US3563547A

US3563547A - Football game with play projection

Info

Publication number: US3563547A
Application number: US710475A
Authority: US
Inventors: Lawrence B Marsh
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1968-03-05
Filing date: 1968-03-05
Publication date: 1971-02-16
Anticipated expiration: 1988-02-16

Abstract

An electromechanical simulation of a football game including a plurality of films showing different actual football plays and a projection system for showing the film. Provision is made for selection of offensive and defensive plays respectively from a plurality of choices. The particular selections operate electrical switches, with the combined selection determining the particular film to be shown. The selection is accomplished through a motor driven gearing associated with a circular rack which holds a plurality of films for alignment with the projector. To introduce an additional element of chance into the device, switches are provided which override the offensive and defensive play selections, and position the rack randomly. A mockup of a football field is included so as to show the position of the ball as the game proceeds.

Description

United States Patent 7-2] lnventor [54] FOOTBALL GAME WITH PLAY PROJECTION 7 Claims, 10 Drawing Figs.

2,998,748 9/1961 Dessilani 352/123 3,139,788 7/1964 Hughes et al.. 352/123 3,176,313 3/1965 Yatera 352/194 3,383,156 5/1968 Fried et al 352/123 OTHER REFERENCES Popular Science July 1965 lPEX Report page 88 Primary Examiner-Richard C. Pinkham Assistant Examiner-Paul E. Shapiro Attorney-Richard P. Schulze ABSTRACT: An electromechanical simulation of a football game including a plurality of films showing different actual football plays and a projection system for showing the film. Provision is made for selection of offensive and defensive plays respectively from a plurality of choices, The particular selections operate electrical switches, with the combined selection determining the particular film to be shown. The selection is accomplished through a motor driven gearing associated with a circular rack which holds a plurality of films for alignment with the projector. To introduce an additional element of chance into the device, switches are provided which override the offensive and defensive play selections, and position the rack randomly. A mockup of a football field is included so as to show the position of the ball as the game proceeds.

PATENTEU FEB 6 I97! SHEEI 1 OF 6 INVENTOR LAWRENCE E .MARSH PATENIEU FEBIBIBYI Q 3563547 .snwfz or 6 o IO IHHHDIDDEIEJUU 1 \Amr INVENTOR LAWRENCE Es. MARSH PATEIHEDFEBIBIQYI 3563547

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3 or 6 INVENT OR LAWQENCE E). MAQSH PATENTEDFEBIQQH 3.563547 sum u 0F 6 INVENTOR LAWRENCE BNIARSH PATENTEUFEBLBIBYIJQ "31563547 SHEET 5 OF 6 INVENTOR LAWRENCE B. MARSH FOOTBALL GAME WITH PLAY PROJECTION The present invention relates generally to equipment which simulates the action of a sporting contest and more particularly to an electromechanical device which simulates plays conducted by two opposing sides in such a contest.

The increasing popularity of various sporting contests has resulted in the use of indoor equipment for simulating such contests so that opposing players may employ the basic concepts of the game and use their own judgement, to a certain extent, as to the tactics to be used in the game. Most of these indoor games are almost entirely dependent upon chance. In such games it is merely a selection or spin of a dial which results in a determination of the end result of the game.

There have also been developed some games in which two opposing sides each have a choice of some type of move which they intend to make, and the results are then compared in some manner so as to determine the final outcome of any specific play. However, to the best of my knowledge there is no such game on the market which is capable of providing a result dependent entirely upon the selection of both of the opposing players so that true strategy is involved in the playing tactics. Further, there is no known game which assimilates the results of the selection of the two players and provides a pictorial representation of the action which results from these selections.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an electromechanical game which is played by two opponents and which provides strategical selections for both opponents with the result being pictorially displayed on the device.

Further objects of the invention will become apparent from the following description when taken in conjunction with the drawings wherein:

FIG. I is a perspective view of the assembled equipment;

FIG. 2 is a partial side view of the housing of FIG. 1 with one side removed;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the lines 3-3 of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a detailed perspective of a sample film holder used in the equipment of FIG. 2; i

FIG. 5 is an exploded view of the film advance mechanism used in conjunction with the film holder of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of one film strip as used in the film holder;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the one set of cams used for operation of the film select device;

FIG. 8 is a plan view of a second set of cams used for the film selection device;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the details of one of the play select boxes used with the present invention; and

FIG. 10 is an electrical schematic of the control circuit of the present invention.

