US3863362A - Bridge playing devices - Google Patents

Abstract

A set of devices for playing a predetermined deal of bridge includes four supports on which 52 bridge cards are distributed in groups of 13 per support. The individual cards are formed by respective slips which are attached to the supports in a detachable manner. A device is also disclosed which enables an individual to play bridge deals on his own, the device including a four-sided support representing a bridge table and bearing at its four sides 13 cards of a hand corresponding to a deal in question. The cards are in the form of respective detachable slips. The slips of two opposite sides constitute the hand of the declarer and his partner. The slips of the two sides correspond to the side hand. The card faces of the side hands are hidden, the slips having thereon a number of a trick on its visible face on which it is to be played. The visible faces of the slips of the declarer and his partner having thereon cards classified as to color, order and value, the hidden faces of these slips having respective numbers thereon corresponding to the trick on which they are to be played.

Description

United States Patent [1 1 Borianne m 4 3,863,362 [45 Feb.4, 1975 BRIDGE PLAYING DEVICES [76] Inventor: Henri Marie Leon Borianne, 10

Avenue de Wagram, 75008 Paris, France [22] Filed: Nov. 14, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 415,756

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data May 8, 1973 France 73.16444 Nov. 17, 1972 France 72.40900 [52] U.S. Cl. 35/8 B, 273/151 [51] Int. Cl. A63f 1/10 [58] Field of Search. 273/151, 149 P; 35/8 B [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,025,966 12/1935 Williams 273/151 UX 2,254,545 9/1941 Roberts. 273/1'51 UX 3,519,274 7/1970 Terbell 273/151 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 380,417 9/1932 Great Britain 273/151 Primary'Examiner-Ahton O. Oechsle Attorney, Agent, or'FirmEdwin E. Greigg' [57] ABSTRACT A set of devices for playing a predetermined deal of bridge includes four supports on which 52 bridge cards are distributed in groups of 13 per support. The individual cards are formed by respective slips which are attached to the supports in a detachable manner. A device is also disclosed which enables an individual to play bridge deals on his own, the device including a four-sided support representing a bridge table and bearing at its four sides 13 cards of a hand corresponding to a deal in question. The cards are in the form of respective detachable slips. The slips of two opposite sides constitute the hand of the declarerand his partner. The slips of the two sides correspond to the side hand. The card faces of the side hands are hidden, the slips having thereon a number of a trick on itsvisible face on which it is to be played. The visible faces of the slips ofthe declarer and his partner having thereon cards classified as to color, order and value, the hidden faces of these slips having respective numbers thereon corresponding to the trick on which they are to be played.

11 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures rmocsrmcxs micxs m PATENTED EB SHEET 2 OF 3 *EOGJHHgAMQQq mar- 1 BRIDGE PLAYING DEVICES BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention, in one aspect, relates to a set 5 of devices for playing bridge with predetermined deals. In another aspect, the present invention relates to a device enabling an individual to play bridge on his own.

It is well known among bridge players that certain games offer very little interest, owing to either too equal distribution of the honors among the four hands, or owing to extremely uneven distribution of the honors, which often prejudices the chances of one particular player for a fairly long period of time.

To maintain the interest for an entire game, it is possible to play deals taken from a review of problems or from championship reports. But then the distribution of the cards to the players for each deal is tedious and, furthermore, a player having an average concentration will mentally record his partners and opponent's hands practically in spite of himself, thereby counteracting the desired aim.

A technique of learning to play bridge well consists in practicing it often. and in having an experienced player comment on each deal. However, it is often very difficult to find three bridge players who will play with a beginner and who'are willing to explain to him the declarations as well as the game, especially as the haphazard distribution of the cards often produces deals of 'question. These cards are in the form of detachable varying difficulty which are often not suitable for teaching purposes.

For this reason, devices have beendevised which enable the beginner to play by himself predetermined deals comprising studied difficulties which are explained. These devices also enable the experienced player to obtain practice on interesting deals accompanied by the comments of specialists.

However, the known devices have the disadvantage of requiring considerable manipulation and of being badly constructed, which discourages a beginner and provides less interest for the player who is obtaining practice.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a set of devices for distributing the 52 court cards used in a game of bridge to the four hands for each deal, without any handling or adjusting of these cards.

