EP2333734B1 - Electronic game device and identification device for same - Google Patents

Electronic game device and identification device for same Download PDF

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Publication number
EP2333734B1
EP2333734B1 EP09450231A EP09450231A EP2333734B1 EP 2333734 B1 EP2333734 B1 EP 2333734B1 EP 09450231 A EP09450231 A EP 09450231A EP 09450231 A EP09450231 A EP 09450231A EP 2333734 B1 EP2333734 B1 EP 2333734B1
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EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
identifier
touchscreen
identification unit
ebt
tsc
Prior art date
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EP09450231A
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German (de)
French (fr)
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EP2333734A1 (en
Inventor
Michael Leczek
Michael Gantner
Robert Kostenzer
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Individual
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Individual
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Publication date
Priority to AT09450231T priority Critical patent/ATE544138T1/en
Application filed by Individual filed Critical Individual
Priority to EP09450231A priority patent/EP2333734B1/en
Priority to AU2010327351A priority patent/AU2010327351A1/en
Priority to CN2010800547738A priority patent/CN102648487A/en
Priority to PCT/AT2010/000438 priority patent/WO2011066593A1/en
Priority to US13/511,025 priority patent/US8870664B2/en
Priority to CA2778769A priority patent/CA2778769A1/en
Publication of EP2333734A1 publication Critical patent/EP2333734A1/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP2333734B1 publication Critical patent/EP2333734B1/en
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    • G—PHYSICS
    • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
    • G07F—COIN-FREED OR LIKE APPARATUS
    • G07F17/00—Coin-freed apparatus for hiring articles; Coin-freed facilities or services
    • G07F17/32—Coin-freed apparatus for hiring articles; Coin-freed facilities or services for games, toys, sports, or amusements
    • G07F17/3225—Data transfer within a gaming system, e.g. data sent between gaming machines and users
    • G07F17/3232—Data transfer within a gaming system, e.g. data sent between gaming machines and users wherein the operator is informed
    • G07F17/3237—Data transfer within a gaming system, e.g. data sent between gaming machines and users wherein the operator is informed about the players, e.g. profiling, responsible gaming, strategy/behavior of players, location of players
    • G07F17/3239—Tracking of individual players
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
    • G07F—COIN-FREED OR LIKE APPARATUS
    • G07F17/00—Coin-freed apparatus for hiring articles; Coin-freed facilities or services
    • G07F17/32—Coin-freed apparatus for hiring articles; Coin-freed facilities or services for games, toys, sports, or amusements
    • G07F17/3202—Hardware aspects of a gaming system, e.g. components, construction, architecture thereof
    • G07F17/3204—Player-machine interfaces
    • G07F17/3211—Display means