Turning now more specifically to the drawings, there is shown in FIG. 1 an external view of the three essential basic parts of the game as shown. It is noted that although the equipment is not so limited, for illustrative purposes the invention will be discussed in connection with the game of football. There is shown in FIG. I a housing 11 having a projection screen 13 at the frontal area thereof and a playing field 15 extending outwardly from the housing 11. Also shown are the two play select boxes 17, which will be discussed in detail as the description proceeds. Additionally, there is provided on the face of the housing a place for a clock 18 to time the quarters of the game, indicators for the score as the game proceeds, and designators for the particular quarter in which the game is being played.

FIG. 2 shows the basic mechanisms involved in the present invention including a film drum 19 which is shown in more detail in FIG. 3. Film drum 19 is rotatably supported on shaft 23 and has at the forward outer periphery thereof a toothed gear 25 which meshes with a further gear 27. Gear 27 is driven by the play select motor 29 when it is actuated, and thus causes a rotation of the entire film drum 19.

Film drum 19 carries about its circumference a plurality of film holders such as holder 31 shown in position for projection upon the screen 13. The method of selecting a particular film holder 31 for projection on the screen will be discussed as the description proceeds.

With the film holder 31 in place the film therein is driven by means of a film advance mechanism, the detail of which is shown in FIG. 5 and discussed hereinafter. This film advance mechanism may be driven by means of a film advance motor 55 through a pulley arrangement 53. The rear projection system comprises lamp 33, reflector 35, condensing lens 37, shutter 38, projector lens 39, mirror 41 and the projection screen 13. This basic type of rear projection movie equipment is well known in the art.

There is further included an additional drum 47 which is, in effect, integral with the drum 19 and rotates therewith about shaft 23. A series of earns 45 are integral with the peripheral surface of drum 47 and, as the drum rotates, actuate an associated plurality of switches 43. In the illustrative embodiment of the football game, the switches 43 will be referred to as the defense selection switches and the details of these switches and the earns 45 are shown in closer detail in FIG. 7.

A further set of earns 50 are integral with the rear face of the drum 47 as shown in detail in FIG. 8. Cams 50 also operate an associated plurality of switches 49 which will be referred to as the offense selection switches. The interrelated operation of these switches will be discussed in detail in connection with the circuit diagram of FIG. 10. However, it is noted here that it is the particular combination of the two selections with the resultant operation of the

switches

43 and 49 which ultimately determine the particular film holder which is to be selected for display.

In order to provide some unknown factors which control even a normal football game, there is further provided a series of earns 59 which operate an associated plurality of switches 61. The cams 59 are driven by a toothed gear 57 which meshes with the gear 25. Switches 61 will be referred to herein as random event switches and, as will become apparent as the description proceeds, may inject certain events such as fumbles, pass interceptions and the like during the period of play.

FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate the mechanism which provides the advance of the film past the projection system once the film holder 31 has been selected. The film itself has an inline series of sprocket holes 68 with a section of the film including these sprocket holes removed as at 70 from both ends which correspond to the start and the finish of the film strip.

The pulley 69 is driven by the belt 53 when actuated by the film advance motor 55 (FIG. 1) which in turn rotates shaft 71. Shaft 71 terminates at its other end in an adapter 73 with a threaded shaft 75 extending axially outwardly therefrom. Shaft 75 passes through borehole 77 in a disc 81 and also through a borehole 79 in a disc 83.

A rounded triangular cam plate 87 is secured between

discs

81 and 83 and has a borehole 85 for accepting the shaft 75.

A threaded pin 89 is also mounted on the adapter plate 73 and extends parallel with shaft 75. Pin 73 passes through the

apertures

91, 93 and 95 of disc 81, cam plate 87 and disc 83, respectively, so as to assure positive rotation of the discs and cam plate with the adapter plate 73.

When the assembly is mounted, the cam plate 87 rests within a square aperture 97 of the film advance plate 99 and is rotatable therein.

Film advance plate 99 has an integral extending arm 100 which terminates in a slot 101 which rests on a shaft 103 mounted to a fixed plate 105. Therefore, as the entire mechanism is turned by the belt 53, the film advance plate will assume a rectilinear motion due to the action of cam plate 87 as shown by the boxed arrows of FIG. 5.

