Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to improvements in gaming apparatus, in general, and to an improved game board and playing concept applied to bingo type games, in particular.

Background of the Invention

Bingo is a traditional game of chance in which players play markers on a pattern- of numbered squares, according to numbers drawn and announced by a caller. A standard bingo card is generally square shaped and is divided into twenty-five squares arranged in a regular array to form five columns of five rows. At the head of each column is one of the letters of the word bingp. Thus, above the first column is the letter B and each of the five squares in the B-column may contain one of the numbers between 1 and 15. The squares of the I-column may contain numbers 16 through 30. Under the N-column, all of the squares except the center square may contain numbers 31 through 45. Under the G-column, numbers 46 through 60 may appear in the squares, and finally, under the O-column numbers 61 through 75 may be used. Tradi¬ tionally, the center square or space is designated as a free space and may be marked by the player without any action by the caller.

In a traditional game of bingo, the caller sel¬ ects a number by removing a marked ball from a con¬ tainer. Each ball is marked with a number between 1 and 75. If a player's bingo card contains the number that is called, the player covers that number with a marker, such as a transparent colored disk. The caller continues to draw balls and call numbers until one of the players has obtained a bingo. Typically, a bingo consists of having all five of the numbers in any of the rows, columns or diagonals of the bingo card.

Over the years, there have been few if any changes to the game of bingo. Because it is played essentially as a game of chance, a certain amount of luck is necessary to select a particular bingo card in hopes of being the first to obtain a bingo in a given game. In addition, bingo is often used as a means of raising money for charitable organizations and it would be unprofitable for those organizations, if during the course of a bingo game, a large number of players obtained bingo at the same time. For these reasons, certain standards have developed with regard to the placement of numbers within the given squares of a bingo card. At the present time, there are thousands of different standard bingo cards. Each of the standard cards bears a unique numerical ar- rangement and a card bearing a particular designation number will have the same numerical arrangement no matter what, part of the country the _. .game of bingo is being played.

In an average bingo session, in addition to using standard cards and playing for the standard bingo, certain variations, or special games, are played. For example, one special game might consist of obtaining all of the numbers on a given card. Also one might try to obtain the four corners or different letters of the al- phabet.

Over the years, there has been very little in the way of improving or altering the traditional game of bingo. Most improvements have been directed toward find¬ ing better ways to cover numbers during the course of a game. Other improvements relate to altering some of the number arrays within the individual card. For example, see U.S. Patents Nos. 3,909,001 (Feldhausen) and 3,386,739 (Lino).

However, none of the traditional aspects of bingo nor the improvements made in the prior art address the issue of providing an intellectual challenge to the player or creating greater elements of skill within the

traditional setting of the game of bingo. The present invention is directed toward filling those needs.

Summary of the Invention

5 The present invention relates to improvements in both the playing concept and apparatus associated with the game of bingo. Improvements are directed toward providing a manual embodiment using an improved bingo card as well as an electronic embodiment incorporated

-10- into an electronic video game derived from the teachings of the invention.

In the manual implementation of the teachings of the subject invention, a traditional bingo card contains permanently written numbers in the N-column and in the

15 third row through the free space square. The remaining sixteen are blank. These sixteen squares comprise the four corners of the bingo card. Placed over the group of four squares located in each corner of the bingo card is a slightly smaller square disk divided, into four squares,

20. with each square bearing a unique numerical designation or indicia. These indicia bearing disks are secured to each corner area of the bingo card by eyelets or the like so that the player may rotate the small disks about the eyelets. In this way, the numbers in each corner of each

25 disk may be positioned within one of the squares of the bingo card. At the beginning of a bingo game, the four smaller square disks are oriented so that the numbers which appear on them are positioned in their traditional position according to one of the known standard bingo

30. cards. During the course of play, the caller calls out the numbers in the customary manner and the player covers the called numbers with a bingo marker. If during the course of the game, a player discovers that by rotating one of the square disks and moving the numbers from one

square to another, a bingo may be obtained, the player may rotate one or more of the smaller square disks and win the game. It is contemplated that the player is permitted to rotate one or more ^" of the smaller square disks when the rotation will yield a bingo or is likely to yield a bingo, for example, when the player is one number away from a bingo.

The electronic embodiment of the subject inven¬ tion is in the form of an electronic video game in which the video or CRT display shows bingo card. When a player inserts a coin or token into the machine, the video display asks the player to select a card. He does so through a control panel and may select any one of a variety of preprogrammed standard cards. When the player has found a card that he wishes to retain, he then press- es a control button on the console of the video game and the game begins. At first, the squares in the N-column and third row through the free space light up or change color so that they contrast or stand out from the re ain- ing squares. This is to indicate to the player that the numbers within those squares have been awarded to him in the form of two bingos. The remaining sixteen squares, which are arranged in groups of four in each corner of the card, are continuously flashing on and off in a ran- do pattern. After a predetermined period of time, cer¬ tain of the sixteen squares show lights and a change in color while others remain unlit with no change in color. At this point, the player is permitted to, in effect, rotate the four squares within any one of the four corner groups to relocate the numbers in those squares and their background color to new locations. This is where the element of skill enters the game. The person rotates one or more of the groups reorienting the squares and their numbers in any way he wishes to provide his best chances to score as many bingos as possible and thus obtain more points. After making his final selection, he then press¬ es another button and the final round of lights flashing and color changes takes place.

