US1564140A - Amusement device - Google Patents

Description

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR ATTORNEY Dec. 1, 1925- R. SATO AMUSEMENT DEVICE Filed Sept. 13, 1925 .5 York,

Patented Dec. 1, 1925.

UNITED STA nYUJr saro, or Nnwvong, N. Y.'

' AMrrsnMnN'r DnvIcn.

Application led September 13, 1923. ySerial No. 662,502.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, RirUJr Saro, a citizen of Japan, residing at New York, in the county of have invented new and useful Im'- provements in Amusement Devices, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to amusement devices or game apparatus designed for luse in amusement parks and like places The invention embodies amongst other features, an inclosure in which is arranged a basket like receptacle, the object of each articipant being to kick as many of a preetermined number of balls allotted for each play into the basket, the balls being kicked slngly and each having a scoring value, remiums being given to those who Y success ullyobtainv a certain high score or better. l A

In carrying out the invention, I provide a novel scoring device automatically actuated by a movab e bottom of the basket like receptacle above referred to, each ball -entering the basket'passing through the latter and operating thebottom for the purpose specified.

New York and State of New era'bly consist-s of Another object of the invention resides inthe novel construction of a coin controlled mechanism operated to releasev the balls from a' runway for play, the balls being singly released orthlsl purpose. i

ther objects and advantages of the invention will appear when the following letailed description isread in connection wit the accompanying drawings, the invention residing in the construction, combination and arran einen of partsas claimed.

plication, like numerals of'reference in cate similar parts in the several views, and whereinz- Figure 1 is a longtudinal'sectionalview In thev rawings forming part of this slp ,through the amusement device or game ap.- p

paratua4 Figure 2 is a sectional view `taken on the ,line 2-20'f Figure 1, looking in the direction ofthe arrows. 1' Figure '3 is av fragmentary sectional view showing the operation of the scoringdevce. Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on the line if-4 of Figure 3.

5 is a Vsectional view taken on'the line 5 -5 of Figure 2.

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken on the .line 6--6 of Figure 2.

Figure 7 is av detail view of thecoin actuated pawl and its cooperatingjpart. L

Figure 8 is a viewsimilar to Figure 7 showing the initial position of the pawl when actuated by the coin.v Figure 9 is a'detail view of the collar which cooperates with the pawl. i'

Figure 1 0 is a detail view of the shaft on which the collar is mounted.

The amusement Adevice is in the nature of a game apparatus, and embodies an inclosure of elongated contour, and -this inclosu're can be constructed of any suitable f material and vary in size without departing from the spirit of the invention. As shown,`

inv this specific instance, the inclosure' pref.-

a frame 10 includingi a bottom 11, -the frame being covered by wire screening or Athe like 12. The frame is closed atA one end, but open at the op osite end'where the player stands in ordp play the game. Arranged within the in'- closure is a runway 13 .to accommodate a predetermined number of balls 14, the balls being normally confined within lthis runway by means of a pivoted door 15. Extending diagonally across the bottom 11 from the innermost end of the runway 13 hy stood that it is Athe object of eac isqa partition 16 which directs the balls into the' runway after the same are played. The

balls 14 may be of any suitable construction for the purpose intended, it bein underplayer of the game to stand at the open erid of the inclosure and kick the balls's'ingly into the basket. like receptacle 17 supported at the opposite end of the inclosure. In Figure 1, I have illustrated a f14 ure 18 representing a layer inthe act of kicking one of the balls yust described. Each ball has a iixed scor- 1n value, and 'the game is successfully layed when'the articipant kicks a certain number of the ba lszinto the basket, netting a vhi h score, :for which a premium or the like 1s awarded. The receptacle 17 can of erto'v course be of vany suitable size and construetion, but includes a bottom 19 pivotedV4 as at 20, the bottom being in a closed position as shownl -in Figure 1, and automatically into an open position as shown in Figure 3 by .the weight ofthe ball Apassing therethrough. AThis-bottom 19'y is equipped with an operating arm 21 which controls the operation of a scoring device supportedupon the inclosure in full view of the participant, the scores being registered as the ball passes through the receptacle 17.

