US2620191A - Pocketed ball game board - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 2, 1952 w. F. BARRY POCKETED BALI.. GAME BOARD 2 SHEETS--SHEET 1 Filed May 27, 1946 Dec. 2, 1952 w. F. BARRY POCKETED BALL GAME BOARD 2 SHEETS--SHEET 2 Filed May 27, 1946 Patented Dec. 2, 1952 UNITED STATES e 5 Claims.

p l v My invention relates to games and particularly to an amusement game adapted to be played on a table and which involves both chance and skill. Specifically, the invention pertains to a game which simulates a game of craps vbut which, while being governed by the rules of a game of craps, is played in a somewhat different manner.

One obj ect of my invention is to provide a gaine comprising a box having a playing surface provided with spaced pictorial representations of the several spotted faces of ordinary playing dice and a pair of rollable objects, preferably balls, which are adapted to be rolled upon the playing surface by a contestant and which are adapted to come to rest upon any of said representations to indicate craps the point to be made, snakeeyes and other conditions or circumstances which determine the Winner and loser of a game of craps.

Another object is to provide an amusement game of the character referred to having a playing surface formed with substantially conical depressions disposed adjacent the pictorial representations of the spotted dice faces and into which the balls are adapted to come to rest, the numerical point to be made, craps and other determining values being determined by the sum of spots appearing on the dice faces disposed adjacent the particular depressions in which the balls come to rest.

Another object is to provide a game of the type indicated in which each pictorial representation may comprise a different perspective View of a pair of dice and illustrate three of their spotted faces in different colors to further add to the utility of the game by enabling the contestants to select die faces of different colors upon which to base the game.

Another object is to provide a game of the type specified comprising a box having a bottom wall and upstanding side walls, the representations of the spotted die faces being inscribed on the upper playing surface of the bottom wall, and a transparent plate Within the box and overlying the bottom wall, said plate being provided with depressions disposed above the inscribed representations and into Which the balls are adapted to come to rest.

Another object is to provide a game of the character referred to in which the side walls are formed with guiding surfaces adapted to direct a ball back onto the playing surface when the ball-is propelled against said side Walls.

A further object is to provide `a game of the character referred to which is extremely simple (ci. 27a-12e) propelling androne 2 in construction einployingno mechanical ballwhich requires considerable skill on the part of the contestant in rolling the balls to positions which will effect scores or other results necessary to win the contest. Y

A further object is to provide a game in Which the depressions are of irregular contour, the depressions having eccentric portions `which function to prevent AVcircular motion of a ball propelled into a depression and to causethe ball to be deflected therefroml in different directions before coming to rest in one of the depressions, this peculiar formation of the depressions making it more difficult to ,control lthe travel V,of the balls upon the playing surface and yadding considerable interest to the game.

A stillfurther object,l is to provide a game of the character. indicatedwhich Vmay be readily understood by a novice without the use of complicated rulesand onewhich, in eifect,'reverses the method of shooting craps, that` is, instead of rolling dice and Acounting the spots on the upper faces of the dice, the present game depicts the faces of the dice upon a playing surface and balls are rolled upon the playing surface to come to rest upon the pictorial representations of the dice faces.

Further objects-of myl invention will appear from the followingY specification and the drawing, which is intended for the purpose of illustration only, and in which: v

Fig. l-is a plan'view of my gaine device;

Fig. 2- is an enlarged vertical section through a portion of the game device taken online 2 2 of Fig. 1; I

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan view of a game of modified construction; and v Fig. e is av cross-sectional View.,` taken on the line lll-fl of Fig. 3.

