US1262218A

US1262218A - Game apparatus.

Info

Publication number: US1262218A
Application number: US12907416A
Authority: US
Inventors: Herman Lindenberg Jr
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1916-11-02
Filing date: 1916-11-02
Publication date: 1918-04-09
Anticipated expiration: 1935-04-09

Description

H. LINDENBERG, JR.

GAME APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED nov.2. 191s.

Patented Apr. 9, 1918.

. INVENTOR 44W 0,;

WITNESSES %7PMMW emu arra'r'os.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 9, 11918.

Application filed November 2, 1916. Serial No. 129,074.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HERMAN Lmounnnne, Jr., a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Woodclifi'e on the Hudson,

county of Hudson, State" of New Jersey, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Game Apparatus, of which the following is a' specification.

My invention relates to game apparatus and has for its object to provide a simple and inexpensive apparatus arranged to be used by any number of persons for purposes of amusement and physical development. My improvement is designed primarily for use in playing a game similar to the old game of cat and provides a means whereby the danger in playing a game of this kind is reduced to a minimum while at the same time the interesting features of such games are multiplied to a maximum extent. Qther objects of my invention will appear from the description hereinafter and the features of novelty will be pointed out in the appended claims.

' Inthe accompanying drawings, which illustrate an example of my invention, Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved game apparatus in its normal position of rest and with a ballin position thereon; Fig. 2 1s a plan view of the apparatus; F 1g. 3 is a sectional elevation on the line 33 of Fig. 2 and showing the apparatus in action and Fig. 4 is, a cross-section on the line 4% of Fi 2.

:is shown in the illustrated example the apparatus comprises a base 5 of wood or other suitable material and preferably, though not necessarily, carried by supports 6. Two upright members 7. of wood or other suitable material extend upwardly from and perpendicularly to the base 5 in spaced and parallel relation to each other and are secured to said base in any convenient manner as by nailing, screwing, gluing or the like. The members 7 are preferably inclined downwardly as indicated at 8 and are maintained in spaced relation in any desired Way as for instance by providing a cross-piece 9 preferably located between said members 7 adjacent to the upper rear corners thereof. The apparatus further includes an impact member which in the illustrated example comprises a lever 10 located between said members 7 and pivotally mounted by means members 7 if desired. The impact receiving 7 end of said lever 10 is beveled or inclined as indicated at 12, the incline and the location of said lever being such that the surface 12 will be substantially flush with the upper surfaces of the members 7 when the apparatus is in the position of rest as shown in Fig. 1, and approximately flush with or only slightly above the inclined portions 8 of the members 7 when the lever 10 is in the position shown in Fig. 3. In the normal position of the apparatus the end portion of the lever 10 extends beyond the said inclined portions 8 and thus provides a projecting end 13 adapted to receive a blow whereby the apparatus is actuated as will be more fully described hereinafter. Itwill be obvious that the surface 12 may be otherwise shaped than flat as shown and that the edges of the projecting end 12 may be beveled or otherwise constructed to at all times prevent binding of the lever 10 between the members 7 The lever 10 is so hung in the apparatus that it will normally always occupy and automatically always return to the position Lntnnnnnne, an, or wooncnrrrn on Ten HUDSON, new JERSEY.

operation of the apparatus and to minimize the efiects thereof the lever 10 is preferably provided with suitable buffers 14, it being understood that the same result may be obtained by properly locating said bufi'ers orequivalent devices upon the base'5 between the members 7.

In addition to the elements so far described the apparatus includes a means for maintaining the missileor object, which in the illustrated example is shown as a ball 15, in proper operative position. As disclosed in the drawings this means comprises curved and downwardly converging recesses 16 formed in said members 7 in opposed rela tion to each other-and together forming a conical depression adapted to accommodate balls or other objects of varying dimensions and hold them in proper operative position. in some casesthe location of the cross-piece 9 may make it advisable to also recess the a same in such a manner as to form a contin-* ever nature the same may be, is always so located and dimensioned as to support the ball or other missile 15 regardless of its size or shape in registry with the space between the members 7 and at a distance above the rear end of the lever 10 when the latter is in its normal position as shown in Fig. 1. In other words no part of the lever 10 normally engages the missile or ball 15, the purpose of which will more clearly appear'hereinafter. I

.In using my improved apparatus the ball or other object 15 is placed in the retaining means, which in the illustrated example is the conical depression formed by the recesses 16 so that said ball occupies the position shown in Fig. 1. In this condition of the parts the said ball 15 is located centrally in registry with the space between the mem bcrs 7 and at a distance above the rear end portion of the lever 1 and the apparatus is ready for use. If'th projecting end 13 or rather'the surface 12 thereof is. now subjected to a blow, the force thereof will cause the lever 10 to be violently rocked on its.

pivot 11 and its opposite end to be whipped into engagement with the ball 15. The said lever 10 thus delivers a sharp blow upon the ball 15 from below whereby the latter is projected upwardly in a direction approximately perpendicular to the base 5 as shown in Fig. 3. The height to which the ball 15 israised in the air depends upon the force of the blow delivered upon the surface 12 of the projecting end 13 of the lever 10 and may thus be adapted to the desires of individual players or to meet conditions of play or the like. The lever 10 is guided in all of its movements, and throughout the entire extent of a given movement by the upright members 7 and is held thereby against any substantial wabbling or transverse movement and thus moves in paths which are substantially constant whereby proper contact with the ball or other object 15 is always assured. As the retaining means 16 is located with respect to the space between said members 7 in which the lever 10 moves, the ball or other object when placed upon the apparatus, will occupy a position which always bears the proper operative relation to said lever 10 to produce the best results. With this arrangement as the lever 10 is actuated, the

blow thereof will always act upon the ball or other object with a maximum of efiect so of effort or exertion is operate the apparatus.

that only a minimum required to properly It will, of course, be understood that any desired amount of force may be exerted to actuate the lever 10 this depending entirely on the will of the operator, or the height to which it is desired to raise the ball or the particular use to which the apparatus 'is put.

