US20050230919A1 - Method and apparatus for operating a dart game and teaching biblical lessons - Google Patents
Method and apparatus for operating a dart game and teaching biblical lessons Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- US20050230919A1 US20050230919A1 US11/110,057 US11005705A US2005230919A1 US 20050230919 A1 US20050230919 A1 US 20050230919A1 US 11005705 A US11005705 A US 11005705A US 2005230919 A1 US2005230919 A1 US 2005230919A1
- Authority
- US
- United States
- Prior art keywords
- memory
- transducer
- controller
- dart game
- scoring
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Abandoned
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Classifications
-
- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F41—WEAPONS
- F41J—TARGETS; TARGET RANGES; BULLET CATCHERS
- F41J3/00—Targets for arrows or darts, e.g. for sporting or amusement purposes
-
- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F41—WEAPONS
- F41J—TARGETS; TARGET RANGES; BULLET CATCHERS
- F41J5/00—Target indicating systems; Target-hit or score detecting systems
- F41J5/24—Targets producing a particular effect when hit, e.g. detonation of pyrotechnic charge, bell ring, photograph
Abstract
The dart game includes a target area including a plurality of scoring areas and at least one transducer associated with each scoring area. The dart game also includes an electronic circuit including the transducer, a controller, memory and a speaker. Messages are stored in the memory. When a player throws a dart into the target area, the transducer is activated and a signal is sent to the controller. The controller in turn retrieves a message from the memory and use the speakers to play the message.
Description
- This invention is generally directed to a game of darts.
- The game of darts is well known. The game is played by throwing a dart at a target. Different areas of the target provide different scoring opportunities. When a player hits the target, points are scored in accordance with the portion of the target hit. Ordinarily, the objective of the game is to score the highest number of points. The game of darts challenges a player's throwing abilities and fosters competitiveness.
- Many people also believe that studying religious and biblical information provides a means for maintaining one's religious faith, enlightens those without faith, inspires the downtrodden to have hope, and encourages the ill, the poor, and the stricken.
- There are, however, no traditional games that meets these purposes simultaneously. There is, accordingly, a need for a game to allow people to have a recreational opportunity to challenge their throwing abilities and to provide a study of religious and biblical teachings. The present invention meets this need.
- It is a general object of the present invention to have a game that combines recreation with religious study.
- Another object of the present invention is to combine recreation with messages of faith, hope, and encouragement.
- Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a teaching of biblical or religious knowledge.
- Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a challenge of a player's throwing abilities.
- A further object of the present invention is to provide a game which fosters competition.
- The organization and manner of the structure and operation of the invention, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals identify like elements in which:
-
FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of the preferred embodiment of the game of the present invention with the doors in an open position; -
FIG. 1 a is a front elevational view of the game ofFIG. 1 with the doors in a partially open position; -
FIG. 1 b is a front elevational view of the game ofFIG. 1 with the doors in a closed position; -
FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the play area of the game shown inFIG. 1 ; -
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of the target area of the game ofFIG. 1 ; -
FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the operation of the preferred embodiment of the present invention; and -
FIG. 5 is an elevational view of a sample dart for use with the preferred embodiment of the game of the present invention. - While the invention may be susceptible to embodiment in different forms, there is shown in the drawings, and herein will be described in detail, a specific embodiment with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered an exemplification of the principles of the invention, and is not intended to limit the invention to that as illustrated and described herein.
