Abstract:
A portable, hand-held bowling data processor or scoring device which can be kept for up to five persons for various games of bowling. Scores are entered into the device using numeric and function keys, processed by an electronic chip, and displayed in a standard bowling line score format on a display. The device also contains two memories and associated processing logic to provide score analysis for all bowlers during a session of bowling and a more detailed historical analysis for the principal bowler. Provision is also made for an accessory strip printer to create a hard copy of the display.

Description:
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART 
     Electronic means of keeping score for the game of bowling are known. Some tenpin bowling establishments are equipped by leading manufacturers with expensive and complex installations which display scores on consoles and overhead cathode ray tube displays (CRTs). Of these, House et. al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,375,352 discloses a bowling scorer untilizing semiconductors that computes scores for a number of games being simultaneously bowled on different lanes. Reynolds, U.S. Pat. No. 3,738,652 discloses a similar bowling score computer in which scores are entered either manually on a keyboard or by remote sensing of the pinfall. 
     An improved method of displaying scoring data on a CRT is disclosed in Ross, U.S. Pat. No. 3,889,253, as is a similar CRT display in Townsend et. al., U.S. Pat. Reissue No. 28,503. Fischer et. al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,907,290 discloses a scoring system designed for a multiplicity of lanes in bowling establishments. The system disclosed in Brunson, U.S. Pat. No. 3,974,483 utilizes time-shareable circuitry for score computation. The bowling scorer disclosed in Warner, U.S. Pat. No. 4,092,727 is another large, console-oriented system displaying team as well as individual player scores. A printer for such scoring systems untilizing dot matrix format is disclosed in Kaenel, U.S. Pat. No. 4,140,404. Trujillo, U.S. Pat. No. 4,225,924 discloses another such system with manual entry of scores and multiple overhead and console CRT displays for adjacent lanes. Finally, Kaenel, U.S. Pat. No. 4,302,010 discloses a means of linking the various scoring processors in a bowling establishment with a central manager&#39;s console. 
     All of these devices take the form of installations designed to be installed in bowling establishments where they keep and display scores for many games taking place simultaneously on numerous lanes. Because of their very intricacy and cost they are in no way adaptable to personal use. Furthermore, such installations are typically found only in tenpin establishments and not readily available for bowlers of duckpins. 
     In addition, hand-held electronic scoring devices are known. For example, Meday, U.S. Pat. No. 4,286,323 discloses such a device particularly adapted to the game of bridge, utilizing dual displays, one for each opposing side. However, this device would not be suitable for the game of bowling. In bowling, as opposed to bridge, there can be numerous &#34;sides&#34; or, indeed, only one player. Thus a single, customized score display rather than dual, all-purpose displays, are necessary. Nor does the Meday device, as disclosed, have the separate random access memories (RAMs) needed to provide the desirable analyses of bowling scores or easily selectable scoring protocols for both tenpins and duckpins, the two major variations of the sport. 
     It is an object of this invention to provide a portable, hand-held bowling data processor. Another object of the invention is to provide a hand-held bowling scorekeeping device for providing game analysis for a bowler over a predetermined bowling period such as a session or a year. According to the invention, a hand-held bowling scorekeeping data processor comprises a thin, flat display in the format of a bowling line score as well as other formats suitable for presentation of analyses of such scores. 
     A microprocessor is provided programmed to: follow the established scoring protocols for the bowling games of tenpins and duckpins; initiate a sequence of queries or prompts to the user upon being energized, including to enter the type of bowling game to be scored (tenpins or duckpins) and the number of bowlers; maintain a frame-by-frame score for up to five bowlers; automatically at the conclusion of score entry for each bowler for a given frame retrieve and display the next bowler&#39;s current frame to allow score entry; display the difference, expressed as a positive or negative number, between the score for each frame in the current game and that of the previous game for each bowler; and, provide a detailed game analysis for one of the up to five bowlers. 
     A keyboard is provided having a plurality of keys including: a numeric section for entering the numerals 0-9; keys to select the type of game (tenpins or duckpins) in conjunction with said sequence of queries; a key for indentifying, in conjunction with one of said numeric keys, a specific bowler; keys to indicate that a strike, spare, or split was made by a bowler; a set of keys for clearing erroneously entered bowling data and entering accurately entered bowling data into said microprocessor; a set of keys for entering bowling data into and retrieving it from the following memory means. 
