US1243411A - War-puzzle. - Google Patents

Description

G. F. HOWARD.

WAR PUZZLE,

APPLICATION min Dic. 15, 1915.

Patented Got. 16, 1917 www@ ..e @u

WJTNESSES: INVENTOR 660g@ zozdc/f "UNITED STATES PATENT @FFIDE Y GEORGE E'. HOWARD, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF T0 LBERT O. 'DUNCANQ OF NEW YRK, N. Y.

WAR-PUZZLE.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Got. 16, ISM?.

Application led December 15, 1915. Serial No. 67,078. f

To c?? wom t may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE F. HOWARD, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of New York, borough of Manhattan, county and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Wan Puzzle, of which the following is a specilication.

This invention is a puzzle, and the object of the invention is to provide a puzzle whereby a war game may be played, the object of the game being the invasion of a country by a hostile force. A. further object of the invention is to provide a game board which will be extremely simple in construction, economical to manufacture, and which may be readily manipulated in working out the puzzle embodied therein.

Briefly stated, the inventionembodies a game board, the upper surface of which is provided with a continuous, circuitous channel or raceway for a ball, along the face of which channel, at unequal intervals, are placed apertures, which apertures extend entirely through the board, so that, in passing the ball through the channel, great care must be taken lest said hall fall through oneV of these apertures, Below the boa-rd is formed a chamber in which the ball, after passing through one of said apertures. is retained, and means is provided which cooperates with the chamber and with the channel in the board so that the ball may be subsecuently returned to the channel.y at one endl thereof. On the face of theboard is preferably delineated a map of the country tokbe invaded, and the ball referred to represents the invading army. The board is preferably covered with a pane of glass to preclude the displacement of the ball from the channel.

Features of the invention. other than those specified, will be apparent from the hereinafter detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

In the accompanying drawings, I have illustrated one practical embodimentof the invention, but the constructionvshown therein is to be understood as illustrative,only, and not as defining the limits ot the invention..

Figure l. is a plan view of a puzzle em:` bodymg the `'present invcntlon, and n Fig. 2 is a vertical, longitudinal section Referring to the drawings, A indicates a shallow, rectangular casing provided with a. top B, a. bottom C, and sides c. Top B forms the board on which the puzzle is played, and the face of said board is provided with a depressed, continuous channel D, preferably starting at one corner d of the board and passing in a continuous, circuitous path about the face of J[he board, linally terminating at some point thereof.

In the preferred form of the invention shown, board B is provided on its face with a picture or map of the United States, Mexico, Isthmus of Panama, a portion of lSouth America, and the surrounding oceans and islands. rllhe point (Z of the channel indi- Cates the starting point of the invading force, and channel D designates the path which said force would take across the Atlantic Ocean, through the Isthmus of Panama, through the Pacilic Ocean, and, landing at San Francisco, pass across the continent to Washington, D. C.

At points along the channel, and formed in the base thereof, are apertures or holes e, c, e2, etc., which designate resistances which the enemywould encounter on such an expedition; c. g., c designates the U. S. Atlantic squadron, e a U. S. cruiser, e2 a U. S. battleship, e3 a submarine, c* a fort on the Panama Canal, e5 the Pacific fleet, c a submarine, e7 a dreadnaught, and e8, e9, el?, e and cl2 forts positioned on the mainland.

In playing the game, a ball E is employed, which ball represents the invading force. Said ball is initially positioned at the start al of the channel, and, by manipulating the board, the player endeavors to cause the ball to roll through the circuitous channel .l

from the start d to the destination rZ, which, according to the preferred embodiment illustrated, is Washington, D. C., the capital of the United States.

kIt is rather diflicultto manipulate the ball to its destination, as it is very apt to fall through one of the apertures referred to into the interior of the cas-ing A.' In order that rZ interiorly the ball E may be replaced in the channel at the start thereof, after having fallen through one of the apertures,van inclined raceway a: is provided at the end of the casing, which raceway leads from the base of the chamber a in the casing to the base of channel D of the game board B. By

ball will gravitate to the plane of thebase of the channel.

r:Che face of game board B is preferably covered with a pane of glass F, which is laid upon the face of said board and in contact i therewith, thereby making channel D a closed one, and -precluding the displacement of the ball from the device. Moreover, the pane of glass protects the face of the board against wear, mutilation, and becoming soiled'.v

lt will, of course, be understood that, if more than one person are playing the game in4 competition, they will take turns in en-l deavoring to manipulate the ball from the start Z to destination CZ', and each will manipulate the ball until such time as said ball falls through one of the apertures e or e, etc., at which time the nent party in turn will manipulate the device in like manner.

It will be manifest that the puzzle may be of any size desired, and that, instead of the map of the United States, maps of other countries might be employed, and that said .puzzle might include a map of the entire world. Thus, when children are playing the game, they will, through their constant study of the board, become familiarized with the maps of the country or countries delineated thereon, and the puzzle will thus become instructive'and educational for the young mind. A

lt will be apparent from the foregoing description that the present invention embodies a game board provided with a continuous, circuitous channel, c'. e., a channel which extends across the face of the board in a serpentine or sinuous path. As shown in the drawings, the path is one succession of twists and turns, and progresses from the start Z to the finish rl in a tortueus manner. Arranged throughout the extent of the channel are pitfalls in the form of apertures, through which the ball E is adapted to fall into the compartment beneath the boardB. The channel is preferably of unequal width, and the apertures are placed in the widened portions thereof sov that the ball may be manipulated past the various apertures or pitfalls without falling therethrough.

