Roulette apparatus

Abstract

The present inventions concerns a roulette apparatus (1) comprising at least one graphical roulette-display-system (10) and a mechanical wheel (20) having a plurality of pockets (21) adapted to receive a ball, wherein the mechanical wheel (20) and the at least one graphical roulette-display-system (10) is controlled by an electronic-control-system (30) and wherein the at least one graphical roulette-display-system (10) displays a field of numbers and/or symbols and the roulette apparatus (1) further comprising at least one wheel control unit (60) adapted to influence the rotation and/or movement of the mechanical wheel (20) according to the electronic-control-system (30) in order to bring the wheel into a position based on an information received from the electronic-control-system (30).

Claims

1. A roulette apparatus (1) comprising at least one graphical roulette-display-system (10) and a mechanical wheel (20) having a plurality of pockets (21) adapted to receive a ball, wherein the mechanical wheel (20) and the at least one graphical roulette-display-system (10) is controlled by an electronic-control-system (30) and wherein the at least one graphical roulette-display-system (10) displays a field of numbers and/or symbols and the roulette apparatus (1) further comprising at least one wheel control unit (60) adapted to influence the rotation and/or movement of the mechanical wheel (20) according to the electronic-control-system (30) in order to bring the wheel into a position based on an information received from the electronic-control-system (30); wherein the mechanical wheel (20) is designed to change the number N of pockets of the plurality of pockets (21).

2. A roulette apparatus (1) according to claim 1, wherein the mechanical wheel (20) displays no static content relating to game information.

3. A roulette apparatus (1) according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of pockets (21) has mechanical boundaries to prevent the ball leaving a pocket of the plurality of pockets (21) receiving the ball and/or the plurality of pockets (21) is represented by a digital image displayed by the at least one graphical roulette-display-system (10).

4. A roulette apparatus (1) according to claim 1, wherein the at least one graphical roulette-display-system (10) comprises at least one information display (11) to display changeable dynamic content by means of a display device (12), wherein the changeable dynamic content relates to game information provided by the electronic-control-system (30).

5. A roulette apparatus (1) according to claim 4, wherein the display device is at least a video projector (13) and/or an electronic display (14).

6. A roulette apparatus (1) according to claim 5, wherein the video projector (13) projects an annular image on and/or around the mechanical wheel (20).

7. A roulette apparatus (1) according to claim 1, wherein the electronic-control-system (30) comprises a wheel controller (40) controlling the mechanical wheel (20) by means of a wheel control unit (60) and a display controller (50) controlling the at least one graphical roulette-display-system (10).

8. A roulette apparatus (1) according to claim 7, wherein the wheel controller (40) comprises a speed sensor (41) to determine the speed and/or the number of revolutions of the mechanical wheel (20), a ball sensor (42) to determine the position of the ball at least when the ball is in one pocket of the plurality of pockets (21), a game controller (43) adapted to determine a winning number by a random number generator (RNG) and/or a width of each pocket of the plurality of pockets (21) and/or winning and losing bets, and a label controller (44) adapted to determine the position of the winning number on the rim of the mechanical wheel (20).

9. A roulette apparatus (1) according to claim 7, wherein wheel controller (40), display controller (50) and wheel control unit (60) are connected electronically to exchange data and display controller (50) and wheel control unit (60) receive data from the wheel controller(40).

