Patents by Inventor Chris E. Hammond

Chris E. Hammond has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 7278916
    Abstract: When a special symbol appears during play of the gaming machine game, the secondary game is initiated. At initiation, a bonus prize is determined by the secondary game microcontroller by consulting a bonus game paytable stored therein where each bonus prize corresponds to a bonus spot on the secondary game. A multi-ended pointer of the secondary game spins around the field of bonus spots and the player is prompted to select which end of the pointer is active. Upon selection of the end—e.g. blue or green—a microcontroller operating the spinner calculates the point at which the spinner will cease to spin so that the selected pointed end is pointing toward the selected bonus prize. The player is given the illusion that he or she controls which bonus prize is won since the green side of the pointer will point to a different bonus prize than the blue side.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 3, 2004
    Date of Patent: October 9, 2007
    Assignee: IGT
    Inventors: Scott A. Boyd, Miles M. Patceg, Perry O. Cobb, Chris E. Hammond, Kevan L. Wilkins, Shannon L. Mason
  • Patent number: 7056212
    Abstract: A secondary game operable on a gaming machine top box includes visual representations of a plurality of bingo cards formed of five columns, each column corresponding to a letter in B-I-N-G-O. The secondary game also includes peripheral spaces on the top box corresponding to each letter on each card. Qualified players, e.g. those making a maximum bet on the base game, cause the secondary game to operate whereby one of the peripheral spaces is selected. A letter causes the column on the card associated with that letter to be lit; however, the cards must be completed sequentially so that the ‘B’ column must be lit before ‘I’ and so forth. Completely filling out one or more of the bingo cards results in a selected award associated with that winning card. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, a bonus script is built that predetermines the number of plays made and the bonus amount received. The player then simply plays out the script until the bonus amount is one.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 19, 2004
    Date of Patent: June 6, 2006
    Assignee: Acres Gaming Incorporated
    Inventors: Scott A. Boyd, Miles M. Patceg, Perry O. Cobb, Chris E. Hammond, Kevan L. Wilkins, Shannon L. Mason
  • Patent number: 6832956
    Abstract: A secondary game operable on a gaming machine top box includes visual representations of a plurality of bingo cards formed of five columns, each column corresponding to a letter in B-I-N-G-O. The secondary game also includes peripheral spaces on the top box corresponding to each letter on each card. Qualified players, e.g. those making a maximum bet on the base game, cause the secondary game to operate whereby one of the peripheral spaces is selected. A letter causes the column on the card associated with that letter to be lit; however, the cards must be completed sequentially so that the ‘B’ column must be lit before ‘I’ and so forth. Completely filling out one or more of the bingo cards results in a selected award associated with that winning card. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, a bonus script is built that predetermines the number of plays made and the bonus amount received. The player then simply plays out the script until the bonus amount is one.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 18, 2001
    Date of Patent: December 21, 2004
    Assignee: Acres Gaming Incorporated
    Inventors: Scott A. Boyd, Miles M. Patceg, Perry O. Cobb, Chris E. Hammond, Kevan L. Wilkins, Shannon L. Mason
  • Patent number: 6793577
    Abstract: When a special symbol appears during play of the gaming machine game, the secondary game is initiated. At initiation, a bonus prize is determined by the secondary game microcontroller by consulting a bonus game paytable stored therein where each bonus prize corresponds to a bonus spot on the secondary game. A multi-ended pointer of the secondary game spins around the field of bonus spots and the player is prompted to select which end of the pointer is active. Upon selection of the end—e.g. blue or green—a microcontroller operating the spinner calculates the point at which the spinner will cease to spin so that the selected pointed end is pointing toward the selected bonus prize. The player is given the illusion that he or she controls which bonus prize is won since the green side of the pointer will point to a different bonus prize than the blue side.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 18, 2001
    Date of Patent: September 21, 2004
    Assignee: Acres Gaming Incorporated
    Inventors: Kevan L. Wilkins, Shannon L. Mason, Chris E. Hammond, Scott A. Boyd, Miles M. Patceg, Perry O. Cobb
  • Publication number: 20040166920
    Abstract: A secondary game operable on a gaming machine top box includes visual representations of a plurality of bingo cards formed of five columns, each column corresponding to a letter in B-I-N-G-O. The secondary game also includes peripheral spaces on the top box corresponding to each letter on each card. Qualified players, e.g. those making a maximum bet on the base game, cause the secondary game to operate whereby one of the peripheral spaces is selected. A letter causes the column on the card associated with that letter to be lit; however, the cards must be completed sequentially so that the ‘B’ column must be lit before ‘I’ and so forth. Completely filling out one or more of the bingo cards results in a selected award associated with that winning card. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, a bonus script is built that predetermines the number of plays made and the bonus amount received. The player then simply plays out the script until the bonus amount is one.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 19, 2004
    Publication date: August 26, 2004
    Inventors: Scott A. Boyd, Miles M. Patceg, Perry O. Cobb, Chris E. Hammond, Kevan L. Wilkins, Shannon L. Mason