Patent Application
20230338822
The present disclosure relates to the technical field of board games, in particular, to an intelligent Score Four.
Connect Four, also known as Score Four, is a chess game developed by A. P. Nienstaedt in 1968. The Score Four includes: 1), a plurality of sticks, which are arranged in a matrix or square array on a chessboard, and each stick being long enough to insert into at least four beads; and 2) beads with different colors, which can be used by a player and an opponent, respectively, and each bead being provided with a hole into which the stick is inserted. Rules of the game require both the player and the opponent to take turns sleeving one of their own beads outside the rolling stick, so that the bead falls on the bottom or on other pieces due to gravity. When one of the player and the opponent places his/her own four beads in a line vertically, horizontally or diagonally, he/she wins.
This is a battle game that very tests the players' spatial imagination. The players need to think about the placement of the pieces while observing. However, when the number of placed pieces gradually increases, the beads on the sticks in the middle of the matrix are easily blocked by the beads on the sticks in the periphery of the matrix, making it difficult for players to correctly determine whether the winner has been decided.
In order to solve the technical problem that it is difficult for both the player and the opponent to accurately determine whether the winner has been decided during the Score Four game, the technical solution aims to provide an intelligent Score Four, which can assist players to accurately determine the winner of the game.
In order to solve the above technical problems, in an aspect, the present disclosure adopts the following technical solution.
An intelligent Score Four includes:
There are various ways for the monitor to identify the player's move. For example, the player informs that the move is completed by pressing a button in a placement area, and the processor obtains the stacking number of pieces in the placement area by recording the number of times the same button is pressed. Specifically, the monitor includes a main control board, buttons, and micro switches. The main control board is located below the upper panel. The micro switches are mounted on the main control board and correspond one-to-one with the placement areas. A bottom of the button is in contact with an action reed of the micro switch; and the placement area is provided with a through hole through which the button partially passes.
Further, a top of the button includes a platform on which the pieces are capable of being placed. A first magnet is embedded in a center of the platform. A bottom surface of the piece is provided with a second magnet. The second magnet has an opposite magnetism to the first magnet. A top surface of the piece is provided with a third magnet. The third magnet has the same magnetism as the first magnet. The magnets are used for positioning and centering between the pieces, which can save the structure of rods and beads like the conventional Score Four, making the chessboard and the pieces more portable.
Or, through configuring a circuit connection between the pieces and the chessboard, and applying a safe voltage, the player's move can be obtained by monitoring the resistance change in the circuit formed by the placement area. Specifically, the monitor includes a main control board and a chessboard contact group. The main control board is located below the upper panel. Each placement area is provided with a group of chessboard contact groups. One end of the chessboard contact group is electrically connected to the main control board, and the other end of the chessboard contact group passes through the upper panel. Each piece is provided with a piece main board and a piece contact group. The piece contact group is electrically connected to the piece main board. The piece contact group passes through a top surface and a bottom surface of the piece and is adapted to the chessboard contact group.
Further, the piece contact group and the chessboard contact group each include an inner contact, an outer ring contact, a return spring, and a positioning magnet. The inner contact and the outer ring contact are in a shape of concentric circles. The positioning magnet is provided at a center of the inner contact. A positioning magnet of the chessboard contact group is a first positioning magnet, and a positioning magnet on a bottom surface of the piece contact group is a second positioning magnet. The second positioning magnet has an opposite magnetism to the first positioning magnet. A positioning magnet on a top surface of the piece contact group is a third positioning magnet. The third positioning magnet has the same magnetism as the first positioning magnet. The return spring provides support for the inner contact and the outer ring contact, respectively. The centering by magnetic attraction is also adopted, but since there are metal contacts required for circuit connection, the return spring is additionally provided to ensure good contact between the contacts.
Or, by directly monitoring the change of the weight of the pieces in the placement area, the player's move process and the spatial position of the pieces can be calculated. That is, the monitor is a gravity sensor.
In addition, it is also possible to use a structure similar to the conventional Score Four in combination with the light sensor to identify the player's move. That is, the detector includes a string rod. L light sensors are mounted on the string rod at equal intervals. The piece is provided with a holel into which the string rod is inserted. When the piece is not placed, all the light sensors on the string rod can sense the external light source signal. When the pieces are placed, some light sensors are blocked by the pieces and cannot sense the light source signal, so that the processor can obtain that the spatial positions corresponding to the light sensors have been occupied by the pieces.
Each time the processor monitors the player's move, the player can be given feedback through the alarm device, or two sides of the player and the opponent can be notified in the form of sound/light when it is found that any of the two sides meets the winning condition. For example, the alarm device includes lampshades and lamp beads. The lampshades are each disposed in the placement areas; and the lamp beads are each disposed in the lampshades. The alarm device may also be a loudspeaker, which broadcasts information directly by voice. Or the alarm device may be a buzzer for information reminder.
The pieces themselves can be individually made with color markings so that players can distinguish the battle side. Since the two sides of the player and the opponent during the Score Four have to take turns placing the piece and cannot skip the placing, the processor can distinguish the side to which the pieces belong by recording the parity of the total order of moves.
It is also possible to establish wireless communication between the chessboard and the pieces, so that the processor can directly identify the side to which the pieces belong. Even the pieces are made into light-transmitting components that do not need to be color-marked in advance. Through built-in lamps of multiple colors, after the processor distinguishes the side to which the pieces belong according to the order of the move, the pieces are made to show the corresponding colors through wireless communication. Specifically, the intelligent Score Four further includes a wireless transmission assembly and lamp groups. The lamp groups are each mounted on the pieces and each include light-emitting points of at least two colors. The wireless transmission assembly includes a wireless transmitter located in the chessboard and wireless receivers located in the pieces. The processor adjusts the color of each lamp group through the wireless transmission assembly. This configuration enables the pieces to adopt a unified structure, without distinguishing specific colors, and enables the pieces to to be identified by the processor as long as the pieces have an independent code.