According to the invention, in one aspect, the foregoing object as well as others which are to become clear from the text below, is accomplished by a set of devices comprising four supports on which the 52 cards of a deal are distributed in groups of 13 cards per support, the cards being attached to the supports in a detachable manner. t

Each player receives a support preferably comprising a detachable hiding means designed to hide the cards carried by the support during distributionthere'of. Advantageously, the 13 cards on one support are arranged according to color and in each color according to a decreasing order of value. Obviously, the support bears a reference number permitting the identification of the hand for which it is intended. The references generally used are South, West, North and East, and one of these supports bears a mark indicating it as corresponding to the hand of the first bidder.

Sets of four supports, each corresponding to a deal may be grouped in series of 12, for example, which generally enables a complete game to be played. In this case, each set of four supports,'which is preferably provided in an envelope, bears a number 1 12 indicating the order number of the deal in question in the game.

It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a device whichenables an individual to play bridge deals on his own with a reduced amount of manipulation and a high degree of interest.

The additional object, aswell as others which are to become clear from the text below, is accomplished by providing a support, for example, a heavy paper support representing the card table and bearing at each of its four sides the 13 cards corresponding to the deal in slips, the slips of two opposing sides corresponding to the hands of the declarer and of his partner provided with the card faces on the visible side of the support classified according to color, the cards in each color being classified by order and value, and provided on the hidden face with an order number corresponding to the number of the trick in which the slip in question has to be played. The slipsof the other two sides, corresponding to the opponents hands, are provided withtheir card faces on the hidden face of the support,.with the number of the trick on the visible face and are classified according to the regularly increasing or decreasing order of this number.

The different bridge cards are in the form of slips which may be detached from the support and may be handled in the same way as samll playing cards.

A. device according to the invention represents a predetermined deal which has been studied and selected by specialists, thereby eliminating the risk of the cards being distributed in an uninteresting manner owing to the fact that they have been dealt either too evenly or too unevenly.

A slip represents a playing card provided with the normal diagram featuring the color of the card and having the value of the card indicated in each color by a letter or a number.

Each group of thirteen cards placed on each of the four sides of the support represents a hand generally designated by-North, South, East and West, the-hand which plays the contract generally being the South hand on the lower horizontal side of the support, the other hands being placed on the other sides in the natural order of the cardinal points with respect to the South position.

Advantageously, the support consists of one of the flaps of a diptych-like tablet, the other flap of which includes slips which are detachable in a predetermined order representing the sequence of bids for the particular deal. These slips are disposed in such a way that the information which they bear is hidden and only the hand of the person who is going to play thecontract is visible, permitting him to anticipate and check'his own declarations in dependence on those of the other players.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a device of a set of devices, constructed according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of another embodiment of a device of a set of devices provided with a hiding means and constructed accordingto the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a detailed plan view of the inscriptions on the device shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 represents a supplementary strip to'be used with the device and the hiding means according to FIG. 2, for the didactic application of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a pictorial view'of a device according to the present invention, showing principally one face thereof.

FIG. 6 is a pictorial view of the same device as shown in FIG. 5, showing principally the reverse face thereof.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In FIG. 1, a support 1 consists of a sheet of heavy paper folded in two along'a center line 2 so as to form two flaps 3 and 4. The flap 4 bears cards and the flap 3 is adapted to be folded back against the flap 4 so as to hide these cards as they are being distributed.

The value and color of each card is indicated on the sheet of paper, for example, 10Qfor the 10 diamonds is constituted by a detachable slip. This slip is formed by cutting the 'paper on three of its sides and by using a perforated line for the fourth side as shown at 5. The cuts and perforations can obviously be provided at the same time as the paper constituting the support 1 is printed.

The 13 cardsprovided on the support 1 are disposed in four groups each corresponding to a color; spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs, and, in each group, they are classified according to the decreasing order of values.

between the seven of diamonds and three of diamonds is shown raised and thus ready to be detached.

It is'obvious that the game will proceed in a normal manner as far as the bidding and the game playing are concerned, the detachable slips simply replacing the traditionalcards.

At the beginning of each deal the conventional distribution of the cards is replaced by providing each of the four players with the respective support 1 belonging to him, the flap 3 beingfolded back against the flap 4 and bearing on its face 3a an indication of the player for which it is intended, an additional mark possibly indicating that this player is to be considered as the dealer.

In the drawing, a slip' 6, corresponding to a card lying FIGS. 2 and 3 show another embodiment of a support. A support 11 (represented individually in FIG. 3)

is removably disposed in a hiding place 13 (FIG. 2).

