US2160451A - Game apparatus - Google Patents

Description

l. H. ATHEY GAME APPARATUS May 3o, 1939.

Filed Aug. 20, 1938 5 sheets-sheet 1 ndex/Zn? May 3o, 1939. l, H; ATHEY 2,160,451

GAME APPARATUS Filed Aug. 20, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 i' l @o May 30, 1939. I l, H, ATHEY 2,160,451

GAME APPARATUS Filed Aug. 20, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented May 30, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

My invention relates to game apparatus and more particularly to game apparatus which may be equally well utilized indoors or outdoors and which has a wide appeal because the game to be 5 played therewith is one of skill.

Bowling is a game of wide appeal that is of limited availability because of the initial cost of equipment and because of space requirements. .It is not a parlor game, although attempts have been made to make it such by provision of miniature sets of balls and pins. Miniature sets, however, have certain disadvantages that detract considerably from the enjoyment to be derived from their use. It is a primary purpose of my invention to provide a game apparatus which, While it is somewhat similar to bowling, has been modiiied somewhat to render it readily installable in homes and amusement places in general without, however, detracting either from the skill necessary to play the game or from the enjoyment of the players.

It is an object of my invention to provide a y game apparatus comprising a set of bowling pins and a suspended ball which may be thrown at the pins by the player. The pins are set up relatively near each other and in a predetermined form, preferably a triangle Yhaving its apex toward the bowler. There are four pins ordinarily in the rear or fourth row, three in the third row, two in 'the following, and one in the row nearest the player. The suspended ball is adapted to be thrown against the pins and, in order to knock down most pins, it is necessary. just as in bowling, that the ball hit the pocket between the head pin and either of the two pins in the adjoining row.

An object of my invention is so to arrange the ball suspension with respect to the pins that the ball will not bounce over the remaining pins after 40.. it strikes one as it is thrown towards the balls from a position in front thereof.

A more specific object of my invention is so to arrange the ball suspension with respect to the pins that all the pins are adapted to be struck at points somewhat below the maximum diameter portion of either the heads or the main body portions of the pins, thereby to prevent the ball from bouncing upward as it glances off of a pin.

A further object of my invention is to provide v the game apparatus with a combined baffle and ball retainer so arranged with respect to the ball suspension as to prevent the ball from endangering anyone near the game apparatus and at the same time prevent the ball from knocking down 55,'pins on a rebound.

A further and more speciiic object of my invention is to obtain the desired relationship between the pins and the ball by mounting the pins upon a generally triangular plate at different elevations so that they occupy positions on a line 5I. that is arcuate in the direction of travel of the ball.

Another more specific object of my invention is slidably to suspend the ball from a generally downwardly and rearwardly extending support so 10 that the ball is adapted to move not only fo-rwardly but also downwardly as it strikes the baffle, whereby the ball is caught in a ball retainer located below the baffle when it moves downwardly under the force of gravity. 15 'i Other objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent from the ensuing description, in the course of which reference is had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the game ap- 20.* paratus of my invention illustrating the manner in which the ball is held by the player preparatory to its being thrown toward the pins;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a modified form of the game apparatus illustrating in particular 25T@ the fact that the apparatus may be made in various sizes and for installation in various locales;

Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal sectional View taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken along 30y the line 4-4 of Fig. 1, with the pins removed better to illustrate the top of the novel pin supporting plate of my apparatus; and

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 3 of a further modication of my invention in which the ball is 35iadapted to strike the pins below the maximum diameter portions of the bodies of the pins rather than the heads as in the previously illustrated modications.

Referring now to the drawings, it may be noted 40' that the apparatus comprises a horizontally disposed open-top tray indicated by the reference numeral I, an upwardly extending open-front cabinet structure l 2 located at the rear end of the tray, a rigid supporting post i4 extending up- 45k ward and slightly forward from the cabinet structure, and a ball I5 ilexibly suspended from the post in a manner to be described fully hereinafter.

In the modiiication illustrated in Figs. 1, 3 and 50' 4, the tray I0 is supported at its front end upon a single hinged leg I6 located substantially centrally of the table and at its rear end upon a pair of hinged legs I8 hinged to the under side of the tray. The tray support is made relatively rigid by suitable braces indicated by reference characters 20 and 22 and further rigidity is obtained by means of cross pieces 24 and 26 bearing against the bottom of the tray and attached to the legs for movement therewith, as best illustrated in Fig. 1.

