US2522275A - Game board - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 12, 1950 s. H. KEI-:GAN E-rAl.

GAME BOARD 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 3, 1948 GAME BOARD 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 3. 1948 I @ya @www W f w @EM .2 www m A WW@ w, -M J T M d ,y

Patented Sept. 12, 1950 GAME BOARD Simon H. KeeganQBrookIyn, GeorgeWroldsen, Douglastori, `and JosephgM. Rhatigan, Brooklyn,

Application-August s, 194s, serial No. 42,214 A .nl Y l l i This invention is a game board so constructed that it may be used for playing several kinds of games or simulated gaines. More specifically, the game board of this invention may 'beV used forl playing simulated base ball, bowling, "shuilie board and horse collar 'A The game board of the present invention is provided with an oval shaped rim around its outer edge for guiding suitable surface projectiles used in playing the various games involved.

e fi'olaim. (o1. 273-39) kA player shoots or propels the projectile along the right-hand side of the board where it, `contacts the curved bordering rim, vcausing the pro jectile to reverse its direction of .travel and go into scoring pockets or to stop on designated areas or to knock down miniature tenpi'nsv or l to bounce oii" a miniature baseball bat, into appropriate scoring pockets, in accordance withv the particular game being played at the time.

The principal feature ofthe invention is that the element of skill is involved, means being provided whereby the player may control the path of the projectile. Such control ofy the projectile path is provided by a variably positionable' fence, which may be set at various angles in the path of the projectile so as to deilect the lprojectile in the desired direction, in `accordance with the wishes and skill of the player.

This fence is so placed that it is in` effect a continuation of the bordering rim, so'that the projectile, when it rounds-the 'U-bend, engages such fence, and is deflected thereby in the desired direction, in accordancewith its angular setting. y

More particularly, this guiding fence `is controlled by a two-armed lever with'itsarms Aextending approximately at right angles to veach other, one arm engaging the fence forv moving it and holding it in its desired angular setting, While the other arm is connected to a exible cable or rod controlled by the hand of the player, whereby the player, by manipulation of the cable or rod, may vary the angular setting of the fence and thereby the path of the projectile, with each shot.

The invention will be further described in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a game board of the present invention;

l Fig.' 5 is a view on a small scale showing a board used'for'bowling; f Fig. 6 is a similar View for playing shuffle board. A

lReferring vnow tothe drawings, the board corri--l prises a basel 2, above which is positioned, in spaced relation, the board 4, forming lthe playing surface. Base 2 could, if desired, be omitted, and the board 4 used as a base board for the apparatus. The front or players end' of the game board is wider than the other end. The twolboards 2 and# are secured to and heldin spaced apart relation by theVU-sh'apedrller .Strip 6F I 4The gainev board is provided with a vertically positioned, rip-standing rim or border 8, for con# iining the projectile to thev playing surface." l

The lowerright-hand corner is'provided with any suitable `known type of 'projector orA shooter 9 for shooting a ball, disk or other ltype of pro-y jectile according to the type of "game played.' The projectile could alsobe projectedmanually, if desired. r e

`Corning now to the most important featureV of snowing a board ijn use the invention, the board 4 is provided with a re-V silient fence or deflector I2, which is in the form" of a vertically positioned strip, the right hand end of which is insetwith respect to 'the rim' 8 forming in eect a continuation of theV inner surface of said rim 8. This flexible fence I2 is resiliently mounted, as by rivets I4 or the like,

Fig. 2v is an enlarged section on Ithe line 2-r-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view of the bat used; l Fig. 4 is a sectional View in enlarged perspective of one end of a game boardfof the present invention; f :.1 f t" f 1d..

to the inner surface of rim 8 vso vas to be movable outwardly of such rim, against the resiliency of the fence. f

In order to control the movements of the fence I2 and forsetting it in the desired angular position for deflecting the projectile in thef desired direction, there is provided a two-armed lever, indicated generally at I5. This lever comprises an arm lpositioned behind or to the left of the fence I2, having an upstanding part I8 engaging against the back of the-fence I2. Integral with arm I6 is a verticaloi'f-set 2U which is pivoted in the two armed bracket 22 positioned in a suitable cut-out in the iillerstripv 6.