My gaine comprises av box '5 which may be of any desired shape in plan View, the'` present drawing illustrating the box as'of rectangular configuration. The box li` has a bottoniA member 6 and side members 'l projecting upwardly'from the bottom memberi The box-'t may also be provided with a Aremovable cover, such a cover not being herein shown'as it forms no part of the present invention and may be of any suitable WML Secured 4to the'rimof 'the bottom vmember E of the box 5 is a ramp member l B. Theframp member lo is `preferablygrooved on its under side to provide a'series of 'stepped faces 4l l, l2, andIS. The uppersurface fof the ramp .member It slopes upwardly toward the outer edge to provide a ramp face I5 and adjacent its outer edge the upper face is provided with a horizontal ledge or shelf I6. The ramp member I 0 may be molded from plastic material to provide a unitary structure or it may be made from wood mitered or otherwise joined at the corners. In either case, the rectangular ramp member I0 is placed over the base member 6 with the upper outer edges of the base member disposed against the grooved face III and secured in place by means of screws I1. A felt strip I may be provided on the under side of the base member 6 to prevent marring the top of a table upon which the game is to be played.

Held in pla-ce against th-e upper surface of the bottom member 6 is a sheet I9 of paper, cardboard or any other suitable material upon which is printed, lithographed or otherwise inscribed representations of the several faces of a pair of playing dice. As shown in Fig. 1, each representation 20 consists of a perspective view of the dice viewed from a different corner. That is to say, each representation 20 illustrates three of the several faces of the dice, these faces being provided with the usual spots 2I. Preferably although not essentially, the several faces of the rdice may be printed in suitable colors. For example, the left-hand face 22, as viewed in Fig. 1, may be printed red, the right-hand face 23 black and the upper face 24 yellow as indicated by the color shading appearing in the lower left-hand representation 20. The spots 2| may be represented by ellipses of any suitable color and preferably are of a color contrasting -t-o the color of the face upon which they appear. In other cases, 'the several faces 22, 23, and 24 may appear as white surfaces and the spots depicted by colored ellipses. The pictorial sheet I9 is glued or cemented to the upper surface of the bottom member 6 and a strip 26 disposed against the face I2 of the ramp member I0 overlies the edges of the sheet. The strip 26 extends inwardly beyond the outer edge of the face I3 of the ramp member I0 and cooperates with said face in providing a groove or recess 21 extending around the entire perimeter of the box 5.

The groove 21 is adapted to receive the edges of a rectangular sheet 29, the top 30 of which constitutes the playing surface of the game. The sheet 29 is preferably made from transparent plastic material and at points where the sheet overlies the pictorial representations 20, the material is depressed or indented slightly to provide substantially conical depressions 3| (Fig. 2). At the center of each depression 3| a hol-e 32 is provided, said holes serving as retainers in which balls 33 are adapted to com-e to rest after being rolled upon the playing surface 30 by a contestant in the manner and for a purpose to be hereinafter explained.

The side members 1 are of substantially the same width or thickness as the width of t-he ledge or shelf I6 of the ramp member I0 and are arranged wi-th their lower edges resting upon the ledge. The side members I may be held in place upon the ledge by any suitable means such as screws 35. The inner faces of the side members I are concaved to provide curved surfaces 36 4against which the balls 33 are adapted to be rolled and which act as backstops to return the balls in the general direction from whence they are initially rolled. The upper end of th-e side members 'I is provided with a conversely rounded Iportion or bead 31 which cooperates with the concave surface 36 to deflect the balls 33 back 4 onto the playing surface 30. The curved surface 36 forms, in effect, a continuation of the inclined ramp face I5 and at the point of joinder between these two surfaces the side members may `have an inwardly directed lip 38 which seats against the top of the ramp member I0.

The construction of the game having been described in detail, the manner of applying it to use is explained as follows: The game may be play-ed by two or more contestants and the rules of an ordinary game of craps are followed to determine the winning contestant or winning score. As explained before, the game is played in a manner reversed from that in which an ordinary game of craps is contested, that is, instead of rolling dice upon a plain surface, as in the usual g-ame of craps, the present game is played by rolling balls onto a surface depicting the spotted faces of a pair of dice and the position in which the balls come to rest is the determining factor in deciding the winner.

