GB2433037A

GB2433037A - Game apparatus

Info

Publication number: GB2433037A
Application number: GB0518185A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Robert Dirk Kiefer
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2005-09-07
Filing date: 2005-09-07
Publication date: 2007-06-13
Also published as: GB0518185D0

Abstract

A spinner or top 1 which may be made from transparent material, consisting of two polygonal conical interlocking, upper and lower halves, 2, 3, having at its base a centrally located point 5, and at the top a grip 4 whereby it may be spun, opening centrally to contain a card 12 and one or more transparent overlays 13, 14 whose shape corresponds exactly to the plan view of the polygonal central section 2. When a card 12 with or without one or more overlay 13, 14, bearing an image or graphic, and with a series of values inscribed at one or more of the flat edges, is inserted within the spinner 1, it is then spun and will come to rest on one of the flat edges of the external circumference 10, 11. The value visible at the edge upon which the apparatus comes to rest, becomes a factor in competition with one or more opponent using the same or similar apparatus 1.

Description

GAME APPARATUS

The present invention relates to apparatus for playing a game.

Companies are constantly seeking to produce interesting novelties, toys, or amusing inter-active games perhaps relating either to their products, or to promotional activities in which they are involved. Furthermore, companies are constantly looking for new ways to promote these products, and therefore there is a constant demand for inexpensive novelty' items which companies can give away as promotional gifts, either with or without their products.

According to the present invention, there is provided apparatus for playing a game, the apparatus comprising several elements. The first element is a spinner' or spinning-top' similar to the ones commonly in use as a child's toy, but in the shape of a polygon, i.e., hav- ing a number of flat outer edges. The spinner may be made from any inexpensive materi-al, such as plastic, paper, metal. However an advantage, in this case would be provided if the spinner' were made from a rigid transparent plastic. If the spinner was made from opaque material, however, the structure would require to be made so that the image inside were visible. The spinner' comes in two halves joined around the circumference, by the provision within the upper half, of a depression around the interior circumference, extend-ing upwards into the body of the upper half, far enough to allow a raised edge around the inside of the rim of the lower half, and made slightly smaller than the depression in the upper half, to fit into the depression in the upper half, and to hold firmly enough, such that a user may grip the projecting cylinder at the top of the upper half, spin the assembled spinner' by twisting between finger & thumb, so that the apparatus spins on a flat surface on the cone-tip located centrally on the base of the lower half of the apparatus. It will also be understood that the mechanism could be the other way round, so that the depression' is within the lower half, the raised edge on the upper.

The spinner is made to contain, between it's two halves, a base picture-card, and a number of transparent over-lays'. The card and the overlays are also polygonal in shape, made to fit exactly between the two halves of the spinner. The next part of the game involves those cards having values', set out around each flat edge of the polygon. In the present concept, the base card carries an image which may be of a creature, a device, a vehicle, a popular hero of film or sport, or indeed any image which might be utilised as a depicted entity to 2.

which a set of values' may be attributed. In the current concept, the image of a DOG has been used. The image of the dog on the base-card, has inscribed around it's polygonal edge...in this case a hexagon, or six-sided shape...six attributes, with number-values' attributed to each of these qualities. The transparent overlays, carry certain additions to the graphic image of the dog, e.g., one overlay carries the image of armour, so that when the overlay is laid over the image of the dog on the base-card, the dog appears to be wearing armour. However, the attrib-utes...power, agility, speed etc., may change with the addition of armour, so that if the AGILI-TY of the dog on the base card without armour was 10', the addition of the armour will drop that to 8'. Similarly with the overlay which carries the image of weapons'...where the ATFACK attribute may have been 6' on the base-card, this may rise to 10' on the weapon' overlay. In some cases any one or number of those edges bearing the graphic of attributes' may be left transparent so that the underlying value' remains unchanged. It should, of course, be understood, that the value' of each edge may be represented by anything, such as a colour, a shape, a letter, another image, other than a name or number.

