Spinner Dice Friction Reduction via Raised Seats
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Solution Overview
Problem
Dice games played at home often face the challenge of dice rolling off flat surfaces and becoming lost, as there is a lack of walled tables outside casinos, and existing spinning devices like fidget spinners are not adaptable to generate random numbers similar to dice rolls without excessive friction or manual stopping issues.
Innovation Solution
A spinning device with a top plate, middle plate, and bottom plate design featuring a central post and raised seats to minimize friction, allowing the middle plate to spin freely and be stopped manually by applying pressure, integrated with a ball bearing assembly and text for result display, enabling it to replace dice rolls without a flat surface.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If dice are rolled on a flat surface, then random numbers can be generated, but the dice may roll off the surface and become lost
Solution Approach 1:
The device segments the dice generation function from the physical rolling action by using a spinning plate with numbered segments, where each segment represents a possible dice outcome. This eliminates the need for actual dice while preserving the random number generation function.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary device (the spinning plate with numbers) that mediates between the user's spinning action and the random number outcome. Instead of directly manipulating dice, the user spins the plate, and the number that stops at the viewing window represents the dice result.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a spinning device is designed to spin freely, then it can generate random numbers, but it becomes difficult to stop spinning manually
Solution Approach 1:
The device dynamically adjusts the spinning characteristics through the raised seat design, which allows the plate to spin freely initially but provides a natural stopping point. The raised seat creates a mechanical constraint that facilitates manual stopping while preserving spinning freedom during the randomization phase.
Solution Approach 2:
The raised seat design allows the spinning plate to self-regulate its motion, spinning freely when activated but naturally decelerating and stopping when it completes a rotation. This self-service mechanism reduces the need for active user intervention to stop the spinning while still allowing manual stopping when needed.
3Device complexity
If the middle plate contacts the top and bottom plates directly, then the structure is simple, but friction increases and spinning becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The raised seat acts as an intermediary element between the middle plate and the top/bottom plates. It provides a controlled contact point that reduces friction while maintaining structural simplicity, allowing the middle plate to spin freely without requiring complex bearing mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of making the entire plate structure complex, the patent applies local quality by adding raised seats only at the critical contact points. This localized modification reduces friction where it matters most while keeping the overall structure simple and easy to manufacture.
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 playing dice games without the risk of dice falling off, allowing quick results and user control over spinning duration, enhancing gameplay experience by providing a portable and aesthetically pleasing method for generating random numbers.
Implementation Method 1
The middle plate has a channel or hole that is sized and shaped to fit over and around the central post featured by the base there by allowing the middle plate featuring the text to spin around the central post
Implementation Method 2
This raised seat decreases the amount of the device that is in contact with the middle plate as it spins thereby decreasing the amount of friction between the middle plate and the top plate
Data Source
AI summary
A spinner meant to substitute for multi-sided dice that is made of top, middle and bottom plates. The top plate features a pin configured to insert into a central post of the bottom plate both of which pass through a hole or aperture in the middle of the middle plate. A ball bearing assembly can be integrated into the center of the middle plate, surrounding the aperture. The central post and the pin can both have a raised seat surrounding their respective bases which decreases the amount of friction between the top, middle and bottom plates as the middle plate spins relative to the other two plates.