10. A roulette apparatus (1) comprising at least one graphical roulette-display-system (10) and a mechanical wheel (20) having a plurality of pockets (21) adapted to receive a ball, wherein the mechanical wheel (20) and the at least one graphical roulette-display-system (10) is controlled by an electronic-control-system (30) and wherein the at least one graphical roulette-display-system (10) displays a field of numbers and/or symbols and the roulette apparatus (1) further comprising at least one wheel control unit (60) adapted to influence the rotation and/or movement of the mechanical wheel (20) according to the electronic-control-system (30) in order to bring the wheel into a position based on an information received from the electronic-control-system (30); wherein the electronic-control-system (30) comprises a wheel controller (40) controlling the mechanical wheel (20) by means of a wheel control unit (60) and a display controller (50) controlling the at least one graphical roulette-display-system (10); and wherein the wheel controller (40) comprises a speed sensor (41) to determine the speed and/or the number of revolutions of the mechanical wheel (20), a ball sensor (42) to determine the position of the ball at least when the ball is in one pocket of the plurality of pockets (21), a game controller (43) adapted to determine a winning number by a random number generator (RNG) and/or a width of each pocket of the plurality of pockets (21) and/or winning and losing bets, and a label controller (44) adapted to determine the position of the winning number on the rim of the mechanical wheel (20); and a method of using the roulette apparatus (1) including the steps of: a. determining the speed and/or the number of revolutions of the mechanical wheel (20) by means of the speed sensor (41); b. determining the winning number by means of the random number generator (RNG) of the game controller (43); c. determining the position of the ball by means of the ball sensor (42); d. determining the position of a label representing the winning number displayed by the at least one graphical roulette-display-system (10) by means of the label controller (44); e. slowing down the mechanical wheel (20) by means of the wheel control unit (60) until it stops and the ball is in a section of the mechanical wheel (20) corresponding to the label representing the winning number displayed by the at least one graphical roulette-display-system (10); f. optionally determining the width of each pocket of the plurality of pockets (21) by means of the game controller (43); g. determining winning and losing bets by means of the game controller (43); h. changing the displayed content displayed by the at least one graphical roulette-display-system (10) by means of the display controller (50); and i. repeating the steps until a predetermined game cycle is reached.

11. A roulette apparatus (1) comprising at least one graphical roulette-display-system (10) and a mechanical wheel (20) having a plurality of pockets (21) adapted to receive a ball, wherein the mechanical wheel (20) and the at least one graphical roulette-display-system (10) is controlled by an electronic-control-system (30) and wherein the at least one graphical roulette-display-system (10) displays a field of numbers and/or symbols and the roulette apparatus (1) further comprising at least one wheel control unit (60) adapted to influence the rotation and/or movement of the mechanical wheel (20) according to the electronic-control-system (30) in order to bring the wheel into a position based on an information received from the electronic-control-system (30); wherein the electronic-control-system (30) comprises a wheel controller (40) controlling the mechanical wheel (20) by means of a wheel control unit (60) and a display controller (50) controlling the at least one graphical roulette-display-system (10); and wherein the wheel controller (40) comprises a speed sensor (41) to determine the speed and/or the number of revolutions of the mechanical wheel (20), a ball sensor (42) to determine the position of the ball at least when the ball is in one pocket of the plurality of pockets (21), a game controller (43) adapted to determine a winning number by a random number generator (RNG) and/or a width of each pocket of the plurality of pockets (21) and/or winning and losing bets, and a label controller (44) adapted to determine the position of the winning number on the rim of the mechanical wheel (20); and a method of using the roulette apparatus (1) including the steps of: a. selecting a winning number by a random number generator (RNG) and associating the winning number to a number of a field of numbers displayed by the at least one graphical roulette-display-system (10); b. determining winning and losing bets by means of a game con-trailer (43); c. changing the displayed content displayed by at least one graphical roulette-display-system (10) by displaying the winning and losing bets on a payout table; d. changing the displayed content displayed by the at least one graphical roulette-display-system (10) by changing the field of numbers displayed by the at least one graphical roulette-display-system (10); e. removing or replacing the winning number with a randomly selected or predetermined number of the numbers remaining in the field of numbers displayed by the at least one graphical roulette-display-system (10) or adjust a width of a section in a circumferential direction of the remaining numbers in the field of numbers displayed by the at least one graphical roulette-display-system (10); f. recalculating the odds and/or the payout of each possible bet; g. changing the displayed content displayed by the at least one graphical roulette-display-system (10) by displaying the odds and/or the payout of each possible bet and each possible bet on the payout table; h. changing the displayed content displayed by the at least one graphical roulette-display-system (10) to highlight an event occurring during a step; and i. repeating the steps until a predetermined game cycle is reached.

