DE102015002394B3 - TABLE GAME WITH ACCELERATION DEVICE, AIRCRAFT AND TARGET ELEMENT - Google Patents

Abstract

The known accelerator devices for toy missiles are either not optimally suited to bring them on an exact trajectory or of their mechanical processes so complex that their production would be costly and expensive. The accelerator of this table game is to be possible with minimal size and complexity exact goals and meetings on a moving target. The accelerator device is therefore graspable by the hand of a player and has a guide rail in which the missile can be accelerated by means of a finger-snapping movement of the other hand. Are handle and guide rail not fixed, but connected by a variably adjustable connection element, the distance between the two of the respective hand size can be adjusted. The aiming element rotatable about a vertical axis of rotation can be hit simultaneously from different directions by a plurality of missiles, which adhere to limited areas of its surface and set the target element in motion by the impact, keep in motion or decelerate. Attached to the target element is also a pointer arrow, which stops at the end of the rotation on a clearly defined area of the board, as well as several clips suitable for picking up playing cards. The table game is suitable, in particular with a movable or rotating target element, for training fine motor skills and to increase the reaction rate, but also serves as entertainment.

Description

In the invention, it is an acceleration device according to the preamble of claim 1 for a table game whose essential components in addition to the accelerator device are a missile and a target element.

Various games and apparatus are already known in which missiles are catapulted by an accelerator into the air and / or onto a target: US 000004583743 A . GB 000000455557 A . DE 10 2011 119 069 B9 . US 000002044994 A . GB 000191201075 A . DE 00 0009 212 874 U1 . US 000002799502 A . GB 000001249216 A . DE 00 0001 857 421 U . US 000005788242 A ,

It is also known to design the surfaces of missile and target so that the missile adheres to the target surface in the event of contact: DE 20 2005 011 004 U1 . US 000005362066 A US 000003927881 A . US 000003828466 A . US 000002145434 A . US 000003997162 A . US 000003941383 A . US 000004919436 A . US 000004055343 A . US 000003997162 A . US 000003857566 A . US 000004113251 A . US 000004029316 A . US 000003917271 A . US 000004415154 A ,

It is also known to make this goal as a rotatable element: DE 00 0007 625 750 U . DE 10 2007 026 855 A1 . KR 000101340883 B1 ,

It is also known to design target elements so that incoming or arriving missiles are caught or end their trajectory by passing through recesses: US 000002074850 A . US 000002827034 A . US 000003003767 A ,

The US 1,744,649 describes a two-piece game device consisting of a holding device for shooting a projectile and a target with a hole. The holding device has a notch into which a projectile in the form of a rod is inserted. The projectile is then accelerated with a bat from the holding device in the direction of the target.

The US 1,011,665 discloses a launcher for marbles. The launcher is formed from a handle made of sheet metal handle with a U-shaped spring. The tensioned spring is fixed by an existing edge of the launcher. By manually releasing the spring, the marble lying in a hollow of the game device is accelerated in the direction of the target.

The US 2,539,957 shows a launcher for bullets. The launcher is formed from a handle with a gutter. At one end of the gutter, a cock is attached. The cock is connected to a spring, which is tensioned when retracting the cock. A ball attached to the cock is accelerated by the contraction of the spring when the cock is released.

US 915,563 describes a gun-like launcher. The ball to be accelerated is inserted into a hollow of a cock for firing. The cock is designed so that it can be tensioned by a spring and locked in the tensioned state via a trigger. By actuating the trigger, the cock is unlocked and the ball is accelerated in a groove corresponding to the barrel of a gun.

The DE 20 2012 102 792 U1 describes a handle for a tool, the tool having a handle and a work area. The handle encloses a handle core of the handle area like a shell, so that this is very tangible. The handle is designed so that its cross section can be adapted to the ergonomics of the user.