In order to advance the film with the above-discussed rectilinear motion, film advance plate 99 has a plurality of pins extending upwardly therefrom. As shown in the illustration of FIG. 5, two of the pins 107 are fixed and integral with the plate whereas the outer pins I09 and 110 are pivoted about a central point such as 111 and spring biased in a direction as indicated by the springs 113. The movement of the pins by the spring 113 is limited by

stop members

115 and 116. Pivoted pins 109 are directly related to the-section of the film 70 which has been removed as will become apparent from the discussion following hereinafter. When the particular film holder 31 is in place, the pins 107 will engage the film in the upward motion of the rectilinear sequence and cause the advance or rewind depending upon shaft rotation direction of the film with the lateral motion caused by the cam plate 87. After the lateral motion is completed in the up position, the advancer disengages the film on its downward stroke and laterally moves back into a position to start the sequence again.

The function of the

pins

109 and 110 at the beginning of the forward play of the film and at the start of the rewind of the film is as follows. The film 67 has a normal sprocket holes 68 along its entire length except at each extremity. The ends of the film 70 are cut so as to eliminate the sprocket holes at that particular area of the film. Therefore, when the film advance mechanism has advanced the film to the extreme end wherein the cutaway portion 70 is presented to the fingers, the film will stop since there will be no holes for the advance pins 107 to engage. At this point the film advancer is reversed in its rotation by either a manual or automatic switch (not shown). To rewind, the pivoted finger 110 which is spring loaded in the forward direction and retained by'the pin 116 in the rewind direction reengages the film in the rewind direction and moves the film far enough in the rewind mode for the advance fingers 107 to continue the motion to the other extremity. The spring biased finger 109 provides the same function for the forward direction. It is noted that the purpose of the springs 113 is to insure that the

pins

109, 110 return to the upright position. The tension of the. springs must not be so great that they remain upright when the force of the film is against the spring, thus preventing the film from going beyond the retrieval point.

Turning now to a description of 1 the electrical control system for the present device, it is first noted that for each set of defense select cams 45 there is an associated offense select cam 50. This will be more clear from the showing of FIG. 8 when taken together with FIG. 2.

As depicted in FIG. 10, one of the players switches 117 is moved to the offensive position by means of switch 121 shown in FIG. 9 and the other player has his switch connected to the defense selection.

Cams

45 and 50 are illustrated schematically as are the switches. The defensive switches are indicated as switches A through F and the offensive switches are indicated as Nos. 1 through 8. The remaining switches G, H, I and J are connected to the random event cam operation device.

The player on offense has selected offensive play No. 6 while the player on defense has selected defensive tactic E. The particular play chosen by a selected position is listed on a separate sheet so that the playermay make his choice. As an example, if the offensive player has a second down and yards to go, he may call an off tackle play or a short sideline pass or a long pass or any other available tactic in a normal football game. Likewise, the defensive player in attempting to outguess what the offensive player is going to call may select any type of defensive pattern to combat either a pass or running play.

Once both players have made their selection, the execute button 123 is closed which applies power to the system and energizes the play select motor 29 through the normally closed contact 127. Rotation of play select motor 29 causes the play select drum to rotate. As noted above, for every complete rotation through a series of earns 45, cams 50 advance one position as is clear from FIG. 8.

Rotation of cam 50 will create an electrical continuity between point X and point 2 when and only when it is in position No. 6. Thus, when cam 50 is in position No. 6, there exists continuity between X and Z. Rotation of cam 45 will create an electrical continuity between point Y and point Z when it is in position E. Thus, when cam 50 is in position No. 6 and cam 45 is in position E, continuity will exist between points X and Y.

and the normally

open contacts

135 and 137 to close. The

relay closing will stop the play select motor 29, thus causing the film drum 19 to stop rotating. Film 6-E is now in position to be shown.

Closing relay also causes the film drive motor to rotate by virtue of the closure of contact 135. The other contact 137 provides a self-locking circuit for the relay to prevent the possiblity of energizing the play select motor while a film is in progress.

Switch 139 is normally moved across the forward" terminals 141 and is moved to the reverse" terminals 143 upon completion of the film. This is accomplished by either a manual switch or by an automatic switch sensing the film end, thus causing the film drive motor to reverse and hence rewind the film. After the film is rewound, another play is selected by switches 1 through 6. Upon completion of the selection, either

reset switch

131 or 133 is momentarily opened. This action breaks the relay locking circuit thus causing the play select motor to rotate and the film drive motor to stop.