The tray comprises a base 26 and side walls 36 which may be suitably finished in order to give the structure a pleasant appearance and which are of a height to prevent the pins 3I supported therein from falling to the floor as they are knocked down.

The cabinet is constructed of a pair of identical side panels 32, a rear panel 34, and a relatively narrow apertured top 36 through which the ball supporting post I4 enters. The post which, is preferably made of a square piece of substantially rigid material, such as wood, is securely held in place by the apertured top 36 and a suitable receptacle 38 fastened to the tray base 28.

A combined baille and ball retainer that forms an important feature of my invention and the functioning of which will be described in greater detail hereinafter, is supported from the side panels and top of the cabinet, The combined baille and ball retainer comprises a relatively heavy, but flexible, fabric curtain-like piece 40 secured at its upper end to the top 36 by a fastening strip 42. At its opposite end the baffle is secured to a cross bar 44 extending between and attached to the side panels 32 by looping it around the bar, as clearly indicated in Fig. 3. The length of the baflle is greater than the straight line distance between the upper front edge of the cabinet and the cross bar so as to define a pocket located below the baffle and the normal position of the ball for receiving the ball, the pocket being indicated by reference numeral 46.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings, the baille has been illustrated as being made of single ply material somewhat similar to material used in making awnings. This construction may be modified as the only prerequisite of the material is that it be flexible in order that the ball will not bounce back toward the thrower upon striking the baille. It follows therefore that the baille may be made of multi-ply material and the material need not be a textile fabric.

Another salient feature of my invention is so to support the ball I5 that is held in the ball retaining pocket 46 after each throw. The arrangement for accomplishing this comprises mounting the ball at the end of a flexible support 52, preferably a light weight metal chain, which is, in turn, slidably mounted upon a support 54 extending forwardly and upwardly from the upper end of post I4. The support is a rodlike member made of a relatively heavy piece of metallic tubing such as, for instance, 1%, inch pipe upon whichV the flexible chain is slidably mounted by a ring 56 having an internal diameter slightly greater than the external diameter of the pipe. To prevent the ball from sliding off the forward end, the support terminates in a knob 58 and to enable the ball readily to be brought back to its initial position, wherein it is indicated in solid lines in Fig. 1, a spherical ball 60 isinterposed between the post and support. This ball provides a relatively wide surface against which the ring rests at one extreme of its movement and from whence the chain can be returned to the front end of the support with ease. The sliding support 54 is so configured that -erence numeral 62.

the ring 56 starts to slide toward the post when the ball reaches a position immediately in front of or just as it strikes the baffle. Consequently, when the ball strikes the baille, its forward movement is terminated and it is actuated downwardly by the force of gravity. Since support 54 slopes downwardly toward the upper end of the post, the ball and chain are both free to move downwardly. In order to prevent the ball from moving downwardly as soon as it is thrown, the forward end of the support 54 is made with a substantially horizontal portion indicated by ref- 'I'he intermediate portion of the support, indicated by reference numeral 64, slopes downwardly at an angle of about 15 degrees whereas the rear portion, indicated by reference numeral 66, slopes downwardly at an angle of about 30 degrees. Thus, as the ball starts to move downwardly after striking the bafile, the portions 64 and 66 permit the ball to fall into the pocket 46 at an increasing rate.

The support 54 extends forward from the post I4 at a distance such that when the ball is freely suspended it lies substantially centrally of the pins in a transverse direction and intermediate the second and third rows, counting the rows from the front. This position of the ball is indicated in Figs, 2 and 3.

