U.S. patent number 3,782,728 [Application Number 05/288,344] was granted by the patent office on 1974-01-01 for sinking vessel simulation apparatus.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Sega Enterprises Kabushiki Kaisha. Invention is credited to Norio Yasuda.
United States Patent |
3,782,728 |
Yasuda |
January 1, 1974 |
SINKING VESSEL SIMULATION APPARATUS
Abstract
A sinking vessel display apparatus which comprises a model of a
vessel comprising two or more sections, arms for supporting the
vessel sections in an assembled state to form a complete vessel in
a normal phase of the display apparatus and for supporting the
vessel sections in a separated state to form a destroyed vessel in
a sinking phase of the display apparatus. A mechanism is supplied
for driving the support arms into the sinking phase from the
uppermost support position of the vessel sections in the normal
phase where the assembled complete vessel is held substantially
along a horizontal line. The respective vessel sections are moved
downwardly as they are separated from each other and at least one
of the sections is inclined with respect to the horizontal
line.
Inventors: |
Yasuda; Norio (Soka,
JA) |
Assignee: |
Sega Enterprises Kabushiki
Kaisha (Tokyo, JA)
|
Family
ID: |
23106700 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/288,344 |
Filed: |
September 12, 1972 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
463/56; 434/25;
463/57 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F41J
5/04 (20130101); F41J 9/02 (20130101); F41J
7/04 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
F41J
7/00 (20060101); F41J 5/00 (20060101); F41J
9/00 (20060101); F41J 5/04 (20060101); F41J
7/04 (20060101); F41J 9/02 (20060101); F41j
007/01 () |
Field of
Search: |
;273/101.1,101.2,12.1O,12.1R,105.2,1E ;35/25 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Pinkham; Richard C.
Assistant Examiner: Siskind; Marvin
Attorney, Agent or Firm: E. F. Wenderoth et al.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A sinking vessel diaplsy apparatus having a normal phase and a
sinking phase in the operating cycle comprising:
a. a model of a vessel consisting of two or more separate
sections,
b. support means for holding said vessel in an assembled state and
in a horizontal position in the normal phase,
c. first drive means for moving said vessel along a predetermined
path in the horizontal position in the normal phase,
d. second drive means for driving said holding means downwardly
from said horizontal position and off said predetermined path in
the sinking phase,
e. said holding means also supporting said vessel in a separated
state in the sinking phase of the display apparatus such that the
holding means and the second means cooperate to simulate the
destruction and sinking of a vessel upon a successful hit of said
vessel.
2. A sinking vessel display apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in
which said second drive means drives said support means in such
manner that said vessel section is gradually inclined with respect
to the horizontal line as it is moved downwardly.
3. A sinking vessel display apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in
which subsequent to said normal and sinking phases is provided a
recovering phase in one cycle of said display apparatus, said
support means supporting said vessel sections in a separated state
also in said recovering phase, and said second drive means drives
said support means in said recovering phase in such manner that
starting from the lowermost support position of said vessel
sections where said sinking phase terminates, said respective
vessel sections may be moved upwardly as they are assembled
together and restored to their substantially horizontal attitude
until they form a complete vessel held substantially along a
horizontal line at the uppermost support position when said
recovering phase terminates.
4. A sinking vessel display apparatus having one operating cycle
consisting of normal, sinking and recovering phases, comprising a
model of vessel consisting of two or more vessel sections, first
support means for supporting said vessel sections in an assembled
state to form a complete vessel in said normal phase of said
display apparatus and for supporting said vessel sections in a
separated state to form a destroyed vessel in said sinking and
recovering phases of said display apparatus, and first drive means
for driving said first support means in said sinking phase in such
manner that starting from the uppermost position of said vessel
sections in said normal phase where the assembled complete vessel
is held substantially along a horizontal line, said respective
vessel sections are moved downwardly as they are separated from
each other and at least one of said vessel sections is gradually
inclined with respect to the horizontal line, and for driving said
first support means in said recovering phase in such manner that
starting from the lowermost support position of said vessel
sections where said sinking phase terminates, said respective
vessel sections may be moved upwardly as they are assembled
together and restored to their substantially horizontal attitude
until they form a complete vessel held substantailly along a
horizontal lone at the uppermost support position when said
recovering phase terminates.
