US20070057450A1

US20070057450A1 - Hockey game table with rotary striking unit

Info

Publication number: US20070057450A1
Application number: US11/224,945
Authority: US
Inventors: Jerry Tsai
Original assignee: Procter and Gamble Co
Current assignee: Procter and Gamble Co
Priority date: 2005-09-14
Filing date: 2005-09-14
Publication date: 2007-03-15

Abstract

A hockey game table having a table face on which a disc is movable. The hockey game table includes a rotary striking unit including a propeller and a driving mechanism for driving the propeller. The rotary striking unit is mounted to the table body with the propeller positioned on the table face. When a disc moves on the table face and touches the vanes of the propeller, the moving direction or moving speed of the disc is unexpectedly changed by the propeller so as to enhance the entertaining effect.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is related to a game device, and more particularly to a hockey game table on which a disc can move in unspecific direction and speed so as to enhance the entertaining effect.
A conventional hockey game table has a table face and two wickets arranged at two ends of the game table. A player can push a disc to move on the table face. In the case that the player pushes the disc into a wicket, the player scores.
In the hockey game, the disc is pushed by the players to linearly move on the table face. Under such circumstance, the players can easily foresee the moving direction of the disc. Moreover, after pushed, the disc is substantially moved in constant speed without change of speed. Therefore, the players can also easily foreknow when the disc will reach a specific position. As a result, the conventional hockey game table can hardly achieve novel entertaining effect.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a hockey game table on which a disc can move in unspecific direction so as to enhance the entertaining effect.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide the above hockey game table by which the moving direction and moving speed of the disc are unexpectedly changed so that the players can have more fun in the game.
According to the above object, the hockey game table of the present invention includes a rotary striking unit including a propeller and a driving mechanism for driving the propeller. The rotary striking unit is mounted on the table body with the propeller positioned on the table face. When a disc moves on the table face to touch the vanes of the propeller, the moving direction and/or moving speed of the disc is unexpectedly changed by the vanes so as to enhance the entertaining effect.
The present invention can be best understood through the following description and accompanying drawings wherein:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a sectional view-of the first embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a top view according to FIG. 1, showing the use of the hockey game table of the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 5 is a perspective exploded view of the rotary striking unit of the second embodiment of the present invention; and
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the second embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Please refer to FIGS. 1 and 2. According to a first embodiment, the hockey game table 10 of the present invention includes a table body 20. The table body 20 has a table frame 22 and several table legs 24 connected with the table frame. A table board 25 is arranged on top end of the table frame. A top face of the table board serves as a table face 26 of the hockey game table. Two wickets 27 are respectively formed on inner faces of two short sides of the table frame to communicate with the table face 26. Two disc-taking windows 28 are formed on outer faces of the short sides of the table frame to communicate with the wickets 27 respectively.
The invention further includes at least one rotary striking unit 30. The rotary striking unit 30 includes a propeller 32 arranged on the table face 26 and drivable by a driving mechanism. In this embodiment, the driving mechanism is a motor 36. Referring to FIG. 2, the motor 36 is fixedly mounted in the table body 20 under the table board 25. The propeller 32 has a shaft section 34 and a predetermined number of vanes 35 fixedly connected with the shaft section 34. In this embodiment, there are two vanes 35, for example. The shaft section 34 of the propeller is connected with a shaft of the motor 36 by passing through a through hole 29 of the table board 25. Accordingly, the propeller is located on the table face 26 and the motor 36 can drive the propeller 32 to rotate.