@Integral with'the off-set 20 is' the other arm 24of-'the lever`,`extending at approximately-right angles to the arm I 6, but located'in a lower plane, being located inthe space between thel boards 2 and 4, as shown in Fig. 2. A cord,cableor wire `26l is connected to the outerend'of arm 24 and passes around a pulley 28 'andf'thence below board 4, to the front thereof, and through a hole 30km the front board 32,wher'e its outer player.n Itis evidentfthat a. pull von .the1cab1e 26 will move deflecting fence I2 in a counterclockwise direction for deecting the projectile more and more to the right in accordance with the angular position assumed by fence I2. When the cord is released, the resilience of the fence I2 causes il; to resume its normal position. In use, the .player would null the cable 26 .a ,small amount and hold it 'with his thumb against Ythe rim of hole 30, for fixing the angular position of the fence I2, and then would shoot the projectile manually or mechanically from 9 with his right hand. Instead of using a cable 26 and' pulley 28, a light rod could zbe'used, as iseevident.

' S. The batter is safe at rst, the runner on third The parts so far described are used in :playing the several games capable of being played with this board.

Base ball Base ball is played as follows: One or more players may participate'. The ball is delivered either by rolling manually or with the aid of a ,projector along the right side oi vthe board around the rim to the flexible fence 'I2 which is bent by pulling on the cable '25 to give ythe necessary guidance so that the ball will .cross the home plate H. The bat is swung at the ball, causing it either .to enter one of pockets A to N, Ito remain .on the board, or to be driven into lair ground and thence back. into end pockets Q to X. The board is normally level and the b all .bounces oli various surfaces until it cornes to ,rest Three outs on the part .of one team terminates 'its turn at bat. When each team has had three .outs an inning has passed. Nine innings constitute a game. Extra innings may be played inthe event of a tie. Typical plays have Ybeen set up for each pocket into which the .b all may be driven. The progress of the gaine 'is determined by these plays which are described below.V

For the game of base ball, a simulated 4diamond 36 is laid out. A miniature bat 38, provided with a vertical pivot ,All is ,positioned in a suitable socket .at either side ofthe plate. 'Pivot 210 may be circular, moving in a circular hole so that it .swings iree. The opposing player swings the bat as -des'ired as the ball .comes toward the bat from the fence l2, for driving the ball into one of a series offpockets located near .the smaller end of .the'board andnumbered from A to N inclusive.

If .the'ball drops into .one of these pockets, the

io'llowing plays are indicated:

A. A home run.

B. .1A three -base hit, scoring .all runners.

C. A two ibase hit, scoring runners kfrom second and third bases and advancing the runner from liirst Ato third zbase.

D. Asingleellrunners advance one base.

E. A sacriiice ily, runner von third base scores, runner on secondlgoesfto third, Aand runner .on lrst holds .his base.

E. ,'Asingle, :same as VD. l

G. A vthree `base hit, -same as B.

H. A two base hit,'.a1l basemen score.

I. A single, batter singles, baseman on third scores -and .baseman and secondout at home. Baseman on first Aout vat third.

J. :Batter safe at vrst, .runner out at Vhome plate,

land others advance one base.

K. A single, ,man on third scores, .man on second is outat home and man on'iirstrgoes to second.

L. A two base hit, same Vas C.

M. .A two Ibase hit, all runnersscore.

N. outfield fly, same as E.

flffhowever, the ball comes ftorest on the .sur-

Iii

base scores, the runner on second is out at third, and 4the runner on first goes to second.

T. A home U. A home run.

Y. ,Asingle :all runners advance one base.

W. A bunt, the batter is safe at first, the runner on third is out at home, the runner on second goes to third, and the runner on iirst goes to second.

X. Batter Iiiies out to catcher, all runners hold vbases.

1f .the ball goes 0.ver the plate and the batter does not swing, andthe ball enters an end pocket, it is a strike. If he swings and misses, and the ball enters an end pocket, it is a strike. If the ball 'is not over the plate and the batter does not swing, and the ball enters an end pocket, it is a ball. No play can take place in end pockets Q Ato Xf'unless a ball has iirst been hit into fair territory and has thereafter reached one of these pockets. lThe batter may swing rfrom right or left, as desired.

'The bat 38 is pivoted to swing `freely on a pivot il@ and is started spinning by the opposing player at the same time the other player shoots 4the ball or projectile at 9.

The game is scored in accordance with standard baseball playing rules, in accordance with the plays made and resulting scores, as deter-'- mined Aby the nal point reached by the ball on the 'several plays.

Bowling When aboard ,as shown in Figure 5 is used for bowling, miniature ten pins 52 v,are set up as shown in Fig. 5, anda ball or marble is shot or manually delivered, as before, and guided by the appropriate angular setting of the fence I2, as already described. Usually 2 or 3 balls will be delivered in reach Aframe for ten frames.

