CA1165883A - Electronic tennis - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT
An electronic tennis game having a display panel with ball segments which are illuminated in different sequences to simulate a tennis ball which can move from one side of the tennis court to the other along different trajectories. Player elements are provided on each side of the display panel at positions which intercept the trajectories, each player element including a body portion and racket segments which can be sequentially illum-inated to simulate a tennis player swinging his racket. Corres-ponding to each player element is a volley button. A game operator attempts to ascertain the trajectory of an approaching ball and depress the volley button corresponding to a player element positioned to intercept it. If the volley button is depressed at the right time, the sequentially illuminated racket segments of the selected player element appear to hit the ball back to the other side of the tennis court.

Description

1 J ~5~g 3 TITLE OF THE INVENTION: I
AMUSEMENT DEVICE

¦jNAME OF THE INVENTOR:
l~OBUO HAMANO

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION:

The present invention relates to an amusement device, and in particular to an electrically operated game having a display panel with projectile segments which can be sequentially illum-inated along predetermined trajectories to convey the impression of a moving projectile and with player elements positioned to intercept the trajectories, each player element having peripheral segments which can be sequentially illuminated upon depression of a button uniquely corresponding to that player element in order to convey the impression of a player striking at the approaching projectile. If the proper button is depressed at the proper time, so that the striking motion of a properly positioned player èlement intersects the trajectory, the apparent motion of the projectile element will be reversed ~o produce the illusion of movement along a new trajectory. The amusement device is ideally suited for use as an electrical tennis game, the game operators attempting to ascertain the trajectory of an approaching ball and selecting a volley button to illuminate a player element positioned to intercept the trajectory. If the proper volley button is depxessed at the proper time, the corresponding player element is illuminated and appears to s~rike the ball back across the court.
Ball-type games having long been a favorite in the toy art both because of the intrinsic interest of such games and .

~' 3 ~3 3 their derivation frorn competitive spor-ts. A number of expedients having been used to create the illusion of a moving ball. For example, mechanical assemblies have been employed for moving a light source which projects a ball image upon a screen. Such systems tend to be complicated mechanically, however, and the trajectories which can be generated in this way are relatively limited. Discrete light sources have also been used to convey the impression of movement along a trajectory, as in an electronic ping-pong ball game. Additionally, television sets have been coupled to game devices to generate a variety of trajectories, but the resulting games tend to be both expensive and non-portable.
These prior art methods for simulating movement of a projectile are generally unsatisfactory because of size, complexity, expense, limited trajectories, or a combination of these factors.
The employment of fluorescent display panels and liquid crystal display panels for use in games has been suggested in the prior art.
There are also a number of prior art methods for allowing game operators to interact with the movement of a ball. For example, movement may be mechanically stopped, or reflected by a movable paddle image as in a television ping-pong game. Neither of these interaction methods realistically simultes a tennis game, inasmuch as a tennis player typically ascertains the trajectory of an approaching ball, moves into position, and then interacts with the ball by striking it.

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, -Il lJ6~883 SUMMARY OF~ THE INVENTION:
Accordingly, one ob~ect of the present invention is to provide a relatively inexpensive and portable amusement device allowing sophisticated projectile trajectories and realistic interaction with the projectile.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a portable tennis game which provi~es a variety of ball tra-jectories and player elements which are located at different positions to in~ercept the trajectories and which swing racket segments at the ball.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a tennis game having serve buttons for serving the ball and volley buttons for establishing a volley, each volley button correspondint to a player element which is displayed and which swings its racket when the corresponding volley button is depressed. A
score display is provided ~or incrementing the score when the ball is mlssed, and trophy elements are provided to indicate the winner of the set. A sound element emi~s characteristic sounds when the ball bounces, when a set is completed, etc.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS:
Figure 1 is a perspective view of the tennis game of the present invention;
Figure 2 is a block diagram illustxating the fundamental features of the electrical system;
Figure 3 is a perspective view illustrating a switch plate which cooperates with conductor patterns on a printed circult l board to provide the various switches employed by the tennis I game,r Figure 4 illustrates the segments on the fluorescent indicator display panel;

