U.S. patent number RE35,188 [Application Number 08/328,900] was granted by the patent office on 1996-03-26 for gaming and amusement machines and reels for them.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Bell-Fruit Manufacturing Company Limited. Invention is credited to Terence Howard.
United States Patent |
RE35,188 |
Howard |
March 26, 1996 |
Gaming and amusement machines and reels for them
Abstract
In a reel for a fruit machine, a reel has standard symbols or
fruit, on which secondary symbols, for example, numbers, are
superimposed. The reel has a first, inner strip on which the
standard symbols appear, the strip being carried by a reel drum.
The secondary symbols appear on a second, outer strip glued to the
first strip. The second strip is mostly transparent so that the
standard symbols may be viewed with the secondary symbols
superimposed on them.
Inventors: |
Howard; Terence (Nottingham,
GB2) |
Assignee: |
Bell-Fruit Manufacturing Company
Limited (Nottingham, GB2)
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Family
ID: |
10661554 |
Appl.
No.: |
08/328,900 |
Filed: |
October 25, 1994 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
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Reissue of: |
833855 |
Feb 11, 1992 |
05228693 |
Jul 20, 1993 |
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Foreign Application Priority Data
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Aug 10, 1990 [GB] |
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8918448 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
273/143R |
Current CPC
Class: |
G07F
17/3211 (20130101); G07F 17/3213 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
G07F
17/34 (20060101); G07F 17/32 (20060101); G07F
017/34 () |
Field of
Search: |
;273/143R,138A |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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0142370 |
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May 1985 |
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EP |
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0317123 |
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May 1989 |
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EP |
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2921159 |
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Apr 1980 |
|
DE |
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412289 |
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Jun 1934 |
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GB |
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1233081 |
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May 1971 |
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GB |
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1488658 |
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Oct 1977 |
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GB |
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2092795 |
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Aug 1982 |
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GB |
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2165074 |
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Apr 1986 |
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GB |
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2165387 |
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Apr 1986 |
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GB |
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2183883 |
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Jun 1987 |
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GB |
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Primary Examiner: Layno; Benjamin H.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Christensen O'Connor Johnson &
Kindness
Claims
I claim:
1. A reel for a gaming or amusement machine comprising a first reel
strip, a second reel strip, and a support structure, said support
structure supporting said first reel strip and said second reel
strip in a curved configuration, said second reel strip overlies
said first reel strip and said first reel strip and said second
reel strip being provided with indicia or symbols, wherein the
symbols on said first and second reel strips are superimposed said
first reel strip and said second reel strip are fixed in position
relative to one another on said support structure, wherein the
symbols on said first reel strip and the symbols on said second
reel strip remain in a fixed superimposed position relative to one
another at all times.
2. A reel according to claim 1, wherein said first reel strip has
profiled symbols formed in or on it in three dimensions.
3. A reel according to claim 1, wherein said first reel strip has a
uniformly smooth surface and has said symbols printed upon it.
4. A reel according to claim 1, wherein said first and said second
reel strips are secured to each other.
5. A reel according to claim 1, wherein said second reel strip is
transparent except for its symbols or indicia, and in that all of
said symbols or indicia of said first strip can be identified
despite the presence of said indicia or symbols of said second
strip.
6. A reel strip for use in forming a reel in accordance with claim
1, said reel strip being generally transparent but carrying symbols
or indicia and being adapted to be applied over or alongside an
existing reel or reel strip.
7. A gaming or amusement machine which includes a reel in
accordance with claim 1.
8. A method of forming a reel for gaming or amusement machines
comprising taking a reel strip in accordance with claim .[.9.].
.Iadd.1 .Iaddend.and applying it to a reel.
9. A reel for a gaming or amusement machine comprising a first reel
strip, a second reel strip, and a support structure, said support
structure supporting said first reel strip and said second reel
strip in a curved configuration, said first reel strip and said
second reel strip being provided with indicia or symbols, wherein
the arrangement is such that at at least one angular position of
said reel said first reel strip and said second reel strip each
have indicia, one of said indicia on said second reel strip being
superimposed upon one of said indicia on said first reel strip at
said one angular position and said superimposed symbols being
simultaneously visible at all times when registered with a viewing
window of said amusement or gaming machine.
