EP0947227A1

EP0947227A1 - Ball game apparatus

Info

Publication number: EP0947227A1
Application number: EP98302681A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Tsz-Ming Lou
Original assignee: Lup Shun Metal and Plastic Ware Factory Ltd
Current assignee: Lup Shun Metal and Plastic Ware Factory Ltd
Priority date: 1998-04-06
Filing date: 1998-04-06
Publication date: 1999-10-06
Also published as: WO1999052612A1

Abstract

A ball game apparatus having a main housing made preferably of a plastic material is provided with a simulated playing field on which there are disposed goals and a plurality of simulated players belonging to two teams wherein the simulated players are mounted on axes distributed on said playing field and the axes are connected via a transmission assembly to master control devices. Axes carrying figurines of the same team are connected to a single master control device via a transmission mechanism so that the simulated players belonging to a same team are rotatable at the same time by turning a single master control device. Simulated players are disposed on the corners of a regular polygon so that the opportunity to compete for a ball is substantially equalised.

Description

The present invention relates to a ball game apparatus and, more particularly, to a ball game apparatus for playing a simulated miniature soccer game or the like.
Hundreds of millions of people in the world go to ball games every year either as audience or players. Among the better known ball games, games which involve two opposing teams of players playing on a playing field and competing for a single ball with the aim of sending the ball into a goal guarded by the opposing team attract most of the population. Basket ball, hockey, rugby, football and soccer, which is more commonly known as football outside the United States, are the better known examples of such competition ball games. Amongst them, soccer probably stands out as the world's most popular team-played ball sport in terms of player and viewer population.
Soccer has very simple rules and requires only minimal skill to start, its playing population ranges from children to the elderly, though years of hard training is required before one becomes a master of the game. Soccer is a truly international sport which is played on every continent. There is a "World Cup" competition every four years which brings together national teams from all over the Word to compete for the prestigious cup and which keeps millions of audience up late in the nights simply to watch real-time satellite broadcast of the matches.
Soccer has also developed rapidly in the last few decades in the less fortunate part of the world because of the simplicity of its rules, minimal equipment and formal gear requirements together with the low running costs: a flat playing field, an inflated ball and two goals, which can simply be temporary marks on the playing field, are all that is required in order to play the game.
Because of the popularity of real soccer game, many simulated soccer game apparatuses are available. The more successful of these games apparatuses are mechanical games which are played by two persons each controlling a team of simulated players distributed on a simulated playing field. The simulated players are usually connected by rods or levers to external hand-pieces controllable by the persons playing the game who, by manipulating the hand-pieces, can control the movements of the simulated players and therefore progress of the game. Kicking, sweeping, guarding and intercepting and the typical foot movements of the simulated players usually seen in such games. However, these foot movements are in fact hand-generated by the persons playing the game via the control mechanisms.
In a typical simulated game, a team is either the attacking or the defending team. The attacking team is the one having the latest control of the ball, its next likely move is to pass the ball to team members closer to the opposing goal so that they can score by sending the ball into the opposing goal. The prime task of the defending team is to block or intercept the ball to prevent it from being sent into their own goal and, better still, to get control of the ball so that they now become the attacking team.
A well known conventional mechanical soccer game apparatus comprises a upstanding game table which carries a simulated planar playing field on its top surface and on which there are disposed a plurality of miniature simulated players which are rotatable in a vertical plane about a horizontal axis. The playing field is surrounded by a continuous wall along its periphery with goals disposed at its two longitudinal ends. Figurines are suspended from transversal horizontal bars which are evenly distributed along the length of the table and which are elevated above the table surface by corresponding apertures formed on the side walls of the table.
Simulated players belonging to the same team are suspended from a transversal bar with their upper bodies fixed to the bar and their feet just cleared of the playing field. This allows the figurines to swing about the axis of the bar in response to reciprocating twist of the handles which are extension of the transversal bars beyond the sides of the table.
Bars carrying opposing teams are alternately distributed along the field so that an attacking team is always next to a defending team. The apertures formed on the sides walls of the table loosely accommodate the bars so that they are transversally translatable and the figurines can, in addition to longitudinal kicks, move sideways to get control of a ball or to transport a ball sideways if it is already in control.
