DYNAMIC DICE AND METHOD
A die and method of use include a body, generally shaped in a form of a regular polyhedron, and having an interior volume and a plurality of faces, a spherical cavity defined within the interior volume, and a sphere disposed within the spherical cavity. The method includes providing the die; placing the die in a contained volume; agitating the contained volume; and ejecting the die from the contained volume onto a substrate.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/315,827 filed Mar. 19, 2010, which is incorporated in its entirety herein by this reference.
TECHNICAL FIELDThe present invention relates to die or dice, including, but not limited to, die or dice used in various games and that have an improved dynamic erratic behavior during casting so as to heighten participant's suspense while maintaining an outcome relatively uninfluenced by die design characteristics.
BACKGROUNDGames and other activities and methods that utilize die or dice, particularly for introducing a random outcome as part of the game or activity, are known. An attractiveness of games that use die or dice is the suspense that results from the unpredictable movement and tumbling of the die after the die is cast. Different types of die that are designed to affect die movement and outcome are generally known. One type of known die is commonly referred to as a weighted or a loaded die. Such loaded die typically include the use of weights in different ways. One form of a loaded die includes fixed position weights embedded into the die face, so as to influence outcome. In another form, the die has a weight inside a non-uniform void in the die interior. While such weights can impart an eccentric wobble to the cast die, non-uniformity of the void shape by the inclusion of recesses, gutters, pockets, or catches as part of the hollow interior affect motion of the weight so as to reduce the randomness of the die roll related outcome. Thus, loaded dice generally favor certain outcomes such that specific surfaces and numbers of the dice come up more often. Besides weights, other objects or materials such as, liquid mercury, buckshot, and so forth, can also impart wobbly or eccentric motion to the die when cast. Again, any non-uniform shape of the interior void of the die, such as recesses, gutters, and so forth will influence the die outcome in a non-random manner. In addition, the interior weight itself can be designed to have a non-uniform weight distribution that further influences die roll outcome. Unfortunately, such loaded dice when cast have outcomes that are affected by the cavity's non-uniform shape as well as the form of the material inside the cavity. Accordingly, there is a need for a die when cast to have a highly erratic motion, yet overcome the problem of having an outcome overly influenced by the shape of the internal die cavity so as to produce an outcome that is a random result.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONOne aspect of the invention provides a die that includes a body, generally shaped in a form of a regular polyhedron, and having an interior volume and a plurality of faces; a spherical cavity defined within the interior volume; and a sphere disposed within the cavity.
Another aspect of the invention provides a die that includes a body, generally shaped in a form of a hexahedron, having an interior volume and six, generally square faces; a spherical cavity defined within the interior volume and having a first surface, such that a cavity geometric center is generally coincident with a body geometric center; and a sphere disposed within the cavity and having a second surface.
In yet another aspect of the invention, a method of using a die that includes the step of providing at least one die that includes a body, generally shaped in a form of a regular polyhedron, and having an interior volume and a plurality of faces, a spherical cavity defined within the interior volume, and a sphere disposed within the cavity; placing the die in a contained volume; agitating the contained volume; and ejecting the die from the contained volume onto a substrate.
A die having body 10 with a spherical cavity 20 is as shown in
The faces of the die can include indicia. The indicia can include a number, a representation of a number as in the commonly used dot (as illustrated in
Material used in the formation of the die body and/or sphere can include a wide variety of materials such as wood, plastic, metal, elastomer, and so forth. Materials of construction that are cheap and can be easily formed are of particular interest. In this regard, the invention particularly contemplates the use of plastics such as ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene), a common thermoplastic, or metals such as steel. Many types of plastics and metals can be economically and easily formed or molded into a desired shape of the die or the components that are used to form the die.
A spherical cavity 20 is defined inside the die interior volume 12. While the spherical cavity location and shape can be varied, in one embodiment, the die interior volume 12 includes a spherical cavity that is centered within the die. In this regard, the die and spherical cavity can be formed so that a geometric center of the spherical cavity is generally coincident with the geometric center of the polyhedron die within reasonable manufacturing tolerances. Without being held to any specific theory, it is believed that the spherical cavity shape and location inside the die are important to a random yet erratic and eccentric behavior of the die during the casting. For example, the centering of the spherical cavity inside the die avoids undesirable biasing of cast die outcomes.
The shape of the spherical cavity is generally a uniform spherical shape such that any point on the surface of spherical cavity is generally a fixed distance from the geometric center of the spherical cavity. Generally, the geometric center of the spherical cavity is also the geometric center of the die. A uniformly spherically shaped surface does not impart motion to or impact on the motion of the internal ball or weight moving around inside the spherical cavity during die casting in a way that influences the outcome of the cast die.
