Amusement devices: games – Aerial projectile game; game element or accessory therefor... – Simulated game
Reexamination Certificate
2000-10-12
2003-03-25
Sewell, Paul T. (Department: 3711)
Amusement devices: games
Aerial projectile game; game element or accessory therefor...
Simulated game
C273S371000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06536770
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an intelligent basketball game assembly; and, more particularly, to an intelligent basketball game assembly provided with a basketball goal capable of moving forward, rearward, leftward and rightward, and rotating 90° clockwise and counterclockwise along with a backboard.
2. Description of the Background
A basketball game assembly, in general, allows people to enjoy a basketball game in an indoor facility such as an amusement park, home, etc. rather than in a place such as an outdoor court provided with a real basketball goal, with a player getting pleasant and excited by factors from a simulated sport and factors of amusement, and obtaining an additional effect of exercise.
This basketball game assembly is normally operated in such a manner that the player repeatedly shoots the basketballs toward a goal or hoop mounted to a fixed backboard within a given period of time and a score is displayed on a basis of the number of goals, with a time extension of more several seconds being given to the player when the score is over a predetermined value.
This type of basketball game assembly with the fixed goal or backboard, however, cannot provide the player with various shooting environment at different angles. In order to solve this problem, a basketball game assembly constructed by assembling the components thereof has been proposed, in which the position or angle of the goal must be manually changed during the game is suspended. This is a cumbersome thing to the player and therefore is a factor allowing the player to be discomfort. Further, the basketball game assembly has a shortcoming in that its audio and display functions are not enough to tempt the people to participate in the game.
On the other hand, a basketball game having a coin-operated switch is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,013,292. The technology, however, has a shortcoming in that it does not have exciting or amusing factors, although automatically feeding the basketballs to the player and displaying the data on the time and score.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,035,423, which is similar to the above patent, a basketball training facility is disclosed. This basketball training facility is designed for the player's shooting practice and has an enclosed region defined by a bottom wall, a front wall, a pair of lateral walls and a rear wall. The basketball training facility comprises a backboard and a goal mounted to a vertical member within the enclosed region; a means for rotating the backboard along with the goal about the vertical member; a ball returning device mounted within the enclosed region; and a means for moving the vertical member toward the player or away from the player, in order to help the player's practice. In this technology, the backboard and the goal are to be moved back and forth along a rail and are capable of rotating 90° clockwise and counterclockwise by means of a limit switch. Further, this technology creates audio and visual distractions or disturbance to provide the player with an environment that the player encounters during a game, by means of a video and an audio cassette players. In the technology, however, the translational and rotational movements of the backboard and the goal are so simple that it can not provide the player with amusement that the player may feel under the sports simulation game.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,358,237 modified to control the movement of the backboard and the goal, a microprocessor controls the translational and rotational movements of the backboard and the goal in a predetermined manner, with the score being displayed on a score board in an upper portion of the backboard and with sounds simulating acclamation or jeer which may occur in the real game being emitted through a speaker.
However, the patent does not provide a movement of a two-dimensional curve profile which may be obtained in combination of a forward/rearward movement and a leftward/rightward movement, being short of factors inducing a person to have an interest, e.g., giving a premium to a player of a higher score. As a result, it has a reduced commercial applicability and does not ensure a commercial success.
Accordingly, the conventional basketball game assembly described above does not provide the player with full amusement and entails much inconvenience, since the backboard and the goal are adapted to be changed in position and direction by manually or in an exceedingly simple manner.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is, therefore, an object of the invention to provide an intelligent basketball game assembly provided with means for horizontally moving a backboard and a goal, a ball returning member for retrieving the ball, a digital sound effector, and means for providing a premium, wherein the backboard and the goal are automatically moved forward, rearward, leftward and rightward to provide a nearly real basketball game with truthfulness, allowing a good player to be won a premium.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an intelligent basketball game assembly capable of achieving movements of two-dimensional curve profile by cooperating a forward/rearward movement and a leftward/rightward movement in a preprogrammed manner.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, an intelligent basketball game assembly has a main body including a driving mechanism provided with a first moving member for moving a goal support rightward and leftward, a second moving member for moving the goal support forward and rearward, and a rotating member for rotating an upper portion of the goal support; and an auxiliary body provided with operation buttons including a start button and a difficulty mode setting button, a coin insertion, a premium discharge opening through which a premium is provided, a ball stopper, a pair of ball stop supports having vertical rails along which the ball stopper is moved upward or downward. The intelligent basketball game assembly also has a control section including a button detection for detecting the player's operation of the operating buttons, a display constituted by LED or LCD to indicate score and the number of coins, a coin detection for detecting the number and the kinds of the coins given by the player, a motor driving part for controlling the operations of the first and the second moving member and the rotating member, a sensing part for detecting the position of the goal, and a sound emitter emitting music, a fanfare and a voice guide.
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patent: 5035423 (1991-07-01), Arciniega
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patent: 5330175 (1994-07-01), Kim
patent: 5358237 (1994-10-01), Yu
Chambers M.
Knobbe Martens Olson & Bear LLP
P & P Idea Co., Ltd.
Sewell Paul T.
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