     A short-term memory means is provided for storing frame-by-frame score comparisons with the previous game for all said up to five bowlers and supplying same to the microprocessor for selective displaying on the display means. A long-term memory is provided for storing said detailed game analysis for one of the bowlers for selective presentation on the display. An optional printer capable of producing a paper copy of what is displayed on said display. 
     The device is uniquely designed to conform with the score-keeping protocols of the game of bowling with separate instructional programs for the variations of tenpins and duckpins. It can be used by an individual to keep his or her personal score or by up to five persons. In addition to recording, displaying, and reviewing raw scores the device is capable of performing two levels of analysis of those scores. For all bowlers using the device during a single session of bowling the frame analysis function indicates the trend of the scores for each frame as compared with the last game played. For the principal bowler, i.e. the owner of the device, the game analysis function provides detailed breakdowns of all of that bowler&#39;s scores retained in the device&#39;s memory, such as strikes, spares, converted splits, etc. The device will also recall from memory and display the detailed line score of the best, or highest-scoring, game of the principal bowler. A plug-in printer will allow permanent records to be generated. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is an external view of the device, 
     FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the circuitry for the device, 
     FIGS. 3A-3E are block diagrams of the logic functions of the device, and 
     FIGS. 4A-4I are examples of displays generated by the device during the bowling of a game. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The external view of the device is shown in FIG. 1 and it includes a case 1, a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) 2, an On-Off slide switch 3, a numeric key pad K-4 (0-9), and various function keys labeled K-5-K-19. FIG. 2 shows the circuit elements of the device which include: a battery power supply 20, a central processing unit (CPU) 21, a read-only memory (ROM) containing a processing program and control logic 22, a processing mode selector 23, a RAM I for frame analysis 24, a non-volatile RAM II for game analysis 25, numeric keys K-5-K-19 and associated key determinator 27, print driver 28, printer 29, display generator 30, and LCD display 2. 
     A. Data Entry and Scoring 
     In operation of the device, the On-Off slide switch 3 is pushed to On activating the power supply 20 and causing the CPU 21 to import the game programs and control logic from the ROM 22. A prompt then appears on the display 2 asking whether score is to be kept for tenpins or duckpins. The appropriate game key K-5 or K-6 is then depressed and the mode selector 23 selects the appropriate scoring protocols from the game programs. Once a game is chosen the device will remain in that mode until a change is entered. Next a prompt will be displayed asking for the number of bowlers, between one and five, to be entered. The corresponding numeric key K-4 is depressed followed by the enter function key K-7 and the number of bowlers selection 31 is made. The display 2 will then show a blank bowling line score as in FIG. 1 ready to receive data entries for bowler #1. 
     Entry of scoring data is as follows and assumes operation in tenpin mode; that is, two balls per frame. After bowler #1 has rolled the first ball, the number of pins knocked down is entered using the appropriate numeric key K-4 (0-9) and the enter function key K-7. The count will be displayed in the upper left corner of the frame as shown in FIG. 4A. If the wrong value is keyed in at this or any other point in data entry it can be corrected by depressing the clear entry function key K-8 and repeating the entry process. If the first ball results in a strike, or all ten pins being knocked down, the strike function key K-9 is depressed causing a strike symbol to be displayed in the mark box of the frame as shown in FIG. 4B. If the first ball results in a split; i.e., one of several configurations of pins left standing that is especially difficult to convert into a spare, the split function key K-11 is depressed after entering the ball count. This results in a circle surrounding the first ball count displayed in the frame--standard bowling score notation for a split--as shown in FIG. 4C. If the split is not converted into a spare on the second ball a dash will be displayed in the mark box at the completion of the frame as shown in FIG. 4D. Designation of splits will also be used by the game analysis module or function 35 as described below. 
     After the second ball is bowled by bowler #1 the resulting additional pin count is entered using the appropriate numeric key K-4 (0-9) and the enter function key K-7. The score calculation module or function 32 will add this count to that of the first ball bowled and display the total for frame #1 as shown in FIG. 4E. If the second ball results in a spare, or all the remaining pins being knocked down, the spare function key K-10 is depressed causing a spare symbol to be displayed in the mark box of the frame as shown in FIG. 4F. 
     Entry of either a spare or a strike will cause the score calculation module or function 32 to postpone final scoring of a given frame until the results of the next frame for that bowler have been entered. That is, the score for a given frame with a strike is ten plus the number of pins knocked down with the next two balls in a subsequent frame or frames while that for a spare is ten plus the count from the next ball. Thus in the case of the spare in frame #1 shown in FIG. 4F, if the first ball for bowler #1 in frame #2 knocks down eight pins the final score for frame #1 becomes eighteen and will be displayed as such after entry of the first ball pin count for frame #2 as shown in FIG. 4G. 