l ~ 6 ~ 3 3 Figure 5 illustrates the variou~ ball trajectories, Figure 6 illustrates the various con~igurations of the player elements and sequen~ial activation of the racket segments while the body segments are illuminated;
Figure 7 illustrates the structure for illuminating a desired segment of the display panel;
. Figure 8 illustrates how the system of Figure 7 may be used to illuminate segments on the display panel;
Figure 9 i5 a block diagram of the tennis game, more detailed than Figure 2, Figure l0.is the circuit diagram of a practical embodiment of the present invention; and Figure ll illustrates a circuit ~or the converters shown in block form in Figure l0.
~ETAILED DESCRIPT N OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The moving projectile amusement device of the present invention i5 illustrated in Figure l in the form of the pre-ferred embodiment, 1:ennis toy 12, which has a housing consisting of enclosure top portion 14 and enclosure bottom portions 16 joined together in a suitable manner, as by the use of screws.
The peripheries of portions 14 and 16 are indented to provide elongated openings 18 and 20 through which switch handles 22 and 24 protrude. TOp portion 14 includes ~n opening 26 behind which is disposed a transparent tinted window 30 bearing there-on indicia 32 and 34 representing a perspective view of a tennis court and tennis net, respectively. Top portion 14 also has openings 36 and 38 through which serve buttons 40 and 42 prot,rude, along with op~nings 44, 46, 48, 50, 52, 54, 56, 58, 60, 62, 64, and 65 throuyh which volley buttons 66, 68, 70, 72, 74, 76, 78, 80 t 82, 84, 86, and 88 protrude. It should be noted ll . . .

, -4~

l, ~
~ I 1 3 65~3 - ¦~that the serve and volley buttons are symmetrically disposed on ~either side of the housing, with the volley buttons corresponding ¦
to different positions on the court on either side of net indicium 34. Bo~tom portion 16 has a latched door 90 (not illustrated) allowing access to a battery compartment 92 (not illustrated) molded from the plastic forming portion 16.
- With reference next to Figure 3, button frame 94 is mounted between a printed circuit board 96 (not illustrated) and top portion 14~ with the serve and volley buttons protruding through the corresponding openings. Each of these buttons is movably supported by two resilient legs 98 which allow the buttons to be manually depressed. Spring element 100 having bent portions 102 and 104 is affixed to frame g4 with portions 102 and 104 disposed above slider elements 106 and 1080 Slider elements 106 and 108 are guided in their movements by tabs 110 and 112S
which are retained between the outer wall of portion 16 and a flange 114 (not illustrated~ which extends from portion 16 and which is parallel to the ou~er wall thereof. Elements 106 and 108 each have a left notch 116, middle notch 118, and right notch 120 into which portions 102 and 104 can fit to allow slider elements 106 and 108 to be manually moved to one of three distinct positions. Button frame 94 and slider elements 106 and 108 cooperate with conductor patterns on printed circuit board 96 to form electrical switches~ Elements 106 and 108 have metallic projections 122 (not illustrated) affixed to the bottoms thereof which short conductor patterns provided on printed circuit board 96 depending upon which of notches 116, 118, and 120 are engaged by bent portions 102 and 104. It will be apparent to those skilLed in th art ~hat switch handles 22 and 24 each operate l . ~
. .