A surface 22 of the spherical cavity 20 can be either smooth or have a grabbing tendency. The use of a smooth surface minimizes any resistance to movement of an object inside the spherical cavity. Such minimal resistance can produce a certain eccentric behavior of the cast die. Alternatively, the surface can be textured or have a surface layer, for example a tacky coating, such that the surface provides some resistance to ball or weight movement, which in turn produces a different eccentric behavior of a cast die. In this regard, a grabbing surface, as used herein, relates to a surface that interacts with objects that contact the surface in such a way as to have a higher frictional or adherence attraction as opposed to be a smooth or near frictionless contact.
A sphere 30 for placement inside a body 10 is shown in
The sphere 30 has a surface 32 that can be smooth or have a grabbing tendency as with the cavity surface, as described above. Again, the use of a smooth surface minimizes resistance to movement of the sphere 30 inside the spherical cavity 20. In this situation, a free moving sphere imparts a certain eccentric behavior to the cast die. Alternatively, a surface that resists movement can produce a different eccentric behavior of a cast die through friction between the surfaces. In this regard, a surface 32, which would tend to grasp the cavity surface 22 when the surfaces contact, would produce a different erratic behavior. Such grabbing surfaces could include a surface texturing or a surface layer such as a tacky coating.
In another embodiment of the invention, the sphere 30 can be made of multiple parts or components, particularly a plurality of layers. For example, the layers can be made up of different materials such as materials having different densities, or layers applied in either a uniform or non-uniform manner, or layers being concentric or non-concentric, so as to produce different eccentric behaviors.
The material used to make the sphere 30 can be varied and include wood, plastic, metal, elastomer, and so forth. Materials of construction that are cheap and the can be easily formed are of particular interest. In this regard, the invention particularly contemplates the use of plastics such as ABS or metals such as steel. Both plastic and metals can be inexpensively formed or molded into a sphere. Alternately, common spherical items such as buckshot, ball bearings, and so forth can be used. Additionally, different types of materials or combinations thereof can be used to affect the eccentric behavior of die when cast. For example, the body 10 could be made from a relative low density plastic while the sphere 30 could be a spherical weight such as a ball bearing made of the higher density material, such as steel. Other none limiting examples of die construction include the die body made of one density plastic, the sphere made of a different density plastic, the sphere made of a combination of materials, and so forth.
A cross-section of the die in
During operation and use of the die as depicted by the hollow arrows shown in
While preferred embodiments and example configurations of the invention have been herein illustrated, shown and described, it is to be appreciated that various changes, rearrangements, and modifications may be made therein, without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. It is intended that the specific embodiments and configurations disclosed are illustrative of the preferred and best modes for practicing the invention, and should not be interpreted as limitations on the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims and it is to be appreciated that various changes, rearrangements, and modifications may be made therein, without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
Claims
1. A die comprising:
- a body, generally shaped in a form of a regular polyhedron, having an interior volume and a plurality of faces;
- a spherical cavity defined within the interior volume; and
- a sphere disposed within the spherical cavity.
2. The die of claim 1, wherein a first ratio of a first diameter of the spherical cavity to a dimension of the die measured between a first face and an opposing face on an opposite side of the die is about 0.25 to about 0.9.
3. The die of claim 1, wherein a second ratio of a second diameter of the sphere to the first diameter of the spherical cavity is between about 0.2 and about 0.8.
4. The die of claim 1, wherein the body is a six-sided cube.
5. The die of claim 1, further comprising indicia on at least one face.
6. The die of claim 1, wherein a geometric center of the spherical cavity is generally coincident with a geometric center of the body.
7. The die of claim 1, wherein the body is made of a first material having a first material density and the sphere is made of a second material having a second material density, the second material density being greater than the first material density.
8. The die of claim 1, wherein the spherical cavity has a first surface, the first surface being a smooth or a grabbing surface.
9. The die of claim 1, wherein the sphere has a second surface, the second surface being a smooth or a grabbing surface.
10. A die comprising:
- a body, generally shaped in a form of a hexahedron, having an interior volume and six generally square, faces;
- a spherical cavity defined within the interior volume; and
- a sphere disposed within the spherical cavity;
- wherein a spherical cavity geometric center is generally coincident with a body geometric center.
11. The die of claim 10, wherein a first ratio of a first diameter of the spherical cavity to a dimension of the die measured between a first face and an opposing face on an opposite side of the die is about 0.25 to about 0.9.
12. The die of claim 10, wherein a second ratio of a second diameter of the sphere to the first diameter of the spherical cavity is between about 0.2 and about 0.8.
13. The die of claim 10, wherein the spherical cavity has a first surface, the sphere has a second surface, and at least a portion of the first surface is generally in contact with the second surface.
14. The die of claim 10, further comprising indicia on at least one face.
15. A method for using a die comprising:
- providing at least one die comprising: a body, generally shaped in a form of a regular polyhedron, the body having an interior volume and a plurality of faces; a spherical cavity defined within the interior volume; and a sphere disposed inside the spherical cavity;
- placing the die in a contained volume;
- agitating the contained volume; and
- ejecting the die from the contained volume.
Type: Application
Filed: May 10, 2010
Publication Date: Sep 22, 2011
Inventor: Ivars Sondors (Chicago, IL)
Application Number: 12/776,482