Abstract:
A gaming table includes graphene ink enabled electronic features such as conductors, light or sound emitters, light detectors, touch or object detectors or displays. Conductive graphene ink may be printed on a gaming table fabric or felt which forms a playing surface of the gaming table. The graphene ink enabled electronic features may be coupled to or controlled by one or more controllers and be integrated into associated gaming systems. The graphene ink enabled features may replace large, expensive individual electronic components which must be assembled to implement functionality at a gaming table or other gaming device.

Description:
PRIOR APPLICATION DATA 
       [0001]    This application is a continuation of, claims priority to and the benefit of PCT Application No. PCT/IB2015/000927 which was published as WO 2015/189686 on Dec. 17, 2015 and claims priority to and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/011,722 filed Jun. 13, 2014. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention relates to gaming devices such as gaming tables. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    Gaming tables are utilized to implement a variety of games, including wagering games. These games may include, but are not limited to poker, baccarat and other games. 
         [0004]    Originally, gaming tables were purely mechanical. The tables included a playing surface upon which cards, chips or the like could be placed. Cards were dealt manually and chips wagered and collected manually. 
         [0005]    Recently, electronic gaming tables have been developed. These gaming tables incorporate one or more electronic features. The electronic features might comprise, for example, LED or LCD displays, lights or other electrically powered elements. The displays, lights or other features are built into the structure of the gaming machine, so as to be supported and/or protected by the structure of the table. These tables, however, are very expensive to manufacture and operate owing to the complexity of integrating the different electronic components into the table. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    Aspects of the invention comprise gaming devices and methods of creating/manufacturing gaming devices, and methods of using such devices. 
         [0007]    In one embodiment, a gaming table includes graphene ink enabled electronic features such as conductors, light or sound emitters, light detectors, touch or object detectors or displays. Conductive graphene ink may be printed on a gaming table fabric or felt which forms a playing surface of the gaming table. The graphene ink enabled electronic features may be coupled to or controlled by one or more controllers and be integrated into associated gaming systems. The graphene ink enabled features may replace larger, more expensive individual electronic components which must be assembled to implement functionality at a gaming table or other gaming device. 
         [0008]    Further objects, features, and advantages of the present invention over the prior art will become apparent from the detailed description of the drawings which follows, when considered with the attached figures. 
     
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0009]      FIG. 1  illustrates a gaming system in accordance with an embodiment of the invention, the gaming system including at least one gaming table in accordance with the present invention; and 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  illustrates the application of graphene ink via a printing device to a fabric or felt covering for a gaming table. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0011]    In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a more thorough description of the present invention. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known features have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the invention. 
         [0012]    One embodiment of the invention comprises gaming devices having grapheme ink enabled electronic features. In one embodiment, a gaming table includes a playing surface having electronic features which are enabled via grapheme ink. 
         [0013]    One embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 1  illustrates one embodiment of a gaming device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the gaming device comprises a gaming table  20 . The gaming table  20  may have a variety of configurations, including a variety of shapes, sizes and constructions. In one embodiment, the gaming table  20  defines at least one elevated playing surface  22 . The playing surface  22  may be supported, for example, by a support structure which includes one or more legs or other supports. 
         [0014]    In one embodiment, the playing surface  22  is generally planar. However, the playing surface  22  could have raised and/or depressed areas. The playing surface  22  may be defined or covered by a fabric, such as felt or similar material. 
         [0015]    The gaming table  20  may define or include one or more player areas and one or more dealer areas. For example, the gaming table  20  might have a first side  24  corresponding to a dealer area and a second side  26  corresponding to one or more player areas. Various information and/or features may be associated with the dealer and player areas. 
         [0016]    In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, one or more of the features of the gaming table  20  are enabled or implemented by conductive ink or similar material, and most preferably conductive graphene ink. In a preferred embodiment, conductive graphene ink is used to create or define electrically conductive pathways or electronic components. 
         [0017]    For example, graphene ink may be used to: 
         [0018]    (1) define an electrically conductive pathway, such as to transmit electricity or electronic signals from one location to another, including between devices; 
         [0019]    (2) detect light; 
         [0020]    (3) emit light; 
         [0021]    (4) emit sound; 
         [0022]    (5) detect one or more objects; 
         [0023]    (6) detect touch by a user; 
         [0024]    (7) change the appearance of the playing surface (including via color, markings, 3-D texture, shape, etc.); 
         [0025]    (8) be used as a display to display static or moving picture (video) information; and/or 
         [0026]    (9) implement other features. 