1 165~383 a multi-position switch. Similarly, serve buttons 40 and 42, along with volley buttons 66 through 88, cooperate with conductor patterns on printed circuit board 96 to form 14 switches which are momentarily closed when the buttons are depressed. For example, two conductor patterns which are disposed beneath serve button 42 are momentarily bridged by a third conductor when button 42 is depressed While this third conductor could be affixed directly to the underside of button 42, it is convenient to provide these bridging conductors on the undersides of bubbles 124 formed in flexible switch mats 126, which are mounted between frame 94 and printed circui~ board 96. Whén button 42 is depressed the bubble 124 beneath it collapses to move the bridging conductor on the underside thereof into electrical contac~ with the printed circuit conductor pattern beneatl.l.
button 42. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the use of but~on frame 94 and slider elements 106 and 108 in conjunction with an appropriately etched printed circuit board allows a number of switches, such as the switches illus-trated in Figure lO, to be economically employed wi~hout the necessity of mounting individual switches to the housing and indi-vidually wiring them to a printed circuit board containing the electrical circuit for the toy.
The electrical circuit for toy 12 preferably includes a microprocessor which accommodates several different play variations, depending upon how switch handles 22 and 24 are set.
Descriptions of these variations will be introduced, when they become appropriate, as modifications of the fundamental electrical features discussed below.
The major electrical features of toy 12 are illustra~ed in Figure 2, which is divided by dotted lines into a manually .
. ..
fl -6-f3 8 3 ¦ controlled operatox switch portion 128, a display panel such as ~game display portion 130, and a control portion 132 which receives signals from portion 128 and which illuminates segments in portion 130 in response thereto. A serve switch 134 and a bank of volley switches 136 are provided for manual operation by each of the game operators L and R, representing the left-hand and right-hand operators, respectively. Display portion 130 includes player section 138, which provides player elements located at different positions corresponding to volley switches 136, ball section 140, which includes a number of ball segments which can be sequentially illuminated to convey the impression of a ball traveling along a trajectory, and score section 142.
With continuing reference to Figure 2 control portion 132 includes ball movement control unit 144 which receives serve signals when serve switches 134 are depressed and which emits a ball movement signal to sequentially illuminate a sequence of the ball segments of section 140. Volley detection unit 146 receives volley signals from switches 136 and emits a player swing signal to player control unit 148 which in turn generates a player control signal causing movement of that player element in section 138 corresponding to the depressed volley switch. Volley detection unit 146 also receives ball trajectory signals from unit 144 and determines whether the correct volley switch was depressed at the appropriate time, in which case a ball hit signal is emitted to cause control unit 144 to modify the sequence in which the ball segments are illuminated so as to "return" the ball, or create the illusion that the ball's moti~n has been generally reversed by the player element. I~
the appropriate volley switch has not been depressed at the appropriate time to retuxn the ball, unit 146 emits a ball miss .

Il i16~ 33 signal to score control unit 150, which in turn yenerates a score ¦
control signal for score section 142 of the display.
The positions and shapes of the segments which may be illuminated in display portion 130 are illustrated in Figure 4.
Score section 142 includes four patterns 152, 154, 156, and 158 each having seven segments 160, 162, 164, 166, 168, 170, and 172 disposed in the traditional pattern for digital display. Ball section l40 includes 42 circular ball segments 174-21~. Player section 138 includes twelve player elements 216, 218, 2~0, 222, 224, 226, 230, 232, 234, 236, 238, and 240, each including nine body segments 242-249 which are electrically connected and three peripheral or racket segments 250, 252, and 254 which are electrically insulated from each other and from body segments 242-249. Two trophy segments 256 and 258 are also provided. It should be noted that game display por~ion 13Q is symmetrically disposed about a central line running through ball segments 194 and 195.
With reference next to Figure 6, it should be obserlred that the three player eiements in Figure 6(a), which correspond to the player elements in the upper right hand side of Figure 4, are the mirror image of the player elements in Figure 6(b), which correspond to the three player elements in ~he upper left hand corner of Figure 4. It should be observed that the player elements in Figure 6(a) are not identical; for example, player element 238 (and particularly the position of racket segment 252) is not identical to elements 230 and 234, although it is the mirror image of player element 216 and Figure 6(b). It will be appa~ent to those skilled in the art that the illusion of motion will be generated if the racket segments corresponding to a player e~ement are sequentially illuminated, with the body seg-ments being continuously illuminated during this sequence. An I 3 6~3~3 I
i example is illustrated in ~ig. 6(c), which illustra~es three different positions which may be attained by player element 230 in Figure 6(a). The right~most illustration in Figure 6tc) illustrates the visible image when body segments 242 249 of ¦player element 230 are activated along with racket segment 250.
The middle illustration results when racket segment 250 is extinguished and the body segments.and racket segment 252 are illuminated, while the left-most illustration results when racket segment 254 is finally illuminated along with the body segments~ The composite image corresponds to a tennis pla~er executing a backstroke. A slightly different motion results when the racket segments 250, 252, and 254 of player . element 234 are sequentially illuminated, while player element 238 executes a serving motion. Such a serving motion is not employecl on the bottom half of Figure 4, and it will be noted that player element 240 is identical to player element 230 rather than to player element 238 andy similarly, that player element 218 is identical to player element 224 rather than to player element 216. It will he appreciated that the six player eiements on the right hand side of Figure 4 each correspond in position to one of the volley buttons 66, 68, 70, 72, 74, and 76, while the six player elements on the left hand side of Figure 4 correspond to the six volley buttons 78, 80, 82, 84, 86, and 88.
Ball segments i74-215 are sequentially illuminated in pre-determined sequences along various trajectories, illustrated in Figure 5, each time the ball is served or returnedO Figures 5(a)~(h) represent the set of possible trajectories when the ball ~s hit by a E:.ayer element controlled by the right-hand gane !~ , I ~ B '; ~ ~ .3 ¦operator R, either by service or by return. The ball is served ¦when the right-hand game operator depresses his serve button 40, whereupon racket segments 250, 252, and ~54 of player element 238 are sequentially illuminated to convey the impression of a swinging movement which sends the ball along one of the three trajectories illustrated in Figure 5(a), 5(b) or 5(c). The elec-tronics of toy 12 selects these "serve" trajectories on the basis of probability, with the probability of the trajectory illus-trated in Figure 5 (a) being 1/2, the probability of the trajectory illustrated in Figure 5(b) being 3/8, and the probability of the "fault" trajectory illustrated in Figure 5(c) being 1/8. This "fault" trajectory, of course, represents the situation when the ball is served into the netO This uncertainty concerning the trajectory of ~he ball following service, and in particular the provision of a low-probability "fault" trajectory, increases the realism of the game and consequently the enjoyment derived from playing it. There is no choice of trajectories, however, when the ball is returned.
For example, when the right-hand game operator depresses volley button 66 at the correct time to intercept an approaching ball, the return proceeds along the projectory illustrated in Figure 5(a). Similarly, there are unigue "return" trajectories for each o~ the remaining player elements controlled by the right-hand game operator. A return by player element 240 proceeds along the trajectory illustrated in Figure 5(d), a return by player element 234 proceeds along the trajectory illustrated in Figure 5(e), a return by player element 236 proceeds along the trajectory of Figure 5t), a return by player element 230 proceeds along the trajectory illustrated in Figure 5(g), and a return by player element 23~ proceeds along the trajectory ¦ illustrated in Figure 5(h). In short, the service trajectories I ' --1 0-- ~