The support, 11 consists of a rectangular hea'vy paper card, a longitudinal marginal zone of which is provided with l2 transversal cuts or detachable perforations l4 terminated by a longitudinal perforation 15. In this way the corresponding edge of the support 11 is divided into 1 3 detachable slips such as 16 respectively bearing the cards of the hand. in question.

g The back- (not'shown) of this support 1 l bears an indication of the player for which it is intended, the numbers of the series of deals to which it belongs and the 1 of spades) in the second trick deal in this series may also be indicated. This informa- I their faces hidden. Each player then places-his support in his respective hiding place 13 consisting of a sheet folded along a line 12 to form two unequal flaps (FIG. 2). The larger flap is intended to hide from the other players the positions of the slips detached in succession by the player in question, while the small flap enables the player to see his cards.

The l3 cards provided on the 13 slips are classified according to color, disposed in each color in decreasing order from left to right and the reds and blacks being alternated in a conventional manner.

As in the case of the device according to FIG. 1, the game proceeds in the normal manner, the detachable slips simply replacing the conventional cards.

A convenient way of arranging the supports 11 consists in grouping the supports of a deal ona single sheet of heavy paper (not shown) adapted to be separated can then be distributed by means of the information provided on their reverse side without any of them being revealed.

The arrangement according to FIG. 2 also enables the invention to be used for teaching one, two, three or four players.

For this purpose, l3 symbols or different letters are printed on the 13 detachable slips on the support 11. In the eitample shown, two symbols 0 and and l l letters forming the expression LUCKY BRIDGE have been selected. Accompanying each support is a strip 17 (FIGS. 2 and 4) which is the same length as the support and may, for example, be initially attached thereto by means of a perforation. The optimum successive bids which correspond to the hand represented by the thirteen slips of the support 11 are indicated on this strip 17, starting from its left lateral edge 17a and running in a transversal direction. In a similar manner, the 13 successive cards, each being indicated by its order number (number of the trick) accompanied by the symbol or reference letter of the slip 16 to be played are also indicated on the strip 17, starting from its right lateral edge 17b and being arranged in a transversal direction. Thus, in the embodiment shown West should play B (ace of hearts) in the first trick, 0 (two and Y (three of spades) in the last'trick.

The strip 17 is placed in the hiding place 13 in such a way as to be covered by the small flap of the same. The strip 17 can then be slid to the left to disclose the successive bids and then to the right to disclose the successive comments regarding the sequence of play.

This arrangement obviously permits four players to study a deal from thebeginning of the bidding to the last trick, to analyze and to discuss the solutions indicated on the strip 17, referring, as may be necessary, to

port 11 corresponding to the player or players who are" missing in its hiding place 13 to hide the' hand" while enabling the imaginary player to make bids" and to play by means ofthe instructions'on the strip -17 and the references indicated on the back of the-slips .16.

Referring now to FIGS. 5 and 6, the device according to the present invention, in one aspect, consists of a heavy paper support comprisingtwo flaps l8 and 20 which may be folded back over each other by means of the joints 21 and 22, their outer faces 18a and 20a alone being visible. 7 I

In FIG. 5, the flap I8 is illustrated as being slightly raised showing the inner face-20b of the flap'20 and in FIG. 6 it is the flap 20 which is illustrated as being partially raised to show the inner face 18b of the flap 18.

The player first sees' the support as shown in FIG. 5

where he can see the hand 23 which will play the contract.

The optimum bidscorresponding to the predetermined deal are shown on the hidden faces of detachable labels at 24a in'FIG. 5. These'label's are detached hands opposite to the Northand South on the same face 20b of the support.

Advantageously, a special mark, for example, a dot of color such as at 30 and 31 is indicated on the temporarily hidden face 20b of certain-slips so as to indicate by their presence that the turn to play does not originate from this hand for the next trick.

Another advantage is the indication on face 1811 on the flap 18 on the number of tricks provided by the two diagonals. The number of tricks of each diagonal North-South or West-East'is indicated according to the development of the game under the last slip played at each trick, for example, at-32 disposed under the slip No. l0 of West, indicating that at the 10th trick the diagonal North-South has nine tricks and the diagonal West-East only has one.

I A table or'bridge cover IS square, preferably colored green, to give the impressionof a playing area.

,It is also advantageous for the North and South slips,

which have to be detached in a different order to that in which they are classified,should have between them in succession beginning with the one at the top markedv dealer. The bids of the person who is going to play and those of the three other hands are in turn inscribed on the back'of the labels as indicated by 24b'in FIG. 6. The first label obviously indicates the first bid of the dealer.

i The bid of the person who'is playing, who is generally located at the South position, occupies a complete label, while the bid of the other three hands designated conventionally as West, North andEast are grouped so as to permit the player to anticipate his subsequent bid in dependence on the other hands. On the-flap 20 (FIG.'

