Amusement devices: games – Physical skill or ability – Game element capture or pick up using manual dexterity
Reexamination Certificate
2002-04-03
2004-01-20
Hotaling, II, John M. (Department: 3713)
Amusement devices: games
Physical skill or ability
Game element capture or pick up using manual dexterity
Reexamination Certificate
active
06679499
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for standing a fallen stick between medals in a premium arcade game. In particular, it relates to a method for re-standing a fallen stick, which is knocked down during the game, by simple procedures using an electro-mechanical technique in a premium arcade game that a user rakes down as many medals heaped up on a plate as possible without knocking down a stick standing between the medals by controlling a joy-stick or up/down buttons.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, there are various types of arcade games such as a shooting game, a Go game, and sports games, and a user can play a game after paying a prescribed fee.
Among these arcade game machines, some machines are designed to awards various gifts to users who score more than a certain preset level for attracting users, and thereby increasing the frequency of playing games.
In other words, a gift supplier is equipped in a game machine in which various gifts are allocated to corresponding levels of score or winning percentage, and when a player gets to the preset score or winning percentage during a game, it awards a corresponding gift.
For example, levels of score can be specified to be 100,000 points, 300,000 points, 500,000 points, and so on. Different gifts are allocated to different corresponding levels. And, when a player gets to a certain level of preset points described above during a game, the game machine awards a corresponding gift to the player.
Here, by installing light emitting diodes around a game machine and operating them to be ON and OFF repeatedly while a gift is being awarded, the visual effect can be maximized.
Since a user has a chance to obtain a gift by simply playing a game, he(or she) becomes to be more interested at this kind of premium game than ordinary games. And thus, the frequency of playing a game machine having a gift supplier is notably increased so that the total income of a gameroom can be increased.
In these days, dance/music simulation games, such as a DDR(Dance-Dance-Revolution), have led the main stream of domestic arcade game market in Korea. However, as the dance/music simulation games recently lose their popularity rapidly, the arcade game business community including game developers, distributors, and gameroom owners becomes to be severely stagnant due to the absence of “post-DDR”.
Various types of premium game machines have been proposed for substituting the dance/music simulation games, however, they cannot jump over their limit and stay in their typical stereotype game style such as a crane-game or a punching-game.
And now, gamers want to play a game having a novel feature instead of stereotype games similar to one another. In other words, a new game, which is totally different from the previous stereotype games, is required.
In addition, a new type of premium arcade game that is able to maximize the advantage of premium game is required so that everybody can easily play and enjoy the game.
To meet the gamer's demand described above, the inventors of the present invention have presented a premium arcade game that a user rakes down as many medals as possible without knocking down a stick standing between the medals.
In other words, we have presented a novel type gaming method by which a user controls a crane installed in a game machine to rake down the medals on a plate without knocking down a stick standing between medals, and obtains a gift when he rakes down more medals than a certain preset number.
During the game described above being played, however, once the stick standing between medals is knocked down, the game is over and the fallen stick has to be re-stood by using a mechanical technique.
Since this re-standing procedure has to be repeated whenever the stick is knocked down, it has a limitation that it is ineffective to re-stand the stick by using a mechanical technique only.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is proposed to solve the problems of the prior art mentioned above. It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide a method for electronically detecting the stick being knocked down during a game and automatically re-standing the fallen stick by simple mechanical procedures in a premium arcade game that a user rakes down medals heaped up on a plate without knocking down a stick standing between the medals.
To achieve the object mentioned above, the present invention presents a method for standing a fallen stick between medals in a premium arcade game, characterized by using a stick standing apparatus comprising:
a light emitting sensor and a light receiving sensor, installed at left/right inside wall of a game machine respectively, for detecting whether or not the stick is knocked down;
a microswitch for detecting the stick being knocked down by a wire, connected to the end of the stick, being pulled;
a control section for controlling a stick actuation motor according to the signals from the light emitting/receiving sensors and the microswitch; and
a stick actuation motor for actuating the wire connected to the end of the stick to be pulled or loosed according to the control signal from the control section,
and characterized by comprising the steps of:
detecting whether or not the stick is knocked down on a plate by using the light emitting/receiving sensors and the microswitch;
actuating the stick actuation motor to rotate forward according to the control signal from the control section in case that the stick knock-down is detected;
judging that the operation state of the microswitch is ON or OFF;
if the microswitch is in OFF-state, actuating the stick actuation motor to rotate forward, according to the control signal from the control section, to pull the wire until the stick is stood up completely; and
if the microswitch is in ON-state, actuating the stick actuation motor to rotate backward, according to the control signal from the control section, to loose the pulled wire so that the stick can be knocked down by an external impact.
REFERENCES:
patent: 1708734 (1929-04-01), Olander
patent: 3208747 (1965-09-01), Kavakos
patent: 4305582 (1981-12-01), Barton
patent: 5082274 (1992-01-01), Bright
patent: 5954340 (1999-09-01), Tedesco
patent: 6283475 (2001-09-01), Stubben
Harness & Dickey & Pierce P.L.C.
Hotaling II John M.
Ma Eolith Co., Ltd.
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