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to an electronic game machine comprising a game machine for a multiplayer game, with a touch screen for game control and a receiver for wireless communication with identification devices of the players, and an identification device for interacting with such a game device.
  • touch screen includes both touch screens with and without screen display, ie both touch-sensitive entry-only screens in the nature of graphics tablets or touchpads, as well as combined input and output screens in the manner of a screen (displays) with a touch-sensitive surface.
  • the touch screen only detects the occurrence of a touch, which may be sufficient for simple games; in the preferred variant, the touch screen also evaluates the position of the touch and uses it for game control, which can be more complex games realized, eg roulette: the touch screen can eg the setting range of a roulette table with the individual setting fields (number fields "0" to "36” , Group fields “rouge”, “noir”, “pair”, “impair”, etc.), eg statically imprinted.
  • the setting fields can also be displayed dynamically, for example depending on the score.
  • the touch screen is a multi-touch touch screen, which facilitates the elimination of simultaneous, no longer assignable touches.
  • the correlator discards such simultaneous touches and / or simultaneously received identifiers.
  • This increases the susceptibility to interference and in practice is not a significant limitation, since such situations are extremely rare given a sufficiently high time resolution of the time correlation.
  • a player whose input is thus ignored will usually simply attempt a re-entry (touch) in order to obtain appropriate control of the gaming device, which is given to him, e.g. can also be displayed by a corresponding feedback of the game device, for example, acoustically or visually directly on the touch screen.
  • the game device also has a transmitter and transmits an identification of the touch screen
  • the receiver also receives a touchscreen identifier sent back from the identification device to an identification device identifier
  • the correlator correlates only those identification device identifications with the contacts whose Received touchscreen identifier matches the previously sent out touchscreen identifier.
  • the touch screen is designed in the form of a game table and the multiplayer game is particularly preferably a live table game such as roulette, poker, blackjack, baccarat or the like.
  • the invention also provides an identification device for interacting with a game device the type presented here, which has a housing and a transmitter for wireless transmission of an identifier and is characterized by at least one touch sensor on the outside of the housing, which causes the sender to emit the identifier at a touch.
  • the identification device of the invention allows by the selective transmission of its identifier only when the touch sensor detects a touch, that the touches made on the touch screen of the game device can be assigned to the respective player clearly.
  • the identification device according to the invention thus represents a completely new type of "setting tool”, also referred to herein as an "electronic betting tool” (EBT), with which a player can e.g. Make bets and / or other games assigned to him.
  • EBT electronic betting tool
  • the identification device identifies the player at the same time also in the manner of a conventional "player trakking dongles"
  • all conventional functions of computerized cash flow monitoring in casinos can also be performed there, such as keeping an individual credit account in the gaming device or a central system of the casino, "cash back" individual players, make player-related "personal favorite bets", create player and / or game stats, etc.
  • the identification device of the invention may also be used by itself as an account keeping device ("electronic purse") for the player, e.g. by integrating a storage unit into the identification device in order to be able to record and manage credit and / or game scores in the identification device itself.
  • the identification device can be equipped with an optional display, on which various information can be read.
  • a particularly advantageous embodiment of the identification device of the invention which determines to cooperate with a game device emitting a touchscreen identifier is, has a receiver which receives such a touch screen identifier, the transmitter also emits the received touch screen identifier on the occasion of sending the identification device identifier. This can prevent interference of adjacent touch screens or game devices.
  • the receiver only receives the touchscreen identifier at the instigation of the touch sensor, whereby the power consumption of the receiver in the identification device can be minimized.
  • a particularly failure-prone embodiment is characterized in that the receiver receives the touchscreen identifier on a first radio frequency and the transmitter transmits the identification device identifier and the touchscreen identifier on a second radio frequency.
  • the housing of the identification device of the invention may be designed in any shape, e.g. in the form of a ballpoint pen, key fob, a credit card or the like. It is particularly advantageous if the housing has the shape of a conventional toy chip, on the outer circumference of which lies the touch sensor. This allows a particularly good handling and operation of the touch sensor: The player can take the token in a conventional manner on the opposite flat sides with thumb and forefinger, so that the peripheral edge of the Eisenjetons protrudes between thumb and forefinger, and touch the touchscreen with this outer circumference while triggering the touch sensor.
  • the touch sensor is formed by one or more pressure point switches, which provide tactile feedback to the user when actuated.
  • the rotational position of the Spieljetons is irrelevant in the operation and the user can still be sure that he has performed the touch (user input) on the touch screen.
  • Fig. 1 schematically shows an electronic game device 1, for example, an electronic Roulette ancient, with a touch screen 2 for controlling a computing unit 3, on which a corresponding game software is running.
  • the touchscreen 2 represents the input and the output unit of the arithmetic unit 3 to display on the one hand scores, scores and touchable input fields on its screen surface and on the other hand to detect touches of the screen surface by the players.
  • the touchscreen 2 also determines the coordinates X, Y of the points of contact P in order to control the entire game device 1 or the game software running on the arithmetic unit 3, as known in the art.
  • Each player on the game device 1 is equipped with an identification device 4, whose structure in the FIGS. 2 and 3 schematically - without the specialist in the well-known electrical connections between the components - is shown.
  • the identification device 4 has in the illustrated preferred embodiment, a housing 5 in the form of a conventional coin-like Spieljetons containing a fed from a battery 6 transmitter 7 with an antenna 8 for emitting a unique identifier EBT-ID of the identification device 4.
  • the transmitter 7 is controlled by a arranged on the outside of the housing 5 touch sensor 9 so that it only transmits the identification device identifier EBT-ID when the touch sensor 9 is touched.
  • the touch sensor 9 can be designed in any desired manner, for example as an inductive, capacitive, optical or radio sensor.
  • the touch sensor 9 is formed by a plurality of over the outer circumference of the housing 5 distributed, electrically connected in parallel pressure point switches, which give the user a tactile feedback on actuation.
  • the pressure point switch 9 may be covered by a circumferential rubber lip 10, so that the identification device 4 has the shape of a conventional Spieljetons with circumferential rubber edge.
  • the lip 10 By radially inwardly pressing the lip 10 at any circumferential location of the housing 5, at least one pressure point switch 9 is actuated, thus causing the transmission of the identification device identifier EBT-ID by the transmitter 7.
  • the transmitter 7 could also be formed by the transmitting part of a conventional RFID transponder chip, which is interrogated by a trained for RFID transponder receiver 11 of the game device 1 upon detection of a touch 9 on the touch screen 2 while energy is fed via its antenna 8.
  • the touch sensor 9 controls the RFID transponder chip 7 to respond with the ID device ID EBT-ID only when the touch sensor 9 is operated simultaneously (or immediately before or after).
  • Fig. 1 Coming back to Fig. 1 is the interaction of the identification device 4 with the game device 1 as follows.
  • the touch screen 2 is touched at any point with the identification device 4.
  • the touchscreen 2 sends the position P (X, Y) of the point of contact to the arithmetic unit 3.
  • the identification device 4, controlled by its touch sensor 9, sends its identifier EBT-ID to the receiver 11, which forwards it to the arithmetic unit 3.
  • the arithmetic unit 3 now functions as a correlator and correlates the touch information P (X, Y) obtained from the touch screen 2 with the identification device identifier EBT-ID obtained by the receiver 11 with regard to temporal coincidence: one simultaneously or within predetermined tolerances just before or after a touch P (X, Y) received identification device identifier EBT-ID is assigned to this touch P (X, Y).
  • the touches P (X, Y) and identification device identifiers EBT-ID can each be provided with exact time stamps of a system-wide clock in order to ensure an exact time correlation even with delayed processing in the arithmetic unit 3.
  • touches of multiple players on one and the same touchscreen 2 can each be correctly assigned to the individual players.
  • the touch screen 2 is e.g. represents the setting area of a virtual roulette table, so any number of players at any time can make bets by tapping their identification device 4 on a virtual setting of the touch screen 2.
  • the clock frequency of the arithmetic unit 3 is correspondingly high and the transmission times of the identifiers are correspondingly low, a high temporal resolution of the time correlation between the contacts P (X, Y) on the one hand and the identifiers EBT-ID on the other hand can be achieved.
  • a high temporal resolution of the time correlation between the contacts P (X, Y) on the one hand and the identifiers EBT-ID on the other hand can be achieved.
  • the receiver 11 of the gaming device 1 can be constantly on reception in order to be able to receive identifications EBT-ID of identification devices 4 at any time, in particular if they have a transmitter 7 which emits spontaneously and triggered by its touch sensor 9.
  • the receiver 11 could also be a transponder interrogator emitting transceiver for interacting with transmitters 7 in the form of RFID transponder chips and then controlled by the arithmetic unit 3 so that when there is a touch P (X, Y) all nearby identification devices 4 to answer, only that Identification device 4 responds whose touch sensor 7 is being operated.
  • the gaming device 1 has a transmitter 12 which transmits a unique identifier TSC-ID of the gaming device 1 and / or of the touchscreen 2 if it has multiple touchscreens 2.
  • the transmitter 12 may also be assembled with the receiver 11 to a transceiver.
  • the transmitter 12 can transmit the identifier TSC-ID continuously or only in the course of communication with an identification device 4.
  • the identification devices 4 have in this embodiment, a receiver 13, which could also be associated with the transmitter 7 to a transceiver, evaluate the received in the course of a touch of the touch sensor 9 from the receiver 13 touch screen identifier TSC-ID and send them linked to the Identification device identifier EBT-ID to the game device 1 back.
  • This increases the susceptibility to interference in the operation of multiple touch screens 2 or more game devices 1 side by side:
  • the arithmetic unit 3 takes into account in the time correlation of the touch P (X, Y) with the identification device identifiers EBT-ID then only those identifiers EBT-ID, to which the correct touchscreen ID TSC-ID of the touch screen touched 2 was received.
  • the wireless communication between the transmitters 7, 12 and receivers 11, 13 may be accomplished in any manner known in the art, eg, optical, inductive, capacitive or otherwise.
  • a radio communication is used, in particular of a digital type and according to an industrial standard such as WLAN (wireless local area network), NFC (near field communication), DSRC (dedicated short range communication), Bluetooth or the like.
  • the RFID standard radio frequency identification
  • different radio frequencies can also be used for the two directions of communication in order to increase the susceptibility to interference.
  • Several game devices 1 of the type shown here can be networked via a network interface 14 in a conventional manner with similar game devices 1 and / or connected to a data center of the casino, in which e.g. Financial accounts of players and / or gaming statistics.
  • the identification device identifiers EBT-ID of the identification devices 4 of the players can also be used for referencing the player accounts and for player-related evaluations such as player track records, as known in the art.
  • the identification device 4 may also be provided with a display for displaying various information, e.g. about its operating state, the course of its communication with the game device 1, about internal data such as a credit balance stored therein, when e.g. serves as an "electronic purse", or via external from the game device or the casino data center related data, which are referenced by the identification device 4, be equipped.
  • a keyboard preferably limited to a few keys
  • the identification device 4 could also be provided for data input and communication with these units.

