Granted Patent B2

US 9,330,525 · App. 13/387,203 · Granted May 3, 2016

Abstract

Claims (27)

1. A gaming system display comprising:

a first underlying display; and

a second display disposed to overlay at least a portion of the first underlying display, the second display including a transmissive liquid crystal panel, a backlight assembly, and a switchable diffuser film layer assembly between the transmissive liquid crystal panel and the backlight assembly, the backlight assembly including a transmissive aperture behind which a corresponding portion of the first underlying display is positioned, and the switchable diffuser film layer assembly including a first film layer with an applied first voltage, a second film layer with an applied second voltage, and a liquid crystal layer positioned between the first and second film layer, wherein the second display further includes a supplemental backlight directed to the aperture; and

wherein the first film layer of the switchable diffuser film layer assembly includes a segmenting gap defining an aperture area electrically insulated from the remainder of the first film layer, the aperture area having an applied aperture voltage;

wherein a region of the liquid crystal layer corresponding to the aperture area is transparent in a first mode where the aperture voltage and the second voltage are in opposite voltage polarity to allow viewing of the at least a portion of the first display, and the region of the liquid crystal layer corresponding to the aperture area is translucent in a second mode where the aperture voltage and the second voltage are in common voltage polarity to obscure the transmissive aperture.

2. The gaming system display of claim 1 , wherein the first underlying display is one of a mechanical reel, a video display or a simulated mechanical slot reel.

3. The gaming system display of claim 1 , wherein the switchable diffuser film layer assembly includes a first set of aperture areas of the first film layer corresponding with the transmissive aperture and a second set of aperture areas on the second film layer corresponding with different transmissive apertures, and the region of the liquid crystal layer corresponding to one of the first and second sets of aperture areas is transparent via the application of opposite voltage polarity to the respective the first and second sets of aperture areas during the first mode.

4. The gaming system display of claim 3 , wherein electrodes power the first and second sets of aperture areas via a tail, wherein voltage with common voltage polarity is applied to the first and second sets of aperture areas obscure the tail in the first mode.

5. The gaming system display of claim 3 , wherein the first set of aperture areas corresponds with the underlying display including three reels, and the second set of aperture areas corresponds with the underlying display including five reels.

6. The gaming system display of claim 1 , wherein the switchable diffuser layer assembly entirely obscures the first underlying display in the second mode.

7. A gaming system display comprising:

a first underlying display; and

a second display disposed to overlay at least a portion of the first underlying display, the second display including a transmissive liquid crystal panel, a switchable diffuser film layer assembly, and a backlight assembly including a transmissive aperture behind which a corresponding portion of the first underlying display is positioned, the switchable diffuser film layer assembly including a first film layer, a second film layer, a liquid crystal layer positioned between the first and second film layer, the first film layer including an aperture area corresponding to the at least a portion of the first underlying display defined by a gap in the first film layer, the aperture area electrically insulated from the remainder of the first film layer;

wherein the second display operates in a first mode to allow direct viewing of the at least a portion of the first display via switching a part of the liquid crystal layer of the switchable diffuser film layer assembly corresponding to the aperture area to a transparent state by applying an opposite voltage polarity to the aperture area and the second film layer, and the second display operates in a second mode to obscure the transmissive aperture via switching the part of the liquid crystal layer of the switchable diffuser film layer assembly corresponding to the aperture area to a translucent state by applying a common voltage polarity to the aperture area and the second film layer.

8. The gaming system display of claim 7 , wherein the backlight assembly includes a diffuser sheet diffusing light to the second display.

9. The gaming system display of claim 7 , wherein the switchable diffuser film layer assembly includes a first set of aperture areas on the first film layer corresponding with the transmissive aperture and a second set of aperture areas on the second film layer corresponding with different transmissive apertures, and the region of the liquid crystal layer corresponding to the first or second sets of aperture areas is transparent via the application of opposite voltage polarity to the respective first or second sets of aperture areas in the first mode.

10. The gaming system display of claim 9 , wherein electrodes power the first and second sets of aperture areas via a tail, wherein voltage with common voltage polarity is applied to the first and second sets of aperture areas obscure the tail in the first mode.

11. The gaming system display of claim 9 , wherein the first set of aperture areas corresponds with the underlying display including three reels, and the second set of aperture areas corresponds with the underlying display including five reels.

12. The gaming system display of claim 7 , wherein the first underlying display is one of a mechanical reel, a video display or a simulated mechanical slot reel.

13. The gaming system display of claim 7 , wherein the first underlying display includes at least one projector having red, blue and green lights, the projector cycling power to the red, blue and green lights to project an image in the first mode.

14. The gaming system display of claim 7 , wherein the switchable diffuser layer assembly entirely obscures the first underlying display in the second mode.

15. The gaming system display of claim 7 , wherein the backlight assembly includes an illumination layer, a backlight, and a reflective layer.

16. The gaming system display of claim 15 , wherein the backlight is one of an electroluminescent panel (ELP), an LED panel, an OLED panel, an incandescent light bulb, a cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL), or a hot cathode fluorescent lamp (HCFL).

17. The gaming system display of claim 1 , wherein the first underlying display includes at least one projector having red, blue and green lights, the projector cycling power to the red, blue and green lights to project an image in the first mode.

18. The gaming system of claim 17 , wherein the at least one projector provides white light to backlight the second display in the second mode.

19. The gaming system display of claim 1 , wherein the backlight assembly further includes an illumination layer, a backlight, and a reflective layer.

20. The gaming system display of claim 19 , wherein the backlight is one of an electroluminescent panel (ELP), an LED panel, an OLED panel, an incandescent light bulb, a cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL), or a hot cathode fluorescent lamp (HCFL).

Assignments (10)