WO2005058443A1

WO2005058443A1 - Gaming machine

Info

Publication number: WO2005058443A1
Application number: PCT/NL2003/000895
Authority: WO
Inventors: Henricus Wilhelmus De Haas
Original assignee: Orion Gaming BV
Current assignee: Orion Gaming BV
Priority date: 2003-12-16
Filing date: 2003-12-16
Publication date: 2005-06-30
Anticipated expiration: 2006-06-16
Also published as: AU2003290448A1

Abstract

A gaming machine (10), comprising a housing having attached to it internal and external means for playing a game, the outer surface or outer surface parts (11, 12, 13, 14) of the housing being coated by one or more decorative layers and an outer protective layer applied on an outer one of the decorative layers, the decorative layers and the protective layer being at least partly transparent. In particular each decorative layer is of a type which is applied by using a water-soluble gel sheet which has been imprinted with a decorative pattern.

Description

Gaming machine.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to a gaming machine according to the preamble of claim 1.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION A Gaming machine of the above type is known from practice. The coating of the prior art gaming machine consists of one or more layers of plating, lacquer, varnish and paint. By using such materials in specific patterns and colors it is possible to distinguish one machine from another, for the remaining identical machine. However to do so is labor-intensive. Therefore, in practice it is too expensive to design a small series of gaming machines having distinguishable appearance with respect to other gaming machines .

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the invention to solve the drawbacks of the prior art gaming machines and to provide a gaming machine of which the appearance can be very different from that of other gaming machines almost independent on the number of machines of a series of machines .

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The above object of the invention is achieved by a gaming machine as described in claim 1.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will become more gradually apparent from the following exemplary description in connection with the accompanying drawings. In the drawings there are shown: fig. 1 a schematic diagram of an example of a gaming machine which is suitable for applying the invention with; fig 2 to 4 examples of decorations which are suitable to be applied on a gaming machine according to the invention; fig. 5 a schematic diagram of a method for applying decorative films on objects.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Fig. 1 shows an example of a gaming machine 10 of a size as of gaming machines used in casinos. In particular, fig. 1 shows a gaming machine 10 of a type which is also called slot machine. A slot machine may have physical or electrically displayed reels which carry a variety of symbols. Gaming machine 10 comprises a housing with outer surfaces, such as the ones indicated by numerals 11, 12, 13, 14. The housing has attached to it several internal and external mechanical and electrical devices (not shown or not indicated specifically) as is commonly known in the art. It is common practice to apply a coating of one or more of plating, lacquer, varnish and paint on the outside surface of the housing. It is also known to apply such materials in different colors in specific patterns, figures, symbols and pictures with some degree of complexity of appearance. It will be obvious that the costs for manufacturing of a gaming machine will be higher as said complexity of appearance increases. Therefore the number of gaming machines of a series of identical gaming machines to be manufactured will be limited in practice because of the costs involved. To design and to manufacture a gaming machine with an almost unique appearance with respect to other gaming machines which appear mechanically identical is virtually out of the question because of its costs. According to the invention the outer surfaces, or parts thereof, such as surfaces 11, 12, 13, 14 of the housing of a gaming machine, such as 10, may be coated by some special layers, one or more thereof being a decorative layer which may be selected from a large number of decorative layers which are commercially available for several purposes, and an outer layer on an outer one of such decorative layers, said layers being at least partly transparent.

When using such layers a background color underneath the decorative layer will become partly visible through the decorative layer and the outer layer. The background color and other background features, such as texture and graphics, may be provided by the outside surface of the housing itself or by one or more layers having such features applied to said outside surface of the housing. The overall result of it will be that numerous combinations of appearances of a specific model of a gaming machine can be made. Such machines may even have unique appearances. Although a gaming machine according to the invention will be more expensive than a machine of a series of gaming machines which are coated according to the prior art, it will be less expensive than a machine of the same model but having an appearance, which is designed and applied individually, or for a small series of machines. Therefore casinos can distinguish themselves very effectively, also in terms of costs, by having gaming machines according to the invention manufactured exclusively for them. In this regard it is an advantage that one is not limited to a single decorative. In particular, each of said wall parts 11-14 of gaming machine 10 may be provided with a different number of different decorative layers. Figures 2 to 4 show examples of decorations 17 to 19 respectively, which are suitable to be applied on a gaming machine according to the invention. The decorations may all kinds of graphics, drawings and images inclusive. For example background graphics for imitating marble, wood or fabric can be used. In particular, the decorative layer is of a type which is applied by a known method, which will be described now with reference to fig. 5 and which is sometimes called "cubic printing" and "cubic coating" . The diagram of fig. 5 shows a workflow of a method for applying a coating on a gaming machine, such as gaming machine 10 shown in fig. 1, according to the invention. It is assumed that the outer surface of the housing of the gaming machine 10 is prepared for depositing thereon of a decorative layer. The preparation may comprise the application of background features, such as a background color. Then, starting from a begin (box 21) of said workflow in step 22 a water bath is prepared so that during some further step an object (the housing of the gaming machine or a part thereof) can be immersed in said bath. Care is taken that the surface of the water stays flat. Then, in step 23 a decorative film is prepared, that is, cut to proper dimensions and cut in to prevent curling of edge parts in the water later on. In step 24 the decorative film is put flat on the water. Bubbles trapped underneath the film are moved beyond the sides of the film by gently deforming the film. Then, indicated with step 25, about 1 minute is waited. Next, in step 26, a suitable activator is atomized onto the film. Then, indicated with step 27, about 10 seconds is waited. Next, in step 28, said object is put gently onto the film and, as indicated in step 29, the object is gently pushed down to immerse it into the bath while the activated decorative film gradually adheres to the surface of the object. Then, indicated with step 30, about 15 seconds is waited. At this time decorative parts will have adhered to the object. Said decorative parts are still bound by a gel, which resulted from said activation and immersion. In step 31, with the object being still immersed said gel is gently washed from the object, leaving a decorative layer on the object. Next, in step 32, the object is taken out of the bath, rinsed and dried. Finally, in step 33, a transparent protective layer, such as a lacquer, is applied on the dried decorative layer. The workflow finishes at 34. It is observed that the invention is not limited to the examples described above. With the invention being defined only by the claims it is possible, for example, to a apply several decorative layers in the coating. Each of said layers may have one or more different colors and different graphics. Further, it is observed that the background may have features, which are non-uniformly distributed over the outside surface of a wall of the housing of the gaming machine .

Claims

C L A I M S

1. A gaming machine, comprising a housing having attached to it internal and external means for playing a game, the housing having a coating on an outside surface characterized in that the coating comprises at least one decorative layer and an outer protective layer applied on the decorative layer, the decorative layer and the protective layer being at least partly transparent.

2. Gaming machine according to claim 1, characterized in that the coating comprises an background layer applied between the housing outside surface and the decorative layer.

3. Gaming machine according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the decorative layer is of a type which is applied by using a water- soluble gel sheet which has been imprinted with a decorative pattern.