         [0027]    In one embodiment, graphene ink may be applied to or associated with the playing surface  22 . For example, referring to  FIG. 2 , in one embodiment, graphene ink  201  may be applied to a felt  100  (or other fabric or material) which is associated with the gaming table  20  and forms the playing surface  22 . As one example, the graphene ink  102  may be applied via a printer  104  or by other devices or methods, to the felt  100 . In a preferred embodiment, the graphene ink is applied in a thin film or layer. The felt  100 , or at least the graphene ink areas, may be covered (such as by a protective film) in order to protect them from damage and wear. Because these electronic features are created by printing or deposition, they are referred to herein as “printed” electronic features (of course, graphene ink may be applied in other manners, so the term “printed” electronic features is not intended to be limiting, but is only used for convenience). Of course, the ink (and thus the features created thereby) could be applied to other materials comprising the playing surface  22  (such as glass, polymer films, or other coating which may be applied on or over a supporting substrate, such as a wood supporting surface, or even directly to the supporting substrate or surface itself). 
         [0028]    The gaming table  20  may include various printed electronic features or components. For example, as illustrated in  FIG. 1 , graphene ink might be applied to the playing surface  22  to define a progressive wager area  28 , an ante wager area  30 , a bet wager area  32 , and a game display  34  relative to each player location, among other features. In one embodiment, the graphene ink may be used to provide an illuminated border which defines each of the progressive wager area  28 , ante wager area  30  and bet wager area  32 . The border might be illuminated in one or more colors (including white) and the color may change, such as depending upon whether a player has placed a wager relative to that area (which may be detected by touch input or object detection, including by a graphene ink enabled detector relative to that area). 
         [0029]    The game display  34  may comprise a graphene ink enabled display, such as for displaying changeable game information such as information about the size of a wager, game status and/or a variety of other information (including game-related information and other information such as advertisements, etc.). This information might comprise alpha, numeric, icon, image and/or other visible information. 
         [0030]    As indicated above, the graphene ink may be used to implement one or more features such as a light detector, light emitter, sound emitter, display, touch input detector, object detector or other devices. 
         [0031]    In one embodiment, the gaming table&#39;s printed electronic features may be associated with one or more controllers  36 . The controller  36  may be configured to receive input from the printed electronic features and/or to send information to those features. The controller  36  may comprise a computing-type device which comprises at least one controller or processor, one or more data storage devices such as hard drives, flash drives, RAM, ROM, EPROM, or other types of data storage devices now known or later developed, and one or more communication interfaces. The controller  36  may be configured to execute various instructions either embodied as hardware or embodied as computer readable code or “software” which is executed by a controller. The software may be stored on the associated memory or data storage devices, for example. 
         [0032]    In one embodiment, the graphene ink enabled or printed electronic features may be hard-wired to the controller  36 . In other embodiments, the features might be configured as computing device peripherals, such as comprising USB type devices (in which event, the features might include a USB controller). In other embodiments, the features might include wired or wireless communication interfaces, such as to permit the features to communicate with the controller  36  (or other devices) via Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, TCP-IP or other communication protocols. 
         [0033]    In one embodiment, the gaming table  20  may be part of a larger gaming network  50 . The gaming network  50  may include other features or components, such as other gaming tables, gaming machines such as video or slot machines, and one or more gaming systems, such as a player tracking system  52 , an accounting system  54 , and a jackpot systems  56 , among others. The player tracking system  52 , accounting system  54  and jackpot system  56  (and/or other systems) may be enabled by one or more computing devices, such as one or more servers. These systems may enable player tracking, accounting and jackpot functionality, as is well known in the casino arts. This connectivity allows integration of the printed electronic features with other gaming and non-gaming related devices and systems. 
         [0034]    As one example, in the event a jackpot system  56  determines that a jackpot is active, the jackpot system  56  might send a jackpot instruction to the controller  36 . The controller  36  might then cause graphene ink on the table surface  22  which is applied to spell the word JACKPOT to illuminate, thus providing an indication to players that this game feature is active. Likewise, bet information and other player inputs to graphene ink enabled features may be transmitted to the controller  36  and thereon to the appropriate gaming systems, such as for tracking monies wagered and lost, game play parameters in association with identified players, etc. 