The DE 83019 describes a game in which by means of a device, a ball or a similar body is thrown onto a rotatable target. With the target, a pointer is additionally connected, which indicates a certain number on a circular graduation at standstill of the disc. The spinning of the ball is realized by a launcher. The launcher has a piston which is mounted in a guide.

The piston is connected to an elastic cord, which is tensioned when the piston is retracted and accelerates it when the piston is released.

The acceleration devices listed above have in common that they are based on the physical forces of levers or springs to catapult a toy missile into the air, sometimes very complex mechanical processes are described and the hit rate may be optimized.

The indicated in claim 1 invention addresses the problem of bringing a toy missile on an exact trajectory and at the same time reduce the size, weight and complexity of the accelerator device to a minimum, so that it is easy to use, inexpensive to manufacture and stowable in a small space.

This problem is solved by the features listed in claim 1 insofar as the accelerator device is gripped by one hand, wherein it has a handle whose shape allows both the support of the handball on the table top and a free posture, and a guide rail, in which a missile can be accelerated by means of a finger-snapping movement of the other hand.

The advantage of this is that the accelerator is not stationary on a certain point of the table surface, but is so light and handy that it can be held by the hand of a player comfortably at different heights, which facilitates the aiming on a moving object. The inserted into the guide rail missile is brought with little effort on the desired trajectory, with the flipping angle is variable to some extent. In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the guide rail and the handle of the accelerator are not integrated into a fixed in its form body. Rather, both by a variable in length connecting element - be it rigid or elastic - held together, which is provided with a Feststellmöglichkeit. Thereby, by changing the distance between the guide rail and the handle - this may be a ball, a ring or a differently shaped counterpart - the accelerator device of the respective hand size can be adapted and thus used by both children and adults.

A further advantageous embodiment of the acceleration device is that the guide rail and the handle are not connected to each other, but offer the opportunity to be assembled into a stable overall shape. Both conventional elongated handle shapes and round to button-like shapes held in the closed fist are conceivable. The handle can be in a line behind or under the guide rail. It can also be foldable or extendable. The bottom of the handle can be a flat surface so that the handle on the table surface is independent. It can also be shaped so that the hand can be supported while aiming on the table top. The handle may be formed as a dimensionally stable element, but also made of soft, crushable material. Likewise, it is conceivable to use a suitably shaped gel pad or a thermoplastically deformable material, which takes its shape only in the hands of the player.

The guide rail should have smooth surfaces and be long enough to accommodate both the missile and the flicking finger in a line one behind the other. Their shape should be V-shaped or have a 90 ° angle, so that missiles of different diameters can be snapped accurately. But also U-forms are conceivable.

The missile may have a cylindrical, oval or round shape, but also a hexagon, pyramid or cube shape and be made of different unbreakable materials such as plastic, leather, cork, rubber, cellulose or wood. He can also be a combination of different Materials exist. It is important that its mass is sufficient to keep it against air resistance on a straight trajectory. Its surface may be smooth, rough, nap, mushroom or brush-like, or may have a layer adhered to a complementarily equipped target surface, such as a hook and loop or microhack technology based sheath. The back or one side of the missile may be provided with a soft covering such as sponge rubber, rubber, felt or the like, so that the snapping finger is protected when hitting. This is especially important in wood and plastic flying bodies.

The missile may be coated with a fluorescent paint so that it glows in the dark. Its shape can be that of an object or an animal, but also geometric or abstract. He may be hollow inside and have an easy to close or open lid or cap, which make him useful as a transport for light objects. Also may be located in its interior designed as a passive transponder microchip, which is detected by a built-in target element sensor.

For ease of retrieval, the missile may be provided with an elastic fastener, ideally with a leather strap. The material must be so elastic that it loosely drops when placing the missile on the guide rail and does not interfere with the targets and so robust that it also withstands contact with adhesive or hook-like surfaces. In addition, its own weight must be so low that the trajectory of the missile is not affected. This connecting element may hang loose or be attached to the accelerating device or the target element. But it can also be attached to any anchor point between accelerator and target element. This has the advantage that it is not a hindrance when hanging up the missile and while aiming.

