GB2546174A

GB2546174A - Detachable dartboard rotation device

Info

Publication number: GB2546174A
Application number: GB1700045.6A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Teng Wen-Chih
Original assignee: Nvtek Electronic Co Ltd
Current assignee: Nvtek Electronic Co Ltd
Priority date: 2016-01-05
Filing date: 2017-01-03
Publication date: 2017-07-12
Anticipated expiration: 2037-01-03
Also published as: TWI600457B; GB201700045D0; TW201725066A; GB2546174B

Abstract

A dartboard rotation device includes a dartboard 10 and a positioning mechanism. The dartboard 10 is disposed with a first positioning module. The positioning mechanism includes a pivot 21 and a second positioning module. The axis of the dartboard (10) is pivotably connected to the pivot (21) to perform rotation, and thus the first and second positioning modules can couple to each other to fix the position of the dartboard (10). The first positioning module includes first magnets 30 and the second positioning module comprises second magnets 31.

Description

DETACHABLE DARTBOARD ROTATION DEVICE

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority from Taiwan Patent Application No. 105100129, filed on January 5 , 2016 in the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION L. Field of the Invention

The present invention is related to an installation device of dartboards, and especially related to a detachable dartboard rotation device capable of prolonging the lifetime of wooden dartboards. 1. Description of the Related Art A game of darts generally requires a dartboard and darts. The dartboards can be categorized into hard-tip dartboards for steel-tip darts and soft-tip dartboards for plastic-tip darts. The soft-tip dartboards have the advantages such as low cost and resistance to wear and tear. Besides, it is easy to incorporate a soft-tip dartboard to electronic devices to form an electronic dartboard. However, many dart players still prefer a hard-tip dartboard to a soft-tip one since hard-tip darts have a more natural feeling in a player's hand and a game with hard-tip dartboard gives more satisfaction to the player.

The material for hard-tip dartboard may include wood, sisal hemp, coiled paper, or other fibers. For a hard, wooden dartboard, the dart holes left after the game may not be able to recover on their own like those on the sisal hemp dartboard. Therefore, the lifetime of wooden dartboard might be shortened by frequent use, so it requires replacement more frequently, thereby incurring high cost to the owner of the dartboard. Besides, the replacement of new dartboard might cause some inconvenience since new dartboard requires setting up.

In addition, during a game of darts, the players tend to aim for the bullseye to get high scores; however, the dart travelling to the dartboard will perform a projectile motion under the influence of the gravity. So even if the players aim for the bullseye, the darts tend to land on the region below the bullseye, thus causing that region to wear out at a faster rate, and the dartboard may require replacement if the region is worn out so much that the dartboard becomes unplayable.

Therefore, the inventor of the present disclosure has come up with an ingenious design, a detachable dartboard rotation device, to tackle the problems identified above, so as to improve the industrial applicability thereof.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To tackle the aforementioned problems in the art, one aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a detachable dartboard rotation device capable of mounting a wooden dartboard and prolonging the lifetime thereof.

Therefore, the present disclosure provides a detachable dartboard rotation device, which may include a dartboard and a positioning mechanism. The dartboard may be disposed with a target surface and a rear surface and may include a first positioning module on the rear surface or a periphery of the dartboard. The positioning mechanism may include a pivot and a second positioning module. The rear surface of the dartboard may be detachably disposed at the pivot to allow the dartboard to rotate. The first positioning module and the second positioning module may be coupled to each other to fix the position of the dartboard.

In a preferred embodiment, the first positioning module may include a plurality of first magnets, and the second positioning module may include a plurality of second magnets.

In a preferred embodiment, the plurality of first magnets may be arranged around the dartboard with respect to a bullseye thereof.

In a preferred embodiment, the rear surface of the dartboard may include a soft material to absorb the impact of the dartboard on the positioning mechanism.

In a preferred embodiment, the second positioning module may include a stepper motor configured to turn the first positioning module.

In a preferred embodiment, the second positioning module may be electrically coupled to a controller to control a rotation angle of the first positioning module.

In a preferred embodiment, the first positioning module may include a ratchet, the second positioning module may include a pawl, and the pawl may be configured to engage the ratchet.