- As shown in
FIGS. 1 a-1 c, thedart game 100 generally includes aplay area 102 and left andright doors play area 102. Thedoors FIG. 1 b to form a shield. The doors are shown in a partially closed position inFIG. 1 a. Theplay area 102 is enclosed by thedoors FIG. 1 b.Handles 105 are placed on the outer surface of thedoors doors FIG. 1 , theplay area 102 of thegame 100 is revealed.Mounting brackets 108 are provided on the inner surfaces of thedoors darts 110 to be used to play thegame 100. Preferably themounting brackets 108 allow the darts to be snap fit therein. - The
play area 102 of thegame 100 includes atarget area 112, ascore board 114 includingdisplays 115, andspeakers 116. As best shown inFIG. 2 , thetarget area 112 is mounted to abacking 118 which is generally shaped in the form of a shield. Thetarget area 112 is circularly-shaped and includes a centrally-positioned circularly shaped bull'seye 120. The target area is divided into twenty (20) wedge-shaped sections 122. A series of concentric circles divide each the wedge-shaped sections 122 into six (6)scoring areas 124 a-124 f. A point value is assigned to eachscoring area 124 a-124 f and to the bull'seye 120. Thetarget area 112 is preferably formed from a soft material, such as cork, a bristle material, or a metallic material as is well known in the art. - As shown in
FIG. 3 , a plurality oftransducers 126 are mounted under thetarget area 112. Thetransducer 126 can be, for example, a pressure transducer, although it is envisioned that other types of transducer could be used. Preferably, at least onetransducer 126 is mounted under eachscoring area 124 a-124 f of each wedge shapedsection 122 and under the bull'seye 120. Thus, transducer 126 a is associated with scoring area 124 a,transducer 126 b is associated withscoring area 124 b, transducer 126 c is associated withscoring area 124 c,transducer 126 d is associated withscoring area 124 d,transducer 126 e is associated with scoring area 124 e,transducer 126 f is associated with scoring area 124 f, and transducer 126 g is associated with the bull'seye 120. - The
game 100 includes anelectrical circuit 127 shown in block diagram inFIG. 4 . Thecircuit 128 includes thetransducers 126, acontroller 128, amemory 130, aspeech synthesizer 132, thespeakers 116, and thedisplays 115. - As noted above, the
transducers 126 are mounted underneath thetarget area 112 and are activated when the dart enters the scoring area. In the case of a pressure transducer, the transducer is activated when the tip of the dart applies pressure to the surface of the transducer. Other transducer may be activated upon contact between the dart and the transducer. - The
controller 128 is preferably a microprocessor. Thecontroller 128 is operatively connected to eachtransducers 126, thememory 130, thespeech synthesizer 132 and thedisplays 115. Thecontroller 128 is configured to receive a signal from eachtransducer 126. Thecontroller 128 is also in communication withmemory 130 and is configured to send a signal to thememory 130 to retrieve a message stored in thememory 130 in response to the signal received by thetransducer 126. Thecontroller 128 is also configured to send a signal to thedisplay 115 in response to the signal received by thetransducer 126. - The
memory 130 is operatively connected to thecontroller 128, thespeech synthesizer 132, and thespeakers 116. A plurality ofmessages 134 are stored in thememory 130. Themessages 134 are preferably messages of faith, hope, and encouragement, are preferably derived from or direct quotations of religious texts, and are preferably biblical. Alternatively,secular messages 134 of faith, hope, and encouragement can be used. Each of the messages provided in thememory 130 are associated with aparticular scoring area 124 or bull'seye 120 of thetarget area 112. Themessages 134 can be stored inmemory 130 in various ways well known in the art. For example,messages 134 can be text, stored in any type of memory, including but not limited to magnetic, optic, and solid-state memory, and can be stored in digital or analog format. - The
speech synthesizer 132 is operatively connected to thecontroller 128, thememory 130, and to thespeakers 116. Thespeech synthesizer 132 receives the message retrieved from thememory 130 and converts the message to an audible signal and transmits the audible signal to thespeakers 116. Alternatively, themessages 134 are stored in memory 136 as sound files, preferably .wav files, and played directly by speakers 142 a and 142 b. - The
display 115 is preferably an LCD-type display. Thedisplay 115 is operatively connected to thecontroller 128. Signals received by thecontroller 128 provide a point total displayed by thedisplays 115 to provide a tally of the points attributed to each player. As signals are provided to thecontroller 128 from thetransducers 126, the point totals are updated by the controller and displayed on thedisplay 115 which is positioned in thescoreboard area 114 of theplay area 102. - A typical dart 136 used in connection with the
game 100 is shown inFIG. 5 . The darts 136 are of the type commonly used in dart games. As shown inFIG. 5 , the darts 136 include slenderpointed spears 138, having atip 140, and a plurality of flights 142 to control the flight of the darts 136 The darts 136 can be steel-tipped, such as for use with a cork-basedtarget area 112, plastic-tipped, such as for use with abristle target area 112, or magnetic, such as for use with ametallic target area 112. Other combinations of materials of the darts 136 and thetarget area 112 may be used without detracting from the present invention. - Play of the
