WO1988004189A1

WO1988004189A1 - Die simulator

Info

Publication number: WO1988004189A1
Application number: PCT/GB1987/000858
Authority: WO
Inventors: Joseph Gibson Dawson
Original assignee: Dawson Royalties Limited
Priority date: 1986-12-04
Filing date: 1987-11-30
Publication date: 1988-06-16
Also published as: GB8906704D0; GB2214829B; AU8324687A; GB8629063D0; GB2214829A

Abstract

A die simulator comprises a container defining an upper surface (1, 8) supporting a plurality of LED's (4, 2) and an actuation button (5, 13). The upper surface is divided into a plurality of numbered areas each of which encloses at least one light emitting device, and a circuit is connected to the light emitting devices and the button and responsive to actuation of the button to select on a random basis one or more of the light emitting devices and to maintain energisation of the said one or more light emitting device after each actuation. The simulator may define a generally circular upper surface which is divided into six sector-shaped areas, each sector being numbered by a dot pattern in which the number of dots corresponds to the number allocated to that sector.

Description

DIE SIMULATOR

The present invention relates to a die simulator. Die simulators which have been referred to as "electronic dice" are known. The known die simulators comprise a series of light emitting diodes arranged in a pattern such that selective illumination of the LED's enables the display of a pattern corresponding to the dot-markings on the sides of a conventional six-sided die.

The known die simulators attempt to produce a display which is as near as possible the same as that produced by a conventional six-sided die. Unfortunately because the display typically comprises seven light emitting diodes which are illuminated selectively and is a relatively large size as compared with the size of one side of a conventional die the resultant display is not as easy to interpret as might be expected. One reason for this might be that the light emitted from the light emitting diode is partially focussed and therefore viewing an LED off axis considerably reduces the intensity of the light received. It is difficult to immediately appreciate the significance of a pattern defined by an array of light emitting diodes when only some of the diodes are energised.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved die simulator.

According to the present invention there is provided a die simulator comprising a container defining an upper surface supporting a plurality of LED's and an actuation button, the upper surface being -divided into a plurality of numbered areas each of which encloses at least one light emitting device, and a circuit connected to the light emitting devices - 2 -

and the button and responsive to actuation of the button to select on a random basis one or more of the light emitting devices and to maintain energisation of the said one or more light emitting device after each actuation.

Preferably, each numbered area is identified by a dot pattern in which the number of dots corresponds to the number allocated to that area. Alternatively, each numbered area may be identified by an arabic numeral.

The upper surface is preferably substantially planar or convex.

The upper surface may be substantially circular and divided into six sectors, each sector enclosing a respective light emitting device.

The • container may comprise an upper saucer-shaped cover which defines the said upper surface, and a saucer-shaped base onto which the cover is a - snap-fit, and the circuit comprises a printed circuit board supporting each of the light emitting devices and a switch actuable by the said actuation button, the switch and each light emitting diode projecting through respective apertures in the cover, and the circuit board being secured to the cover by a fastening means secured to the portion of the switch which projects through the cover.

The circuit board may be circular and received in a circular formation on the underside of the cover. The battery may be sandwiched between the circuit board and the base.

The light emitting devices may be arranged in two groups of equal number, the colour of one group of light emitting devices being different from that of the other group.

The circuit may comprise a clock circuit, and a randomiser circuit driven by the clock circuits and connected to each of the light emitting devices. Alternatively, the circuit may comprise a clock circuit, and a recirculating shift register driven by the clock circuit, each element of the shift register being connected to a respective light emitting device.

An audio transducer may be provided to produce an audible output in response to each output of the clock circuit.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which :-

Fig. 1 is a view from above of an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 4 is a side view of the embodiment of Fig. 3;

Figs. 5, 6 and 7 are plan views respectively of the interior of the base, the interior of the top cover, and the upper surface of a printed circuit board of the embodiment of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 8 is a plan view of the lower surface of the printed circuit board of Fig. 7.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, the illustrated embodiment of the invention comprises a container defining an upper surface 1, a peripheral wall 2 and a base 3. The upper surface supports six light emitting diodes 4 and an actuating button 5.

