Patent Publication Number: US-2010113163-A1

Title: Gaming apparatus including an electronic gaming machine and a digital nameplace device

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims priority of Taiwanese Application No. 097141783, filed on Oct. 30, 2008. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a gaming apparatus, more particularly to a gaming apparatus including an electronic gaming machine and a digital nameplate device. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     A nameplate is used for identifying and displaying specification or use of an object, such as a plate hung on a door of a conference room or a bathroom, and a plate attached to a product. A machine or an electronic device is usually provided with a nameplate for identifying the model and the specification thereof. The conventional nameplate is usually made of metal, such as iron, copper and aluminum, or plastics, and is usually printed or engraved with information of the object. 
     A gaming machine is generally provided with the conventional nameplate for displaying information about a name and a version of game software installed therein. The conventional nameplate is mounted on a housing of the gaming machine for convenience of inspection and management. However, a service life of the gaming machine is usually much longer than a life cycle of the game software installed therein. Thus, the nameplate attached to the gaming machine requires replacing each time the game software is replaced. Moreover, there is a currently available single gaming machine installed with different game software and capable of optionally executing a desired one of the game software. Therefore, the conventional nameplate cannot conform with a current trend, i.e., the game software is updated and replaced frequently. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a gaming apparatus including a digital nameplate device that does not require replacement when a game software stored in the gaming apparatus is replaced. 
     Accordingly, a gaming apparatus of the present invention comprises an electronic gaming machine and a digital nameplate device. 
     The electronic gaming machine includes a storage medium for storing a game software that has corresponding game information, a game processor coupled to the storage medium and operable to execute the game software, a display module coupled to and controlled by the game processor to generate game images, and a machine housing for housing the storage medium and the game processor and on which the display module is mounted. The digital nameplate device is mounted on the machine housing of the electronic gaming machine, and includes a memory unit, a controller coupled to the memory unit and the game processor, and a nameplate display coupled to the controller. 
     The game processor is configured to retrieve the game information stored in the storage medium and to control the controller to store the game information retrieved by the game processor in the memory unit. The controller is configured to access the game information stored in the memory unit and to control the nameplate display to display the game information accessed thereby. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which: 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic perspective view illustrating a first preferred embodiment of a gaming apparatus of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic block diagram illustrating an electronic gaming machine and a digital nameplate device of the gaming apparatus of the first preferred embodiment; 
         FIG. 3  is a flow chart to illustrate operation of the first preferred embodiment for displaying game information; and 
         FIG. 4  is a schematic block diagram illustrating the electronic gaming machine and the digital nameplate device of the gaming apparatus of a second preferred embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Before the present invention is described in greater detail, it should be noted that like elements are denoted by the same reference numerals throughout the disclosure. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , a first preferred embodiment of a gaming apparatus  100  of the present invention includes an electronic gaming machine  1  and a digital nameplate device  2 . 
     The electronic gaming machine  1  includes a game processor  10 , a storage medium  11 , an input unit  12 , a transmitting interface  13 , a display module  14 , a sound module  15 , and a machine housing  16 . The machine housing  16  is used for housing the game processor  10 , and the storage medium  11 . The sound module  15 , the display module  14  and the input unit  12  are mounted on the machine housing  16 . 
     In this embodiment, the storage medium  11  is, but not limited to, a memory card for storing a game software  110  that has corresponding game information  120 . In other embodiments, the storage medium  11  can be a hard drive or a memory device. The game processor  10  is coupled to the storage medium  11 , and is operable to execute the game software  110 . 
     The input unit  12  is coupled to the game processor  10 , and is operable by a user of the gaming apparatus  100  to generate control commands for the game processor  10 . The display module  14  includes a display controller  141  coupled to the game processor  10 , and a game display  142  coupled to the display controller  141 . The display controller  141  is controlled by the game processor  10  to send image signals to the game display  142  for generating game images. The sound module  15  includes a sound processor  151  coupled to the game processor  10 , and a speaker  152  coupled to the sound processor  151 . The sound processor  151  and the speaker  152  cooperate to generate audible sound corresponding to the game images generated by the game display  142 . Since techniques of the display module  14  and the sound module  15  are well known to those skilled in the art, and since the feature of this invention does not reside therein, further details thereof will be omitted herein for the sake of brevity. 
     The digital nameplate device  2  is mounted on a lateral side of the machine housing  16  of the electronic gaming machine  10 , and includes a memory unit  21 , a controller  20  coupled to the memory unit  21 , and a nameplate display  22  coupled to the controller  20 . The controller  20  is further coupled to the game processor  10  via the transmitting interface  13 , such as a Recommended Standard 232 (RS232) or a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface. 
     The game processor  10  is configured to retrieve the game information  120  stored in the storage medium  11  and to control the controller  20  to store the game information retrieved by the game processor  10  in the memory unit  21 . The controller  20  is configured to access the game information stored in the memory unit  21  and to control the nameplate display  22  to display the game information accessed thereby. 
     The storage medium  11  includes first program instructions  111 , second program instructions  112 , third program instructions  113 , fourth program instructions  114 , and fifth program instructions  115 . Operation of the first preferred embodiment for displaying the game information  120  will now be described with reference to  FIGS. 2 and 3 . 
     In step  301 , the electronic gaming machine  1  is booted. In step  302 , the first program instructions  111  configure the game processor  10  to detect electrical connection between the game processor  10  and the controller  20  of the digital nameplate device  2 . 
     When the game processor  10  is coupled to the controller  20 , the second program instructions  112  configure the game processor  10  to automatically determine whether the memory unit  21  of the digital nameplate device  2  stores the game information in step  303 . The flow goes to step  304  when the determination made in step  303  is affirmative, and goes to step  401  when otherwise. 
     In step  401 , the second program instructions  112  configure the game processor  10  to retrieve the game information  120  stored in the storage medium  11 . The second program instructions  112  further configure the game processor  10  to control the controller  20  for storing the game information retrieved by the game processor  10  in the memory unit  21  in step  402 , and for controlling the nameplate display  22  to display the game information stored in the memory unit  21  in step  403 . 
     In step  304 , the third program instructions  113  configure the game processor  10  to automatically acquire the game information stored in the memory unit  21  from the controller  20 . Then, the fourth program instructions  114  configure the game processor  10  to automatically compare the game information acquired from the controller  20  with the game information  120  stored in the storage medium  11  in step  305 . The flow goes to step  403  when the game information acquired from the controller  20  matches the game information  120  stored in the storage medium  11 , and goes to step  306  when otherwise. 
     In step  306 , the fifth program instructions  115  configure the game processor  10  to control the controller  20  for updating the game information in the memory unit  21  using the game information  120  in the storage medium  11 . Then, the flow goes to step  403 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 4 , a second preferred embodiment of the gaming apparatus of this invention is shown to be similar to the first preferred embodiment. In this embodiment, the program instructions  111 - 115  are replaced by a program instruction set  116  for configuring the game processor  10  to automatically retrieve the game information  120  stored in the storage medium  11  and to automatically control the controller  20  to store the game information retrieved by the game processor  10  in the memory unit  21  each time the electronic gaming machine  1  is booted. 
     In sum, when the game software  110  stored in the electronic gaming machine  1  is replaced or the electronic gaming machine  1  is installed with various game software  110 , the game processor  10  is capable of automatically retrieving the game information  120  stored in the storage medium  11 , and controlling the digital nameplate device for storing and displaying the game information. Therefore, replacement of the digital nameplate device  2  is not required when replacing the game software  110 . 
     While the present invention has been described in connection with what are considered the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.