GB2127311A - Dartboard for snooker-type game - Google Patents

Abstract

A dartboard has target zones spaced about its playing surface and marked to represent the "white", the "reds" and the "colours" of a game of snooker. Other target zones represent the pockets of a snooker table. Rules require a player throwing conventional flighted weighted darts at the board to hit in succession the "white", a "red" or "colour", and a "pocket", with the three darts allocated to him in any one playing turn, before he can claim the appropriate "red" or "colour" score. The ball-representing target zones may be removable from the playing surface, and are relatively thin and flat. The pocket zones are preferably not removable and preferably also are made of mesh which can be pushed aside, rather than pierced, by the incoming dart. The playing surface is covered by a layer of pliant fibrous short-pile material, and surrounded by a raised wood-grain- effect moulding. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Dart board The invention relates to dart boards.

U K Patent Specification No 344973 (Goddard) discloses an apparatus for playing a dart game simulating snooker. A board has attached to it, in a readily detachable manner, a number of counters arranged, coloured, and laid out to represent the layout of balls for a "full-sized" game of snooker.

There is no white ball, this being represented by the dart itself which is of conventional flighted design.

The counters described and illustrated are partspherical, made of oak, and fixed detachably to the board with pins. They may alternatively be attached by plugs or suckers.

In use, the players endeavour to hit the counters in sequence with the dart, aiming first for the "reds" and then for the "colours" as in the full-sized game.

Unlike the full-sized snooker game, however, the "balls" are not "potted" - they are counted as having been effectively potted when they have simply been hit by the "white", ie. the dart.

Also, unlike the full-sized game of darts itself, only one dart is used by each player every time he throws for a score.

The counters of this known apparatus, when hit, are removed from the playing surface of the board.

They are designed to be pierced by the dart, but not to be transfixed by it; hence the use of material such as oak, and the relatively deep part-spherical crosssection of each illustrated counter.

An apparatus embodying the present invention also comprises a board whose playing surface is intended to be aimed at by conventional flighted weighted darts, and is laid out to represent a full-sized game of snooker or pool or the like; but the playing surface also incorporates zones marked to represent pockets of a full-sized snooker table, so that a player having hit a target zone (ie. a "red" or a "colour") must then hit one of the pockets before he can claim to have scored to the value of the zone he has just hit. If he does hit one of the "red" or "colour" target zones, and then hits a "pocket" zone, he has effectively "potted" the "ball".

The pocket zones may be indicated by a mesh, which may be painted or otherwise marked on the playing surface but which is preferably a mesh of material superimposed on the playing surface. The mesh conveniently will be easily parted by the incoming dart, so as not to deflect the dart or damage its point unduly, whilst itself remaining relatively undamaged because it is deflected more readily than pierced by the dart.

The mesh may, for example, be a fabric or plastics gauze, perhaps of relatively wide mesh size so as not to impede the incoming dart or be pierced by it on the majority of normal playing occasions. The plastics may be a polypropylene In another aspect of the invention, the target zones ranged about the board include a "white" ball-zone.

Each player then has to use three darts to score, each time he throws. He must hit, in succession, the "white"; a "red" or a "colour", and a pocket.

In this way, the apparatus can be used to give a far more realistic simulation of the full-sized game of conventional darts, where players use these darts every throw, as well as the full-sized game of snooker.

To lend further realism, the target zones on the board may include an appropriately-placed "snooker ball".

Conventional dart boards are made from compacted bristles, or paper, and are circular. They are made on special-purpose machines. A board embodying the invention will preferably be rectangular to simulate a real billiard or snooker table.

Preferably therefore the board is made of a material such as cork, compacted wood pulp, synthetic plastics or some other material which is adapted to be repeatedly pierced by a conventional dart without disintegrating unduly quickly but which can relatively easily be produced without needing dartboardstyle machinery.

The front, ie. the playing surface of the board may with advantage be covered by a sheet of pliant fibrous short-pile material, such as baize or a flocked coating having suitable properties. A 1 -mm or 2-mm nominal thickness of pile proves ideally suited to normal use of the board. Although UK Patent Specification No 344973 proposes the use of "biaze", without expanding on that term, the baize therein is purely for simulative realism. It is not intended to be pierced, in normal play, by the dart, which lodges solely in the thick oak target counters.

