EP0201062B1 - Score indicating device for tennis - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention comprises a score marker for tennis including a base pierced with three slots arranged in U form. Each slot is provided with a cursor associated with positioning means which in the case of the two parallel slots enables retention of the cursor in four predetermined positions so as to display the points 0, 15, 30 and 40 and in the case of the third slot enables retention of the cursor in three predetermined positions in which it indicates in the central position equality of the players and in the end positions to which player the advantage belongs.

Description

The present invention relates to marking the score during tennis games. It relates, more particularly, to a small device enabling a tennis player to score the score of the game himself.

US Patent 4,172,595 describes a score marker of the above type, which adapts to the end of the handle of the racket, which it matches the octagonal shape. It essentially consists of a base pierced with two parallel slots and two sliders respectively engaged in these slots along which indexing means make it possible to immobilize them in four determined positions corresponding respectively to points 0.15, 30 and 40.

However, such a system does not offer the possibility of indicating, when the two players have reached a score of 40, whether there is a tie or, if not, to which player the advantage belongs. This information is also very useful to the player.

This possibility is only offered very imperfectly by the marker of document DE-U-85 31 475 which has four cursors, two of which are used to indicate the points of a game.

The present invention aims to provide a score marker for tennis which allows this information to be displayed in a clear and simple manner.

This goal is achieved by the means claimed.

• la figure 1 est une vue en plan d'une première réalisation d'un marqueur de score selon l'invention;
• la figure 2 est une vue en coupe du marqueur de la figure 1;
• la figure 3 illustre la possibilité de porter le marqueur selon l'invention en pendentif;
• la figure 4 représente une variante de l'invention dans laquelle le marqueur est associé à un bracelet;
• les figures 5, 6 et 7 montrent d'autres formes de réalisation du marqueur;
• la figure 8 représente l'association du marqueur à une montre; enfin,
• la figure 9 illustre la possibilité d'accrocher le marqueur au tamis d'une raquette de tennis.

The characteristics of the invention will emerge from the description which follows, given with reference to the appended drawings, and giving, by way of explanation but in no way limiting, various advantageous embodiments of such a marker. In these drawings, where the same elements are designated by the same reference numbers:

• Figure 1 is a plan view of a first embodiment of a score marker according to the invention;
• Figure 2 is a sectional view of the marker of Figure 1;
• FIG. 3 illustrates the possibility of wearing the marker according to the invention as a pendant;
• FIG. 4 represents a variant of the invention in which the marker is associated with a bracelet;
• Figures 5, 6 and 7 show other embodiments of the marker;
• FIG. 8 represents the association of the marker with a watch; finally,
• FIG. 9 illustrates the possibility of hanging the marker on the sieve of a tennis racket.

The marker shown in Figures 1 and 2 has, as a basic element, a disc-shaped plate 10, which is pierced by three elongated rectilinear slots 12, 14 and 16, forming the letter U. The slots 12 and 14, which have the same length, are parallel to the axis x'x of the disc and arranged symmetrically with respect to it. They are offset towards the upper half (in FIG. 1) of the disc, thus leaving, in its lower half, the place for the slot 16. This is perpendicular to the axis x'x and has a length which roughly corresponds at the distance between the outer edges of the parallel slots 12 and 14.

The three slots have, in the direction of the thickness of the plate 10, completely identical profiles. As shown in FIG. 2, each slot, delimited by two parallel walls, opens onto the front face 10a of the plate by a flared portion 18 (for reasons of simplification, not shown in FIG. 1) and on its rear face 10b by a simple rectangular groove 20. This is itself pierced by small cylindrical housings, or positioning notches, 22 which are centered on the axis of the slots. The slots 12 and 14 include four of these housings, regularly spaced. The slot 16 has only three. The middle housing is centered on the axis x'x of the wafer, while the other two are in the extension of the axes of the slots 12 and 14.

Inscriptions 0, 15, 30 and 40 are advantageously carried, between the slots 12 and 14, at their four positioning notches 22. The letter D, for "DEUCE" (meaning "equal to forty"), is inscribed in opposite the central notch of slot 16, while the letter A, for "ADVANTAGE", is written opposite its two other notches.

The three slots 12, 14 and 16 are each intended to receive a cursor 24 made of an elastically deformable material. This comprises a body 26 and, at its respective ends, a rounded head 28 bearing on the front face 10a and a circular base 30 of diameter corresponding to that of the positioning notches 22. The body 26 has two parallel flat faces which are opposite the walls of the slot. The base and the body are cut in half by a central notch 32. The introduction of the sliders into the slots is facilitated by the presence of the flared portions 18.

The cursor 24 is shown, in FIGS. 1 and 2, in the two states that it can occupy, depending on its position along the slot. When, as shown on the right-hand side of the figures (slot 14), the cursor is not at the level of one of the inscriptions on the face 10a of the plate, its base 30 is wedged between the walls of the slot and the 'notch 32 allows the two halves of the body 26 to approach. When, as shown on the left-hand side of the figures (slot 12), the cursor is brought to the level of an inscription on the plate, the base 30 takes place in the positioning notch 22, at the same time as the two halves of the body 26 move apart, due to their elasticity, to return to their rest position.

The base plate 10 and the three sliders 24 are advantageously made of plastic, such as a polystyrene or a product sold under the name of "Delrin". Of course, there is nothing to prevent the plate from being made of metal. It is preferable, too, that the plate and the sliders be of different colors.

Thus is produced a score marker for tennis, which is at the same time simple, robust, light, inexpensive and easy to use. This device allows the player not only to mark his own points and those of his opponent by placing the sliders of slots 12 and 14 at the level of inscriptions 0, 15, 30 and 40, but also to indicate if there is equality and, if not, to which player the advantage belongs by placing the cursor of the slot 16 level respectively of the inscription D or of the inscription A being in the extension of the slot 12 or 14 allocated to the player which advantage.