Another essential feature of my invention resides in so arranging the pins 3| that the ball is adapted to strike each pin slightly below the maximum diameter portion of the head, as illustrated particularly in Fig. 1 or below the maximum diameter portion of the body of the pin as will be described more fully hereinafter in connection with the modification of Fig. 5, thereby to prevent the ball from bouncing over some pins after striking one. This feature is provided by a pin plate I0 preferably, but not necessarily, made of a number of similar sections of wood superposed upon one another with portions thereof in vertical alignment in such manner as to provide shoulders at different elevations upon which the pins may be mounted. 'Ihe similar sections are preferably triangular in form and have their apex defining portions in vertical alignment. More specifically, the pin plate comprises a generally triangular bottom portion 12,

a somewhat shorter triangular portion 'I4 superposed thereon, a similar and smaller portion 'I6 superposed on portion 14, and a further similar and smaller portion 'I8 superposed on portion 16. The pin plate is completed by a positioning portion 80 placed at the forward end of portion I8, The ready positioning of the'pins is provided by semi-circular cut-out portions 82 at the rear end of portions 14 to 80, inclusive, as is clearly apparent from Fig. 4.

From the preceding detailed description it is apparent the pin plate provides a set-up of the pins that is arcuate in the direction of travel of the ball and that the ball will strike all the pins in a limited portion of their length, i. e., where the pin recedes downwardly and centrally. The various positions of the ball as it strikes the pins is thus illustrated in Fig. 3, where the ball has been indicated in phantom at various positions.

The game apparatus described above may be supported not only upon an associated support, but also upon a table as illustrated in Fig. 2. In this modification the legs have been omitted and the tray II] has been illustrated as supported upon a table 84. In this modification only six pins have been illustrated, thus illustrating the fact thatfmyrinvention -is vsusceptible 'of modification."y In i both i modifications the supporting post' befused-*for the support54. If the support 54 is portals likely to-cause `the ball- I51to spring-upwardlywhe'n itjisy released. This would be a decided;V disadvantage-as it would cause the balll to strikefthepinsfan upward glancing blow; This in A-turnwouldcause the ball to bounce over some of thefpins. Some caution should 'beiexercisedin determination of thefsize lof the ball. The ball shouldnot be too large as the Ygame would be made too easy. I have found that a ball of the w arrangementis thatitpermits the use of a heavl,

ier ball'andmakes the game even more similar'to regulation bowling.

Similar `reference characters have been utilized to indicate'parts that are practically the same as those, in the modification illustrad in Figs. 1v, 3 and4l Referring now more particularly to Fig. 5, it may be seen that the supporting tray 28 has been lengthened somewhat and that it has been provided with side walls 84 (only one of which is shown) extending upwardly and rearwardly from the front wall 85 of the cabinet to the top panel 36. The purpose of this side wall, which may be' incorporated in the previously described modifications, is to prevent the ball from swinging sidewards after it strikes the pins. It also performs the additional function of preventing the pins lfrom falling olf the horizontal support.

Another advantage of the modification now being described,'is that the ball retaining pocket may be made much smaller or eliminated entirely if desired. However, it is preferable to provide the device with a small ball retaining pocket. The baille 86 is made of the same material as the baille 4I! of the previously described modifications and is secured at its upper end to the top by a fastening strip 42. At its lower vend the baille is secured to a crossbar 88 extending between and attached to the side panels 84 by looping it around the bar as clearly indicated in the ligure. The length of the baille is slightly greater than the straight line distance between the upper front edge of the cabinet and the crossbar so as to define a pocket located below the baille and the normal position of the ball for receiving the latter, the pocket in this case being indicated by reference numeral 90. It may be seen from the gure that the crossbar 88 is located relatively near to the horizontal support 28 in order that the ball may first strike the baille 86 and thereafter drop into the pocket 90.

The pin plate indicated in this modification by reference numeral 92 is substantially the same in construction as the previously described pin plate 'I0 with exception of the fact that the front I4 hasibeenillustrated asslanting forward. -This y cc` nstructionl enables a shorter pieceof tubing-'to end has =be'enimade somewhat longer as indicated by reference numeral 94. The reason for this is to provide a construction Vwhereby the ball is adapted `to move past the front wall 85 without striking it. y

In utilizing 'the apparatus of my invention, the ballis iirst grasped and brought? into substantiallylthe position shown in solid 'linesfin Fig. l'. The player then throws it with some force toward the pins. Theidea is',just as in bowling, to strike thenpins inthe pockets formed by the headv pin and eithery of `the-two pinsfin` the second row. When the ballstrikes the rst pin, it is deflected somewhat and it strikesv the second row and. from there it goes pastthe succeeding rows. Byarranging the ball so that it is Ylocated substantiallyu in thepositiony shown in Fig; 3 when freely suspended andfbyarrangingthe pins upon a ypin plate such 'asthat described above, all of the pins are adapted to be struck slightly belowv the maximum diameter portion of thehead, and the ballis prevented frombouncing upwardlyywhen it strikes any particular pin. Consequently, the ball moves through jthe successive rows of pins j ust as woulda ball that is rolleddown an alley.

