Description OUTFIT FOR FIGHT GAME WITH SIMULATED BLEEDING

Technical Field

[1] This invention relates to an outfit for a fight game such as a duel or a battle game between different groups in which a player uses body or weapon, and more particularly to an outfit for a fight game in which mock blood is bled and motion of the players are restricted according to the damage degree by strike, which cause the players and spectators to feel the realistic effect.

[2]

Background Art

[3] Various fight games between the individual players or different teams are practiced as a sport or leisure activity, in which a player competes against an opponent using his/ her body or a weapon. For example, traditional fight games such as boxing, taekwondo, and Japanese fencing have been carried out for assessing players' ability. Recently, a survival game allowing players to use various imitation weapons is popular among adults and teens.

[4] However, in order to protect players or reduce violence level, each traditional fight game adopts its own game rules. Accordingly, there are restrictions on usable skills, striking parts of the player's body, weapons, so the player could not use his/her skills to the fullest extent and it is difficult to attract spectators' interest. Also, since how serious the player's damage is cannot be immediately recognized unless the player suffers serious injury, interest in the fight game is decreased and, appeals against a referee's decisions are sometimes lodged.

[5] Though special guns and bullets are used in a mock battle such as a survival game, when a player is shot, spectators and opponents cannot know how deeply the player is wounded. Accordingly, this reduces the spectators' and the players' interest and makes it harder for a referee to make a correct decision.

[6] For example, in case of the survival game in which a paintball is used as a bullet, when the paintball strikes a player, the paintball bursts and leaves only a colored paint mark on the struck player's protector. However, the paint mark is not sufficient to give a realistic effect.

[7] To overcome the above mentioned restrictions, Korean Patent No. 719832 filed by the present applicant discloses "Protector for a combative sport". As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 of the above Korean patent, the protector for the combative sport includes a protector 2, a strike detector 4, and a motion restrictor 8. The protector 2 has joints 16 corresponding to respective body joints of the player. The strike detector 4

such as a pressure sensor detects striking strength and position on the protector 2. The motion restrictor 8 includes a plurality of gas bags 18 and a gas supplier 20 to limit motion of a corresponding joint based on the striking strength and position detected by the strike detector 4. In this protector, after the strike detector 4 detects strength and position of the strike on the player, the detector 4 sends a sensing signal to the gas supplier 20. In response to the detection signal, the gas supplier 20 supplies gas to the gas bag 18 to be inflated and be stiffened, thereby restricting the motion of a corresponding joint of the player. As a result, the struck player may acts as if he/she is actually wounded, which enhances the realistic effect.

[8]

Disclosure of Invention Technical Problem

[9] However, the motion restriction is not sufficient to give the realistic effect as much as the real battle to spectators and players. Particularly, in the fight game allowing players to use fake guns and swords, since the players were not really injured, a tense atmosphere may not be created. Consequently, the players are not induced to make more active offences and thus the spectators may lose their interest.

[10]

Technical Solution

[11] This invention is provided to solve the above mentioned problems of the related art, and the object of the invention is to provide an outfit for a fight game in which the players bleed mock blood according to the striking position and strength as well as the players are protected from the striking damage, and in which the motion of player is differently restricted according to the degree of the damage of the player so that the fight game should be more exciting and realistic.

[12]

[13] According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided an outfit for a fight game with simulated bleeding which includes a protector being put on by the player to protect the body of the player, a plurality of strike detectors installed on the parts of protector to detect the strike, a blood supplier provided on the protector to supply mock blood, a plurality of blood conduits connected to the blood supplier and extends to the parts of the protector, a plurality of blood valves connected to each blood conduits to open and close the blood conduits, and a controller to receive the signal from the strike detectors and control the blood valves to discharge the mock blood.

[14]

[15] According to another aspect of the invention, the outfit for a fight game further includes motion restrictor to restrict the motion of each body part of the player

according to the signal from the controller.

[16]

[17] According to another aspect of the invention, the motion restrictor comprises a gas bag installed on each part of the protector or the joint thereof, a gas supplier to supply the gas to the gas bag through the gas conduit, and a gas valve connected to the gas conduit to open and close the gas conduit according to instruction from the controller.