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  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Social Psychology (AREA)
  • Pinball Game Machines (AREA)
  • User Interface Of Digital Computer (AREA)
  • Management, Administration, Business Operations System, And Electronic Commerce (AREA)

Abstract

The system (A) has a transmitter for transmitting a unique identifier of identification units (4) of players in a wireless manner. A touch sensor makes the transmitter to transmit the identifier when a housing is touched, and an electronic gaming device comprises a touch screen (2) that controls game. A receiver (11) is provided for communicating with the identification units. The device comprises a correlator that correlates contact of the touch screen with the identifier of the identification units over time to assign the contact to the identification units.

Description

Die vorliegende Erfindung betrifft eine elektronische Spielanlage, umfassend eine Spielvorrichtung für ein Multiplayer-Spiel, mit einem Touchscreen zur Spielsteuerung und einem Empfänger zur Drahtloskommunikation mit Identifikationsgeräten der Spieler, sowie ein Identifikationsgerät zum Zusammenwirken mit einer solchen Spielvorrichtung.The present invention relates to an electronic game machine comprising a game machine for a multiplayer game, with a touch screen for game control and a receiver for wireless communication with identification devices of the players, and an identification device for interacting with such a game device.

Der Einsatz von drahtlosen Identifikationsgeräten, sog. "player tracking dongles" mit z.B. integrierten RFID-Transponderchips, zur Spieleridentifizierung und -nachverfolgung in Casinos ist seit längerem bekannt, siehe beispielsweise US 2007/0060310 A1 oder US 2007/0293311 A1 . In letzter Zeit wurde vorgeschlagen, solche RFID-Transponderchips auch zur Identifizierung und Zuordnung der einzelnen Spieler an einem von ihnen gemeinsam bedienten Touchscreen eines elektronischen Multiplayer-Livetable-Spiels einzusetzen. So beschreibt die EP 2 000 997 A1 die Identifizierung und Lokalisierung der Mitspieler an einem Touchscreen-Spieltisch durch Funklokalisieren der von ihnen mitgeführten RFID-Transponderchips, woraufhin jedem lokalisierten Spieler ein eigener Bereich des Touchscreens zugewiesen wird, um die Berührungen der Spieler auf dem Touchscreen auseinanderhalten zu können. Diese Lösung eignet sich nur für ganz bestimmte Arten von Livetable-Spielen, bei denen die Spieler eigene Bereiche auf dem Spieltisch verwenden, wie Poker, Black Jack od.dgl. Für freiere Livetable-Spiele, bei denen ein Bereich des Touchscreens von mehreren Spielern gemeinsam verwendet wird, z.B. der Setzbereich eines virtuellen Roulettetisches, ist dieses System nicht geeignet. Eine andere Lösung ist in der WO 2007/139484 A1 beschrieben, bei welcher jeder Spieler mit einer Hand eine dedizierte Schwachstromelektrode des Spieltischs ergreift, sodaß seine andere Hand ein schwaches Codiersignal führt und ihre Berührung auf dem Touchscreen der ergriffenen Elektrode zugeordnet werden kann. Dieses System nötigt die Spieler zu einer einhändigen Spielweise, mit entsprechend geringerer Benutzerakzeptanz.The use of wireless identification devices, so-called "player tracking dongles" with eg integrated RFID transponder chips, for player identification and tracking in casinos has long been known, see for example US 2007/0060310 A1 or US 2007/0293311 A1 , Recently, it has been proposed to use such RFID transponder chips also for identifying and assigning the individual players on one of them jointly operated touch screen of an electronic multiplayer live play game. That's how it describes EP 2 000 997 A1 identifying and locating the players on a touch screen gaming table by radio-localizing the RFID transponder chips carried by them, whereupon each localized player is assigned a separate area of the touch screen to distinguish the touches of the players on the touch screen. This solution is only suitable for very specific types of live play games, where players use their own areas on the gaming table, such as poker, blackjack or the like. For livetable free games, where a portion of the touch screen is shared by multiple players, such as the placement area of a virtual roulette table, this system is not appropriate. Another solution is in the WO 2007/139484 A1 described, in which each player with one hand, a dedicated weak current electrode of the gaming table grips, so that his other hand performs a weak coding signal and their touch on the touch screen of the electrode grasped can be assigned. This system Forcing the players to a one-handed style of play, with correspondingly lower user acceptance.

Es besteht daher ein ungebrochener Bedarf nach einer praxistauglichen und keiner Einschränkung unterworfenen Lösung zur Durchführung von elektronischen Multiplayer-Spielen auf touchscreengesteuerten Spielvorrichtungen.There is therefore an unmet need for a practical and unrestricted solution for performing electronic multiplayer games on touch screen gaming devices.

Dieses Ziel wird in einem ersten Aspekt der Erfindung mit einer elektronischen Spielanlage mit den Merkmalen des Anspruchs 1 erreicht.This object is achieved in a first aspect of the invention with an electronic game system having the features of claim 1.

Auf diese Weise wird erstmals eine gemeinsame Bedienung eines Touchscreen-Spielfeldes für mehrere Mitspieler möglich, welche die einzelnen Berührungen ("Benutzereingaben") der Mitspieler rasch und sicher auseinanderhalten läßt, ohne daß die Spieler zu einer Änderung ihres Spielverhaltens genötigt wären oder die Spielvorrichtung auf bestimmte Arten von Spielen eingeschränkt wäre.In this way, a common operation of a touch screen field for several players is the first time possible, which can distinguish the individual touches ("user input") of the other players quickly and safely, without the players would be forced to change their playing behavior or the game device on certain Types of games would be limited.

An dieser Stelle sei erwähnt, daß der hier verwendete Begriff "Touchscreen" sowohl Touchscreens mit als auch ohne Bildschirmanzeige umfaßt, d.h. sowohl Nur-Eingabe-Screens mit berührungsempfindlicher Oberfläche in der Art von Graphiktabletts oder Touchpads, als auch kombinierte Ein- und Ausgabe-Screens in der Art eines Bildschirms (Displays) mit berührungsempfindlicher Oberfläche. Im einfachsten Fall erfaßt der Touchscreen nur das Auftreten einer Berührung, was für einfache Spiele ausreichend sein mag; in der bevorzugten Variante wertet der Touchscreen auch die Position der Berührung aus und verwendet sie zur Spielsteuerung, wodurch sich aufwendigere Spiele realisieren lassen, z.B. Roulette: Der Touchscreen kann z.B. den Setzbereich eines Roulettetisches mit den einzelnen Setzfeldern (Zahlenfelder "0" bis "36", Gruppenfelder "rouge", "noir", "pair", "impair" usw.) darstellen, z.B. statisch aufgedruckt. In der besonders bevorzugten Variante eines Touchscreens mit berührungsempfindlichem Bildschirm können die Setzfelder auch dynamisch, z.B. spielstandsabhängig, angezeigt werden.It should be noted that the term "touch screen" as used herein includes both touch screens with and without screen display, ie both touch-sensitive entry-only screens in the nature of graphics tablets or touchpads, as well as combined input and output screens in the manner of a screen (displays) with a touch-sensitive surface. In the simplest case, the touch screen only detects the occurrence of a touch, which may be sufficient for simple games; in the preferred variant, the touch screen also evaluates the position of the touch and uses it for game control, which can be more complex games realized, eg roulette: the touch screen can eg the setting range of a roulette table with the individual setting fields (number fields "0" to "36" , Group fields "rouge", "noir", "pair", "impair", etc.), eg statically imprinted. In the particularly preferred variant of a touch screen with a touch-sensitive screen, the setting fields can also be displayed dynamically, for example depending on the score.

