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Claims  |
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I claim:
1. A game point scoring and analyzing device for tabulating and displaying
for a plurality of different shot categories the number of shots in each
category which resulted in game points won and lost by an individual
during a game, comprising:
(a) an electronic circuit mounted within a portable display case of a size
to be worn on the individual's wrist, means for providing power to the
electronic circuit through an ON/OFF switch, said electronic circuit
including first and second electronic counters and first and second
numerical displays for each shot category, said first numerical displays
representing points won by the individual and said second numerical
displays representing points lost by the individual, each of said
electronic counters having a clock terminal for increasing a count and
having a counter reset terminal for resetting the counter to zero;
(b) first and second counter control gates connected to said first and
second electronic counters, respectively, each of said counter control
gates having first and second inputs and an output connected to said clock
terminal of the associated electronic counter and operates in response to
said first and second inputs being enabled to increment the associated
electronic counter;
(c) a point-won and a point-lost enable circuit, said point-won enable
circuit including input terminal means and output terminal means, said
output terminal means of said point-won enable circuit being connected to
said first inputs of said first counter gate for each of said first
electronic counters, said point-lost enabling circuit including input
terminal means and output terminal means, said output terminal means of
said point-lost enable circuit being connected to said first input of said
second counter gate for each of said second electronic counters;
(d) a point-won button means operative when actuated to enable said input
terminal of said point-won enable circuit, and a point-lost button means
operative when actuated to enable said input terminal of said point-lost
enable circuit;
(e) a plurality of shot button means, one for each different shot category,
each shot button means being connected to said second inputs of both said
first and second counter gates in each different shot category, and each
shot button means being manually operable to enable said second inputs of
said first and second counter gates; and
(f) and gate means coupled with said first and second counter control gates
for each different shot category and said point-won and point-lost enable
circuits, and operative to establish a required sequence which requires
the pressing of said point-won or said point-lost button means prior to
the pressing of a shot button means in order to increment a count in any
of said first and second electronic counters;
(g) said input terminal means of said point-won and point-lost enable
circuits respectively, include a point-won flipflop and a point-lost
flipflop, each flipflop including a set and a reset terminal, said gate
means including first and second enable circuit gates, said first enable
circuit gate having an output coupled to the reset terminal of said
point-won flipflop and having an input connected to said first counter
control gates, said second enable circuit gate having an output coupled to
the reset terminal of said point-lost flipflop and having an input
connected to said second counter control gates, said first and second
enable circuits being operative to reset both flipflops whenever any of
said first or second counter control gates increments an electronic
counter,
(h) said first and second enable circuit gates have second inputs, said
second input of said first enable circuit gate being connected to an
output of said point-lost flipflop and said second input of said second
enable circuit gate being connected to an output of said point-won
flipflop, said second inputs of said first and second enable circuit gates
being operative to deliver outputs to reset one flipflop when the other
flipflop is set, whereby the information regarding points won and lost in
each of the plurality of different shot categories is readily available
for immediate use by the individual while a game is in progress.
2. A scoring and analyzing device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said
device is powered by a battery through an ON/OFF switch, and wherein said
enable circuit gates have third inputs coupled with said ON/OFF switch and
operative upon actuation of the switch to deliver from said outputs of
said enable circuit gates to reset both flipflops.
3. A scoring and analyzing device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
numerical displays of the plurality of different shot categories are
arranged in two rows of windows across said display case, one row of
windows and displays representing said points won and the other row
representing said points lost.
4. A scoring and analyzing device as claimed in claim 3, wherein the shot
buttons are marked with indicia indicating the categories of shots that
they respectively represent, and wherein the windows corresponding with
the various shot buttons are marked with similar indicia.
5. A scoring and analyzing device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
display case has a front face through which said first and second
numerical displays are viewable and having a rear face supporting a
securing means; and a wrist band for gripping the individual's wrist, said
wrist band having means for releasably engaging said securing means to
support said display case on the individual's wrist, said wrist band being
separable from said display case for washing.
