Abstract:
A golf putting game which includes a housing having a horizontally elongated opening into which a standard golf ball can be putted. Horizontally spaced sensors positioned lengthwise of the opening within the housing sense the lateral position of a ball entering the opening. The sensors controlling a numerical display indicate a score based on the position of the ball laterally of the opening. A back plate stops the ball within the housing, and a sensor determines the force with which the ball strikes the back plate. The indicated score is modified if the force on the back plate exceeds an acceptable level. Successive groups of balls can be putted into the opening and the score for each ball within the corresponding ball in the successive groups can be accumulated and individually displayed to permit a number of players to play the game at the same time.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to a golf putting type game, and more particularly, relates to a putting game with automatic scoring. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Game devices have heretofore been proposed which receive a ball that is putted or otherwise rolled toward a target, with some type of scoring arrangement based on the amount of lateral deviation of the ball from a target. However, such known games have not been particularly suited to providing a competitive golf game which is based on the normal golf putting skill of the participants. Furthermore, such known games did not provide scoring which was dependent both on the accuracy with which a ball is putted toward a target, but also the speed with which the ball is putted. Both of these factors of course are necessary to perfecting the putting skill of a golfer. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is directed to a self-contained putting game which can be used both as a training device for improving the putting skill of the participant, or as a competitive game for scoring the relative putting skills of several participants. Automatic scoring for one to four players playing a simulated nine holes is provided with a score of each player being accumulated and displayed individually. Scoring is automatically weighted in response to the accuracy and speed with which a ball is putted into an elongated opening in the housing of the game device. Automatic scoring is provided by a group of position sensors which respond to the lateral position of the ball. A particular value is assigned to each position, and this value is displayed numerically in response to the ball tripping a particular one of the sensors. This value is then modified by a velocity sensor, the score being modified to reflect a penalty for putting the ball too hard. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     For a more complete understanding of the invention reference should be made to the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
     FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of the game apparatus; 
     FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line 2--2 of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line 3--3 of FIG. 2; 
     FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of the scoring control for the game; and 
     FIGS. 5, 6, and 7 are flow diagrams of the program for controlling the operation of the game. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Referring to FIG. 1, the numeral 10 indicates generally the housing for the game. The front of the housing includes a display panel 12 which is preferably designed to illustrate a nine-hole golf course layout, including numbered tees and greens. In addition, the display panel includes four numerical readout displays 14 with a display adjacent each readout indicating which one of up to four players is &#34;on the tee&#34;. 
     At the bottom of the front panel of the housing 10 is a horizontal elongated opening 16. The bottom of the opening 16 has a ramp l7 which at its lower edge is in contact with the surface on which the housing is supported. The ramp 17 is preferably divided into five delineated sections. Positioned immediately above the opening 16 is a segmental number display panel 18 having five sections, each of which displays a number. These numbers can be selectively illuminated from the rear to individually illuminate any one of the five displayed numbers. 
     At the right end of the elongated opening 16 is a ball return chute 20. Immediately above the ball return chute is an illuminated display segment 22 for indicating a penalty condition. A storage cabinet may be provided between the display panel 12 and the numerical display panel 18, as indicated at 24. The cabinet can be used for storing golf balls and a putting mat, for example, for use with the putting game. 
     The interior construction of the housing is shown in the sectional views of FIG. 2 and FIG. 3. The putted golf ball enters the housing 10 by rolling up the ramp 17 into the elongated opening 16. At the upper end of the ramp 17 the ball contacts one or two of five flipper plates 26 projecting down into the opening 16. The flipper plates 26 are hinged for rotation about a common horizontal transverse axis 28 by individual hinges 30 supported on the back edge of a frame member 32 spanning the interior of the housing and forming the top of the opening 16. The flippers are hinged above their center of gravities so that they tend to move to a vertical position. Supported on the upper end of each flipper 26 is a movable metal switch contact 34 which is rotated by the associated flipper 26 into contact with a fixed switch contact 36 projecting from and supported by the frame member 32. Thus when a golf ball rolls the ramp 17 and engages a flipper 26, the contacts 34 and 36 are brought together to complete an electrical circuit. Thus the switch contacts in combination with the hinged flippers form for sensing the lateral position of the golf ball as it moves up the ramp 17. 
     The forward momentum of the golf ball causes it to pass under one of the hinged flippers 26, across the width of a trough 38 into engagement with a back stop comprising a board 40 hingedly supported along its top edge by a hinge 42 to a fixed horizontal support member 44 extending parallel to the front of the housing 10. The front surface of the board 40 is preferably covered with a layer of plastic foam material 41 to cushion the impact of the golf ball against the hinged board 40. 
     Swinging movement of the board 40 rearwardly under impact of the golf ball is resisted by an adjustable spring assembly 46. The spring assembly includes a base panel 47 slidably supported for horizontal movement in a fore and aft direction by a pair of spaced guide tracks 48 mounted on the bottom of the housing 10. A flat cantilever spring 50 projects upwardly from the adjustable base of the spring assembly behind the board 40, thus forming a yieldable stop against which the board 40 impinges when struck by a moving golf ball entering the opening 16. 
     Mounted adjacent the spring stop assembly 46 is a switch assembly 54 which includes an adjustable base member 56 slidable along a pair of tracks 58 and on which are mounted a pair of metal contacts 60 and 62. Deflection of the board 40 by the golf ball causes the board to push the contacts 60 into engagement with the contact 62 only if the impact of the ball is sufficient to overcome the resistance of the spring 50 and spring contact 62. By adjusting the position of the spring assembly 46 and the switch assembly 54 relative to the board 40, the speed of the golf ball required to close the contacts 60 and 62 can be adjusted. 