6), the support shows the distribution of. the SZ-bridg-e cards grouped in hands of thirteen cards on each of the sides of the flap 20.,

The hands of South at 25 and North at 26 are each constituted by 13 detachable slips representing by means of conventional visible marks on the visible face 20a of the flap'20, the marks representing the color and value of the cards.

These slips are preferably classified by color and value decreasing from the leftto the rightin each color, the blacks and reds being alternated as is normal when the cards in a hand of bridge are being arranged so as to obtain a better view of them.

The West and East hands at 27'and 28 respectively only comprise an ordernumber on the outer face 20a of the flap 20. In this case, thenumber increases from top to bottom indicating the order of the slip to be played and also providing an indication of'the hand to which they belong.

A numberand an indication of the hand areindicated on the hidden face 20b of the slip of the North and South hands, for example, at'29, where 7 S is indicated. This shows that this is the slip to be played during the seventh trick by South.

The colors and values of the slips of the West and East hands are indicated in the same manner as the configurations of the faces 20a of the North and South a precut area such as at 34 in North and 35 in South to enable them to be detached from the flap 20 with greater ease.

The-above-described device is very simple to use and its method of utilization is very easy to comprehend.

After having studiedthe sequence of bids, the player takes the support as shown in FIG. 5 and turns it over to bring it to the position shown in FIG..6.

As the players hand is atSouth (25) and that of his partner at North (26), the opener is played by West at 27. To open, a first slip 36'is detached from the West hand. The player will then choose the slip to be played by North and will check, by turning it back against the face 20a of the support that its reverse side actually bears the number of the trick in progress (firsttrick', in this case) and he will then detach this slip. For East he willdetach the slip No. l and for 'his own hand South he will proceed as for North.

The play will begin again from the hand which made the trick, the slip which has to be played will bear the number 2 (on its hidden face forN orth and South or on its visible face for- West or East depending on the case) and it will not include the colored dot indicating that the play was commenced with this hand.

The game will continue in this manner until the last trick.

Explanatory notes or comments drafted by specialists regarding the bids and the game are advantageously printed on the free part of the inner faces 18b and 20b of the flaps l8 and 20. These comments are hidden during play and permit the player to better understand the development of the game when he has finished playing. Other arrangements or information may obviously be considered.

Thus it may be advantageous only to indicate the number of tricks effected by one of the two diagonals, preferably West-East, bymeans of a mark such as a col- .ored dot which appears on the last slip played at each round corresponding to a trick of this diagonahlt is then simple to count the number of tricks effected by the diagonal by counting the number of marks disclosed by the detached slips.

It is also.possible to print a special mark such as a code letter on the face 18b ofthe flap 18 below the two last slips playedin each trick. This code letter will be represented at 33 by av 7 quoted on the back of the slips of the declarer and his partner which have to be played during the subsequent trick. In this way, it is no longer necessary to number the North and South slips which makes it possible to' find the slip to be played by looking at the back of the slips or by successively folding over a number of slips without disclosing the subsequent development of the game. i

For the first trick, the code letter may be printed in any visible spot on the support or on the covering flap or even on the opening card.

In addition, as the code letters indicating the slips to be played in the following trick are only found under the two last slips played in each trick, it is possible to know immediately whether the trick to be played is starting from the right hand. In fact, the slip which has to'be played at the beginning of the trick does not have to disclose a new code letter.

It is possible to provide a different disposition of the slips and a different configuration of the support without departing from the scope of the invention.

It is to b'e'appreciated that the foregoing detailed descriptions of the illustrated preferred embodiments represent examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention, which is defined in the appended claims, numerous other embodiments and variants being possible within the scope as defined in these claims.

What is claimed is: A

1. A device for enabling an individual to play bridge deals on his own, comprising a four-sided support representing a bridge table and bearing at each of its four sides thirteen cards of a hand corresponding to a deal in question; said cards being in form of respective detachable slips, those of said slips of two opposite sides corresponding to hand of declarer and his partner being provided with cards on the obverse visible face of said support classified according to color, according to order and value in each color and provided on the reverse hidden face thereof with an order number corresponding to number of trick in which respective ones of said slips in question have to be played; those of said slips of the two other sides corresponding to opponents hands having their card face on said hidden face of said support, a respective number of a trick on said visible face thereof, and .being arranged according to the regularly increasing or decreasing order of these numbers, and wherein said supportis defined by a first flap of a diptych-like tablet, a second flap of which totally covers its hidden face, said second flap bearing on its outer visible face printed reproduction of hand of declarer and on one of its sides overlapping said support detach- 8 able slips bearing on their hidden face successive bids recommended for deal in question.'