5. A sinking vessel display apparatus as claimed in claim 4, which
further comprises a second support means for supporting said first
support means and said first drive means along an endless track, a
second drive means for driving said first support means and said
first drive means along said endless track, a first control means
responsive to an input signal for switching said display apparatus
from said normal phase to said sinking phase provided that said
second support means is in one part of said endless track, and a
second control means responsive to the transfer of said second
support means from said one part to the other part of said endless
track for switching said display apparatus from said sinking phase
to said recovering phase.
6. A sinking vessel display apparatus as claimed in claim 4, in
which said first support means consists of a support member fixedly
secured to a horizontal rotary shaft at one point, which in turn
supports said vessel sections at separated points thereon at least
one fixedly and the others pivotably, and said first drive means
consists of an electric motor and a transmission system for
transmitting the rotary motion of said electric motor to said
horizontal shaft and also to the pivotal shafts of the pivotably
supported vessel sections.
Description
The present invention relates to a sinking vessel display
apparatus, and more particularly, to such display apparatus
suitable to be applied to a playing machine although the invention
is not limited that use.
Heretofore, in the art of playing machines, various display
apparatuses for dummy targets such as vessels, airplanes or
military ground establishments, have been developed. In order to
afford a realistic impression to the machine player, the dummy
targets were adapted to flash in response to his hitting the
targets upon shooting a torpedo, a missile, or a bomb. In some of
the playing machines using dummy targets of vessels, upon hitting a
target, it was moved downwardly to be hidden by the waves in the
foreground of the targets as a dummy display of a sinking vessel.
However, such extent of dummy display of a sinking vessel was not
satisfactory for giving the machine player a very realistic
impression of a sinking vessel as destroyed by a torpedo, because
vessels navigating on or in the waters would often sink as severed
into two or more sections, each section being gradually inclined
with respect to a horizontal line as it moves downwardly, when the
vessels are destroyed by torpedoes or explosive cargoes.
Therefore, one object of the present invention is to provide a
novel display apparatus for sinking vessels which affords the
observer a more realistic impression than in the prior art
apparatus.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel
display apparatus for sinking vessels which can achieve three
phases of operation in one cycle consisting of normal, sinking and
recovering phases successively.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a novel display
apparatus for sinking vessels which is constructed in a simple
manner but can operate reliably.
According to one feature of the present invention, the sinking
vessel display apparatus comprises a model of vessel consisting of
two or more vessel sections, means for supporting said vessel
sections in an assembled state to form a complete vessel in a
normal phase of said display apparatus and for supporting said
vessel sections in a separated state to form a destroyed vessel in
a sinking phase of said display apparatus, and means for driving
said support means in said sinking phase in such manner that
starting from the uppermost support position of said vessel
sections in said normal phase where the assembled complete vessel
is held substantially along a horizontal line, said respective
vessel sections may be moved downwardly as they are separated from
each other and at least one of said vessel sections may be inclined
with respect to the horizontal line.
Since the sinking vessel display apparatus according to the present
invention is constructed as featured above, when said apparatus is
in its normal phase of operation, said two or more vessel sections
are integrally assembled to form a complete vessel and positioned
at the uppermost support position, so that in association with
appropriate background and foreground of the waters the completed
vessel model displays a vessel as if it is at anchor on the waters
or as if it is navigating on or in the waters depending upon
whether the completed vessel model is stopped or advanced in the
horizontal direction. Furthermore, when said apparatus is in its
sinking phase of operation, the completed vessel model initially
held at the uppermost position is severed into two or more vessel
sections as it is moved downwardly and at least one of the vessel
sections are inclined with respect to the horizontal line, so that
in association with appropriate background and foreground of the
waters the severed vessel model sections display a sinking vessel
as if it were actually destroyed by torpedoes or explosive cargoes.
Therefore, the observer in front of this display apparatus si given
a very realistic impression of vessels that are normally navigating
or that are sinking as destroyed by torpedoes or explosive
cargoes.
