GB2075231A - Apparatus for operating a bowling alley - Google Patents

Abstract

An electronic apparatus for operating a bowling alley installation having a plurality of alleys (1, 2, 3), each of which is provided with known electro-mechanical equipment (A) for setting up and clearing the pins and indicating the pin standing after each bowl, comprises an electronic control unit (B), for each alley, for controlling the operation of the equipment (A), and an electronic processor unit (E) for processing output signals from each unit (B) and providing overall accounting data for the bowling alley installation. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Equipment for operating an installation for the game of bowling The present invention relates to an electronic apparatus for operating a bowling alley installation, which may also be applied to the operation of a complex of automatic dispensers for various products jointly with or separately from the bowling alley.

In the installations used for the game of bowling, each alley is generally provided with its own unit which both controls the cyclic operation of the mechanical means effecting the various complex movements relating to the recovery and setting up of the pins, the indication of pins which are still standing, etc., and in general the collection of data for the award of points for each bowl made.

In practice the game of bowling is now operated on the basis of individual alleys, which results in considerable time and operating costs and laborious calculations for determining general charges for the installation.

The principal object of this invention is therefore to provide electronic equipment which is capble of operating at least a number of alleys in the game of bowling, either simultaneously or independently of each other, so as to provide a simple, accurate and immediate check on the accounting situation for each alley and the entire unit as a whole.

Another object of the invention is to provide electronic equipment which is programmed to process the signals for each bowl from the electromechanical devices controlling each alley in a bowling installation, in real time, to generate output signals to control the said control devices and to provide subtotal or overall data, in accounting terms, in relation to the bowls made in each alley and in the installation as a whole.

A further object of the invention is to provide equipment with a program which can be varied in relation to various contingent or periodical parameters which may comprise unit costs per throw, daily, evening, holiday costs, etc., so that the installation may be adapted to all circumstances.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide equipment which can advantageously be fitted to installations for the game of bowling without the need for modifications to the mechanism and the traditional method of operation of the said installations.

According to the present invention there is provided an electronic apparatus for operating an installation for the game of bowling having a plurality of alleys, each of which is provided with known electromechanial equipment designed to operate the components handling the pins, to detect the positions of the latter after each bowl and to provide processable signals after each bowl, wherein as many electronic control- units as there are items of electromechanical equipments are provided so that each control unit corresponds to the electromechanical equipment for one alley, each of the said control units being capable of receiving signals from the corresponding electromechanical equipment, of processing the signals themselves on the basis of a predetermined operating program, of generating signals for the display of the processed data and signals for controlling the said equipment, and an electronic processor unit, capable of processing the output signals from each control unit in order to tranform them into subtotal and/or overall accounting data which are to be memorised and/or displayed on request in accordance with parameters memorised in the said processor unit, is provided and connected to all of the said control units.

Preferably, it may be provided with means for preventing the operation of the mechanical control equipment in each alley if the interval between one bowl and another is greater than a predetermined time so as to avoid the waste of energy and to reduce wear of the equipment which would otherwise, in the case of known techniques, remain in operation during pauses in the game.

The present invention will now be described further, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure lisa diagram of certain alleys in a bowling installation controlled by the equipment of the present invention; Figure 2 is a block diagram of one of the control units for processing the data from every bowl in one alley; Figure 3 is a block diagram for the unit processing the output signals from each control unit; and Figure 4 shows a block diagram of means for preventing the operation of the electromechanical equipment in each alley during prolonged pauses in play.

In Figure 1, there are shown a number of alleys 1,2 and 3 in an installation for the game of bowling, each of which comprises electromechanical equipment A which is designed to operate the pin table, the sweep, the pinspotter, etc., as well as means for determining the position of the pins which are still standing after each bowl. The said electromechanical equipment A and the said means for determining the position of the pins still standing and their method of their operation are well known and are not therefore worthy of particular attention.It is sufficient merely to point out that the said equipment A is able to provide signals for each bowl which can be used as a basis for determining the points in the game, the said signals being also used for management of the game from the accounting point of view and control of the equipment from the functional point of view, using the equipment which is the subject of this invention.

To this end the electromechanical equipment A for each alley is connected by the most appropriate and convenient means, e.g. by means of a line 1',2', 3', to an electronic coritrol unit B which can process the signals produced by the equipment after each bowl and produce signals which are transmitted to a processor unit E which in turn produces the signals for supplying the control data for the installation.