6. A portable game point scoring and analyzing device for tabulating and
displaying for a plurality of different shot categories the number of
shots in each category which resulted in game points won and lost by an
individual during a game, comprising:
(a) an electronic circuit mounted within a portable display case of a size
to be worn on the individual's wrist, said electronic circuit including a
plurality of first and second electronic counters which are connected to a
plurality of first and second numerical displays, each of the different
shot categories being reflected by one of said first and second numerical
displays, said first numerical displays representing points won by the
individual within the different shot categories and said second numerical
displays representing points lost by the individual within the different
shot categories, each of said electronic counters having a clock terminal
for incrementing a count and having a counter reset terminal for resetting
the counter to zero;
(b) Power means for energizing said electronic circuit through an ON/OFF
switch, said first and second numerical displays being continuously
energized by said power means when said ON/OFF switch is in an ON position
so that said first and second numerical displays of each of the different
shot categories are continuously and simultaneously displayed to reflect
all counts entered into each of said first and second electronic counters
so that information regarding points won and points lost in each of the
plurality of different shot categories is continuously available for
immediate use by the individual when a game is in progress.
(c) first and second counter control gates connected to said first and
second electronic counters, respectively, each of said counter control
gates having first and second inputs and an output connected to said clock
terminal of the associated electronic counter and operative in response to
said first and second inputs being enabled to increment the associated
electronic counter;
(d) a point-won and a point-lost enable circuit, said point-won enable
circuit including input terminal means and output terminal means, said
output terminal means of said point-won enable circuit being connected to
said first inputs of said first counter gate for each of said first
electronic counters, said point-lost enabling circuit including input
terminal means and output terminal means, said output terminal means of
said point-lost enable circuit being connected to said first input of said
second counter gate for each of said second electronic counters;
(e) a point-won button means operative when actuated to enable said input
terminal of said point-won enable circuit, and a point-lost button means
operative when actuated to enable said input terminal of said point-lost
enable circuit;
(f) a plurality of shut button means, one for each different shot category,
each shot button means being connected to said second inputs of both said
first and second counter gates in each different shot category, and each
shot button means being manually operable to enable said second inputs of
said first and second counter gates; and
(g) gate means coupled with said first and second counter control gates for
each different shot category and said point-won and point-lost enable
circuits, and operative to establish a required sequence which requires
the pressing of said point-won or said point-lost button means prior to
the pressing of a shot button means in order to increment a count in any
of said first and second electronic counters.
7. A scoring and analyzing device as claimed in claim 6, wherein the
numerical displays of the plurality of different shot categories are
arranged in two rows of windows across said display case, one row of
windows and displays representing said points won and the other row
representing said points lost.
8. A scoring and analyzing device as claimed in claim 6, wherein the
display case has a front face through which said first and second
numerical displays are viewable and having a rear face supporting a
securing means; and a wrist band for gripping the individual's wrist, said
wrist band having means for releasably engaging said securing means to
support said display case on the individual's wrist, said wrist band being
separable from said display case for washing.
9. A scoring and analyzing device as claimed in claim 8, wherein the shot
buttons are marked with indicia indicating the categories of shots that
they respectively represent, and wherein the windows corresponding with
the various shot buttons are marked with similar indicia. |
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Claims |
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Description |
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BACKGROUND AND PRIOR ART
This invention relates to a device in the nature of a small electronic
calculator which can be hand carried by a coach or can be worn on the
wrist of a player, and which is used to record won and lost game points,
while at the same time providing a continuously visible readout showing
categories representing multiple types of shots that have resulted in
winning and losing points, and showing the number of shots entered in each
shot category.
A player participating in a highly competitive match, such as racquetball,
tennis, etc., in order to improve his or her play, needs to be provided
with an analysis that will indicate the player's own strengths and
weaknesses when faced with a certain opponent, and also strengths and
weaknesses displayed by that opponent. This is true not only during the
match, but is also true after the match has concluded so that the player
can be informed of areas of play requiring special concentration and
practice in order to improve skills for subsequent matches. A scoring and
analyzing device capable of providing such information can be either worn
by the player and incremented after each point is won or lost, or it can
be used by a third person coaching the player and serving during
subsequent analyzing of both players' performances. When worn and
incremented by the player during the match, the device must be easy to
use, and must provide continuous displays of all of the recorded
categories in order to be of any practical assistance to the player during
the match.