A concrete embodiment of the acceleration device with missile is in 1 The handle and guide rail are machined from a piece of wood by grinding and pimples (it would also be possible to produce by CNC milling, 3D printing or injection molding), with the guide rail at a 90-degree angle and the handle ergonomically shaped , The underside is a flat surface, whereby the accelerator device is free. The illustrated missile has a 5-wood dowel as the core, which is sheathed with a 2 mm thick layer of sponge rubber and a 20 mm wide hook-and-loop tape, the hook tape cut in length diamond-shaped and about 1.2 cm overlapping with a for elastic Glued materials suitable high performance adhesive. The bottom end is ground flat in the overlapping area except for the textile fabric, that is freed from hooks. A thinned out at the end narrow leather strap is already glued to the wood dowel under the foam rubber layer. Front and back of the cylindrical missile are glued with a circular punched hook or sponge rubber disc in the melt-bonding process.

The target element can be dimensionally stable or elastic, of low thickness or voluminous, rigid or movable or even consist of a combination of rigid and moving parts. It can be increased or decreased by the incoming or impacting missiles in its mass by individual, only loosely adhering parts lose their grip and either fall on the board or stick to the missile. It can consist of individual parts and be disassembled by the impact of the missiles. It may change in shape by displacing individual parts from their original position, such as ball, wheel or sleeve bodies that are movable on rods, strings or rails. The aiming element may also include an axis of rotation or a spring that makes the position of the target area movable. It may have recesses that the missile passes in the event of a hit, but also have wholly or in some areas a surface that allows sticking of the missile. It may be equipped with clips, rails or other devices that allow the temporary attachment of playing cards and other items. It can be equipped with collecting baskets, nets, magnets or touch-sensitive electronics, which causes a visual or audible signal in the event of a hit. Of course, the target element may also be equipped with devices capable of mechanically producing a sound or a sound.

An advantageous embodiment of the target element consists of a body rotating about a central axis with one or more of the above-mentioned properties, to which a pointer arrow is attached, whose tip after completion of the rotation points to a delimited area of the game plan, for example to a number, a symbol, a picture or a letter.

A simple embodiment of the target element consists of a rotating about a central axis turnstile, the arms provide mounting options for different essays with one or more of the above properties.

A further embodiment of the target element has below the surfaces to be hit with the missile on one or more horizontal discs, which in turn are rotatable about the axis of rotation and contain recesses through which a non-adhering missile can reach the next lower level.

A very advantageous embodiment of the target element consists of a rotating about a central axis cylinder with one or more of the above properties.

A somewhat more complex embodiment of the target element provides two cylinders with different diameters, which rotate separately from one another, ie at different speeds or in the opposite direction, but at a height about the same axis. For this purpose, the central sleeve of the attached to the underside of the outer cylinder support member is placed on a conical, upwardly tapered broadening of the axis of rotation, while the attached to the top holding member of the inner cylinder runs on the top of the axis. The outside of the outer cylinder has both adhesive surface areas and recesses through which the missile can reach the inner cylinder, the outer side of which also provides adhesive surface areas. The distance between the two cylinders, ie the difference between their radii, taking into account the material thickness, must exceed the longest extent of the missile.

In an alternative embodiment of the target element, each arm of a turnstile rotating horizontally on a vertical axis has a vertical target surface which is hingedly movable or made of pliable material, which is inclined slightly inwardly by the impact of a missile impinging on the outside and then in returns to its original vertical position. The inside of the target surface is provided with a central lift which is capable of pushing a ball out of its holder by the forward movement caused by the impact of the missile. Several such ball retainers are provided on a cylinder further inwardly rotating about the axis of rotation, with a circular recess in the cylinder wall before each ball whose diameter is smaller than that of the ball. In this way, the balls are pressed during rotation by the centrifugal forces from the inside against the cylinder wall into the recess and not thrown out of its holder without external action. Falling balls are passed through the funnel-shaped cylinder bottom to the inside and fall down there through a recess or a pipe, where they come to a standstill in individual, delimited by narrow elevations of the game plan areas.