In manipulating the board to causefthe ball E to travel, it will be understood that the board is held in the hand and tilted so that the ball is caused to gravitate along the channel in the direction of they tilting of the board, and the apertures or pitfalls are preferably positioned along the edges of the channel so that the board may be tilted so as to cause the ball to run by each aperture without falling therethrough.

The game is not a simple one to manipuywith the pitfalls,

late, and it is desirable, therefore, to provide means whereby the player may rest between successive m'anipulations.r rilhis means is inchoate in the serpentine path of the channel, since it is manifest that, if the board is tilted up at one side, the ball will gravitate into engagement with the edge of the channel at the lowest point of one of the bendsor turns thereof, and, by manipulating the board so that the bend or turn in which the 'ball' comes to rest is one wherein no pitfall is positioned, the ball will serve to retain this position as long-as the board is held in such tilted position. For irample, if the ball has been worked past the pitfall c', and the operator desires to rest or get hisi'bearings before the next manipulation, theright-hand side of the board may be tilted up, whereupon the ball will come to rest within the low portion 2', of the channel; lf the board is now tilted in the reverse direction, i. e., to bring the right-hand side of the board lower than the left-hand side,y the ball will gravitate from its position at z' to the low point t' of the nent bend. in like manner, successive movements may be imparted'to the ball from t" to i?, thence to 3, "=c'5, etc., the lowest points of the successive bendsy or turns of the channel. in this way, the ball may be worked along the channel in engagement with either one edge or the other thereof, so as to avoid the pit'- falls, and it is not necessary to hold the board substantially level andl joggle or jar the ball along the channel, as has generally been the necessity in games wherein the ball and channel features were employed. It will be understood, however, that the successive movements of the ball from one'side of the channel to the other, so as to follow the low points thereof, and free from proximity may be accomplished with expedition. In other words, the ball may be caused to travel through the channel, in the manner specified, at a remarkably high rate of speed after a little practice by the operator.l

Accordingly the present puzzle is a marked improvement over many of the `ball and channel games heretofore suggested, and the advantages which the game of this invention possesses over the prior ball and channel games in respect to the manipulation of the gamey board, are entirely due to the` serpentine or sinuous path of the channel which traverses the` facey of the board in tortuous curves and is full of twistsv and turns. The operator is, by this arrangement of the channel, enabled to control themovements of the ball by gravity, at all times, in a positive and sure manner and without the necessity of joggling the ball along the entirelength of the channel, as has heretofore been necessary.y

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ln, solving the puzzle, in its specific forni,

the ball E represents a fleet of transports convoyed by a powerful fleet of battleships. Channel D represents the path which they take for landing` the troops in America. rihe transports and their convoy (ball E) start from a point Z in the Atlantic Ocean, and said ball is manipulated over the course, avoiding pitfalls which represent armed resistances. Finding it necessary to deflect the course, owing to the U. S. cruiser` at e', it is impossible to land troops at New York, and the course is deflected to the south and through the Panama Canal. if the troops reach the Golden Gate, they are supposed to be disembarled and marched toward llf'vashington, D. C. Should the ball pass through channel D as far as aperture e5 and fall through said aperture, it is understood that the fleet has met destruction at the hands of the Pacific neet of the United States. If, however, the ball falls through the aperture e9, it will be understood that the army has been defeated at Fort Douglas. Should the player succeed in successfully completing the invasion to Washington, D. C., the next solution of the problem is to endeavor to work out their withdrawal or evacuation by reversing the direction of travel of the ball back to the starting point d. lf, on the return travel, the ball falls through aperture e, c. g., this signifies that the enemys army was defeated by the U. S. army at that point and forced to surrender.

rihe puzzle of the present invention is eX- tremely interesting, educational and fascinating, simple in construction and mode of operation and, while diflicult to solve, fur- Copes of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner nishes keen enjoyment and a pleasant pastime.

Having thus fully described the invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

An educational appliance and puzzle ernbodying a casing, on the upper surface of which is delineated a map, a continuous channel of constant depth but varying width formed in said upper surface of the casing, said channel representing the course of a force invading a country on the map, a ball, representing the invading force, adapted to be manipulated to traverse the channel, said channel being provided with apertures in its base communicating with the interior of the casing and representing resistance by the defending forces, said apertures serving as pitfalls through which the ball may fall into the casing, thereby signifying a defeat of the invaders, the channel partalring of a tortuous, sinuous path whereby, when the casing is tilted, the ball gravitates along the channel passing along from side to side thereof to avoid the apertures, and may be brought to rest in the elbow of any particular turn in accordance with the direction of tilting of the casing, and a run-way leading from the interior of the casing to the base of the channel for returning the ball from the interior of the casing to the starting point in the channel for a subsequent attempt at the solution of the puzzle.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

GEORGE F. HOWARD.

of Patents,

Washington, D. C.

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