12. Business or commercial method of providing roulette games using a roulette apparatus according to a roulette apparatus (1) comprising at least one graphical roulette-display-system (10) and a mechanical wheel (20) having a plurality of pockets (21) adapted to receive a ball, wherein the mechanical wheel (20) and the at least one graphical roulette-display-system (10) is controlled by an electronic-control-system (30) and wherein the at least one graphical roulette-display-system (10) displays a field of numbers and/or symbols and the roulette apparatus (1) further comprising at least one wheel control unit (60) adapted to influence the rotation and/or movement of the mechanical wheel (20) according to the electronic-control-system (30) in order to bring the wheel into a position based on an information received from the electronic-control-system (30); wherein a step to remove or replace the winning number with a randomly selected or predetermined number of the numbers remaining in the field of numbers displayed by the at least one graphical roulette-display-system and/or adjust a width of a section in a circumferential direction of the remaining numbers in the field of numbers displayed by the at least one graphical roulette-display-system and a recalculation of the odds and/or the payout of each possible bet is performed.

13. Business or commercial method according to claim 12, wherein the mathematic probability to match a winning number increases within the games cycles.

14. Business or commercial method according to claim 13, wherein the winning probability depends on the remaining numbers N of numbers in the field of numbers and will calculates as 1/N.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(1) A more complete appreciation of the invention and many of the attendant advantages thereof will be readily obtained as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

(2) FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a conception of a roulette apparatus according to one explanatory embodiment of the invention.

(3) FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a method to use a roulette apparatus according to one explanatory embodiment of the invention.

(4) It will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that the invention can be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential character thereof. The presently disclosed embodiments are therefore considered in all respects to be illustrative and not restrictive.

(5) FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a conception of a roulette apparatus 1 according to one explanatory embodiment of the invention. The roulette apparatus 1 comprising a graphical roulette-display-system 10 with two information displays or screens 11 is seen from above. One of the information displays 11 is a display device 12, more particularly an electronic display 14 like OLED, LCD, LED display, e-ink display or similar. The displayed information on the electronic display 14 displays a payout or betting table, where one or more players can place their bet or bets in a physical and/or digital manner by e.g. placing tokens on the according sections displayed by the electronic display 14. The electronic display 14 may also display game relevant information like the probabilities of each bet and also more information like ads. The other information display 11 is in this example a screen or information display 11 in the outer rim area of the mechanical wheel 20. The screen or information display 11 is for example a white area to display the image projected by the video projector 13. The video projector in this example is installed above the roulette apparatus and the image is filtered with an aperture 16 and then redirected by a mirror 15. The mirror 15 and the aperture 16 could be moveable to sharpen or redirect the image on the roulette apparatus 1. The projector could also be beneath the roulette apparatus 1 and project an image to the bottom side of the mechanical wheel 20. The screen or information display 11 on the outer rim of the roulette wheel is therefore not completely transparent, so that the projected image is visible for the players. The video projector 13 could also project an image without using mirror 15 or aperture 16 or by using several or different optical means. Instead of the video projector 13 for displaying information on the wheel an electronic display or more than one electronic display could alternatively also be used. For displaying information in the area of the electronic screen 14 also a video projector could be used. The roulette apparatus 1 of FIG. 1 also contains en electronic-control-system 30 and a wheel control unit 60. The electronic-control-system 30 is steering the mechanical wheel 20 by the wheel control unit 60 to bring the mechanical wheel and/or the ball on the mechanical wheel in a certain passion. For the steering of the mechanical wheel 20 the control unit 60 comprises a motor or a drive for accelerating or a brake for slowing down the mechanical wheel. For steering the mechanical wheel 20 the electronic-control-system 30 comprises a wheel controller 40 which comprises a speed sensor 41 to determine the speed and/or the number of revolutions of the mechanical wheel 20, a ball sensor 42 to determine the position of the ball at least when the ball is in one pocket of the plurality of pockets 21, a game controller 43 adapted to determine a winning number by a random number generator RNG and winning and losing bets, and a label controller 44 adapted to determine the final and intended position of the winning number on the outer rim of the mechanical wheel 20. Furthermore the electronic-control-system 30 comprises a display controller 50 for controlling the roulette-display-system 10 with its display devices 12.

