Abstract:
In an exemplary embodiment a game includes a rotating wheel and illumination effects, both under microprocessor control. In another exemplary embodiment, a wheel indicator includes a wheel, a motor for rotating the wheel, a plurality of lamps, and a microprocessor providing commands capable of causing the motor to rotate the wheel and the lamps to illuminate the display. In another exemplary embodiment, a method for controlling a wheel and illumination display includes providing a motorized wheel, providing a plurality of lamps, and providing a microprocessor and program instructions stored in ROM coupled to said microprocessor for controlling a rotational position of said wheel and for generating light effects from said lamps.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a divisional of application Ser. No. 11/433,922, filed on May 12, 2006, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,832,727 which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 10/176,100, filed on Jun. 19, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,278,635, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/695,712, filed on Oct. 23, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,446,964, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/351,408, filed on Jul. 9, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,244,595, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/995,649, filed on Dec. 22, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,967,514, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/428,524, filed on Apr. 21, 1995, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,700,007, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/176,862, filed on Jan. 3, 1994, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,409,225, which is a continuation of Ser. No. 07/956,057, filed on Oct. 2, 1992, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,292,127. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates to games, and more particularly to games including a rotatable wheel. 
     2. Background of the Related Art 
     Roll-down games have been played for many years in arcade environments. These games usually include a ramp and one or more targets at the end of the ramp. A player rolls a ball down the ramp towards a desired target, and a game score is displayed on a scoring display based upon the player&#39;s success. 
     In U.S. Pat. No. 810,299, O. E. Pettee describes a game in which a ball is rolled down a plane towards an upright target pin. When the pin is impacted, a motor activates to spin a dial. When the dial stops spinning, it indicates the player&#39;s score. 
     In U.S. Pat. No. 2,141,580, S. E. White describes a game in which a ball is tossed into holes marked in various time intervals. A spinning dial hand is stopped from rotating by the amount of time indicated by the hole that the ball is tossed into. The object of the game is to make the dial stop at a chosen character or numeral on the dial face. 
     In U.S. Pat. No. 2,926,915, F. D. Johns describes a skee-ball game in which a ball is rolled towards a scoring drum and in which tickets are dispensed to the player by an electrically operated automatic ticket dispenser. 
     Games of the prior art, while enjoyable, tend to be repetitive and not always engaging and, as such, often lead to rapid player boredom. This is undesirable in an environment where revenues are directly related to the continuous, repeated use of the games. 
     SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
     Embodiments of the present invention provide an apparatus and method including a spinning wheel and illumination. This improvement adds excitement and visual interest to the game, which tends to prolong player involvement. 
     In an exemplary embodiment, a roll-down game unit includes a ramp, targets at the end of the ramp, and a wheel associated with the targets. Preferably, the targets are apertures provided near the end of the ramp. If a ball is rolled down the ramp into a certain aperture, that aperture might be predetermined to rotate the wheel a certain distance clockwise. A different aperture might be predetermined to rotate the wheel a specific distance counterclockwise, or not rotate the wheel at all. 
     In an exemplary embodiment, the score of the game is based upon a wheel&#39;s position. If the wheel is rotated and stops at a number displayed on the wheel, the score might increase by that number. The wheel might display a “Bankrupt” position, which would reduce the score to zero. 
     The wheel and illumination adds complexity and visual interest to an otherwise simple game. This again increases player involvement with the game and increases the revenue produced by the game. 
