Technical field The invention relates to a player figurine for tabletop ball games, especially football, comprising the figurine body and a motion mechanism to direct the movement of the ball.

Prior art

Tabletop ball games with moving figurines can be divided into two basic groups.

The first group comprises a playing field that player figurines are fixed to. The figurines are partly movable in such a way that the whole body of a figurine is tilted or turned at the same time. The figurines are attached to the playing field e.g. on a spring, or they are fixed to a turning rod, or they are connected to a draw-bar and move inside grooves in the playing field.

The documents DE 3025193 A1 and US 3817523 A describe tabletop football comprising moving figurines having one leg attached to a rotary base and the other leg being inclined from the first leg. Turning the rotary base makes the moving figurine turn around its vertical axis in the range of 0-360°. The other, inclined leg kicks the ball during the turning of the figurine. The turning mechanism of the rotary base is situated under the playing field and comprises a control rod and a transmission mechanism to convert the movement of the control rod to the rotary movement of the rotary base.

The document WO2017/153791 describes tabletop football comprising moving figurines with moving limbs. These figurines are fitted with an opening in their centre where a motion mechanism is situated. In one embodiment example, the mechanism consists of a moving toothed rod connected to the top gear located in the centre of the figurines as well as to the bottom gear situated under the surface of the playing field. The bottom gear is connected to the control rod to control the movement of the figurine. The toothed rod engages with the top and bottom gear.

The document CS 143196 B1 describes tabletop football with electromagnetically controlled figurines wherein the game proceeds spontaneously. The control electromagnets of the figurines are activated by a ball with a conductive surface via their control contact that the ball hits during its movement on the playing field. The ball hitting the contact of an electromagnet activates a movement of the figurine that rebounds the ball to another figurine or to the goal.

The other group of ball games is represented by games with player figurines with moving limbs, supplied with a playing field or without a playing field. A table or another suitable, usually flat surface can be e.g. used as the playing field. These games comprise more other playing means depending on the type of the ball game, as e.g. balls, goals and baskets.

The most widespread ball game of the latter group is football (soccer).

In the market, moving figurines for tabletop football are offered that have one moving bottom limb (leg) that can move in one (forward) direction. The leg movement activation impetus issued by a player either acts directly upon the moving leg or acts upon a draw-bar that is connected to the moving leg (see e.g. the Peter Upton ^' s Subbuteo Tribute Website. Rival Games 1950s-1970s, http://www.peter-upton.co.uk/rivals01.htm).

The document EP 1279422 A1 describes a player figurine for kicking the ball that is placed on a base with one leg of the figurine and the other leg of the figurine is movable from the waist down in a rotary manner forwards by means of a motor and gear mechanism installed inside the figurine.

The document GB819036 A describes a playing figurine for tabletop football whose both bottom limbs are moving, while only one of the limbs or both the limbs at the same time can be moved. In one embodiment example, the motion mechanism consists of a push rod, that in a preferred embodiment pushes a damping element consisting of a cross member having two ends, that are in contact with the arms of the thighs, that rotate around a shaft. The push rod is fitted with a spring and a pin passes through it, that enables deflection of the push rod into the two positions to move one or the other limb. When the push rod is deflected, just one of its ends acts upon the thigh arm while the other end is idle in a niche next to the second thigh arm.

A disadvantage of the said embodiments is a limited movement of the player figurines. Either the player figurine is fixed in one place without the possibility of moving on the playing field, or the figurine can be moved on the playing field, but the movement of one bottom limb in one direction is only possible, or the figurine can be moved on the playing field and enables movement of any bottom limb, but it is less comfortable to control because to move one limb only, the control member must be pushed in two directions (laterally and downwards). Thus, the above-mentioned embodiments have limited movement variability during the game and some of them pose higher demands on movement control. The limited motion mechanism of the figurine further does not make it possible to use the figurine for other tabletop ball games.

The object of the invention is to design a player figurine with higher limb motion variability to direct the movement of the ball and with simple motion control.

