# US 2014/0197935 A1 · Process and system for managing a bowling centre

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- Number: US 2014/0197935 A1
- Document ID: US20140197935A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 14/086,149
- Filed: 2013-11-21
- Published: 2014-07-17
- Earliest claimed: 2013-01-14
- Assignees: Qubicaamf Europe S.P.A.
- Applicants: QubicaAMF Europe SPA
- Inventors: ROBERTO VAIOLI; MASSIMO BARALDI; DARIO FERGACICH; DANILO MAI; STEFANO PANCALDI
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20140197935A1

## CPC

- A63D 5/04: Indicating devices
- A63D 1/00: Installations for bowling games, e.g. bowling-alleys or bocce courts (bowling greens A63C19/00)
- A63D: BOWLING GAMES, e.g. SKITTLES, BOCCE OR BOWLS; INSTALLATIONS THEREFOR; BAGATELLE OR SIMILAR GAMES; BILLIARDS (balls A63B37/00)

## Abstract

A process and a system for managing a bowling centre, which includes one or more bowling lanes along which a bowl is rolled, one or more pin setting up machines at one end of the lane and one or more bowlers' bays at the opposite end of the lane, one or more overhead monitors or videos above the lane, one or more consoles or keyboards located at the one or more lanes, respectively, and allowing a user to enter data, an electronic control system set up to manage the bowling centre, and in particular, a score program which calculates the score of the games played at the bowling centre and displays the score, in particular at the respective overhead monitor. A visual signal is emitted at the respective lane to indicate that the lane is open and waiting for users.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A process for managing a bowling center comprising:
providing a visual signal which is displayed at one or more open and available bowling lanes to facilitate arrival thereof, the visual signal identifying the one or more open and available bowling lanes and one or more users that are assigned to the one or more open and available bowling lanes.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The process of claim 1, wherein the visual signal is a welcome message.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The process of claim 2, further comprising replacing the welcome message with a bowling game display after one of: the one or more users acknowledge their arrival at the assigned one or more open and available bowling lanes and the one or more users begins a game session at the assigned one or more open and available bowling lanes.

### Claim 4 (depends on 2)

The process of claim 2, further comprising:
automatically generating the welcome message at a centralized management system using its database; and
sending the welcome message to a scoring system at the assigned one or more open and available bowling lanes.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The process of claim 1, wherein at least one of:
the identification of the one or more open and available bowling lanes is a lane number; and
the identification of the one or more users assigned to the one or more open and available bowling lanes comprises at least one of:
a name of each bowler;
a name of one or more teams;
a logo of the one or more teams;
a photograph of the bowlers;
a logo or drawing representing the bowler or bowlers;
at least one of team make-up and number of bowlers on the team; and
the visual signal further includes a name of a tournament or championship in progress.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The process of claim 1, further comprising at least one of:
displaying the visual signal on an overhead monitor associated with the assigned one or more open and available bowling lanes;
displaying the visual signal on an LCD touch screen console at the assigned one or more open and available bowling lanes;
illuminating a key console at the assigned one or more open and available bowling lanes; and
displaying a light source at the assigned one or more open and available bowling lanes.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The process of claim 6, wherein the displaying the visual signal comprises displaying at least one of: a static or processed animated image or sequence of two- or three-dimensional images and a clip different from the one displayed on the overhead monitor.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The process of claim 1, wherein the visual signal is a custom message automatically generated by a scoring system in conjunction with a centralized management system.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The process of claim 1, further comprising displaying to the one or more users a display allowing them to extend their game session directly from a lane console or monitor.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The process of claim 9, wherein the extending of the game is one of a number of additional games or a time period.