Positions G, H, I and J are the random action terminals and are connected to normally open switches 61 which normally do not effect the film selection Switches 61 are closed randomly by cams 59 driven from the play select motor and may represent films depicting fumbles, intercepted passes, etc. To illustrate, assume play 6-E has been selected by the two players. Continuity between X and Y will occur if cam 50 position No. 6 and any of the switches 61 to terminals G, H, l and J are closed, thus stopping the play select motor at say 6-H (if H is the closed switch). Normal rotation of cam 45 is such that the sequence is G, H, I, J, A, B, C, D, E, F, thus causing G, H, l and J to be presented before the other possible positions. For example, when cam 50 advances one position, the first position presented on cam 45 is G. Thus, film 6-H will be shown instead of the player-selected film 6-5.

It is to be understood that the above description and accompanying drawings are illustrative only and that individual components may be modified and additional refinements may be added without departing from the scope of the invention. For instance, additional films could be included in the abovedescribed football game such as for apunt, field goal, or point after touchdown as shown by the buttons in FIG. 9. Accordingly, the invention is to be limited only by the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A system for simulating the offensive and defensive tactics of a sporting contest involving two opponents comprising:

a projector-screen display means;

a movable rack for containing separate holders for a plurality of film strips, each strip depicting a different single P y;

an offensive switch settable to a predetermined number of positions;

a defensive switch settable to a predetermined number of positions, motormeans for moving said rack;

means coupling said motor means to said offensive and defensive switches so that the combined position of said switches determines the final position of said rack;

a film advance and return motor means associated with said rack for driving the film in said holder as selected by said final rack position so as to be projected onto said screen by said projector; and

means for overriding said switches and controlling the position of said rack at random intervals.

2. The system of claim 1 further comprising, cam means mounted on said rack for actuating said offensive and defensive switches in response to movement of said rack.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein said rack is a circular drum and said film holders are mounted about the periphery of said rack.

4. The system of claim 3 wherein said film holders comprise;

a first storage chamber;

a second storage chamber;

a guide channel between said first and second storage chambers;

an aperture in said guide channel for placing said film between said projector and said screen; and

rality of pins are oppositely spring biased and rotatable in opposite direction, and further comprising sections at either end of said film strip having the sprocket holes cut out therefrom 7. A game for providing selection of offensive and defensive film advancing means associated with said guide channel for 5 ta ti s C mprising;

advancing said film through said channel into said second storage chamber and returning said film from said second chamber to said first chamber.

5. The system of claim 4 where said film advancing means comprises:

a film projector including a screen;

a plurality of holders containing individual film strips and movable into projecting alignment with said projector;

motor means for moving said holders;

first switching means movable to a plurality of positions;

second switching means movable to a plurality of positions;

circuit means connecting said first and second switching means so as to control the operation of said motor means in accordanc with the position of said first and second switch means; and

third switching means connected to said circuit means for overriding said first and second switching means at random intervals for operation of said motor.

Claims

1. A system for simulating the offensive and defensive tactics of a sporting contest involving two opponents comprising: a projector-screen display means; a movable rack for containing separate holders for a plurality of film strips, each strip depicting a different single play; an offensive switch settable to a predetermined number of positions; a defensive switch settable to a predetermined number of positions, motor means for moving said rack; means coupling said motor means to said offensive and defensive switches so that the combined position of said switches determines the final position of said rack; a film advance and return motor means associated with said rack for driving the film in said holder as selected by said final rack position so as to be projected onto said screen by said projector; and means for overriding said switches and controlling the position of said rack at random intervals.

4. The system of claim 3 wherein said film holders comprise; a first storage chamber; a second storage chamber; a guide channel between said first and second storage chambers; an aperture in said guide channel for placing said film between said projector and said screen; and film advancing means associated with said guide channel for advancing said film through said channel into said second storage chamber and returning said film from said second chamber to said first chamber.

5. The system of claim 4 where said film advancing means comprises: sprocket holes in said film; a movable plate; a plurality of parallel pins extending outwardly from and substantially parallel with said plate, said fingers being spaced so as to engage said sprocket holes in said film; and motor means for driving said plate in a rectilinear motion in the plane of said plate.

6. The system of claim 5 wherein the outermost of said plurality of pins are oppositely spring biased and rotatable in opposite direction, and further comprising sections at either end of said film strip having the sprocket holes cut out therefrom.

7. A game for providing selection of offensive and defensive tactics comprising; a film projector including a screen; a plurality of holders containing individual film strips and movable into projecting alignment with said projector; motor means for moving said holders; first switching means movable to a plurality of positions; second switching means movable to a plurality of positions; circuit means connecting said first and second switching means so as to control the operation of said motor means In accordance with the position of said first and second switch means; and third switching means connected to said circuit means for overriding said first and second switching means at random intervals for operation of said motor.