Disclosure of invention

The said object is achieved with a player figurine for tabletop ball games comprising the figurine body and a motion mechanism to direct the movement of the ball according to the invention the principle of which is that the motion mechanism comprises a shaft seated in the figurine body in a sliding manner in the direction of its axis wherein the first toothed head is arranged on the shaft and at least a segment of the first toothed wheel is mounted in a rotary way at the shaft as well as at least a segment of the second toothed wheel, arranged symmetrically with respect to the first toothed wheel in such a way that the toothed wheels are designed to engage with the first toothed head to convert the linear motion of the shaft to rotary motion of the toothed wheels while the first rotary limb of the figurine is connected to the first toothed wheel and the other rotary limb is connected to the second toothed wheel, wherein the first toothed head is divided along its perimeter into the first sections with teeth and first sections without teeth, and wherein the turning of the first toothed head with respect to the toothed wheels is adjustable in such a way that the first toothed head engages either with both the toothed wheels or with one of any of the toothed wheels or with none of the toothed wheels, means to activate linear motion of the shaft with an external impetus are connected to the shaft.

An advantage of this embodiment is that the player figurine has two moving limbs whose movement is controlled simultaneously or individually by means of one common shaft by moving it in the direction of its axis only. Rotation of the shaft around its axis can be used to set a combination of the limbs that will move. Simultaneous movement of both the limbs, or only one of the limbs or no limb can be set. In the position for simultaneous movement of both the limbs, the limbs can be set identically, or they may be swivelled with respect to each other. This mutual swivelling is maintained during the simultaneous movement of the limbs.

In a preferred embodiment, the motion mechanism comprises the second toothed head arranged on the shaft in a mutual distance from the first toothed head, at least a segment of the third toothed wheel and at least a segment of the fourth toothed wheel arranged mutually symmetrically at the shaft in such a way to engage with the second toothed head, and it further comprises the third rotary limb connected to the third toothed wheel and the fourth rotary limb connected to the fourth toothed wheel, the second toothed head being divided along its perimeter to the second sections with teeth and the second sections without teeth and the turning of the second toothed head with respect to the toothed wheels being adjustable.

An advantage of this embodiment is that the player figurine has four moving limbs whose movement is controlled simultaneously or independently by means of one common shaft by moving it in the direction of its axis. Rotating the shaft around its axis can be used to set a combination of the limbs that will move. Simultaneous movement of all the limbs, of only some of the limbs, movement of one limb only or no limb can be set.

In a preferred embodiment, the mutual arrangement of the shaft and toothed wheel is such that they have concurrent axes for the forward and backward movement of the rotary limbs. In a preferred embodiment, the mutual arrangement of the shaft and toothed wheel is such that they have skew axes for the movement of the rotary limbs sideways and back.

The advantage of the selection of concurrent or skew axes of the shaft and toothed wheel is the possibility of setting whether the limbs move forwards/backwards or sideways and back. Or a combination of both the movements of one player figurine can be set.

In a preferred embodiment, the rotary limbs are designed to kick the ball and at their free end they have a rotatably attached kicking member.

The kicking member is an imitation of a football boot. By turning the boot and with its shape, the figurine can kick the ball with the inner or outer side or the tip of the boot.

In a preferred embodiment, the body of the player figurine comprises an pull-out elastic member to shoot the ball.

The elastic member of the figurine according to the invention imitates the footballer’s hands to throw in the ball after it left the field, which the player figurine can also do. In a preferred embodiment, the shaft is set into linear motion with an external impetus, which is mechanical and/or electric and/or hydraulic.

An advantage of this embodiment is variability of the external impetus of the figurine. The type of the external impetus can be selected e.g. with respect to the size of the player figurine and thus the demand for the intensity of the impetus to accomplish the movement, or with respect to the distance between the player figurine and the motion control element, which does not have to be situated directly on the figurine. Another advantage is the possibility of simultaneous implementation of e.g. two different embodiments of the external impetus wherein one of them may serve as the backup in case of a failure of the other one. If stepper electric motors are used to control the movement of the limbs, they can be advantageously connected directly to individual limbs. Brief description of Drawings

The following figurines illustrate examples of embodiments of a player figurine for the tabletop ball game football variant. Fig. 1 shows the arrangement of the motion mechanism of the player figurine according to the invention for the forward/backward movement of two bottom limbs in a front view.

Fig. 2 shows the arrangement of the motion mechanism of the player figurine according to the invention for the forward/backward movement of two bottom limbs in a side view.