The present disclosure further provides another detachable dartboard rotation device, which may include a dartboard, a positioning mechanism, and a housing body. The dartboard may be disposed with a target surface and a rear surface and may include a first positioning module on the rear surface or a periphery of the dartboard. The positioning mechanism may include a pivot and a second positioning module. The rear surface of the dartboard may be detachably disposed at the pivot to allow the dartboard to rotate. The first positioning module and the second positioning module may be coupled to each other to fix a position of the dartboard. The positioning mechanism and the dartboard may be disposed in an accommodation space of the housing body, in such a way that the dartboard may be positioned at an opening of the housing body and may be exposed to the outside of the housing body.

In one preferred embodiment, the outline of the opening of the housing body may coincide with the outline of a surface of the dartboard.

Therefore, the detachable dartboard rotation device of the present disclosure may possess one or more advantages as described below: (1) The dartboard of the present disclosure may be rotatably disposed on the positioning mechanism. When the dartboard is unplayable because there are too many dart holes in the region below the bullseye of a dartboard, the dartboard can be rotated such that the region with fewer holes is situated below the bullseye to allow the continued usage of the dartboard. (2) Contrary to the conventional structure for fixing the dartboard, in the detachable dartboard rotation device of the present disclosure, the axis of the dartboard may be detachably coupled to the pivot of the positioning mechanism, such that the position of dartboard can be fixed by the positioning mechanism. The aforementioned mechanism may simplify the replacement of the dartboard. (3) With the detachable dartboard rotation device of the present disclosure, the structure of a conventional dartboard may be modified so as to be compatible therewith or mounted thereon. Therefore, the cost of dartboard replacement may be reduced. In addition, the detachable dartboard rotation device of the present disclosure is compatible does not interfere with the operation of the optical automatic dart scoring device.

Various aspects such as the technical features, advantages or content of the present invention will be set forth in detail in the form of preferred embodiments hereinafter, and the description will be made along with reference to the attached drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an exploded view of the components according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 2 is the first sectional view of the first embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 3 is the second sectional view of the first embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the components according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 5 is an exploded view of the components according to the third embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram partially showing the assembled components of the third embodiment of the present disclosure.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The description hereinafter makes reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, which are the exploded view and the first sectional view of the first embodiment of the present disclosure, respectively. The drawings show a dartboard rotation device, which may include a dartboard 10 and a positioning mechanism 20. The dartboard rotation device of the present disclosure may be used in conjunction with an automatic dart scoring device, which may calculate the score of the darts on the dartboard 10. The automatic dart scoring device may include a plurality of cameras and a processor. The cameras and the dartboard 10 are disposed on the same plane. The cameras are individually configured to take a plurality of images in the directions that are intersecting with each other. Based on the landing positions of the darts in two of the images, the processor may calculate the score of the darts. When the aforementioned automatic dart scoring device is used in conjunction with the dartboard rotation device of the present disclosure, the cameras and the dartboard 10 may be disposed on the same plane, and the dartboard 10 may be rotated under the condition of constant relative distance between the cameras and the dartboard.

The dartboard 10 in the present disclosure may be a solid wooden dartboard. A first positioning module may be disposed on the dartboard 10. In the present embodiment, the first positioning module may include a plurality of first magnets 30. The plurality of first magnets 30 may be arranged around and fixed on the dartboard 10 with respect to a bullseye on a target surface 11.

The positioning mechanism 20 may include a pivot 21 and a second positioning module. In the present embodiment, the second positioning module may include a plurality of second magnets 31. The pivot 21 may be disposed on the surface 22 of the positioning mechanism 20 and may be pivotally connected to the rear surface (not illustrated) of the dartboard 10, such that the dartboard 10 may rotate about the pivot 21. The plurality of second magnets 31 may be disposed on the surface 22 of the positioning mechanism 20. The positions of the second magnets 31 may correspond to those of the first magnets 30 such that the first magnets 30 and the second magnets 31 are attracted to each other, and the position of the dartboard 10 may be fixed by means of magnetic force when the dartboard 10 is not rotated.