     These and other advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art after reading the following descriptions and studying the various figures of the drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of two individual game units connected to a progressive score display; 
         FIG. 2  is a flow chart of the progressive enhanced award process; 
         FIG. 3  is a block diagram of the microprocessor and display electronics used in the progressive bonus apparatus; 
         FIG. 4  is a front view of an individual game unit; 
         FIG. 5  is a side cross-section of the playing surface and playing piece return mechanism of an individual game unit; 
         FIG. 6  is a detail view of the wheel, display, and target apertures of an individual game unit; 
         FIG. 6   a  is a detail view of the wheel scoring indicator; 
         FIG. 7  is a block diagram of the control system for an individual game unit; 
         FIG. 8  is a block diagram of the electronic components used in an individual game unit; 
         FIG. 9  is a perspective view of the wheel driving mechanism of an individual game unit including a preferred wheel position detector; 
         FIG. 10  is an alternate embodiment of a wheel position detector; 
         FIG. 11  is a detail view of the alternate wheel position detector of  FIG. 10 ; 
         FIG. 12  is a cross sectional view of a reading mechanism for the alternate wheel position detector of  FIGS. 10 and 11 ; 
         FIG. 13  is a cross-sectional view of the playing surface and playing piece return mechanism of an alternate embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 14  is a detail view of the ball return mechanism of  FIG. 13 ; 
         FIG. 15  is a partial top view of the playing surface of the alternate embodiment of  FIG. 13 ; 
         FIG. 16  is a front elevation view of an alternate embodiment of a game unit; and 
         FIG. 17  is a block diagram of the electronic components used in the game unit of  FIG. 16 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     In  FIG. 1 , a multi-station game apparatus  10  in accordance with the present invention includes a progressive bonus apparatus  12  with progressive score display  14  coupled to a first individual game unit  16   a  and a second individual game unit  16   b . Further individual game units  16  may be coupled to the progressive game apparatus  10  as desired. 
     Each individual game unit  16  has the ability to be played on its own, independent of the other game units  16  coupled to progressive bonus apparatus  12 . Each individual game unit  16  includes a front panel  18  and a display area  22 . A goal for each game unit  16  should be accomplished in a skillful manner; for instance, a ball can be guided into an aperture using hand-eye coordination, or a disc or ball could be skillfully aimed into a target using electrical controls. 
     An individual game unit  16  further has the ability to dispense a non-monetary award to a player. Such an award might be tickets redeemable for prizes. The award also could be baseball cards or other similar non-monetary prizes. In the preferred embodiment, each individual game unit  16  dispenses one or more tickets to the player from the front panel  18  through an award dispensing slot  24 . Ticket dispensing mechanisms are well-known in the prior art. 
     The process that the multi-station game apparatus  10  uses to receive money and dispense non-monetary awards is illustrated in the block diagram  25  of  FIG. 2 . A player inserts monetary input  26  into an individual game unit  16   a  or  16   b . Typically, this monetary input  26  is one or more coins, or it may be tokens that are standard in an arcade environment. Each game unit  16   a  and  16   b  is connected to the progressive bonus apparatus  12  by a data bus  27   a  and  27   b , respectively. 
     The progressive bonus apparatus  12  has an output on a progressive score display  14  (see  FIG. 1 ) which begins at a predetermined starting value. For example, the progressive score might be set at a starting score of zero. Or, so that a bonus award might be immediately available to players, the starting score could be set at a higher value. 
     The progressive score displayed by the progressive bonus apparatus  12  is accumulated from contributions by the individual game units  16  over the data busses  27   a  and  27   b . The contributions can be determined in a variety of ways. In the preferred embodiment, each game unit  16  sends a signal to the progressive bonus apparatus  12  whenever a player deposits a coin or coins into the game unit  16 . When the progressive bonus apparatus  12  receives this signal, it increments the progressive score by one, one-half, or another predetermined value. Thus, each game unit  16  that is played will increment the progressive score by this value. Other methods might be used where the game unit  16  sends its increment signal when a player reached a predetermined score. Also, the progressive bonus apparatus  12  could be set to multiply the progressive score by a selected quantity whenever a game unit  16  sends an increment signal. 
     Each individual game unit  16  has one or more predetermined tasks for the player to accomplish in order for the player to receive a bonus award  30  based on the progressive score displayed by the progressive bonus apparatus  12 . All game units  16  that are attached to a single progressive bonus apparatus  12  should require the same predetermined task, so that each player competing for the progressive score has a task of the same duration and level of difficulty. This predetermined task has several possible variations. One variation might be that the player has to achieve a specific game score on his individual game unit  16  in order to win the progressive score. A different variation might be that the player must finish two or more games in a row by accomplishing a specific game result, such as hitting a “jackpot” on the game display  22 . 
