GB2166057A - Bat and ball table game apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

The apparatus comprises a board 10 laid out in the manner e.g. of a cricket or baseball field with a spring loaded bat 16 mounted thereon. Pockets 23 around the board are allocated scoring points and a batting player uses a cue 15 to shoot a ball 14 from a shooting zone 12 into the bat 16 and into one of the pockets 23 to score points. The opposing player positions markers 28 28a either on the board 10 or in the pocket 23 and the batting player is out if the ball 14 engages a marker 28 or falls into a pocket 23 with a marker 28a. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Bat and ball table game BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION (1) Field of the Invention This invention relates to a table game which may be played indoors to simulate such outdoor games as cricket, baseball, softball and the like.

(2) Prior Art At present, most indoor games relating to outdoor sports such as cricket and baseball incorporate a game board, markers for the players, one or more dice, and one or more sets of instruction cards. The winners of such games are more likely to be determined by a particular players luck than by his/her skill.

One "lucky" throw of the dice may be the difference between winning and losing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a game where the players' skills are of considerable importance in how the game is played.

It is a preferred object to provide a game which more accurately simulates the outdoor games in that a ball strikes the bat and is deflected to a scoring position.

It is a further preferred object to provide a game where both, or all players, can employ tactical skills to increase their scores and oppose their opponent's skills.

It is a still further preferred object to provide a game which can be used as an accessory to snooker, pool, billiard, table-tennis tables or the like, or which may be free-standing.

Other preferred objects of the present invention will become apparent from the following description.

In one aspect the present invention resides in a table game which may simulate cricket, baseball, softball, and the like including: a playing board representing a playing field; a plurality of pockets around at least a portion of the playing board; a bat means on the board; and a ball; so arranged that a player shoots the ball into engagement with the bat means, the ball being deflected into one of the pockets to register a score for the player.

Throughout the description and appended claims, the term "playing board" shall be used to include, table, surface or the like.

The board may be oval or elliptical in plan (e.g. for cricket), diamond shaped (for baseball or softball) or of some other suitable shape e.g. rectangular, square, circular.

Preferably the pockets are arranged around the periphery of the board, and the area opposite the bat means may be left vacant to provide a shooting zone. Preferably each pocket is allocated a value. For example, for cricket, the pockets may be allocated from no score to "6 runs", while for baseball, they could be allocated as "foul", "walk", "one base", to "three bases" and "home run".

Preferably the bat is made of wood, rubber, plastic or other suitable material and has a profile corresponding to e.g. a cricket bat or baseball bat. Preferably the bat is spring-loadably mounted on the board and may also be capable of swivelling.

The ball may be a snooker ball or the like and it is preferably shot by the player using a cue e.g. similar to a snooker or pool cue.

Preferably the player representing the fielding side may place one or more markers designating fielders, in or on the pockets or on the playing board, and the batting player is out when the ball falls into a pocket having a marker or knocks over or touches one of the markers on the playing board.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRA WINGS To enable the invention to be fully understood, a number of preferred embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is a plan view of a first embodiment of a cricket game; FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken on line 2-2 of FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a sectional side view, corresponding to FIG. 2 of a second embodiment of the cricket game; FIG. 4 is a plan view of a third embodiment of a baseball game; FIG. 5 is a plan view of a fourth embodiment of a baseball game; and FIG. 6 is a sectional side view taken on line 6-6 on FIG. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The game shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is arranged to simulate a cricket match.

The playing board 10 is substantiaily oval in plan and has a planar, horizontal playing surface 11 which may be covered in felt or other suitable material.

A shooting zone 12 is delineated at one end by a curved line 13, and the players may strike the ball 14 within the zone 12 using a cue 15 (similar to a snooker cue).

A bat 16, having a profile similar to that of a cricket bat, is suspended above the playing surface 11 by a support 17.

As shown in FIG. 2, the support 17, formed from a strip of spring steel, or aluminium, has a base 18 fixed to the playing surface by suitable fasteners 19. An upright leg 20 is connected to a support leg 21 by a curved section 22 and the bat 16 is fixed to the support leg by suitable fasteners (not shown).

As indicated by dashed lines, the support leg 21 (and bat 16) may be rearwardly deflected when the ball 14 strikes the face of the bat 16.

A series of pockets 2-3 are provided around the board 10 in a horseshoe like plan. Each pocket 23 has a inner wall 24, floor 25 and outer wall 26, while the adjacent pockets are divided by dividing walls 27. As shown, the outer wall is higher than the playing surface 11 to provide a rim preventing the ball rolling along the dividing walls and over the outer wall, while the dividing walls are lower than the playing surface to enable the balls, when rolling on an angular path, to travel over the wall into the succeeding pocket(s). The pocket floors 25 may be lined with felt and provide a support for the board on e.g. a snooker table.

A number of markers 28, representing fieldsmen, are positioned on the playing surface 11 at positions selected by the player representing the fielding captain.

The game is played as follows: the player representing the fielding team positions his nine markers 28 (representing the 9 fieldsmen) about the board 10 at positions he selects. (No markers are provided to represent the bowler or wicketkeeper, and the number of markers may be varied to vary the degree of difficulty of the game). The player representing the batting team places the ball 14 in the shooting zone 12 and strikes the ball 14 with the cue 15. The ball hits the bat 16, which is deflected rearwardly (as shown in FIG. 2) and then moves forwardly, urged by the "springiness" of the support 17, to hit the ball 14 into a pocket 23a. This pocket may be marked e.g. "6" and so the player adds 6 to his score.

