WO1988001527A1

WO1988001527A1 - Memory display unit for auction bridge

Info

Publication number: WO1988001527A1
Application number: PCT/FR1986/000292
Authority: WO
Inventors: André XAVIER
Original assignee: Xavier Andre
Priority date: 1986-08-29
Filing date: 1986-08-29
Publication date: 1988-03-10

Abstract

The memory display unit for the auctions of a game of cards such as bridge is disclosed in two embodiments of which the second includes two models: FAMILY and CLUB. The three versions have in common the application of the principle according to which, with certain exceptions, a given player cannot display at each stage of the future contract more than two passive declarations out of three and more than three auctions proper out of five. Out of 56 auctions possible, 35 positions or display windows are therefore sufficient. To this effect, the models disclosed use flaps which may slide flat behind the windows due to one or two superimposed and independent flaps per window. They carry the symbols to be displayed. Storage solutions, when not in use, are provided, particularly for the last two models, which can be folded in their middle like a book.

Description

Bridge auction memory display

1 The device described below is a memory display of the auctions of a deck of cards such as bridge.

The visualization of the auctions and their memorization throughout the phase of determining the contract to be played and the designation of the declarant presents numerous adventures which can be summarized as follows:

- in tournaments, no oral broadcast of data auctions that neighboring tables will open;

- easy exchange for the hearing impaired; - bridge being an international game, removal of language barriers;

- in clubs as in private, the exhaustive display in the chronology of the auctions locates, at the end of the phase, the declarant, the dead and, therefore, the starter whose choice of the first card is facilitated. Suppression, as a result, of the verbal reconstruction of announcements after the fact.

There are currently two auction display systems to silence them.

The first, widely marketed, is a plastic case containing, in vertical classification, the 35 cardboard cards from contract auctions and Pass, Counter and Over-counter color cards ... Thanks to the notches on the edge right of the auction sheets, each player materializes his successive announcements by extracting from his box bundles of sheets and placing them flat in front of him, offset so that the symbols of the upper sheets all remain visible to the other three players until the end phase. In the chronology of the information, there are cards "Pass", "Against" ... The auctions are over, each player reconstitutes the initial classification.

This system has at least five drawbacks:

- it is designed for right-handers;

- numerous risks of loss, downgrading of files or deterioration; - memorization is imperfect for passive announcements (no indication of the contract level);

- it is relatively bulky and heterogeneous, therefore unsuitable for family needs; - its cost is relatively high. The second system is a kind of desk on which are arranged the 35 auctions hidden from view by shutters in the shape of a cylinder portion, retractable in the thickness of the device. The player displays his advertisement by pushing the shutter of his choice laterally, which disappears through a slot made for this purpose. The auction is then visible and remains so until the end of the phase. According to the inventor's description, the indications "Pass", "Against" and "Over-Counter" occupy five additional fixed positions on the console. In the model produced, passive announcements are obtained "by means of independent symbols, made of plastic of different colors, which can be placed in the console provided with holes for this purpose. The device has several drawbacks, in particular: ;

- either there are independent elements (color cards) or the space is greater and, moreover, the memorization of passive announcements is not carried out;

- cost likely higher than that of the first system.

THE AUCTION MEMORY DISPLAY of a deck of cards such as bridge, the subject of this presentation, is produced in three versions with common features which flow from one another. First, the number of fixed display windows or positions is reduced from 56 (total number of symbols) to 35, ie 21 for significant auctions and 14 for passive auctions. However, each of the 56 symbols can be displayed and stored. To resolve this apparent contradiction, the principle has been applied according to which a player may not express at a given level, with negligible exceptions, more than three significant bids and more than two passive announcements. In principle, he cannot speak successively, at the same level, to Clubs and diamonds, Diamonds and Hearts, Hearts and Spades, a. Spades and in Sans-Atout. Likewise, he cannot successively "Pass", "Counter" and "Over-Counter". If the exception occurs, the explanation which closes the following paragraph gives an acceptable solution.

The second characteristic common to the three models con remains in the display mode. These are shutters sliding flat behind windows, which shutters carry the symbols to be displayed. For the good understanding of the descriptions which follow, it is specified that "to draw a shutter", it is to bring, the symbol which it is carrying in the frame of the window; "push a shutter" is to reset the display to white. At each level or level of contract, there are two windows for passive announcements and three windows for actual auctions, namely: - first window: PASS; a single component;

- second window: AGAINST and OVER AGAINST; two overlapping shutters, the one above causing the second when pulled but remaining hidden when the other is pulled (see Fig. 3);

- third window: TREFLE and TILE; two superimposed shutters operating like the previous ones;

- fourth window: HEART and SPADE; two superimposed shutters operating like the previous ones;

- fifth window: SANS-ATOUT; a single component.