The game is designed for two or more people, and is played by each player acquiring the base card, or a series of these, together with the overlays appropriate to whichever image he has received. The player will select the overlay(s) which he believes will enhance his base-card image's attributes, and place them over the base-card, and insert these into the spinner', between the two halves. It is envisaged that the players will each have a spinner', base-cards and overlays. When a player thinks he has his best combination of overlays for his base-image, he will insert these into his spinner and challenge another player to a spin'. When the player spins the spinner, it will come to rest on ONE edge of the hexagon, where ONE of the values' is located on that edge. This value and it's number may constitute a score' of some kind, and may be compared with the score of an opponent along certain criteria to be set either by the promoter or the users of the game.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example with ref-erence to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig.1 is the two halves of the spinner' prior to being closed together Fig.2 is the spinner in the deployed position Fig.3 is a plan view of the upper half of the spinner Fig.4 is a plan view of the lower half Fig.5 is (top) the base-card & image, and (centre & bottom) the transparent overlays Fig.6 is a schematic drawing showing the way the base-card is overlaid by multiple overlays, and how they are configured within the two halves of the spinner, with the base-card below, the overlays above Fig.7 is a view of THREE possible configurations with the base-card and overlays 3.

Fig.8 is how the spinner is spun Fig.9 shows the spinner having come to rest on one edge from where the value may be taken as a possible score.

Fig.1 is an elevation view, showing the two halves 2,3 of the spinner I prior to it's being con-joined to form the complete spinning apparatus 1. Inside the rim 10, of the upper half 2 of the apparatus 1 is an interior depression 8, with the structure rising almost vertically upwards for a short distance, prior to taking the steeper form of a cone terminating in a projecting cylinder 4, which allows the apparatus 1 to be spun. It is into this space 8, that the base card 12, with whatever overlay(s) 13,14 the player may have selected, are placed. The raised section 9 on the lower half 3 fits exactly and firmly into the depression 8 made in the upper half 2,so that when pushed together, the two parts 2, 3 form the complete spinner 1. Fig.2 shows the apparatus 1, in the completed or closed position. The lower half 3 is conical and ends in a centrally locat- ed point 5, upon which the apparatus 1 rotates. Figs 3 and 4 show both halves 2,3 of the appa-ratus 1 in plan view. The projecting rim 10, 11 has indents 6,7 cut into the outer edges in order to facilitate taking the device 1 apart.

Fig.5 shows the base-card 12 with the image of the dog 12A upon it. The obverse of the base-card 12, may also bear an image. The overlay 13 bears an image of armour' 13A configured to fit the profile of the dog 12A on the base-card 12, while the overlay 14, canies the image of spikes' 14A configured, also to fit the dog 12A on the base-card 12. The overlays 13, 14 are transparent except where there is imagery or graphics, which are opaque.

Fig.6 is a three-dimensional image showing an exploded' view of the configuration of the base-card 12, with the overlays 13,14 above, as they might be configured within and between the two halves 2,3 of the spinner 1.

Fig.7 shows how the images 12A, 13A, 14A may develop in three different configurations of the overlays 13, 14 upon the base-card. Fig.8 shows how the spinner 1, loaded and closed and containing a selection of base-card 12 and overlays 13, or 14, or 13 and 14, is spun on it's base-point 5, by gripping the top projecting cylinder 4, between finger and thumb, and sharply twisting to provide a spinning motion. Fig.9 shows the spinner 1 having come to rest on one of it's edges 10, 11, where the players will be able to view whichever graphic may indicate a score.

Claims

G

CLAIMS

1. A spinner or top which may be made from transparent material, consisting of two polygonal conical interlocking, upper and lower halves, having at its base a centrally located point, and at the top a grip whereby it may be spun, opening centrally to contain a card and one or more transparent overlays whose shape corresponds exactly to the plan view of the polygonal central section. When a card with or without one or more overlay, bearing an image or graphic, and with a series of values inscribed at one or more of the flat edges, is inserted within the spinner, it is then spun and will come to rest on one of the flat edges of the external circumference. The value visible at the edge upon which the apparatus comes to rest, becomes a factor in competition with one or more opponent using the same or similar apparatus.

2. A card or series of cards having the shape of a polygon made to fit within the spinner as claimed in Claim 1. A card may display an element in the form of an image or graphic, and a value on one or more of its edges, which may correspond to the image or graphic on the card, and which may be visible from the outside of the spinner.

When a card and overlays are selected by the user, and one or more overlay superimposed on the card, within the spinner, the attributes of the image may alter, with a consequential change in the values at the edges of the combined card and overlay(s).