[18]

[19] According to another aspect of the invention, the outfit for a fight game further includes a flow meter to sense amount of the discharged blood from the blood supplier, and if a blood is sensed to be discharged to a preset amount, then the controller may control to supply gas to all the gas bags on the protector so that all the motion of the player should be restricted.

[20]

[21] According to another aspect of the invention, the gas supplier comprises a high pressure gas tank, and the blood supplier is connected to the gas tank through the pressure conduit and pressure valve so that the blood should flow by the force of pressure gas.

[22]

[23] According to another aspect of the invention, the parts of the protector are separated to be put on respectively, and each part of the protector includes a controller, a blood supplier, a blood valve and a motion restrictor respectively.

[24]

[25] According to another aspect of the invention, each part of the protector further includes a RF module connected to the controller, and the protector is also provided with a central controller and a central RF module connected to the central controller and capable of communicating wirelessly to the RF module of each part of the protector.

Advantageous Effects

[26] According to the invention described above, as the protector may protect the player body from the impact of the strike, the player could fight to the full extent of his skill and strength without the concerns about the counterpart's damage, and the strike impact may cause the simulated bleeding and motion restriction of the player, which will result in the realistic effect, tension, excitement and interest to both the players or the spectators. And the outcome of the fight games can be judged based on the bleeding amounts or degree of motion restriction with or without the referee, which will reduce the complaint about the judgement and increase the reliability of judgement of the game, which will eventually contribute to open and develop the new fight game

and enlarge leisure and sport industry. [27]

Brief Description of the Drawings

[28] Preferred embodiments of this invention can be understood in more detail from the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

[29] FIG. 1 is a front view of the first embodiment of the invention,

[30] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the control system of the embodiment of FIG. 1,

[31] FIG. 3 is a view of the operating state of the embodiment of FIG. 1,

[32] FIG. 4 is a front view of the second embodiment of the invention,

[33] FIG. 5 is a view showing the state of putting on the parts of protector of the invention,

[34] FIG. 6 is a view of hand part of the protector of the invention, and

[35] FIG. 7 is a view of the motion restrictor module

[36]

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[37] Hereinafter, the preferred embodiments of the invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[38] Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the outfit for a fight game according to the invention includes a costume type protector 102 put on by the player to protect the body from the impact, a plurality of strike detectors 104 installed on the parts of protector for detecting the strike, a controller 106 receiving the signal from the strike detectors 104 and output the control signal 104, a simulated bleeding means provided on the protector to supply mock blood according to the control signal from the controller 106 and a motion restrictors to restrict the motion of the player according to the signal from the controller.

[39] The protector 102 includes a head gear 110 in the shape of helmet, upper body protector 112 in the shape of jacket to protect the upper part of the body and arms, a lower body protector 114 in the shape of the pants to protect the hip and the legs, and they be made of lightweight plastic, textile or the composite material with sufficient strength.

[40] The protector 102 has a joint 116 conformed to the shape of body joint. The parts of the protector 102 adjacent to the joint 116 can be rotated at the joint 116 to achieve free motion of the player. The joint 116 may be formed on the connecting part of the adjacent parts of the protector 102, or it may correspond merely to the gap between the separated parts of the protector 102.

[41] The strike detectors 104 are the pressure sensors distributed on the cover of the protector. The strike detectors 104 detect the position and strength of the strike, and

they may be located mainly on the frequently striking points.

[42] The controller 106 may be a micro controller or micro computer and it receives the signal from the strike detectors 104 to decide the striking position and the striking strength and control the simulated bleeding means and the motion restrictor.

[43] The simulated bleeding means includes a blood supplier 130 provided on the protector 102 to supply mock blood, a plurality of blood conduits 135 connected to the blood supplier 130 and extending to the parts of the protector 102, a plurality of blood valves 138 connected to each of the blood conduits 135 to open and close the blood conduits 135. At the end of the blood conduit 135 is provided a blood discharger 140, which may be a bleeding nozzle. The blood valve 138 and the blood discharger 140 may be combined into one body.

[44] The blood supplier 130 includes a blood reservoir 131 to contain the mock blood, and a blood pump 133 to pump the mock blood into the blood conduits 135 according the signal from the controller 106. The blood reservoir 131 may be a rigid container or a flexible bag, and it may be a disposable or repeatedly usable. If the blood reservoir 131 is made of flexible bag, a separate pressuring means to press the flexible bag may be provided instead of the blood pump 133.