No such device is available at the present time, although many scoring
devices have been patented.
The only disclosure of a game scoring device known at the time of this
writing which seeks to analyze the players' performances shot-wise is U.S.
Pat. No. 4,220,992 to Blood et al, which shows a golf scoring device which
the inventor recognises could be adapted for use in other games such as
tennis. This patent shows a rather large manual device having a keyboard
designed to enter the scores for different players and having means for
entering the types of shots hit by the players during the course of the
match, i.e. whether a golf shot was long or short, hooked, straight or
sliced, topped, etc. However, although this device would be useful to a
player participating in a golf match at a fairly leisurely pace, it would
be useless in providing advice to a player wearing the device during a
spirited racquetball or tennis match, since in the Blood device there is
only one readout which must be switched around to cause it to display the
different information retained in the device's memories. Moreover, since
the Blood device is electronically very complex and costly to manufacture,
it would require a relatively high sales price.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,097,855 to Salvo, and 4,237,372 to Zevgolis et al, show
tennis score keeping devices having multiple readouts, but these readouts
are not associated with various types of shots used by the players in
making or losing points. The readouts show only total scores for games,
sets and matches. The golf scoring U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,142,236 to Martz, and
4,367,526 to McGeary, also show multiple readouts, but not in conjunction
with analysis of different types of shots made by the individual players.
A cribbage scoring device shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,245,216 to Rintoul shows
score keeping for two players, with readouts for each and means to enter a
score in the correct player's readout, but it shows no analysis of
performance.
What is needed is a device which will show with statistical and categorical
certainty an analysis of the way that points were scored by both the
player himself and his opponent, so as to permit the user of the device to
know with objective certainty the types of shots used by both players and
the degrees of success with which such shots were made, whereby to avoid
reliance on ones own subjective memory to analyze in detail how the match
was won or lost.
THE INVENTION
The device resembles a miniature calculator, and can be either worn on the
wrist by a player, or hand-carried by a person observing and/or coaching a
player during a match. It has two elongated multiple-digit display
screens, one for categorizing and listing points won by the wearer, and
the other for categorizing and listing points lost to the wearer's
opponent. Two of the push buttons on the device, a point WON button and a
point LOST button, serve to determine which of the two display screens
will be receiving a point to be newly entered, i.e. depending on whether
the wearer won or lost the point. A number of additional buttons serve to
categorize the type of shot resulting in a won or a lost point. Buttons of
the latter type are referred to as "shot" buttons, and each defines a
different type of shot, such as a ceiling shot, a lob shot, a smash shot,
a pinch shot, etc. Most of these shot buttons appear in pairs, indicating
whether the shot was to the right or left. For example, a button marked CR
represents a ceiling shot to the right, and a botton marked CL represents
a ceiling shot made to the left of the user of the device. When a
particular shot is to be recorded, the player first presses either the WON
or the LOST button, depending on whether he won or lost the last point,
and then presses whichever one of the shot buttons most accurately
describes the type of shot resulting in a won or lost point. The pressing
of these two buttons results in incrementing the count in the window or
screen segment corresponding with the shot button, and located in either
the upper or the lower elongated display screen which was selected by the
pressed WON or LOST button. Electronically, corresponding with each screen
segment which is capable of displaying a number, there is a digital
counter serving as a memory for that window and driving a seven segment
decoder for that window. The shot buttons are each capable of incrementing
the count in either of two counters, which respectively control the
displays in the two windows corresponding with that type of shot. Gate
circuits select which of the two counters will be incremented by the
pressing of a shot button, and these gate circuits are in turn enabled by
whichever of the WON or LOST buttons is pressed. Thus two buttons must be
pressed for each incrementing of a count, and this tends to provide safety
against accidental spurious incrementing of any count. In the illustrated
embodiment for racquetball, there are thirteen windows in each elongated
screen readout, and there are thirteen shot keys to select from in
addition to the WON and LOST keys. The device can be modified to score and
analyze shots for other games, for instance tennis, handball, squash,
golf, etc., and in such modifications different numbers of windows and
shot keys can be used as may be appropriate. An on/off button allows also
for resetting of all of the counters to zero. A Velcro wrist band can be
easily adjusted to support the device on the wearer's wrist, and can be
washed after each match.
OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION
It is a principal object of the invention to provide a point scoring and
analyzing device for recording the type of shots made by both players
during competition, while categorizing the winning or losing shots
according to type, whereby to permit analysis by the wearer of the
performance of both players in response to the hitting and returning of
various different types of shots during the progress of the match as well
as during subsequent study of the players' techniques. Such information
shows which types of serves as well as other shots made by one player were
most effective against the other player, and just how many shots of each
type were used during the match by each player.
It is another major object of the invention to provide a device which
continuously and simultaneously displays all of the different categories
of shots together with the points won and the points lost as a result of
the shots, whereby at all times the information is available for immediate
use by the wearer of the device while his match is actually in progress
without his having to press any further buttons or switch displays to
retrieve it. This instant display allows the player to capitalize on his
opponent's weaknesses and his own strengths by planning his attack and
defense strategies while there is still time to profit from the planning.
Objective information appearing in the windows of the device will be much
more reliable that the player's own subjective interpretation of
remembered events blurred by the distractions of play.
A further object of the invention is to provide a device which displays
"unforced" errors of the players which can also be entered into
appropriate counters.
Another important object of the invention is to provide a scoring device
having multiple gates which are interconnected in such a way as to
establish a required sequence for pressing of the buttons, which sequence
requires first the pressing of a point-won, or a point-lost button,
followed by the pressing of a shot button. Since the pressing of a point
button can only be followed in the sequence by the pressing of a shot
button, and since the pressing of a shot button automatically resets the
sequence to require the initial pressing of a won or lost button, it
follows that the accidental double pressing of any button, or bounce of a
button's contacts, can not confuse the sequence or make additional false
entries.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide a device
resembling a small calculator which is operated by a self contained
battery whose life is maximized by the use of CMOS electronic components,
and LCD displays which draw only miniscule current. Moreover, the device
can be cemented to a Velcro pad which can be removably attached to a
Velcro wrist band which is easily adjusted for a tight fit, and which can
be removed for washing. Although this invention is illustrated by an
embodiment that shows a digital form of display, it is to be understood
that other types of displays may be employed, for instance hystogram
bargraph types of representations.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent during
the following discussion of the drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a plan view of a racquetball point scoring and analyzing device
made according to this invention;
FIG. 2 is a perspective exploded view showing a wrist band and a device
according to this invention fitted with Velcro strips so that the bottom
of the device can be detachably applied to the wrist band;
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of circuitry suitable for use in the present
device for entering, storing and displaying score points according to the
types of shots and to whether the play resulted in a won or lost point for
the wearer; and
FIG. 4 is a plan view similar to FIG. 1, but showing a tennis point scoring
device.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION
Referring now to FIG. 1, this figure shows a scoring and analyzing device
according to the invention, the device being mounted in a case 1 which may
be curved to fit more snuggly on the wrist of a wearer, the bottom of such
a curved case being shown in FIG. 2 fitted with one or more securing
means, in the illustrative embodiment comprising Velcro strips 3 for
mating with complementary Velcro strips 5 sewn on an athletic wrist band 7
shaped to tightly grip the wearer's wrist In cases where the device is not
intended to be worn on a wrist, the case 1 can be made rectangular without
curvature.
The top surface of the case 1 carries multiple push buttons of several
different types. These buttons include an ON/OFF button for selectively
connecting an internal battery B to the electronic circuit, as discussed
hereinafter. In addition, there are two buttons marked W and L which are
the point WON and point LOST buttons by which the wearer indicates to the
device whether the point being entered is one which was won or lost as a
result of the type of shot being recorded in a selected category. Finally,
there are multiple "shot" buttons, thirteen in FIG. 1, which are used by
the wearer to categorize the type of shot which resulted in the won or
lost point. In FIG. 1, the embodiment is intended especially for recording
racquetball points, and the shot buttons are marked as follows to signify
various types of shots:
LL refers to a passing shot hit down the left side wall;
RL refers to a passing shot hit down the right side wall;
XR a cross-court shot hit to the right side of the court;
XL a cross-court shot hit to the left side of the court;
PL a pinch shot hit to the left side of the court;
PR a pinch shot hit to the right side of the court;
CR a ceiling ball rebounding toward the right rear corner;
CL a ceiling ball rebounding toward the left rear corner;
D a drive served to one of the rear corners;
Z a Z-shot served to one of the rear corners;
LB a lob served to one of the back corners;
J a jam serve hit directly toward the opponent; and
UE an unforced error on the part of one of the players.