10. A reel for a gaming or amusement machine comprising a first
reel strip, a second reel strip, and a support structure, said
support structure supporting said first reel strip and said second
reel strip in a curved configuration, said first reel strip and
said second reel strip being provided with indicia or symbols,
wherein said second reel strip overlies said first reel strip, said
second reel strip is generally transparent and the arrangement is
such that at at least one angular position of said reel said first
reel strip and said second reel strip each have indicia, at least
some of said indicia on said first reel strip being visible through
said second reel strip.
11. A reel for a gaming or amusement machine comprising a first
reel strip, a second reel strip, and a support structure, said
support structure supporting said first reel strip and said second
reel strip in a curved configuration, said second reel strip
overlies said first reel strip and said first reel strip and said
second reel strip being provided with indicia or symbols, wherein
the symbols on said first and second reel strips are preimposed and
said first reel strip and said second reel strip are fixed in
position relative to one another, wherein the symbols on said first
reel strip and the symbols on said second reel strip remain in a
fixed superimposed position relative to one another at all times
said first reel strip is provided with sunken regions, said indicia
or symbols being provided in said sunken regions.
12. A two layer reel strip for use in a reel or a gaming or
amusement machine comprising a first reel strip and a second reel
strip, said second reel strip being positioned above said first
reel strip, said first and said second reel strip being provided
with indicia or symbols, wherein said first reel strip and said
second reel strip are fixed relative to one another wherein the
symbols on said first reel strip and the symbols on said second
reel strip remain in a fixed superimposed position relative to one
another at all times.
Description
.Iadd.This application is a continuation of prior copending
international PCT Application No. PCT/GB/01257, filed on Aug. 10,
1990, the benefit of the filing date which is hereby claimed under
35 U.S.C. .sctn.120. .Iaddend.
This invention relates to gaming and amusement machines and in
particular to those commonly known as fruit machines. In such
machines a number of reels, usually three or four, carrying symbols
on their peripheries are spun and then stopped at random. If they
come to a halt with any one of a number of selected combinations of
symbols on a so-called `win line`, an award is made or other
equivalent benefit is obtained. Such a machine will hereinafter be
referred to as of the kind set forth.
Traditionally thee reels have been mechanical, rotating side by
side on a common axis and with the symbols carried on their
peripheral cylindrical surfaces. This is almost universal although
in certain countries, e.g. Germany, the reels are sometimes in the
form of flat discs with the symbols arranged in a ring on one face.
Even an arrangement involving each reel being in the form of a
frustum of a cone, with the peripheries lying in a common conical
surface, is known.
Attempts have been made to get away from the simple printed
representation of the symbols, usually fruit such as plums,
cherries, oranges and so on, and it has been proposed to project
the symbols optically in turn onto a flat translucent screen, the
so-called Panascope system. We have ourselves proposed to use a
video screen on which an electrically generated image of the
rotating reels is displayed. However these alternatives lack the
contrast and brightness of a colour-printed two-dimensional picture
of the symbol and so there has lately been a reversion to the
mechanical reels with the symbols on their peripheries.
There are many times in which minor variations upon the standard
symbols appearing on the reels are needed. It is, for instance,
common practice to include elements of more than one game feature
at concurrent positions of the reel-strip; for example, a plum may
be over printed with the number "1". Printing elements for of these
occurrences could be made up, but this would be potentially costly
and inconvenient, as for example shown above, the next appearance
of a plum may not need any overprinting, the next a "2" etc.
Advantage cannot therefore be taken of the fact that the standard
background symbol in the cases outlined is a plum as individual
printing elements for each variation would need to be made.
