GB436523A - Amusement apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

436,523. Indoor games; tops. TREWHELLA, W., Trentham, Victoria, Australia. April 9, 1934, No. 10671. [Classes 132 (ii) and 132 (iii)] In apparatus for playing a game of the kind in which a spinning top is manoeuvred over the surface of a tray by manual manipulation of the tray, the top, Fig. 6, is formed with a socket 5 to receive one of a plurality of interchangeable peg pins 6, the dome-shaped heads 4 of which vary in curvature and determine the rate of travel of the top over the surface of the tray. The tray is formed of wood or metal, surrounded by a raised boundary 1, Fig. 7, and is provided with pens or pockets 13, gates 11 and studs 41 defining pounds 14. In playing the game, the top is spun manually or mechanically and the board tilted to cause the top to enter the various pockets or to propel loose pieces D thereinto. Excessive tilting of the board is indicated by the displacement of hinged flaps 16 or loose buttons 18. The loose pieces are of disc or other form and are preferably formed on one or both sides with a central boss 15, Figs. 11 and 13, to facilitate their rotation by the peg of the top. When flat discs are used, the peg, Fig. 6, is preferably provided with a loosely mounted collar 6<a>. A mechanical device for spinning the top may be provided at the centre of the tray and comprises a sleeve 20, Fig. 3, rotatably mounted in an aperture in the tray. The sleeve is shaped to receive the top and formed with ratchet teeth 22 to co-operate with similar teeth 23 on the top. A ratchet 24 rigid with the sleeve and situated beneath the tray co-operates with a detent 27, Fig. 4. Counterclockwise rotation of the top rotates the sleeve and stresses a rubber band 30 attached to the tray and detent and passing through apertures 33 in the sleeve. This rotation is limited by a large tooth 25 of the ratchet. Upon the release of the sleeve by manual rocking of the detent, the sleeve and top rotate clockwise and the top springs from the sleeve on to the surface of the tray. The top and pieces may be stored in housings formed on the underside of the tray or within a hollow handle attached thereto.