Besonders bevorzugt ist der Touchscreen ein multitouchfähiger Touchscreen, was das Ausscheiden gleichzeitiger, nicht mehr zuordenbarer Berührungen erleichtert.Particularly preferably, the touch screen is a multi-touch touch screen, which facilitates the elimination of simultaneous, no longer assignable touches.

Gemäß einer bevorzugten Ausführungsform der Erfindung verwirft der Korrelator derartige gleichzeitige Berührungen und/oder gleichzeitig empfangene Kennungen. Dies erhöht die Störungsunanfälligkeit und stellt in der Praxis keine nennenswerte Einschränkung dar, da solche Situationen bei ausreichend hoher Zeitauflösung der Zeitkorrelation extrem selten sind. Ein Spieler, dessen Eingabe auf diese Weise ignoriert wird, wird in der Regel einfach eine neuerliche Eingabe (Berührung) versuchen, um eine entsprechende Steuerung der Spielvorrichtung zu erwirken, welche ihm z.B. auch durch ein entsprechendes Feedback der Spielvorrichtung, beispielsweise akustisch oder optisch direkt auf dem Touchscreen, angezeigt werden kann.According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the correlator discards such simultaneous touches and / or simultaneously received identifiers. This increases the susceptibility to interference and in practice is not a significant limitation, since such situations are extremely rare given a sufficiently high time resolution of the time correlation. A player whose input is thus ignored will usually simply attempt a re-entry (touch) in order to obtain appropriate control of the gaming device, which is given to him, e.g. can also be displayed by a corresponding feedback of the game device, for example, acoustically or visually directly on the touch screen.

Besonderes vorteilhaft ist es, wenn die Spielvorrichtung auch einen Sender aufweist und eine Kennung des Touchscreens aussendet, der Empfänger zu einer Identifikationsgerät-Kennung auch eine vom Identifikationsgerät zurückgesandte Touchscreen-Kennung mitempfängt, und der Korrelator nur jene Identifikationsgerät-Kennungen mit den Berührungen korreliert, deren mitempfangene Touchscreen-Kennung mit der zuvor ausgesandten Touchscreen-Kennung übereinstimmt. Dadurch können Systeme mit mehr als einem Touchscreen in einer Spielvorrichtung oder mit mehreren Spielvorrichtungen in einem Saal realisiert werden, ohne daß die Gefahr einer gegenseitigen Störung besteht.It is particularly advantageous if the game device also has a transmitter and transmits an identification of the touch screen, the receiver also receives a touchscreen identifier sent back from the identification device to an identification device identifier, and the correlator correlates only those identification device identifications with the contacts whose Received touchscreen identifier matches the previously sent out touchscreen identifier. As a result, systems with more than one touch screen in a game device or with multiple game devices in a hall can be realized without the risk of mutual interference.

Bevorzugt ist der Touchscreen in Form eines Spieltisches ausgebildet und das Multiplayer-Spiel ist besonders bevorzugt ein Livetable-Spiel wie Roulette, Poker, Black Jack, Baccara od.dgl.Preferably, the touch screen is designed in the form of a game table and the multiplayer game is particularly preferably a live table game such as roulette, poker, blackjack, baccarat or the like.

In einem zweiten Aspekt schafft die Erfindung auch ein Identifikationsgerät zum Zusammenwirken mit einer Spielvorrichtung der hier vorgestellten Art, welches ein Gehäuse und einen Sender zum drahtlosen Aussenden einer Kennung aufweist und sich durch zumindest einen Berührungssensor auf der Außenseite des Gehäuses auszeichnet, der bei einer Berührung den Sender zum Aussenden der Kennung veranlaßt.In a second aspect, the invention also provides an identification device for interacting with a game device the type presented here, which has a housing and a transmitter for wireless transmission of an identifier and is characterized by at least one touch sensor on the outside of the housing, which causes the sender to emit the identifier at a touch.

Das Identifikationsgerät der Erfindung ermöglicht durch die selektive Aussendung seiner Kennung nur dann, wenn der Berührungssensor eine Berührung detektiert, daß die auf dem Touchscreen der Spielvorrichtung getätigten Berührungen dem jeweiligen Spieler eindeutig zugeordnet werden können. Das erfindungsgemäße Identifikationsgerät stellt damit eine völlig neue Art von "Setz-Tool" dar, hier auch als "electronic betting tool" (EBT) bezeichnet, mit dem ein Spieler z.B. Spieleinsätze tätigen und/oder andere ihm zugeordnete Spieleingaben vornehmen kann. Da das erfindungsgemäße Identifikationsgerät den Spieler gleichzeitig auch in der Art eines herkömmlichen "player trakking dongles" identifiziert, können damit auch alle herkömmlichen Funktionen der computerisierten Geldflußüberwachung in Casinos durchgeführt werden, wie das Führen eines individuellen Guthaben- bzw. Gewinnkontos in der Spielvorrichtung oder einem Zentralsystem des Casinos, das Bonifizieren ("cash back") individueller Spieler, das Tätigen von spielerbezogenen "persönlichen Favoriten-Einsätzen", das Erstellen von Spieler- und/oder Spielstatistiken, usw.The identification device of the invention allows by the selective transmission of its identifier only when the touch sensor detects a touch, that the touches made on the touch screen of the game device can be assigned to the respective player clearly. The identification device according to the invention thus represents a completely new type of "setting tool", also referred to herein as an "electronic betting tool" (EBT), with which a player can e.g. Make bets and / or other games assigned to him. Since the identification device according to the invention identifies the player at the same time also in the manner of a conventional "player trakking dongles", all conventional functions of computerized cash flow monitoring in casinos can also be performed there, such as keeping an individual credit account in the gaming device or a central system of the casino, "cash back" individual players, make player-related "personal favorite bets", create player and / or game stats, etc.