This scoring device. preferably embodies a casing 22 having a sight opening in the front wall thereof, which opening is normally closed by a transparent panel 23 through which the scores can be readily seen by the participant. Arranged within the casing 22 is a bladed wheel 24, the blades 25 radiating from the wheel and equi-distantly spaced apart. Qne side of each blade is provided with a certain score, the .scores being uniformly increased in consecutive order of the blades. For instance, the first blade in order is provided with a zero, the next blade is provided with the next blade and so on, it of course being manifest that there is one blade for each of the balls 14 used in playing the game. It might also be here stated, that any number of balls can be used with the apparatus, however, eight or ten balls pre t`- erably constitutes a set. The wheel is fixed upon a shaft 26, and this shaft is journalled in any suitable manner within the'v casing 22. Associated with this shaft is a ratchet wheel 27, with which a spring pressed pivoted pawl 28 cooperates in order to turn the shaft and the bladed wheel step by step to score the game. This pawl 28 is carried by an offset extremity 29 of a reciprocating rod 30, the latter being vertically disposed at one end of the inclosure and operable through suitable guides 31. The operating arm 21 above referred to is carried by the pivoted bottom 19 of the receptacle and is bifurcated to straddle the rod 30, and this arm operates between spaced collars 32 and 33 respectively carried by the rod 30. A coil spring 34 encircles the rod 30 and has one end bearing against the collar 32 and its opposite end against the free extremity of the arm 21) holding the latter against the collar 33, and also maintaining the pivoted bottom 19 normally in its closed position. As each ball enters the receptacle 17 it drops upon the bottom 19, and automatically moves the bottom to an open position as shown in Ifigure 3. During this movement of the bottom, -the arm 21 is moved upwardly compressing the spring 34 which provides a connection between the arm 21 and the collar 32, so that the rod ,30 is moved upwardly to the position shown in Figure 3, by dotted lines. It is during this upward movement yof the rod 30 that the ratchet wheel 27 and the bladed wheel 25 is rotated one step or degree, bringing one of the blades 25 to View through the sight opening 23. As the ball passes from the receptacle 17, the spring 34 functions to return therod 30 to `its lower positionV and automatically closes the bottom 19 of the receptacle. Those balls that drop from the receptacle 17 as well as the balls which fail to enter the receptacle. drop within the inclosure behind the partition 16, and are 4directed to the runway 13, one behind the other as shown in Figure 1. After the game has been played, the scoring device can be conveniently returned toy its normal position by reversing the rotation of the bladed wheel 24. It might here. be stated, however that when the wheel is rotated by means of the mechanism just described it is held against retrograde movement by means ofga leaf spring 35 arranged to bear against the hub of the; wheel. For the purpose of returning the scoring device to normal position at the completion of the game, I preferably makel use of a drum 36 which is fixed upon the shaft 26 of the scoring device. A flexible cable 37 has one end secured to this drum, and itscopposite end secured to a somewhat similar drum 38 mounted upon a casing 39 which has a coin controlled mechanism for releasing the balls from the runway and which is to be hereinafter' described. However, this disposition of the` drum 38 is within convenient reach of the participant, the drum being equipped with a handle 40 by means of which the drum is rotated. The flexible cable 37 is trained through suitable guides 42 at the closed end of the inclosure, and passes underneath the apparatus through the guide 43 from where it is directed upwardly from where it is connected with the drum 38. When the game is being played, and the bladed wheel rotated for the purpose of scoring the game, the cable 37 is wound about the drum 36, and unwound from the drum 38. However, at the completion of the game, it is only necessary to rotate the drum 38 by means of the handle 40 in a direction to wind the cable about said drum andfincidentallyunwind it from the drum 36 which of course, reverses the rotation of the bladedwheel 24 and returns the wheel to its normal position. In playing the game, the participants stand on a pad or rubber platform 44 which is cut away at one corner as shown in Figure 2, so that'each ball played can be readily removed fromthe pocket or depression 45 at one sideV of the runway 13, the balls being singly dealt from the runway into the pocket or depression, until all of the balls have been played. In passing of the balls from the runway 14 to the pocket 45 is as above stated controlled by the pivoted door '15, the latter being associated with a short lever 46 pivoted asv at 47. This lever is connected to the manually operable lever 48 by means of a link 49, the normal position of the lever being shown by full lines in Figure 6, and its active position` shownby dotted lines in the same ligure. When the lever is in its normal posltion, the-door 15 is closed,land when the lever is moved rearwardly toward the participant, the door predetermined number of balls used in playing the game have assed through the 'runway or depression, a er which the door is locked in its closed position and cannot .be released for further movement by the lever 48, until a coin,of the'proper denomination has been inserted into thel coin slot of lthe casing 34. Arranged within this casing is a coiled spring 51, one end of which is connected to the casingv 30 and its other end connected'with the vadjacent end of the lever 48, the spriug'operatmg to normally hold the lever in the position shown' by full linesin Figure 6 andthe door 15 closed. Journalled within the casing 39 is a shaft 53 upon which is pvoted the manually operable .lever 48. J This shaft is rotated step by step, each .operation of the lever 48 is through the instrumentality of a ball andratchet connection as illustrated. The ratchet wheel 54 is fixed u 4on the shaft. 53, while the pawl 55 is carrie by the lever 48, and each time the lever-.is moved rearwardly to open the door, thev shaft 53 is rotated a predetermined .-distance. In other words, the ratchet wheel 54 makes one complete revolution .to effect the release of all of the balls from the runway 13, the ratchet wheel having one tooth for each balljas` will be readil understood. yLooselymounted upon the s aft 53 and at one side of the ratchet wheel 54 is a collar 56 clearly shown in Figure 9, and notched vas at 57 to receive the offset extremity58 of the pivoted pawl 59. Thls pawl is pivotedv at aoint between ts ends on a suitable brac et arranged.