As shown in Fig. 1, each light emitting diode is enclosed within a sector-shaped space which is identified by a respective number in the sequence 1 to 6. The button 5 is centrally located. The upper surface 1 is concave, each of the sector shaped areas enclosing a respective light emitting diode being generally planar and inclined downwards in the radially inner direction. The central portion of the upper surface 1 which supports the button 5 is generally horizontal.

The base 3 comprises a central recess 6. The base 3 is a push fit within the peripheral wall 2 and can be removed simply by inserting a finger into the recess 6 and pulling the base off.

Each of the light emitting diodes and the button 5 is connected to an electronic circuit (not shown) powered by a dry cell (not shown) . The circuit and the dry cell are supported independently of the base 3 so that the base can be removed for battery replacement for example without risk of damage to the circuitry.

The light emitting diodes are each directed to a common point located above the button 5 and thus when viewed from above the light emanating from an illuminated LED is directed towards the viewing position.

The circuitry is arranged such that when the button 5 is depressed each of the light emitting diodes 4 is illuminated in turn in a sequence which lasts for a period of a few seconds. At the end of that period one of the light emitting diodes is energised continuously until such time as the button is again pressed. The continuously energised LED indicates that the number of its associated area has been selected in a parallel manner to the selection which occurs when a conventional six sided die is rolled.

The random nature of the selection of the light emitting diode which is continuously energised may be achieved in a variety of ways. For example a source of clock pulses may be provided, the clock pulse output driving a recirculating shift register having six elements each of which is associated with a respective LED. The shift register can be driven by the clock pulses for a randomly selected period of time.

Referring now to Figs. 3 to 8, a preferred embodiment of the invention will be described. The outer appearance of the device is shown in Figs. 3 and 4, and its internal structure is shown in Figs. 5 to 8.

The device comprises an inverted saucer-shaped upper cover 7 having a recessed generally planar face 8 supporting moulded radial ribs 9 that divide the face 8 into six sectors. Each sector is identified by a respective moulded representation 10 of one face of a conventional die. The moulded formation of each representation may be of a different colour to the face 8 to improve the perceptibility of the representation. Each sector is also provided with a recessed aperture 11 through which an LED 12 projects. A central button 13 may be depressed to actuate the device.

The upper cover 7 comprises a downwardly extending flange 14 which in the assembled device is a snap-fit on a flange 15 defined around the periphery of a saucer-shaped base 16. The upper cover 7 also supports a downwardly extending circular flange 17 which has a small projection 18 intended to engage in a slot 19 defined by a PCB 20 which is retained in the flange 17 in the assembled device. An aperture 21 is also provided in the face 8 to receive a threaded neck of a push switch 22 supported on the PCB. The base 16 supports an on/off switch 23 connected to the PCB by wires 24, the switch 23 being actuable from beneath the base, and four moulded projections 25 for locating a battery (not shown) .

The device is assembled by inverting the upper cover 1 , placing the PCB on the inverted cover so that the neck of the switch 22 projects through the aperture 21, rotating the PCB about the switch 22 until the projection 18 and slot 19 engage, in which position the LED's 12 drop through the apertures 11, and then securing the PCB to the cover 7 by engaging a nut (not shown) on the neck of the switch 22. The push button 13 is pressed onto the switch 22 and engaged thereon by a snap-fit. The switch 23 is then secured to the base 16, a battery (not shown) is clipped to wires 26 using a standard sr.ap-cn connector (not shown) , the battery is located on the base within formations 25, and the cover 7 is snapped onto the base 16. A resilient pad (not shown) may be supported by the PCB so as to bear against the battery and prevent it rattling within formations

25. Thus, assembly of the device is a simple procedure which can be reliably achieved by unskilled operators working at speed.