Falls gewünscht, kann das Identifikationsgerät der Erfindung auch selbst als Kontoführungseinrichtung ("elektronische Geldbörse") für den Spieler verwendet werden, z.B. durch Integration einer Speichereinheit in das Identifikationsgerät, um im Identifikationsgerät selbst Guthaben- und/oder Spielstände aufzeichnen und verwalten zu können. Das Identifikationsgerät kann dazu mit einem optionalen Display ausgestattet sein, auf dem diverse Informationen abgelesen werden können.If desired, the identification device of the invention may also be used by itself as an account keeping device ("electronic purse") for the player, e.g. by integrating a storage unit into the identification device in order to be able to record and manage credit and / or game scores in the identification device itself. The identification device can be equipped with an optional display, on which various information can be read.

Eine besonders vorteilhafte Ausführungsform des Identifikationsgeräts der Erfindung, welche zum Zusammenwirken mit einer eine Touchscreen-Kennung aussendenden Spielvorrichtung bestimmt ist, weist einen Empfänger auf, welcher eine solche Touchscreen-Kennung empfängt, wobei der Sender anläßlich des Aussendens der Identifikationsgerät-Kennung auch die empfangene Touchscreen-Kennung aussendet. Dadurch können Störungen benachbarter Touchscreens oder Spielvorrichtungen verhindert werden.A particularly advantageous embodiment of the identification device of the invention, which determines to cooperate with a game device emitting a touchscreen identifier is, has a receiver which receives such a touch screen identifier, the transmitter also emits the received touch screen identifier on the occasion of sending the identification device identifier. This can prevent interference of adjacent touch screens or game devices.

Besonders günstig ist es, wenn der Empfänger die Touchscreen-Kennung erst auf Veranlassung des Berührungssensors empfängt, wodurch der Stromverbrauch des Empfängers im Identifikationsgerät minimiert werden kann.It is particularly favorable if the receiver only receives the touchscreen identifier at the instigation of the touch sensor, whereby the power consumption of the receiver in the identification device can be minimized.

Eine besonders störungsunanfällige Ausführungsform zeichnet sich dadurch aus, daß der Empfänger die Touchscreen-Kennung auf einer ersten Funkfrequenz empfängt und der Sender die Identifikationsgerät-Kennung und die Touchscreen-Kennung auf einer zweiten Funkfrequenz sendet.A particularly failure-prone embodiment is characterized in that the receiver receives the touchscreen identifier on a first radio frequency and the transmitter transmits the identification device identifier and the touchscreen identifier on a second radio frequency.

Das Gehäuse des Identifikationsgeräts der Erfindung kann in jeder beliebigen Form gestaltet sein, z.B. in Form eines Kugelschreibers, Schlüsselanhängers, einer Kreditkarte od.dgl. Besonders vorteilhaft ist es, wenn das Gehäuse die Form eines herkömmlichen Spieljetons hat, an dessen Außenumfang der Berührungssensor liegt. Dies ermöglicht eine besonders gute Handhabung und Bedienung des Berührungssensors: Der Spieler kann den Jeton in herkömmlicher Art und Weise an den gegenüberliegenden Flachseiten mit Daumen und Zeigefinger ergreifen, sodaß der Umfangsrand des Spieljetons zwischen Daumen und Zeigefinger vorragt, und mit diesem Außenumfang den Touchscreen bequem berühren und dabei den Berührungssensor auslösen.The housing of the identification device of the invention may be designed in any shape, e.g. in the form of a ballpoint pen, key fob, a credit card or the like. It is particularly advantageous if the housing has the shape of a conventional toy chip, on the outer circumference of which lies the touch sensor. This allows a particularly good handling and operation of the touch sensor: The player can take the token in a conventional manner on the opposite flat sides with thumb and forefinger, so that the peripheral edge of the Spieljetons protrudes between thumb and forefinger, and touch the touchscreen with this outer circumference while triggering the touch sensor.

Bevorzugt wird der Berührungssensor durch einen oder mehrere Druckpunktschalter gebildet, welche dem Benutzer bei Betätigung ein taktiles Feedback geben. Dadurch ist die Rotationslage des Spieljetons bei der Bedienung unbeachtlich und der Benutzer kann sich dennoch sicher sein, daß er die Berührung (Benutzereingabe) am Touchscreen durchgeführt hat.Preferably, the touch sensor is formed by one or more pressure point switches, which provide tactile feedback to the user when actuated. As a result, the rotational position of the Spieljetons is irrelevant in the operation and the user can still be sure that he has performed the touch (user input) on the touch screen.

Die Erfindung wird nachstehend anhand eines in den beigeschlossenen Zeichnungen dargestellten Ausführungsbeispiels näher erläutert. In den Zeichnungen zeigt

  • Fig. 1 ein Blockschaltbild der elektronischen Spielvorrichtung der Erfindung in Verbindung mit einem Identifikationsgerät der Erfindung; und
  • die Fig. 2 und 3 das Identifikationsgerät der Erfindung in einer geöffneten Draufsicht und im Schnitt.
The invention will be explained in more detail with reference to an embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings. In the drawings shows
  • Fig. 1 a block diagram of the electronic game device of the invention in connection with an identification device of the invention; and
  • the FIGS. 2 and 3 the identification device of the invention in an open plan view and in section.

Fig. 1 zeigt schematisch eine elektronische Spielvorrichtung 1, beispielsweise einen elektronischen Roulettetisch, mit einem Touchscreen 2 zur Steuerung einer Recheneinheit 3, auf welcher eine entsprechende Spielesoftware läuft. Der Touchscreen 2 stellt die Ein- und die Ausgabeeinheit der Recheneinheit 3 dar, um einerseits Spielstände, Spielergebnisse und berührbare Eingabefelder auf seiner Bildschirmoberfläche anzuzeigen und anderseits Berührungen der Bildschirmoberfläche durch die Spieler zu detektieren. Der Touchscreen 2 ermittelt dabei insbesondere auch die Koordinaten X, Y der Berührungspunkte P, um auf diese Weise die gesamte Spielvorrichtung 1 bzw. die auf der Recheneinheit 3 laufende Spielesoftware zu steuern, wie in der Technik bekannt. Fig. 1 schematically shows an electronic game device 1, for example, an electronic Roulettetisch, with a touch screen 2 for controlling a computing unit 3, on which a corresponding game software is running. The touchscreen 2 represents the input and the output unit of the arithmetic unit 3 to display on the one hand scores, scores and touchable input fields on its screen surface and on the other hand to detect touches of the screen surface by the players. In particular, the touchscreen 2 also determines the coordinates X, Y of the points of contact P in order to control the entire game device 1 or the game software running on the arithmetic unit 3, as known in the art.

Jeder Mitspieler an der Spielvorrichtung 1 wird mit einem Identifikationsgerät 4 ausgestattet, dessen Aufbau in den Fig. 2 und 3 schematisch - ohne die dem Fachmann hinlänglich geläufigen elektrischen Verbindungen zwischen den Komponenten - gezeigt ist.Each player on the game device 1 is equipped with an identification device 4, whose structure in the FIGS. 2 and 3 schematically - without the specialist in the well-known electrical connections between the components - is shown.