     The first player to accomplish the predetermined task is entitled to the non-monetary bonus award  30  based upon the progressive score displayed on the progressive bonus apparatus  12 . In the preferred embodiment, this bonus award  30  is manually given to the winning player by the owner or operator of the multi-station game apparatus  10 . The bonus award  30  can be a number of normal game unit  16  awards: tickets, cards, or whatever the non-monetary award might be. Such a bonus award  30  might also be dispensed to a player as follows: the progressive bonus apparatus  12  sends the progressive score data over a data bus to the winning game unit  16 . The winning game unit  16  then dispenses the bonus award  30  to the player by that game unit&#39;s  16  normal award-dispensing means  24 . In any case, once the player has won the bonus award  30 , his individual game unit  16  is reset and the progressive bonus apparatus  12  is reset. 
       FIG. 3  is a block diagram of a control system  13  for the progressive bonus apparatus  12 . The control system  13  includes a microprocessor  32 , data bus  33 , read-only memory (ROM)  34 , random-access memory (RAM)  36 , a latch  38 , DIP switches  40 , a multiplexer  42 , an LED display  44 , and an RS-232 port  46 . 
     The microprocessor  32  is preferably an Intel 8031 8-bit microprocessor, which has the range of features adequate for the task, including eight data lines and sixteen address lines. The microprocessor  32  receives data inputs D 0 -D 9  inputs on data bus  33  from individual game units that are connected to the progressive bonus apparatus  12 ; one data line is required per game unit, so a maximum of ten individual games may be connected to the progressive bonus apparatus in this embodiment. Data latches  31  are used to couple the data busses from each unit (such as data busses  27   a  and  27   b ) to the data bus  33 . 
     The microprocessor  32  is coupled to ROM  34  by an address/control/data bus  35 . The ROM  34  is preferably an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM) that contains the start-up instructions and operating system for the progressive bonus apparatus. Microprocessor  32  is connected to RAM  36  by the bus  35  to permit the use of RAM as scratch-pad memory. 
     The microprocessor  32  is also coupled to a latch  38  and DIP switches  40  by bus  35 . The DIP switches  40  provide selectable functions that the owner or operator of the multi-unit game apparatus  10  may change to his or her liking. These selectable functions include setting the base payout score that the progressive bonus apparatus  12  will display in its starting state, and the increment value that the apparatus will use to increase the progressive, score whenever a player achieves the predetermined task. Other selectable functions could also be set by the DIP switches depending on how many selectable game options and features are desired. 
     The microprocessor  32  is also coupled to a multiplexer  42 . The multiplexer  42  receives a clock signal, an enable signal, and a serial LED data signal from the microprocessor  32 . The multiplexer then outputs control signals to the segments of the LED display  44  on a bus  43 . 
     The progressive bonus apparatus can also optionally send and receive message signals through a standard RS-232 interface  46 . The RS-232 interface allows the control system  13  to be coupled to a computer system or other data processing system to allow the control and analysis of the control system  13 . 
     The control system  13  for the progressive bonus apparatus  12  operates as follows. The microprocessor  32  first reads the low memory from ROM  34  over bus  35  and then sequences through the software instructions stored in ROM. The software from the ROM  34  instructs the microprocessor  32  to read the DIP switches  40 , read in the game unit signals on busses  27   a  and  27   b  from the latches  31 , and display or update the score LED display  44  with the information from the game unit signals. If a game unit signal on busses  27   a  or  27   b  indicates a game is over, the microprocessor  32  modifies the progressive score by the determined amount. When a game unit signal on busses  27   a  or  27   b  indicates that a game unit  16  has won the progressive bonus award, the microprocessor  32  sends signals to flash the score display and activate lights and sound speakers (not shown) indicating the bonus has been won. The owner or operator of the game units  16  may then present the bonus award to the player who won it. In an alternate embodiment, the microprocessor  32  in progressive bonus apparatus  12  sends the progressive score total to the winning individual game unit  16  over a data bus, and the individual game unit  16  can then dispense the bonus award to the player. 
