US 5,961,121 AGranted

Game machine wager sensor

AssigneesSteven R. Pyykkonen, J. Breck Brown

InventorJ. Breck Brown

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Abstract

A game board for playing a game upon which wagers are made. The board comprises an upper playing surface (12) presenting a plurality of player areas with each of the player areas including at least one wager indicator (20, 22, 24). Each wager indicator (20, 22, 24) is characterized by including a lens (27) substantially flush with the playing surface (12) and a sensor (28) for sensing the presence of a chip on the lens (27). The sensor (28) comprises a photocell under the lens (27) and in the center thereof for sensing the presence of a chip on the lens (27). The lens (27) is circular and a light (30), comprising a plurality of light emitting diodes in a circular tube, is disposed about the circumference of the lens (27) and around the sensor (28). A register (34) accumulates the wagers on each indicator (20, 22, 24) and a switching device (36) maintains the light (30) for each indicator (20, 22, 24) illuminated after a chip is removed from the lens (27).

Claims11

Dependent claims

A game board for playing a game upon which wagers are made, said board comprising:

an upper playing surface (12) presenting a plurality of player areas, each of said player areas includes first, second and third wager indicators (20, 22, 24), each of said wager indicators (20, 22, 24) including a lens (27) substantially flush with said playing surface (12) and a sensor (28) for sensing the presence of a chip on said lens (27),
each of said sensors comprising a photo-cell under each of said lens (27) and in the center thereof for sensing the presence of a chip on each said lenses (27), and a light (30) surrounding each of said sensors for indicating that a wager has been placed on each said lens of each said wager indicator (20, 22, 24).
said first (20) of said indicators for each player area presents the numbers 7 and an 11 for first odds, a second (22) of said indicators for each player area presents the numbers 2,3, and 12 for second odds, and a third (24) of said indicators for each player area presents the numbers 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 and 10 for third odds.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.