Abstract:
A gaming machine includes a display, a memory, processing circuitry, and border surrounding a least a portion of the display. The border includes a plurality of lamps. In some embodiments, the lamps are red, blue, and green light emitting diodes covered by a semi-transparent cover. In some embodiments, the memory includes instructions for activating portions of the lamps in the border in order to increase the visual appeal and excitement of the game, to direct the player to different portions of the display, to direct the player to take some action, or to indicate the status of the machine. Thus, the lamps are dynamically controlled based on events occurring in the game, based on events occurring in the gaming machine platform itself, or based on other factors to not only create interest in playing the machine but also to inform a player or an attendant of certain events occurring in the machine.

Description:
BACKGROUND  
         [0001]    Gaming machines, such as slot machines, video poker machines and the like, have been a cornerstone of the gaming industry for several years. Generally, the popularity of such machines with players is dependent on the likelihood (or perceived likelihood) of winning money at the machine and the intrinsic entertainment value of the machine relative to other available gaming options. Where the available gaming options include a number of competing machines and the expectation of winning each machine is roughly the same (or believed to be the same), players are most likely to be attracted to the most entertaining and exciting of the machines. Shrewd operators consequently strive to employ the most entertaining and exciting machines available, because such machines attract frequent play and hence increase profitability to the operator. Accordingly, in the competitive gaming machine industry, there is a continuing need for gaming machine manufacturers to produce new types of games, or enhancements to existing games, which will attract frequent play by enhancing the entertainment value and excitement associated with the game.  
         SUMMARY  
         [0002]    In accordance with embodiments of the present invention, a gaming machine includes a display, a memory, processing circuitry, and border surrounding a least a portion of the display. The border includes a plurality of lamps. In some embodiments, the lamps are red, blue, and green light emitting diodes covered by a semi-transparent cover. In some embodiments, the memory includes instructions for activating the lamps in the border in a manner to increase the visual appeal and excitement of the game, to direct the player to different portions of the display, to direct the player to take some action, or to indicate the status of the machine. Thus, the lamps are dynamically controlled based on events occurring in the game, based on events occurring in the gaming machine platform itself (e.g., a malfunction), or based on other factors to not only create more excitement when playing the machine but also to inform a player or an attendant of certain events occurring in the machine.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0003]    [0003]FIG. 1 is a front view of a gaming machine.  
         [0004]    [0004]FIG. 2 is block diagram of the components of a gaming machine.  
         [0005]    [0005]FIG. 3 is a view of a portion of a display and border of a gaming machine.  
         [0006]    [0006]FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a border of a gaming machine. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0007]    [0007]FIG. 1 illustrates a gaming machine  10  incorporating an embodiment of the present invention. Any type of game may be played on gaming machine  10 , including but not limited to video-reel and rotatable-reel type symbol-matching games, video poker, bingo, and keno. Examples of such games are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,110,040 and 6,270,412, incorporated herein by reference.  
         [0008]    Gaming machine  10  may include a card reader  11 , bill acceptor  12 , and/or coin slot  13 . A user of gaming machine  10  inputs coins into slot  13 , bills into acceptor  12 , or a card such as a smart card, a barcoded ticket, or a credit card into reader  11 , in order to activate the game. The user controls the game by pushing buttons  15 , such as for placing a bet, initiating the game, and cashing out.  
         [0009]    The game is displayed on display  16 , which may be a television monitor style CRT video display or a mechanical display such as rotatable reels or flip card carousels. Alternatively, display  16  may be a touch screen, in which case the user controls the game by touching different regions on the touch screen. Display  16  may be divided into multiple portions  16   a  and  16   b,  where different graphics may be displayed. For example, a main game may be played on display portion  16   b.  When the main game reaches a particular stage, a bonus game may be activated on display portion  16   a.  The visual display of the game on display  16  may be accompanied by sounds from speaker  14 . Displays  16 a and  16 b may be separate CRTs or separate screens, or may be a divided screen.  