       FIG. 4  is a front view of the preferred embodiment of an individual game unit. The game unit  16  comprises the front panel section  18 , a playing surface  20 , and the display section  22 . 
     The front panel section comprises a coin deposit slot  50 , a ball dispenser  52 , a ticket dispenser  54 , and a speaker  56 . The coin deposit slot  50  may accept standard currency coins or game tokens that are normally available in an arcade environment, and also includes a coin return button and coin return slot. Coin boxes suitable for use in game unit  16  are readily available on the commercial market. 
     The ball dispenser  52  provides a ball for the player&#39;s use. In the preferred embodiment, the balls are rolled by the player down an inclined playing surface  20 . Other types of playing pieces can also be used and directed down the playing surface, such as discs, cylinders, or other objects. 
     The balls are dispensed to the player as shown in  FIG. 5 . The ball  70  is picked up by a player from the playing piece dispenser  52  and rolled down the playing surface  20  and through an opening  72  in the playing surface  20 . The ball  70  then rolls down a ramp  75  to join other balls  70 ′ which are held in a holding area  76 . A solenoid within the holding area  76  ejects a ball  70 ″ to roll into the playing piece dispenser  52 , to be used by the player in the same way as the previous ball  70 . 
     Referring again to  FIG. 4 , the ticket dispenser  54  dispenses a ticket award to the player based on the game score when the player has played all of the allotted balls  70  (typically 3-5 balls). Other awards may be chosen by the game owner; possibilities include tickets that, when saved to some predetermined amount, are worth various prizes; or baseball or other sports cards could also be dispensed. The non-monetary award is stored in a storage area behind the front panel  18 . 
     The speaker  56  emits sounds based on game actions and other game states and is controlled by the game unit controller system. The operation of the speaker will be discussed in greater detail subsequently. 
     The playing surface  20  is shown in  FIGS. 1 ,  5 , and  6 . It includes a player end  60  and a target end  62 . Preferably, the surface  20  comprises a ramp where the target end  62  is lower than the player end  60 . The player end  60  may include an opening  72  through which the player can drop the playing piece  70  onto the playing surface  20 . The playing surface  20  is preferably a smooth, unobstructed surface; but it can also be provided with obstacles. The target end  62  includes a plurality of targets  80  that are receptive to the playing piece. In the preferred embodiment, the targets  80  are apertures, holes or slots that are associated with a switch  74  such that when the ball falls through a slot  80 , the associated switch  74  is activated. Each slot  80  is defined by slot guide walls  81 , which guide the ball into a particular target slot  80  to activate a switch  74 . The guide walls  81  extend a short distance from the target end  62  onto the playing surface  20 . 
     The display section  22  is shown in greater detail in  FIG. 6 . The display section  22  includes a wheel  84 , a game score display  86 , target displays  88 , ball count display  90 , and a pointer mechanism  92 . This view also shows the target end  62  of the playing surface  20  as well as the targets  80 . The wheel  84  is a flat circular disk that rotates on an axle  94 . The wheel  84  is divided up into a number of segments  95 , where each wheel segment  95  influences a specific game result, such as game score. Each wheel segment  95  is further divided into three sections  96  by section markers  98 . These section markers  98  are short posts extending perpendicularly from the front surface of wheel  84  and engage pointer mechanism  92  as the wheel spins. 
     The game score display  86  is an LED display that indicates current game score to the player. Target displays  88  indicate the value or function of each individual target slot  80  to the player when a ball  70  is received by that target slot  80 . 
     The ball count display  90  shows the status of playing pieces allotted to the player. In the preferred embodiment, this display  90  shows the number of balls remaining for the player to use in the game. 
