U.S. patent application number 12/708325 was filed with the patent office on 2011-02-10 for automatically scoring structure of a dartboard.
Invention is credited to Steel SU, Adrianus C.A. Van Der Vorst, Min Chin Yeh.
Application Number | 20110031696 12/708325 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 42427522 |
Filed Date | 2011-02-10 |
United States Patent
Application |
20110031696 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
SU; Steel ; et al. |
February 10, 2011 |
AUTOMATICALLY SCORING STRUCTURE OF A DARTBOARD
Abstract
An automatically scoring structure of a dartboard which
comprises a board body, at least two camera modules, a processing
module and a display module is provided. The board body has a
board-surface. The at least two camera modules comprise a first
camera module and a second camera module. The first camera module
retrieves a first image of the board-surface through a first angle,
while the second camera module retrieves a second image of the
board-surface through a second angle. The processing module which
is electrically connected to the at least two camera modules
determines a location of at least one dart according to the first
and second images, and calculates a score according to the location
of the at least one dart. The display module displays the
score.
Inventors: |
SU; Steel; (Taipei County,
TW) ; Van Der Vorst; Adrianus C.A.; (Taipei County,
TW) ; Yeh; Min Chin; (Taipei County, TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Muncy, Geissler, Olds & Lowe, PLLC
4000 Legato Road, Suite 310
FAIRFAX
VA
22033
US
|
Family ID: |
42427522 |
Appl. No.: |
12/708325 |
Filed: |
February 18, 2010 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
273/371 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F41J 5/02 20130101; F41J
3/00 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
273/371 |
International
Class: |
F41J 5/02 20060101
F41J005/02; F41J 5/04 20060101 F41J005/04 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Aug 6, 2009 |
CN |
200920168027.6 |
Claims
1. An automatically scoring structure of a dartboard, comprising: a
board body, having a board-surface; at least two camera modules,
including a first camera module and a second camera module, the
first camera module capturing a first image of the board-surface at
a first angle, the second camera module capturing a second image of
the board-surface at a second angle; a processing module,
electrically connected to the at least two camera modules, being
configured to determine a position of at least one dart according
to the first image and the second image, and being capable of
calculating a score according to the position of the at least one
dart; and a display module, being configured to display the
score.
2. The automatically scoring structure as claimed in claim 1,
further comprising a case, wherein the board body and the at least
two camera modules are disposed in the case.
3. The automatically scoring structure as claimed in claim 1,
wherein the processing module is further configured to record the
score.
4. The automatically scoring structure as claimed in claim 1,
wherein the first angle and the second angle are respectively
between 0.degree. and 90.degree..
5. The automatically scoring structure as claimed in claim 1,
wherein the first angle and the second angle are respectively
between 30.degree. and 40.degree..
6. The automatically scoring structure as claimed in claim 1,
wherein the display module is further configured to display
competition information.
7. The automatically scoring structure as claimed in claim 6,
wherein the competition information comprises a user
identification, a thrown dart number and an accumulation score.
8. The automatically scoring structure as claimed in claim 1,
wherein the board body is a one-piece bristol board body.
9. The automatically scoring structure as claimed in claim 1,
wherein the board body is a one-piece wooden board body.
10. The automatically scoring structure as claimed in claim 1,
wherein the board body is a one-piece wound paper board body.
11. The automatically scoring structure as claimed in claim 1,
wherein the board body is a one-piece flocked board body.
Description
[0001] This application claims the benefit from the priority of
China Patent Application No. 200920168027.6 filed on Aug. 6, 2009,
the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein in
their entirety.
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0002] Not applicable.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] 1. Field of the Invention
[0004] The present invention relates to a dartboard; in particular,
to an automatically scoring structure of a dartboard.
[0005] 2. Descriptions of the Related Art
[0006] Casual and competitive dartboard games have been popular
pastimes. The determinations of wins/loses and scores of the
dartboard game are based on the ability of the players to throw
darts onto the board-surface.
[0007] In conventional dartboard competitions, the hitting points
of the dart are determined artificially. As a result, the
determinations of the errors caused by humans may factor in when
calculating points, leading to a delay, especially during
competition. In view of the above-mentioned drawbacks, certain
types of electronic and automatically scoring dartboards have been
developed. The electronic dartboards commonly found in the market
mostly have a board-surface with different scoring blocks of the
dartboard body that are separately packed, and each of the
different scoring blocks is mounted with electronic sensors. When a
dart is thrown onto the board-surface of the board body, one of the
electronic sensors of that scoring blocks will sense the dart, and
a corresponding score is automatically recorded via such a
design.