(6) The different parts of the electronic-control-system 30 are electronically connected to exchange relevant data, the wheel controller 40 is connected to the wheel control unit 60 for steering the mechanical wheel, and the display controller 50 is connected to the display devices 12 for transmitting the respective images for the display devices 12 to display.

(7) The display devices 12 each can display changeable dynamic content relating to game information. A display device 12 can be digitally changed at any time, unlike a static printed graphic. As display device 12 any suitable technology such as LCD, LED, OLED, projection, deflection, laser, or any other method of dynamically displaying an image can be used.

(8) There may be multiple independent or common display devices 12, information displays 11 or roulette-display-systems 10 in the preferred embodiments and the physical positioning of the display devices 12 and/or the information displays 11 and/or roulette-display-systems 10 may extend to the roulette wheel 20 or the roulette table or any auxiliary positioning which is to be considered as part of the game in a contextual sense without any implication of physical proximity, including the case where the display may be positioned remotely. A preferred positioning is on the roulette bowl which should be understood to mean as part of the roulette apparatus, bowl, cone, ball pockets, ball track, wheel head and any other parts of the roulette installation.

(9) An alternative possible positioning is in the immediate vicinity of the roulette bowl or roulette wheel 20. This does not state the number or combination of these display devices 12 and any permutation is to be considered as part of the invention. The information displays 11 may operate independently from one another meaning the content can be different amongst the information displays 11, in all senses of the meaning, i.e. both at a point in time and the manner of change over time.

(10) The information display 11 of the roulette-display-system 10 could be used to dynamically display the game numbers that might change during the game, dynamic ads, branding, game information, game rules, or any other visual information. There are no limits to the type of content displayed, neither to when the content is displayed as it may be displayed before, during or after a game of roulette without any implied time restriction.

(11) The information display 11 is connected to an electronic-control-system 30 driving the information display by the display controller 50, which may be embodied as a computer, SoC, embedded circuit, display controller, standalone graphic card, or any other device capable of driving the display.

(12) The electronic-control-system 30 more specifically the display controller 50 driving the information display 11 of the graphical roulette-display-system 10 is connected to an input source via an input interface from where it receives instructions for what to display, or what content. Some non-limiting examples of instruction and content sources are: set of preset graphics, graphics delivered via network either locally or remotely (e.g. LAN, internet, DSL, cellular, satellite, etc.), back office administrator panel, betting shop terminal, portable media, programmatically rendered graphics, advertising network, or any other data delivery method. The roulette-display-system 10 may have multiple operators simultaneously and there may be some logic or algorithm as part of the electronic-control-system 30 that can autonomously mediate between types of content.

(13) The image displayed on the information display 11 via the display controller 50 may change at anytime. The type of information to be displayed on the information display 11 nor the source thereof are limited, the aforementioned examples are provided for purposes of illustration and should not be considered limiting.

(14) The information display 11 may be protected to withstand physical wear and tear in case the technical requirements warrant it. Some possible examples of a protective cover include: a transparent covering panel (such as glass, perspex, acrylic glass/plexiglass, any form of plastic, sapphire crystal, mineral glass), a wear resistant coating, or any other coating or surface designed to be applied to, or near, the display with the purpose of shielding it from damage and extending its useful lifetime. Protecting the display may only apply in the case where the display is likely to suffer from physical wear, which may not be the case, for instance if the information display 11 is implemented using a projection or deflection method. The protection may serve multiple purposes and this should be considered as part of the invention, for instance in the event where the display is positioned below the ball track, the ball track may be implemented as a transparent sapphire crystal glass which serves the dual purpose of protecting the underlying screen as well as being the mechanical ball track upon which the ball spins.