If the ball has come into contact with a marker 28, the batsman would have been out "caught".

If the ball misses the bat 16, the batsman is out "bowled", while a ball which is hit back to the shooting zone 12 records "no score".

If the ball 14 is hit back to the shooting zone 12 on three consecutive shots, the batsman is out "caught and bowled".

The batting player keeps shooting until he has been "out" e.g. ten times, representing an innings. The two players change and the former batting player repositions the markers 28 as he requires. (If preferred, the fielding player can reposition the markers before each shot by the batting player).

The game may continue until both players have had an innings batting, or two innings batting (as in a Test match). Alternatively, to simulate limited over cricket, each player may have e.g. 20 shots, the player having the highest score being the winner.

As the pockets are marked with the runs scored, the skill of the player who is batting is tested as he tries to deflect the ball off the bat into the pockets with the highest scores.

However, he must avoid striking a marker 28, with the ball 14, or he loses a wicket.

By varying the size of the board, bat, ball and pockets, and the number of markers, the degree of difficulty of the game can be varied.

Even small children can play the game as they may be allowed to roll the ball at the bat.

In a modified form of the game, shown in FIG. 3, the bat 16a is suspended from a support 17a by a flexible support leg 21a of spring steel. The positions of the fieldsmen are represented by markers 28a clipped onto the outer wall 26 of the pockets 23 and the batsman is out "caught" if the ball 14a is hit into a pocket 23 having one of the markers 28a.

Referring now to FIG. 4, the game is shown arranged to simulate a baseball game.

The board 30 is circular in plan and the baseball diamond 31 is marked out with home to third bases 32-35 at the corners of the diamond. The shooting zone 36 is positioned just forward of second base 34 and left and right field foul lines 37, 38 interconnect home base 32 with first and third bases 33, 35 respectively.

A bat 39 (see FIG. 6) having a profile similar to that of a baseball bat, is suspended above the home base 32 by a support which is fixed under the board 30.

A pocket 41 marked "catcher" is provided behind home base 32 and foul pockets 42 are provided on the periphery of the board 30 behind the foul lines 37, 38.

The remaining pockets 43 around the periphery of the board 30 may be marked e.g.

"one base", "two base", "three base", "home run" and "walk". Two infield pockets 44, of shallow depth, may be provided and if the ball 45 falls into the pockets on a "bunt" shot, the batter is out.

As hereinbefore described, the player representing the fielding team places markers on the pockets or on the board to represent the three basemen, the short stop or infielders and the outfielders and the player representing the batting team plays the ball 45 with the cue 46 as hereinbefore described.

If the batting player deflects the ball into one of the pockets, the player moves his "batter" around the board as indicated by the pockets and he may have one "player" at bat and "players" on any or all of the first to third bases 33-35. If the "batter" scores "two bases" and the batting player has a "player" on "third base", that player will move his "batter" to second base 34 and the "player" on third base 35 will score one run.

However, should the ball when deflected fall into the "catchers" pocket 41 or into a pocket where a marker is positioned, or knock over a marker, or fall into the infield pockets 44, then the "batter" is out and the players change innings when three "batters" are out.

If the ball 45 runs into one of the "foul" pockets 42, a "strike" but no score is re corded and three "strikes" means that the "batter" is also out.

The board 47 of the embodiment of FIG. 6 is generally similar to the board 30 except that it is diamond-shaped in plan but the pockets, bases etc. are arranged in the same manner.

The boards 30, 47 may also be used to simulate softball.

The game may be placed on a snooker, pool, billiard or table-tennis table, or on a dining table, or may be provided with legs so as to be free standing.

It will be readily apparent to the skilled addressee that many changes and modifications may be made to the embodiments described e.g. to simulate other games, without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims (9)

1. A table game which may simulate cricket, baseball, softball and the like including: a playing board (as hereinbefore defined), representing a playing field; a plurality of pockets around at least a portion of the playing board; a bat means on the board; and a ball; so arranged that a player shoots the ball into engagement with the bat means, the ball being deflected into one of the pockets to register a score for the player.

2. A game as claimed in Claim 1 wherein: an area of the board opposite the bat means is left vacant to provide a shooting zone for the ball.

3. A game as claimed in Claim 2 wherein: the ball is shot from the shooting zone by the player using a cue.

4. A game as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 3 wherein: the bat has a profile corresponding to the bat of the game being simulated; the bat being springloadably mounted on the playing board.

5. A game as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 4 wherein: an opposing player may position one or more markers on the playing board and the batting player is out when the ball strikes or knocks over any one of the markers.

6. A game as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 4 wherein: the opposing player may position one or more markers in or on the pockets and the batting player is out when the ball enters any of the pockets provided with one of the markers.

7. A game as claimed in Claim 5 or Claim 6 wherein: the number of markers may be varied to vary the degree of difficulty of the game.

8. A game as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 7 wherein: the playing board may be oval or elliptical to plan to simulate cricket, or diamond-shaped in plan to simulate baseball or softball, or be rectangular, square or circular in plan.

9. A table game which may simulate cricket, baseball, softball and the like, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to FIGS.

1 and 2, or FIG. 3, or FIGS. 4 and 6, or FIGS.

5 and 6 of the accompanying drawings.