Though this simple soccer table has been available for a long time, it is still very popular and is frequently played by the very young, the young and the not-so-young. However, major disadvantages of this game table include the multiplicity of controlling bars, limited figurine movements, and the somewhat un-realistic distribution of opposing players on the field.
A more sophisticated soccer game apparatus is a game table having a plurality of upstanding figurines which are distributed randomly over the playing field. Each figurine is mounted on a vertical axis with one foot fixed on the axis and the other foot left overhanging. The axis is movable along a longitudinal track and is connected to an external handle via a transmission assembly hidden underneath the playing field which comprises a translatable lever and a bevel gear. This assembly enables a figurine to be both translatable and rotatable on the playing field at the same time. This results in increased mobility and flexibility of the figurines and at the same time also increases the randomisation of figurine distribution on the field which makes the game more realistic and interesting.
However, the main disadvantage of this apparatus is that, because of the complexity of the transmission system, independent handles must be used to control the individual figurines which means that a person must search for the correct handle before he can kick, block or intercept the ball. This can be a difficult task because the scaling down of the game significantly scales up the speed of the simulated game. In addition, the bevel-gear transmission system converts a horizontal rotation into a vertical rotation which means that the instantaneous physical impact and feedback of the game a person can feel is greatly reduced because of the alteration of impact orientation.
Even though known simulated soccer game apparatus are with shortcomings, they are nevertheless highly popular because they provide an economical and convenient means for beginners to have a "feel" of the game without having to go to a real ball playing field. They are an interesting game for friends to play after work, whether at home, in public bars or social clubs. They also provide a convenient forum for players with very different skill or physical strength, for example, fathers and sons or even grandsons, to play a game which they both like but which, because of the gap in age or skill, would have prevented them from playing a meaningful game together
From the above, it is apparent that the main drawback of most known simulated game apparatuses is the complexity of figurine control mechanisms which significantly defeat the main objective of providing an "as real" game in which the players can concentrate on the activities on the field and do not have to be distracted by the frequent search for the correct control handles. It is therefore desirable if there is provided a simulated ball game apparatus which provides a high degree of simulated player mobility and flexibility, thereby producing the feel and excitement of a real game, but requiring only a simple and responsive control mechanism.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a ball game apparatus in which there are provided a plurality of simulated players each of which is highly flexible and mobile so that the simulated game closely simulates the activities of a real ball game while only a simple control mechanism is required in order to control the simulated players so that the persons playing the simulated game can concentrate on the activities on the field, rather than having to locate for the correct control device every time the ball moves. As a minimum, it is an object to provide a ball game apparatus which at least provides the public with a useful choice.
According to the present invention, there is provided a ball game apparatus having a main housing with a simulated playing field on which there are disposed a plurality of simulated players which are mounted on substantially vertical axes distributed on said playing field wherein said axes are connected via a transmission assembly to a master control device, characterised in that a plurality of said axes are connected to said master control device via said transmission mechanism so that said plurality of simulated players are caused to rotate at the same time by said master control device.
Preferably the axes of the game apparatus are disposed on the corners of a substantially regular polygon.
Preferably, the master control device comprises a master reel and each said vertical axis is fixed concentrically with a secondary reel, said transmission assembly driving said secondary reel to rotate said vertical axis, wherein the diameter of said master reel is larger than that of said secondary reel so that a partial turn of said master reel will bring about a full turn of said secondary reel.
Preferably the transmission mechanism comprises a loop of tensioned belt enclosing said secondary reels and said master reel.
Preferably, a plurality of said loops of tensioned belt are anchored on same said master reel.
According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a ball game apparatus having a main housing with a simulated playing field on which there are disposed goals and a plurality of simulated players belonging to two teams wherein said simulated players are mounted on axes distributed on said playing field and said axes are connected via a transmission assembly to master control devices, characterised in that a plurality of said axes carrying figurines belonging to the same team are connected to a said master control device via said transmission mechanism so that said plurality of simulated players belonging to a same team are caused to rotate at the same time by said master control device.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be explained by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:-

