reel is aligned with the reference reel.

10. An electromechanical wager-based gaming machine comprising:

a plurality of reels, including a reference reel and subordinate reels, that are rotated by a plurality of motors;

a plurality of sensors that sense positions of the reels as the reels are rotated; and

a motor control system that is configured to receive inputs from the plurality of sensors and provide outputs that control the plurality of motors to align the subordinate reels with the reference reel by adjusting speeds of the subordinate reels according to positional differences between the subordinate reels and the reference reel indicated by the plurality of position sensors.

11. The electromechanical wager-based gaming machine of claim 10 further comprising a player input device in communication with the motor control system, the motor control system stopping the plurality of reels in response to a player input from the player input device.

12. The electromechanical wager-based gaming machine of claim 11 wherein the plurality of reels are stopped in a predetermined pattern.

13. The electromechanical wager-based gaming machine of claim 10 further comprising a memory that is connected to the motor control system, the memory storing the predetermined pattern and alternative stopping patterns.

14. The electromechanical wager-based gaming machine of claim 10 further comprising a plurality of indicators, one indicator for each of the plurality of reels, each indicator indicating whether a corresponding reel is aligned with the reference reel.

15. The electromechanical wager-based gaming machine of claim 10 further comprising instructions on a computer readable storage medium which, when executed, select the reference reel.

16. The electromechanical wager-based gaming machine of claim 15 wherein the reference reel is selected to minimize alignment required to align subordinate reels.

17. A method of controlling a plurality of reels of an electromechanical wager-based gaming machine comprising:

receiving an outcome for a reel-based game of chance;

selecting, by a processor of the electromechanical wager-based gaming machine, a reference reel from among the plurality of reels;

determining, by the processor, an offset, based on the outcome, between the final rotational position of the reference reel and the final rotational position of each other reel;

spinning the plurality of reels, the reference reel spun according to a predetermined profile, the predetermined profile selected to stop the reference reel at the final rotational position of the reference reel;

sensing positions of each of the plurality of reels during spinning; and

adjusting reel speeds of each of the other reels relative to the reference reel to rotationally align the other reels with the reference reel such that each other reel'"'"'s rotational position relative to the rotational position of the reference reel after alignment is equal to the determined offset for the other reel plus an additional offset, the additional offsets providing a time delay between when the reference reel stops and when the other reel stops, wherein the time delays result in the reels stopping in a predetermined pattern and according to the outcome.

18. The method of claim 17 further comprising stopping the plurality of reels in response to an input from a player while reels are spinning.

19. The method of claim 17 wherein the predetermined pattern is selected by a player from a menu of predetermined patterns.

20. The method of claim 17 wherein, subsequent to the adjusting reel speeds, the reels are spun for a period of time with the reels aligned according to their determined offsets from the reference reel plus their respective additional offsets.