US 11,145,164 B2Granted

Gaming machine having peripheral reels, a selectively transparent front display, and motor driven reels behind the front display

AssigneeGemini Digital Development, Inc.

InventorsBen Gomez, James P. Jackson, Alfred Thomas

Life of this patent

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Abstract

A gaming machine platform includes a front display that is controllable to be opaque and display symbols during a first mode of operation, and controllable to be transparent to reveal a set of stepper motor driven reels during a second mode of operation. The front display may be part of larger display screen that displays peripheral reels that surround the front display. In one type of game, the front display displays a randomly selected array of symbols, and the peripheral reels display scatter symbols that are combinable with the front display symbols in a primary game to generate awards and possibly trigger a bonus game. When the bonus game is triggered, the front display becomes transparent to reveal the stepper driven reels for a bonus game. The bonus game may or may not use the peripheral reels.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A gaming device comprising:

physical, motor driven reels;
a front display in front of the motor driven reels, the front display being controllable to be opaque and display symbols or other information in a first mode of operation or to be transparent to reveal the motor driven reels behind the front display in a second mode of operation;
one or more peripheral displays for displaying a set of secondary reels that surrounds the front display on at least three sides of the front display;
at least one computer programmed to control the front display to be opaque and display the symbols or the other information in the first mode of operation or to be transparent to reveal the motor driven reels behind the front display in the second mode of operation;
the at least one computer also programmed to control the motor driven reels while the front display is at least partially transparent to play a game;
and
the at least one computer also programmed to control the secondary reels to display symbols that are used in conjunction with either the front display or the motor driven reels.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 16/659,317Filed 21 Oct 2019 · continuation in part
Priority: 23 Jul 2013
Published: US 2020/0051395 A113 Feb 2020
Granted: 12 Oct 2021
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification4 codes

G07F 17/3267
Game play aspects of gaming systems: game outcomes which determine the course of the subsequent game, e.g. double or quits, free games, higher…
G07F 17/3213
Display means: details of moving display elements, e.g. spinning reels, tumbling members
G07F 17/34
For games, toys, sports, or amusements: depending on the stopping of moving members in a mechanical slot machine, e.g. "fruit" machines
G07F
Coin-freed or like apparatus

Family

Application61/857,577Us provisional application · filed 23 Jul 2013
Application14/338,792Parent of this continuation-in-part · filed 23 Jul 2014
Application16/026,756Parent of this continuation-in-part · filed 3 Jul 2018
US 10,043,350 B2Parent of this continuation-in-part · filed 7 Aug 2018
US 2020/0051395 A1Pre-grant publication · published 13 Feb 2020
US 10,475,294 B2Parent of this continuation-in-part
US 2015/0031437 A1Published application
US 2018/0330578 A1Published application
US 11,145,164 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.