All of the numbers which were lit at the time that the player made his final selection remain lit and the possibility exists that new squares will light and change color to provide further bingos at the end of the game. Depending on the outcome of the final light flash¬ ing sequence, the player will either score more points and receive a pay off or end the game with no recovery.

It is thus an object of the present invention to improve the game of bingo by adding elements of skill to the traditional game of chance.

It is still an object of the present invention to provide a video implementation of an improved game of bingo having elements of skill.

These and other objects will become apparent in the figures and detailed description which follow.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Figure 1 is a planar view, of a bingo card incor¬ porating the teachings of the subject invention.

Figure 2 is a planar view of the bingo card of Figure 1 showing the rotating disks being oriented in accordance with the teachings of the subject invention.

Figure 3 is a planar view of the bingo card of Figure 1 with the disks being fully reoriented to reveal a bingo. Figure 4 is a planar view of a disk used in conjunction with the card of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a diagram of a video game console incorporating the teachings of the subject invention.

Figure 6 through 9 are diagrams of what appears on the video screen of the embodiment of Figure 5 and are used to explain the subject invention.

Figure 10 is a schematic diagram showing the basic operative circuitry found in the embodiment of Figure 5.

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Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments

The present invention relates to an improvement in both the game apparatus and the method of playing the traditional game of bingo. Both mechanical and electri- cal forms of the invention are contemplated.

In the mechanical embodiment of the subject in¬ vention, the improvement over the traditional game of bingo is found in the bingo card itself. With reference to Figures 1 through 3-, a bingo card is shown generally designated as 10. The card, which may be made of paper, cardboard, or in a preferred embodiment, out of plastic, is generally square shaped and is divided into 25 squares of equal size. The squares are arranged in five columns 21 through 25 and five rows 31 through 35. At the head of each column is the letter of the alphabet 14 to spell out the word bingo with one letter being associated with each column. Above the letter N is a number 16 which is the unique designation for the card.

For sometime, there has existed within organized bingo a standard set of bingo cards. Currently, there are recognized literally thousands of unique cards, each having a different numerical arrangement. With regard to Figure 1, the card shown in that figure is card number 11 and the arrangement of the numbers within the various squares of the card is standard for all cards which bear the designation 11. At the center of the card is a free space 18 which contains no number. This space is awarded to the player before any numbers are called by the call¬ er. As numbers are called by the caller, the player examines his card to see if he has the designated num¬ ber. If he does, he then places a marker 40 over the number which has been called. As shown in Figure 1, markers have been placed over the squares bearing the numbers 8, 12, 40, 50 and 54. The markers are typically transparent plastic disks so that the user may see the underlining number at all time.

In a traditional bingo card, all of the numbers are permanently fixed in the squares and all of the num¬ bers are of the same size. An example of this is seen in the N-column or the third row of the card in Figure 1. The present invention departs from the traditional card through the inclusion of the four generally square disks 41 through 44.

Disk 41 is positioned to occupy the four squares or sections in the upper left-hand corner of the card. As can be seen, disk 41 contains four squares arranged in a 2 X 2 array. In like manner disk 42 is placed in a superimposed relationship to cover the four squares in the upper right-hand corner. Disk 43 is placed in the lower left-hand corner and disk 44 is placed in the lower right-hand corner. Each of the disks are secured to the underlying card for rotation about their diagonal inter¬ section through a suitable fastening means ^■ such as an eyelet 46.

With reference to Figure 4, along the two diagonals 51 and 52 of disk 41 there are positioned four pairs of numbers, one pair at each corner of the disk. For example, along diagonal 51 starting at the upper left-hand corner of the disk is a 12 then an inverse 12 followed by a 17 and an inverse 17. Returning now to Figure 1, it can be seen that by arranging the numbers in this way on the disk, the numbers are still legible no matter what orientation the disk is placed in. An axis of rotation which is generally perpendicular to the sur¬ face of the disk is defined at the intersection 43 of the diagonals at the center of the disk.

At the beginning of a game of bingo, the four disks are oriented as shown in Figure 1 in order to dup¬ licate the numeric placement for a number 11 card. A player leaves the card with the four square disks in this orientation as the game begins.

