US1929147A - Game device - Google Patents

Description

J. E MARKLE GAME DEVICE 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 12 19.5.2

mi* --r- 6 l I I l J I l Oct. 3, v1933. v V E MARKLE l1,929,147

GAME DEVICE Filed Sept. l2, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 2,

GAME DEVICE Filed Sept. 12, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 A @www Patented Oct. 3, 1933, y

GAME DEVICE Jacob E. Markle, Nashville, '.lenn.` I

Application September 12, 1932 Serial No. 632,808

9 Claims.. (ol. zia-fiel) This invention relates to games and has special reference to a ball and pocket game apparatus.

One important object of the invention is to provide a novel game apparatus involving theelement of chance wherein a projected ball drops tlnally into one of an annular series of ball receiving openings and is there held.

A second important object of the invention is to provide novel means for releasing the ball 10 from the pocket into 'which it has fallen.

A third important object of the invention is to provide, in such a game, two sets of hazard ball receiving openings arranged together to form a circular series, the ball receiving openings of one set being spaced at intervals'between the ball receiving openings of the other set.

A fourth important object of the invention is to provide independent releasing means for each set of ball receiving openings whereby a vball 2 held in any one ofthe ball receiving openings of a respective set is released for replay upon actua-y tion of the releasing means appurtenant to the respective set of ball receiving openings.

A fth important object of the invention is to provide a check or coin control whereby one of the two releasing means may be actuated only by the insertion of a check or coin.

With the above and other objects in view as will be hereinafter apparent, the invention con-- .30 sists in general of certain novel details of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and specifically claimed.

In the accompanying drawings like characters of reference indicate like parts in the several views, and':

Figure l is a plan'view of the improved game board, the parts below being indicated in dotted lines.

' o Figure 2 is an inverted plan view of the portion-of the board having ball receiving openings and showing certain parts of the release mechanism.

Figure 3 is a section on the line 3-3 oi Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a detail section on the line 4-4 of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is an enlarged detail section on the line 5-5 of Figure 1, some parts behind the section plane being omitted to avoid confusion.

Figure 6 is a detail section on the line 6-6 of Figure l.l

Figure 7 is a detail section on the line 7-7 of Figure 1. p

Figure 8 is an enlarged section on the line 8-8 of Figure '7.

Figurev 9 is an enlarged view of a portion of the V board in plan and showing some of thel ball receiving openings and associated dice representations.

In the embodiment of the invention here shown'eo there is provided a..boxlike casing 10 in the forward end of which is mounted a board l1 forming a closure for this end of the casing. To the rear of the closure 11 a casing top or closure 12 is provided which carries the playing ileld andover a5 these two closures extends a glass plate 13 covering the playing eldand preventing tampering therewith. The board 12 is provided with a large centrally disposed circular opening 14.

Beneath the .board 12 is supported an outer Pmn annular bowl me'mber 15 having a dished upper surfacel and being rabbeted at its inner periphery to' support the inner bowl member 17. This inner bowl member 17 is of substantially frustoconical form and adjacent its periphery is provided with a circular series of spaced openings 18 f forming ball pockets. Since both the inner and outer bowl members slopeto the ball receiving openings 18 a ball in the circular valley formed b`y the upper surfaces of bowl members will roll down into one of these ball -receiving openings.

Through the iront wall of the casing 10 there extends the shank 19 of a plunger 20 visible from above through a slot 21 formed in the board 11. g5 This shank is provided on its outer end with an operating knob 22 and the plunger is urged into forward positionby a spring 23 coiled around the shank 19. The ball 24 normally rests against the face of the plunger'at the beginning of play. 90 Beneath the boards 11 and 12 there is provided' a delivery or iiring chute 25 which has a oor inclined upwardly from beneath the plunger 20 to a slot 26 in the board 12 which forms adelivery mouth opening into the valley of the bowl at its outer periphery. When the plunger is pulled out and suddenly released the ball 24 rolls up the inclined delivery chute and 'into the valley of the bowl where it spins around a number of times and iinally settles into one of the ball receiving openings 18 where it is retained by means now to be described.

Pivoted centrally to the under side of the inner bowl member 17 is a disk 2'7 which carries on its periphery a series of radial pins 28 each of which 105 lies normally beneath the center of a respective ball receiving opening 18. These pins form a circular series but are not equalin number to. the number of ball receiving openings 18, there being no pins 28 for certain of these pockets. As 110 .here shown in Figure 2 there are six evenly spaced ball receiving openings 18 for which no pins 28 are provided and, for reasons which will be presently clear, it is preferred to call the ball receiving openings-with which the pins 28 are associated the point" ball receiving openings and the six other ball receiving openings the "crap ball receiving openings. vPivoted to the underside ofthemember lbisabellcranktlllhavingone arm connected by ailink 30 with the disk 27. The other arm of this bell crank is connected by a link 31 with one arm of a bell crank 32 pivoted at the forward end of the casing 10 and having its other arm projecting through a slot 33 in the casing and provided with an operating knob 34.y A spring 35 normally holds the bell crank 32 with the knob 34 in raised-position and. whenthus held, the pins 28 will lie centrally beneath the respective point ball receiving openings 18. By pressing down the knob 34 the mechanism just described acts to rotate the disk 27 so as to move the pins 28 out of alignment with the point ball receiving openings t18 `and thus to release the ball if it happens to be in one of said point ball receiving openings. A stop screw 36 limits the movement of the bell crank 32 in one direction and an adjustable stop screw 37 limits the movement of the bell crank 32 in the other direction.