     The pointer mechanism  92  is further illustrated in  FIG. 6   a . In this figure, the pointer mechanism  92  consists of a base  100 , an axle  102 , a flexible pointer  104 , and a detection mechanism  106 . The flexible pointer  104  is made of a flexible rubber material and slows down the spinning wheel  84  by engaging each section marker  98  as the wheel  84  rotates. The base  100  pivots on the axle  102  to one side of a center post  108  every time a section marker  98  engages the flexible pointer  104 . When the wheel  84  eventually stops rotating, the flexible pointer  104  is preferably pointing to a single section  96  between two section markers  98 . At times it may occur that the flexible pointer  104  is pressed against a section marker  98  when the wheel  84  stops rotating; in this case, it is ambiguous at to which section  96  the pointing mechanism  92  is pointing. To prevent this result, a detection mechanism  106  will detect whenever the base  100  is not substantially vertical by detecting if the base  100  is pivoted to one side or the other and; if so, the direction of the pivot. If the base  100  is pivoted, the pointing mechanism  92  is assumed to be engaged with a section marker  98 , so the microprocessor  110  directs a motor (described below) to rotate the wheel  84  slightly, in the opposite direction to the pivot, enough steps so that the pointing mechanism  92  disengages from the section marker  98 . 
       FIG. 7  is a block diagram illustrating a preferred electrical system of a game unit  16 . The system includes a power source  155 , an LED printed circuit board (PCB)  152 ; a main PCB  157 , and illumination lamps  158 . The power source  155 , in the preferred embodiment, is a commercially available 110 V AC power supply. The LED PCB  152  contains the main game score display  86  as well as the drivers for the motor that rotates the wheel  84 . The main PCB  157  contains the major circuit components of the game unit  16 , including the microprocessor, drivers/buffers, amplifiers, and DIP switches (described in  FIG. 8 ). Finally, the illumination lamps  158  illuminate indicators and other parts of the game unit. 
       FIG. 8  is a block diagram of a control system  119  on main board  157 . The components include a microprocessor  110 , RAM  112 , ROM  114 , a latch  116 , DIP switches  118 , latch  120 , comparators  122 , drivers  125 , buffers  126 , output switches  127 , latches  140 , lamp drivers  142 , sound chip  144 , low pass filter  146 , audio amplifier  148 , and speaker  150 . The control system  119  is coupled to position detection mechanism  124 , lamps  143 , game score display board  152 , and a motor  154 . 
     The microprocessor  110  is preferably an Intel 8031 8-bit microprocessor, which has the range of features adequate for the task, including eight data lines and sixteen address lines. The microprocessor  110  is coupled to ROM  114  by a data/address/control bus  111 . The ROM  114  is preferably an erasable, programmable read-only memory (EPROM) that contains the start-up instructions and operating system for the microprocessor  110 . Microprocessor  110  is connected to RAM  112  by bus  111  to permit the use of RAM for scratch-pad memory. Methods for coupling ROM  114  and RAM  112  to the microprocessor  110  by bus  111  including enable, address, and control lines are well-known to those skilled in the art. 
     The microprocessor  110  is also coupled to a latch  116  and switches  118  by the bus  111 . The switches  118  provide selectable functions that the owner of the game unit may change to his or her liking. These selectable functions include the values of the targets in terms of score, sound effects, progressive jackpot value (if present), the amount of any award given, the test mode, the type of game, and so on. Other selectable functions could also be set by the switches depending on how many selectable game options and features are desired. The switches  118  also include, in the present embodiment, the switches  74  that are activated when a playing piece  70  rolls into a target slot  80  on the playing surface  20 . 
     The microprocessor  110  is also coupled to another latch  120 , which is similar to the latch  116  that connects the switches  118  to the microprocessor  110 . The latch  120  receives data from the comparators  122 , which are set up in op amp configurations using an LM393 or similar device. These comparators  122  receive data from the position detection mechanism  124  indicating the position of the wheel  84 , and output that data to the latch  120  and the microprocessor  110 . The position detection mechanism  124  is discussed in greater detail below; see  FIG. 9 . The comparators  122  also receive a signal from the pointing mechanism  92  indicating if it is sitting on a section marker  98  or not, and sends that data to the latch  120  and microprocessor  110 . 
