SCOREBOARD CLOCK

Abstract

A scoreboard clock having a front face including a plurality of display areas arranged to represent a scoreboard, indicia disposed adjacent each of the display areas, and a time means for generating chronological information elements and displaying the elements in the display areas. Each indicia indicates a selected information element related to a selected sporting event that is not related to the chronological information elements being displayed in the display areas.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of clocks, and in particular, sports memorabilia clocks.

Sports memorabilia is a major business that spans the globe. Fans buy jerseys, shirts, umbrellas, and many other types of memorabilia with their favorite team logo printed thereon. Clocks having team logos thereon are also known, but such clocks typically only indicate the time of day and with the exception of the team logo have the appearance of a standard clock.

Accordingly, there is a need for a scoreboard clock that provides a sports fan with a time piece that has the appearance of a scoreboard with display areas representative of a scoreboard of the sports fan's favorite sports team, but has functions associated with a clock.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore it is an object of the invention to provide a scoreboard clock that represents a scoreboard of a sports team.

It is another object of the invention to provide a scoreboard clock that indicates the current time.

It is another object of the invention to provide a scoreboard clock that provides an alarm.

It is another object of the invention to provide a scoreboard clock that indicates the current date.

It is another object of the invention to provide a scoreboard clock that indicates the day of the week.

These and other objects of the present invention are achieved in the preferred embodiments disclosed below by providing a clock including a front face including a plurality of display areas arranged to represent a scoreboard; indicia disposed adjacent each of the display areas, each indicia indicating a selected information element related to a selected sporting event; and a time means for generating chronological information elements not related to the selected sporting event, and displaying the chronological information elements in the display areas.

According to another preferred embodiment of the invention, the chronological information includes information selected from the group consisting of time of day, day, alarm set time, month, and date.

According to another preferred embodiment of the invention, at least a portion of the chronological information elements indicate current time.

According to another preferred embodiment of the invention, and further including a stand pivotally mounted to a back panel for maintaining the clock in a substantially upright position.

According to another preferred embodiment of the invention, a clock including a front face including a plurality of predefined display areas arranged to represent a scoreboard for a selected sporting event; indicia disposed adjacent the display areas, each indicia associating a corresponding display area with a selected information element related to the selected sporting event; time means for generating chronological information elements not related to the selected sporting event; and display units disposed in the display areas and adapted to receive and display the chronological information elements from the time means.

According to another preferred embodiment of the invention, at least one of the display units indicates an hour of the day.

According to another preferred embodiment of the invention, at least one of the display units indicates a day of the week.

According to another preferred embodiment of the invention, at least one of the display units indicates an alarm set time.

According to another preferred embodiment of the invention, the display areas include first and second horizontally aligned, side-by-side areas; a first display unit is disposed in the first display area and adapted to display the current hour; and a second display unit is disposed in the second area and adapted to display the current minute.

According to another preferred embodiment of the invention, a clock including a time means for generating chronological information elements; display units disposed in display areas and adapted to receive and display the information elements from the time means; and a display mask including indicia associated with the display units and indicating information elements related to a selected sporting event.

According to another preferred embodiment of the invention, the mask is secured to a front face of the clock.

According to another preferred embodiment of the invention, the chronological information elements are not related to the selected sporting event.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention may be best understood by reference to the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawing figures in which:

FIG. 1 is a front view of a scoreboard clock according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the scoreboard clock of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a rear view of the scoreboard clock of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a side view of the scoreboard clock of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is a front view of a scoreboard clock according to another embodiment of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT AND BEST MODE

Referring now specifically to the drawings, a scoreboard clock according to an embodiment of the invention is illustrated in FIG. 1 and shown generally at reference numeral 10. The clock 10 includes a front face 11 having a plurality of display areas 12-17 arranged to represent a scoreboard for a selected sport, both in terms of placement of information elements and the labeling of the elements. For example, FIG. 1 is a clock representing a scoreboard for football and FIG. 5 is a clock representing a scoreboard for hockey. Indicia representing a team, such as a team's logo, and information related to the selected sport may be provided on the front face 11 or on a mask 18 secured to the front face 11.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the indicia related to the selected sport includes various sport related information elements, such as “down”, “quarter”, “ball on”, and “yards to go”. Each of the sports related indicia is disposed adjacent to a corresponding display area 12-17. Display units 20-25, such as light emitting diode (LED) displays and liquid crystal displays (LCD), are disposed in the display areas 12-17 to display chronological information related to clock functions generated by an internal time mechanism (not shown) which generates signals to keep the current time, as opposed to sport related information corresponding to the indicia.

For example, the display areas 12-17 are labeled as “guests” (guests score), “steamers” (home team's score), “down”, “quarter”, “ball on”, and “yards to go”, and are arranged visually to represent a scoreboard. However, instead of displaying information related to the indicia labeling the display areas, the display units 20-25 display chronological information related to a clock. As illustrated, the guests display area 12 and the steamers display area 13 are positioned side-by-side and together indicate the time of day (guest=hour, steamers=minutes). The down display area 14, quarter display area 15, ball on display area 16, and to go display area 18 indicate the current day, the alarm set time, the current month, and the current date, respectively. The clock 10 also includes an AM/PM indicator 26 for the current time of day, an AM/PM indicator 27 for the alarm set time, and an alarm on/off indicator 28.