It is useful to fix on the rear face 10b of the wafer a double-sided adhesive 34 making it possible to stick the marker on a tennis racket, preferably at the end of its handle. Naturally, any other fixing means, in particular by screwing or gluing, can be used.

The racket is not the only support to which the marker according to the invention can be attached. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the plate 10 may include an ear 36, or any similar means, for hanging a chain or cord 38 allowing the marker to be worn as a pendant. This can also, as illustrated in FIG. 4, be fixed or integrated into a bracelet 40 to be worn like a watch.

The invention is not limited to a particular form of plate. There is nothing to prevent it, for example, from being oval, square, rectangular, even triangular or trapezoidal. It is particularly advantageous, when the marker is intended to adapt to the end of the racket handle, to give the pad 10 the same shape as this end, generally octagonal, as well as shown in Figure 5.

With regard to the three marking slots, other arrangements than that shown in Figures 1,2,3,4 and 5 can be adopted, in which the two dot marking slots are arranged symmetrically, while the slot marking equality or advantage is arranged so that its two ends are respectively, unequivocally, near the slots of points.

Thus, for example, an H-shaped arrangement can be used or, as shown in Figure 6, the three slots can be arranged along the sides of an isosceles or equilateral triangle (in the case of the figure). The equality-advantage slot 16 is located on the base of the triangle and the points slots 12 and 14 are along its two equal sides. The latter are symmetrical with respect to an axis x'x on which the slot 16 has its midpoint. Note in passing that this figure gives an embodiment of a plate 10 of square shape.

FIG. 7 gives the example of another embodiment, in which the slots of points 12 and 14 are arcs of a circle symmetrical with respect to an axis x'x. The slot 16, rectilinear, is then arranged along the axis y'y, perpendicular to the two axes, at the center of the circle. In this example, the base plate 10 has a circular shape.

Reference will now be made to FIG. 8 which illustrates the possibility of using as the basic element 10 the middle part of a wristwatch which, in the example shown, has a rounded shape. The slots of points 12 and 14 then extend respectively from 8 to 11h. and from 4 to 1h., while the slot 16, whose midpoint is at 6h., extends from 5 to 7h.

FIG. 9, finally, shows a particular embodiment of the marker according to the invention, in which the base plate 10, of rectangular shape, has on two opposite sides two pairs of legs 42, in the shape of a gutter, allowing the attachment to the sieve 44 of a racket, in its part closest to the handle. The flexibility of the sieve is then taken advantage of so that, the marker being applied to a rope, its tabs 42 carry out the fixing by hanging on the two adjacent cords.

It should be noted, too, that instead of being attached to the end of the handle of a racket, the base can be fully incorporated.

In order to ensure that, in their position shown on the right-hand side of FIG. 2, the cursors 24 cannot be easily extracted, it is advantageous to provide, at the base of the walls of each slot, between the positioning notches 22, small shoulders 46 (shown only in Figure 2) which are spaced from each other by a distance less than the diameter of the notches and have substantially the same depth as these. The ends of the bases 30 thus take their place in these shoulders so as to guarantee the anchoring of the sliders in the base for any position of these along their slot.

Claims (12)

1. A score marker for tennis comprising :

   - a base provided with two slots of the same length symmetrically arranged and constituting scales for marking respectively the points 0, 15, 30 and 40 of the players;

   - two cursors respectively placed in said slots so as to be able to be slid therealong; and

   - positioning means serving to retain the cursors of the two slots in four predetermined positions in which they display the points 0, 15, 30 and 40;
   characterized :

   - in that it further comprises a third slot placed in a manner such that its two ends are unambiguously located respectively in proximity to the two first slots so as to indicate, once the opposing players have achieved the score of 40, whether there is equality or, if not, to which the advantage belongs; and a cursor placed in said slot, along which it can be slid; and

   - in that said positioning means also serve to retain the cursor of the third slot in three predetermined positions in the central position of which it indicates equality of the players and in the two end positions that the advantage belongs to the player whose points are displayed on the closest scale.
2. A score marker according to claim 1, characterized:

   - in that said positioning means are formed by receptacles provided in the rear surface of the base and centered on the slots, these receptacles being evenly spaced and there being four receptacles for the point marking slots and three receptacles for the third slot; and

   - in that said cursors are formed from an elastically deformable material each comprising a body adapted to slide in its slot having at the respective ends of said body a head supported on the top surface of the base and a shoulder of complementary form to that of said receptacles, the body and the shoulder including a central notch whereby said shoulder in accordance with the cursor position is either positioned within a receptacle or jammed between the walls of the slot.
3. A score marker according to any one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that said base is of octagonal form.
4. A score marker according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that said point marking slots are rectilinear and parallel to one another while the third slot likewise rectilinear is perpendicular to them.
5. A score marker according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the three slots are disposed along the sides of a triangle.
6. A score marker according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the point marking slots are arcs of a circle symmetrically placed relative to a diameter of said circle, while the third slot is rectilinear with its center at the center of the circle and positioned perpendicular to said diameter.
7. A score marker according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that said base is formed by the caseband of a watch and in that the three slots are distributed along said caseband.
8. A score marker according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that it includes means for the fastening thereof to a support.
9. A score marker according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that said means comprise a double surface adhesive.
10. A score marker according to claim 8, characterized in that said means are formed by bent hooks enabling attachment of said marker to the stringing of a racket.
11. A score marker according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that its base is fixed to a bracelet.
12. A score marker according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that its base is fixed to the end of the handle of a racket.

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