         [0010]    Gaming machine  10  also includes a border  20  around display  16 . Gaming machine  10  may optionally include a border section  21  separating two portions of display  16 . Borders  20  and  21  may light up in different colors, with different brightness, with different types of motion, or with different speeds of motion, in order to enhance the visual appeal of the game played, direct the player to different portions of display  16 , indicate when a player has won, indicate when a player has lost, or indicate the status of gaming machine  10 , as described below.  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 2 illustrates circuitry  30  that may be used to implement gaming machine  10  of FIG. 1. As described above, to begin a game, a player inserts coins, bills, or a card into one of inputs  11 ,  12 , or  13 . A coin/credit detector  31  registers the input and instructs CPU  33  to begin the game. CPU  33  accesses memory  34 , which stores the game program, and receives instructions for carrying out the game. Memory  34  may be ROM or any other type of memory external to or part of CPU  33 . Circuitry  30  may include a random number generator for selecting cards to be displayed in a card game or for selecting symbols to be displayed across pay lines. CPU  33  receives instructions from memory  34 , then instructs game display driver  38  to display an image on display  16  that is appropriate for the stage of the game. If the display  16  is not a video display, CPU  33  controls the motors of reels or other devices. CPU  33  may also instruct border driver  37  to start or change game border  20 . Some processing may even be performed by a central server external to the gaming machine  10 .  
         [0012]    Border driver  37  may contain logic circuitry to receive simple commands from CPU  33 , then output a dynamic series of commands necessary to control lamps  40  in a programmed manner. Such logic circuitry may comprise gate arrays, additional processing circuitry, or any other conventional circuitry. Border driver  37  may use a programmed memory (e.g., a portion of memory  34 ) to identify light patterns to be displayed by lamps  40 . Additionally, border driver  37  may have a standby mode, where border driver  37  controls lamps  40  in an attention-getting manner without any control signals from CPU  33 .  
         [0013]    The player plays the game by pressing one or more of buttons  15 , or by touching display  16  if display  16  is a touch screen. The user inputs  32  are received by CPU  33 . CPU  33  may again access memory  34 , then communicate new instructions to display driver  38  and/or border driver  37  to change display  16  and border  20 . The color, intensity, or motion of border  20  may change each time display  16  is changed, or more or less frequently. After display  16  is changed, circuitry  30  may receive more inputs  32  from the player if the game is not finished. When the game is finished, CPU  33  accesses pay table memory  39 , and receives instructions on how much to pay out. CPU  33  then instructs payout driver  35  to activate payout mechanism  36  to pay the player the appropriate winnings. Alternatively, the player accumulates credits until the player presses a button  15  to cash out. In some embodiments, drivers  35 ,  37 , and  38  are connected to CPU  33  by an RS232 interface, a USB interface, or other connections.  
         [0014]    [0014]FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate border  20  in more detail. FIG. 4 is a cross section of border  20 . Turning now to FIG. 3, border  20  includes a group of colored lamps  40 , such as light emitting diodes (LEDs) or incandescent bulbs. As shown in FIG. 3, lamps  40  may be arranged in a line. Lamps  40  may be arranged in other configurations besides a straight line. In one embodiment, lamps  40  are red, blue, and green LEDs arranged in a line of repeating groups of RGB LEDs. By activating different combinations of red, blue and green LEDs, different colors of light may be produced.  
         [0015]    In FIG. 4, lamps  40  are attached to a base  43  and covered by a cover  42 . Cover  42  may be a semi-transparent semicircular diffuser, which diffuses the light produced by lamps  40 , making the entire surface of cover  42  glow and making it impossible for a user to determine which individual lamp is active at a given time. In some embodiments, the inside of cover  42  is coated with a diffusing material. Cover  42  may also be transparent.  
         [0016]    Lamps  40  are turned on and off by voltage/current coupled to leads  44   a  and  44   b  connected to positive and negative terminals on each lamp. Each lamp  40  may be turned on, turned off, and adjusted for brightness by varying voltage or current to leads  44   a  and  44   b.  Leads  44   a  and  44   b  are electrically coupled to border driver  37 , shown in FIG. 2. In one embodiment, border driver  37  controls lamps  40  for 16 steps in brightness. Each lamp  40  has its own set of leads  44   a  and  44   b;  thus, each of lamps  40  may be operated independently of the others. Border driver  37  may turn different lamps  40  on and off in patterns to give the illusion of motion in border  20 , such as blinking or running lights.  
         [0017]    In one embodiment, each lamp  40  is an LED that has two pin terminals. The pin terminals of many LEDs, such as along an edge of display  16 , are soldered to a printed circuit (PC) board having thin conductive traces printed thereon. Thus, individual wires leading to each LED are avoided. Addressing or multiplexing circuitry may be mounted on the PC board to reduce the number of inputs to the PC board. Many other techniques can be used for electrically coupling lamps  40  to border driver  37 .  
