US240334A - Game apparatus - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

' W.D. PITTMAN.

Game Apparatus. No. 240,334. Patented April 19,1881.

-llllllillllllllll N. PETERS, PHOTO-LITHOGRAPMER. WASHINGTON, D. C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM D. PIT'IMAN, OF FAIRFIELD, TEXAS.

GAM Ev APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 240,334, dated April 19, 1881.

Application led February 28, 1881. (No model.)

To all 'whom 'it may concern.'

Beit known that I, WILLIAM I). PIT'IMAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Fairfield, in the county of Freestone and State of Texas, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Game Apparatus; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters or figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

The present invention relates to that class of game apparatus in which tilting levers or arms located at the endv of an alley or board and bearing numerals designating theirvalue in the game are designed to be struck by balls, so as to displace or change the position of said levers.

The invention consists in the construction and combination of the parts forming the apparatus, which will hereinafter be more fully described, and then set forth in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section of a game apparatus constructed according to my invention. Fig.2 is a front elevation thereof. Fig. 3is a rear view, showing more fully the device for setting the tilting levers.

The letter A designates a bowling floor or board, at the rear end of which is arranged an upright casing or box, B, which forms a chamber for the reception of the operating devices of the apparatus. The latter may be fastened to the floor of an ordinary bowling-alley, and in such cases must be of proper size and strength. The operating devices may also be arranged at the end of a smaller alley or board having an inclination toward the front, so as to return the balls to the players through the medium of ordinary side gutters or channels. The oor of the alley is provided with a series of parallel channels or grooves, D, of unequal length, the central channels being the longest, and the others gradually diminishing in length toward the sides of the alley. A series of vertical levers or arms, E, extend across the alley, and are pivoted at or about their centers between suitable guide strips or boards, F, fastened to the casing B. The lower ends of these levers or arms E terminate at a distance from the floor of the alley slightly less than the diamelThe tilting levers or arms E are arranged below a corresponding number of horizontal or longitudinal levers, G, which are also pivoted between the aforesaid guide-strips F at a point slightly in advance ot' their centers. The front ends of the levers G are hinged, by means of pivot or strap hin ges, to vertically-sliding arms H, which are widened at their upper ends, so as to form heads I. These heads bear numerals on their front sides, which designate the value of each lever in the game. The arms H slide in vertical Ways or guides J on the front walls of the apparatus, and are retained therein by a suitable cap plate or board. Thehorizontal levers G are hung and Weigh ted in such a manner that when the tilting levers or arms arranged beneath said horizontal levers are struck by a ball the heads I, bearin g the numerals, are raised above the front Wall of the apparatus, so as to display the numerals on said heads. I have in the present instance provided each horizontal lever G With a vertical rod, K, bearing a weight, L, at its upper end; but it will be apparent that the rear ends of said levers may have a block or other form of Weight directly applied thereto. The weightbearing rods K, when used, move in vertical guide-grooves made in a transverse strip on the top of the apparatus.

Any desired number of tilting levers and their adjuncts may be used; but generally there are only` eight or ten.

It will be obvious that the levers located in line with the central channels of the alley are of the highest value, because they are more difcnlt to strike than the others. I do not conne myself to such an arrangement of chang nels or numbering of the levers or the devices which they serve to operate, as above described, because the channels in the board may all be ofthe same length. When this is the case the levers adjoining the side walls of the apparatus are not so easily hit as the others, and hence their value in the game is greater than when the channels come to a point, as shown in the drawings.

The operating devices are reset for the next play by means of a bent transverse shaft, M,

IOO

which is jou'rnaled at the rear end of the casing B, and has a crank or arm, N, extending beyond the side of said casing. Acord orrope, P, connected with said crank-arm and running to the front of the alley, serves to rock the shaft M, so as to cause it to lift against the tilting levers and bring them into a vertical position. A suitable hook on the side of the casing R serves to lock the bent rock-shaft by entering an eye or loop therein. Any other fastening. device may, however, be resorted to for locking the rock-shaft and preventing the operating devices from being disturbed by unauthorized persons.I

Havingl thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a game apparatus, the combination of a series of vertical tilting arms or levers, a cor-v responding series of longitudinal levers hav- 3. In a game apparatus, the combination of 3o the transverse rock-shaft and operating-cord with the tilting levers and their adjuncts, as herein set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

WILLIAM D. PITTMAN.

Witnesses A. G. ANDERSON, L. W. TRAVERICK.

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