3. An overlay, or series of overlays, made in transparent material, as claimed in Claims 1 & 2, which corresponds exactly in plan view to the card as claimed in Claim 2, which bears additional imagery or graphics complementary to the imagery or graphics on the card as claimed in Claim 2, and which also bears a series of values which, when superimposed over the card and loaded into the spinner, may alter, block out or leave intact the values in the same position on the card beneath, and as a result become a factor in any competition with a competitor.

4 A spinner as claimed in Claim 1, having at the circumference, the shape of a polygon which always comes to rest on one of the edges of its circumference. * S. * . S 5..

* *** 5. A spinner as claimed in Claim 1, which opens and locks together again to hold one or more cards and overlays. SS *

6. A spinner as claimed in Claim 1, in which the imagery or graphics on the cards and : overlays may be visible through the outer surface.

S S * S S

SSSS S... S * SS*S

7. A spinner as claimed in Claim 1, in which the imagery or graphics on the cards or overlays may be visible from outside the spinner through apertures cut into the outer wall.

8. A spinner as claimed in Claim 1, which may be spun on its base.

9. A card, or series of cards as claimed in Claims 1 & 2, bearing imagery or graphics on its surface, with attributes or values in the form of terms, letters, numerals or symbols, which may relate to the imagery or graphics on the card. * S. * S * *.S. S... * . S... S... * . S...

*5..SS

S S * S * . S SIS. S...

S I S...

Amendments to the claims have been filed as follows

H

Application No: GB0518185.4 I REVISED CLAIMS 1. A spinner or top which may be made from transparent material, consisting of two polygonal conical interlocking, upper and lower halves, having at its base a centrally located point, and at the top a grip whereby it may be spun, opening centrally, between the upper and lower sections to contain a card and one or more transparent overlays whose shape corresponds exactly to the plan view of the polygonal central section. When a card with or without one or more overlay, bearing an image or graphic, and with a series of values inscribed at one or more of the flat edges, is inserted within the spinner, it is then spun and will come to rest on one of the flat edges of the external circumference. The value visible at the edge upon which the apparatus comes to rest, becomes a factor in competition with one or more opponent using the same or similar apparatus.

2. A spinner as claimed in Claim 1 where the imagery, graphics or information on the card or overlays, may be clearly visible, in any of the positions in which the spinner comes to rest, through the transparent surface or window in the spinner.

3. A spinner as claimed in either Claim 1 or 2, where the spinner does not require to be opened to enable the information on the card or overlay to be viewed.

4. A spinner as claimed in any of the preceding Claims, where the information on the card or overlays, is set within the spinner in a plan or near plan view to the observer.

5. A spinner as claimed in any of the preceding Claims, which affords sufficient area to be occupied by the cards and overlays, such that imagery, graphics, and values may be of sufficient size to be viewed or read without either visual aids or the need to open the spinner.

6. A spinner as claimed in any of the preceding Claims, having at the circumference, the shape of a polygon which always comes to rest on one of the edges of its circumference.

7. A spinner as claimed in any of the preceding Claims, which opens and locks together again to hold one or more cards and overlays.

8. A spinnt as claimed in any of the preceding Claims, in which the imagery or graphics on the cards or overlays may be visible from outside the spinner through apertures cut into the outer wall.

Amendments to the claims have been filed as follows 9. A spinner as claimed in any of the preceding Claims, which may be spun on its base.

10. A card or series of cards having the shape of a polygon made to fit within the spinner as claimed in Claim 1. A card may display an element in the form of an image or graphic, and a value on one or more of its edges, which may correspond to the image or graphic on the card, and which may be visible from the outside of the spinner.

When a card and overlays are selected by the user, and one or more overlay superimposed on the card, within the spinner, the attributes of the image may alter, with a consequential change in the values at the edges of the combined card and overlay(s).

11. An overlay, or series of overlays, made in transparent material, as claimed in Claims I & 2, which corresponds exactly in plan view to the card as claimed in Claim 2, which bears additional imagery or graphics complementary to the imagery or graphics on the card as claimed in Claim 2, and which also bears a series of values which, when superimposed over the card and loaded into the spinner, may alter, block out or leave intact the values in the same position on the card beneath, and as a result become a factor in any competition with a competitor.

12. A card, or series of cards as claimed in Claims I & 2, bearing imagery or graphics on their surface, with attributes or values in the form of terms, letters, colours, numerals or symbols, which may relate to the imagery or graphics on the card. Is