     The microprocessor  110  is also coupled to the drivers  125  and the buffers  126 . The buffers  126  receive data from many of the switches  127 , including the coin switch  128 , which detects if a coin has been inserted into the game unit  16 ; the test switch  132 , which activates a test mode for the game unit  16 ; the credit switch  134 , which, when pushed by a player, starts a game; and the ball release switch  138 , which indicates to the microprocessor  110  if a playing piece  70  has actually been dispensed to the player. The drivers  125  activate the remaining switches  127 , including the ticket drive  130 , which activates the dispensing of the non-monetary award (in this case, tickets) out of the non-monetary award dispenser  54 ; and the solenoid  136 , which pushes a ball  70  into the ball dispenser  52 . 
     The microprocessor  110  is also coupled to the latches  140  which latch data for the lamp drivers  142 . The lamp drivers  142  supply power to the lamps  143 , which include the lights on the display section  22  of the game unit  16  that are not part of the game score display  86  or other numeric displays. 
     The microprocessor  110  is also coupled to a sound chip  148 . This chip is an OKI Voice Synthesis LSI chip that has eight data input lines coupled to the microprocessor  110  by a latch  149 . The sound chip  144  receives its data from ROMs (not shown) and outputs sound data to a low pass filter  146 , an audio power amplifier  148 , and finally to the output speaker  150 , which generates sounds to the player playing the game unit  16 . 
     The microprocessor  110  is also coupled to a separate printed circuit board  152  containing the game score display  86  and the motor controller  156 , which controls the motor  154 . The bus  111  connecting the microprocessor to the display board  152  are latched by a latch  153 . Four of the ten connecting lines go to the game score display  86 , which consists of 7-segment LED digit displays. The remaining lines control the motor controller  156 . Motor  154  is preferably a stepper motor coupled to a stepper motor controller, as is well-known to those skilled in the art. 
     The control system  119  operates briefly as follows. The microprocessor  110  first reads the low memory from ROM  114  over bus  111  and sequences through the software instructions stored in ROM. The settings of DIP switches in the switches block  118  are also read into the microprocessor. The software from the ROM  114  then instructs the microprocessor  110  to send and receive data over the bus  111  in order to conduct a game. For example, when the coin switch  128  is activated, indicating a coin has been inserted into the game unit, the microprocessor reads a signal from the buffers  126  from bus  111 . The microprocessor then sends a signal to the drivers  125  to activate solenoid  136  in order to dispense a ball  70  to the player. The ball release switch  127  sends a signal through the buffers  126  to the microprocessor, indicating that a ball has been dispensed. The microprocessor then awaits a signal from switches  118  that indicate which switch  74  in target slot  80  the ball  70  activated. The specific switch  118  signal determines what data the microprocessor will send to the motor  154  in order to rotate the wheel  84  a specific amount (see  FIG. 9  for a detailed description of the motor and wheel rotation). The microprocessor then reads data from latch  120  which contains data from comparators  122  indicating which segment  95  the pointing mechanism  92  is pointing to. From this data the microprocessor can modify the game score by a specific amount and display the new score by sending a signal to game score display board  152 . The microprocessor then dispenses another ball  70  and repeats the game process until all balls have been dispensed. During game play, the microprocessor sends appropriate output signals over bus  111  to activate speaker  150  and lamps  143  whenever game action occurs. 
       FIG. 9  shows the mechanism  170  to spin the wheel  84  and to detect its rotational position. Mechanism  170  is located on the backside  166  of the display section  22 , behind wheel  84 . The motor  154  is driven by a motor controller  156  on the game score display board  152 . Axle  164  supports the wheel  84  for rotation. Motor  154  is connected to and rotates axle  164  by a toothed drive belt  160  and toothed pulleys  161  and  163  coupled to the shaft of motor  154  and to axle  164 , respectively. Position detection wheel  124  contains notches  165  that correspond to the segments  95  on the wheel  84 . The notches  165  are detected by optical detector  162  by sending a beam of light through a notch  165 . If a notch  165  is aligned with the optical detector  162 , pointer  104  is aligned with a segment  95 . 
     The number of notches  165  that have passed through optical detector  162  as the position detection wheel  124  rotates can be counted by the microprocessor  110 . If the original starting segment  95  of the wheel  84  was known, then the end segment  95  displayed on the wheel  84  can be deduced by counting the number of notches  165  that have passed through the optical detector  162 . In this way, the microprocessor  110  knows what end segment  95  the pointing mechanism  92  is pointing to and knows how to affect the game score appropriately. 