     When the scoring of frame #1 for bowler #1 has been completed the score calculation module or function 32 enters the results into RAM I 24 and cycles the display 2 to frame #1 for bowler #2. The scoring sequence is then repeated for the number of bowlers previously designated. When the scores of all bowlers for frame #1 have been entered and processed the display 2 returns to frame #2 for bowler #1 and the sequence is repeated until all bowlers have completed a game, which is ten frames plus any additional balls resulting from marks in the tenth frame. Scoring is similar in duckpin mode except that three balls are bowled per frame and appropriate calculations are made by the duckpin game program. 
     When a game has been completed by all bowlers, bowler #1 has the option of adding its scoring details to RAM II 25 by depressing the enter memory function key K-15. Then the new game function key K-13 is depressed clearing the display 2 and initializing the score calculation module or function 32 to receive input for the next game. When all games of the current session of play have been completed the end session function key K-14 is depressed clearing the display and the data stored in RAM I 24. The device may then be turned off by pushing the On-Off slide switch 3 to off. 
     As is shown in FIG. 3A, the output from the score calculation module or function 32 is used in a number of ways. It updates the display 2 through the display generator 30 to provide continuous readout of the line scores during play. At the same time it places data into RAM I 24 and RAM II 25 to be used in the two score analysis functions described below. 
     B. Review 
     At any time during the scoring of a game and when a game has been completed prior to starting a new game, the line scores of the various bowlers participating can be looked at by using the review module or function 33. As is shown in FIG. 3B this function extracts the requested scoring data from RAM I 24, processes it, and causes it to appear on the display 2. This is accomplished by depressing the review function key K-12 followed by the numeric key K-4 (0-9) corresponding to the number assigned to the bowler whose score is to be displayed thus identifying a specific bowler. 
     C. Frame Analysis 
     For each bowler, the invention automatically compares the score achieved in each frame of a game with the score for that frame in the previous game and shows the difference as either a positive or negative number at the bottom of the frame in the display. As shown in FIG. 3C, the frame analysis module or function 34 extracts the data regarding each bowler&#39;s games of the session that is stored in RAM I 24 processes it, and causes it to appear on the display 2 with the rest of the line score as shown in FIG. 4H. This is accomplished automatically by the frame analysis module or function 34 and does not requre any separate instruction to be entered. 
     D. Game Analysis 
     This function of the invention is available for bowler #1 or the principal bowler. It provides detailed analysis of bowler #1&#39;s scores which have been accumulated in a separate, non-volatile memory which retains this data between bowling sessions when the device has been turned off. As shown in FIG. 3D, the game analysis module or function 35 extracts this data from the non-volatile memory, RAM II 25, processes it, and causes it to appear on the display 2. This function can be accessed at any time either during the scoring of a game or games or on a separate occasion and consists of two features. 
     The first is the display of best game. Depressing the best game function key K-18 causes a full line score of the best, or highest-scoring, game previously entered into RAM II 25 for bowler #1 to be shown on the display 2. 
     The second is a detailed analysis of all games for bowler #1 in that memory. This feature is accessed by depressing the display memory function key K-16 and causes the analysis as shown in FIG. 4I to be displayed. This display shows a running average of bowler #1&#39;s games both in raw score and in six categories of data. These are: strikes; spares; splits; converted splits, i.e. those splits converted into spares on a second ball; open frames, i.e. those in which no mark was made; and pin pickup, i.e. the total number of pins in a game that were added as a result of strikes and spares. The average values are shown in each category and are also compared with those of the best game. RAM II 25 can be erased by depressing the clear memory function key K-17 which results in a &#34;Clear Memory?&#34; prompt on the display 2. Depressing the key a second time erases the memory. 
     E. Printing 
     The invention includes an optional strip printer which is capable of generating a hard copy of whatever appears on the display 2. As is shown in FIG. 3E, data from the CPU 21 is imported by the print driver 28, formatted, and sent to the printer 29. This feature is accomplished by depressing the print function key K-19. 
     It should now be apparent to those skilled in the art that a hand-held electronic bowling data processor has been provided. While I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and adaptations of the invention will be readily apparent and it is intended to encompass within the spirit and scope of the following Claims such modifications and adaptations as would be obvious to one skilled in the art.