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US 7,850,171 B2Granted
Gaming system, device and method involving a plurality of rotors interchangeably operable in a decoupled mode and a coupled mode
AssigneeIgt
InventorsDavid K. Bontempo, Mark C. Nicely, Benjamin J. Zoltewicz
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A gaming table, method and device including a plurality of rotors interchangeably operable in a decoupled mode and a coupled mode. The system includes a rotor coupler and a coupler actuator. The system provides an award associated with an indication of a combination of symbols of the rotors.
Claims30
A gaming table comprising:
- a support structure;
- a tabletop supported by the support structure;
- a rotor assembly support supported by the tabletop;
- a plurality of rotors supported by the rotor assembly support, the rotors including one rotor positioned within a perimeter of another rotor, the rotors sharing a common axis of rotation, each one of the rotors having a plurality of game symbols, each one of the game symbols being indicatable by an indicator, the rotors configured to be interchangeably operable in a plurality of modes, including:
- (a) a decoupled mode in which the rotors are rotatable independent of each other;
- and
- (b) a coupled mode in which the rotors are coupled to each other and synchronously rotatable;
- a rotor coupler operatively coupled to the rotors, the rotor coupler being configured to cause a change from the decoupled mode to the coupled mode;
- and
- a coupler actuator operatively coupled to the rotor coupler, said coupler actuator configured to actuate the rotor coupler in response to receiving an input while the rotors are rotating in the decoupled mode, the actuation of the rotor coupler changing the decoupled mode to the coupled mode.
7 more elements
A gaming table comprising:
- a support structure;
- a tabletop supported by the support structure;
- a rotor assembly support supported by the tabletop;
- a plurality of rotors supported by the rotor assembly support, the rotors including one rotor positioned within a perimeter of another rotor, the rotors sharing a common axis of rotation, each one of the rotors having a plurality of game symbols, each one of the game symbols being indicatable by a ball, the rotors configured to be interchangeably operable in a plurality of modes, including:
- (a) a decoupled mode in which the rotors are rotatable independent of each other;
- and
- (b) a coupled mode in which the rotors are coupled to each other and rotatable as one assembly;
- a rotor coupler operatively coupled to the rotors, the rotor coupler being configured to cause a change from the decoupled mode to the coupled mode, the rotor coupler having a game symbol aligner;
- and
- a coupler actuator operatively coupled to the rotor coupler, said coupler actuator configured to actuate the rotor coupler in response to receiving an input while the rotors are rotating in the decoupled mode, the actuation of the rotor coupler changing the decoupled mode to the coupled mode.
7 more elements
A method for operating a wagering game, the method comprising:
- providing a plurality of rotors, wherein:
- (a) the rotors include one rotor positioned within a perimeter of another rotor;
- (b) the rotors share a common axis of rotation;
- (c) each one of the rotors has a plurality of game symbols;
- and
- (d) each one of the game symbols is indicatable by an indicator;
- receiving a wager;
- rotating the plurality of rotors in a decoupled mode in which the rotors rotate independent of each other;
- determining an occurrence of an event while the rotors are rotating in the decoupled mode;
- changing the decoupled mode to a coupled mode as a result of the determination, wherein the rotors are coupled to each other in the coupled mode;
- rotating the rotors in the coupled mode;
- evaluating whether an award condition is satisfied, wherein the evaluation is completed after:
- (a) the rotors rotate for a period in the decoupled mode;
- (b) the rotors rotate for a following period in the coupled mode;
- and
- (c) the indicator indicates a combination of the game symbols while the rotors are rotating in the coupled mode, the combination including at least one game symbol of each one of the rotors;
- and
- providing an award as a result of the award condition being satisfied, the award being based on the wager.
15 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.