Figs. 3a to 3c show variants of turning of the toothed head with the sections with teeth and without teeth with respect to the toothed wheels for the control of the motion of the two bottom limbs in the ground plan view.

Fig. 4 shows the arrangement of the motion mechanism of the player figurine according to the invention for the movement of the two bottom limbs and the two top limbs sideways and back in a front view. Fig. 5 shows the arrangement of the motion mechanism of the player figurine according to the invention for the movement of the two bottom limbs and the two top limbs sideways and back in a side view.

Figs. 6a to 6d show variants of turning of the toothed heads with the sections with teeth and without teeth with respect to the toothed wheels for the control of the motion of the two bottom limbs and the two top limbs in the ground plan view. Fig. 7 shows the attachment of the rotatable boot to the bottom limb.

When forward/backward and sideways and back movements are mentioned in the text below, they refer to the directions with respect to a player figurine similarly to a human.

Description of preferred embodiments

The player figurine for tabletop ball games according to the first embodiment example with reference to Fig. 1 has a figurine body 10 and a motion mechanism 1 to direct the ball movement. The motion mechanism 1 comprises a shaft 2 seated in the figurine body 0 in a sliding way in the direction of its axis. In the embodiment of Fig. 1 , the shaft 2 passes vertically through the figurine body 10. At the top end of the shaft 2, a polyhedral termination 30 of the shaft 2 is arranged that can be inserted into the head 22, where it fits into a polyhedral bushing 28 of the figurine head 22, and the bottom end of the shaft 2 ends in the bottom part of the figurine body 10. In its top and bottom part, the shaft 2 passes through the attachment 26 of the shaft 2 in the figurine body 10 to ensure rotary movement of the shaft 2 around its axis on the one hand and movement of the shaft 2 in its axial direction on the other hand. At the bottom end of the shaft 2, the first toothed head 3 is arranged and toothed wheels 4, 14 are mounted in a rotary way at the shaft 2. Persons skilled in the art will find it obvious that the toothed wheels do not have to be complete because at least segments of the toothed wheels in the form of a sector of a circle will be sufficient. The toothed wheels 4, 14 engage with the first toothed head 3 to convert the linear movement of the shaft 2 to the rotary movement of the toothed wheels 4, 14. The shaft 2 and the toothed wheels 4, 14 have axes that are concurrent. The first rotary limb 5 of the figurine is connected to the first toothed wheel 4 and the second rotary limb 15 of the figurine is connected to the second toothed wheel 14. The axes of the shaft 2 and the toothed wheels 4, 14 that are concurrent are installed to transmit the movement of the shaft 2 in the direction of its axis to the movement of the rotary limbs 5, 15 forwards and backwards. On the shaft 2, above the first toothed head 3, means for the input 20 of the mechanical impetus of limb movement control are arranged. In the embodiment of Fig. 1 , the first toothed head 3 is divided along its perimeter into the first sections 6 with teeth and the first sections 7 without teeth. The exact configuration of the first sections 6, 7 is clear from Fig. 3.

The player figurine of the embodiment of Fig. 1 is a figurine of a football forward. The forward can kick with the right and left leg (inner and outer side and tip of the boot) and throw the ball in. The arms are not movable.

With downward movement of the shaft 2 with the first toothed head 3 the first toothed head 3 engages with the selected toothed wheel 4 or 14, which causes a forward/backward movement of the rotary limb 5 or 15. Fig. 1 shows the input 20 of the mechanical impetus to cause a downward movement of the shaft. The size of the sent impetus determines the speed of the kick.