Furthermore, the intelligent Score Four further includes a network communication module. The network communication module is configured for establishing a data transmission channel between the processor and an external intelligent terminal. Two pairs of intelligent Score Four with the same working principle can be used to realize remote battle.
Compared with the prior art, the present disclosure has the following beneficial effects.
The intelligent Score Four according to the present disclosure can identify the spatial position of each piece, so as to accurately determine whether the side of the game participants meets the winning condition, and give a victory or defeat prompt, thereby improving the playability of the Score Four.
For a more complete understanding, reference is now made to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying Drawings in which:
The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in conjunction with the specific embodiments. Apparently, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present disclosure, rather than all the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present disclosure, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present disclosure.
In the first Embodiment, an intelligent Score Four as shown in
The upper panel 210 is provided with a plurality of placement areas 211 in which 5 layers of pieces 100 can be stacked. The placement areas 211 are of abstract spatial concepts and are not enclosed by physical objects on the upper panel 210. To help understanding, as shown in
The electronic components include monitors, a processor, and an alarm device. Each placement area 211 is provided with a monitor therein correspondingly. The monitor includes a main control board 221, buttons 222, and micro switches 223. The main control board 221 is located below the upper panel 210. The micro switches 223 are mounted on the main control board 221 and correspond one-to-one with the placement areas 211. The bottom of the button 222 is in contact with an action reed of the micro switch 223. The placement area 211 is provided with a through hole through which the button 222 partially passes. An output end of the micro switch 223 is connected to an input end of the processor by the main control board 221. The output end of the processor is connected to the alarm device. The alarm device includes lampshades and lamp beads 231. In this embodiment, the translucent button 222 is used as the lampshade, and the lamp bead 231 is mounted at the position below the button 222 on the main control board 221. The top of the button 222 includes a platform on which the pieces 100 can be placed. A first magnet 232 is embedded in the center of the platform. A bottom surface of the piece 100 is provided with a second magnet 101. The second magnet 101 has an opposite magnetism to the first magnet 232. A top surface of the piece 100 is provided with a third magnet 102. The third magnet 102 has the same magnetism as the first magnet 232.
When a player uses the intelligent Score Four described in this embodiment, each time a piece is placed, the piece 100 needs to be placed in the placement area 211, so that the first magnet 232 and the second magnet 101 attract each other to achieve centering, and at the same time, the player needs to gently press the piece 100 to drive the button 222 down, thereby triggering the micro switch 223. The processor determines the position of the piece after receiving a signal of the micro switch 223. The horizontal coordinates of the piece 100 are obtained according to the placement area 211 corresponding to the micro switch 223, and the height coordinates of the piece 100 are determined according to the number of times the micro switch 223 is triggered, thereby determining the spatial position data of the piece 100. After the processor obtains side states and spatial position states of the pieces on the chessboard, the processor can accurately determine whether there is a winning condition (four pieces connected in a straight line). In order to improve the interaction between the chessboard 200 and the players, the alarm device can be configured such that whenever the micro switch 223 is triggered, the lamp bead 231 in the corresponding placement area 211 will light up for a short period of time, indicating that the processer has received the current placing information of the player. When the winning condition is met during the game, the alarm device can be configured to sequentially light up the lamp beads 231 in the placement areas 211 where the four pieces connected in a line are located.
In the second Embodiment, an intelligent Score Four as shown in
Further, the piece contact group and the chessboard contact group each include an inner contact 001, an outer ring contact 002, a return spring 003, and a positioning magnet. The inner contact 001 and the outer ring contact 002 are in a shape of concentric circles. The positioning magnet is provided at the center of the inner contact 001. The positioning magnet of the chessboard contact group is a first positioning magnet 004, and the positioning magnet on the bottom surface of the piece contact group is a second positioning magnet 005. The second positioning magnet 005 has an opposite magnetism to the first positioning magnet 004. The positioning magnet on the top surface of the piece contact group is a third positioning magnet 006. The third positioning magnet 006 has the same magnetism as the first positioning magnet 004. The return spring 003 provides support for the inner contact 001 and the outer ring contact 002, respectively. In this embodiment, the centering is also achieved by magnetic attraction, and the return spring 003 is additionally provided to ensure good contact between the contacts.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present disclosure is not limited to the details of the above-described exemplary embodiments, but that the present disclosure may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics of the present disclosure. Therefore, the embodiments are to be regarded in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, and the scope of the present disclosure is defined by the appended claims rather than the foregoing description, which are therefore intended to include within the present disclosure, all changes made within the meaning and scope of the equivalents of appended claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020100788123 | Feb 2020 | CN | national |
This application is a U.S. National Phase application submitted under 35 U.S.C. § 371 of Patent Cooperation Treaty application serial no. PCT/CN2021/074010, filed Jan. 27, 2021, and entitled INTELLIGENT SCORE FOUR which application claims priority to Chinese patent application serial no. 2020100788123, filed Feb. 3, 2020. Patent Cooperation Treaty application serial no. PCT/CN2021/074010, published as WO 2021/155752 A1, and Chinese patent application serial no. CN 2020100788123 are incorporated herein by reference.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/CN2021/074010 | 1/27/2021 | WO |
