Portable Game Score Tracking Device

From PDI

Contents 1 Preface 2 Problems with existing designs 3 Claims 4 In layman's terms

Preface

There exists a number of one-on-one sport games played by non-professional players in everyday settings, such as tennis, ping-pong, badminton and so on. Such games require scorekeeping, i.e. a record of "points" earned by each player by the present moment.

Problems with existing designs

Such tracking is usually performed either by mentally keeping track of the numbers, or by writing ("chalking up") the current score on a piece of paper, blackboard, etc. The problem is that during the intense physical activity the memorized number tends to "slip one's mind"; on the other hand, "chalking up" the score requires either a separate scorekeeper person, or requires the players to interrupt the game and dedicate some time to writing things down.

Claims

1. An electronic score tracking device capable of displaying two or more numbers in large symbols, easily readable from a reasonable distance;
2. A set of one or more miniature remote control devices, or "dongles", of such a size that they can be easily worn on one's wrist or neck without impeding one's movement, communicating to the main display device as claimed in claim 1 wirelessly;
3. A system of electronic score tracking device as claimed in claim 1 and miniature remote control devices as claimed in claim 2 configured in such a way that a press of a button on the remote control device increases the score on the score display on the score tracking device associated with that "dongle";
4. An electronic score tracking device as claimed in claim 1 utilizing high-contrast, low-power display technology, such as e-Ink;
5. An electronic score tracking device as claimed in claim 1 operating on battery power;
6. An electronic score tracking device as claimed in claim 1 operating on solar power;
7. An electronic score tracking device as claimed in claim 1 that includes slots or storage compartments for miniature remote control devices as claimed in claim 2, that provide charging capabilities for their internal batteries;
8. An electronic score tracking device as claimed in claim 1 containing a time-keeping chip, submodule or subroutine;
9. An electronic score tracking device as claimed in claim 8 capable of being utilized as a regular clock while not used as a score tracking device, or at all times;
10. An electronic score tracking device as claimed in claim 8 containing a non-volatile memory and capable of recording all score changes along with corresponding time stamps;
11. An electronic score tracking device as claimed in claim 10 containing a recall functionality or capable of being connected to a computer, capable of creating a detailed log of score changes for historical purposes;
12. An electronic score tracking device as claimed in claim 1 configurable to utilize different scoring models for use in different games (such as 15/30/40/match in tennis);
13. A miniature remote control devices as claimed in claim 2 providing two or more buttons configurable to provide different score increases (such as +2/+3 in basketball).
14. A setup as claimed in claim 3, in which the score counter of each player is increased by operating his opponent's dongle, as to discourage cheating.
15. A setup as claimed in claim 3, capable of providing audible clues, such as score voice announcements, computer simulated cheers, rooting for players, etc.
16. An electronic score tracking device as claimed in claim 1 intended to be permanently affixed at the game venue, such as tennis court, permanently wired to the power grid (indoors) or utilizing solar panels (outdoors), equipped with ability to establish ("pair") and maintain a semi-permanent connection, for the duration of the game, with "dongles" owned by individual players.

In layman's terms

An electronic scoreboard. You and your opponent wear bracelets with a single button each. You score, you push the button, your score increases on the board. If you're afraid of cheating, trade the bracelets, now your opponent will have to press the button to increase your score, so he has no incentive to cheat. No more need to memorize numbers while bouncing around trying to get that ball, or having to interrupt the rapid pace of the ping-pong game in order to "chalk it up".