within the casing' 34the opposite end ofthe .pawl heilig' 'revelSely Offset and provided with a coin receiving recess y60 which normally coincides with the coin slot 61 of the casin'g- 39. The pawl normally maintains the collar '50 fixed with relation tothe shaft 53, so that the mechanism cannot be oper- 1 ated to .open the door. 15 until the pawl 59 .is actuated to release the collar 56. This is recess 60 of the accomplished by .inserting within the coinslot 61 a coin Aof pro er denomination, which coin passes throng the slot into the pawl. 4 The; weight of the coin overbalancing the pawl 59, thus moving the latter out of the notch `57 of lthe collar56. lThis-collar is peculiarly 4constructed, so that just as soon'as'the awl 59 is actuated under the influenceoft e coin Yjustreferred to, thev collar will be initially rotated a predetermineddistanc'e toi ove the notch A57 thereof outof alignment with .the pawl 59 is shown 1n Figure'7, and just the operating extremity7 of the pawl 59, so that the -latter cannot-be again received by the notch 57 upon its return to normal position. Manifestly the coin drops from the pawl 59 into 'the casing 39 when the pawl is swung upon its pivot, this operation is clearly shown by dotted lines in Figure 8, just as soon as the coin .separates itself from the pawl, thev latter gravitates to its normal position but not into the notch 57 of the collar 56. In .order to obtain thisinitial movement of thecollar -56 for the purpose l'above stated, Lprovide the collar at one end with a hollow. boss 62 of arcuate shape formation, the boss being closed at one end and open at its opposite end as clearly shown in Figures 7 and 8. This boss operates between angularly disposed lugs 63 and 64 which project from the shaft 53. Arranged within this hollow boss 62 is a coiled spring 65, one end. of which bears against the closed end of the boss, while the opposite end of the spring bears. against the lug 64. The normal position of these parts with relation to as' soon as the pawl is actuated under the shown by dotted lines in Figure 8, at which time the spring 65 expands slightly turning the collar 56 upon the shaft 53'to move the notch 57 to a position where it cannot again weight of the coin, it assumes the position receivethe working end of the-pawl until the collar 56 has made one complete revolution. This initial adjustment of the collar 56 is shown in Figure 8, wherein it will be noted that the closed end of the hollow boss is now in contacting engagement with the 63l of the shaft 53, Withthe parts in thls position, the lever 48 can be actuated in the'manner above vdescribed each time a ball is 'needed from the runway 13, and when the distinct number of balls to which lthe player is entitled to has--been released from the runway, the collar. 56 .will have made one complete revolution brlnglng the notch 57 back to its normal position where movv it can againrecelve the working endofffthe pawl 59, this of course locking the mech-` anism against further operation until `another coin is inserted nuthin the coln slot 61.

While it is believed that from the foregoing description, the nature andadvantages of -the invention willbe readily apparent, I

limit myself to what is herein shown and described, and that such cha-n es may be resorted -to when desired as all within `the sco e' of what is claimed.Y

aving thus described the invention, I

to besingly kicked in the irecton ofthe receptacle-vinl an' effort to deposit said balls vdesire to have it understood that I do not therein, each ball opening the pvoted bottom of the receptacle as it passes through the latter, a scoring device, means automatically operable to actuate the scoring device with each opening of the bottom of said receptacle, and a runway arranged upon the bottom of the inclosuretoreceive said balls.

2. In a game apparatus, coin controlled mechanism therefor including a casing, a normally closed door, a shaft mounted with# in the casing` for rotation, a manually oper able lever pivoted on the shaft and connected with said door and adapted to open the latter upon movement of the lever in one direction,la ratchet Wheel Xed to said shaft, a

pawl carried by the lever and engaging said wheel to rotate said shaft intermittently, a collar loosely mounted on the shaft for initial rotation independently thereof, said Wheel having a notch, and a coin actuated p aWl pivoted within the casing and normally received by said notch to prevent rotation of the shaft and movement of said lever, and means for initially rotating said collar incident to the initial movement of said -pa\vl, whereby the notch is moved out ot alignment with the latter for the purpose specified.

In testimony7 whereof I atlix my signature.

RYUJ'I SATO.

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