The blow upon the surface 12 of the end 13 of the lever 10 may be delivered in any desired manner or by means of any suitab%e V moves in implement such as -a stick, club or-bat.

the apparatus is used to play a game similar to eat theball may firstibe projected upwardly and either in ascending or descending may be struck with the stick,- club or bat and drivenout .and away from the apparatus. The apparatusmayreadily be used 7 to play a variety of other games or for other purposes where it is desired to project a missile .or object upwardly into the'air in a direction perpendicular to the base 5. Any f suitable rules may be adapted either to meet. the conditions of the particular game or in view of the number .of players. For instance if the apparatus is used as suggested above and two or more players are engaged in the game, the batter after propelling the ball upwardly and driving it intothe field may place the stick, club or other implementhorizontally across the apparatus, and 'he player in the field securing the ball may attempt to dislodge the implement so placed by throwing the'ball at it. If successful the fielding player changes places with the batsto play a variety of baseballin which case the rules of base ball with regard to running man whootherwise continues to batthe ball ,ing the stick, club or bat. The apparatus bases, scoring, etc., may be utilized to govern the game.

Owing to the fact that the ball or other object is positioned at a distance above the impacting means it thus receives a sharp blow from below which serves to raise it directly from the ball retaining means 16 and lifts it straight up into the air. In

otherlwords the direction of inovement of the impacting means, that is the lever 10, which is in the arc of a circle does notdetermine the direction in which the ball is projected. This is in contradistinction to existing devices in which the missile or object is directly carried by the projecting means; in such devices the latter usually the arc of a circle and when actuated causes the ball or other object to be projected in the arc of a circle or in other words communicates its direction of movement to the object being projected. In such cases the path described by the ball or other object in ascending and descending is different and varies with the force exerted to actuate the apparatus. This serves to produce results which are unfavorable to the player operating the apparatus and creates conditions in the projection of the ball which are incapable of being readily met by the player and thus often results in failure to hit the ball if this is part of the game being played.

With the present apparatus on the contrary the ball or other object in ascending describes a path approximately perpendicular to the base and in descending returns over substantially the same path and the direction of these movements is not made dependent upon any particular force exerted in delivering the blow. The paths traversed by. the ball or otherobject are thus predetermined and vary only in length according to the height to which said ball or other object is projected and as the construction of the apparatus and its method of operation locate these paths in position most favorable to the player, failures and misses in hitting the ball are reduced to a minimum whereby the interest of the players is always maintained at a maximum point.

The apparatus may be used by children or adults anywhere either indoors or outdoors affording the required space with a maximum of protection against personal injury and against destruction of property.

Various changes in the specific arrangement shown and described may be made within the scope of the claims without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

1. A game apparatus comprising a pair of upright spaced members each provided with a recess converging downwardly, said recesses being in opposed relation to each other and together forming a depression adapted to accommodate and position missiles of varying dimensions, and a movable impact lever having an end in registry with the space between said recesses and arranged to deliver a blow upon said missile from below.

2. A ame apparatus comprising a base, a pair of upright members, parallel with and spaced from each other, carried by said base, said members each being recessed in registry with each other to form a depression for positioning balls of varying dimensions in registry with the space between said members and an impact lever pivoted between saidmembers and substantially fitting the my hand space therebetween said lever extending beneath and at a distance from saidball, and having .a portion normally projecting be: yond members adapted to receive a blow whereby said lever is caused to deliver a blow upon said ball from below to propel the latter upwardly in a direction approximately perpendicular to said base.

3. A game apparatus comprising a base, guiding means extending upwardly therefrom, means for positioning an object and an impact lever pivotally carried by said base and having an end normally located beneath and at a distance from said object, said end being arranged to deliver a blow upon said object from below whereby the latter is propelled upwardly in a direction approximately perpendicular to the apparatus and being positively guided throughout substantially its entire range of movement by said guiding means.

4. A. game apparatus comprising means for positioning a missile and a pivoted im-' pact lever arranged to propel said missile through the air, said impact lever itself being shaped to form an impact receiving sur face lying in a substantially horizontal position prior to the delivery of a blow and inclined downwardly under the force thereof. 5. A game apparatus comprismg means for positioning a missile, a pair of spaced,

upright members having downwardly ina clined edge surfaces and an impact lever arranged topropel said missile through the air, said lever being pivoted between said members and having an impact receiving surface lying in a substantially horizontal position prior to the delivery of a blow and arranged to be brought into parallel relation to said inclined edge surfaces under the force of the blow.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set HERMAN LINDENBERG, JR.