EP0074516B1 - Billiards table - Google Patents

Abstract

A billiard table has a playing area bordered by a cushion. The pockets found in a typical pool billiard table are replced by sensor fields disposed in the plane of the playing area having contactless sensors associated therewith responsive to the presence of a billiard ball. The output signals of the sensors are applied to a visual indicator.

Description

The invention relates to a billiard in the manner of a ball game with a ball game surface, below which contactless initiators are arranged, which respond to the presence of a ball within a proximity field and whose output signal is given to a display device.

An entertainment game device with features of the type mentioned is known (FR-A-24 73 892). A game element, e.g. a ball is brought to the upper edge of an inclined playing surface by means of a launcher. The game element moves down the game area and hits individual hit organs. A goal organ can be formed by a proximity sensor, which is arranged below the playing surface and responds when the game element enters its proximity field.

It is also known to mount switch contacts in a ball game surface which close a switch when the ball strikes, thereby activating a light indicator (US Pat. No. 2,229,295).

The invention has for its object to provide a billiard, in particular a pool billiard, with which the play options can be increased despite a reduced space requirement.

This object is achieved according to the invention in that for use as a pool billiard, the playing area has perforated fields and initiators assigned to them, and the optical display device contains two display fields and / or numerical displays which represent the playing area by lamps and which can optionally be switched on via a switch.

Conventional pool billiards have openings in the playing area, below which ball catchers are arranged to receive balls. For this reason, billiards cannot be played on pool tables and vice versa. In the billiard according to the invention, the holes necessary for a pool billiard are replaced by a corresponding marking on the playing field, to which initiators are assigned, which register the presence of a billiard ball in the area of the marking or a field and give a corresponding signal to the display device. In this way, the playing field can also be used for conventional billiards or for squad billiards.

Another advantage of the invention is that it is easily possible to greatly reduce the playing area. The conventional pool billiard requires 16 balls of a given diameter. In the billiard according to the invention, the game balls can be omitted and only one game ball is required. At most, one or two driver balls can be used to increase the level of difficulty.

The billiard according to the invention also provides two displays which can optionally be switched on via a changeover switch. This allows the number of punched fields to be reduced to 8 while at the same time maintaining the possibility of playing pool billiards according to conventional rules, i.e. to play as if there were 16 playing balls as with the conventional pool billiards. By switching each player can use hole fields 1 to 7, while the eighth hole field is considered a neutral field for both players. By switching the perforated fields to the display, two perforated fields are given two ratings. Since only 8 perforated fields are required, the entire playing area can be reduced accordingly, so that billiard tables according to the invention can be set up in confined spaces or small spaces.

In connection with pool billiards, it is advantageous if, according to an embodiment of the invention, the billiard balls consist of different materials with regard to the response behavior of the initiators. For example, the driver ball can be made of a material to which the initiator does not respond, while the toy ball causes the initiator to respond. Furthermore, game balls can consist of different materials and accordingly cause different signals from the initiators. As a result, the individual game ball can be assigned a value which can be displayed accordingly in the display device. A further embodiment of the invention provides that the output signals of several initiators are given in parallel to a timing element, the output signal of which is also given to the display device and sets it. The timer is set the first time an initiator responds and runs for a given time, which is slightly longer than the maximum runtime of the ball after hitting a first hole field. After the set time has elapsed, the display device is deactivated so that there are no false displays or false counts.

As an alternative to the different evaluation of balls made of different materials, one embodiment of the invention provides that the initiators can be connected to a value level, which assigns each initiator signal to a value and the value signal is sent to a counting and display device via a computer level. In the valence level, you can arbitrarily set which value should be sent to the signal of an initiator. A computer is then controlled via the computer, which displays the total value obtained in a known manner, for example in a digital numerical display. In the valence level, a certain chronological order can also be set, which specifies the order in which the individual pool fields or other markings of the billiard must be played.

When using indicator lights, these are arranged in the same configuration as the perforated fields on the playing field. Each initiator is assigned an indicator light that lights up tet or goes out again when the associated initiator is actuated by a ball. The goal of the game can be to actuate the individual initiators with a minimum number of shots. One difficulty is to operate the individual initiators in a specific chronological order. In this context, an embodiment of the invention provides that the lamps can be controlled by a random generator and a selection button is provided with which the control of a lamp is held arbitrarily. The random generator controls the individual lamps periodically, but randomly, and it is up to the player to arbitrarily record a desired display. The player will endeavor to keep the display that is most favorable for the respective game situation, ie which hole field or which markings are most affordable.