1 1 6 ~ ~ ~3 3 ¦lare illustrated in Figures 5(a)~(c), with the trajectory in i Figure 5(a) being the most probable. Figure 5(a) also repre-l sents one of the return trajectories, with the remaining ¦ return trajectories being illustrated in Figures 5(d)~(h), depending upon which volley button the right-hand game operator ¦has depressed.
¦ With continuing reference to Figures 4 and 5, the positions in Figure 5 illustrated by concentric circlés represent those points on the trajec~ories where the ball can be intercepted by the opposing or left-hand player to create a return. The~e ball segments can be deemed "returnable" segments. For example, if the ball is proceeding along the tr~jectory illustrated in Figure 5(a) and the left-hand game operator depresses volley button 82 at the appropriate moment, player element 220 will be illuminated and swinging its racket so that racket segment 252 and ball segment 178 will be simultaneously illuminated, as though ~he swinging racket had smashed into the approaching ball.
Since the ball has been returned element 178 will not be illuminated as the last element of the sequence illustrated in Figure 5(a); instead, the ball will be returned to the right-hand game operator. The left-hand game operator's three service trajectories, illustrated in Figures 5(i), (j), and (k), along with the six return trajectories illustrated in Figures 5(i) and (l)-(p~, are mirror images of the corresponding trajectories of the right-hand game operator, which have already been dis-cussed. Accordingly, continuing the above example wherein the left-hand game operator returned the ball when ball segment 178 was illuminated, the ball will be returned to the right-hand game operator along the trajectory illustrated in Figure 5(m).
The left-hand game operator could have also returned the ball . ~