Fig. 8 shows the conductive tracks provided on the PCB which are used to interconnect the various components visible in Fig. 7. Fig. 8 also illustrates by conventional symbols the position of resistors and capacitors which are only visible from the side of the PCB shown in Fig. 7. Referring to Figs. 7 and 8, the circuit comprises a clock chip 27 (e.g. a 14 terminal MC 14011 BCP chip) which is used to drive a randomiser chip 28 (e.g. a 16 terminal MC 14017 BCP chip) and a small audio output transducer 29 which is connected by wires 30 to terminals 31. Each clock pulse is audible via transducer 29, and each clock pulse causes the randomiser 28 to switch the energisation of the LED's connected to terminals 32 from a first LED to a randomly selected second LED. The battery wires 26 are connected to terminals 33, the on/off switch wires 24 are connected to terminals 34, and conductive links 35, 36 and 37 interconnect terminal pairs 38, 39 and 40 respectively. The switch 22 interconnects terminals 41. Resistors 42 to 47 and capacitors 48, 49 and 50 complete the circuit.

With the above-mentioned chips, the following resistor and capacitor component values have been used successfully: resistors: capacitors:

44 : 15K 50 : 2.2 MF

45 : 1.5M

46 : 1.5M

47 : IK

The above circuit operates such that each time the button 13 is depressed and released the LED's 12 are energised one at a time and the transducer 29 sounds a series of short-duration sounds for a period of approximately two seconds. At the end of this period one only of the LED's is energised, that one LED being selected in a substantially random basis each time the button 13 is depressed. The energised LED identifies the selected die face representation which to players familiar with dice is more readily recognised when viewed from any direction than a simple ^■ number in a display of the type shown in Fig. 1.

To provide additional features, the six LED's 12 may be of different colours, for example three red and three green. A game of chance could then be played in which only the colour of the finally energised LED was relevant, the red LED's being equivalent to 'HEADS' and the green LED's being equivalent to 'TAILS' in an analogy with coin-tossing.

As a still further feature, two LED's could be associated with each of the six sectors, the circuitry being arranged to energise two of the twelve LED's after each actuation. The device could then be used in games requiring a "double throw", that is the simulation of the results of throwing two dice together. The LED's of one sector could be of different colours so that if only a single throw was required only one colour would be considered relevant to the result, providing the circuitry was arranged to always illuminate one LED of each colour on each actuation. Alternatively, a switch could be provided to effectively disable energisation of one LED in each sector.

Claims

- 9 -CLAIMS :

1. A die simulator comprising a container defining an upper surface supporting a plurality of LED's and an actuation button, the upper surface being divided into a plurality of numbered areas each of which encloses at least one light emitting device, and a circuit connected to the light emitting devices and the button and responsive to actuation of the button to select on a random basis one or more of the light emitting devices and to maintain energisation of the said one or more light emitting device after each actuation.

2. A die simulator according to claim 1, wherein each numbered area is identified by a dot pattern in which the number of dots corresponds to the number allocated to that area.

3. A die simulator according to claim 1, wherein each numbered area is identified by an arabic numeral.

4. A die simulator according to any preceding claim, wherein the upper surface is substantially planar.

5. A die simulator according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the upper surface is concave.

6. A die simulator according to any preceding claim, wherein the upper surface is substantially circular and is divided into six sectors, each sector enclosing a respective light emitting device.

7. A die simulator according to any preceding claim, wherein the container comprises an upper saucer-shaped cover which defines the said upper surface, and a saucer-shaped base onto which the cover is a snap-fit, and the circuit comprises a printed circuit board supporting each of the light emitting devices and a switch actuable by the said actuation button, the switch and each light emitting diode projecting through respective apertures in the cover, and the circuit board being secured to the cover by a fastening means secured to the portion of the switch which projects through the cover.

8. A die simulator according to claim 7, wherein the circuit board is circular and is received in a circular formation on the underside of the cover.

9. A die simulator according to claim 7 or 8, comprising a battery which is sandwiched between the circuit board and the base.

10. A die simulator according to any preceding claim, wherein the light emitting devices are arranged in two groups of equal number, the colour of one group of light emitting devices being different from that of the other group.

11. A die simulator according to any preceding claim, wherein the circuit comprises a clock circuit, and a randomiser circuit driven by the clock circuits and connected to each of the light emitting devices.

12. A die simulator according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the circuit comprises a clock circuit, and a recirculating shift register driven by the clock circuit, each element of the shift register being connected to a respective light emitting device.

13. A die simulator according to claim 11 or 12, comprising an audio transducer connected to provide an audible output in response to each output of the clock circuit.