### Claim 11 (depends on 1)

The process of claim 1, wherein the providing the visual signal further comprises placing at least one photograph of the one or more users as a background image of a scoreboard or score screen on a monitor associated with the assigned one or more open and available bowling lanes, wherein the at least one photograph is one of:
taken at the one or more open and available bowling lanes assigned to the one or more users to facilitate identification in place of, or in addition to, the user's name; and
imported automatically from an account of the one or more users to facilitate identification in place of, or in addition to, the user's name.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The process of claim 11, further comprising providing a routine, which is run automatically, enabling a centralized management system to validate the at least one photograph before making it available at the score screen or the monitor.

### Claim 13

A process for managing a bowling center comprising providing a visual display at one or more bowling lanes at an end of a game session, which allows one or more users to extend the game session directly from a lane console or monitor, wherein the lane console or monitor communicates with a centralized management system to extend the game session.

### Claim 14 (depends on 13)

The process of claim 13, wherein the extending of the game session is one of a number of additional games or a time period.

### Claim 15 (depends on 13)

The process of claim 13, wherein:
the visual display further comprises providing a welcome message to the one or more users which facilitates arrival at the one or more bowling lanes by identifying one or more open and available bowling lanes and one or more users that are assigned to the one or more open and available bowling lanes, and
the welcome message is provided after registeration at the centralized management system.

### Claim 16 (depends on 15)

The process of claim 15, further comprising:
automatically generating the welcome message at the centralized management system using its database; and
sending the welcome message to a scoring system at the assigned one or more open and available bowling lanes.

### Claim 17 (depends on 16)

The process of claim 16, wherein:
the welcome message is provided on the scoring system at the assigned to the one or more open and available bowling lanes;
the welcome message is at least one of: a static or processed animated image or sequence of two- or three-dimensional images and a clip;
the welcome message includes at least one of:
a lane number of the assigned one or more open and available bowling lanes; and
at least one of:
a name of each bowler assigned to the one or more open and available bowling lanes;
a name of one or more teams assigned to the one or more open and available bowling lanes;
a logo of the one or more teams assigned to the one or more open and available bowling lanes;
a photograph of the bowlers assigned to the one or more open and available bowling lanes;
a logo or drawing representing the bowler or bowlers assigned to the one or more open and available bowling lanes; and
at least one of team make-up and number of bowlers on the team assigned to the one or more open and available bowling lanes.

### Claim 18

A process for managing a bowling center comprising:
obtaining a photograph of at least one bowler of a game; and
displaying the photograph of the at least one bowler of the game as a background on a scoring screen for the game.

### Claim 19 (depends on 18)

The process of claim 18, wherein the photograph is obtained at a bowling lane in which the bowler is playing the game.

### Claim 20 (depends on 19)

The process of claim 19, wherein the photograph is obtained at the bowling lane using a video camera mounted at a lane console and the photograph is displayed on a console monitor of the bowling lane.

### Claim 21 (depends on 20)

The process of claim 20, wherein the photograph is imported from a file of the bowler or account using an operator interface of a centralized bowling system.

### Claim 22 (depends on 21)

The process of claim 21, wherein any of a plurality of photographs of more than one bowler is selectable for being displayed as the background on the scoring screen for the game of the more than one bowler.

### Claim 23 (depends on 18)

The process of claim 18, wherein the photograph is display on the scoring screen as the background in addition to a name of the at least one bowler.

### Claim 24 (depends on 18)

The process of claim 18, further comprising providing a routine, which is run automatically, enabling a centralized management system to validate the at least one photograph before making it available at the score screen or the monitor.

### Claim 25

A system for managing a bowling center comprising:
a centralized management system having a processor and a database storing bowling lane information including one or more open and available bowling lanes; and
a scoring system provided at the one or more open and available bowling lanes comprising a processor and a display, the scoring system configured to:
maintain control and manage a scoring program;
receive display information from the centralized management system comprising identification information of the one or more open and available bowling lanes and one or more users that are assigned to the one or more open and available bowling lanes; and
display the identification information of the one or more open and available bowling lanes and the one or more users that are assigned to the one or more open and available bowling lanes.