The limb that will be used to kick the ball is selected by means of the arrangement of the first toothed head 3, which is divided into the first sections 6 with teeth and the first sections 7 without teeth. The first sections 6, 7 are arranged in such a way that in one position (displacement) of the toothed head 3, the teeth on the first toothed head 3 engage with the first toothed wheel 4 only and in another position, they engage with the second toothed wheel 14 only. The arrangement of the first sections 6, 7 is shown in detail in Fig. 3, where the variant of a simultaneous kick with both the rotary limbs 5, 15 is also shown though in real football, this variant is not realistic. The turning of the first toothed head 3 with respect to the toothed wheels 4, 14 is set by means of the figurine head 22. In the figurine head 22, a polyhedral bushing 28 of the head 22 is arranged which the polyhedral termination 30 of the shaft 2 fits into. This way, a connection is produced when a turning of the head 22 causes a turning of the shaft 2 with the first toothed head 3 at the same time. Between the attachments 26 of the shaft 2, an engagement setting indicator 27 is arranged on the shaft 2 indicating which of the toothed wheels 4, 14 is currently set engaged with the toothed head 3, or which limb 5, 15 is selected to perform the movement. The issued mechanical impetus for the control of the vertical movement of the shaft 2 is brought to the figurine body 10 from an external handle (not shown) connected to the figurine body 10 e.g. with a flexible pipe or a Bowden cable (not shown). The length of the connection can be selectable. The handle is also used to move the player figurine on the playing field.

To return a rotary limb to the initial condition after the execution of a movement, the gravity force acting upon the rotary limb deflected from its rest position is used. Or a return member 25 of the shaft 2 can be used to delimit the rest position of the rotary limbs 5, 5.

The rotary limbs 5, 15 can be individually rotated on the toothed wheels 4, 14 up to 90° with respect to the vertical position.

In the first embodiment example according to Fig. 1 , a kicking member H, which is shown in detail in Fig. 7, is attached in a rotary manner to the rotary limb 5, 15. The kicking member H is set, in a rotary way, on a pin 23 attached to the rotary limb 5, 15 and by means of a return member 24 of the kicking member V\_ it is attached to the rotary limb 5, 15. The kicking member H can be turned and locked in various working positions. The kicking member H is partly drawn away from the rotary limb 5, 15, rotated and the return member 24 of the kicking member H will draw it back to the rotary limb 5, 15 again. This design enables 360-degree rotation of the kicking member 11 To lock the kicking member H in the working position, a polyhedral retractable member 31 is used that is connected to the kicking member 1_1 and situated in the rotary limb 5,15, where it fits into the polyhedral bushing 32 of the rotary limb 5, 15.

The kicking member H is made of a material that fulfils the ballast function. In the front part, it is pointed, on the inner part (facing the other rotary limb), it is straight, the top (instep) part is also tapered and the rear part (heel) is perpendicular to the bottom straight part. This shape of the kicking member H supports kicks with the inner and outer side or tip.

Besides a mechanical impetus controlling the movement of the rotary limbs 5, 1_5, other systems can be used, e.g. an electric or a hydraulic one (not shown). If an electric drive of the shaft 2 is applied, an electromagnet installed on the shaft 2 can be used. The intensity of the issued kicking impetus can be controlled by means of a rheostat. Pushing out of the core from the coil of the electromagnet can be unilateral or bilateral. In the bilateral design, a magnetic force returns the kicking rotary limb 5, 15 into the rest position. Another electric drive possibility consists in using stepper motors to move the shaft 2 both in the direction of its axis, and to rotate it around its axis to select the kicking rotary limb 5, 15. The electric power is obtained from a battery integrated in the figurine body 10 or from an external power supply e.g. in the control handle. A mechanical impetus source can be installed on the player figurine together with another, e.g. electric system, as a backup method of controlling the movement of the rotary limbs of the player figurine.

The player figurine for tabletop ball games according to the first embodiment example of Fig. 1 is also shown in Fig. 2 in a side view for a better clarity. Fig. 2 shows a pull-out elastic member 12 that can be retracted into the elastic member holder 21 The pull-out elastic member 12 is used to throw the ball in, when it is released from the elastic member holder 21, the ball is placed on the end of the pull-out elastic member 12, the pull-out elastic member 12 is spring-loaded and subsequently released, which will shoot the ball. Figs. 3a to 3c show, in a ground plan view, variants of turning of the first toothed head 3 with the first sections 6 with teeth and the first sections 7 without teeth with respect to the toothed wheels 4, 14. The first sections 6 with teeth are indicated by hatching, the first sections 7 without teeth are without hatching. The first sections 6, 7 are arranged in such a way that a turning of the first toothed head 3 should achieve the engaging position of the first toothed head 3 with the first toothed wheel 4 only, or with the second toothed wheel 14 only, or with both the toothed wheels 4, 14 at the same time. Fig. 3a shows engaging with both the toothed wheels 4, 14, Fig. 3b engaging with the first toothed wheel 4 only and Fig. 3c engaging with the second toothed wheel 14 only.