In an apparatus embodying the present invention, the target zones are intended to be transfixed to the board by the darts, and the playing surface is intended to be pierced directly in the pocket zones.

The combination of baize or other short-pile covering, with zones soft enough to be transfixed by the dart, is novel and non-obvious. The pile covering tends to close overthe repeatedly-pierced backing board surface, prevents it from disintegrating unduly quickly, and preserves a neat and relatively new look to the board, as well as simulating the playing surface of a full-sized table.

The pile covering may be brushed, rolled, or sprayed on to the main backing board, or a sheet of it may be pressure-glued to the board. In the latter case, the pressure-laminated glue helps to retain the structure of the subsequently-pierced board and retards its eventual breaking-up.

The target zones themselves may conveniently be circular, and will be appropriately coloured. There may be, as in the full-sized snooker game, fifteen "reds", a "white", and six "colours". There will normally be four corner pocket zones, and two side pockets. The pile coating may be coloured green.

The score-values of the various zones may be marked on or adjacent them, or may be taken to be known from the colouring if the full-sized game is properly adhered to. The "snooker" ball may be marked or coloured to distinguish it. Some, if not all, of the target zones are preferably readily detachable from the playing surface. The "black", "white" and "snooker" balls may be fixed in place permanently, with the rest of the "reds" and "colours" being detachable once they have been transfixed by the dart and the player has gone on to "pot" the "ball" in question.

Various advantageous methods of attaching the target zones detachably to the board are described and illustrated in the rest of this specification. The zones may have attachment means on each of their faces, and may be coloured to match the board surface on one such face, so that instead of removing them from the board it is possible to reverse them to effectively take them out of play.

The target zones, where removable from the board, may be made of material such as soft plastics.

If they are made from a self-coloured material, they will retain their identities better during repeated use.

The zones may be cushioned on their back, ie.

board-contacting surfaces. This retains the integrity of both the zone and the dart-point, by absorbing some of the shock of dart impact.

A zone cut from a sheet of, for example, foambacked felt is soft enough to be transfixed by the dart, retains its colour despite repeated use, and has its eventual break-up delayed advantageously by the adhesive holding the foam backing to the felt.

A wooden, or simulated wooden, edge-moulding may surround the board and will enhance the similarity to a full-sized snooker table.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 shows in oblique perspective a sectioned dart-receiving board and target zones embodying the invention; Figures 2a and 2D show respectively details of target zone and board-pocket construction; and the remaining Figures 3 to 6 show various alternative target zone fixings to the board.

In Figure 1,the dart-receiving board B has been sectioned just over halfway along its length. The section runs across the board and exposes the main backing board B and the sheet of baize b which covers it. Pocket zones P, made from gauze, are fixed to and superimposed on the baize covering. There are six, as previously outlined and as disposed about the full-sized snooker table, although only four are illustrated. A wooden moulding bounds the entire periphery of the board, and has rounded edges. In use, the board hangs vertically with its short sides horizontal.

Target zones in the form of circular discs D are spaced about the board. They are marked to repre sent the full set of reds, white and colours used in a game of snooker, but they are not laid out in the same pattern initially as the balls of the full-sized snooker game because that would make the initially massed "reds", for example, too easy to hit repe atedly. Reasonable spacings are left between all the target zones, so that none of them is unduly easy to hit with a dart thrown from the conventional dis tance in front of the board.

Some zones may be made harder to hit by being smallerthan others. For example, the "colours" may get progressively smaller in ascending score-value.

In Figure 2a, a felt circular target zone F is backed with sorbo rubber S and carries one half of a touch-and-close fastener V of the kind sold under the trade name VELCRO. The other half of the VELCRO fastener V is glued to the board baize b in the position where the zone F is intended to be placed.

For play, the two halves of the fastener V are pressed together to hold the zone F in place on the verticallyhanging board. When zone F has been pierced, and transfixed to the board by a player who then goes on to hit an appropriate pocket, the zone can readily be removed by first taking out the dart and then separating the two halves of fastener V.

Fastener is of course re-usable.

Scoring, in a game played with the apparatus, could proceed as in the full-sized game of snooker. In particular, if a player fails altogether to hit the "white", or hits it but fails to hit another target zone, he could lose points from his score.