The caller initiates the game by drawing numbers in a traditional manner such as the use of number balls in a cage. As a player's number is called, the player covers that number with a marker 40 such as is illustrat- ed in Figure 1. If during the course of the game, the player discovers that by reorienting the numbers in the squares, he can obtain a bingo, the he is permitted to do so. As shown in Figure 1, rotation of squares 41 and 42 by 90° in a clockwise direction about axis 43 will yield a bingo as shown in Figure 3. Figure 2 shows the two squares 41 and 42 at the midpoint during the rotation into their position as shown in Figure 3. According to a preferred way of playing the game, the player is permitted to rotate one or more of the squares any amount and only when the rotation will yield a bingo.

With reference to Figures 5 through 10, an electronic embodiment of the subject" invention will now be described. Figure 5 schematically illustrates a standup video console generally designated as 100. To use such a console, a player would stand in front of it and observe the video display 102 during the play of the game. A coin slot 104 is provided to receive the play¬ er's coins or tokens to initiate the game. Figures 6 through 9 illustrate various screens displayed during the course of a game and are used to explain how the game is played.

When a player puts a coin into the slot 104, the coin activates a coin acceptance switch 106 which sends an acceptance signal to a microprocessor or microcontroller 110. The microprocessor reacts by initiating a gaming cycle. Cooperating with the microprocessor is a read only memory (ROM) 112 which contains the operating sequence for the video game. In particular, a selected portion of the ROM contains in a look-up table the data necessary to generate any one of

the standard bingo cards. It is contemplated that the ROM will be of sufficient size to store several thousand different cards. Another portion of the ROM is dedicated to the operating system to carry out the various functions of the game.. A random access memory (RAM) 114 is used to temporarily store data during the course of the game. Data is transferred from the ROM 112 or the RAM 114 to a video or CRT display 120 along the data bus 122. As stated before, the operation cycle of the video game is initiated through the reception of a coin acceptance signal by the microcontroller 110. At this point, a question appears on the video screen 102 asking the player which bingo card he wishes to use. Through a conventional pressure sensitive switch or joy stick arrangement 124, the player may select any one of the standard cards. When a desired card is displayed on the video screen 102, the ^• player then presses another contact switch 126 in order to freeze that card into position on the screen. Once this has been done, the microcontroller is notified that the player has selected a particular card and the next phase of the game begins under the control of the microcontroller.

As shown in Figure 6, the player has selected card 11 with the number placement as shown. Upon selec¬ tion of the card, the microcontroller causes the CRT to display all of the squares in the N-column and third row as the same color or light intensity. The remaining 16 squares are of a different color from the color associat- ed with the squares of the N-column or third row. After this has taken place, the microcontroller 110 interro¬ gates the ROM 112 and through a random number generator, causes certain of the corner squares to take on the color associated with the N-column or third row. All of the corner squares will alternate in a random pattern between

their original color and the altered color. Eventually, certain of the squares will take on the altered color as shown in Figure 7 by the hatch line. The player is then prompted to determine which, if any, of the four groups of squares he wishes to relocate in order to either ob¬ tain a bingo or to improve his chances of obtaining fur¬ ther bingos upon continuation of play. The rotation is accomplished by pressing one of four contact switches 130 located on the panel or console 125. Each of the switch¬ es is located with one of the corner groups as shown on a template 131 contained on the console 125. By pressing one of the buttons, the player is able . to, in effect, rotate the numbers from square to square in a clockwise direction. With reference to Figure 8, the player has elected to rotate the four squares contained in group 141, the squares in group 142, and the squares in the group 143, while leaving the squares in group 144 un¬ changed.

With continued reference to Figure 8, the rota- tion of groups 141 and 142 have yielded a bingo in the first row. In addition, the player has elected to rotate group 143 in order to reposition the covered number 3 from its original position and to reorient the numbers in the remaining squares. When the player is satisfied with the way the numbers have been relocated he then presses switch 126 which sends a signal to the microcontroller 110 to continue the gaming cycle. At this point, the microcontroller again causes the video display to random¬ ly alter the color of the remaining squares or blocks which contain the original color. At the completion of this random cycle, certain of the blocks of the original color will now take on the altered color as shown by the hatch lines in Figure 9. As can be seen in Figure 9, the rotation of the block of four squares 143 has allowed the player to obtain a further bingo in B-column. Had he not

rotated the block of squares 143, he would not have ob¬ tained that bingo at the conclusion of the game.

At the end of the game, the microprocessor evaluates how many bingos the player has obtained and,

5 through a look-up table in the ROM 112, determines the reward to be made to the player based on the original amount of money inserted by the player. In some situ¬ ations, the microprocessor then develops a coin discharge signal and activates a coin dispenser 149 to dispense the

10. appropriate number of coins in a coin tray 150 located on the machine. In other situations, the coin dispenser is replaced by a ticket dispenser or the video display ex¬ hibits a free game credit.

Obviously, many modifications and variations of 5 the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings, and it is contemplated the subject invention may be implemented through the use discrete components or integrated circuit chips. Therefore, it is to be under¬ stood that within the scope of the appended claims, the

20 invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.