Portable dugout scoreboard

Abstract

A portable scoreboard includes self winding scrolls exposed through windows in a front face for keeping score, and open areas for applying team logos. The front face includes spaced apart pairs of slots for each scoring scroll, and additional pairs of spaced apart slots for scrolls representing a phase of a game, for example, an inning. The scrolls are self winding on bobbins behind the slots and pass through the slots to generally expose a single digit for viewing. Digits are changed by simply manually sliding the exposed portion of a scroll to expose the next digit. The scrolls generally include digits spaced apart to display single digits and a pair of scrolls are used to express numbers greater than nine, but may optionally also include spaced apart double digits. Areas are provided below the individual scores and on a back surface to place team logos and/or advertising.

1 . A portable scoreboard comprising:
 a scoreboard enclosure having:
 a scoreboard front face; and 
 at least one spaced apart pair of horizontally spaced apart first and second scoring slots in the scoreboard front face, the slots horizontally spaced apart by a spacing S; 
   a continuous self winding scoring scroll cooperating with each pair of slots and including spaced apart digits, the scroll contiguously and serially comprising:
 a first self winding portion residing behind the scoreboard front face; 
 a first transition portion passing through the first slot; 
 a flattened portion residing exposed above the scoreboard front face; 
 a second transition portion passing through the second slot; and 
 a second self winding portion residing behind the scoreboard front face. 
   
   
   
       2 . The portable scoreboard of  claim 1 , wherein the self winding portions are wound on inner bobbins. 
   
   
       3 . The portable scoreboard of  claim 2 , wherein split outer bobbins reside over the self winding portions. 
   
   
       4 . The portable scoreboard of  claim 1 , wherein the spaced apart digits are spaced apart single digits. 
   
   
       5 . The portable scoreboard of  claim 4 , wherein the spaced apart digits are spaced apart at least a distance to conceal an adjacent digit when a digit is centered between one of the pairs of horizontally spaced apart slots. 
   
   
       6 . The portable scoreboard of  claim 1 , wherein the self winding portions are free to self wind behind the front face of the scoreboard. 
   
   
       7 . The portable scoreboard of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one spaced apart pair of scoring slots are at least two horizontally spaced apart pairs of scoring slots. 
   
   
       8 . The portable scoreboard of  claim 7 , further including an additional pair of horizontally spaced apart phase slots and an additional self winding phase scroll for showing a phase of a game. 
   
   
       9 . The portable scoreboard of  claim 8 , wherein the additional pair of horizontally spaced apart phase slots are vertically spaced apart from the scoring slots. 
   
   
       10 . The portable scoreboard of  claim 8 , further including at least one area for applying a team logo. 
   
   
       11 . A portable scoreboard comprising:
 a scoreboard enclosure having:
 a scoreboard front face; 
 four horizontally spaced apart pairs of horizontally spaced apart first and second scoring slots in the scoreboard front face, the scoring slots of each spaced apart pair spaced apart by a spacing S; 
 a pair of horizontally spaced apart first and second phase slots vertically spaced apart from the scoring slots; 
   continuous self winding scoring scrolls, each scroll cooperating with one of the pairs of scoring slots and with the pair of phase slots and including spaced apart digits, the scrolls contiguously and serially comprising:
 a first self winding portion residing behind the scoreboard front face; 
 a first transition portion passing through the first slot; 
 a flattened portion residing exposed before the scoreboard front face; 
 a second transition portion passing through the second slot; and 
 a second self winding portion residing behind the scoreboard front face; 
   two areas residing on the front face on each side of the phase slots and below the scoring slots for applying team logos to the front face.   
   
   
       12 . A method for keeping score with a portable scoreboard, the method comprising:
 positioning the scoreboard for viewing by at least one of players and audience members;   manually sliding exposed portions of scoring scrolls horizontally to an end to show a score of zero for teams playing in a game;   observing scores made in the game; and   manually sliding the exposed portions of the score scrolls horizontally to show a change in score when a score is made.   
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 12 , further including:
 manually sliding exposed portions of a phase scroll horizontally to indicate the beginning of the game;   observing the phase of the game; and   manually sliding exposed portions of the phase scroll horizontally to indicate a change in the phase of the game.