Patent ID: 6402140
Filing Date: 2002-06-11
Classification: A63F

Abstract:
In combination, an automatic ball-starting device and a football game table, said game table including a plurality of sides that confine a playing surface and at least two goals defined within two of said plurality of sides and situated on opposite ends of the table, each said goal including an opening facing onto the playing surface of the game table and a bottom portion communicating with said opening for collecting a spent ball; another one of said plurality of sides defining a face plane extending between said opposite ends;said ball starting device comprising a controlling box and two ball-guiding tubes respectively extending from said bottom portion of each of said goals to said controlling box that is disposed generally beneath the playing surface at a location generally midway between said two goals; said ball-guiding tubes communicating with a ball-striking chamber located within the controlling box; a ball-striking tube operatively connected with said ball-striking chamber and extending to the face plane of the football game table; said controlling box further including a driving coil that generates a magnetic field and a ball-striking rod driven by the magnetic field and used for striking a ball, wherein the struck ball is moved along said ball-striking tube towards the face plane and onto the playing field; at least two player-activated controlling buttons extending from the controlling box respectively to said opposite ends of the table, wherein a player may selectively activate the ball-striking chamber to release a ball onto the playing field; said ball-striking chamber further including a sensor electrically connected with a controlling circuit that is disposed within said controlling box, wherein the sensor detects the presence of a ball within the ball-striking chamber so as to control the operation of said driving coil in said ball-striking rod.