(15) The implementation of the mechanical wheel 20 may be physically modified in the embodiment. For example the traditionally fixed pockets, which usually match the count of numbers on the wheel and accordingly provide a physical manifestation of the implied winning odds as displayed by the numbers on the roulette wheel, may be modified to an implementation capable of dynamically adjusting the width of the pocketsthis is to be understood as the area wherein when a ball were to land would be considered as attributed to that number, the implementation need not necessarily be a single ball pocketusually in unison with changes on the graphical display, although not necessarily.

(16) Therefore a roulette apparatus with a roulette wheel may be provided with ball pockets 21, wherein the size of the ball pockets 21 are adjustable and wherein the roulette wheel 20 is provided with adjustable and/or positionable ball deflectors which may change position during the game.

(17) For instance in a modification of the classic game of roulette, where at the end of each spin the winning number is to be removed, with the exception of the house numbers such as the 0 or 00, the information display 11 would be used to display numbers with a varying width allotment, and the ball pockets 21 would need to adjust their allotted width accordingly in order to facilitate and mirror in the physical world, the probability of the ball landing in a certain pocket in accordance with that what is displayed on the display. The physical modifications may require as part of the implementation the use of electromotors, servomechanism, actuators or any such similar devices, which are driven by the display control system. Moreover, the apparatus is provided with a number of preset graphics, an ad network, an administrative panel (operated by a user or automatically by a control unit), portable media input unit and/or a backoffice unit. Nevertheless the size of the pockets could also be changed by changing the image when the image also displays the pockets.

(18) Furthermore the apparatus 1 is provided with sensors arranged in a sensor array to detect physical characteristics and/or a status and/or a position or other measurable properties of the mechanical wheel 20.

(19) By extension of the above-mentioned modifications to the ball pockets 21, other aspects of the roulette bowl may be modified to facilitate any form or derivative form of roulette that the information display 11 may enable. A nonlimiting example thereof is the dynamic positioning of the ball deflectors, and other potential modifications are to be considered as part of the invention. While particular embodiments have been chosen to illustrate the invention, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

(20) FIG. 2 shows a method using a roulette apparatus 1. The steps could also appear in a different order to facilitate the invention. In the beginning of a game the standard roulette layout is shown on the mechanical wheel 20 by the roulette-display-system 10. When the game starts in step a) the speed and/or the revolution of the mechanical wheel 20 is determined by means of a speed sensor 41. The speed sensor transmits for example the speed to the electronic-control-system 30 which then calculates the number of revolution or the position of a reference point. This is done as long as the mechanical wheel 20 is turning. In step b) a winning number is determined by the game controller 43 more specifically by a random number generator RNG of the game controller 43. Then the mechanical wheel slows down by itself or by means of the wheel control unit 60. Step c) is to determine the position of the ball by means of a ball sensor 42. The sensor could be a capacitive or inductive sensor array beneath or adjacent the outer rim of the mechanical wheel 20 or also a tracking system using a camera. When the ball position in the outer rim section or in the pocket section of the mechanical wheel 20 is detected step d) matches the symbol displayed by the roulette-display-system 10 to the pocket or to the position of the ball by means of the label controller 44, the display controller 50 and the roulette-display-system 10 by adjusting the spinning velocity of the image to the spinning velocity of the mechanical wheel 20. This can also take place in parallel to step e) which slows down the mechanical wheel 20 by the wheel control unit 60 by using e.g. a brake.

(21) When the winning number is announced bets are payout out and/or taken from the table. The winning number than gets removed from the numbers or symbols displayed by the roulette-display-system 10 by changing and adapting the displayed image. If the pocket of the winning number gets also removed all other pockets need to be adjusted in their width. The appropriate width of each pocket is determined in step f) by the game controller 43. Alternatively the display of the winning number is exchanged by a predetermined or random different number or symbol. In this case it is not necessary to change the width of the pockets. In parallel it can be determined by step g which bets won and which bets have lost in this game round. This can be also be shown by changing the image displayed by the roulette-display-system 10 on the game table or the payout table. Step h takes place in parallel or after all calculations are done. In step h the displayed content changes dynamically to the new content e.g. new pockets, numbers, winning and losing chances. Then the next round of the game starts. This repeats for a predetermined number of times or also for a random number (step i).