     A wide reference notch R can provide an absolute position indication for the wheel  84 . Wide notch detector  167  is an optical detector similar in design and function to detector  162 ; when the wide notch R is detected, a specific segment  95  on the wheel  84  is known to have rotated by pointing mechanism  92 . 
     An alternate embodiment for wheel position detection is shown in  FIG. 10 . The position detection wheel  124 ′ is not notched, but instead has optical bar code segments  165 ′ that encode the segment positions  168  that correspond to the segments  95  on the front of the wheel  84 . Specific segment  95  information is encoded in the segments  165 ′ so that a wheel position may be known by reading the optical bar code segments  165 ′ directly. 
       FIG. 11  shows a detail view of bar code segment  168  with optical-bar code segments  165 ′ being displayed through a slot  169  in a cover  171 . The cover  171  serves to display only one bar code segment  168  width at a time. 
       FIG. 12  shows a cross sectional of the wheel axle  164 , position detection wheel  124 ′, cover  171 , and bar code reader  173 . The bar code reader  170  consists of four emitter/detectors (E/D)  172 . The emitter emits a beam of light  174  directed at the detection wheel  124 ′; and the amount of light reflected back to the detectors determines whether the light  174  had impinged upon a bar code. Once the number of bar code segments  165 ′ is known, the number is decoded as a binary number and the segment  95  is known. Since there are four emitter/detectors  172 , up to 2 4 −1=15 positions can be encoded in this preferred embodiment, assuming that an all-blank bar code segment  168  is undesirable as being ambiguous. 
     The operation of the preferred embodiment of the gaming apparatus may be briefly described as follows: A player deposits a coin or token into coin slot  50  of game unit  16  to start the game. The wheel  84  is driven by the motor  154  to spin a random number of revolutions to begin a game. The pointing mechanism  92  keeps track of the end segment  95  at which the wheel  84  stops moving. A ball  70  is deposited to the player in ball dispenser  52 . The player directs the ball  70  onto playing surface  20  at the player end  60  through an opening  72  in a cover protecting the playing surface  20 . The ball  70  is rolled towards the target end  62  of the playing surface  20  towards the targets  80 , which are slots for the ball  70  to roll into. The ball  70  rolls into a slot  80  marked, for example, “3 slots left”. The ball  70  activates a switch  74  below the slot  80  as it drops down to rolling surface  75 . The ball  70  then rolls down ramp  75  to join a plurality of other balls  70 ′ that are stored in a storage area  76 ; a microprocessor  110  signal then activates the solenoid  136  to dispense another ball  70 ″ to the player if he or she has any playing pieces remaining to be played in his or her game. 
     Meanwhile, the switch  74  corresponding to the “3 slots left” slot  80  sends a signal to the microprocessor  110  which calculates the direction and the number of segments  95  the wheel  84  must be moved. The motor  154  turns the wheel  84  three segments  95  clockwise. The game then modifies the score or alters game conditions based upon the result displayed by that end segment  95 . For example, suppose the end segment  95  displayed “5 tickets”. Five points would then be added to the game score, displayed on game score display  86 . If the result “Bankrupt” were displayed, then the game score would be reset to zero. 
     One of the target slot designations might be “Full spin”. This would mean that a fast spin with a random result would be imparted on the wheel  84  by the motor  154 . In order to keep track of the segment  95  the wheel  84  stops at, the position detection wheel  124  and optical detector  162  keep track of the amount of segments  95  that have rotated by so that the end segment  95  is calculated by the microprocessor  110 . Alternatively, in the described alternate embodiment, the resulting segment  95  is read directly from bar code segments  165 ′. 
     The player will keep playing in this manner until he or she has used up his or her allotted amount of playing pieces. Once this occurs, the ticket dispenser  54  dispenses an award in relation to the player&#39;s final game score. For example, if the final game score is 20, 20 tickets could be dispensed to the player. 