The player figurine for tabletop ball games according to the second embodiment example of Fig. 4 is based on the first embodiment of Fig. 1. This embodiment additionally has the second toothed head 13 arranged on the shaft 2 in a mutual distance over the first moving head 3. Toothed wheels 8, 8 are further mounted in a rotary way at the shaft 2 in such a manner that they engage with the second toothed head 13 to convert the linear movement of the shaft 2 to the rotary movement of the toothed wheels 8, 18. The third rotary limb 9 is connected to the third toothed wheel 8 and the fourth rotary limb 19 is connected to the fourth toothed wheel 18. The shaft 2 has skew axes with the toothed wheels 4, 8, 14, 18. The skew axes of the shaft 2 with the toothed wheels 4, 8, 14, 18 are installed for the transmission of the shaft 2 movement in the direction of its axis to the movement of the rotary limbs 5, 9, 15, 19 sideways and back. In the embodiment of Fig. 4, the second toothed head 13 is also divided along its perimeter into the second sections 16 with teeth and the second sections 17 without teeth. The exact mutual arrangement of the sections 6, 7, 16, 17 is clear from Fig. 6.

The player figurine according to the second embodiment example of Fig. 4 is the figurine of a football goalkeeper. The goalkeeper can spread the legs and arms and can kick. It has four moving limbs that can be moved independently or together. The goalkeeper may prevent the ball from moving into the goal by movements of its limbs or by displacing of the goalkeeper’s body by 90° the figurine may kick the ball away from the goal. The goalkeeper can also be used to throw in balls on the ground or above the head. For this purpose, the goalkeeper’s arms are interrupted at the elbows and in the interruption place, elastic members are integrated (not shown) that support the throwing-in.

The goalkeeper is controlled in a similar way as the forward of the first embodiment. The toothed heads 3, 13, which are firmly connected to the shaft 2, must have more sections 6, 16 with teeth and sections 7, 17 without teeth to allow adjustment of all combinations of the independent or combined movement of the rotary limbs 5, 9, 15, 19. The rotary limbs 9, 19 can also be individually displaced by up to 90° with respect to the vertical position on the toothed wheels 8, 18.

Fig. 5 shows the player figurine of Fig. 4 in a side view. Figs. 6a to 6d show, in a ground plan view, variants of turning of the toothed heads

3, 13 with the sections 6, 16 with teeth and sections 7,17 without teeth with respect to the toothed wheels 4, 14, 8, 18. The arrangement of the sections 6, 7, 16, 17 is such that all the required combinations of an independent or combined movement of the rotary limbs 5, 9, 15, 19 can be achieved by turning of the toothed heads 3, 13. The toothed heads 3, 13 are turned at the same time. Fig. 6a shows the turning of the toothed heads 3, 13 for engaging with the toothed wheels

4, 14, 8, 18. Figs. 6b and 6c show the turning of the toothed heads 3, 13 for engaging with the toothed wheels 8, 18. Fig. 6d shows the turning of the toothed heads 3, 13 for engaging with the toothed wheel 4.

Although the above-mentioned embodiment examples are related to the tabletop ball game football, a person skilled in the art will find it obvious that the motion mechanism according to the invention is also applicable to player figurines of other ball games.

Balls that can be used for the player figurines according to the invention can be hollow or partly filled with heavy balls or sand. This will make the game more attractive. List of reference signs

1 motion mechanism

2 shaft

3 first toothed head

4 first toothed wheel

5 first rotary limb

6 first section with teeth

7 first section without teeth

8 third toothed wheel

9 third rotary limb

10 figurine body

1 1 kicking member

12 pull-out elastic member

13 second toothed head

14 second toothed wheel

15 second rotary limb

16 second section with teeth

17 second section without teeth

18 fourth toothed wheel

19 fourth rotary limb

20 mechanical impetus input

21 elastic member holder

22 head

23 pin

24 return member of the kicking member

25 return member of the shaft

26 shaft attachment

27 engagement adjustment indicator

28 polyhedral head bushing

30 polyhedral shaft termination

31 polyhedral retractable member of the kicking member

32 polyhedral rotary limb bushing