Horology: time measuring systems or devices – Time interval – With alternately operating indicators
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-18
2001-10-09
Miska, Vit (Department: 2859)
Horology: time measuring systems or devices
Time interval
With alternately operating indicators
C368S250000, C273S237000, C273S260000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06299345
ABSTRACT:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
Not Applicable
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
Not Applicable
REFERENCE TO A MICROFICHE APPENDIX
Not Applicable
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In the game of Chess and in some other games, such as Go and Shogi, the time that it takes a player to make his moves can become a deciding factor in the outcome of the game. It therefore very important that a player resume play as soon as possible after an opponent makes a move. Also sitting at a table for the length of a long chess game can be uncomfortable and needs often arise which require a player to leave a table for a short period, such as going to the bathroom, an important phone call, medication, smoking a cigarette, or even a drink or a snack. It is of course important that the time away from the chess table be as short as possible after the opponent makes his move.
Remote pagers are known. For example see U.S. Pat. 3,937,004 of Natori et al (1976). Natori discloses, “An electronic timepiece, used as a pager watch, has a speaker . . . for reproducing an external call signal intercepted by a receiver for incoming magnetic waves . . . . Sensors responsive to abnormal ambient conditions, e.g. temperature or blood pressure of the wearer, may also operate the speaker. (See the abstract) “Unit
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A comprises a plurality of sensors
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,
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,
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designed to detect certain abnormal ambient conditions such as gas or radiation;” (See Col. 2, lines 38-40) A “game timing” unit is described at Col. 1, line 50 and line 67 to Col. 2, line 6. “Unit
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A further includes a 100 Hz signal generator
6
and a reset circuit, the latter being controlled by external switches not shown. Circuits
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and
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work into changeover circuit
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for modifying the time display of unit
1
A, in a manner not relevant to our present invention, . . . ”. It follows the term “game timing unit” is a mistranslation.
Beepers in combination with chess clocks are also known, but these are not remote beepers. They are beepers built into the clock to notify each player when the player's time for playing has expired. These timer-beeper combinations are advertised at http:/www.chessmate.com/chessclocks.html. They are known as the A-
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The “Chronos” Digital Timer, and the A-
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“The Duel Timer”. The sound of the beepers in a chess tournament is distracting though helpful. The timers can be digital or analog. Normally two timers are contained in a single case, however the timers could be separate timers.
For a discussion of remote pagers that alert a user by vibration and or light and or sound, see U.S. Pat. No. 5,619,181 Murray (1997) assigned to Motorola.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to an improvement in game timers, and more specifically chess clocks. The terms “Chess Timers” and Chess Clocks” are used herein to include other game timers such as timers for Go and Shogi, which measure the time it takes for a player to make a move. Each electric Chess timer has a switch to stop the timer when a player has made a move. The present invention is directed to a radio frequency transmitter activated by the switch to send a signal to a remote receiver tuned to receive the signal sent by the transmitter. The receiver in turn preferably generates a vibration and/or turns on a warning light and/or generates a sound. A sound is not preferred as quiet is essential in chess tournaments. By the use of the apparatus of the present invention a player can be quietly notified at a remote location that an opponent has made his move. The player can then return as soon as possible to the chess board to resume playing. This is important because in tournament chess a player has only a limited amount of time to complete a game. The player can also wait in order to cause the opponent to wonder what the waiting player is up to.
The remote receiver can be based upon a conventional pager, a wrist watch pager, a small telephone pager, or a remote door alarm chimes among other things. The vibrating alarm, light or audio alarm generated by the remote receiver can be any indicating devices commonly used in conventional pagers, such as Motorola's AmeriPage pager or the Motorola Minitor III pager. Pager technology is known in the art and will not be described in detail in this application. The present pager systems of the present invention however preferably operate at frequencies and outputs allowed by the FCC without a license.
Briefly, the chess timer of the present invention has a switch to stop the timer when an opponent has made a move, a radio frequency transmitter activated by the switch, and a receiver tuned to receive the signal sent by the transmitter to generate a vibration and/or light and/or sound whereby a player can be notified at a remote location that an opponent has made his move.
As an option, the receiver can contain a timer reading the same time as the players' game timer. By players' game timer is meant the timer that records the time the player has consumed making moves. By chess clock or chess timer, is meant in the present application, a single chess clock or chess timer. In normal usage, a chess clock often refers to two clocks in a single case and a chess timer often refers to two timers in a single case, one for each player.
Many chess players will utilize the present invention, the users will be opponents. Two players at the same board can have two transmitters incorporated into two corresponding chess timers. The two chess timers are usually in a single case. Preferably each of the transmitters are tuned to generate a different frequency, and each of the receivers are tuned to receive a single from a different corresponding transmitter. The transmitters can be on separate circuit boards, or on the same board. The transmitters can be contained in the dual timer cabinet or attached to the cabinet. The two transmitters can transmit at the same frequency, though this is not preferred, but the system only requires one transmitter for both remote receivers.
In a timed chess match using a timer having a switch to stop the timer when an opponent has made a move, the present invention is directed to activating a radio frequency transmitter by the switch to transmit a radio frequency signal to a remote receiver tuned to receive the signal, receiving the radio frequency signal by the receiver, and generating a physical indication in response to the received radio frequency signal whereby a player is notified at a remote location that the opponent has made his move.
Preferably the physical indication is a vibration. The physical indication can also be a light, alone or in combination with the vibration. The physical indication can also be a sound, alone or in combination with the light and/or vibration.
The chess timer has a conventional switch to stop the timer when an opponent has made a move. The present invention adds a radio frequency transmitter activated by the switch in combination with a receiver tuned to receive the signal sent by the transmitter to generate a vibration and/or light and/or sound whereby a player can be notified at a remote location that the opponent has made his move.
An added feature of the present invention is a timer reading the same time as the game timer incorporated into the receiver.
Normally two game timers are contained in a single case. The present invention adds two transmitters to either the inside or the outside of the case and includes two receivers, each tuned to a corresponding respective transmitter and each receiver capable of receiving a signal remote from the corresponding transmitter. The two radio frequency transmitters preferably transmit different frequencies, and each of the two receivers is tuned to a corresponding different transmitters. One transmitter can be used for both players, but this creates confusion. Also both transmitters can be incorporated into a single circuit or chip, with a switching device to switch to different oscillating frequencies. For example two oscillating crystals, oscillating
Kilpatrick & Stockton LLP
Miska Vit
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