Display panel for an electronic game and method of employing same

• US 4,327,915 A
• Filed: 06/12/1980
• Issued: 05/04/1982
• Est. Priority Date: 07/03/1978
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Hasbro Inc.
• Original Assignee: Coleco Industries Incorporated (Ranger Industries, Inc.)
• Inventors: Bromley, Eric
• Primary Examiner(s): Hum, Vance Y.
• Application Number:
  US06/158,698
• Time in Patent Office: 691 Days
• Field of Search: 273/1 E, 273/1 GC, 273/85 G, 273/88, 273/93 R, 273/94, 273/313, 273/237, 273/DIG. 28, 364/410, 340/323 R, 340/706, 340/768, 340/780, 340/791, 340/792, 340/800, 340/810, 340/799, 340/782
• US Class Current: 463/4
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 3/00028 Board games simulating indoor or outdoor sporting games, e.g. bowling, basketball, boxing, croquet, athletics, jeu de boules, darts, snooker, rodeo racing games played on boards A63F3/00082; indoor games played with small balls A63F7/00
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 3/00643 Electric board games; Electric features of board games electric word or number games A63F3/0421; computer chess G06F; electric raffle games A63F3/081
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/14 Semiconductor devices, e.g. diodes

Abstract

An electronic simulated football game includes provision for displaying and moving a multiplicity of offensive players on a display panel that includes an array of light-emitting diodes in response to commands entered from a keyboard to an operational circuit that controls the display. The provision of more than one offensive player affords the possibility of simulating blocking and passing, provisions for which are made in the operational circuit. Additionally, the operational circuit controls the display to provide and move a symbol representing a football during passing and kicking plays. Finally, status information, such as the score and the down number, is displayed on the same part of the display panel as that on which play action is shown.

Claims

1. In an apparatus for simulating a sports-action game that includes:

A. a display panel providing a playing area with a transparent planar surface and including an array of light-emitting devices disposed below said playing area and operable to emit light to provide a visual simulation representative of the simulated sports-action game by the application of electrical signals thereto;

B. operational-circuit means operatively connected to said display panel playing area and including means for generating and transmitting electrical signals to at least some of said light-emitting devices below said playing area to illuminate said devices to simulate at least one object, some of said devices being illuminated sequentially to simulate at least one moving object whose simulated motion on said playing area represents the play action of said simulated sports-action game, said operational-circuit means further including means for monitoring said play action to record information concerning the status of said simulated game and for generating and transmitting electrical signals representative of said status information; and

C. a control board including a multiplicity of manually operable control elements, said control board being connected to said operational-circuit means for transmission of signals to said operational-circuit means through operation of said control elements, said means for generating and transmitting signals to said light-emitting devices being arranged to produce manually controlled movement of at least one of said simulated objects in said playing area in response to signals transmitted from said control board, the improvement wherein;

at least some of said light-emitting devices are seven-segment displays with decimal points therebetween, at least some of said light-emitting devices below said playing area are alternately illuminated in a plurality of modes through action of said operational-circuit means resulting from signals from said manually operable control elements with object simulating signals being transmitted to said devices in one mode and status information signals being transmitted thereto in another mode, illumination in said one mode simulating said object with said manually operable control elements producing manually controlled movement of said object on said playing area during the period of play action, illumination in said another mode displaying said status information in said playing area in response to said electrical signals from said play action monitoring means upon termination of said play action, illumination in said one mode by said operational-circuit means effecting illumination only of the horizontal segments of the seven-segment displays and of the decimal points to provide said simulated objects, illumination in said other mode by said operational-circuit means effecting illumination of both horizontal and vertical segments of said devices as well as such decimal points as required.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said monitoring means generates and transmits signals to at least some of said light-emitting devices to illuminate said devices to form alphanumeric symbols that convey said status information.

3. The apparatus combination of claim 1 wherein said light-emitting devices are light-emitting diodes.

4. The apparatus combination of claim 1 further including a housing adapted to be held in a human hand, and wherein said operational-circuit means are contained in said housing and said display panel is mounted on said housing.

5. The apparatus combination of claim 1 wherein said planar upper surface has a simulated playing field inscribed thereon above said light-emitting devices.

6. The apparatus combination of claim 5 wherein said display panel further includes at least one lens, positioned between said planar surface and at least one of said light-emitting devices, for magnifying the image of at least one of said light-emitting devices.

7. The apparatus combination of claim 6 wherein said display panel further includes circuit-board means disposed below said light-emitting devices, said light-emitting devices being mounted on said circuit-board means, said circuit-board means including conductor paths and circuit-board terminals in which said conductor paths terminate, said conductor paths being electrically connected to said light-emitting devices for illumination of selected light-emitting devices upon application of electrical signals to selected circuit-board terminals, said operational-circuit means being operatively connected to said circuit-board terminals to transmit said electrical signals thereto to simulate said object and display said status information.

8. The apparatus combination of claim 7 wherein said display panel includes a multiplicity of lenses organized into at least two rows.

9. In a method for playing an electronic simulated sports action game, the steps of:

A. providing a display panel playing area that includes an array of light-emitting devices disposed therebelow and operable to emit light to provide a visual simulation of the sports-action game by the application of electrical signals thereto, having at least some of said light-emitting devices comprise seven-segment displays and decimal points therebetween;

B. providing operational-circuit means operatively connected to said display panel playing area and including means for generating and transmitting electrical signals to at least some of said light-emitting devices below said playing area to illuminate only the horizontal segments and decimal points of said devices to simulate at least one object, having some of said devices illuminated sequentially to simulate at least one moving object whose simulated motion in said playing area represents the play action of said simulated sports-action game, having said operational-circuit means further include means for monitoring said play action to record information concerning the status of said simulated game and for generating and transmitting signals to at least some of said light-emitting devices below said playing area to illuminate the horizontal and vertical segments and decimal points of said devices to display said status information in said playing area, activating at least some of the horizontal segments and decimal points of said light-emitting devices below said playing area by alternately illuminating in a plurality of modes through said operational-circuit means with object simulating signals being transmitted thereto to illuminate both horizontal and vertical segments of said seven-segment displays and the decimal points in said devices in another mode, illumination in said one mode simulating said object, illumination in said another mode displaying said status information in said playing area;

C. providing a set of manually operable control elements electrically connected to said operational-circuit means for transmission of electrical signals to said operational-circuit means through operation of said manually operable control elements, said means for generating and transmitting electrical signals to said light-emitting devices to simulate said at least one object being arranged to produce manually controlled movement in said first mode of at least said one simulated object on said playing area in response to signals transmitted from said control board during play action, and said operational-circuit means being arranged for alternate selection of object simulation and status-information display in response to electrical signals transmitted from said manually operable control elements; and

D. operating said manually operable control elements to alternately select simulation of said objects during play action and display of said status information upon termination of play action, thereby using some of the same light-emitting devices for alternately simulating said objects and displaying said status information in said playing area.

10. The method of claim 9 further including the step of producing manually controlled movement of at least said one simulated object on said playing area by operating said manually operable control elements.