These and other features of the present invention will become more
apparent from perusal of the following specification taken in
conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a longitudinal cross-section side view of a playing
machine incorporating one preferred embodiment of the sinking
vessel display apparatus according to the present invention,
FIG. 2 is an enlarged partial plane view of the essential part of
the playing machine in FIG. 1,
FIG. 3 is a side view taken along line III--III in FIG. 2 as viewed
in the direction of arrows,
FIGS. 4 and 5 are enlarged partial plane view of the essential part
shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 4 showing a target having its severed
sections assembled integrally, FIG. 5 showing the same target
having its severed sections separated from each other,
FIG. 6 is a transverse cross-section view taken along line VI--VI
in FIG. 4 as viewed in the direction of arrows, and
FIG. 7 is a circuit diagram illustrating a power supply circuit for
a driving motor used in the above embodiment.
Referring now to the accompanying drawings, the sinking vessel
display apparatus according to the present invention is illustrated
as incorporated in a playing machine, in which submarines
navigating in the waters are shot with torpedoes. Throughout FIGS.
1 to 7, like components are designated with the same reference
numerals.
In these figures, reference numeral 1 designates a casing of the
playing machine, and at the upper portion of its front surface is
disposed a transparent glass plate 2. Within said casing 1 and
behind said glass plate 2 are mounted two semi-transparent mirror
plates 3 and 4 in parallel to each other and as directed to an
obliquely downward direction at 45.degree. with respect to the
horizon, said semi-transparent mirror plate functioning to permeate
and reflect an incident light in a predetermined proportion.
Also within said casing 1 is disposed a torpedo imaging device 5
just beneath the fore semi-transparent mirror plate 3, in such
manner that the direction of the torpedo imaging device
representing a wake of the torpedo may be varied by manipulating an
operating lever 6 provided in front of said casing 1.
In addition, within said casing 1 and obliquely above the rear
semi-transparent mirror plate 4 is disposed a rising bubbles
imaging device 7, and a screen 8 made from a frosted glass plate or
the like is extended horizontally beneath said imaging device 7.
Further, a reflector mirror 9 is extended from the lower edge of
said rear semi-transparent mirror plate 4 to the rearmost end of
the screen 8, and above said reflector mirror 9 is mounted a curved
transparent plate 10 forming a part of a cylindrical surface. Thus
the image of bubbles projected upon the screen 8 with said rising
bubbles imaging device 7 can be transmitted to the glass plate 2
via the reflector mirror 9 and the semi-transparent mirror plates 3
and 4, so that a machine player standing in front of the casing 1
can see the image of the rising bubbles.
Still further, within said casing 1 and just beneath the rear
semi-transparent mirror plate 4 is disposed a foreground model 11
depicting the scene of bottom of the waters, and further beneath
said foreground model 11 is arranged a sinking submarine display
frame 12.
In said sinking submarine display frame 12, two rotary shafts 13
directed in the forth and back direction of the machine are
pivotably mounted at a predetermined interval in the lateral
direction, sprockets 14 are integrally fitted to the opposite ends
of said rotary shafts 13, and the corresponding sprockets 14 on the
respective rotary shafts 13 are coupled with each other by means of
a pair of endless chain belts 15.
As will be seen in FIG. 2, one of the rotary shafts 13 is coupled
to a target driving motor 16 via a transmission device 17, so that
the above-described chain belts 15 may be driven in one direction
by the rotation of said motor 16.
A target carrier plate 18 is mounted across said two chain belts 15
integrally therewith, current collector plates 19 are disposed
along one of said chain belts 15, and a target position detector
piece 20 is mounted on said target carrier plate 18 so as to make
contact with said current collector plates 19, so that the position
of a target 21 forming a submarine model that is mounted on the
target carrier plate 18 as fully described later, may be detected
by means of said current collector plates 19 and the target
position detector piece 20. Since these target position detecting
means are generally known and do not form a part of the present
invention, we will omit a more detailed explanation thereon.
On the back side of said target carrier plate 18 is mounted a
target rotating motor 24, whose rotary shaft 25 penetrates through
the carrier plate 18 and projects outwardly as best seen in FIG. 6,
a bifurcated (Y-shaped) target support arm 26 is integrally secured
to said rotary shaft 25, and a fore target section 22 is fixedly
secured to an extremity of one branch of said arm 26, while a rear
target section 23 is pivotably mounted to an extremity of the other
branch of said arm 26 via a shaft 27.