The present disclosure allows the dartboard 10 to be rotatably disposed on the positioning mechanism 20. When the dartboard 10 is unplayable because there are too many dart holes in the region below the bullseye on the target surface 11 of the dartboard 10, the dartboard 10 can be rotated such that the region with fewer holes is situated below the bullseye to allow the continued usage of the dartboard 10.

Moreover, the axis at the rear surface of the dartboard 10 may be detachably coupled with the pivot 21 of the positioning mechanism 20. When the dartboard 10 is coupled to the positioning mechanism 20, the first and second positioning modules may fix the position of the dartboard 10 such that the dartboard 10 does not rotate. Therefore, the need for an additional fixing structure on the dartboard may be eliminated, and as the result, the replacement process for the dartboard may be simplified. More specifically, in the case that the dartboard 10 is disposed on the positioning mechanism 20 in the manner as shown in FIG. 2, the dartboard 10 may be removed by directly holding and moving the dartboard 10 towards the opening 61. Similarly, a new dartboard may be placed into the housing body 60 through the opening 61. Therefore, there is no need to unwind the fastener that secures the dartboard on the vertical surface, and there is no need to fasten the fastener during the set up of the new dartboard.

In the present embodiment, the positioning mechanism 20 may be disposed in the accommodation space of the housing body 60 with the opening 61. The shape of the opening 61 of the housing body 60 may circular or polygonal. The pivot 21 of the positioning mechanism 20 may be disposed in the internal of the housing body 60 to correspond to the position of the opening 61. In this way, the dartboard 10 may be exposed to the outside of the housing body 60 upon the completion of the installation. However, the present embodiment is not limited thereto. For instance, the accommodation space of the housing body 60 may also be disposed with the cameras or processor, such that the cameras and the dartboard 10 is on the same plane and the dartboard 10 is exposed to the opening 61 of the housing body 60. In one preferred embodiment, the position of the pivot 21 may correspond to the geometric center of the opening 61.

In one embodiment, the outline of the opening 61 of the housing body 60 may coincide with the outline of the surface of the dartboard 10, such that the players can see the area of the dartboard 10 without obstruction.

In one embodiment, the first magnets 30 and the second magnets 31 may be arranged in the manner shown in FIG. 2. The first magnets 30 may be disposed at the periphery of the dartboard 10, whereas the second magnets 31 may be disposed on the positioning mechanism 20 in the housing body 60 to correspond to the first magnets 30, so as to attract the first magnets 30 and achieve the purpose of the device of the present disclosure.

In addition, when the dartboard 10 is rotatably disposed in the housing body 60 and is exposed to the outside through the opening 61, the dartboard rotation device of the present disclosure may allow the target surface 11 of the dartboard 10 and the cameras of the automatic dart scoring device to be on the same plane, such that the automatic dart scoring device is able to calculate the scores of the darts on the dartboard 10. The configuration of the dartboard rotation device does not affect the way the automatic dart scoring device calculate the score. In addition, when the dartboard 10 is rotated, the cameras and the dartboard 10 may be maintained on the same plane, and the relative distance between the cameras and the dartboard 10 may be maintained as well. Therefore, the recalibration of the relative distance between the cameras and the dartboard 10 may not be required when the dartboard 10 is rotated or replaced.

In one embodiment, there may be gap between the first magnets 30 and the second magnets 31, such that the collision between the first and second magnets 30 and 31 may be avoided when an external force is exerted on the dartboard 10, which in turn might cause the magnets to lose the strengths thereof.

Hereinafter, reference shall be made to FIGS. 1 and 3, which are the exploded view and the second sectional view of the first embodiment of the present disclosure, respectively. The difference between FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 lies in that the first magnets 30 in FIG. 3 are disposed on the rear surface opposite the target surface 11 of the dartboard 10, and the second magnets 31, like the pivot 21, are disposed on the surface 22 of the positioning mechanism 20.