In a preferred embodiment every control unit B is suplied by a low voltage power source 27 and comprises, as shown in Figure 2, an input interface 11 which can receive the signals from the equipment A via the line 1' and transmit these via a logic switching unit 12 and a bi-directional buffer 13 of a data us 13' to the central processing unit 14 of a microprocessor which is associated with an oscillator 15. The said central processing unit 14 is operated via a signal buffer 26 by a memory 16 of the EPROM type, in which the sequential or cyclic operating program, for the electromechanical equipment A controlling a particular alley, is stored.The said central processing unit 14 both controls the course of the program in the memory 16 via an address latch 17 and an address bus 18 and generates signals via an input/output transducer 19 which are capable of activating a low power output interface 20 and a power output interface 21.

The low power output interface 20 controls a low power output gate 20' which is connected to and controls, via a line 22, an optical display 23, e.g. of the lamp type, which is associated with the equipment A of the corresponding alley in order to indicate the position of the pins which have not been knocked down after each bowl and/or other stage of the game. The power output interface 21 controls a power output gate 21' which in turn controls, via line 24 and through the input/output transducer 19, the electromechanical equipment A of the corresponding alley, which controls the various movements relating to the pin table, the sweep, the pinspotter, etc. Whenever a throw is made the power outputs 21 also send appropriate signals via a line 10' to the processing unit E which provides control information.

Basically each control unit B associated with an alley in the bowling installation carries out the following functions once it has received the signals from the equipment Aforthe said alley: through the microprocessor central processing unit 14, it puts into effect the operating cycle of the electromechanical equipment in the steps of recovering and setting out the pins after the various bowls by the player; - it signals, by means of the optical display 22 for the alley in question, the position of the pins which have not been knocked down in orderthatthe points can be determined and to show the results of a bowl; - it controls the motorised devices which operate the various movements of the pin table, the sweep, the pinspotter, etc., during the game; and - it signals each throw made to the processor unit E for control purposes.

For this latter purpose, as shown in Figure 1, the output interfaces 21 of all the control units B of all the alleys 1,2,3 of the installation are connected via the corresponding lines 10 to the processor unit E, a preferred embodiment of which is shown diagrammatically in Figure 3 of the drawing.

The processor unit E is powered by a power unit 30 which is stabilised by means of a mains filter 31 which blocks out the mains harmonics in order to provide voltages for the entire unit. An accumulator 32 is, however, also provided in order to provide power to the unit if there should be a temporary interruption in the mains supply and to enable the logic circuits of the processor to function normally for a certain period of time.

The processor unit E includes an input interface 33 which receives the signals from the control units B via the lines 10' through suitable adaptors 34.

From the input interface 33 the signals then pass through a logic switching unit 35 and the data bus 36 to first memory 37, of the RAM type, and to a second memory 38, of the EPROM type, which memories control the operation of a microprocessor central processing unit 39 which is associated with an oscillator 40.

The first memory 37, of the RAM type, operates the part of the operating program which may require updating in various respects, such as the values of unit prices, requests for partial or total data, etc. The alterations in the first memory 37 can be effected by means of a keyboard 41 and a conditional input multiplex 42.

The second memory 38, of the EPROM type, in close collaboration with the first memory 37, controls the operating program in the microprocessor central processing unit 39 through a control signal buffer 43 and a bi-directional buffer 44 on the data bus 36.

The central processor unit 39 controls the programs in the memory via an address latch 45 and an address bus 46 and operates an output interface 47 which is designed to provide the control signals for displaying the digits in a first optical display 48 and in a second optical display 49, so that the control data corresponding to these signals may be read. A printer device 50, for example of the electrosensitive paper type, for print-out of the processed data may be provided in association with the displays 48 and 49 and the keyboard 41.

In practice the processor unit E is designed to produce signals via the corresponding central processor unit 39, for the bowls from each control unit B of the alleys in the installation on the basis of the programs in the memory, which may be: the cost per bowl, the cost per day or evening game, the cost per holiday game, the number of bowls made, etc.

This then provides, at the request of the operator, via the keyboard 41 at all times: overall data, in terms of cost, for the bowls made in each alley, selectively; subtotal data, in terms of cost, for the bowls made in each alley; overall data, in terms of cost, for the bowls made in all the alleys in the installation and any other programmed data which is required for the economic management of the installation.

The components of each control unit B and the processor unit E may be set out on panels of small and compact dimensions which are easily accessible and easy to connect.

The keyboard 41, providing access to the memory 37 for the alteration and request of data as may be required, comprises for example a plurality of keys for the input of numbers and a plurality of keys for the input of various predetermined codes for obtaining access to the memories, for making alterations, for the recognition of one operator by another, etc..