After the` ball Ahas passed the last rowof pins,

rcY

lt *movesjtoward' the baiiief and Awhen it reaches a position veryA near'the bailleA or strikes the Vbafe' ile, the sliding connection of the chain permitsthe ballto Vslide. away from theY front end of the support-54'. When the ball strikes `thebaille, itsV forward movement is terminated andthe sliding connection permits the ball to drop into the pocket 46 formed by'thebaiile'. kThe .combined baille' and ball retainer'thus prevent theball from rebounding toward the pins' after ithas' passed the last row.

The apparatus of the modication illustrated in Fig. 5 is adapted to be utilized in substantially the same way as that just described. The only difference between it and the other is that the ball is positioned below the maximum diameter portions of the bodies of the pins when freely suspended, so that when the ball is thrown at the pins, it strikes them slightly below the maximum diameter portion of the body. It may be seen therefore that the principles involved are identical in the two modifications of ball and pin arrangements.

It should be apparent that the baffle and the ball support may be made of materials other than those specifically described herein and that the kparticular forms and 'shapes thereof may be What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. Game apparatus including in combination a platform, a plurality of pins adapted to be set up on said platform, a. ball flexibly supported above the platform in such manner that it may be thrown at and is adapted to strike the pins set up on the platform, a baille located behind the platform and against which the ball is adapted to strike after passing beyond the pins thereon,

a ball retaining Vpocket interposed between thev baille and platform, and a ball support comprising a generally inclined track above the platform and pocket and having a sharp droprover the pocket whereby the ball drops into the pocket and is prevented by the forward edge of the pocket from rebounding against pins remaining on the platform.

2. Game apparatus including in combination a platform, a plurality of pins adapted to Vbe set up on said platform, said pins having portions receding downwardly and centrally thereof, a ball exibly supported above vthe platform in such manner that it may be thrown at and is adapted to strike the pins set up on the platform, said platform being constructed tojsupport the pins. at different elevations corresponding approximately to the line of travel taken by the ball as it is thrown at the pins, a baille located behind the platform and against which the ballis adapted to strike after passing beyond the pins thereon, a ball retaining pocket interposed between the baille and platform, a ball support comprising a generally inclined track above the platform and pocket and having a sharp drop over the pocket whereby the ball drops into the pocket and is `prevented by the forward edge of the'pocket from rebounding againstpins remaining on the platform, and a' flexible connection between .the track and ball of such length that the ball is adapted to strike eachv pin at said downwardly and centrally receding portion. 1

3. Game apparatus including in `combination Va platform, a plurality of-.pins adapted to beset up on said platform, said platform comprisingapluralityrof thicknesses of material of different areas and similar shape attached together with areas of different thicknesses to form a unitary structure, said structures being provided with cut-away portions along portions of their nonaligned edges to receive and position the pins, a ball flexibly supported above the platform in such manner that it may be thrown at and is adapted to strike the pins set up on the platform, a baffle located behind the platform and against which the ball is adapted to strike after passing beyond the pins thereon, a ball retaining pocket interposed between the baille and platform, and a ball support comprising a generally inclined track above the platform and pocket and having a sharp drop over the pocket whereby the ball drops into the pocket and is prevented by the forward edge of the pocket from rebounding against pins remaining on the platform'.

4. Game apparatus including in combination a platform, a plurality of pins adapted to 'be set up on said platform, a ball flexibly supported above the platform in such manner that it may be thrown at and is adapted to strike the pins set up on the platform, a baille located behind `the platform andagainst which the ball is adapted to strike after passing'beyond the pins thereon, a ball retaining pocket interposed between the baille and platform, said baille and pocket being formed by a single flexible transverse curtain, and a ball support comprising a generally inclined track above theplatform and pocket and having a sharp drop over the pocket whereby the ball drops into the pocket and is .prevented by the forward vedge of' vthe pocket from rebounding against pins remaining on the platform.

\ ISAAC H. ATHEY.

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