According to a first aspect the invention consists in a reel for a
gaming or amusement machine comprising a first reel-strip, a second
reel-strip, and support means supporting the strips in a curved
configuration, the first and second strips extending around the
support means and each carrying indicia, or symbols, the
arrangement being such that at .[.at.]. least one angular position
of the reel the first and second strips each have indicia,
.[.characterised.]. .Iadd.characterized .Iaddend.in that the
indicia of the first strip and the indicia of the second strip can
both be seen simultaneously at all times when they are registered
with a viewing window of a gaming or amusement machine.
Preferably the second strip is generally transparent, but carries
its indicia and the second strip overlies the first strip such that
at least some of the indicia of the first strip are at least
partially visible through the second strip. At least one of the
indicia or symbols of the second strip may be superimposed upon at
least one of the indicia or symbols of the first strip.
Preferably the first strip has a uniformly smooth surface and has
the symbols printed upon it; that is to the first surface is flat
or smoothly curved.
The first and second strips may be secured together.
Preferably the first strip has sunken regions in which symbols or
indicia are provided. The first strip may have profiled symbols
formed in or on it in three dimensions. The second strip may be
transparent except for its symbols or indicia, and all of the
symbols or indicia of the first strip may be identifiable despite
the presence of the indicia or symbols of the second strip.
According to a second aspect the invention consists in a reel-strip
which is generally transparent but which carries symbols or indicia
and is adapted to be applied over or alongside an existing reel or
reel-strips so as to form a reel in accordance with the first
aspect of the invention.
According to a third aspect the invention consists in a two-layer
reel-strip for use in a reel of a gaming or amusement machine
comprising a first lower strip bearing symbols or indicia and a
second, upper, strip which is largely transparent but which also
carries indicia or symbols, .[.characterised.]. .Iadd.characterized
.Iaddend.in that the indicia or symbols of the first and second
strips are visible simultaneously by means of the same light
source.
According to a fourth aspect the invention consists in a gaming or
amusement machine .[.characterised.]. .Iadd.characterized
.Iaddend.in that it includes a reel in accordance with the first
aspect of the invention, or a reel-strip in accordance with the
third aspect of the invention.
According to a fifth aspect the invention consists in method of
forming a reel for gaming and amusement machines comprising taking
a reel-strip in accordance with the second or third aspects of the
invention and applying it to a reel.
It will be .[.been.]. .Iadd.seen .Iaddend.that in order to provide
a variation in superimposed symbols it is only necessary to change
the positions and style of the secondary symbols printed on the
second strip. This is much simpler and involves far less work than
forming the secondary symbols integrally with the standard symbols.
It is only necessary to provide a former for each of the standard
symbols and each of the secondary symbols in order that all
possible combinations may be obtained.
An embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by
way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in
which:
FIG. 1 is a sketch view showing in profile a known type of
reel-strip attached to a reel drum of a fruit machine;
FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of a curved reel-strip suitable for
use in accordance with the invention;
FIG. 3 is a front view of the reel-strip of FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is a side sectional view of the strip of FIGS. 2 and 3 in
flat form;
FIG. 5 is a front view of a support element for the reel-strip of
FIGS. 2 to 4;
FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing a reel-strip suitable for use
with the invention mounted on the support element of FIG. 5;
FIG. 7 shows a reel-strip in accordance with the invention in a
flat configuration;
FIG. 8 shows a reel-strip of FIG. 7 in its configuration of
use;
FIG. 9 shows a numbered strip for use in combination with the
reel-strip of FIGS. 2 to 4, FIG. 6, and FIGS. 7 and 8; and
FIG. 10 shows a schematic side view of part of a reel in accordance
with the invention.
FIG. 1 shows a known type of reel-strip having embossed symbols 2
formed in relief which stand out from the surface of the strip. The
strip 1 is attached to the outer periphery of a conventional reel
drum 3. The strip with embossed symbols 2 of this form, however,
suffers from the disadvantage that the reel-strip material deforms
under the embossing process and consequently the reel-strip does
not fit very well onto the reel drum and there is a risk of fouling
during rotation.