The optical displays 48 and 49 are designed to display, when requested via the said keyboard, the number of the alley which is being checked on a particular occasion, the number of bowls made in every one of the alleys and the total or subtotal number of bowls made in each alley and in the entire installation.

The processor unit may also be provided with other displays to show alleys in the bowling installation which are in use, current tariffs, memory access codes, etc.

In fact, through the use of keyboard 41, it is possible to discover and visualise the state of management of the installation at all times both individually for each alley and for the installation as a whole.

Finally it should be noted that each alley 1,2,3 in the installation may, as already mentioned above, be provided with a timer unit C, comprising for example, as shown in Figure 4, an input adaptor 51 which blocks out the mains harmonics, an oscillator 52 controlled by a timer 53 and an output amplifier 54.

The input adaptor 51 is connected to the power output interface 21 of the corresponding control unit B and more precisely to the line 24 passing the signals from the said unit to the equipment A which is to be controlled. The signals activate the oscillator 52 via the adaptor 51 and this after a certain number of oscillations blocks the output amplifier 54 to stop the motorised components of the equipment A.

The operation of setting out the pins in the alley is thus interrupted if two successive bowls are not made within the period of time specified by the timer unit Cso as to prevent the installation from being in operation unnecessarily and to prevent undue wear of the components as well as the waste of energy.

The device described above may nevertheless be subjected to the alteration of details without however going beyond the scope of the invention. The device may also be used, through suitable memorisation of the corresponding data, for the management of a complex of automatic product distributors in combination with and simultaneously with or separately from management of the game of bowling, subtotals and overall totals, in terms of cost, for withdrawals from the distributors being detected and displayed in the same way and using the same means as those used to detect and display the frames in the game of bowling by of course providing appropriate codes in the memories of the processor.

Claims (8)

1. An electronic apparatus for operating an installation forthe game of bowling having a plurality of alleys, each of which is provided with known electromechanical equipment designed to operate the components handling the pins, to detect the positions of the latter after each bowl and to provide processable signals after each bowl, wherein as many electronic control units as there are items of electromechanical equipment are provided so that each control unit corresponds to the electromechanical equipment for one alley, each of the said control units being capable of receiving signals from the corresponding electromechanical equipment, of processing the signals themselves on the basis of a predetermined operating program, of generating signals for the display of the processed data and signals for controlling the said equipment, and an electronic processor unit, capable of processing the output signals from each control unit in order to transform them into subtotal and/or overall accounting data which are to be memorised and/or displayed on request in accordance with parameters memorised in the said processor unit, is provided and connected to all the said control units.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1, in which each electronic control unit comprises means for receiving signals from the corresponding electromechanical equipment after each bowl, a microprocessor central processing unit operated by a memory via a signal buffer which processes the said signals, and an input/output transducer operated by the said microprocessor central processing unit which controls a low power output interface and a power output interface, the said memory carrying the program for the sequential operation of the said electromechanical equipment, the said central processor unit being suitable for controlling the progress of the program in the said memory and for generating signals which operate the low power output interface and the power output interface, the said low power interface controlling an optical display of the processed data, while the said power output interface controls the operation of the electromechanical equipment, and the said central processing unit also being suitable for passing signals to the processor unit which is designed to process the signals and to transform them into accounting data.

3. An apparatus according to claim 1, in which the said electronic processor unit comprises means which are capable of receiving the signals from each electronic control unit, a microprocessor central processing unit for processing the said signals operated by a first memory containing a partial program which may be altered and a second memorgy which controls the program for the operation of the said central processor unit, an output interface operated by the said central processor unit and designed to process the control signals to display the numerals in a first optical display and in a second optical display so that the data produced from these signals can be read out, according to the program in the said first memory.

4. An apparatus according to claim 3, in which the first memory is a RAM memory and is accessible via a keyboard for input of the data requiring processing and a conditional input multiplex by means of a code, if appropriate, which is entered using the said keyboard.

5. An apparatus according to claims 3 and 4, in which a printer device is associated with the said keyboard and the said first and second displays.

6. An apparatus according to claims 3, 4 and 5, in which the said second memory is an EPROM memory.

7. An apparatus according to claim 1, including means for preventing the operation of the mechanical equipment controlling each alley, the said means comprising an input adaptor and an oscillator controlled by a timer and an output amplifier, the said input adaptor being connected to means for the output of signals from the corresponding control unit so as to receive the said signals, the said signals activating the oscillator so at the output amplifier is blocked after a specified number of oscillations in order to stop the motorised components of the electromechanical equipment.

8. An electronic apparatus for operating an in stallation for the game of bowling, substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.