In Figure 3, circular-cross-section brass wire is formed into a circular-shaped hoop H which is then stapled by wire staples S to the board surface to define the periphery of a target zone.

In Figure 4, the zone is formed as a circular disc D of suitable material, for example relatively thin cork, and carries barbs B at equal circumferential spacings about its back surface. The barbs enable the disc D to grip the board, as previously outlined, and be taken off it and repositioned on the board as desired.

In Figure 5, the flat disc target zone D has compacted bristles B protruding from each of its opposite surfaces. The bristles B adhere the disc D releasablyto a similarly-bristled board surface. The disc D of Figure 4 could be similarly barbed on each of its opposite surfaces.

In Figure 6, a cap C has an under-turned rim which snaps releasably over the outer edge of the hoop H illustrated in Figure 3. As previously outlined, the cap C is fitted when the target zone defined by the hoop H has been hit and effectively removed from play. The top surface of the cap is coloured to match the board.

Discs D of ferromagnetic material could be used as target zones to adhere releasably to a board surface of so-called "magnetic rubber", ie. a sheet of synthetic material with magnetised particles embedded in it. Conversely, the board surface could be a sheet of ferromagnetic material, and the individual target zone discs could be discs of magnetic rubber.

CLAIMS (FILED ON 15 Oct 1982).

1. Apparatus for playing a game combining and simulating two conventional games, one darts, the other snooker or a similar cue-and-ball game; the apparatus comprising a dartboard whose playing surface is adapted to receive and hold conventional flighted weighted darts thrown by a player and with target zones, also adapted to receive but not neces warily to hold such darts, spaced about the playing surface; a majority of the target zones being col oured or otherwise distinctively marked to represent individually the red and coloured balls of the cue and-ball game; some of the target zones being marked to represent ball-receiving table pockets of that game; and one target zone being marked to represent the white ball of the cue-and-ball game; the layout thereby being such that a player can be required, by rules governing use of the apparatus, to hit in succession the "white", a "red" or "colour", and a "pocket" with the three darts allocated to him

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims (10)

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. dart and the player has gone on to "pot" the "ball" in question. Various advantageous methods of attaching the target zones detachably to the board are described and illustrated in the rest of this specification. The zones may have attachment means on each of their faces, and may be coloured to match the board surface on one such face, so that instead of removing them from the board it is possible to reverse them to effectively take them out of play. The target zones, where removable from the board, may be made of material such as soft plastics. If they are made from a self-coloured material, they will retain their identities better during repeated use. The zones may be cushioned on their back, ie. board-contacting surfaces. This retains the integrity of both the zone and the dart-point, by absorbing some of the shock of dart impact. A zone cut from a sheet of, for example, foambacked felt is soft enough to be transfixed by the dart, retains its colour despite repeated use, and has its eventual break-up delayed advantageously by the adhesive holding the foam backing to the felt. A wooden, or simulated wooden, edge-moulding may surround the board and will enhance the similarity to a full-sized snooker table. In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 shows in oblique perspective a sectioned dart-receiving board and target zones embodying the invention; Figures 2a and 2D show respectively details of target zone and board-pocket construction; and the remaining Figures 3 to 6 show various alternative target zone fixings to the board. In Figure 1,the dart-receiving board B has been sectioned just over halfway along its length. The section runs across the board and exposes the main backing board B and the sheet of baize b which covers it. Pocket zones P, made from gauze, are fixed to and superimposed on the baize covering. There are six, as previously outlined and as disposed about the full-sized snooker table, although only four are illustrated. A wooden moulding bounds the entire periphery of the board, and has rounded edges. In use, the board hangs vertically with its short sides horizontal. Target zones in the form of circular discs D are spaced about the board. They are marked to repre sent the full set of reds, white and colours used in a game of snooker, but they are not laid out in the same pattern initially as the balls of the full-sized snooker game because that would make the initially massed "reds", for example, too easy to hit repe atedly. Reasonable spacings are left between all the target zones, so that none of them is unduly easy to hit with a dart thrown from the conventional dis tance in front of the board. Some zones may be made harder to hit by being smallerthan others. For example, the "colours" may get progressively smaller in ascending score-value. In Figure 2a, a felt circular target zone F is backed with sorbo rubber S and carries one half of a touch-and-close fastener V of the kind sold under the trade name VELCRO. The other half of the VELCRO fastener V is glued to the board baize b in the position where the zone F is intended to be placed. For play, the two halves of the fastener V are pressed together to hold the zone F in place on the verticallyhanging board. When zone F has been pierced, and transfixed to the board by a player who then goes on to hit an appropriate pocket, the zone can readily be removed by first taking out the dart and then separating the two halves of fastener V. Fastener is of course re-usable. Scoring, in a game played with the apparatus, could proceed as in the full-sized game of snooker. In particular, if a player fails altogether to hit the "white", or hits it but fails to hit another target zone, he could lose points from his score. In Figure 3, circular-cross-section brass wire is formed into a circular-shaped hoop H which is then stapled by wire staples S to the board surface to define the periphery of a target zone. In Figure 4, the zone is formed as a circular disc D of suitable material, for example relatively thin cork, and carries barbs B at equal circumferential spacings about its back surface. The barbs enable the disc D to grip the board, as previously outlined, and be taken off it and repositioned on the board as desired. In Figure 5, the flat disc target zone D has compacted bristles B protruding from each of its opposite surfaces. The bristles B adhere the disc D releasablyto a similarly-bristled board surface. The disc D of Figure 4 could be similarly barbed on each of its opposite surfaces. In Figure 6, a cap C has an under-turned rim which snaps releasably over the outer edge of the hoop H illustrated in Figure 3. As previously outlined, the cap C is fitted when the target zone defined by the hoop H has been hit and effectively removed from play. The top surface of the cap is coloured to match the board. Discs D of ferromagnetic material could be used as target zones to adhere releasably to a board surface of so-called "magnetic rubber", ie. a sheet of synthetic material with magnetised particles embedded in it. Conversely, the board surface could be a sheet of ferromagnetic material, and the individual target zone discs could be discs of magnetic rubber. CLAIMS (FILED ON 15 Oct 1982).