Fixed in the under side of the outer bowl member l5 and spaced equally from its center are certain screw posts 38 in each of which is mounted a roller 39 having a flange 40 at its lower end. A rotatable ring 41 is supported on these anges between the roller and projecting inwardly from this ring are pins 42 eachr of which normally lies below the center of a respective crap ball receiving opening 18. 'Ihus those ball receiving openings which are not provided with pins 28 have the pins 42 beneath them. Mounted on the bottom of the casing l0 is a post 43 whereon is pivoted. intermediate its ends, a lever 44 and one arm of this lever is connected by a link 45 with the ring so that oscillation of the lever effects oscillation of the ring 42 about its center. The other arm of this lever carries an upstanding finger 46 which lies in the path of the slide member 47 of a coin control 48. Since the specific construction of this coin control forms no part of the present invention and since it is not desired that this` present invention be restricted to the use of any particular specific construction it is not deemed necessary here to illustrate or describe such specific construction. It may be said, however, that the spring 49 normally holds the slide in forward position and that only on the deposit of a coin can the slide be pushed back to engage the finger 46 and actuate the lever 44. Under these circumstances it will be seen that, if the ball be in one of the crap ball receiving openings, it can only be released upon deposition of a coin and pushing the slide 47 in. When the slide has been thus pushed in the coin will drop through the coin chute 50 and into any convenient receptacle (not shown).

Beneath the ball receiving openings 18 is a receiving tray 51 into'which the ball drops when released from the ball receiving opening in which it has come to rest. This tray inclines downward from rear to front and has side walls 52 which converge forwardly and are curved to form a deliveryrack which opens into the firing chute 25 through a port 53.

A spring 54 has one end connected to the front wall ofthe casing 10 and thel other to the nnge;

46 so that the latter is held forwardly until pushed back by the slide 47. A stop 55 is provided to limit this forward movement of the lever 44.

Mounted on a post 56 is a bearing sleeve 57. wherethrough extends a rock shaft 58. An arm 59 is carried by one end of the shaft and lies in the path of the slide 47, being inclined forwardly so as to be engaged by said slide prior to its eni gagement with the finger 46. This arm ,59 is yieldably held in forwardly inclined position by the spring 60. In order to limit the forward movement of the arm 59 a collar 61 is held on -the shaft by along`setscrew 62 in the path of which is xed a stop 63. On this shaft 58, which extends across the lower part of thetray is mounted a gate 64 which, when the slide 47 is pushed in. swings down to prevent the e of the ball to the nring chute but normally does notinterferewithsuch u On each radial line extending from the center of the bowl through the respective ball reiving opening is the representation 65 of the plan viewofapairofdiceasshowninFigurei). Thus associated with each ball receiving opening is a number represented by the die, these numbers running from two to twelve inclusive. Because ofthe necessity of using a small scale in Figure l the dice faces are not there shown but are replaced by Arabic numerals as at 66 corresponding to the numerical values of such dice. The design of the complete arrangement of the dice may be seen in my DesignPatent No. 87,930. It will be observed that the numeral 7 is associated in each instance with one of the ball receiving openings controlled by the ring 41, all of these crap ball receiving openings being numbered "7. f f

The board is used in the following manner. One of the players shoots the ball. If it falls into a pocket having the numerical value "7 or 11 he at once wins. If it falls into a ball receiving opening having any other numerical value he notes the numberwhich becomes his "point". He then releases the ball and plays again, continuing to release and replay theball until it drops into a ball receiving opening having his point value or into a f7 or crap ball receiving opening. If he makes the point he wins, releases the ball and starts over, continuing tov play each turn out until the ball drops into a crap ball receiving opening while he is trying to make a point whereupon he loses and the next player takes his turn. 0f course, each time a 7 is made a coin must be deposited to permit the release of the ball.

It should be noted that the gate 64 serves to prevent the slide being held in, the 7 ball receiving openings open and the game played because the gate holds the ball from passing to the system for the ball receiving openings as will also the ring 41 and its pins 42.