Moreover, recessed portion 25 may be disposed at sidewall of the positioning mechanism 20. The bottom of the recessed portion 25 may be situated between the target surface 11 of the dartboard 10 and the surface 22. The rear surface of the dartboard 10 opposite the target surface 11 may be disposed with a soft material 26, which may come into contact with the bottom of the recessed portion 25 paralleling the surface 22. Under this configuration, the soft material 26 may absorb the impact generated when the dart lands on the target surface 11, and thus preventing the loss of magnetic strength of the first and second magnets 30 and 31. In addition, the soft material 26 may prevent the wear and tear on the pivot 21 caused by the impact.

In the aforementioned embodiment, the dartboard 10 is fixed by the positioning mechanism 20 and the magnets on dartboard 10. More specifically, since there may be twenty segments of scores on the dartboard 10, twenty first magnets 30 may be disposed on the dartboard 10, such that when the dartboard 10 is rotated, the smallest angular displacement the dartboard 10 can make is 18 degrees (360 degrees divide by 20). The positioning mechanism 20 may be disposed with at least two second magnets 31, and the angle that those second magnets 31 form with respect to the pivot 21 may be a multiple of the smallest angular displacement. As the result, the first magnets 30 and the second magnets 31 may fix the position of the dartboard 10 with respect to the segments of scores, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. In one embodiment, the dartboard rotation device may instead include an equal number of first magnets 30 and second magnets 31 that have corresponding polarities, and the first and second magnets 30 and 31 may be arranged to correspond to the segments of scores, such that the dartboard 10 can be fixed after being rotated.

Apart from that, with the aforementioned arrangement of the twenty first magnets 30, whenever the dartboard 10 is to be replaced or removed, the dartboard 10 can be rotated by 9 degrees so as to be released from the magnetic force that holds the dartboard 10 in place. Therefore, the user can save time and effort required to loosen or fasten the fasteners that fix the dartboard on a vertical surface, and the replaced dartboard does not require orientation.

In addition, since the dartboard 10 may be rotatably disposed on the positioning mechanism 20, any score markings on the dartboard 10 cannot be used to calculate the correct score. So, in order to facilitate the calculation of dart scores, the score markings may be disposed on the surface 22 of the positioning mechanism 20 or around the opening 61 of the housing body 60. Thus, the area of the dartboard 10 may be reduced, which saves the production cost thereof.

Although the dartboards in the previous embodiments are made of hard, solid wood, the present inventive concept is not limited thereto. The dartboard of the present disclosure may also be made of other hard material, e.g. sisal hemp or coiled paper. The dartboard of the present disclosure may also be a soft-tip dartboard.

The description hereinafter refers to FIG. 4, which is an exploded view of the components according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in the drawing, the dartboard rotation device may include a dartboard 10 and a positioning mechanism 20. The center of the dartboard 10 may be disposed with a first positioning module, which may be a ratchet 40 in the present embodiment. The positioning mechanism 20 may include a pivot 21 and a second positioning module, which may be an actuator 41. The axis of the dartboard 10 may be connected to the actuator 41 via the pivot 21, and the actuator 41 may rotate the dartboard 10. When the dartboard 10 is disposed on the positioning mechanism 20, the ratchet 40 may engage the actuator 41 to fix the position of the dartboard 10. In an alternative embodiment, the dartboard rotation device may further include the first and second magnets of the previous embodiments. Since the configuration thereof is similar to that of the previous embodiments, redundant description is omitted.

In one embodiment, the actuator 41 may be a stepper motor, a servomotor or a ratchet. Therefore, the actuator 41 may control the angular displacement of the ratchet 40 accordingly. When the region below the bullseye on the target surface 11 of the dartboard 10 is too worn out, the actuator 41 may be driven to rotate the dartboard 10. When that worn out region is turned to other places, the actuator 41 may be stopped and the position of the dartboard 10 may be fixed. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For instance, the actuator 41 may instead drive the first positioning module directly without engaging the ratchet.

In one embodiment, the actuator 41 may be electrically coupled to the controller 50, which may manipulate the ratchet 40 to rotate to a predetermined angle. The controller 50 may also control the actuator 41 to only allow a unidirectional rotation of the dartboard 10. The controller 50 may allow an automatic or manual control of the dartboard rotation.