In use, as shown in FIG. 3, a disc 40 is placed on the table face 26 and a player can hold a push block to push the disc 40 to move on the table face into the wicket 27. During the game, the motor 36 is powered on to keep the propeller 32 rotating on the table face, and the propeller 32 is rotating in a clockwise direction for example. When the disc 40 is pushed in a direction as shown by the arrow of solid line to touch the rotating vanes 35 of the propeller 32, the disc 40 will be shifted by the vanes 35. Under such circumstance, the moving direction of the disc 40 will be variously changed. For example, as shown by arrows A, B and C of phantom lines, the disc will obliquely move in faster or slower speed. Alternatively, as shown by arrow D of phantom line, the disc will move toward the other end of the table and by means of the force applied to the disc by the rotating propeller 32, the moving of the disc will be speeded. Still alternatively, as shown by arrow E of phantom line, the disc will move in reverse direction toward the home player F. Therefore, during the game, the rotary striking unit 30 will shift the disc to irregularly change the moving direction and moving speed different from the originals. As a result, the moving direction and moving speed of the disc will be unexpectedly changed. This makes it harder for the players to control the moving direction and moving speed of the disc. Therefore, the players can have more fun in the game.
FIG. 4 shows a second embodiment of the hockey game table 50 of the present invention, in which the table body 60 is identical to that of the first embodiment and will not be further described hereinafter.
Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, the rotary striking unit 70 of the second embodiment includes a housing 72, two links 80, a driving mechanism 90 and a propeller 95. The housing 72 defines a space 74 inward extending from a bottom face of the housing.
Inner ends of the links 80 are respectively connected with two sides of the housing 72. Each link can be a one-piece bar member with fixed length. Alternatively, as shown in the embodiment, each link 80 can be composed of an inner tube 82 and an outer tube 84 both of which have polygonal cross-section. The inner tube 82 is adjustably nested in the outer tube 84, whereby the link can be telescopically adjusted.
The driving mechanism is a motor 90 fixedly mounted in the space 74 of the housing 72. A shaft of the motor 90 is directed downward.
The propeller 95 has a shaft section 96 fixedly connected with the shaft of the motor 90.
The striking unit 70 is mounted on the table body 60 by outer ends of the two links 80 being mounted on two sides of the table body 60. After mounted, the housing 72 is positioned above the table face 62 with the bottom end spaced from the table face 62 by a certain distance as shown in FIG. 6. The distance is slightly larger than the thickness of the disc, permitting the disc to move on the table face 62 without being obstructed by the housing. The vanes 98 of the propeller 95 protrude from the bottom end of the housing 72 to approach to the table face 62 of the table body 60.
In addition, the outer end of each link 80 is equipped with a connecting assembly 100. The connecting assembly 100 includes an upright tube member 102 fixedly connected with the outer end of the link. A bolt 104 is passed through a through hole 103 of the tube member 102. A bottom end of the bolt 104 protrudes from the tube member 102. A gasket 106 is fixedly fitted on the stem of the bolt 104 below the tube member 102 as shown in FIG. 6 for supporting the tube member 102. The bolts 104 of the connecting assemblies 100 are respectively screwed in two thread holes 66 formed on top faces of two long sides 64 of the table body 60. By means of screwing the bolts 104 into the thread holes 66 or out of the thread holes 66, the height of the bolts 104 and the tube members 102 can be changed to adjust the level of the striking unit 70.
The links 80 are adjustable in length, whereby the striking unit can be mounted on different hockey game tables with different sizes.
The second embodiment can achieve the same effect as the first embodiment. When touching the vanes 98 of the propeller 95, the moving direction and moving speed of the disc will be variously changed. When the disc moves on the table face 62, the disc can move through the gap between the bottom end of the housing 72 and the table face 62 to touch the vanes 98. In addition, the housing protects the players from incautiously touching the propeller 95.
In conclusion, the rotary striking unit is added to the hockey game table for unexpectedly changing the moving direction and moving speed of the disc. Therefore, the entertaining effect of the hockey game table can be enhanced.
The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the present invention, not intended to limit the scope thereof. Many modifications of the above embodiments can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

Claims

1. A hockey game table with rotary striking unit, comprising:

a table body having a table frame, a recessed table face being defined by a top face of the table frame, said hockey game table being characterized in that further comprises;

at least one rotary striking unit including a propeller and a driving mechanism, the propeller being connected with and drivable by the driving mechanism, the propeller having a predetermined number of vanes, the rotary striking unit being mounted to the table body with the propeller positioned on the table face, whereby a disc is movable on the table face and when the disc touches the vanes of the propeller; moving direction or moving speed of the disc is changed.