     The bottom of the trough 38 is inclined laterally so as to cause the ball to roll to one side of the housing after it has made impact with the board 40. This brings the ball into contact with a ball return solenoid which propels the ball out of the housing through the ball return chute 20, returning the ball to the player. 
     A light mounting bracket 72 is for mounting six light bulbs 76 connected respectively to the five contacts 36 of the position sensors and the contact 62 of the velocity sensor formed by the board 40. When one of the flipper control switches is momentarily actuated, the associated light 76 is turned on for two seconds, illuminating the number associated with that lateral position above the opening 16. 
     Control of the lights illuminating the numerical displays, the penalty display, and the holes is shown in block form in FIG. 4. A power switch 80 turns on power to a power supply 82 and also to the ball return solenoid 70. The output of the power supply provides power for illuminating the various lights and for the control circuit. The control circuit includes a central processing unit 84 which is preferably standard microprocessor chip which operates in response to a program stored in a Read only memory 86 to control the operation of the game. The central processing unit communicates with the Read only memory over an address and data bus through suitable buffers 88. The central processing unit also communicates with a random access memory 90 over the same address in the data bus. In addition the central processor unit communicates with a plurality of input/output devices through data input/output ports 92 controlled by the central processing unit. As thus far described, the control circuit is a conventional microprocessing system. One of the input/outut ports is connected through suitable display and segment drivers 94 to the digital readout units 14 on the display panel 12 for displaying the current score of each of the players of the game. A second output port, by means of a set of light drivers 96, controls the various display lights including the lights indicating a particular hole on the display board 12 and the lights illuminating which player is on the tee, as indicated on the display board 12, the lights illuminating the numerals n the display panel 18 over the ball opening and the light controlling the penalty display segment 22. 
     One of the input ports is in turn connected to the respective sensors, namely the five position sensors provided by the switch contacts 34 and 36 operated by the flippers 26 and the ball speed sensor provided by the switch contacts 60 and 62. A second input port provides data from a manually operated switch 98 which is set according to the number of players participating in the game, e.g., from one to four players. 
     A game is initiated by actuating a reset button 100 which may be either manually controlled or controlled by depositing coins in the game. The number of coins may also be used to control the number of player switch 98. Such coin-operated switches are conventional in all types of coin-operated games. 
     Once the reset button 100 is set, the central processing unit begins to execute the program stored in the Read only memory 86. The flow diagram of the program is shown in FIGS. 5, 6, and 7. Referring to FIG. 5, after the reset button 100 is set, as indicated at S, the control system is initialized by turning off all lights, resetting the timers, initializing the Read only memory and the input/output ports. The program then determines and stores information as to the number of players in the game and displays zero score for all players in the digital readouts 14. The program then activates the 1 on tee light and the light indicating hole number 1 on the panel display 12. The program then enters the player sequence, indicated at P 2  in FIG. 6. During the play routine, the program inputs the condition of all the sensors and buttons, including a three-point penalty button which is operated manually when a player fails to putt his ball into the opening 16 to generate a score, such as, for example, where the player putts the ball either to the right or left of the housing 10 or fails to hit the ball hard enough to drive it up the ramp 17. The program then checks to see if the reset button has been reset. If not, it checks to see whether an input was provided from the three-point button and, if not, it determines whether an input was provided by one of the position sensors. The input from each position sensor is coded to store an appropriate point value for the position of the sensor, namely, one point for the middle sensor, two points for the sensors on either side of the middle, and three points for the outermost sensor. The game can also be arranged with seven sensors instead of five, in which case four points are coded for the additional pair of outermost sensors. If none of the position sensors have been activated, the program does another input sequence after a delay of 0.02 seconds. 
     After inputing the sensors and button, if the reset button has been reset, the program returns to the start at position S in FIG. 5. If the three-point button has been activated, the program addes three points to the value displayed by the digital readout 14 associated with a particular player and identifying the score of that player. It leaves the player score lit for five seconds and then jumps to position P 3b  of the program shown in the flow diagram of FIG. 7. If the three-point button has not been set, but one of the point sensor switches has been activated, the program adds the appropriate value to the player score displayed in the associated digital readout display 14. 
     After a delay of two seconds, the program tests to see if the penalty switch provided by the contacts 60 and 62 was activated as the result of the golf ball being putted too hard. If no penalty occurred, the program jumps to position P 3b  after a delay of two seconds. If a penalty has occurred the program jumps to position P 3a  of the program, as shown in FIG. 7. 
     Assuming that a penalty resulting from accessive velocity of the golf ball occurs, as shown in FIG. 7, the program adds a penalty of two points to the players score as displayed on the appropriate output digital display unit 14. At the same time the penalty display light illuminating the display segment 22 is flashed for two seconds, indicating to the player that a penalty has been assessed. 
     After a one second delay, the player number is increased by 1. If the player number does not then exceed the number of players in the game, the program returns to A in the program, as shown in FIG. 5. If on the other hand the player number is now greater than the number of players in the game, the hole number is increased by one. If the hole number is still less than nine, the program again returns to position A in the flow as shown in FIG. 5. However if the hole number is greater than nine, indicating that all nine holes have been played, the display indicates the game is over by lighting an appropriate indication on the display planel 12, e.g., &#34;Club House&#34;, and causes the digital display of the lowest score (or scores in case of a tie) to be blinked on and off to indicate the winning player. This condition continues until the game is reset for the next game. The following is a printout of the program stored in the Read only memory 86 for controlling the operation of the game: ##SPC1## ##SPC2##