,Each player V,delivers one or two balls along the right. side of the board to the ilexible fence ,I2 which is :bent by a pull on cable 26 to deilect the ball toward the ten pins. The player uses 4but one `bal-l if he can bowl over all pins with that one. If not, he `tries to with a second ball` Delivery Aof one or two balls constitutes a Iframe. Each @player bowls ten frames. The scoring is done lust -as in the regular game of bowling, with strikea lspa-resi and total pins for three balls.

Shame board Where the board is used for playing shullle board, asfshown .in-Fig. 6 an area ll/2l .is marked off in `Zones corresponding -to the usual shuille board markings, a projectile 56 in this case being a slide ing friction disk 'which is delivered manually and is guided by fence I2 in accordance with the skill of the player, ,starring on appropriate scoring zones, as in shuille board. Pockets Q, R., .#S, T are provided, as in Fig. 1

The lgame Vmaybe Iplayed by two or four players. One @side shoots red discs, the other green. The object of the game is to knock off theaopponeuts discs and to remain on the .playing board. A red n disc is delivered manually along the right side flected to remain on the .playing surface 54p Green shoots next and tries to knock the red disc off or to slide up in front of the red. Again red shoots, trying either to knock off green, slide in front of green, or advance any red disc on the board to a better scoring position. When all eight discs have been delivered, the color (red or green) nearest end pockets Q, R, Si, T wins.

Scoring takes place as follows: Assume that green is nearest the end pockets Q, R, S, T. Then all green discs remaining ahead of reds count as follows: If any disc should hang over the end of the board, such disc counts 4 points. Any disc resting in area X counts 3 poinm. Any disc resting in area Y counts 2 points. Any disc resting in area Z counts 1 point. Assuming that a green disc is nearest end ypockets Q-T, and that the next disc to it is red, then no additional green disc may count, regardless of how many may remain on the board. The player having the color that wins a particular round leads off ilrst in the next round. In this case green, having won, goes rst. The first team (red or green) reaching a total of twenty-one points wins'the match. Any disc dropping into the end pockets Q-T is dead.

Horse collar Horse collar is a modification of shuiiie board. It is played with eight discs as in shuilie board. If each team consists of but one man, he will shoot 8 discs. man will shoot 4 discs. If each team consists of 3 men, the rst man shoots 2 discs and the next two men shoot 3 discs apiece. If each team consists of 4 men, each man shoots 2 discs apiece. The players use the adjustable fence l2 for guiding the discs, as before. The object of this game is to keep as many discs on the playing surface 54, Fig. 6, as is possible and to cause at least one discs to come to rest in area marked X. If the player or team has failed to get at least one disc in area marked X, or to hang over the end of the board above pockets Q-T, then the score of that team for that particular inning is 0, which suggests horse collar, the name of the game.

Assume, however, that one or more discs come to rest in scoring area X, then the score for that particular inning is computed as follows: All discs protruding over the end of the board, i. e., above pockets QT, count eight points each. All discs resting completely in area X count 3 .points each.

,All discs resting completely in area Y countv 2 points each. All discs resting in area Z count 1 point each. If a disc should rest on a line within the scoring area, the disc takes the value ofthe lower scoring area. Discs in pockets Q-T have If each team consists of two men, each o scoring value. Total` points scored in six rames or innings wins the game.

The invention is not limited to any particular method of play or scoring for any of the games described. These factors may be varied as desired.

While the invention has been described in some detail, it should be understood that the invention is not limited to the precise details shown, but may be carried out in other ways.

We claim:

A game board comprising a board providing a playing area for a surface projectile, an approximately U-shaped rim in the form of a vertical strip at the extreme outer edge of the board for confining the, projectile thereto, said rim extending uninterruptedly around three sides of said board, a vertically positioned strip of resilient material having one Vertical surface secured at one end thereof to the inner surface of said rim and inset into the rim so as to be ush with the inner surface thereof, said end being positioned adjacent the U-bend of said rim, the other end being free and normally resting against the inner surface of the rim, said rim being recessed behind said resilient strip, a two-arm lever, the arms of which are horizontal and -connected by a vertical offset, said lever having one arm positioned in said recess and engaging the free end of said strip of resilient material, and having the other arm beneath the game board, and means including a flexible cord connected to said other arm of said lever for actuating the lever to bend said strip outwardly into the path of said projectile, the strip snapping back to its original position when said cord is released.y

` SIMON H. KEEGAN.

GEORGE WROLDSEN. JOSEPH M. RHATIGAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

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