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i traveling along the trajec~ory of Figure 5(a) by depressing hi~
volley button 178 at the appropriate time and retuxning the ball from position 174. Figure 5(i) illustrates the return trajectory in this event. The right-hand operator would then have an opportunity to return the ball at either o points 211 or 214.
It will be noted from Figures 4 and 5 that there are at least two opportunities to return a ball travelling along any of the tra-je¢tories of Figure 5 (except the fault trajectories of Fiyures 5(c) and (k3, of course3 and that the returnable positions correspond to those ball elements closest to the racket segments 252 which can be deemed the "returning" racket segments. This feature also adds its share of realism to the game, for it is apparent that an actual tennis player may return an approaching ball from several positions, but he should hit it with his racket swinging. To operate game 12 success~ully a game operator must ascartain the trajectory of the approaching ball, select one of the volley buttons corresponding to a player element positioned along that trajectory, and depress thi~ volley button before the ball has arrived so that the returning racket segment 252 and the corresponding returnable ball segment are simultane-ously illuminated. If the button is depressed too soon or too late the ball will appear to whizz by the player without being struck. In short, the racket segments of a player element are illuminated in the sequence 250, 252, and 254 after the corres-ponding volley button has been depressed, so that the button must be depressed shortly before the ball arrives in order for the returnable ball segment and returning racket segment 252 to be simultaneously illuminated. If the wrong volley button is depressed, or if either racket segment 250 or 254 is illuminated ' -` I 1 6~83 when one of the ball segments illustra~ed by concentric circles in Figure 5 is illuminated, the ball will not be returned~
Turning now to Figures 7 and 8, display portion 130 is preferably a fluorescent indicator panel mounted on printed circuit board 96 beneath window 30, with rubber mounting elements 260 (not illustrated) being used to protect glass envelope 262 from shocks Suitable devices are known in the art and are commercially available, for example, from Nippon Electric Company, Ltd., 33-l Shiba 5~chome, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan. Cathode 264 boils off electrons which are con~rolled by grids 266 and attractec L
to anodes 268 in a well-known manner. Anodes segments 268 are shaped and positioned as illustrated in Figure 8, and are coated with a phosphorescent material in order to emit light when bombarded with electrons. Reference numbers have not been applied to the anode segments illustrated in Figure 8 in order to avoid confusion, but it is noted that these elements correspond to the player elements, ball segments, etc. of Figure 4. In Figure 8 grids 266 are sequentially biased "ON" by potentials on conductors 270~280, while the anodes are connected to conductor~
282-2930 It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that any particular anode seyment may be selected by simultaneously enabling one of the grid conductors and one of the anode con-ductors. For example, right-hand trophy segment 256 can be illuminated by simultaneous potentials on grid conductor 276 and anode conductor 293. The grid conductors can be rapidly scaned in a manner known in the art, with the anode voltages rapidly adjusted accordingly, in order to create persistent images.
A liquid crystal display panel might also be used, of course.
Now that the nature of the display panel has been discussed, a more thorough presentation of the electronics can be presented.

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- i165~83 ¦With reference to Figure 9, the serve signals emitted by serve switches 134 are received by serve sequence generator unit 294, which selects one of the serve trajectories illustrated in Figure 5. Unit 294 provides an output signal for ball display unit 296, which emits the ball ~rajectory control signal to ,~
illuminate the selected sequen~e of ball segments 174-215. The output of serve sequence generator 294 is also provided to service miss detector 298, which identifies double faults by determining whether unit 294 has generated two consecutive fault trajectories. The output of service miss detector 298 i5 provided I, to score section 142, which briefly displays "F" to indicate a single fault and "FF" to indicate a double fault. The volley signals from volley switches 136 are received by volley switch identification uni~s 300, which detect when a volley switch has been depressed and which then emit switch identification output signals designating which switch was closed. These switch identification output signals are received by player control unit 148, which illuminates the body segments of the deslgnated player element and sequentially activates the three corresponding racket sègments in the manner previously described, if the volley button was depressed while the ball was approaching.
However, the player element is not illuminated if the volley button was depressed as the ball was moving away from the player element rather than toward it. The switch identification output signals, along with an output signal from ball display unit 296, are also provided to volley timing determination unit 302~ Unit 302 emits the ball hit signal if the volley button was depressed at the proper time to return the ball; that is, if a returning racket segment 252 and the corresponding returnable ball segment are simultaneously illuminated. The ball hit signal is received by return sequence generator 304, which establishes the -~ ~ ~ 6~3g3 traj~ctory of the return as illustrated in Figure 5. The output of generator 304 is provided to ball display unit 296 so that the return trajectory will be displayed on display portion 130. The speed of the ball along the return trajectory depends UpOn the position of the ball when it was hit; a ball returned by player elements 234, 236, 220, or 222 is faster than a ball returned by player elements 230, 232, 224, or 226, which represent positions closer to the net. In the event that unit 302 fails to detect that the proper volley button was depressed at the proper time to return the ball, the ball miss signal is emitted to score control unit 150, which generates the score control signal for score section 142 of the display~ The score displayed for each game operator progresses from zero to 15 to 30 to 40 to game, depending upon the ball miss signals and double fault signals, with a sccre such as "15 30" being briefly flashed on score section 142 each time the score changesO
Game end detector 306 emits a game end signal when a game point has been scored. The game end signal is suppiied to serve sequenc , generator 294 to indicate that the opponent i3 entitled to service and to game counter 308, which briefly flashes the number of games each player has won (such as "0 1") on game count section 310. In the present embodiment the seven segment patterns 152, 154, 156, and 158 are utilized for both score section 142 and game count section 310, and accordingly these sections are joined by a dotted line in Figure 9. Set detector 312 detects when one game operator or the other has won six games, and illuminates the appropriate trophy 254 or 256 of trophy display section 214.
With continuing reference to Figure 9, sound element 316 is illustrated in six different positions in order to simplify the diagram, althouyh on]y one sound element is actually employed.