The reel-strip shown in FIGS. 2 to 4 may be formed from thin
plastics sheet material and has raised sections 4 and a plurality
of symbols 5 formed in relief surrounded by sunken surrounding
regions 6. As shown in FIG. 4 the reel-strip may initially be made
in flat form before it takes up its curved position in use as part
of a fruit machine reel. In its flat form the borders 7 of the
reel-strip may bulge slightly above the raised sections 4 but in
its curved form (FIG. 2) they will normally have the same radius
from the centre of the reel as the raised sections 4 between the
symbols 5 and their surrounding sunken regions 6.
It will be appreciated that the symbols 5 have a maximum height
above their surrounding regions 6 such that when the strip forms at
least part of a reel assembly, the radius of the outermost surface
of the fruit symbols 5 does not exceed the rotational radius of the
front of the reel constituted by the raised sections 4 and the
borders 7 of the strip.
Another reel-strip suitable for use in the first aspect of the
invention is shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 FIG. 7 shows a moulded plastics
reel-strip 20 having adjacent segments 21, 22, 23 and 24 in a flat
configuration. The strip 20 is a vacuum moulded thin plastics
component, each segment comprises a part-cylindrical frame surface
25, a recess 26, a base surface 27 of the recess, side surfaces 28
of the recess, a relief symbol 29 standing proud of the base
surface 27, and two opposed spaced side walls 30. A line of
flexing, or weakness 31 is provided between the adjacent frame
surfaces 25 of adjacent segments.
The symbols 29 project above the respective base surfaces 27 to
.Iadd.the .Iaddend.extent which is not more than the depth of the
recess, thus staying at or below the level of the respective frame
surfaces 29. The symbols 29 may have a substantially flat upper
surface, such as the pound symbol of segment 22, or a dimpled or
profiled surface such as the orange of segment 23.
The side walls 30 are segments of a circle and when the strip 20 is
in use (see FIG. 8) the frame surfaces 25 lie in a common cylinder,
with the side walls 25 being segments of a first or a second circle
(depending upon which side of the segments the walls are
provided).
The reel-strips of FIGS. 2 to 4 and 7 and 8 can be mounted readily
on a support element of skeletal form having ring members 8
connected at regular intervals by transverse cross-members 9 (FIGS.
5 and 6). In this arrangement the sunken surrounding regions 6
which "frame" the symbols 5 can be positively located between the
cross-members 9, thus locating accurately the position of the
symbols on the support element. The support element need have only
one ring provided with transverse support means, and/or could
comprise a dished plate.
FIG. 9 shows a transparent film or strip 50 formed into a ring 51.
The ring 51 is part transparent, but carries numbers 52 indicative
in use of the number of credit points a user obtains when the
number appears in the win line, or lines, of a gaming or amusement
machine. The ring 51 also has an opaque region 53 with a symbol 54
printed on it. An alternative version of the ring has no opaque
region.
In use the ring 51 is applied over a reel of a fruit machine with
the numbers 52 superimposed over selected fruit. Thus the user sees
the number and fruit together, but the manufacture of the reel is
made easier since all the fruit of one kind ran be identical
without having to take into account what "bonus" or credit point
value they will have to display.
The ring 51 is applied in use over reels using any of the
reel-strips shown in FIGS. 1 to 8.
FIG. 10 shows a strip similar to that of FIG. 9, but with no opaque
region, applied over the reel-strip of FIGS. 7 and 8, and using a
spider, comprising support means, to hold the strip in a
cylindrical configuration. The spider comprises radial arms 60
connected to a hub 61 and to transverse cross-members 62. The strip
50 is positioned over the strip 20 and secured relative to it (for
example by gluing it, welding it, or by means of complementary
formations) and the combined two layer strip formed into a closed
ring. Alternatively the strip 50 could be formed into a ring and
then applied over the strip 20. There may be no need to provide any
positive location of the ring 81 relative to the strip 20.
A strip similar to strip 50 could of course be used in conjunction
with conventional flat strips or films having fruit printed on
them, with savings in the number of different types of fruit prints
needed.
The number strip could be provided alongside the fruit strip,
instead of one superimposed above the other.
* * * * *