Das Identifikationsgerät 4 besitzt in der dargestellten bevorzugten Ausführungsform ein Gehäuse 5 in der Form eines üblichen münzenartigen Spieljetons, welches einen von einer Batterie 6 gespeisten Sender 7 mit einer Antenne 8 zum Aussenden einer eindeutigen Kennung EBT-ID des Identifikationsgeräts 4 enthält. Der Sender 7 wird von einem auf der Außenseite des Gehäuses 5 angeordneten Berührungssensor 9 so gesteuert, daß er nur dann die Identifikationsgerät-Kennung EBT-ID aussendet, wenn der Berührungssensor 9 berührt wird.The identification device 4 has in the illustrated preferred embodiment, a housing 5 in the form of a conventional coin-like Spieljetons containing a fed from a battery 6 transmitter 7 with an antenna 8 for emitting a unique identifier EBT-ID of the identification device 4. The transmitter 7 is controlled by a arranged on the outside of the housing 5 touch sensor 9 so that it only transmits the identification device identifier EBT-ID when the touch sensor 9 is touched.

Der Berührungssensor 9 kann auf beliebige Art und Weise ausgebildet sein, beispielsweise als induktiver, kapazitiver, optischer oder Funksensor. In der dargestellten bevorzugten Ausführungsform wird der Berührungssensor 9 durch eine Vielzahl von über den Außenumfang des Gehäuses 5 verteilten, elektrisch parallelgeschalteten Druckpunktschaltern gebildet, welche dem Benutzer bei der Betätigung ein taktiles Feedback geben.The touch sensor 9 can be designed in any desired manner, for example as an inductive, capacitive, optical or radio sensor. In the illustrated preferred Embodiment, the touch sensor 9 is formed by a plurality of over the outer circumference of the housing 5 distributed, electrically connected in parallel pressure point switches, which give the user a tactile feedback on actuation.

Die Druckpunktschalter 9 können von einer umlaufenden Gummilippe 10 abgedeckt sein, sodaß das Identifikationsgerät 4 die Form eines herkömmlichen Spieljetons mit umlaufendem Gummirand hat. Durch radiales Einwärtsdrücken der Lippe 10 an einer beliebigen Umfangsstelle des Gehäuses 5 wird zumindest ein Druckpunktschalter 9 betätigt und veranlaßt so die Aussendung der Identifikationsgerät-Kennung EBT-ID durch den Sender 7.The pressure point switch 9 may be covered by a circumferential rubber lip 10, so that the identification device 4 has the shape of a conventional Spieljetons with circumferential rubber edge. By radially inwardly pressing the lip 10 at any circumferential location of the housing 5, at least one pressure point switch 9 is actuated, thus causing the transmission of the identification device identifier EBT-ID by the transmitter 7.

Der Sender 7 könnte auch durch den Sendeteil eines herkömmlichen RFID-Transponderchips gebildet sein, welcher von einem für RFID-Transponderabfragen ausgebildeten Empfänger 11 der Spielvorrichtung 1 bei Detektion einer Berührung 9 auf dem Touchscreen 2 abgefragt und dabei gleichzeitig über seine Antenne 8 energiegespeist wird. In diesem Fall steuert der Berührungssensor 9 den RFID-Transponderchip 7 so, daß er nur dann mit der Identifikationsgerät-Kennung EBT-ID antwortet, wenn gleichzeitig (bzw. unmittelbar davor oder danach) der Berührungssensor 9 betätigt wird.The transmitter 7 could also be formed by the transmitting part of a conventional RFID transponder chip, which is interrogated by a trained for RFID transponder receiver 11 of the game device 1 upon detection of a touch 9 on the touch screen 2 while energy is fed via its antenna 8. In this case, the touch sensor 9 controls the RFID transponder chip 7 to respond with the ID device ID EBT-ID only when the touch sensor 9 is operated simultaneously (or immediately before or after).

Zurückkommend auf Fig. 1 ist das Zusammenwirken des Identifikationsgeräts 4 mit der Spielvorrichtung 1 wie folgt. Der Touchscreen 2 wird an einer beliebigen Stelle mit dem Identifikationsgerät 4 berührt. Der Touchscreen 2 sendet die Position P(X,Y) der Berührungsstelle an die Recheneinheit 3. Gleichzeitig sendet das Identifikationsgerät 4, gesteuert durch seinen Berührungssensor 9, seine Kennung EBT-ID an den Empfänger 11, welcher diese an die Recheneinheit 3 weiterleitet.Coming back to Fig. 1 is the interaction of the identification device 4 with the game device 1 as follows. The touch screen 2 is touched at any point with the identification device 4. The touchscreen 2 sends the position P (X, Y) of the point of contact to the arithmetic unit 3. At the same time, the identification device 4, controlled by its touch sensor 9, sends its identifier EBT-ID to the receiver 11, which forwards it to the arithmetic unit 3.

Die Recheneinheit 3 fungiert nun als ein Korrelator und korreliert die vom Touchscreen 2 erhaltene Berührungsinformation P(X,Y) mit der vom Empfänger 11 erhaltenen Identifikationsgerät-Kennung EBT-ID hinsichtlich zeitlicher Koinzidenz: Eine gleichzeitig - oder innerhalb vorgegebener Toleranzen knapp vor oder nach - einer Berührung P(X,Y) empfangene Identifikationsgerät-Kennung EBT-ID wird dieser Berührung P(X,Y) zugeordnet. Die Berührungen P(X,Y) und Identifikationsgerät-Kennungen EBT-ID können dazu jeweils mit exakten Zeitstempeln eines systemweiten Taktes versehen werden, um eine exakte Zeitkorrelation auch bei verzögerter Verarbeitung in der Recheneinheit 3 zu gewährleisten.The arithmetic unit 3 now functions as a correlator and correlates the touch information P (X, Y) obtained from the touch screen 2 with the identification device identifier EBT-ID obtained by the receiver 11 with regard to temporal coincidence: one simultaneously or within predetermined tolerances just before or after a touch P (X, Y) received identification device identifier EBT-ID is assigned to this touch P (X, Y). The touches P (X, Y) and identification device identifiers EBT-ID can each be provided with exact time stamps of a system-wide clock in order to ensure an exact time correlation even with delayed processing in the arithmetic unit 3.

Auf diese Weise können Berührungen mehrerer Spieler an ein und demselben Touchscreen 2 jeweils korrekt den einzelnen Spielern zugeordnet werden. Wenn der Touchscreen 2 z.B. den Setzbereich eines virtuellen Roulettetisches darstellt, können so beliebig viele Spieler zu beliebigen Zeitpunkten Einsätze tätigen, indem sie mit ihrem Identifikationsgerät 4 auf ein virtuelles Setzfeld des Touchscreens 2 tippen.In this way, touches of multiple players on one and the same touchscreen 2 can each be correctly assigned to the individual players. If the touch screen 2 is e.g. represents the setting area of a virtual roulette table, so any number of players at any time can make bets by tapping their identification device 4 on a virtual setting of the touch screen 2.

