Rotating Wheel Score Display for Compact Tabletop Gaming
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing scorekeeping devices for games are often large, cumbersome, and difficult to use during play, especially in games like 'Magic the Gathering' that require frequent changes in numerical displays without occupying valuable table space.
Innovation Solution
A small, portable numerical display device featuring two rotating wheels with numerals 0-9, allowing easy and independent rotation to display any combination of two numerals, designed to be compact, lightweight, and easy to use with one hand while keeping the device stationary on a table.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a series of flip cards with preprinted numerals is used to display scores, then the numerical display can be changed, but the device becomes too large to be easily carried and too cumbersome to be placed on a game table
Solution Approach 1:
The device is divided into two separate rotating wheels, each displaying one numeral. This segmentation allows the device to show two-digit scores while maintaining a compact form factor that fits on a game table and is easy to carry, resolving the contradiction between display versatility and portability.
2Volume of moving object
If a mechanical numerical display device is made small and portable, then the device can be easily carried and placed on a game table, but the display may not be easy to change frequently during play
Solution Approach 1:
The numerals are displayed on rotating wheels that can be easily spun by hand. This dynamic mechanism allows players to quickly change the displayed score by simply rotating the wheels, making the compact device both portable and easy to update during gameplay.
Solution Approach 2:
Ball bearings are introduced as an intermediary mechanism between the rotating wheels and the housing. These ball bearings reduce friction and enable smooth, quick rotation of the wheels with minimal effort, facilitating easy score changes while maintaining a compact design.
3Ease of operation
If the device is designed to be rotated with one hand, then the other hand can be engaged in play, but the device must remain stationary on the playing surface
Solution Approach 1:
The rotating wheels feature a rounded, spherical cross-section that allows them to be easily rolled or rotated by hand. This curved geometry enables one-hand operation while the wheels remain constrained within the housing, maintaining device stability on the playing surface.
Solution Approach 2:
Ball bearings serve as an intermediary that allows the wheels to rotate freely within the housing while preventing the entire device from moving. This mechanism enables easy one-hand rotation of the display wheels while keeping the device stationary on the table.
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
Enables seamless and unobtrusive scorekeeping during games by providing a compact, portable, and easy-to-use numerical display that can be adjusted frequently without cluttering the playing area, enhancing gameplay experience.
Implementation Method 1
There is also a compression spring and two ball bearings dimensioned to be contained within the upper opening in the partition, one ball bearing situated on each side of the compression spring, such that the compression spring urges the ball bearings outward on each side of the partition to cooperate with the depressions in the inward facing walls of the wheels
Implementation Method 2
the ball bearings are disposed within the depressions in the inward facing walls of the wheels so that when the wheels are rotated the ball bearings are moved from one depression to the next, a clicking sound is heard
Data Source
AI summary
A counting and scoring device has a housing with its interior divided into right and left chambers by a vertical partition. A wheel is vertically mounted and rotatable within each chamber of the housing using a threaded bolt and hexagonal nut. The wheels have a plurality of flat outer surfaces on which to display indicia in the form of the numerals 0 through 9 viewed through a three-sided window on each side of the top portion of the housing. Ball bearings activated by a compression spring within a tapered opening in the partition are in contact with depressions in the inside walls of the wheels below each flat surface so that as each wheel rotates a numeral is centered in a window. A hexagonal cavity within the hub portion enables the left wheel to act as a wrench to tighten the hexagonal nut when assembling the device.