A further embodiment of the invention provides that a second time stage is provided which is connected to the display device and which deactivates the display device after a predetermined period of time after the display device has responded for the first time. This time step can be important when the billiard according to the invention is used commercially. While there is automatically a time limit for the game in the pool billiard due to the disappearance of the ball in the holes, this is not the case with the billiard according to the invention. The time stage ensures that the game is inevitably ended. If the billiard according to the invention is only used as a pool billiard, the neutral field can also be designed as a hole in order to end the game after the neutral field has been played.

• Fig. 1 zeigt eine Draufsicht auf ein schematisch dargestelltes Billard nach der Erfindung.
• Fig. 2 zeigt einen Schnitt durch die Darstellung nach Fig. 1 entlang der Linie 2-2.
• Fig. 3 zeigt ein elektronisches Schaltungsbeispiel für ein Billard nach den Figuren 1 und 2.
• Fig. 4 zeigt perspektivisch ein dreieckförmiges Pool-Billard nach der Erfindung.
• Fig. 5 bis 7 zeigen verschiedene Möglichkeiten einer verstellbaren Bande.

An embodiment of the invention is described below with reference to drawings.

• Fig. 1 shows a plan view of a schematically illustrated billiard according to the invention.
• FIG. 2 shows a section through the representation according to FIG. 1 along the line 2-2.
• 3 shows an electronic circuit example for a billiard according to FIGS. 1 and 2.
• Fig. 4 shows in perspective a triangular pool billiard according to the invention.
• 5 to 7 show different possibilities of an adjustable band.

Before going into the details shown in the drawings, it should be assumed that each of the features shown and described is of importance for the invention, either individually or in conjunction with features of the claims.

1 schematically shows a billiard 10 with a rectangular game board or surface 110 which is surrounded by a board 120. Eight circular markings 113 can be seen on the playing surface 110, of which the edges attached correspond to the holes of the conventional pool billiards. The two perforated fields on the longitudinal center line are also provided, one of which (No. 8) corresponds to the neutral and the other to a conventional ball. While holes are provided in normal pool billiards, in the case of the billiards according to FIG. 1, the marking 113 is only flat, which therefore does not influence the playing path of a ball.

In the area of the markings 113, the game board 11 has recesses 114 on the underside, in which an induction coil 115 is arranged and fastened in a suitable manner. The game board 11 is preferably made of a material that is magnetically ineffective and therefore does not influence the field 116 of the induction coil 115. A billiard ball 117 made of an electrically conductive or magnetically acting material influences the field 116 when it enters the area of the marking. This influence can be converted into an initiator signal by an electronic circuit.

1 can be played with only one driver ball which activates the initiators. Play balls as necessary with conventional pool billiards can be omitted. Therefore, the size of the playing field 110 can be reduced considerably.

In the exemplary embodiment according to FIG. 1, only the position of the holes in a pool billiard is marked. It goes without saying that other markings and obstacles can also be provided, which can be equipped in the same way with an initiator, as is shown schematically in FIG. 2.

3 shows an exemplary circuit arrangement for a billiard according to FIGS. 1 and 2.

The stages 20 and 21 show contactless initiators, similar to the induction coil 15. It goes without saying that in the case of the embodiment according to FIG. 1 six such initiators must be provided. The induction coils 20, 21 interact with oscillation circuits 22 and 23, respectively. The entry of a correspondingly acting billiard ball into the measuring range of an initiator leads to a corresponding damping of the oscillation circuit 22 or 23, from which an initiator signal can be derived in a known manner. In the case of the initiator 20, the initiator signal leads via a switch 24 to a value level 25. In the case of the initiator 21, the value level 25 is activated directly. In the value level, a certain value can be arbitrarily assigned to the incoming initiator signal in order to provide the markings to be played or played with a different level of difficulty. In the value level 25, a chronological order can also be specified in which the individual initiator signals must appear so that they are evaluated. This can, for example, increase the level of difficulty of a pool billiard.

The value signals coming from the value level 25 are added up in the computer 26 and counted in the counter 27 connected to the computer 26 and indicated by a number show 28, which is connected via a decoder 29 to the counter.