Wenn die Taktfrequenz der Recheneinheit 3 entsprechend hoch und die Übertragungszeiten der Kennungen entsprechend gering sind, kann eine hohe zeitliche Auflösung der Zeitkorrelation zwischen den Berührungen P(X,Y) einerseits und den Kennungen EBT-ID anderseits erreicht werden. Dadurch ist es in der Praxis extrem unwahrscheinlich, daß jemals zwei Berührungen P(X,Y) oder Identifikationsgerät-Kennungen EBT-ID - in den zeitlichen Auflösegrenzen des Systems - gleichzeitig auftreten. Sollte dies dennoch tatsächlich einmal der Fall sein, verwirft die Recheneinheit 3 diese nicht mehr eindeutig zuordenbaren Ereignisse.If the clock frequency of the arithmetic unit 3 is correspondingly high and the transmission times of the identifiers are correspondingly low, a high temporal resolution of the time correlation between the contacts P (X, Y) on the one hand and the identifiers EBT-ID on the other hand can be achieved. Thus, in practice, it is extremely unlikely that ever two touches P (X, Y) or identification device identifiers EBT-ID - in the temporal resolution limits of the system - will occur simultaneously. Should this nevertheless actually be the case, the arithmetic unit 3 discards these events which can no longer be clearly assigned.

Der Empfänger 11 der Spielvorrichtung 1 kann ständig auf Empfang sein, um jederzeit Kennungen EBT-ID von Identifikationsgeräten 4 empfangen zu können, insbesondere, wenn diese einen spontan sendenden, von ihrem Berührungssensor 9 ausgelösten Sender 7 haben. Alternativ könnte der Empfänger 11 auch ein Transponderabfragen aussendender Sendeempfänger zum Zusammenwirken mit Sendern 7 in Form von RFID-Transponderchips sein und dann von der Recheneinheit 3 so gesteuert werden, daß er bei Auftreten einer Berührung P(X,Y) alle in der Nähe befindlichen Identifikationsgeräte 4 zur Antwort auffordert, wobei nur jenes Identifikationsgerät 4 antwortet, dessen Berührungssensor 7 gerade betätigt wird bzw. wurde.The receiver 11 of the gaming device 1 can be constantly on reception in order to be able to receive identifications EBT-ID of identification devices 4 at any time, in particular if they have a transmitter 7 which emits spontaneously and triggered by its touch sensor 9. Alternatively, the receiver 11 could also be a transponder interrogator emitting transceiver for interacting with transmitters 7 in the form of RFID transponder chips and then controlled by the arithmetic unit 3 so that when there is a touch P (X, Y) all nearby identification devices 4 to answer, only that Identification device 4 responds whose touch sensor 7 is being operated.

In einer weiteren Ausführungsform weist die Spielvorrichtung 1 einen Sender 12 auf, der eine eindeutige Kennung TSC-ID der Spielvorrichtung 1 und/oder des Touchscreens 2, wenn diese mehrere Touchscreens 2 hat, aussendet. Der Sender 12 kann auch mit dem Empfänger 11 zu einem Sendeempfänger zusammengebaut sein. Der Sender 12 kann die Kennung TSC-ID fortlaufend oder auch erst im Zuge einer Kommunikation mit einem Identifikationsgerät 4 aussenden.In a further embodiment, the gaming device 1 has a transmitter 12 which transmits a unique identifier TSC-ID of the gaming device 1 and / or of the touchscreen 2 if it has multiple touchscreens 2. The transmitter 12 may also be assembled with the receiver 11 to a transceiver. The transmitter 12 can transmit the identifier TSC-ID continuously or only in the course of communication with an identification device 4.

Die Identifikationsgeräte 4 besitzen bei dieser Ausführungsform einen Empfänger 13, der auch mit dem Sender 7 zu einem Sendeempfänger vereinigt sein könnte, werten die im Zuge einer Berührung des Berührungssensors 9 vom Empfänger 13 empfangene Touchscreen-Kennung TSC-ID aus und senden diese verknüpft mit der Identifikationsgerät-Kennung EBT-ID an die Spielvorrichtung 1 zurück. Dies erhöht die Störungsunanfälligkeit beim Betrieb mehrerer Touchscreens 2 oder mehrerer Spielvorrichtungen 1 nebeneinander: Die Recheneinheit 3 berücksichtigt bei der Zeitkorrelation der Berührungen P(X,Y) mit den Identifikationsgerät-Kennungen EBT-ID dann nur jene Kennungen EBT-ID, zu denen auch die korrekte Touchscreen-Kennung TSC-ID des berührten Touchscreens 2 mitempfangen wurde.The identification devices 4 have in this embodiment, a receiver 13, which could also be associated with the transmitter 7 to a transceiver, evaluate the received in the course of a touch of the touch sensor 9 from the receiver 13 touch screen identifier TSC-ID and send them linked to the Identification device identifier EBT-ID to the game device 1 back. This increases the susceptibility to interference in the operation of multiple touch screens 2 or more game devices 1 side by side: The arithmetic unit 3 takes into account in the time correlation of the touch P (X, Y) with the identification device identifiers EBT-ID then only those identifiers EBT-ID, to which the correct touchscreen ID TSC-ID of the touch screen touched 2 was received.

Die Drahtloskommunikation zwischen den Sendern 7, 12 und Empfängern 11, 13 kann auf jede in der Technik bekannte Art und Weise erfolgen, z.B. auf optischem, induktivem, kapazitivem oder sonstigem Wege. Bevorzugt wird eine Funkkommunikation eingesetzt, insbesondere digitaler Art und nach einem industriellen Standard wie WLAN (wireless local area network), NFC (near field communication), DSRC (dedicated short range communication), Bluetooth od.dgl. Besonders bevorzugt wird der RFID-Standard (radio frequency identification) verwendet. Bei 2-Richtungs-Funkübertragungen können für die beiden Kommunikationsrichtungen auch unterschiedliche Funkfrequenzen eingesetzt werden, um die Störungsunanfälligkeit zu erhöhen.The wireless communication between the transmitters 7, 12 and receivers 11, 13 may be accomplished in any manner known in the art, eg, optical, inductive, capacitive or otherwise. Preferably, a radio communication is used, in particular of a digital type and according to an industrial standard such as WLAN (wireless local area network), NFC (near field communication), DSRC (dedicated short range communication), Bluetooth or the like. The RFID standard (radio frequency identification) is particularly preferably used. In the case of 2-direction radio transmissions, different radio frequencies can also be used for the two directions of communication in order to increase the susceptibility to interference.

