GB2129317A

GB2129317A - Dartboards

Info

Publication number: GB2129317A
Application number: GB08227275A
Authority: GB
Inventors: John William Leach
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1982-09-24
Filing date: 1982-09-24
Publication date: 1984-05-16

Abstract

A dartboard has a target area formed from strips of fibreboard with the planes of de-lamination of the fibreboard angled, preferably at about right angles, to the target surface. The strips may be arranged side by side, secured by adhesive to a baseboard and compressed while the adhesive sets.

Description

SPECIFICATION Dartboards This invention relates to dartboards.

The term "dartboard" used in this specification is not intended to be limiting to game boards marked for the game of darts, but is intended to cover any game board at which projectiles having sharp dart-like points are thrown with the intention that the point penetrates a target surface of the game board and is held by the board.

There are two common types of dartboard. One is known as a bristle board and is formed by bundles of bristles about 25 mm long wrapped in sticky brown paper to form discs with the bristles extending axially of the discs. A number of such discs are placed side-by-side in a jig and then greatly compressed to compact the bristles and a strong band is secured around the compressed discs. The penetrable target area of the dartboard is formed by the bristle ends. The bristle board is durable but is expensive to manufacture.

The other known type of board is a paper board.

This is formed by cutting a slice about 25 mm thick from a roll of paper about half a metre in diameter, the cut surface forming the target surface of the dartboard. The centre of the paper spiral is weak and so a wooden plug is inserted in the centre of the spiral to form the buil's-eye of the board. The target surface may be provided with a flock coating. The paper board is cheap to manufacture, but the paper is not durable, and the wooden plug may be difficult to penetrate with a dart point or may fall out.

One aspect of the present invention provides a dartboard in which the target surface is formed from fibreboard with the planes of de-lamination of the fibreboard angled, preferably at about right angles, to the target surface.

Fibreboard is also known by the descriptions of insulation board and wall board. It is formed from fibres of wood or wood-like material which are matted and bonded to form a soft board. The board has a laminartype structure which can be split or de-laminated easily in planes parallel to the face of the board (in a similar sort of way to slabs of slate but not with such a clean split). By arranging the fibreboard in accordance with said one aspect of the invention, darts impinging on the board from the usual direction penetrates the fibreboard in a direction lying in or slightly angled to the planes of de-lamination of the fibreboard, and thus penetrate the fibreboard easily.

Fibreboard is of such a structure that when a dart is removed from the board, a hole is left in the board. However, a dart penetrating the board adjacent the hole to one side of the plane of delamination in which the hole is formed tends to close-up the hole. Thus the board has a "selfhealing" property.

It has been found that fibreboard sold under the trade mark "Frenit" is an acceptable grade of fibreboard for use in dartboards according to the present invention. "Frenit" fibreboard is slightly more dense than board sold under the trade mark "Ligna".

It is believed that dartboards according to the present invention may well prove to be more durable than the known paper boards described above, and may well prove to be cheaper to manufacture than the known bristle boards described above.

Preferably, the dartboard according to the present invention comprises a base board and a multiplicity of strips of fibreboard arranged faceedge against face-edge next to each other so that the side-edges of the strips form a pair of flat surfaces, one of said surfaces being secured to the base board and the other surface providing the target surface of the dartboard.

The face-edges of the strips are the edges which form the faces of the fibreboard in its board form.

The side-edges of the strips which are secured to the base board are preferably so secured that the strips are compressed in the direction at right angles to the face-edges. By compressing the strips, the "self-healing" property of the board is increased. Also, the ease with which darts can penetrate the board can ire varied by varying the amount of compression.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of making a dartboard according to the invention, including the steps of arranging side-by-side strips of fibreboard, securing the strips to a base board by adhesive and compressing the strips against each other while the adhesive sets.

Preferably, the strips and base board are pressed against each other while the adhesive sets.

A specific embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a piece of fibreboard, iiiustrating the way it is cut to form the strips for the dartboard; Figure 2 is a fragmentary side view of an assembly table, press and partially constructed dartboard; and Figure 3 is a view (on a smaller scale) of a dartboard near completion.

Referring to the drawings, the target surface 10 of a dartboard 12 is formed from thirty-seven strips 14 of 12.5 mm (21') thickfibreboard sold under the trade mark "Frenit". A piece of a sheet of such fibreboard is illustrated in Figure 1 and has its grain-planes or planes of de-lamination extending parallel to the faces 1 6 of the sheet as indicated by arrows A and B lying in the grainplanes. A dart point can easily penetrate the edges of the fibreboard causing locai splitting of the grain of the fibreboard as indicated around hole 18.

The sheet of fibreboard is cut into rectangular strips 14 of equal width of between 1 5 and 30 mm, each strip having face-edges 20 formed by the faces 1 6 of the board and side-edges 22 formed by the cutting of the board.

The strips 14 are placed on an assembly table 24 (Figure 2) so that they are arranged face-edge 20 against face-edge 20 next to one another. The strips are then compressed by press plates 26 in the direction at right angles to the face-edges 20 of the strips. This may be accompanied by downward pressing on the upper side-edges 22 of strips. A base board 28 of chipboard is then glued for example by hot-melt animal glue or p.v.a.

adhesive to the upper side-edges 22 of the strips, and downward pressure is applied on the base board 28 until the glue is dry. Once dry, the glue holds the strips in compression in the direction at right angles to the face-edges 20. The base board 28 with the strips 14 affixed thereto is then released from the press plates 26 and is cut by a bandsaw to form a circular board. A band 30 of, for example, plastics or metal is then secured around the periphery of the board, the width of the band 30 being approximately equal to the thickness of the base board 28 and strips 14. The target surface 10 of the board may be coated with a thin layer of, for example; p.v.a. adhesive which is allowed to dry. This coating, which is easily penetrable by a dart point, produces a smoother finish to the board and increases its durability.The target surface is then marked in the usual way for a dartboard and a standard wire grid is affixed to the target area.

The amount of compression applied by the press-plates will affect the penetrability of the target surface and also the self-healing properties of the board. When using dense fibreboard, it is possible that only sufficient compression need be applied to cause the strips to settle well against one another.

In accordance with the present invention, the target area of the dartboard may be formed from a cylinder of fibreboard about 18" (0.46 m) in diameter with the planes of de-lamination extending parallel to the cylinder by cutting a slice about 1 5 to 30 mm thick from the cylinder across the planes of de-lamination, the cut surface of the slice forming the target surface of the dartboard.

The slice of fibreboard is preferably secured to a backing board of chipboard.

Claims

1. A dartboard in which the target surface is formed from fibreboard with the planes of delamination of the fibreboard angled, preferably at about right angles, to the target surface.

2. A dartboard comprising a base board and a multiplicity of strips of fibreboard arranged faceedge against face-edge next to each other so that the side-edges of the strips form a pair of flat surfaces, one of said surfaces being secured to the base board and the other surface providing the target surface of the dartboard.

3. A dartboard as claimed in Claim 2, wherein the side-edges of the strips which are secured to the base board are so secured that the strips are compressed in the direction at right angles to the face edges.

4. A dartboard as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 3, wherein a thin coating which is easily penetrable by a dart is provided on the target surface to smoothen the surface.

5. A dartboard substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

6. A method of making a dartboard as claimed in any preceding claim, including the steps of arranging side-by-side strips of fibreboard, securing the strips to a base board by adhesive and compressing the strips against each other while the adhesive sets.

7. A method as claimed in Claim 6, wherein the strips and base board are pressed against each other while the adhesive sets.

8. A method of making a dartboard substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.