A time stage 30 is also connected to the oscillation circuits 22, 23. If an initiator responds 20 or 21, the timer 30 is triggered and sets the counter 27. After the time set arbitrarily in the time stage 30, the counter 27 is deactivated. The time to be set in the timer 30 is slightly longer than the maximum time that a ball played after it has activated a first initiator.

A power supply 31 supplies the individual stages with energy in the manner shown. A battery supply can optionally also be provided.

Another time stage 32 is used to set a game time. After the end of the playing time, the counter 27, which is connected to the timer 32, is deactivated.

Individual signal lights 34 can be controlled via a transistor stage 33 (extremely schematic illustration). Each signal lamp 34 belongs to a specific marking or to a specific field, for example to the fields 13 of the billiard according to FIG. 1. In FIG. 3, only the control of the transistor stage 33 via the induction coil 20, the oscillation circuit 22 and the switch 24 is shown . It goes without saying that all initiators belonging to a billiard can control the transistor stage 33. If an initiator is activated by a ball, the associated signal lamp 34 lights up, or vice versa, it is switched off. In this way, the individual markings, fields or the like can be displayed on the game table. The goal of the game can be to play the individual fields individually or in a predetermined order. The signal lights 34 indicate whether this goal has been achieved.

Finally, a random generator 35 is provided, which is connected to the transistor stage 33. With the help of the random generator 35, the individual signal lights 34 are actuated sequentially in terms of clocks, but the order is random. With the aid of a pushbutton switch 36, the player can try to "hold" the signal light he wishes to light up. This is advantageous if the respective game situation makes the playing of the associated field appear particularly favorable.

With the help of a switch 38, the signal lights 34 can be extinguished. The display of the digital display device 28 can be deleted with the aid of a switch 37.

According to a further embodiment of the invention, the pool of the billiard is designed in such a way that an impact of a ball leads to a usable signal. For this purpose, several initiators are assigned to the gang. These can react to pressure or shock, for example, but can also work electro-optically. In the circuit diagram according to FIG. 3, such an initiator or the plurality of initiators is designated 37a. The initiator 37a is connected to a further counter 38a, which can be set to a desired number of steps. A gang game can be specified with the described features, e.g. Three-band game, i.e. the ball must first touch the gang three times and then hit a target. The counter 38a determines whether the gang has been touched three times. Only then is an output signal given to the computer 26, which then carries out the evaluation of the game in the manner described above.

The individual indicator lights 34, which are assigned to each pool, also have their own assigned push button switch 39, of which only one is shown in FIG. 3. One or more displays 34 can be selected with the aid of the push-button switches 39, so that the corresponding fields or pools are selected which have to be played by the player. The connection via the value level 25 to the computer 26 is such that the computer 26 only registers the selected pool markings and suppresses the others.

4, a billiard table 50 is shown in perspective, the playing surface 51 of which is approximately triangular. Two bands 51, 53 converge at right angles. At the other ends they are connected to one another by four straight band sections 54 of equal length. The outer band sections 54 form a right angle with the bands 52 and 53, while the other band sections 54 lie at an obtuse angle to one another. Eight perforated fields 113 are arranged along the bands 52 to 54. As can be seen from FIG. 4, five perforated fields 113 are assigned to the vertices, while two are arranged between the ends of the bands 52 and 53 and a third perforated field lies approximately in the middle. In contrast to the other perforated fields, the middle perforated field is recessed, while the others, as in the exemplary embodiment according to FIG. 1, lie in the plane of the playing surface. As in FIG. 1, they are each linked to an initiator. As in the exemplary embodiment according to FIG. 1, two numbers are assigned to the perforated fields at the edge, one number being assigned to a player and the second number being assigned to a second player. The middle hole with the number 8 is deepened and corresponds to the neutral ball in the conventional pool billiard, which is to be played last. If field No. 8 is played, the driver ball, which is the only one used, falls into the table and can only be removed from the table at 55 by inserting a coin in a coin actuation device 54.

At the apex of bar 52 and 53 there is a display box 56, which has two optical displays 57 and 58 with lamps 59. The optical display corresponds to the shape of the playing surface 51, with lamps 59 corresponding to perforated fields 113. Furthermore, the display box 56 contains two digital numerical displays 60 and 61 as well as a recording numerical display 62. Pressure switches 63 serve to activate the respective displays 57 and 58. Likewise, numerical displays 60, 61 can optionally be switched on be switched. A switch 64 ensures that either the series 1 to 7 or 9 to 15 are played by the first or second player. In this way, the pool billiards can be played in a conventional manner. The switches 66 are used to delete the visual display 57 and 58.