'I'here has thus been provided a simple and 145 efllcient device of the kind described and for the purpose specified. I l

It is obvious that minor changes may be made in the form and construction of the invention Without departing from the material spirit thereof. It is not, therefore, desired to confine the invention to the exact form herein shown and described, but itis desired to include all such as properly come within the scope claimed.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

l. A game board having a circular valley therein and provided with a circular series of spaced ball receiving openingsv at the bottom of, the valley, said ball receiving openings being arranged in a plurality of sets, independent gate means for each of said sets to prevent the pocketed balls from passing through said openings, and ball projection means arranged to project a ball around the upper outer part of the valley whereby it may travel around the valley and iinally drop into a ball receiving opening. i

2. A game board having a circular valley therein and provided with a circular series'of spaced ball receiving openings at the bottom of the valley, said ball receiving openings being arranged in a plurality of sets, independent gate means for each of said sets to prevent the pocketed balls from passing through said openings, ball projection means arranged to project a ball around the upper'outer part of the valley whereby it may travel around the valley and finally drop into a ball receiving opening, and independent operating means for each gate means, one of said operating means being coin controlled.

3. A game board having a circular valley therein and provided with a circular series of spaced ball receiving openings at the bottom` of the'v valley, said ball receiving openings being arranged'in a plurality of sets, independent gate means foreach of said sets to form pockets and to prevent' the pocketed balls from passing through said openings, ball projection means arranged to project a ball around the upper outer part of the valley whereby it may travel around the valley and nally drop into a ball receiving opening, means beneath the pockets to receive the ball from the pocket in which it has.

dropped, delivery means for delivering the ball from the last mentioned means to the projection means, independent operating means for each gate means, one of said operating means being coin controlled, and further gate means associated with the delivery means to restrain and permit movement of a ball therethrough, said last gate means being operably associated with the coin controlled operating means to open fully only when Athe latter is in normal position.

4. A game board having a circular valley therein and provided with a circular series of spaced ball receiving openings at the bottom of said valley, projection means for projecting a ball around the outer upper part of the valley whereby the ball may travel around the valley and finally drop into a ball receiving opening, rotary means below the level of and concentric to the series of ball receiving openings, pins projecting from said rotary means and normally located transverse certain of the ball receiving openings, a second rotary means similarly lov pins carried thereby out of registry with their associated ball receiving openings.

5. A game board having a circular valley therein and provided with a circular series of spaced ball receiving openings at the bottom of said valley, projection means. for projecting a ball around the outer upper part of the valley whereby the ball may travel around the valley and finally drop into a'ball receiving opening, rotary means below the level of and concentric to the series of ball receiving openings, pins projecting from said rotary means and normally located transverse certain of thel ball receiving openings, a second rotary means similarly. lcated, pins on the second rotary means projecting' therefrom and normally located transverse the remainder of the ball receiving openings,

said pins serving to prevent the pocketed balls from passing through said openings, independent operating means for each of said rotary means to shift the same and move the pins carried thereby out of registry with their associated ball receiving openings, and one of said operating means being coin controlled.

6. A game board having a circular valley therein and provided with a circular series of spaced ball receiving openings at the bottom of said valley, projection means for projecting a ball around the outer upper part of the valley Whereby the ball may travel around the valley and finally drop into a ball receiving opening, rotary means below the level of and concentric to the series of ball receiving openings, pins projecting from said rotary means and normally located transverse certain of the ball receiving openings to form pockets, a second rotary means similarly located, pins on the second rotary means projecting therefrom and normally located transverse the remainder of the ball receiving openings, ,said pins serving to prevent the pocketed balls from passing through said openings, independent operating meansfor each of said rotary means to shift the same and move the pins carried thereby out of registry with their associated ball receiving openings, one of said operating means being coin controlled, means beneath the pockets to receive the ball from the pockets in which it has dropped, delivery means for delivering the ball from the last mentioned means and the projection means,

and further gate means associated with the delivery means to restrain and permit movement of a ball therethrough, said last gate means being operably associated with the coin controlled operating means to open fully only when the latter is innormal position.

'LA game board having an inclined surface provided with a series of spaced ball receiving openings, means to project a ball onto the upper part of said surface, gate means associated with certain of said ball receiving openings to hold a ball releasably therein, other similar gate means associated with the remainder of said ball receiving openings, and independent operating means for each of said gate means.

8. A game board having an inclined surface provided with a series of spaced ball receiving openings, means to project a ball onto the upper part of said surface, gate means associated with certain of said ball receiving openings to hold a ball releasably' therein, other similar gate means associated with the remainder of said ball receiving openings, independent operating means for each of said gate means, and one of said operating means being coin controlled.

9. A game board having an inclined surface provided with a series of spaced ball receiving ceive theball from the pocket'in which it has dropped, delivery means for delivering the' bali from the last'mentioned means to the projection means, and further gate means associated with the delivery means to restrain and permit movement of a bali therethrough, said last gate means being operably associated with the coin controlled operating means to open fully only when thedlatter is in normal position.

JACOB E. MARKLE.

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