These thirteen buttons extending across the middle of the device are used
to increment the count in two elongated digital display screens 10 and 30,
each screen having thirteen windows that are respectively identified by
the numerals 11 through 23, and 31 through 43 in which the number of
recorded shots are dispayed. These windows are marked with adjacent letter
symbols that are the same as the shot button markings listed in the
preceding paragraph. The buttons, their markings and their numbers are
illustrative of the invention, and are not intended to limit the types of
shots which can be categorized and recorded according to this invention.
During the course of a competitive match, the player who is wearing the
device will, after each point is scored by either player, decide what type
of shot resulted in scoring of that point, i.e. which of the 13 categories
most nearly defined the nature of the shot. Having thus characterized the
shot, he will press either the W button if he won the point or the L
button if he lost the point, and the pressing of one of these two buttons
will select which display screen will be incremented, i.e. the upper
screen or the lower screen. Having pressed the appropriate W or L button,
the player will then press whichever of the shot buttons he has selected
as best characterizing the nature of the scoring shot, i.e. a ceiling
shot, a lob shot, a pinch shot, etc. If the player has pressed the W
botton and then the CL button, the number in the window 15 of the upper
screen 10 will be incremented. If he has pressed the L button first, then
the subsequent pressing of the CL button will increment the window 35 of
the lower screen 30. Since all numbers are continuously displayed until
the power is turned off using the ON/OFF button, the wearer can at any
time during the match see at a glance where his weaknesses and strengths
lie, and, likewise where those of his opponent lie, and can be prepared to
mount better offensive and defensive strategies. Moreover, after the match
is concluded, the wearer can study the information in greater detail at
his leisure.
Referring now to FIG. 3, this diagram shows typical circuitry for
implementing the present invention. Since there are thirteen shot buttons,
each for catagorizing a different type of shot as shown in FIG. 1, there
are thirteen subcircuits which count the shots, and one WON/LOST enable
circuit which determines which of the upper and lower displays will
contain a shot being entered. In FIG. 3, the first circuit from the left
is the W/L enable circuit. The next is the first shot subcircuit, marked
LL shot subcircuit since it controls the display which totals the number
of passing shots hit down the left side wall. This subcircuit includes two
display windows which are respectively the windows referenced 11 and 31 in
FIG. 1. In order to avoid confusing duplication of the numerous other shot
subcircuits, only two more are shown in FIG. 3, the J subcircuit
representing the jam shot counters being shown merely as a box in dashed
lines, and the last subcircuit to the right representing the UE shot
subcircuit which counts the number of unforced errors of the players. All
of the thirteen shot subcircuits are identical in circuitry. They each
include two display windows which correspond with the windows shown in
FIG. 1. In the UE subcircuit, the windows are referenced 17 and 37. Each
of the subcircuits includes two decade counters, two decoders and two
display windows. A determination of which counter is incremented is made
by the W/L enable circuit that will be described herein after the shot
subcircuits have been described.
In FIG. 3 the LL shot subcircuit, as labeled at the top of the figure,
comprises an-upper decade counter 50 which drives a decade decoder 52
which in turn drives a seven segment numerical display window 11. This is
the counter and display for points won. Similarly, the LL subcircuit
includes a decade counter 54 driving a decade decoder 56 which in turn
drives a seven segment display window 31, for points lost. The decade
counters are incremented when their clock terminals are changed from a
high to a low level by outputs from NOR gates 58 and 60 whose output
terminals normally remain low in this circuitry. The counters 50 and 54
are reset to zero when a low appears on the clear line 62 in a manner to
be presently described.
Still referring to FIG. 3, the W/L enable circuit at the left end of the
diagram determines which of the displays 11 or 31 will be incremented,
i.e. the upper WON display, or the lower LOST display. This is achieved by
pressing either the W button or the L button at the left of the diagram.