The electronic pool table shown in FIG. 4 can be set up in the corner of a room so that it can only be played from the board sections 54. The same is the case when several, for example four, pool tables of the type shown in FIG. 4 are grouped together. Care must then be taken to ensure that all perforated fields 113 can be reached from the playable side, either in direct impact or by touching the board. In order to improve the playing of the individual perforated fields 113, the bands 52, 53 have band sections 67, 68 which are convexly curved toward the playing surface 51.

FIG. 5 schematically shows a band section 70 which is adjustably mounted along a guide 71 and can be moved in both directions, indicated by the double arrow 72. A shifted position is indicated in dashed lines. A billiard ball 73 can be played and reflected according to the lines drawn against the board section 70. The band section shown in FIG. 5 can correspond, for example, to the band section 67 or 68 according to FIG. 4.

6 shows a concavely curved band section 74, which in turn is adjustable along a guide 71.

Fig. 7 shows a lever-like band section 75 which is pivotally mounted at one end at 76 in order to allow a different reflection of the played ball 73.

It goes without saying that a logic circuit can be connected between the initiators, which are assigned to the individual hole fields 113, and the display device, which enables various evaluations of the signals of the initiators. For example, a link can be made in such a way that pool points played by a first player can be attributed to the opponent.

Instead of a display device which displays the hits separately, the initiators assigned to the game or hole fields can themselves directly effect a hit display. The same applies to initiators assigned to the gang. The display initiators can be mechanical elements, e.g. Flaps or levers. You can also respond to pressure or optically to show players that a hit has been made.

Such a pool billiard can still be played as a billiard billiard because there is still a smooth playing surface. In the case of an immediate hit display of the above type, 15 hole fields must be provided for the pool billiard, 1 to 7 for the first player, 9 to 15 for the second player and one hole field (No. 8) as a neutral field. The latter can also be provided with a hole to make the driver ball disappear. It goes without saying that the last-mentioned version can only be played with a driver ball without a player ball.

Claims (10)

1. A billiard in the manner of a ball game having a ball playing surface (51, 110) beneath which contactless initiators (21, 22, 115) are arranged which are responsive to the presence of a ball (117) within a field of approach and the output signal of which is applied to an indicating device (56), characterized in that when used as a pool type billiard the playing surface (51, 110) is provided with hole areas (113) and initiators (21,22, 115) associated therewith and the optical indication device (56) comprises two fields of indication picturing the playing surface (51) by lamps (34, 59) and/or figure indications (60, 61) adapted to be selectively switched on via a reversing switch.

2. A billiard according to claim 1, characterized in that the billiard balls consist of different materials in view of the responding behaviour of the initiators (115).

3. A billiard according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the output signals of several initiators (21,22) are applied in parallel to a timing element (30) the output signal of which is likewise applied to the indicating device (56) setting it.

4. A billiard according to any one of the claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the initiators (20,21) are connectible to a valency stage (25) associating each initiator signal with a value and in that the value signal is applied to a counting and indicating device (27, 28, 29) via computer stage (26).

5. A billiard according to any one of the claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the lamps (34) are adapted to be controlled by a random generator (35) and in that a selector key (36) is provided by means of which the control of a lamp (34) is retained at will.

6. A billiard according to any one of the claims 1 to 5, characterized in that a second timing element (32) is provided which is connected to the indicating device (56) and which after a first-time response of the indicating device inactivates the latter after a predetermined duration of time.

7. A billiard according to any one of the claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the cushion (12) has associated thereto one or several initiators (37a) which upon being contacted by a ball issues a signal, said initiator (37a) being connected to a further counter (38a) which is adapted to be set to a predetermined number of steps (1) and which issues an output signal only when output signals of the initiator (37a) are received which correspond to the adjusted number of steps (37a).

8. A billiard according to any one of the claims 1 to 7, characterized in that each lamp (34) has associated thereto a separate switch (39) and an initiator signal is applied to the indicating device only when it is dialled by its switch (39).

9. A billiard according to any one of the claims 1 to 8, characterized by the application to an approximately triangular playing surface (51 ) in which the hole areas (113) are arranged at the cushions as well as in the center of the playing area.

10. A billiard according to claim 9, characterized in that the optical indicating device (56) is arranged in the region of the point opposite the longer cushion (54).

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