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention,
Figure 2 is a simplified perspective view of the embodiment of Figure 1 in which the Field Players are removed to reveal in better details the movable parts beneath the Playing Field,
Figure 3 is a schematic plan view of the embodiment of Figure 1 showing in more detail the transmission system beneath the playing field,
Figure 4 is a partial sectional view of the embodiment of Figure 1 near the goal showing the inter-relationship between an attacking player, a defending player and a defending goal keeper, and
Figure 5 & 6 are schematic diagrams showing action of a goal keeper when a ball is under his control.
Referring to Figure 1, there is shown a preferred embodiment of a ball game apparatus of the present invention. The game apparatus 1 comprises a main housing 10 on which there are provided a simulated playing field ("Playing Field")20, goals 30 & 40, simulated goal keepers ("Goal-Keepers") 31 & 41 and simulated field players ("Field Players") 32's, 42's. This apparatus is primarily adapted to play a ball game in which two competing teams, say teams A & B, as represented respectively by Field Players with light and dark upper bodies in the present embodiment for convenience, are involved. The opposing teams compete on the simulated playing field 20 for a freely movable ball with the objective of getting, controlling and finally sending the ball into the goal of the opposing team to score.
Referring also to Figures 2 and 3, the main housing 10 comprises an upper 11 and a lower 12 part which are releasably attached to each other by suitable fasteners such as screws or clips. Each of the main housing part is preferably integrally moulded from a plastic material for simple, low-cost assembly and for easy maintenance. The upper main housing 11 carries at its centre a Playing Field 20 which has a substantially planar and upward facing horizontal surface. This horizontal surface preferably constitutes a substantial portion of the upper main housing for maximal spatial utilization. To ensure that the ball is confined within the Playing Field during normal play, there is preferably provided a vertical fencing wall 13 along the periphery of the Playing Field.
At the two opposing ends of the Playing Field 20 there are provided goals 30, 40 each of which is guarded by a Goal- Keeper 31 or 41. The Goal Keeper is preferably a solid figurine which is placed in front of the goal and which is deployable anywhere between the goal posts so that it can block a ball which is moving towards the goal from all possible directions. The Goal Keeper is mounted at the free end of a pivotal bar 14 with its feet spread and suspended just clear of the Playing Field 20. The Goal Keeper is movable across the width of the goal by reciprocal movement of the pivotal bar 14.
On the Playing Field 20 there are disposed a plurality of Field Players which belong to the competing teams. The competing teams are either the attacking or defending team, depending on which team controls the ball. In Figure 1, team B (with dark upper body) is in control of the ball and is in a position to attack the goal on the left which is being guarded by team A. When Team A is in control of the ball, team B becomes the defending team and such a change can happen in fractions of a second. When team B is the defending team, its prime objectives are to obstruct the ball by preventing Team A from sending it towards the right side and to intercept the ball so that it becomes the attacking team.
The simulated ball game is played by Field Players which are "scattered" on the Playing Field between the two goals 30 & 40. When a Field Player is in control of the ball, its next likely move is to pass the ball on to a team member closer to the target goal or to kick it directly towards the target goal. The other team would endeavour to intercept the ball during its transit towards the goal in order to become the attacking team.
Field Players with high mobility and high manoeuvrability are an important element of a good simulated game and such features are frequently used by manufacturers as benchmarks to attract customers. However, as mentioned above, improvements in mobility and manoeuvrability of Field Players often result in over-complicated control mechanism which gravely discounts the benefits conferred by the improvements and defeat the whole purpose of a social and leisure game.
Instead of devising a complex control mechanism to facilitate flexible and independent control of individual Field Players, improved game manoeuvrability is achieved in the present invention by careful deployment of Field Players on the Playing Filed in combination with a simple control mechanism.
In most conventional ball game apparatuses, distribution of Field Players on the Playing Field is always determined by the convenient disposition of control mechanisms with little or no consideration given to the specific geometrical deployment of Field Players which will result in a more balanced game in which no one team will always dominate the game simply because it was once in control.
To achieve this objective so that a careful and skilful person always has an opportunity to reverse the game, it is preferred that Field Players in the vicinity of a ball should have a substantially equal opportunity of getting the ball so that they must be fully alerted at all time so as not to miss the opportunity to reverse the game which opportunity could disappear in fractions of a second.
This is achieved in the present preferred embodiment by arranging the Field Players on the corners of a regular polygon on the Playing Field 20. In the present embodiment, and more particularly shown in Figures 1 to 4, the Field Players are located on the corners of interlocking regular hexagons and part regular hexagons. This arrangement has an additional advantage that, in most cases, each attacking Field Player is guarded by two defending Field Players which makes the simulated game more interesting and exciting for the person controlling the defending team as there is always a real prospect of successful defence even if the attacking Field Player is already very close to the goal.
Turning now to the individual Field Players. Each Field Player is preferably a solid figurine with one foot fixedly mounted on the upper end of a vertical axis 51, which can be a spindle as in the present example. The axes are preferably distributed on the Playing Field 20 in such a manner that they form the corners of a regular polygon or part regular polygon, consistent with the manner of distribution of Field Players described above. Each axis 51 is rotatably supported on the lower main housing 12 and extends vertically through apertures formed on the Playing Field 20 to slightly above the Playing Field level. This permits a figurine to rotate about the axis 51 even though its overall horizontal spread exceeds the size of the apertures. The remaining foot of the figurine is left overhanging to effect ball control, so that, by rotating the axis 51, the figurine can position, sweep and kick the ball with the suspending foot.
