NL9300584A - System for collecting and calculating bridge results. - Google Patents

Description

System for collecting and calculating bridge results.ing. J.H.L. Hogen Esch

The invention relates to the collection, quick reading and automatic calculation of results of, for example, bridge competitions.

For the automatic processing of the results of bridge games, the "contracts" arising from bids and the corresponding results of all games, which have played a number or group of pairs, must be recorded in a computer, for example, after which the result for that group of pairs can be calculated.

A common method for this is to fill in a score card per game, on which the contract, the result and the total score of the score, as well as the pair number against which the player played, are entered. At the end of a match, it is then calculated from the total points that have been scored which pair has played best and is the winner.

Many clubs in the Netherlands play once a week in a competitive context, where it is usually a very time-consuming matter to calculate the result afterwards.

This is because all written results, on average about 168 pieces per group, have to be processed.

The present invention aims to provide a solution for this, so that the result can be calculated very quickly in different rounds after the games have been played. To achieve this, according to the invention the results are not written on a scorecard but with the aid of chips in a holder. laid.

These chips are octagonal, so that 16 different choices are possible for each chip that is used on both sides.

In order to indicate a score, three chips per game played, according to the contract offered and the corresponding result, must be placed in the holder belonging to a game.

After all games have been played, it is possible to determine which contracts have been offered and which results have been achieved per pair by means of a computer-connected reader, by means of light sensors and an unambiguous hole pattern in each chip per game.

Instead of a hole pattern, of course, another form of coding, such as, for example, mirror surfaces, can be placed on or in the chips.

On the basis of some figures, this will be explained in more detail below.

Figure 1 gives a table of the possible contracts, where i with the first row of chips, per two pairs of players, the number of strokes offered by one of the pairs in the North-South (NZ) direction or in the East-West (EW) direction. indicated. The second row of chips indicates the determined color and optionally a "doublet" denoted by i:: ", or a" redouble "denoted by" :: ", and the third row denotes the result obtained. Some of the results have double meanings, but exclude each other. The abbreviation "ARB" indicates that the score has been determined "arbitrarily" and must be entered manually.

Figure 2 shows a sheet with the hole pattern, with which it is possible to unambiguously determine the position of the relevant sheet with the aid of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and photo sensors.

For this purpose, during the insertion of the holder with chips, the reader at the positions (1), (2) and (3), as well as at the positions (4), (5) and (6), checks whether a hole is present , so that the choice of the relevant sheet can be determined.

Eight rows of three chips are placed per holder, as usually no more than 16 pairs are played per group. Each round is played, the next row of chips is used by the playing pairs to record the score.

In order to determine during which readout which row and at which position the chips are being read, two extra light-emitting diodes with corresponding photo sensors have been fitted.The openings for these two sensors are fixed per row and per position in the holder and have an elongated shape offset from each other, so that when the holder is slid through the reader, two signals are produced as shown in figure 3. The openings are arranged in the holder such that at the moment that both signals are "high" (7), the other photodiodes are located just below the hole pattern. the chips are positioned either on positions (1), (2) and (3) or on positions (4), (5) and (6) as shown in figure 2. Because position (2) is slightly has been shifted above with respect to depositions (1) and (3) and because position (5) has shifted slightly downwards with respect to positions (4) and (6), for reading positions (2) and (5) ) twe LEDs and photosensors connected in parallel are installed in the reader.

Figure 4 shows the holder for the chips. These chips, which are indicated in dotted lines, are arranged stepwise in the holder, in order to limit the dimensions of the holder. The chips can be slid into the holder from top to bottom, except for the text at the top and the holes for decoding, all other texts are covered by the holder, a strip of paper (8) can be slid into this holder to the side of the chips, on which the point total of the offered contract and the corresponding result, either in the NZ line or in the EW line.

This point total does not have to be read into the computer, but only serves to enable the score obtained at the end of the game to be compared with that of the other pairs who have already played the game in question. It is also possible to pre-print or write on this strip of paper which pairs must play against each other in which round, in order to avoid mistakes when filling in.

In addition to the LEDs and photosensors already mentioned, two additional LEDs with associated photosensors have been installed. The first of these photosensors indicates whether a holder has been inserted into the reader and the two photosensor is arranged under a row of holes, which are placed in the paper strip, on which the total of points can be entered. These last holes are used to read in serial a code, which indicates the game number, the group and the playing system. During the scrolling in the reader, a counter is kept to indicate the row number and the position in the row. This counter is controlled by the two signals as shown in Figure 3 and, due to the nature of these signals, can count forwards and backwards. In this way, the correct position of the holder in the reading device is always known and errors can never occur, even if the holder is retracted slightly during the sliding.

The reader is constructed in such a way and has such a low power consumption that power can be supplied from a serial port of the computer. It is therefore not necessary to use a separate adapter for the power supply.

The reader is equipped with a small microprocessor, with which the sheets are read during the transfer and at the same time the read information is transmitted to the computer via the serial port.

Since more information than necessary arrives via the photosensors, it can also be determined whether errors are being read, so that these reading errors can also be passed on to the computer.

In order to prevent that the score of the pairs who have already played a respective game can be seen beforehand, a cover can be placed over the holder. This lid can optionally be made of infrared-transmitting plastic, so that in combination with infrared LEDs and photo sensors the holders can be read by the reader even with the lid closed.

Except for bridge competitions, this reading method with the help of chips can of course also be used to quickly transmit other information, which arises from various choices, to a computer.

Claims (7)

1. A system for collecting and calculating bridge results, or for passing on to a computer other information arising from various options, characterized in that the choice which determines the information is made by placing one or more positions in a specific position. multiple sheet (s) in a holder, each placement option or combinations of placement options indicating a different choice, which is both legibly affixed to the sheet (s) to the human eye, as well as by means of a reading device, by means of coding the sheet, can be read in, for example, a computer for the further processing of the read-in information. A system for collecting and calculating bridge results, or for passing on to a computer other information resulting from various options according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the coding of the data sheet consists of the provision of a number of translucent openings in this sheet, which can be read, for example, with the aid of light-emitting diodes and associated photo sensors. A system for collecting and calculating bridge results, or for passing on to a computer other information arising from various options according to claim 1, characterized in that the coding of the sheet consists of applying a number of reflecting surfaces on or in the data sheet, which can be read, for example, with the aid of light-emitting diodes and associated photosensors. A system for collecting and calculating bridge results, or for passing on to a computer other information arising from different options according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the sheet consists of an octagonal disk, which is used on both sides can become, so that perfiche 16 options are available. A system for collecting and calculating bridge scores according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that three chips are used to record the contract to be played and the corresponding result, the first chip being the number of strokes offered and the table position of the bidder indicates, in which the second chip indicates the offered color and any "doublet" or "redouble" and the third chip indicates the result achieved. A system for collecting and calculating bridge results according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that a holder is used per game, provided with eight rows of chips with three chips per row, so that the contracts and the corresponding results of 16 pairs are the holder, with the help of the sheets, can be recorded and imported. A system for collecting and calculating bridge results according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the container is covered during play by means of a cover of infrared-transmitting plastic so that, in combination with infrared-emitting diodes and infrared-sensitive photosensors, depositions of the sheets in the container and thus the results can also be read in with the lid closed with the reader, whereby the information that is readable to the human eye is not readable.