With regard to two-part windows, an agreement between players would suffice to resolve the exception of two auctions in the same window if it occurred. It would be enough, for example, to pull the shutter from below fully and half that from above.

The third characteristic common to these three realizations is the percentage of the displayable surface compared to the storage surface, this last data being negligible neither in clubs nor in homes. Thanks to two innovations which make it original, this percentage is more than 50% if we only consider fixed positions; it exceeds 80% if all the displayable symbols are taken into account.

The fourth point common to the three displays presented is the profile of the projecting end of the shutters. In the shape of a right triangular prism, the edge slightly exceeds the upper plane of the windows to allow manual operation. When two flaps are superimposed, the vertical operating ends are reduced by half. A cut in the top flap gives way to the prism of the lower flap, the edge of which comes at the same level that the other. By acting on the protruding one of the upper flap, one drives the one below which, therefore, remains hidden. On the contrary, if one pulls the protruding part of the latter, it is displayed, the top flap remaining hidden. The fifth point common to these devices is the profile of the display windows, bevelled on their four sides to increase the lateral visibility of the display and to facilitate the handling of the shutters.

The first device presented is shown in Figure 1 in full size. It appears in the form of a staircase with five steps. The prototype produced is 5mm high at the front and 16mm at the fifth step. The storage of the 4 displays of a table is done by stacking double-sided and head to tail, two by two, the four devices and constituting a single stack with the dimensions of 180x136x80 at 100mm. A case is provided to contain the whole.

The second device is shown in Figure 2 in full size. It differs from the previous one in that it is rigorously flat. The current prototype is 4mm thick. At rest, it folds like a book. Its dimensions are then: 138x80x6 at 10mm. A storage case is provided for the four displays of a table. This model is called "family".

The third and last device is identical to the previous one. It differs from it only in dimensions. In working condition (open on the table), it measures: 180x214x5 to 8mm. When folded, it therefore only measures 180x107x10 at 16mm. A storage case is provided for the four displays. This model is called "Club". Throughout the description, the bridge auction or advertisement has not been defined. It goes without saying that it is made of two juxtaposed elements which symbolize it: a figure (the level of the landing) and one of the eight colors or other conventional interventions "As you can see on the drawings, the element digital, constant for a contract level, always appears twice on each device. Complementing the display, it could therefore enter the percentages given on page 3 to the penultimate paragraph, which are, therefore, reduced compared to reality.

Claims

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and of claim 4. The end of a display panel, perpendicular to its plane, is a straight, rectangular or triangular prism of small thickness, one side or an edge of which protrudes slightly above the window. display to allow manual movement of the shutter.

Claim 6.

This claim is dependent on claim 3, of claim 4 and of claim 5. When two flaps are superimposed, the prism constituting the end of the upper flap is truncated in its middle by a cutout intended for the passage of the half-prism of the bottom flap whose vertical height is increased by the thickness of a flap. When the two flaps are perfectly superimposed, the two half-prisms give the illusion of being one, apart from the slight space that separates their nearest bases. To display the upper pane, drag it and it causes the one below which remains hidden. When the display is blank, the bottom flap can be pulled out separately by acting on its projecting end. Claim 7.

This claim is dependent on claim 3 and claim 4. The first version of the memory display has the general shape of a staircase with five steps, each step being pierced, on its horizontal plane, by seven windows of display. The shutters slide flat from front to back. The height that separates two steps is limited to thicknesses: one or two shutters depending on the type of display of the upper row of windows and the plane in which these windows are cut. Claim 8.

This claim is dependent on claim 3 and claim 4. The second and third versions of the memory display are thin devices whose upper faces are horizontal and flat. The thirty five windows arranged in seven lines have shutters, one or two depending on their type, which slide laterally and flat. The total thickness of the device is the sum of the thicknesses: from the back, from two shutters including the normal clearance which separates them and from the upper plate in which the windows are cut.

Claim 9. The edges of the windows of the three versions of the auction memory display are bevelled towards the outside, the edges themselves becoming of negligible thickness. This process has a double effect: increasing the lateral visibility of the displays and facilitating the handling of the projecting ends of the shutters. Claim 10.

The first version of the auction memory display referred to in claim 7 is designed, by its particular form, so that the four devices of a table are combined, out of use, two by two, head to tail and double-sided, then stacked to form a rectangular parallelepiped based on that of a device.

Claim 11. The second and the third version of the memory display are flat, as it was said in claim 8. In order to reduce the space requirement when not in use, these devices fold in their middle in the same way as 'a book.