Movements of the Field Players are controlled by a driving assembly underneath the Playing Field 20. Referring to Figures 2 & 3. The preferred driving assembly comprises a master reel 60 which drives by friction a plurality of secondary reels 61 by a tensioned belt 62 or string. The secondary reel 61 is concentrically fixed to the axis 51 on which the figurines are mounted, so that, when the master reel 60 turns, the secondary reel 61 will be turned by the belt 62, thereby causing the axis and figurine assembly to rotate to produce the necessary playing movements.
When a Field Player is in possession of the ball, it can sweep the ball, either clockwise or counter-clockwise, from a first angular position to a second angular position with its suspending leg about the axis 51, simulating the "twist" movement of a real soccer player. This can be done by turning the master reel 60 progressively either clockwise or counter-clockwise. This movement is essential for setting up a good position before the ball is forwarded to another team member or for goal striking.
To complete the forwarding or scoring after a Field Player has set up a position, the Field Player will retreat from the ball, accelerate its suspending leg towards the ball, and kick on the ball when sufficient momentum has been gathered. For a more skilled player, this sequence of movement can be done in a single continuous control of the master reel 60.
In order to provide a more responsive Field Player, it is preferred that the master reel 60 has a considerably larger diameter than the secondary reel 61 so that a partial turn of the master reel 60 will bring about a complete turn of the secondary reel 61. This is desirable to simulate a flexible Field Player which can move the ball to any angular position within a very short time while only a simple partial turn on the master reel 60 is required.
When a Field Player delivers the ball to its team member, opposing Field Players in the vicinity may intercept the ball by placing their overhanging legs in the path of transit which may not be linear. Likewise, a team member to which the ball is being delivered would have to halt the on-coming ball by placing its suspending leg on the path of the ball, otherwise the ball may hit the Field Player and bounce off somewhere else.
To minimise the number of independent control items so that a person can concentrate on the activities on the Playing Field 20, it is desirable that a plurality of secondary reels 61 carrying figurines belonging to the same team are controllable by the same master reel 60 so that a person does not have to search for the next correct control-stick every time the ball moves towards a new position.
In addition, it is also desirable that all secondary reels 61 connecting to the same master reel 60 are rotationally aligned with the master reel 61 which means that all the secondary reels 61 driven by a master reel 60 will rotate in the same angular direction as the driving master reel 60. This rotational consistency between the master and secondary reels is beneficial as the control of figurines throughout the Playing Field would be more natural and systematic.
Rotational consistency could be obtained when displacement of the tensioned belt 62, which is caused by rotation of the master reel 60, would bring about a turning moment of the secondary reels 61 which is in the same direction as the turning moment of the master reel 60 about its axis. A preferred way to achieve this is by running the tensioned belt 62 in such a way that the axes of all the master and secondary reels are encompassed within a simple loop formed by the tensioned belt 62 so that the tangential lines joining the outer-most edge of adjacent reels define the outer periphery of the simple loop formed by the tensioned belt 62. In this case all the secondary reels which carry figurines belonging to the same team will follow the rotation of the master reel 60.
An example of such a suitable simple loop is obtained by distributing the reels 61 at the corners of a single convex polygon, as shown in Figures 2 &3, so that all the secondary reels 61 are rounded up by a single belt loop without zig-zag routing. Since, in most cases, zig-zag belt routing always results in undesirable non-rotational homogeneity of the secondary reels 61 unless extra pulleys are used to correct the change of turning moments of the reels which would otherwise have happened.
While this simple loop of driving belt 62 arrangement is highly desirable, it is somewhat difficult to fulfil when the number of figurines (or secondary reels) in a team is large or where not all the figurines of a team can be distributed on the corners of a single convex polygon.
This problem is alleviated in the present embodiment by dividing the secondary reels of a team into a plurality of sub-groups wherein all the secondary reels 61 of a sub-group are enclosed within a simple loop of belt 62 and a plurality of such simple loops are anchored on the same master reel 60 so that all figurines attached to the secondary reels of the sub-groups are drivable by the same master reel 60, and simultaneously. Thus, only a single master control is required when all the secondary reels 61 of a team are anchored on a single master reel 60, allowing the person to concentrate on the activities on the Playing Field.
When the number of sub-groups increases for games involving a large number of simulated players, entangling of tensioned belts belonging to the same and opposing teams may occur. This can be alleviated by disposing the belts into different vertical levels by, for example, providing a plurality of vertically spaced horizontal grooves on the master and secondary reels so that belt levels can be selected.
Most conventional soccer game apparatuses have flat playing field to simulate a real soccer field; this is undesirable as many blind spots exist on the field because of the inherently limited movement range of the simulated players. The persons playing the game would usually have to shake or tilt the game apparatus in order to bring the ball back within range. To alleviate this problem, slightly convex arcuate surfaces are formed throughout the playing field where blind spots may exist so that the ball will be automatically brought within the range of a neighbouring simulated player.
To improve control of the ball while it is within the range of a simulated player, there is further provided a slightly concave arcuate surface surrounding the axis. This design helps to bring the ball towards the simulated player whenever the ball is already within range of the player, thereby improving controllability of the game. To further improve the retaining of the ball when it is within the range of a simulated player, the concaved arcuate surface is roughened so that a ball will not drift away because of gravity or the slightest shake.
Furthermore, as the secondary reels 62 are driven by a tensioned belt 62 which may lose its tension with time, there are further provided tension adjusting means which can adjust the tension in a belt by altering the physical length of the belt path. In the present embodiment, this is done by a pair of translatable pins 63 which can alter the physical length of the path of the tensioned belt by moving the pins towards or away from each other, for example, by spring bias or fastens.
While the present invention has been explained and illustrated with reference to a soccer game embodiment, it would be obvious to a skilled person that the invention, with slight modification, could be a game apparatus simulating, hockey, rugby, golf and the like ball games.