A fixed sprocket 28 is mounted integrally on said target carrier
plate 28 concentrically with said rotary shaft 25, while on the
shaft 27 that is integral with said rear target section 23 is
integrally mounted another sprocket 29 that has the same diameter
and the same number of teeth as said fixed sprocket 28, and an
endless chain belt 30 is engaged with said respective sprockets 28
and 29.
In parallel to said chain belts 15, there are provided four
trolleys 31, 32, 33 and 34 (although five trolleys are shown in the
drawings, one of them is not pertinent to the subject invention and
so it is there disregarded) also in an endless manner, and current
collectors 35, 36, 37 and 38 which slidably make contact with said
respective trolleys are provided on said target carrier plate
18.
In addition, arcuated fixed slide contacts 39, 40 and 41 are
disposed on said target carrier plate 18 so as to be arranged
concentrically with said rotary shaft 25 of the motor 24, the fixed
slide contact 41 being positioned across the broken portion of the
fixed slide contact 40, and said fixed slide contacts 39, 40 and 41
are respectively connected to said current collectors 35, 36 and
38.
Separate current collectors 42, 43 and 44 are fixedly mounted on
the rotary shaft 25 of the motor 24, and these collectors are
electrically connected to each other and are adapted to make slide
contact with said arcuated fixed slide contacts 39, 40 and 41,
respectively.
The power supply circuit for the target rotating motor 24 is wired
as schematically shown in FIG. 7, in which the respective component
members pertinent to the circuit connection are diagramatically and
somewhat symbolically shown as designated by the same reference
numerals as in other structural figures. As will be seen in FIG. 7,
the trolley 31 and the associated current collector 35 can close
circuit only when the target 21 is positioned on the front side,
the trolley 32 and the associated current collector 35 as well as
the trolley 33 and the associated current collector 37 can close
circuits over the entire path of the target 21, and the trolley 34
and the associated current collector can close a circuit only when
the target 21 is positioned on the back side.
Contacts 45 are hit relay contacts which are closed only when the
torpedo displayed by the torpedo imaging device 5 has hit the
submarine target 21, and said relay contacts 45 are connected in
series to the trolley 31 and the associated current collector 35,
and in turn connected to said target rotating motor 24. Since the
circuit for energizing the hit relay is in itself well-known and
does not form a part of the present invention, a further
description thereon will be omitted here.
The operation of the playing machine constructed as described above
is as follows: When a player has thrown in a predetermined amount
of coins into the slot of the playing machine, the target driving
motor 16 is caused to start rotation through a known control
circuit (not shown), resulting in lateral movement of the target
model 21 on the front side of its endless path from the right end
to the left end as viewed in FIG. 2. Then the player manipulates
the operating lever 6 to aim the target model 21 and discharges a
torpedo, when the torpedo imaging device 5 is actuated to display
the wake of the torpedo as if the torpedo is advancing in the water
towards the target 21.
If the torpedo has hit the target, a hit relay (not shown) is
energized through a known control circuit to close the hit relay
contacts 45, and consequently, a current flows from one line of the
power feed (the upper horizontal line in FIG. 7) through the hit
relay contacts 45, trolley 31, current collector 35, target
rotating motor 24, current collector 37 and trolley 33 to the other
line of the power feed (the lower horizontal line in FIG. 7). Thus
the target rotating motor 24 starts rotation to move the current
collectors 42, 43 and 44 along the respective circular paths
(represented as rectilinear paths in FIG. 7), and the arcuated
fixed slide contacts 39 and 40 are interconnected by the mutually
connected collectors 42 and 43. Therefore, once the motor 24 starts
rotation, even if the relay contacts 45 are open, the energizing
circuit for the motor 24 is completed through an alternative path
consisting of the trolley 32, current collector 36, arcuated fixed
slide contact 40, mutually connected current collectors 43 and 42
and arcuated fixed slide contact 39, so that said target rotating
motor 24 is kept rotating over about 180.degree..
When said current collector 43 comes to the broken portion of the
arcuated fixed slide contact 40, the interconncetion between the
arcuated fixed slide contacts 40 and 39 is cut off. Then the
current collector 38 does not make contact with the conductive
portion (represented by a hatched area) of the trolley 34 because
the target model 21 is positioned on the front side of its endless
path. Thus all the possible paths for feeding the target rotating
motor 24 are blocked, and so the motor 24 stops rotation.