game 100 is as follows. The object of the game is to score the highest number of points. The player scoring the highest number of points will go to heaven, in the fictional sense of course. A player throws a dart 136 toward thetarget area 112. If the player hits thetarget area 112 with the dart 136, thetip 140 of the dart 136 will penetrate one of thescoring areas 124 a-124 f or the bull'seye 120 of thetarget area 112. When thetip 140 of the dart 136 penetrates thetarget area 112, thetransducer 126 associated with thescoring area 124 hit by the player is activated. Upon activation of thetransducer 126, a signal will be provided by thetransducer 126 to thecontroller 128. Thecontroller 128 will in turn send a signal to thememory 132 to retrieve and play amessage 134. Themessage 134 played will correspond to theparticular scoring area 124 hit by the player. The retrievedmessage 134 is then sent to thespeech synthesizer 132 where themessage 134 is converted to speech and in turn played by thespeakers 116. Themessages 134 can be recorded with different voices, orspeech synthesizer 132 can be programmed to synthesize speech to play different voices. Voices can be chosen to imitate various religious figures, depending on themessage 134 being played. Additionally,messages 134 can be programmed to play appropriate background music, chosen in accordance with themessage 134 being played. The messages therefore provide teaching of biblical scriptures or messages of faith of encouragement. - In addition to playing the messages 34, the point total or score 150 for each player will be displayed on the
display 115 in thescore board portion 114 of theplay area 102. Thescore 150 will be updated to account for the additional points associated with thescoring area 124 hit by the player. Thecontroller 130 keeps score of the game in the traditional way.Controller 130 can be programmed to keep score in any of the variations of the game of darts, such as “501” or “1001”. As illustrated, the game provides for two players. Alternate embodiments can provide for single player or for higher numbers of players. - Other embodiments of the game are possible without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, the
target area 112, instead of being configured in concentric circles as in the game of darts, can be in the shape of a shield, a chalice, a halo, or other figure. Different areas of the shield, chalice, halo, or other figure can be configured for different scoring options. - While preferred embodiments of the present invention are shown and described, it is envisioned that those skilled in the art may devise various modifications of the present invention.
Claims (10)
1. A dart game comprising:
a target area divided into a plurality of scoring areas;
an electrical circuit including at least one transducer associated with each scoring area, a controller, a memory having a plurality of messages stored therein, and at least one speaker;
wherein said controller is operatively associated with said at least one transducer and said memory is operatively associated with said at least one speaker;
wherein said transducers are activated when a dart enters the scoring area; and
wherein upon activation of said transducer, a signal is provided to said controller and to said memory to retrieve one of said plurality of messages stored therein and to provide said message to said speaker.
2. A dart game as described in claim 1 , wherein said messages stored in said memory relate to biblical teachings.
3. A dart game as described in claim 1 , wherein each of said messages is associated with one of said plurality of scoring areas.
4. A dart game as described in claim 1 , wherein each of said plurality of transducers is a pressure transducer.
5. A dart game as described in claim 1 , wherein said electrical circuit further includes a speech synthesizer operatively connected to said memory and to said speakers and wherein said retrieved message is provided to said speech synthesizer for conversion to speech and played by said speakers.
6. A dart game as described in claim 1 , wherein said target area is divided into wedge shaped areas.
7. A dart game as described in claim 1 , wherein said memory is operatively connected to said speakers and wherein said messages are sent directly to said speakers from said memory.
8. A method of playing a dart game comprising the steps of:
providing a target area divided into a plurality of scoring areas;
providing an electrical circuit including at least one transducer associated with a scoring area of said target area, a controller operatively associated with said transducer, a memory operatively associated with said controller and including a plurality of messages stored therein, and speakers operatively associated with said memory;
causing a player to throw a dart into a scoring area of said target area so as to activate said transducer and to cause a signal to be provided to said controller;
causing said controller to send a message to said memory to retrieve a message;
retrieving a message from said memory; and
causing said speakers to play said message.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein said plurality of messages include biblically-based messages.
10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the step of providing an electrical circuit includes providing a display and wherein when said signal is sent to said controller from said transducer, a signal is sent to said display to provide a total of the points scored by the player.