Referring to FIG. 3, a plurality of controls, such as push-buttons 30-33 are positioned on a back panel 34 of the clock 10 for operating and changing the display units 20-25. The back panel 34 also includes a speaker 37 for playing sounds that have been previously uploaded to the clock 10 or sounds that have been downloaded to the clock 10 by a user through a data port 40, a slot 38 for hanging the clock 10 on a wall, and a stand 39 pivotally mounted to the back panel 34 to allow the clock 10 to be placed in an upright position on a table or other surface, as shown in FIG. 4. Push-button 30 provides a set key for moving between display areas 12-17. Push-buttons 31 and 32 provide up and down keys to change the display units 20-25 currently being amended. Push-button 33 provides an alarm key to turn the alarm on/off. A reset button 35 is also provided in the event the clock 10 locks up or is not performing perfectly. Depressing the reset button 35 for three seconds will reset the clock 10.

Referring to FIG. 5 a scoreboard clock according to another embodiment of the invention is shown generally at reference numeral 100. Like clock 10, clock 100 includes a front face 111 having a plurality of display areas 112-117 arranged to represent a scoreboard for a selected sport. Display units 120-125 are disposed in the display areas 112-117 to display chronological information related to clock functions generated by an internal time mechanism, as opposed to sport related information corresponding to indicia disposed adjacent to each of the display areas 112-117. As discussed above, the clock 100 is designed for hockey and, thus, the display areas 114-117 are labeled as “period”, “timeouts”, “pen 1”, and “pen 2”.

The clock 100 also includes a scrolling display area 118 having a display unit 119, such as an LED or LCD display. The display unit 119 relays a preset message associated with a team's logo represented on the clock 100. A number of preset messages may be programmed into the clock 100, allowing a user to choose a desired message using push-buttons 130-133 positioned on a back panel 134 of the clock 100.

In operation, the clock 10 and clock 100 operate in substantially the same manner. For simplicity, the operation of clock 10 will be discussed. The push-buttons 30-33 are used to set the time, day, alarm set time, month, and date. To set the time, the set key 30 is depressed which causes display unit 20 to flash. The up key 31 or the down key 32 is depressed until the proper hour is indicated. The AM/PM indicator 26 illuminates when the hour is in the “pm” range.

Once the hour has been set, the set key 30 is depressed, causing display unit 21 to flash. The up key 31 or down key 32 is used to set the proper minutes. The set key 30 is then depressed, causing display unit 22 to flash. Using the up or down keys 31 and 32, the proper day is displayed. The process continues until all display units 20-25 have been properly set.

To use the alarm, the alarm key 33 is depressed to turn the alarm on. Once the alarm has been turned on, the ring time and ringing music can be chosen. For example, three different sounds may be selected. In addition to sounds, when the alarm activates, the display units 20-25 flash. The display units 20-25 may flash in unison or in a pre-set sequence. To turn off the alarm, the alarm key 33 is again depressed.

A scoreboard clock is described above. Various details of the invention may be changed without departing from its scope. Furthermore, the foregoing description of the preferred embodiments of the invention and best mode for practicing the invention are provided for the purpose of illustration only and not for the purpose of limitation.

Claims

1. A clock, comprising:

(a) a front face including a plurality of display areas arranged to represent a scoreboard;

(b) indicia disposed adjacent each of the display areas, each indicia indicating a selected information element related to a selected sporting event; and

(c) a time means for generating chronological information elements not related to the selected sporting event, and displaying the chronological information elements in the display areas.

2. The clock according to claim 1, wherein the chronological information includes information selected from the group consisting of time of day, day, alarm set time, month, and date.

3. The clock according to claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the chronological information elements represent the current time.

4. The clock according to claim 1, and further including a stand pivotally mounted to a back panel for maintaining the clock in a substantially upright position.

5. The clock according to claim 1, wherein:

(a) the display areas include first and second horizontally aligned, side-by-side areas;

(b) a first display unit is disposed in the first display area and adapted to display the current hour; and

(c) a second display unit is disposed in the second area and adapted to display the current minute.

6. A clock, comprising:

(a) a front face including a plurality of predefined display areas arranged to represent a scoreboard for a selected sporting event;

(b) indicia disposed adjacent the display areas, each indicia associating a corresponding display area with a selected information element related to the selected sporting event;

(c) time means for generating chronological information elements not related to the selected sporting event; and

(d) display units disposed in the display areas and adapted to receive and display the chronological information elements from the time means.

7. The clock according to claim 6, wherein at least a portion of the display units indicate current time.

8. The clock according to claim 6, wherein at least one of the display units indicate an hour of the day.

9. The clock according to claim 6, wherein at least one of the display units indicates a day of the week.

10. The clock according to claim 6, wherein at least one of the display units indicates an alarm set time.

11. The clock according to claim 6, wherein:

(a) the display areas include first and second horizontally aligned, side-by-side areas;

(b) a first display unit is disposed in the first display area and adapted to display the current hour; and

(c) a second display unit is disposed in the second area and adapted to display the current minute.

12. The clock according to claim 6, wherein at least one of the display units flash when an alarm is activated.

13. A clock, comprising

(a) a time means for generating chronological information elements;

(b) display units adapted to receive and display the chronological information elements from the time means; and

(c) a display mask defining display areas surrounding the display units and including indicia adjacent to the display units and indicating information elements related to a selected sporting event.

14. The clock according to claim 13, wherein the mask is secured to a front face of the clock.

15. The clock according to claim 13, wherein the chronological information elements are not related to the selected sporting event.

16. The clock according to claim 13, wherein:

(a) the display areas include first and second horizontally aligned, side-by-side areas;

(b) a first display unit is disposed in the first display area and adapted to display the current hour; and

(c) a second display unit is disposed in the second area and adapted to display the current minute.

17. The clock according to claim 13, wherein at least one of the display units indicates an hour of the day.

18. The clock according to claim 13, wherein at least one of the display units indicates a day of the week.

19. The clock according to claim 13, and further including a data port for downloading sounds to the clock.

20. The clock according to claim 13, wherein at least one of the display units flash when an alarm is activated.