1. Apparatus for playing a game combining and simulating two conventional games, one darts, the other snooker or a similar cue-and-ball game; the apparatus comprising a dartboard whose playing surface is adapted to receive and hold conventional flighted weighted darts thrown by a player and with target zones, also adapted to receive but not neces warily to hold such darts, spaced about the playing surface; a majority of the target zones being col oured or otherwise distinctively marked to represent individually the red and coloured balls of the cue and-ball game; some of the target zones being marked to represent ball-receiving table pockets of that game; and one target zone being marked to represent the white ball of the cue-and-ball game; the layout thereby being such that a player can be required, by rules governing use of the apparatus, to hit in succession the "white", a "red" or "colour", and a "pocket" with the three darts allocated to him

in any one playing turn, before he can claim the appropriate "red" or "colour" score.

2. Apparatus according to Claim 1 and in which the pocket zones comprise a mesh of material, the material being flexible and relatively easily pushed aside by the incoming dart, and the mesh size being large in relation to the length-averaged diameter of the pointed shaft of the dart.

3. Apparatus according Claim 1 or Claim 2 and in which some or all of the ball-representing target zones are made of material which is soft enough to be repeatedly transfixed by the darts whilst being resilient enough for the dart-holes to close once the darts are removed from the zone material.

4. Apparatus according to any of Claims 1 to 3 and in which the playing surface is covered by a layer of pliant fibrous short-pile material.

5. Apparatus according to any of Claims 1 to 4 and in which the ball-representing target zones are substantially flat, and thin in relation to the board itself, so that those zones and the playing surface occupy substantially the same general plane.

6. Apparatus according to any of Claims 1 to 5 and in which an edge-moulding, raised out of the general plane of the playing surface, surrounds the board so as to simulate the cushioned raised periphery of a conventional snooker table.

7. Apparatus according to any of Claims 1 to 6 and in which a number of the target zones is removable from the board, the or each such removable zone comprising a disc of ferromagnetic material adhering releasablyto a playing surface of so-called "magnetic rubber" or a disc of "magnetic rubber" adhering releasably to a ferromagnetic playing surface.

8. Apparatus substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated in Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings.

9. Apparatus according to Claim 8 when modified substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated in Figure 2a of the accompanying drawings.

10. Apparatus according to Claim 8 or Claim 9 substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated in Figure 2b of the accompanying drawings.