The second embodiment of the present disclosure may also include certain features of the first embodiment. For example, in the present embodiment, recessed portion may also be disposed on the positioning mechanism, and the soft material may be disposed on the rear surface of the dartboard 10, but the present inventive concept is not limited thereto.

The description hereinafter refers to FIGS. 5 and 6, which are the exploded view and the schematic diagram partially showing the assembled components of the third embodiment, respectively. In the present embodiment, the second positioning module may be disposed on the axis on the rear surface 12 of the dartboard 10. The first positioning module may include a cavity having ratchet 40 on the sidewall thereof. The second positioning module may be disposed on the positioning mechanism 20 and may include a pawl 42. When the dartboard 10 is pivotably connected to the positioning mechanism 20, the pawl 42 of the positioning mechanism 20 may engage the ratchet 40. In the meanwhile the dartboard 10 may be rotated in a single direction when a force is exerted by the user thereon. When a user stops exerting force on the dartboard 10 and the pawl 42 engages the ratchet 40 in the recessed portion, the dartboard 10 may stop rotating and the position thereof may be fixed, and thus the dartboard rotation device of the present disclosure achieve the purpose of fixing the position of the dartboard 10. In an alternative embodiment, the dartboard rotation device may further include the first and second magnets of the previous embodiments. Since the configuration thereof is similar to that of the previous embodiments, redundant description is omitted.

The present invention has been described with some preferred embodiments thereof and it is understood that many changes and modifications in the described embodiments can be carried out without departing from the scope and the spirit of the invention that is intended to be limited only by the appended claims.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A detachable dartboard rotation device, comprising: a dartboard with a target surface and a rear surface, the dartboard comprising a first positioning module on the rear surface or a periphery of the dartboard; and a positioning mechanism comprising a pivot and a second positioning module, the rear surface of the dartboard being detachably disposed at the pivot to allow the dartboard to rotate, the first positioning module and the second positioning module being coupled to each other to fix a position of the dartboard, wherein the first positioning module comprises a plurality of first magnets, and the second positioning module comprises a plurality of second magnets.

2. The detachable dartboard rotation device of claim 1, wherein the plurality of first magnets are arranged around the dartboard with respect to a bullseye thereof.

3. The detachable dartboard rotation device of claim 1, wherein the rear surface of the dartboard comprises a soft material to absorb the impact of the dartboard on the positioning mechanism.

4. The detachable dartboard rotation device of claim 1, wherein the second positioning module comprises a stepper motor to turn the first positioning module.

5. The detachable dartboard rotation device of claim 4, wherein the second positioning module is electrically coupled to a controller to control a rotation angle of the first positioning module.

6. The detachable dartboard rotation device of claim 1, wherein the first positioning module comprises a ratchet, the second positioning module comprises a pawl, and the pawl is configured to engage the ratchet.

7. A detachable dartboard rotation device, comprising: a dartboard made of solid wood and having a target surface and a rear surface, the dartboard comprising a first positioning module on the rear surface or a periphery of the dartboard; a positioning mechanism comprising a pivot and a second positioning module, the rear surface of the dartboard being detachably disposed at the pivot to allow the dartboard to rotate, the first positioning module and the second positioning module being coupled to each other to fix a position of the dartboard; and a housing body, the positioning mechanism and the dartboard being disposed in an accommodation space of the housing body, in such a way that the dartboard is positioned at an opening of the housing body and is exposed to the outside of the housing body, wherein the first positioning module comprises a plurality of first magnets and the second positioning module comprises a plurality of second magnets.

8. The detachable dartboard rotation device of claim 7, wherein an outline of the opening of the housing body coincides with an outline of a surface of the dartboard.

9. The detachable dartboard rotation device of claim 7, wherein the plurality of first magnets are arranged around the dartboard with respect to a bullseye thereof.

10. The detachable dartboard rotation device of claim 7, wherein the second positioning module comprises a stepper motor to turn the first positioning module.

11. The detachable dartboard rotation device of claim 10, wherein the second positioning module is electrically coupled to a controller to control a rotation angle of the first positioning module.

12. The detachable dartboard rotation device of claim 7, wherein the first positioning module comprises a ratchet, the second positioning module comprises a pawl, and the pawl is configured to engage the ratchet.