         [0018]    Border driver  37  may operate border  20  independently of the game played on gaming machine  10 , such as by displaying a running light independent of the game. Alternatively, border driver  37  may operate in conjunction with the game played on gaming machine  10 . Border driver  37  may contain logic circuitry to receive simple commands from CPU  33 , then output a dynamic series of commands necessary to control lamps  40  in a programmed manner. Such logic circuitry may comprise gate arrays, additional processing circuitry, or any other conventional circuitry. Additionally, border driver  37  may have a standby mode, where border driver  37  controls lamps  40  in an attention-getting manner without any control signals from CPU  33 .  
         [0019]    In some embodiments, border  20  may light up or change in conjunction with the game played on gaming machine  10  in such a way as to direct the player&#39;s attention to an aspect of the game. In one embodiment, border  20  directs the player to the portion of the screen that is active during each stage of the game. For example, a game played on gaming machine  10  may include a main game, played on the lower half  16   b  of display  16 , and a bonus game, played on the upper half  16   a  of display  16 . If the player wins the main game, the bonus game is activated. During the main game, the lower half of border  20  and middle border  21  may light up, directing the player&#39;s attention to display portion  16   b.  During the main game, the upper half of border  20  may be dark. When the player wins the main game, the lamps in the lower half of border  20  may turn off and the lamps in the upper half of border  20  may turn on, directing the player&#39;s attention from display portion  16   b  to display portion  16   a,  where the bonus game is played.  
         [0020]    In one embodiment, border  20  may be illuminated in a distinct way for different stages of the game. Using the example of a gaming machine with a main game and a bonus game, border  20  may use one color, one type of motion, or one speed of motion to indicate the player is playing the main game and use a different color, type of motion, or speed of motion to indicate the player is playing the bonus game. Border  20  may use still different colors, types of motion, or speeds of motion to indicate that the player has won bonus prizes, to indicate that the player must respin, to indicate that the player has won a free game, and so forth.  
         [0021]    In one embodiment, border  20  may be illuminated in distinct ways to indicate that a player has won, lost, or is currently playing a game. For example, border  20  may be yellow during a decision phase, for example, when a player must make a decision and press one of buttons  15  or an area on the touch screen in order to advance the game. When the game is over, border  20  may be green to indicate a player has won the game, or red to indicate a player has lost the game. Similarly, border  20  may be illuminated in distinct ways to indicate that the player has made good or bad decisions. For example, the game played on gaming machine  10  may involve a step where the player must decide to either take his current winnings or risk his winnings for a larger jackpot. Before the player chooses, border  20  may be illuminated with both red and green lights. If the player&#39;s decision results the player&#39;s winnings being higher, only the green lights in border  20  may be illuminated. If the player&#39;s decision results the player&#39;s winnings being lower, only the red lights in border  20  may be illuminated.  
         [0022]    In one embodiment, border  20  may be illuminated in distinct ways to indicate different gambling features available to the player. For example, where a symbol combination only pays off if the matched symbols start from the leftmost end of a pay line, the lamps  40  may flash from left to right.  
         [0023]    In some embodiments, border  20  may light up or change in conjunction with the game played on gaming machine  10  in such a way as to make the game more exciting. In one embodiment, the brightness or amount of movement in border  20  increases when a player has won the game or has won a jackpot. For example, while the game is being played, border  20  may be illuminated in a single color with no motion. When the player wins the game, different colors in border  20  may light up in quick succession, creating a colorful, quickly changing border.  
         [0024]    In one embodiment, the motion of border  20  corresponds to the spinning of an actual or virtual reel being displayed in display  16 . For example, when the player causes the reels of the machine to spin, adjacent lamps  40  in border  20  may be illuminated in succession, creating the illusion that border  20  is spinning in the same or opposite direction as the reels.  
         [0025]    In one embodiment, the motion, brightness, or number of colors in border  20  may increase as the amount bet by the player increases. For example, if the player places the minimum bet, border  20  may be illuminated in a single color with no motion. As the player&#39;s bet increases, the type of motion, speed of motion, number of colors, and brightness of light may be increased to increase the excitement of gaming machine  10 . In addition, the motion, brightness, or number of colors in border  20  may increase as the number of activated pay lines increases.  
         [0026]    In one embodiment, border  20  may be illuminated in distinct ways when particular trigger symbols appear on display  16 . For example, a special wildcard symbol may initiate flashing of lamps  40  or change the perceive color of lamps  40 .  
         [0027]    In one embodiment, the game played on gaming machine  10  may involve multiple regions displayed on display  16  adjacent to border  20 , each region corresponding to a winning amount. The winning amounts of each region may or may not be displayed. The lamps in border  20  may flash randomly or in sequence. The flashing of the lamps may be stopped automatically or by the player pushing a button, leaving one lamp or all lamps corresponding to a single region illuminated. The player wins an amount displayed in the region adjacent to the lamp or lamps that remain illuminated when the flashing stops.  