2. A hockey game table with rotary striking unit, comprising:

a table body having a table frame and several table legs connected with the table frame, a table board being disposed on top ends of the table frame, a recessed table face being defined by a top face of the table board and the table frame, said hockey game table being characterized in that the table board is formed with at least one through hole passing through the table board from a top face to a bottom face thereof, the hockey game table further comprising:

at least one rotary striking unit including a propeller and a motor, the motor being fixedly mounted in the table body, the propeller having a shaft section and a predetermined number of vanes fixedly connected with the shaft section, the propeller being positioned on the table face, the shaft section of the propeller being connected with a shaft of the motor by passing through the through hole of the table board, whereby the motor can drive the propeller to rotate on the table face.

3. The hockey game table as claimed in claim 2, wherein the through hole and the propeller are disposed at a center of the table face.

4. A hockey game table with rotary striking unit, comprising:

a table body having a table frame and several table legs connected with the table frame, a recessed table face being defined by a top face of the table frame, said hockey game table being characterized in that the hockey game table further comprises:

at least one rotary striking unit including:

a motor, a shaft of the motor being directed downward;

two links respectively horizontally locating at two sides of the motor, the motor being located between inner ends of the links; and

a propeller having a shaft section and a predetermined number of vanes arranged around the shaft section, the shaft section of the propeller being connected with the shaft of the motor and drivable by the motor; outer ends of the two links being mounted on two sides of the table frame of the table body, the propeller being positioned on the table face of the table body.

5. The hockey game table as claimed in claim 4, wherein the rotary striking unit further includes a housing defining a space inward extending from a bottom face of the housing, the inner ends of the links being respectively fixedly connected with two sides of the housing, the motor being fixedly disposed in the space of the housing, the housing being positioned above the table face, a bottom end of the housing being spaced from the table face by a distance, the vanes of the propeller protruding from the bottom end of the housing.

6. The hockey game table as claimed in claim 4, wherein each link is composed of an inner tube and an outer tube both of which have polygonal cross-section, the inner tube being telescoped in the outer tube.

7. The hockey game table as claimed in claim 5, wherein each link is composed of an inner tube and an outer tube both of which have polygonal cross-section, the inner tube being telescoped in the outer tube.

8. The hockey game table as claimed in claim 4, wherein the rotary striking unit further includes two connecting assemblies mounted at the outer ends of the links respectively, the striking unit being mounted on the table frame of the table body via the connecting assemblies.

9. The hockey game table as claimed in claim 5, wherein the rotary striking unit further includes two connecting assemblies mounted at the outer ends of the links respectively, the striking unit being mounted on the table frame of the table body via the connecting assemblies.

10. The hockey game table as claimed in claim 8, wherein two thread holes are respectively formed on top faces of two sides of the table frame of the table body, each connecting assembly including an upright tube member fixedly connected with the outer end of the link and a bolt passed through the tube member, a bottom end of the bolt protruding from the tube member, and a gasket being fixedly fitted on a stem of the bolt below the tube member for supporting the tube member, bottom ends of the bolts of the connecting assemblies being respectively screwed in the thread holes of the table body.

11. The hockey game table as claimed in claim 9, wherein two thread holes are respectively formed on top faces of two sides of the table frame of the table body, each connecting assembly including an upright tube member fixedly connected with the outer end of the link and a bolt passed through the tube member, a bottom end of the bolt protruding from the tube member, and a gasket being fixedly fitted on a stem of the bolt below the tube member for supporting the tube member, bottom ends of the bolts of the connecting assemblies being respectively screwed in the thread holes of the table body.