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` I 165883 A peizoelectric element mounted withi.n portion 16 and acousti-cally connected thereto is preferable, such piezoelectric elements being well known in the art. As is indicated by the diagram, a characteristic soun~ is emitted each time the ball hit or ball miss signal appears and each time a game or a set is completed. Sound element 316 is also responsive to ball display unit 296 and emits a characteristic "bounce" sound each time the ball element at a minimum position on the trajectories iliustrated in Figure 5 is illuminated. For example, in the trajectory illustrated in Figure 5(a), the bounce sound is emitted when element 185 is illuminated. Sound element 316 is also responsive to power switch 318, so that a sound is emitted when toy 12 is turned on. Simultaneously, the contents of game counter 308 are set to zero and the score "0 0" briefly appears.
As was mentioned above, several game variations are possible Ball control switch 320, operated by switch handle 22, may be provided to allow different levels of game difficulty. One switch position provides the game as described above, while a second switch position signals serve ball display unit 296 to reduce the speed of the ball in order to make it easier for the game operators to establish a volley. A third switch position signals serve sequence generator 294 to sel~ct only the serve trajectories upon which game operator is serving. Mode switch 322, operated along with power switch 318 by switch handle 24, allows the microprocessor to replace one of the game operators.
The microprocessor automatically returns the ball and establishes a volley, but is progxammed to miss in a random fashion so that the r~nual game operator can win by playing a perfect game.

~16-!l i I!
~ ~ 16~383 Figure 10 illustrates a practical embodiment of the game illustrated in Figure 9. Microprocessor 324 is a uPD552C micro-processor commercially available from Nippon Electric Company, Ltd., 33-1, Shiba 5-chome, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan~ This micro-processor, which includes an internal ROM and an internal RAM, is the high nega~ive output version of the same manufacturer's popular uCOM-44 microprocesso~, with outputs capable of being pulled to the negative levels required for direct interfacing with display 130, as indicated in the drawing. Converter 324 receives power from battery 326 along conductors 328 and 330 and provides minus 10 volts to micropxocessor along conductor 332 and minus 30 volts for display 130 along conductor 334.
Converter 324 also supplies filament current to display 130 via conductors 336 and 338O The filament current is an 8 volt peak-to-peak 50 KHZ AC waveform, approximately square wave, with an average value of minus 25 volts. A suitable circuit for converter 324 is illustrated in Figure 11. Switches 320A and 320B, corresponding to ball control switch 320 in Figure 9, are physiczlly coupled for control by switch handle 22 in the manner previously discussed. Similarly, power switch 318 and mode switch 322 are coupled for control by switch handle 24.
The serve and volley switches are identified by the reference numbers of the associated operator buttons which close them.
It will be apparent from Figure Io that the physical circuitry for game 12 employs a minimum number of components, thereby keeping manufacturing costs as low as possible.
.

