Mechanical Card Game Mechanism in Timepiece Dial
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional mechanical watches lack an engaging and entertaining complication beyond basic timekeeping and simple mechanical systems like automata or music boxes, limiting user interaction and enjoyment.
Innovation Solution
A mechanical deck of cards integrated into a timepiece, featuring a dial with apertures, display discs representing playing cards, and a system for rotating and randomly stopping the discs to simulate games like blackjack, baccarat, or poker, with control mechanisms for opening and closing counters to manage card visibility.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If traditional mechanical watch mechanisms are used for timekeeping, then basic time information is provided, but user engagement and entertainment value are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The card game mechanism is divided into separate functional modules: a card deck module with display windows showing card values, a control module with buttons for drawing cards and revealing information, and a scoring module. This segmentation allows the entertainment function to be added without completely redesigning the timekeeping mechanism, resolving the contradiction between entertainment capability and mechanism complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The timepiece is designed to perform multiple functions: traditional timekeeping through the watch movement, card game entertainment through the display windows and control buttons, and score tracking. This multi-functionality approach allows a single device to provide both time information and entertainment, addressing the limitation of traditional watches while managing overall system complexity through shared components.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a card game mechanism is integrated into the timepiece, then user engagement and entertainment experience are enhanced, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using physical playing cards, the patent uses visual representations of cards displayed through windows on the dial. Each window shows a card value (Ace through King) represented by numerical indicators or symbolic graphics. This copying approach eliminates the need for physical card handling mechanisms while preserving the essential card game functionality, thereby enhancing game functionality without proportionally increasing structural complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces control buttons as intermediary elements between the user and the card game mechanism. These buttons mediate user actions (drawing cards, revealing dealer's hidden card, ending the game) and translate them into mechanical or electronic operations within the watch. This intermediary layer simplifies the overall structure by providing a standardized interface while managing the complexity of game control internally.
3Loss of information
If display windows are added to show card values, then game visibility and user interaction are improved, but the dial complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The dial is designed with specific local features: three windows arranged to display card values for the player and dealer, with selective visibility control. The windows are positioned and sized to show only the necessary card information at each game stage, not the entire deck or all possible card combinations. This local quality approach improves card information visibility where needed while keeping the rest of the dial structure relatively simple and focused on timekeeping functions.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Provides an independent and modular card game mechanism within the watch, offering a rich and varied entertainment experience with numerous possible combinations, enhancing user engagement and maintaining interest through realistic and varied gameplay.
Implementation Method 1
The system 18 for rotating and randomly stopping the discs comprises a spring member, advantageously but not limited to, taking the form of a spiral spring 20
Implementation Method 2
a friction spring 40 arranged to act on the star 41 in order to stop the discs 16
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a timepiece characterised in that it is equipped with a novel type of entertainment, that is a mechanical card game. Said timepiece comprises: a dial (10) provided with a plurality of windows (12); systems (14) for opening and closing at least some of said windows (12), actuated by control bodies; a plurality of display disks (16) carrying representations of cards to be played, to be visible via said windows (12), the disks being pivoted on axes that are perpendicular to the plane of the dial (10); and a system (18) for rotating the disks and stopping them at random.