[0008] However, the above-mentioned conventional electronic
dartboards mostly utilize plastic darts and porous grid-type board
bodies. Such a design may interfere with the game because the darts
being thrown at the grid-type plate position between the holes of
the scoring region (or the boundary frame between the scoring
regions) may fall out even through the dart is thrown within the
correct positions on the dartboard. Furthermore, although
conventional one-piece bristle board bodies employ thinner
board-surface separation sheets as separators for individual
scoring blocks to reduce the above-mentioned situation in which the
darts are thrown at the frame but ends up falling out of the
dartboard, in an international dart competition, to obtain accuracy
and fairness of the competition, one-piece bristle board bodies are
not mounted with any electronic sensing devices. Thus, the
calculation and recording of scores have to be done manually. As a
result, competitions are delayed and participants will often be
distracted by the score calculations. To overcome the
above-mentioned shortcomings, automatically scoring dartboard
devices that are economic and practical are needed. In particular,
the dartboard should sense the hitting points of the darts while
not affecting the scoring accuracy, and automatically record and
calculate the scores at the same time.
[0009] As mentioned above, it is important to improve the
automatically scoring system of a dartboard which could quickly
determine the hitting points of the darts onto the board-surface.
At the same time, the scores are calculated and recorded; and the
automatically scoring system of a dartboard can be used on the
board body made with of various material types.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0010] The primary objective of this invention is to provide an
automatically scoring structure of a dartboard which
comprehensively considers the speed, accuracy and fairness in
score-calculation and that is applicable on board bodies made from
various types of materials.
[0011] To achieve the aforesaid objective, this invention provides
an automatically scoring structure of a dartboard comprising a
board body, at least two camera modules, a processing module and a
display module. The board body has a board-surface. The at least
two camera modules include respectively a first camera module and a
second camera module. The first camera module captures a first
image of the board-surface at a first angle, and the second camera
module captures a second image of the board-surface at a second
angle. The processing module is electrically connected to the at
least two camera modules, while the first image and the second
image determine a position of at least one dart, and the score is
calculated based on the position of the at least one dart. The
display module displays the identification of a participant, the
score and other related information.
[0012] According to the above contents, the automatically scoring
structure of the dartboard can be disposed onto the board body made
from any type of materials currently on the market. At least two
camera modules are employed to rapidly and accurately determine the
hitting points of the dart onto the board-surface at the same time,
such that the participant could focus on throwing darts, and the
dartboard competition could proceed smoothly and fairly.
[0013] The detailed technology and preferred embodiments
implemented for the subject invention are described in the
following paragraphs accompanying the appended drawings for people
skilled in this field to well appreciate the features of the
claimed invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0014] FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a dartboard of a first
preferred embodiment of the present invention;
[0015] FIG. 2A is a perspective view schematically showing the
first preferred embodiment of the present invention;
[0016] FIG. 2B is the bottom view of the first preferred embodiment
of the present invention;
[0017] FIG. 3A is another perspective view schematically showing
the first preferred embodiment of the present invention;
[0018] FIG. 3B is another bottom view of the first preferred
embodiment of the present invention;
[0019] FIG. 4A is a perspective view schematically showing a second
preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention;
and
[0020] FIG. 4B is a bottom view of the second preferred embodiment
of the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0021] The following preferred embodiments are used to describe an
automatically scoring structure of a dartboard. The description of
the preferred embodiments is used to construe the objects of the
present invention and is not a limitation of the claims thereof.
Those non-directly related elements of the present invention have
been omitted from the drawings, and the specific dimensions of the
elements shown in the drawings are meant for the understanding of
the invention and are not a limitation on the actual size of the
elements.
[0022] FIG. 1 illustrates schematically a first preferred
embodiment of an automatically scoring structure of a dartboard 1
of the present invention. The automatically scoring structure of a
dartboard 1 comprises a board body 11, a first camera module 13, a
second camera module 14, a case 15, a processing module 16 and a
display module 17. The board body 11, the first camera module 13
and the second camera module 14 are disposed in the case 15 which
is portable and convenient to be used together. The board body 11
of the present invention can be any board body available in the
market or the standard board body used in the competitions, such as
one-piece bristol board bodies, wooden board bodies, wound paper
board bodies and flocked board bodies. In accordance with the
preferred embodiment of the present invention, the board body is
not restricted to any specific materials. FIGS. 2A and 3A are
three-dimensional views schematically illustrating the first
preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 2B and 3B are
top views of the first preferred embodiment. Substantially, the
board body 11 has a board-surface 110. When a participant throws a
dart 121 onto the board-surface 110, the first camera module 13
captures a first image 132 of the board-surface 110 via a first
angle 131. Simultaneously, the second camera module 14 captures a
second image 142 of the board-surface 110 via a second angle
141.