Claims (22)

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. An amusement device, comprising: a housing;
a plurality of manually operable first volley buttons mounted on said housing; a display panel having first and second sides mounted on said housing, said panel having a plurality of projectile segments disposed between the first and second sides of said panel and a plurality of first player elements disposed adjacent said first side of said panel, each of said first player elements corresponding to one of said first volley buttons and comprising at least one body segment and a plurality of peripheral segments, one of said peripheral segments of each first player element being a returning peripheral segment disposed adjacent a corresponding re-turnable projectile segment, and first means for sequentially displaying projectile segments along a plurality of predeter-mined first trajectories toward said first side of said panel, each of said first trajectories including at least one returnable projectile segment, said first means inclduing second means for displaying said at least one body segment of a first player element while sequentially displaying its peripheral segments when the corresponding first volley button is depressed as said projectile segments are being displayed along a first trajectory and third means for se-quentially displaying projectile segments along a predetermin-ed second trajectory toward said second side of said panel if a returning peripheral segment of a first player element and its corresponding returnable projectile segment are simul-taneously displayed.

2. The amusement device of claim 1, further com-prising a plurality. of manually operable second volley buttons mounted on said housing, and wherein said display panel further includes a plurality of second player elements disposed adjacent said second side of said panel, each of said second player elements corresponding to one of said second volley buttons and comprising at least one body segment and a plurality of peripheral segments, one of said peripheral segments of each second player element being a returning peripheral segment disposed adjacent a corresponding re-turnable projectile segment, and wherein said first means further comprises fourth means for displaying said at least one body segment of a second player element while sequential-ly displaying its peripheral segments when the corresponding second volley button is depressed as said projectile segments are being displayed along a second trajectory and fifth means for sequentially displaying projectile segments along a predetermined first trajectory toward said first side of said panel if a returning peripheral segment of a second player element and its corresponding returnable projectile segment are simultaneously displayed.

3. The amusement device of claim 2, wherein said display panel further comprises a plurality of first score segments and a plurality of second score segments, and wherein said first means further comprises sixth means for displaying an incremented score on said plurality of first score segments if a returning peripheral segment of a second player element is not displayed simultaneously with a corresponding re-turnable projectile segment when projectile segments along a second trajectory are sequentially displayed, and seventh means for displaying an incremented score on said plurality of second score segments if a returning peripheral segment of a first player element is not displayed simultaneously with a corresponding returnable projectile segment when projectile segments along a first trajectory are sequentially displayed.

4. The amusement device of claim 3, wherein said first means further comprises at least one manually operable serve button and eighth means for sequentially displaying projectile segments along one of said first and second tra-jectories if said at least one serve button is depressed following a change in the score displayed on said first and second score segments.

5. The amusement device of claim 3, further comprising a sound element mounted on said housing, and wherein said first means further comprises ninth means for activating said -sound element if a returnable projectile segment and the corresponding returning peripheral segment of a player element are simultaneously displayed.

6. The amusement device of claim 5, wherein said first and second trajectories include projectile bounce segments located at minimum positions, and wherein said ninth means further comprises means for activating said sound element when a projectile bounce segment is displayed.

-20.

7. The amusement device of claim 6, further comprising manually operable switch means for changing the rate at which said projectile elements are displayed.

8. The amusement device of claim 7, wherein the body segments of said first and second player elements are configured as tennis players and the peripheral segments of said first and second player elements are configured as tennis rackets.

9. An amusement device, comprising:
a housing having first and second sides;
a plurality of manually operable first volley buttons mounted adjacent the first side of said housing;
a first manually operable serve button mounted adjacent the first side of said housing;
a plurality of manually operable second volley buttons mounted adjacent the second side of said housing;
a second manually operable serve button mounted adjacent the second side of said housing;
a display panel having first and second sides mounted on said housing, said panel having a plurality of ball segments disposed between the first and second sides of said panel, a plurality of first player elements disposed adjacent said first side of said panel, each of said first player elements corresponding to one of said first volley buttons and comprising at least one body segment and a plurality of racket segments, one of said racket segments of each first player element being a returning racket segment disposed adjacent a co responding returnable ball segment, and a plurality of second player elements disposed adjacent said second side of said panel, each of said second player elements cor-responding to one of said second volley buttons and com-prising at least one body segment and a plurality of racket segments, one of said racket segments of each second player element being a returning racket segment disposed adjacent a corresponding returnable ball segment; and control means for sequentially illuminating ball segments along a serve trajectory in response to depression of a serve button, the serve trajectory including at least one returnable ball segment, illuminating the body segments of a player element while sequentially illuminating its racket segments in response to depression of the volley button corresponding to the player element as said ball segments are being illuminated, and sequentially illuminating ball segments along a volley tra-jectory if a returning racket segment is illuminated at the same time as the corresponding returnable ball segment.