Priority Applications (1)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US11/110,057 US20050230919A1 (en) | 2004-04-20 | 2005-04-20 | Method and apparatus for operating a dart game and teaching biblical lessons |
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US56373404P | 2004-04-20 | 2004-04-20 | |
US11/110,057 US20050230919A1 (en) | 2004-04-20 | 2005-04-20 | Method and apparatus for operating a dart game and teaching biblical lessons |
Publications (1)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
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US20050230919A1 true US20050230919A1 (en) | 2005-10-20 |
Family
ID=35095496
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
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US11/110,057 Abandoned US20050230919A1 (en) | 2004-04-20 | 2005-04-20 | Method and apparatus for operating a dart game and teaching biblical lessons |
Country Status (1)
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US (1) | US20050230919A1 (en) |
Cited By (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US20090176545A1 (en) * | 2008-01-04 | 2009-07-09 | Civettini Robert J | Interactive toy with visual and audio feedback |
Citations (12)
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US4974857A (en) * | 1988-10-20 | 1990-12-04 | Arachnid, Inc. | Electronic dart game |
US5020806A (en) * | 1990-04-16 | 1991-06-04 | Arachnid, Inc. | Multiple target electronic dart game |
US5366230A (en) * | 1993-05-18 | 1994-11-22 | Sanquinetti Trigo Jorge J | Dart game with dart hit versus non-dart hit impact discrimination |
US5401033A (en) * | 1994-02-25 | 1995-03-28 | Arachnid, Inc. | Dart game with random target number generator |
US5566951A (en) * | 1992-08-04 | 1996-10-22 | Dart International, Inc. | Method and apparatus enabling archery practice |
US5593349A (en) * | 1994-09-09 | 1997-01-14 | Valley Recreation Products Inc. | Automated league and tournament system for electronic games |
US5967518A (en) * | 1997-09-10 | 1999-10-19 | Rowe; Wayne | Sports related dart game apparatus and method |
US6059290A (en) * | 1997-05-08 | 2000-05-09 | Neil; Douglas Murphy | Board game |
US6279912B1 (en) * | 1998-07-22 | 2001-08-28 | Arachnid, Inc. | Method and apparatus for operating tug-of-war style electronic dart games |
US20020070498A1 (en) * | 2000-01-25 | 2002-06-13 | Chambers Kyla J. | Method of interaction using game piece |
US20020135131A1 (en) * | 2001-03-21 | 2002-09-26 | Martin John R. | Electronic dart game machine user interface |
US20040090010A1 (en) * | 2002-11-07 | 2004-05-13 | Wilson Carla G. | Method and apparatus for a learning system |
-
2005
- 2005-04-20 US US11/110,057 patent/US20050230919A1/en not_active Abandoned
Patent Citations (14)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US4974857A (en) * | 1988-10-20 | 1990-12-04 | Arachnid, Inc. | Electronic dart game |
US5020806A (en) * | 1990-04-16 | 1991-06-04 | Arachnid, Inc. | Multiple target electronic dart game |
US5566951A (en) * | 1992-08-04 | 1996-10-22 | Dart International, Inc. | Method and apparatus enabling archery practice |
US5366230A (en) * | 1993-05-18 | 1994-11-22 | Sanquinetti Trigo Jorge J | Dart game with dart hit versus non-dart hit impact discrimination |
US5401033A (en) * | 1994-02-25 | 1995-03-28 | Arachnid, Inc. | Dart game with random target number generator |
US5593349A (en) * | 1994-09-09 | 1997-01-14 | Valley Recreation Products Inc. | Automated league and tournament system for electronic games |
US5971397A (en) * | 1994-09-09 | 1999-10-26 | Miguel; Edward Kendal | Automated league and tournament system for electronic games |
US6059290A (en) * | 1997-05-08 | 2000-05-09 | Neil; Douglas Murphy | Board game |
US5967518A (en) * | 1997-09-10 | 1999-10-19 | Rowe; Wayne | Sports related dart game apparatus and method |
US6279912B1 (en) * | 1998-07-22 | 2001-08-28 | Arachnid, Inc. | Method and apparatus for operating tug-of-war style electronic dart games |
US20020070498A1 (en) * | 2000-01-25 | 2002-06-13 | Chambers Kyla J. | Method of interaction using game piece |
US6422558B1 (en) * | 2000-01-25 | 2002-07-23 | Kyla J. Chambers | Method of interaction using game piece |
US20020135131A1 (en) * | 2001-03-21 | 2002-09-26 | Martin John R. | Electronic dart game machine user interface |
US20040090010A1 (en) * | 2002-11-07 | 2004-05-13 | Wilson Carla G. | Method and apparatus for a learning system |
Cited By (2)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US20090176545A1 (en) * | 2008-01-04 | 2009-07-09 | Civettini Robert J | Interactive toy with visual and audio feedback |
US8262473B2 (en) | 2008-01-04 | 2012-09-11 | Mattel, Inc. | Interactive toy with visual and audio feedback |
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Legal Events
Date | Code | Title | Description |
---|---|---|---|
STCB | Information on status: application discontinuation |
Free format text: ABANDONED -- FAILURE TO RESPOND TO AN OFFICE ACTION |