There are two flipflops 64 and 66 in the W/L enable circuit, each of which
has two outputs. When these flipflops are reset, the complemented outputs
which go to the W enable line 72 and the L enable line 74 are high and the
other outputs are low. The flipflops are reset to this condition by
applying a low to their reset terminals. Conversely, when set, the outputs
reverse their high and low states. Most of the time the flipflops are in
reset condition. The set terminals of the flipflops are normally held high
by input through resistors 68 and 70 which are returned to the positive
supply voltage Vdd. However, when the button W is pressed, for example,
the input to the set terminal of the flipflop 64 goes low and the outputs
are toggled so that the W enable line 72 goes low. Likewise, pressing of
the L button will drive the set terminal of the flipflop 66 low and will
toggle its outputs so that the L enable line 74 will go low. When the W
enable line 72 goes low, it enables one input terminal of each of the
upper NOR gates of all thirteen of the shot subcircuits, such as the upper
terminals of the gates 58 and 104. Similarly, when the L enable line 74
goes low it enables one terminal of each of the thirteen lower gates, such
as the lower terminals of the gates 60 and 106. The other terminals of
these shot subcircuit gates will be enabled whenever the associated shot
button is pushed. For instance, in the LL subcircuit, the button LL
enables the other terminals of the NOR gates 58 and 60 when it is pressed.
The line 59 is normally held high by the resistor 61 which is returned to
the positive Vdd source, but pressing of the button LL places a low signal
on line 59 to enable the attached NOR gate terminals. Note that, as will
be presently seen, only one of the W or L enable lines 72 or 74 can be
enabled (low) at any time. Therefore if the button LL is pressed only one
of the outputs of the gates 58 or 60 will be driven high. Since these are
NOR gates, and since their outputs to the decade counter clock terminals
are low whenever either one of their inputs is high, and since all of
their inputs are normally high, their outputs remain normally low until
both of their inputs are driven low.
Assuming that both flipflops 64 and 66 are presently reset so that the
enable lines 72 and 74 are high, now if for example the wearer of the
device wishes to record a point won by him as a result of a left side
shot, he will first depress the W button, which will toggle the flipflop
64 to provide a low on the W enable line 72 to enable the upper input of
the NOR gate 58. He will then depress the LL button to lower the line 59.
The gate 58 will place a low on the line 63. As soon as he releases the LL
button, the line 63 will immediately go high again and this transition
from low to high will increment the decade counter 50, increasing by one
the count in the display 11. If he had wished to record a lost point, the
wearer would first have pressed the L button which would have toggled the
flipflop 66 to provide an enabling low on the L enable line 74 to enable
the lower input of the gate 60, so that when he subsequently pressed the
LL botton, the NOR gate 60 would have provided a high on its output 65,
which upon release of the LL button would have incremented the clock
terminal of the decade counter 54 to increase by one the number displayed
in the window 31.
In each shot subcircuit, there are two transistors such as the transistors
67 and 69, which achieve automatic resetting of the W/L enable circuit
after a score has been entered by the wearer. For instance, if the W
enable flipflop 64 has been toggled to lower the W enable line 72, then
when the LL button is pressed the line 63 will go high, the transistor 67
will become conductive to lower the voltage level on the reset line 93,
which is otherwise maintained high by the resistor 95 connected to Vdd.
The lowering of the line 93 causes a high to appear on the line 84 through
the inverter 92, thereby placing a high on the center inputs to the NOR
gates 76 and 78, whereby to lower their outputs to the reset terminals of
both flipflops 64 and 66. Since the latter is still reset, only the former
is toggled back again to reset condition. In addition, the
cross-connecting lines 80 and 82 ensure that only one flipflow can be set
at any moment in time. For example, when the flipflop 64 is set, the
output from its lower terminal on line 80 places a high on the upper input
to NOR gate 78 to provide a low at its output to force resetting of the
flipflop 66 if for some reason it were not already reset. Likewise,
whenever the flipflop 66 is set by the button L, a high on its upper
output to line 82 will maintain the flipflop 64 reset through the lower
input to the NOR gate 76. As a result it is impossible for both the W
enable line 72 and the L enable line 74 to be enabled by a low at the same
time. The other shot subcircuits have similar reset transistors, such as
the transistors 97 and 99 which also enable the reset line 93 to reset the
W/L enable circuit each time the UE shot button is pressed and released.