2. A device accordingto claim 1, wherein said support is made of heavy paper.

3. A device according to claim 1, wherein at least for hands of the declarer and his partner said detachable slips are spaced apart from each other to render them easier to detach.

4. A device according to claim 1, wherein each slip bears on its hidden face an indication of whether it corresponds or not to beginning of trick.

5. A device according to claim 1, wherein said second flap bears printed information on its printed inner face directly above said detachable slips so that number of tricks effected by each of two diagonals appears under last s'lip played at end of each trick.

6. A device according to claim 1, wherein said second flap bears special marks on its hidden inner face directly above said detachable slips of said support, a mark being found on last slipplayed at end of each trick if a predetermined diagonal make s this trick.

7. A device according to claim 6, wherein said special marks are constituted by colored dots.

8. A device according toclaim 6, wherein said predetermined diagonal is West-East diagonal.

9. A device according to claim 1, wherein on its inner hidden face directly above two last of said detachable slips played in each trick, said second flap bears a code letter which is reproduced on back of those of said slips of the declarer and his partner which have to be played in a subsequent trick, said code letter corresponding to first trick being printed in any visible position on said support.

10. A device according to claim 1, wherein on its inner hidden face directly above two last of said detachable slips played in each trick, said second flap bears a code letter which is reproduced on back of those of said slips of the declarer and his partner which have to be played in subsequent trick, saidcode letter corresponding to first trick being printed in any visible position on said second flap.

11. A device according to claim 1, wherein on its inner hidden face directly above two last of said detachable slips played in each trick, said second flap bears a code letter which is reproduced on back of those of said slips of the declarer and his partner which have to be played in a subsequent trick, said code letter corresponding to first trick being printed in any visible position on one of said slips which is to constitute first card of opening trick.

Claims (11)

1. A device for enabling an individual to play bridge deals on his own, comprising a four-sided support representing a bridge table and bearing at each of its four sides thirteen cards of a hand corresponding to a deal in question; said cards being in form of respective detachable slips, those of said slips of two opposite sides corresponding to hand of declarer and his partner Being provided with cards on the obverse visible face of said support classified according to color, according to order and value in each color and provided on the reverse hidden face thereof with an order number corresponding to number of trick in which respective ones of said slips in question have to be played; those of said slips of the two other sides corresponding to opponents'' hands having their card face on said hidden face of said support, a respective number of a trick on said visible face thereof, and being arranged according to the regularly increasing or decreasing order of these numbers, and wherein said support is defined by a first flap of a diptych-like tablet, a second flap of which totally covers its hidden face, said second flap bearing on its outer visible face printed reproduction of hand of declarer and on one of its sides overlapping said support detachable slips bearing on their hidden face successive bids recommended for deal in question.

2. A device according to claim 1, wherein said support is made of heavy paper.

3. A device according to claim 1, wherein at least for hands of the declarer and his partner said detachable slips are spaced apart from each other to render them easier to detach.

4. A device according to claim 1, wherein each slip bears on its hidden face an indication of whether it corresponds or not to beginning of trick.

5. A device according to claim 1, wherein said second flap bears printed information on its printed inner face directly above said detachable slips so that number of tricks effected by each of two diagonals appears under last slip played at end of each trick.

6. A device according to claim 1, wherein said second flap bears special marks on its hidden inner face directly above said detachable slips of said support, a mark being found on last slip played at end of each trick if a predetermined diagonal makes this trick.

7. A device according to claim 6, wherein said special marks are constituted by colored dots.

8. A device according to claim 6, wherein said predetermined diagonal is West-East diagonal.

9. A device according to claim 1, wherein on its inner hidden face directly above two last of said detachable slips played in each trick, said second flap bears a code letter which is reproduced on back of those of said slips of the declarer and his partner which have to be played in a subsequent trick, said code letter corresponding to first trick being printed in any visible position on said support.

10. A device according to claim 1, wherein on its inner hidden face directly above two last of said detachable slips played in each trick, said second flap bears a code letter which is reproduced on back of those of said slips of the declarer and his partner which have to be played in subsequent trick, said code letter corresponding to first trick being printed in any visible position on said second flap.

11. A device according to claim 1, wherein on its inner hidden face directly above two last of said detachable slips played in each trick, said second flap bears a code letter which is reproduced on back of those of said slips of the declarer and his partner which have to be played in a subsequent trick, said code letter corresponding to first trick being printed in any visible position on one of said slips which is to constitute first card of opening trick.

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