Mehrere Spielvorrichtungen 1 der hier gezeigten Art können über eine Netzwerkschnittstelle 14 in herkömmlicher Art und Weise mit gleichartigen Spielvorrichtungen 1 vernetzt und/oder an ein Rechenzentrum des Casinos angebunden werden, in welchem z.B. Finanzkonten der Spieler und/oder Spielstatistiken geführt werden können. Die Identifikationsgerät-Kennungen EBT-ID der Identifikationsgeräte 4 der Spieler können dabei auch zur Referenzierung der Spielerkonten und für spielerbezogene Auswertungen wie Player-Track-Records verwendet werden, wie in der Technik bekannt.Several game devices 1 of the type shown here can be networked via a network interface 14 in a conventional manner with similar game devices 1 and / or connected to a data center of the casino, in which e.g. Financial accounts of players and / or gaming statistics. The identification device identifiers EBT-ID of the identification devices 4 of the players can also be used for referencing the player accounts and for player-related evaluations such as player track records, as known in the art.

Falls gewünscht, kann das Identifikationsgerät 4 auch mit einer Anzeigeeinrichtung (Display) zur Anzeige von diversen Informationen, z.B. über seinen Betriebszustand, den Ablauf seiner Kommunikation mit der Spielvorrichtung 1, über interne Daten wie einen darin gespeicherten Guthabensstand, wenn es z.B. als "elektronische Geldbörse" dient, oder über externe von der Spielvorrichtung oder dem Casino-Rechenzentrum bezogene Daten, welche durch das Identifikationsgerät 4 referenziert werden, ausgestattet sein. Optional könnte zur Dateneingabe und Kommunikation mit diesen Einheiten auch eine (bevorzugt auf wenige Tasten beschränkte) Tastatur am Identifikationsgerät 4 vorgesehen werden.If desired, the identification device 4 may also be provided with a display for displaying various information, e.g. about its operating state, the course of its communication with the game device 1, about internal data such as a credit balance stored therein, when e.g. serves as an "electronic purse", or via external from the game device or the casino data center related data, which are referenced by the identification device 4, be equipped. Optionally, a keyboard (preferably limited to a few keys) on the identification device 4 could also be provided for data input and communication with these units.

Die Erfindung ist demgemäß nicht auf die dargestellten Ausführungsformen beschränkt, sondern umfaßt alle Varianten und Modifikationen, die in den Rahmen der angeschlossenen Ansprüche fallen.The invention is therefore not limited to the illustrated embodiments, but includes all variants and modifications that fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims (10)

  1. Electronic gaming machine comprising:
    at least one identification unit (4) for a player, with a housing (5), a transmitter (7) for wirelessly transmitting a unique identifier (EBT-ID) of the identification unit (4) and at least one touch sensor (9) on the outer face of the housing (5), which causes the transmitter (7) to transmit the identifier (EBT-ID) when being touched; and
    an electronic gaming device (1) for a multi-player game, with a touchscreen (2) for controlling the game and a receiver (11) for wirelessly communicating with the identification units (4) of the players;
    wherein the gaming device (1) has a correlator (3), which correlates a touch (P) of the touchscreen (2) with an identifier (EBT-ID) of an identification unit (4) received by the receiver (11) of the gaming device (1) over time in order to assign the touch (P) to this identification unit (4).
  2. Gaming machine according to claim 1, characterised in that the touchscreen (2) evaluates the position (X,Y) of the touch (P) and uses it to control the game.
  3. Gaming machine according to claim 2, characterised in that the touchscreen (2) is a multitouch-capable touchscreen.
  4. Gaming machine according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterised in that the correlator (3) discards simultaneous touches (P) and/or simultaneously received identification unit identifiers (EBT-ID).
  5. Gaming machine according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterised in that
    the gaming device (1) also has a transmitter (12) and transmits an identifier (TSC-ID) of the touchscreen (2) and the receiver (11) of the gaming device (1) for an identification unit identifier (EBT-ID) also receives a touchscreen identifier (TSC-ID) transmitted back by the identification unit (4),
    that the identification unit (4) also has a receiver (13), which receives the identifier (TSC-ID) of a touchscreen (2), and the transmitter (7) of the identification unit (4) also transmits the received touchscreen identifier (TSC-ID) on transmission of the identification unit identifier (EBT-ID),
    wherein the correlator (3) only correlates with the touches (P) those identification unit identifiers (EBT-ID) whose received touchscreen identifier (TSC-ID) matches the previously transmitted touchscreen identifier (TSC-ID).
  6. Gaming machine according to claim 5, characterised in that the receiver (13) of the identification unit (4) receives the touchscreen identifier (TSC-ID) only at the instigation of the touch sensor (9).
  7. Gaming machine according to claim 5 or 6, characterised in that the transmitter (12) of the gaming device (1) transmits the touchscreen identifier (TSC-ID) at a first radio frequency and the transmitter (7) of the identification unit (4) transmits the identification unit identifier (EBT-ID) and the touchscreen identifier (TSC-ID) at a second radio frequency.
  8. Gaming machine according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterised in that the touchscreen (2) is configured in the form of a gaming table and the multi-player game is preferably a live table game such as roulette, poker, blackjack, baccarat or the like.
  9. Gaming machine according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterised in that the housing (5) of the identification unit (4) is in the form of a gaming chip with the touch sensor (9) located on its outer periphery.
  10. Gaming machine according to claim 9, characterised in that the touch sensor (9) is formed by one or more pressure switches, which provide tactile feedback to the user upon operation.
EP09450231A 2009-12-04 2009-12-04 Electronic game device and identification device for same Active EP2333734B1 (en)

Priority Applications (7)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP09450231A EP2333734B1 (en) 2009-12-04 2009-12-04 Electronic game device and identification device for same
AT09450231T ATE544138T1 (en) 2009-12-04 2009-12-04 ELECTRONIC GAME APPARATUS AND IDENTIFICATION DEVICE THEREFOR
CN2010800547738A CN102648487A (en) 2009-12-04 2010-11-15 Electronic gaming device and identification unit therefor
PCT/AT2010/000438 WO2011066593A1 (en) 2009-12-04 2010-11-15 Electronic gaming device and identification unit therefor
AU2010327351A AU2010327351A1 (en) 2009-12-04 2010-11-15 Electronic gaming device and identification unit therefor
US13/511,025 US8870664B2 (en) 2009-12-04 2010-11-15 Electronic gaming device and associated identification unit
CA2778769A CA2778769A1 (en) 2009-12-04 2010-11-15 Electronic gaming device and associated identification unit

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EP2333734A1 EP2333734A1 (en) 2011-06-15
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AT (1) ATE544138T1 (en)
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US8870664B2 (en) 2014-10-28
US20120276977A1 (en) 2012-11-01
CN102648487A (en) 2012-08-22
WO2011066593A1 (en) 2011-06-09

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