[0023] Specifically, in accordance with the present invention, the
first angle 131 is the included angle of the board-surface 110 with
the normal line of the plane of the lens of the first camera module
13; the second angle 141 is the included angle of the board-surface
110 with the normal line of the plane of the lens of the second
camera module 14. The first image 132 and the second image 142
respectively represent the entire range of images of the two
different viewing angles covering the board-surface 110. It should
be noted that, the value of the included angle of the board-surface
110 of the board body 11 with the normal line of the plane of the
lens of the first camera module 13 and the value of the included
angle of the board-surface 110 of the board body 11 with the normal
line of the plane of the lens of the second camera module 14 are
between the range from 0.degree. to 90.degree., preferably, from
30.degree. to 40.degree..
[0024] After that, the processing module 16 which is electronically
connected to the first camera module 13 and the second camera
module 14, receives the first image 132 and the second image 142
therefrom respectively. The hitting point of the dart 121 onto the
board-surface 110 is determined according to the first image 132
and the second image 142. Simultaneously, a score 161 is calculated
according to the hitting point of the dart 121. It should be
appreciated that if only a single camera module is employed; there
may be an error when the darts are mutually covered. Thus, to
prevent such a possibility, in the preferred embodiment of the
present invention, at least two camera modules are employed.
Consequently, multiple images can be used as the basis to
accurately determine the hitting point of the dart.
[0025] Upon calculation of the score 161 of the dart 121 by the
processing module 16, the score 161 is transmitted to the display
module 17. The processing module 16 is further used to record the
score 161 so that an accumulation score can be calculated. The
display module 17 is used to display the score 161 of the dart
121.
[0026] When a participant throws the dart 122 onto the
board-surface 110, the first camera module 13 captures a third
image 134 of the board-surface 110 via the same first angle 131.
Simultaneously, the second camera module 14 captures a fourth image
144 of the board-surface 110 via the same second angle 141.
[0027] Subsequently, the processing module 16, being electrically
connected to the first camera module 13 and the second camera
module 14, receives the third image 134 and the fourth image 144
therefrom respectively, and determines the position of the hitting
point of the dart 122 onto the board-surface 110 according to the
third image 134 and the fourth image 144. Simultaneously, another
score 163 is calculated according to the hitting point of the dart
122. After the processing module 16 has calculated the score 163 of
the dart 122, the score 163 and the previously recorded score 161
are added to obtain an accumulation score 165. The score 163 is
transmitted to the display module 17. After that, the display
module 17 displays the score 163 of the dart 122 and the
accumulation score 165 of the darts 121 and 122. Thus, the
subsequent calculation and display of the score 161 of the dart 121
and the score 163 of the dart 122 will be public and accurate by
means of the processing module 16 and the display module 17.
[0028] Emphatically, the display module 17 can be configured and
designed such that it synchronizes competition information of the
competitions. The competition information can be standard scores
161, 163 and/or the accumulation score 165. The competition
information also includes a user identification which represents
the participation number of the participant and the throw dart
numbers which represent the number of the darts having been thrown
by a participant. The display module 17 is not restricted to
display score related information, but it can further display
related competition information.
[0029] FIG. 4A is a three-dimensional view schematically
illustrating a second preferred embodiment. FIG. 4B is a top view
of the second preferred embodiment. In the second preferred
embodiment, the method of operation and the configuration of the
individual elements are similar to that of the first preferred
embodiment. The difference between the first preferred embodiment
and the second preferred embodiment is that a third camera module
18 is mounted in the second preferred embodiment.
[0030] The third camera module 18 is electrically connected to the
processing module 16 and the operation thereof is similar to that
of the first camera module 13 or the second camera module 14. Thus,
the description related to the third camera module 18 will not be
repeated. By employing the images of the board-surface 110 captured
by the first camera module 13 and the second camera module 14
together with the image of the board-surface 110 captured by the
third camera 18, the processing module 16 could further accurately
determines the positions of the hitting points of the darts 121,
122 on the board-surface 110 by using the three images at different
angles. Thus, the calculation of score is more precise.
[0031] In the present application, the number of camera modules is
not restricted to two, but the number could be increased (to three
or more than four) if necessary to attain the complete efficiency
of the present invention.
[0032] In view of the above, the automatically scoring structure of
a dartboard can be employed on any board body made from any types
of material. At the same time, at least two camera modules are
employed to capture images, and to quickly and precisely determine
the position of the hitting point of the dart on the board-surface.
Thus, it allows a smooth dartboard competition. In addition, the
electronic method of score calculation will prevent the competition
delay as would otherwise result from manual calculation and record,
and also prevent the darts from falling outside the boundary, which
can be caused often when using the plastic bodies. Thus, the
present invention enables a dart competition with fair results.
[0033] The above disclosure is related to the detailed technical
contents and inventive features thereof. People skilled in this
field may proceed with a variety of modifications and replacements
based on the disclosures and suggestions of the invention as
described without departing from the characteristics thereof.
Nevertheless, although such modifications and replacements are not
fully disclosed in the above descriptions, they have substantially
been covered in the following claims as appended.
* * * * *