The table game is suitable, in particular with a movable or rotating target element, for training fine motor skills and to increase the reaction rate, but also serves as entertainment. Individual parts such as the accelerator and the missile may also be offered separately as a toy.

Several embodiments of the acceleration device and the target element are shown in the drawings and are described in more detail below: show

1 : An embodiment of the accelerator device, wherein the handle and guide rail are made of a part, wherein the ergonomically shaped handle is located just below the V-shaped guide rail and has a flat surface as the bottom. The shown here in the guide rail inserted missile has a Velcro surface and a return strap. (View: sideways from the front)

2 a side view of the accelerator 1 without missile.

3 : a practical application example of the accelerator 1 ,

4 : An embodiment of the accelerator device, wherein the handle and guide rail are made of one part, wherein the handle is in a line behind the guide rail and merges the Kuhle for the thumb fluently in the guide rail.
(View: laterally from above)

5 : a practical application example of the accelerator 4 ,

6 : An embodiment of the accelerator device, in which the V-shaped guide rail has two holes at the lowest point, through which a connecting element, here a band, is guided, in order subsequently to pass through the counterpart to be enclosed with the fingers, in this case a ball. Below the ball is a locking element, so that the distance between the ball and guide rail can not increase independently.
(View: laterally from above)

7 : An embodiment of the accelerator device in which the V-shaped guide rail at the lowest point has two holes through which an elastic connecting element, here a rubber band, is guided, which is to be enclosed with the fingers counterpart, here a ring, with the guide rail combines. (View: laterally from below)

8th : An embodiment of the accelerator, in which a V-shaped guide rail with two holes at the lowest point via a narrow band is connected to a likewise equipped with two holes flat counterpart. Here, the accelerator is held by the guide rail resting between two fingers and the hand tensing the bands between the fingers and the palm.
(View: laterally from below)

9 an embodiment of the accelerator device in which the handle is designed as a narrow, downwardly tapering shape that can be held between the thumb and forefinger as well as between two other fingers. The palm can point up or down. In addition, a hand position as in 3 possible, wherein the underside of the hand can be supported on a flat surface.
(View: laterally from above)

10 : a practical application example of the accelerator 9 ,

11 : An embodiment of the target element as a central axis rotating bar, to which a tapered pointer arrow is attached. The illustration also shows the square adhesive surface to which a missile with Velcro surface hangs.
(View of the bar: sideways from the front)

12 : A detailed view of designed as a turnstile with two thin strips target element, which is on the back of the adhesive Flauschquadrats at the end of the visible bar here a rail with clamp, in which a game card is clamped.
(View: sideways from the front)

13 : another detail view of the in 12 displayed target element.
(View: laterally from behind)

14 : An embodiment of the target element as a central axis rotating cylinder, which is mounted on a turnstile and has four round recesses.
(View: laterally from above)

Claims (4)

With a first hand tangible accelerator device for a table game, comprising the accelerator device, a missile and a target element, wherein the accelerator device has a guide rail in which the missile is accelerated by means of a finger-snapping movement of the other hand, characterized in that - has two holes in the lowest point, - a connecting element is passed through the two holes and passes through a finger to be surrounded counterpart. Acceleration device according to claim 1, characterized in that below the fingers to be surrounded counterpart a locking element, through which the variably adjustable distance between the counterpart and the guide rail can not increase independently. Acceleration device according to one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the connecting element is a band or a rubber band. Table game with an acceleration device according to claim 1, a missile and a target element, characterized in that there is a passive transponder inside the missile, which can be detected by a sensor located in the target element.

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