Transparent Pushbutton Assembly for Gaming Machine Interfaces
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional gaming machine button decks with static mechanical pushbuttons are costly, unreliable, and limit graphical design and user interaction, as they are customized for each machine and cannot be easily reconfigured for different games or enhanced with dynamic graphics.
Innovation Solution
A dynamically configurable pushbutton assembly featuring a video display with transparent mechanical pushbuttons that can be integrated into the display screen, allowing for reconfigurable graphics and lighting, enabling a more immersive and adaptable user interface.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional mechanical pushbuttons are used in button decks, then the interface provides tactile feedback and reliable input, but the cost increases and reliability decreases due to customization requirements for each machine
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces conventional mechanical pushbuttons with a video display interface that detects touch inputs. The display screen itself serves as the input interface, eliminating the need for separate mechanical buttons. This substitution reduces manufacturing costs while maintaining reliability through electronic detection methods.
Solution Approach 2:
The video display serves multiple functions: it displays game information and simultaneously functions as the input interface through touch detection. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate button decks, reducing customization requirements and manufacturing costs across different game machines.
2Adaptability or versatility
If conventional mechanical pushbuttons are used in button decks, then the interface structure is simple and reliable, but adaptability decreases as the interface cannot be easily reconfigured for different games
Solution Approach 1:
The interface transitions from a static mechanical button configuration to a dynamic video display that can be reconfigured through software. The display content and touch-sensitive areas can be changed to accommodate different games without physical modifications, providing high adaptability while maintaining a simple overall structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The interface parameters such as button positions, sizes, and functions are changed through software configuration rather than physical reassembly. This allows different games to have customized interfaces without changing the physical device structure, achieving high versatility with minimal complexity.
3Ease of operation
If conventional mechanical pushbuttons are used, then the interface is functional, but graphical design freedom is limited and user interaction is static
Solution Approach 1:
The mechanical pushbutton system is replaced with a touch-sensitive video display that enables diverse graphical designs and animated interactions. The display can show moving images, change colors, and provide visual feedback, greatly enhancing user interaction quality while the touch detection mechanism remains relatively simple.
Data Source
AI summary
Gaming machines, methods, and systems include a dynamically configurable pushbutton assembly including a video display having a first top surface and a first outer periphery defining a display screen area. At least one mechanical pushbutton is mounted to the display screen, the at least one mechanical pushbutton includes a second top surface and a second outer periphery defining a corresponding pushbutton area within. The second top surface and the pushbutton area are located to extend at least partly over a portion of the display screen area and within the first outer periphery, and the second top surface is transparent so that the portion of display screen area within the pushbutton area is visible through the second top surface.