[45] The motion restrictor includes a gas bag 118 to be inflated by the inflow of air or gas, a gas supplier 120 to supply the gas to the gas bag 118 through the gas conduit 126, and a plurality of gas valves 124 connected to the gas conduit 126 to open and close the gas conduit 126.

[46] The gas bags 118 are disposed on the joints 116 of the parts of the protector, and the inflated gas bag may press the joint of the body to restrict the motion of the player.

[47] The gas supplier 120 may be a high pressure gas tank, and the gas valves 124 on the gas conduit 126 are controlled by the controller 106 to selectively supply the gas from the gas supplier 120 to the gas bag 118.

[48] Meanwhile, a power supply, which is not shown but preferably a battery, may be provided on the protector 102 to power the controller 106, the detectors 104, the simulated bleeding means and the motion restrictor.

[49] According to the outfit for a fight game as described above, if a strike is applied on the protector 102 by the weapon or body, the strike is detected by the strike detector 104, then the controller 106 controls to operate the blood pump 133 of the blood supplier 130, and the controller 106 also controls to open the blood valve 138 in order to discharge the mock blood through the blood discharger 140 at the end of the blood conduit on the struck part of the protector 102. At the same time, the controller 106 controls to open the gas valves 124 to inflate the gas bag 118 on the joint corresponding to the strike position of the protector 102 to restrict the player's motion to achieve the effect that the player is injured.

[50] The mechanism of the motion restriction is explained in detail in reference with FIG.

3. When the gas bag 118 is not inflated as shown in FIG. 3 A, the gas bag 118 has no resistance so that the joint can be freely folded and stretched. But when the gas bag 118 is inflated by gas inflow as shown in the FIG. 3B, the gas bag 118 may press against the joint so that the player may not freely fold or stretch the joint.

[51] Preferably, the controller 106 may control the simulated bleeding means and the motion restrictor to increase the bleeding amount and the degree of motion restriction in proportion to the strength of strike. Particularly, if the bleeding amount reaches to a preset level, the controller should control the motion restrictor to stop the motion of player throughly as if he/she is dead. For example, if a fencing player strikes the other player's protector repeatedly or with a strength to a preset level to reach a certain amount of bleeding, then the controller 106 may control all the gas bag 118 of the protector 102 to be fully inflated to restrict the all motion of the player. For this purpose, a flow meter or a level gauge to detect the discharging amount of blood may be provided.

[52] Alternatively, the controller 106 may control the motion restrictor differently according to the striking point. For example, if a vital point is struck, then a plurality of the gas bag 118 may be fully inflated at the same time, so that the motion of the player may be severely restricted.

[53] As described above, the outfit for a fight game of the invention may achieve a similar effect of bleeding according to the strike on the player, and also achieve a similar effect of body injury by the restricting the joint motion, which will result in the realistic and exciting condition for the player to feel more tension and absorption, and the spectators will enjoy the fight game in more realistic feeling and excitement.

[54] Moreover, as the outcome of the fight game may be decided based on the bleeding amount or the level of motion restriction, the referee may not decide the game directly, so more objective judgement may be possible to reduce the complaint about the judgement.

[55] The strike detectors 104 may be a pressure sensors distributed on the protector 102, or it may be a net sensor covering the certain area of the protector 102. The strike detector 104 may be an air pressure sensing type sensor which is attached on the air bag provided on the protector to sense the exhausting air pressure from the air bag when the strike is applied the air bag.

[56] The gas supplier 120 may be a gas tank as described above, or it may be a air compressor or air pump. The gas bag 118 may have a various shape and size. And the motion restrictor may be various mechanical device besides the gas bag 118 and the gas supplier 120.

[57] FIG. 4 shows the second embodiment according to the invention and FIG. 5 shows

protector of the embodiment put on and FIG. 6 shows the hand part of the protector of the embodiment. The protector 102 comprises several parts such as a head protector 102a, a upper body protector 102b, a shoulder protector 102c, a lower body protector 102d, an arm protector 102e, a hand protector 102f, a leg protector 102g, a foot protector 102h and a knee protector 102L Each part of protector 102 has ordinary fasteners such as velcro tapes 103a, 103b, 103c and 104d to be easily attached on the corresponding body part as shown in FIG. 4 and 5. And each part of the protector includes a strike detector 104, a controller 106 and a motion restrictor respectively.