10. The amusement device of claim 9, wherein said control means comprises ball movement control means respon-sive to serve signals produced upon depression of said serve buttons for generating ball movement signals to sequentially illuminate ball segments, volley detection unit means responsive to volley signals produced upon depression of said volley buttons for generating player swing signals, player control unit means responsive to said player swing signals for generating player control signals to illuminate body segments while sequentially illuminating racket segments, said volley detection unit means additionally generating ball hit signals for said ball movement control means and said ball movement control means additionally generating ball trajectory signals for said volley detection unit.

11. The amusement device of claim 1, wherein at least one first trajectory includes a returnable projectile segment corresponding to one first player element and a return-able projectile segment corresponding to another first player element.

12. The amusement device of claim 2, 3 or 4, wherein at least one first trajectory includes a returnable projectile segment corresponding to one first player element and a returnable projectile segment corresponding to another first player element.

13. The amusement device of claim 5, 6 or 7, wherein at least one first trajectory includes a returnable projectile segment corresponding to one first player element and a returnable projectile segment corresponding to another first player element.

14. The amusement device of claim 8, wherein at least one first trajectory includes a returnable projectile segment corresponding to one first player element and a returnable projectile segment corresponding to another first player element.

15. The amusement device of claim 11 or 14, wherein the peripheral segments of the first player elements are disposed at generally radial positions with respect to the body segments of the first player elements and wherein the second means displays peripheral segments in a rotating sequence, the rotational dir-ection of at least one first player element when its corresponding first volley button is depressed being different from the rotational direction of at least one other first player element when its corresponding first volley button is depressed.

16. The amusement device of claim 11 or 14, wherein said second means further comprises means for repeatedly display-ing first player elements in response to repeated depression of first volley bottons as said projectile segments are being displayed along a first trajectory.

17. The amusement device of claim 4, wherein said eighth means further comprises means for sequentially displaying projectile segments along at least one fault trajectory, the projectile segments being displayed in a sequence headed first toward one side of said panel and then away from that side.

18. The amusement device of claim 5, 6 or 7, wherein said eighth means further comprises means for sequentially displaying projectile segments along at least one fault trajec-tory, the projectile segments being displayed in a sequence headed first toward one side of said panel and then away from that side.

19. The amusement device of claim 8, wherein said eighth means further comprises means for sequentially displaying projectile segments along at least one fault trajectory, the projectile segments being displayed in a sequence headed first toward one side of said panel and then away from that side.

20. The amusement device of claim 17, wherein at least one first trajectory includes a returnable projectile segment corresponding to one first player element and a return-able projectile segment corresponding to another first player element, and wherein at least one second trajectory includes a returnable projectile segment corresponding to one second player element and a returnable projectile segment corresponding to another second player element.

21. The amusement device of claim 20, wherein the peripheral segments of the first player elements are disposed at generally radial positions with respect to the body segments of the first player elements, wherein the peripheral segments of the second player elements are disposed at generally radial positions with respect to the body segments of the second player elements, wherein the second means displays peripheral segments in a rotating sequence, the rotational direction of at least one first player element when its corresponding first volley button is depressed being different from the rotational direction of at least one other first player element when its corresponding first volley button is depressed, and wherein the fourth means displays peripheral segments in a rotating sequence, the rotational direction of at least one second player element when its corresponding second volley button is depressed being different from the rotational direction of at least one other second player element when its corresponding second volley button is depressed.

22. The amusement device of claim 21, wherein said second means further comprises means for repeatedly displaying first player elements in response to repeated depression of first volley buttons as said projectile segments are being dis-played along a first trajectory, and wherein said fourth means further comprises means for repeatedly displaying second player elements in response to repeated depression of second volley buttons as said projectile segments are being displayed along a second trajectory.