Thereafter, when the target 21 has been moved to the back side of
the endless chain belt 15 by the rotation of said target driving
motor 16, the current collector 38 comes to the conductive portion
of the trolley 34, so that a current flows through the motor 24 via
a third feeding path consisting of the trolley 34, current
collector 38, arcuated fixed slide contact 41, mutually connected
current collectors 44 and 42 and arcuated fixed slide contact 39,
and thereby the target rotating motor 24 again starts rotation.
After the current collector 43 has passed the broken portion of the
arcuated fixed slide contact 40, it makes contact with the latter
half of said slide contact 40 and thereby the arcuated fixed slide
contacts 40 and 39 are again interconnected to complete the second
feeding path for the motor 24. Therefore, the motor 24 rotates
further over above 180.degree., and after making rotation of
360.degree., the target support arm 26 and the target model 21
which are fixedly secured to the rotary shaft of the motor 24, are
returned to their original positions on the target carrier plate
18.
During the above-described rotational motion of the rotary shaft of
the target rotating motor 24, the target model 21 is displayed in
the following manner: That is, since the fixed sprocket 28 and the
pivotably mounted sprocket 29 have the same diameter and the same
number of teeth, the revolutional angular velocity of the rear half
section 23 of the submarine model 21 caused by the revolution of
the target support arm 26 and the rotational angular velocity of
the same caused via the sprocket 28, the endless chain belt 30 and
the sprocket 29 are equal in magnitude but opposite in direction,
so that the sprocket 21 and the rear half section 23 of the
submarine model 21 are displaced backwardly in the state shown in
FIG. 4 and downwardly in the state shown in FIG. 5 while
maintaining their attitude in a fixed direction (the rear half
section 23 being kept horizontal). On the other hand, the front
half section 22 of the submarine model 21 that is fixedly secured
to the front branch of the target support arm 26, is revolved about
the rotary shaft of the motor 24 in the clockwised direction as
viewed in FIGS. 4 and 5 integrally with the target support arm 26,
while it is rotated at the same angular velocity and in the same
direction as its revolution about the motor shaft. Consequently,
the rear target section 23 is gradually hidden behing the
foreground model 11 such as rocks at the bottom of the waters while
being kept horizontal, whereas the front target section 22 is
separated from the rear target section 23 and sinks as it is
gradually inclined with its bow directed upwardly until it is also
hidden behind the foreground model 11. This motion of the
respective sections of the submarine model 21 afford the machine
player a very realistic impression, as if a real submarine is
destroyed by a torpedo into two sections which separately sink
either as gradually inclined or as kept horizontal until they are
hidden by the rocks at the bottom of the waters.
If the above-described embodiment is somewhat modified in such
manner that the diameter and the number of teeth of the sprocket 28
are made two times as large as those of the sprocket 29, then the
rotational angular velocity of the sprocket 29 and the rear target
section 23 caused by the sprocket 28 and the endless chain belt 30
is two times as large as the revolutional angular velocity of the
same but is opposite in direction. Therefore, in this case the rear
target section 23 is not kept horizontal, but it is gradually
inclined in the opposite direction to the front target section 22
so that the two sections 22 and 23 of the target model 21 are
broken into a V-shape.
In a further modification of the embodiments, the front target
section 22 is also pivotably mounted at the extremity of the front
branch of the target support arm, and on this pivotal shaft is
mounted another sprocket having the same diameter and the same
number of teeth as the sprocket 29 and integrally secured to the
front target section 22. Similarly to the just preceding
modification, the diameters and the numbers of teeth of the
sprockets 28 and 29 are selected to have a ratio of 2:1, and the
chain belt 30 is engaged with the sprockets 28 and 29 in the same
manner as described above, but another endless chain belt is
engaged with the sprocket 29 and said another sprocket integrally
secured to the front target section 28 to form a 8 -shaped loop.
Then the sprocket 29 and said another sprocket is driven in the
opposite directions, and it will be obvious that the respective
target sections 22 and 23 are gradually broken into a V-shape.
* * * * *