[58] Referring FIG. 6, a hand protector 102f includes a cover 105b in which a strike detector(not shown) is concealed, a gas bag 118 provided on the wrist and fingers, a plurality of blood discharger 140 provided on the proper position of the cover 105, a gas supplier 120 connected to the gas bag 118 through the gas conduit 126 and gas valve 124, a blood supplier 130 connected to the blood discharger 140 through the blood conduit 135 and blood valve 138, and a controller 106 to control the operation of gas valve 124 and blood valve 138 according to the signal from the strike detector 104.

[59] In this embodiment, the blood supplier 130 of the simulated bleeding means is constructed to discharge the blood by gas pressure from the gas supplier 120 without separate pump. For this, a pressure valve 139 may be installed on the gas supplier 120, the pressure valve 139 being connected to blood supplier 130 through the pressure line 137. The pressure valve 139 is also controlled by the controller 106.

[60] The above mentioned structure for the hand protector will be also applied on the other parts of the protector 102, that is, a head protector 102a, a upper body protector 102b, a shoulder protector 102c, a lower body protector 102d, an arm protector 102c and a leg protector 102g.

[61] The above mentioned structure will achieve an improved effect in applying to the fight game using a weapon such as sword, a spear or a stick. For example, if a player's hand protector 102f is struck by the other player's weapon, the strike detector 104 sends the signal to the controller 106, then the controller 106 controls the gas valve 124 to be opened so that pressure gas is supplied from the gas supplier to the gas bag 118. Accordingly, the inflated gas bag 118 will restrict the motion of hand or finger of the player, which will result in the handicap for using the weapon. If the gas bag 118 is fully inflated, then the finger will be forced to be stretched and the player can not grip the weapon.

[62] In addition, the controller 106 controls the pressure valve 139 to be opened, then high pressure will be applied to the blood supplier 130 and the blood valve 138 is also opened so that the blood will be supplied from the blood supplier 130 to some blood discharger 140. As a result, a motion restriction and simulated bleeding will be occurred on the struck part of the player.

[63] If each part of the protector 102 is equipped with the strike sensing means, the motion restricting means and the simulated bleeding means, then the overall structure of the protector 102 may be simple because connection lines such as electric power line, control signal line, blood conduit or gas conduit to connect each part of the protector 102 may be omitted, which will result in easy putting on, free action and easy maintenance.

[64] Meanwhile, a RF module 150 may be provided on each part of the protector 102 connected to the controller 106 and capable of communicating to the central RF module 210 connected to the central controller 200 provided on a certain part of the protector 102. Therefore, the motion restrictor of each part of the protector 102 could be controlled by the central controller 200. That is, the signal detected by the strike detector 104 may be sent from the controller 106 to the central controller 120 through the RF modules 150 and the central RF module 210. And the control signal may be sent from the central controller 120 to the controller 106 through the central RF module 210 and the RF module 150, then the controller 106 of each part of the protector 102 may control the gag valve 124, the pressure valve 139 and the blood valve 138 of each part of the protector 102 to achieve necessary motion restrictions and simulated bleedings.

[65] This structure of the protector has not only the advantage that each part of the protector could operate independently but that it could achieve a realistic damages effect similar to the actual fighting according to the strike position and strength. For example, if the player is damaged by the quite a strong strike or he is struck on the vital point or weak point, then not only the motion restrictor corresponding to the struck part but also all other motion restrictors may be actuated to restrict the player's entire motion by the central controller 200, which will result in the final defeat or dead in the game.

[66] FIG. 7 shows an example of module of the motion restrictor, in which a gas bag 118 is connected to the port of the gas supplier 120, and the controller 106 may control the gas supplier 120 to inflate the gas bag 118. The gas supplier 120 may be a small pressure gas tank with valve 124, or it may be a structure similar to the car air bag inflator using the NaN ₃ This type motion restrictor module may be easily attached on the necessary positions of the protector 102, and the number, size and the attaching position of the motion restrictor module can be regulated and commonly used for various fight games.