Finally, when the wearer has finished with the device and wishes to clear
all the decade counters and window displays, he can open the ON/OFF
switch. When it is opened, the resistor 88 lowers the level on line 86.
Then when the user again closes the ON/OFF switch to use the device to
tally another match, a pulse of voltage is applied to the line 86 through
the capacitor 87, momentarily raising the voltage on the input to the
inverter 94 and causing its normally high output on clear line 62 to go
low. This lowering of the voltage on the line 62 has the effect of
resetting all the decade counters such as the counters 50, 54, 96 and 100,
whereby the window displays all show zero count. As soon as the pulse
through the capacitor 87 dissipates and line 86 goes low, the voltage on
the clear line 62 goes high again and incrementing of the counters by
pressing of appropriate buttons can proceed. Power to supply the circuitry
is provided by a battery B furnishing the positive operating potential
Vdd, the negative terminal Vss being connected to a common circuitboard
ground.
The UE shot subcircuit shown to the right in FIG. 3 is used to record
unforced errors by which points are won or lost, and operates similarly to
the LL shot subcircuit. One input to one of the NOR gates 104 or 106 is
enabled by either the W enable line 72 or the L enable line 74, and the
other input to the enabled NOR gate is enabled by pressing the button UE
to draw down the level of the line 103, whereby the output of one of the
NOR gates will go high. When the button UE is released, the corresponding
one of the decade counters 96 or 100 will have its clock terminal go from
a high to a low state, whereby that counter will be incremented and will
drive the attached decoder 98 or 102 to show an increase of one in the
corresponding display window 17 or 37.
Referring now to FIG. 4, this figure shows a device for scoring and
analyzing points won and lost during a tennis match. It is modified from
the showing of FIG. 1 since it is intended for use to score a different
game. However, its top surface also carries multiple push buttons of
different types. These buttons also include an ON/OFF button for
selectively connecting an internal battery B to the electronic circuit, as
discussed in connection with FIG. 3. In addition, there are two buttons
marked W and L which are point WON and point LOST buttons which function
similarly to those shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, and by which the wearer
indicates to the device whether the point being entered is one which was
won or lost as a result of the type of shot being recorded in a selected
category. Finally, there are multiple "shot" buttons, also thirteen in
number, which are used by the wearer to categorize the type of tennis shot
which resulted in the won or lost point. In FIG. 4 the shot buttons are
marked as follows to signify various types of shots:
LL refers to a passing shot hit down the left line;
RL refers to a passing shot hit down the right line;
XR a cross-court shot hit to the right corner of the court;
XL a cross-court shot hit to the left corner of the court;
LB a lob shot hit deep to the back of oppponent's court;
V a volley shot hit from a point near the net;
S an overhead smash shot after a opponent's lob;
D a drop shot;
DF a double fault;
F a winning service to opponent's forehand;
B a winning service to opponent's backhand;
J a jam serve hit directly toward the opponent; and
UE an unforced error on the part of one of the players.
These thirteen buttons extending across the middle of the device are used
to increment the count in two elongated digital display screens 109 and
110, each screen having thirteen windows that are respectively identified
by the numerals 111 through 123, and 131 through 143 in which the number
of recorded shots are dispayed. As in the case with FIG. 1, these windows
are marked with letters adjacent thereto corresponding with the letter
markings on the push buttons themselves. More or fewer buttons can of
course be used to adapt the device for the scoring of different types of
events.
There is no reason why the windows of the device should be limited to
single digit displays. The numbers counted therein can easily be increased
to double digits or to include a "1" to the left of the seven segment
display which can be lighted when the device is counted beyond "9". There
are several inexpensive and well known techniques for accomplishing such a
purpose where the anticipated score may exceed "9".
After the match is completed, the wearer can tabulate the numbers in the
displays, for instance onto a paper cards printed to simulate the face of
the present scoring device, whereupon the device can be cleared in
preparation for the next match.
This invention is not to be limited to the exact embodiments of the present
disclosure, for obviously change can be made therein within the scope of
the following claims.
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