Claims

A ball game apparatus having a main housing with a simulated playing field on which there are disposed a plurality of simulated players which are mounted on substantially vertical axes distributed on said playing field wherein said axes are connected via a transmission assembly to a master control device, characterised in that a plurality of said axes are connected to said master control device via said transmission mechanism so that said plurality of simulated players are caused to rotate at the same time by said master control device.
A ball game apparatus as claimed in Claim 1, characterised in that said axes are disposed on the corners of a substantially regular polygon.
A ball game apparatus as claimed in Claim 1 or 2, characterised in that said master control device comprises a master reel and each said vertical axis is fixed concentrically with a secondary reel, said transmission assembly driving said secondary reel to rotate said vertical axis, wherein the diameter of said master reel is larger than that of said secondary reel so that a partial turn of said master reel will bring about a full turn of said secondary reel.
A ball game apparatus as claimed in Claim 3, characterised in that said transmission mechanism comprises a loop of tensioned belt enclosing said secondary reels and said master reel.
A ball game apparatus as claimed in Claim 4, characterised in that a plurality of said loops of tensioned belt are anchored on same said master reel.
A ball game apparatus as claimed in Claim 5, characterised in that said loops of tensioned belt are disposed at different vertical levels.
A ball game apparatus as claimed in any one of Claims 3 to 6, characterised in that said secondary reels are in rotational alignment with the master reel to which said secondary reels are anchored so that all said secondary reels are caused to rotate in the same direction with respect to said master reel.
A ball game apparatus as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 7, further characterised in that the surface on said playing field surrounding a said simulated player is concave arcuate and the surface adjacent to said concave surface is convex arcuate.
A ball game apparatus as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 8, further characterised in that a goal is provided on said playing field wherein said goal is guarded by a simulated goal keeper, said goal keeper being a figurine mounted to a pivotal bar and movable across the width of said goal by pivotal movement of said pivotal bar.
A ball game apparatus having a main housing with a simulated playing field on which there are disposed goals and a plurality of simulated players belonging to two teams wherein said simulated players are mounted on axes distributed on said playing field and said axes are connected via a transmission assembly to master control devices, characterised in that a plurality of said axes carrying figurines belonging to the same team are connected to a said master control device via said transmission mechanism so that said plurality of simulated players belonging to a same team are caused to rotate at the same time by said master control device.
A ball game apparatus as claimed in Claim 10, characterised in that said axes are disposed on the comers of a regular polygon or part regular polygon.
A ball game apparatus as claimed in Claim 10 or 11, characterised in that said master control device comprises a master reel and each of said axis is fixedly concentrically with a concentric secondary reel wherein the diameter of said master reel is larger than that of said secondary reel so that a partial turn of said master reel will bring about a full turn of said secondary reel.