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US 5,044,639 AGranted
Ball game with player controlled rebound surface
AssigneeTaito America Corporation
InventorsKeith J. Egging, Chester F. Robards, Jr.
Life of this patent
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AssigneeTaito America Corporation
InventorsKeith J. Egging, Chester F. Robards, Jr.
Estimating the term…
A game of the type having a large number of balls, a set of targets responsive to contact with the balls, and a scoring mechanism for keeping a score associated with contact between the balls and the targets further includes a tiltable rebound surface. A ball pump raises the balls from an input to an elevated output and discharges the balls from the output to cause the balls to fall in space onto the rebound surface. A user controlled steering mechanism is coupled to the rebound surface to allow a user to tilt the rebound surface as the balls fall onto the rebound surface in order to direct the balls that bounce off of the rebound surface against selected ones of the targets. The ball pump includes a rotatable drive element that is movably mounted adjacent a ball guide to frictionally engage the balls and advance the balls towards the outlet of the ball pump.
In a game of the type comprising a plurality of balls, a plurality of targets responsive to interaction with the balls, and a scoring mechanism for keeping a score associated with interaction between the balls and the targets, the improvement comprising:
In a game of the type comprising means for defining a plurality of balls, means for defining a plurality of targets responsive to interaction with the balls, and a scoring mechanism for keeping a score associated with interaction between the balls and the targets, the improvement comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.