         [0035]    Of course, the gaming table  20  illustrated in  FIG. 1  is simply one embodiment of an implementation of the invention. For example, graphene ink might be used to implement other gaming device features. As indicated above, the graphene ink might be used to implement a variety of gaming-related functionality. This functionality might include, but is not limited to: 
         [0036]    (1) Displaying game indicia, such as images of playing cards or the like, including based upon certain events or in mystery format; 
         [0037]    (2) Highlighting a player&#39;s actions, such as placing of a bet or receiving other input, such as by changing a color or quantity of light emitted in one or more areas or via emitting sound; 
         [0038]    (3) Detecting a player&#39;s presence at the gaming table; 
         [0039]    (4) Highlighting the location or identify of a winner of a gaming event, such as the winner of a game or a jackpot; 
         [0040]    (5) Changing a game table layout, such as to change the number of player locations (including adding or removing locations) or to configure the layout for use in presenting different types of games (such as different poker games, baccarat games or the like); 
         [0041]    (6) Modify the appearance of the gaming table layout, such as based upon a random event; 
         [0042]    (7) Make certain portions of the playing surface transparent or opaque; 
         [0043]    (8) Cause sounds to be emitted from certain portions of the playing surface; and/or 
         [0044]    (9) Receive player input, such as by detecting player touch of certain areas of the playing surface and/or detecting objects (such as chips, player tokens or the like). 
         [0045]    In one embodiment, the gaming table  20  or other gaming device may have other electronic features (i.e. features which are not created via graphene ink). The one or more graphene ink implemented or “printed” features may be configured to integrate with or connect to those features. For example, graphene ink might be used to define a conductive pathway for electricity/power or electronic signals between the controller and an electronic device or two electronic devices. This may avoid the need for standard wiring, including wiring harnesses, connectors and the like. 
         [0046]    The printed electronic features might also integrate with other electronic devices. As but one example, a gaming table might include a card reader which is capable of obtaining an image of a physical playing card (or at least information which identifies the card, such as rank and suit information). The card information which is obtained by the card reader might be used to cause a printed display to display a graphical image of the one or more scanned cards. As one example, a card reader might read a bonus card which is dealt from a deck of cards. An image of that card might be displayed on the printed displays  34  (see  FIG. 1 ) at each player location. Of course, the printed electronic features of the invention might associate or integrate with a variety of other devices such as card shufflers, LED/LCD/plasma or other video displays, signs, lights, media readers (such as magnetic stripe, bar code, RFID or other readers), printers, etc. 
         [0047]    It will also be appreciated that the invention may be applied to other gaming devices. For example, graphene ink might be applied to a surface of an electronic gaming machine in order to implement certain electronic features. 
         [0048]    In the preferred embodiment of the invention, graphene ink is utilized to implement the electronic features because of its ease of application (such as via printing), low cost, flexibility (conforming to the substrate it is applied to and being flexible/bendable therewith), and its low profile/space requirements. Unlike wires, very thin layers of conductive graphene ink can be applied which do not interfere with the feel of the gaming able. For example, unlike a wire placed on the surface of a gaming table, a layer of graphene ink does not create a ridge or bump on that surface. One advantage to the invention is that electronic features can be enabled simply by printing the conductive graphene ink on a table surface or a covering for that surface, rather than by associating individual electronic components with a table, connecting those components, etc. The entire configuration of a gaming table can be changed by either simply replacing the gaming table felt or by activating or deactivating certain ones of the graphene ink enabled electronic feature. While conducive graphene ink is the preferred material which is used to implement the invention, other similar types of materials which are now known or later developed which have similar characteristics, could be utilized. 
         [0049]    It will be appreciated that aspects of the invention comprise: (1) electronic features at a gaming device which are created by conductive ink; (2) the combination of such printed electronic features with other devices, (3) entire systems incorporating those printed electronic features, such as gaming systems which include gaming devices (including tables) which include a printed electronic feature; and (4) methods of creating and using such features, devices and systems. 
         [0050]    It will be understood that the above described arrangements of apparatus and the method there from are merely illustrative of applications of the principles of this invention and many other embodiments and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the claims.