     An alternate embodiment of the game unit is detailed in  FIG. 13  in which there is no player contact with the ball  70 . In this embodiment, the ball  70  is directed down the playing surface  20 , its path being determined by controller  180 , which might be a joystick controller as found on other arcade-type games. The controller  70  directs a guiding mechanism  184  left and right so that the player can decide to release the ball  70  when the guiding mechanism  184  is in position to release the ball  70  at a desired target. The ball  70  is directed down to the target end  62  and activates a switch  74  behind a specific target slot  80 . The ball  70  then moves down ramp  75  to the holding area  76  where the other balls  70 ′ are held, as in the previous embodiment. Meanwhile, switch  74  activates a rotating wheel and a score is determined; wheel mechanics and game score are achieved in a similar fashion to the embodiment described previously. 
       FIG. 14  illustrates the dispensing of a ball  70 ″ to the guiding mechanism  184  in the alternate embodiment of  FIG. 13 . The ball  70 ″ waits in holding area  76  on an elevator platform  186 . When a previous ball  70  returns to holding area  76  and hits ball  70 ′, elevator platform  186  moves upward by electrical motors, carrying ball  70 ″. Elevator platform  186  stops moving when it is level with playing surface  20  and ball  70 ″ is pushed through an opening in guiding mechanism  184  so that it rests in guiding mechanism  184 . A player may now move and control the guiding mechanism  184  containing ball  70 ″ using controller  180 . Meanwhile, the elevator platform  186  moves down again to holding area  76  and the next ball  70 ′″ moves onto it. 
       FIG. 15  further illustrates the guiding mechanism  184 . The guiding mechanism  184  is moved left and right as determined by controller  180 . Controller  180  can control the guiding mechanism  184  by electrical signals and motors, or a mechanical system of gears, pulleys, etc. The guiding mechanism can also be controlled without a controller  180 ; for example, a player can move the guiding mechanism  184  manually by using a handle  190  attached to the guiding mechanism  184 . The ball  70  is released from guiding mechanism  184  by activating a release control on the controller  180  when the guiding mechanism  184  is in the desired position. A solenoid or other electrical pushing mechanism can be used to eject the ball from the guiding mechanism, or an alternate method might be to use a mechanical release tab or spring to eject the ball  70  down the playing surface  20 . 
       FIG. 16  shows a second alternate embodiment of the game unit  16 . In this embodiment, game unit  16 ′ includes a video screen  194  that preferably displays the same features of the display section  22  that were described in the initial embodiment of the application (see  FIG. 6 ). Wheel  84 ′, game score display  86 ′ and ball count display  90 ′ are graphical images on the video screen  194  and are controlled and updated completely by internal components (see  FIG. 17 ). Each component of the display area  22 ′ serves similar functions in game play as like areas did in the previous embodiments. 
       FIG. 17  is a block diagram of the control system  119 ′ of the alternate embodiment of the game unit  16 ′ shown in  FIG. 16 . The components of the control system  119 ′ are similar to those described in the previous embodiment in  FIG. 8 , except for the components that relate to the game display  22 ′. Video display board  152 ′ is coupled to direct memory access (DMA)  153 ′, which is coupled to the microprocessor  110  and ROM  114  by bus  111 . Video monitor  194  is coupled to a video display board  152 ′. The video display board  152 ′ contains the control circuitry needed to create a graphical output on the video monitor  194  using control signals and data from the microprocessor  110 . In this embodiment, microprocessor  110  is preferably a graphics-oriented microprocessor, so that the wheel and score images on the video monitor  194  have good resolution. The video images on video monitor  194  are moved and updated using software techniques well-known to those skilled in the art. 
     While this invention has been described in terms of several preferred embodiments, it is contemplated that alterations, modifications and permutations thereof will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading of the specification and study of the drawings. For example, the playing surface  20  of the game unit  16  can be situated horizontally. The playing surface  20  can also be angled such that the target end  62  is higher than the player end  60 . 
     It is therefore intended that the following claims include all such alterations, modifications and permutations as fall within the spirit and scope of the present invention.