Wagering game machines with universal mounting base for light and marquee assemblies

#A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.

#The present disclosure relates generally to wagering game machines and gaming systems. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to tower lights, marquee displays, and other cabinet mounted fixtures for wagering game machines.

#Gaming machines, such as slot machines, video poker machines, and the like, have been a cornerstone of the gaming industry for several years. Generally, the popularity of such machines with players is dependent on the likelihood (or perceived likelihood) of winning money at the machine, as well as the intrinsic entertainment value of the machine relative to other available gaming options. Where the available gaming options include a number of competing machines and the expectation of winning at each machine is roughly the same (or believed to be the same), players are likely to be attracted to the most entertaining and exciting machines. Consequently, shrewd operators strive to employ the most entertaining and exciting machines, features, and enhancements available because such machines attract frequent play and, hence, increase profitability to the operator.

#FIG. 1A is a side-view illustration of an exemplary gaming machine in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure.

#FIG. 1B is a front-view illustration of the gaming machine of FIG. 1A.

#FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary gaming system in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure.

#While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments have been shown by way of example in the drawings and will be described in detail herein. It should be understood, however, that the invention is not intended to be limited to the particular forms disclosed. Rather, this disclosure is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

#While this disclosure is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms, there are shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail representative embodiments with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the broad aspect of the invention to the embodiments illustrated. To that extent, elements and limitations that are disclosed, for example, in the Abstract, Summary, and Detailed Description of the Exemplary Embodiments sections, but not explicitly set forth in the claims, should not be incorporated into the claims, singly or collectively, by implication, inference or otherwise.

#Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B, a perspective-view illustration of an exemplary gaming terminal 10 (also referred to herein as “wagering game machine” or “gaming machine”) is shown in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. The gaming terminal 10 of FIGS. 1A and 1B may be used, for example, in traditional gaming establishments, such as casinos and cruise ships, and non-traditional gaming establishments, such as pools, hotels, restaurants, and airports. The gaming terminal 10 may be any type of gaming terminal and may have varying structures and methods of operation. For instance, the gaming terminal 10 may be an electromechanical gaming terminal configured, for example, to play mechanical slots, or it may be an electronic gaming terminal configured, for example, to play a video casino game, such as slots, keno, poker, blackjack, roulette, craps, etc. It should be understood that although the gaming terminal 10 is shown as a free-standing gaming terminal of the upright type, the gaming machines of the present disclosure may take on a wide variety of other forms, such as free-standing gaming terminals of the slant-top type, “countertop” gaming devices, etc. Finally, the drawings presented herein are not to scale and are provided purely for instructional purposes; as such, the individual and relative dimensions shown in the drawings are not to be considered limiting.