         [0028]    In one embodiment, when a player plays multiple games on a single gaming machine  10 , each time the player wins a game, a portion of border  20  is illuminated. If the player wins enough games to illuminate all of border  20 , the player may win an extra prize. Such a set up may entice a player to remain at a single machine for long periods of time, potentially increasing the profitability of that machine.  
         [0029]    In one embodiment, as a bonus game, the player is offered two buttons (actual or touchscreen) that alternately blink. Pressing one of the buttons results in a win (e.g., doubling the win from the main game), and pressing the other button results in a loss (deleting the previous win amount from the main game). The player attempts to press the correct button. Flashing the border lamps in synchronization with the buttons adds excitement to the bonus game. Each button can be associated with a different color border display. If the player wins, she is given another opportunity to double her winnings by pressing one of the buttons, or she can press another button to quit. A win may cause the border lamps to flash in a different manner and/or the colors may change.  
         [0030]    In some embodiments, border  20  may be used to indicate the status of gaming machine  10 . Border  20  may be used to supplement or replace the status-indicating light on the top of gaming machines, also referred to as the candle. In one embodiment, border  20  may be illuminated in distinct ways to indicate that a coin hopper or bill stacker is full or empty. In another embodiment, border  20  may be illuminated in distinct ways to indicate when gaming machine  10  must be checked. For example, border  20  may have distinct patterns to indicate the machine door is open, the touch screen or buttons are out of order, or the machine is suffering from some other malfunction.  
         [0031]    In still another embodiment, border  20  may be illuminated in a distinct way to point out a VIP player to service personnel, such that the player can be provided with special service. The player&#39;s card inserted into the machine  10  may indicate that the player is a VIP player, or the amount of betting by the player may classify the player as a VIP player. In another embodiment, border  20  may be illuminated in a distinct way to call an attendant. For example, for large wins, an attendant is called to pay the player rather than the player being paid from the coin hopper. In another embodiment, the amount of accumulated credit in the machine  10  may be reflected in the brightness of the lamps  40  or other visual characteristic of the lamps  40 . In another example, the brightness of the lamps  40  or other visual characteristic of the lamps  40  may reflect the value of the win.  
         [0032]    In some embodiments, border  20  is used in conjunction with a bank of gaming machines linked to each other. Such a system of linked gaming machines is described in more detail in U.S. Pat. No. 6,089,980, titled “Method For The Determination Of A Shared Jackpot Winning,” and incorporated herein by reference. In the system described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,089,980, the linked gaming machines jointly fill a jackpot. In one embodiment, border  20  may be used to signal the beginning of a competitive game or a jackpot game involving all the linked machines. For example, when a jackpot or competitive game begins, border  20  may be illuminated only on machines that are participating in the competitive or jackpot game. When the winner of the game is determined, the winning machine may be the only machine with border  20  illuminated, or the borders of all participating machines may illuminate in sequence, creating the illusion of a wave that stops at the winning machine.  
         [0033]    In another embodiment, the borders of participating machines may light up then switch off in sequence. The machine on which the light stops is the winning machine. In another embodiment, some or all of the linked machines may win a portion of the jackpot, and the brightness or number of lamps lit in border  20  of each machine is proportional to the relative size of the machine&#39;s share of the jackpot.  
         [0034]    In another embodiment, borders  20  on all the machines in an area of a casino or in an entire casino may “count down” to happy hour, by, for example, illuminating all or a portion of the lamps in border  20  ten seconds before happy hour begins, then turning off a portion of the illuminated lamps for each second that passes. When happy hour begins, all or a portion of the lamps in border  20  may illuminate again, with increased brightness or with increased motion.  
         [0035]    In another embodiment a motion sensor  50  (FIG. 2) is added to gaming machine  10 . Signals output by motion sensor  50  to CPU  33  identify that a person is walking by the machine. In response, the machine controls lamps  40  in border  20  in a manner (e.g., by flashing) to attract the person&#39;s attention to increase the chances that the person will play machine  10 . Sensor  50  may be any conventional motion sensor.  
         [0036]    While particular embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made without departing from this invention in its broader aspects. For example, the invention is not limited to video gaming machines and may be applied to mechanical gaming machines such as reel slots, machines with rotating wheels, and flipcard units. Therefore, the appended claims are to encompass within their scope all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of this invention.