To commence play, a contestant first selects the faces of the dice represented by one of the three colors on the playing sheet I9 which he wishes to play. Assuming that he chooses to play the faces 24 which, as above explained, may be colored yellow, he next rolls a pair of balls 33 onto the playing surface 30. After rolling across the playing surface 30, the balls will roll upon the upper inclined surface I5 of the ramp member Il) and onto the concave surface 36 of a side member 1 which surface, together with the convex bead 31, acts to return the balls to the playing surface 3U in the manner indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2. When the balls return to the playing surface 30 they will roll thereon in any direction, riding through the depressions 3|. Eventually, each ball will stop rolling and will come to rest in one of the depressions 3| with a portion of its spherical surface engaged in the hole 32 at the center of the depression. It is to be noted that the ultimate position of the balls on the playing surface 30 depends largely upon the skill or dexterity of the contestant in rolling the balls and in this respect is similar to the game of craps wherein the skill of the player is of prime importance. Since it is well nigh impossible to positively control the positioning of the balls in the depressions it may be said that the result of each roll depends in part upon chance and thus the outcome of the contest is indeterminable.

Assume, for example, that the two balls 33 rolled by the contestant come to rest in the depressions 3| overlying the two yellow die faces 24 which have four spots and three spots, respectively, as indicated by the dotted circles in Fig. 1. Since the sum of four plus three equals seven, the position of the balls indicates that craps has been made and the contestant thus wins. The same result would be obtained by rolling the balls into place above a pair of the yellow faces whose numerical values total eleven. When the contestant rolls, for example, an eight this becomes his point to be made and if during successive tries he rolls an eight, he again wins but if he should roll a seven or an eleven he would lose.

Figs. 3 and 4 illustrate a game of slightly modified construction. This game comprises a box-like casing 40 which may be of any configuration in plan view and having a base portion 4I and sides 42 folded upwardly from the base portion. The sides 42 may slope inwardly as shown and preferably are bent downwardly to provide substantially vertical legs 43, the lower ends of which engage the base portion 4I to provide a rigid structure. Secured to the base portion 4I, as by gluing, is a template member 45 of a shape to adapt it to fit between the legs 437 The templatemeinber 4,5 -is provided with a plurality of curvilinear openings 46 which may be4 efv any desired irregular shape. I prefer to provide openings 46 .of substantially vovate shapejthe larger curved portions 41 and 43 of whichare of different radii. In other cases, the openings 45; may be of Substantially triangular outline having arcuate sides of equal `or unequal length and'curvature. i

Adapted to be glued upon the template member is a playing board 50 of boXflike formhav'ing curved sides 5| which project upwardly from the marginal portions of the board and which 'terminate below the top of the sides 42 of the casing 45. The playing board50 is provided with a plurality of holes 52 which register with the openings 45 of the template member 45 butfwhich are offset laterally from the theoretical center of the openings. To assemble the playing board kwithin the casing its bottom surface is rst coated with glue or other adhesive and the board is then lowered onto the template member 45 to cause the lower surface of the board to adhere to the top surface of the template member. A forming plunger (not shown) having a curved lower end is then placed with its axis in alignment with the axis of a hole 52 and forced downwardly to depress the material of the playing board 5U into the opening 46 and to cause the bottom surface of the depressed portion of the board adjacent the hole 52 to adhere to the upper surface of the base portion 4i of the casing 40.

The resulting depression 55 will have upper sloping surfaces which diverge from the hole 52, it being noted that the rim or boundary of the depression will follow the contour of the opening 45. Since the hole 52 is offset with respect to the theoretical center oi the opening 46, portions of the depression are arranged substantially eccentric with respect to the hole.

It will be apparent from the above, that when a ball is rolled into a depression, the inclined eccentric portions of the depression 55 Will act to restrain the ball from circular movement and deflect the ball outwardly away from the hole 52. Since all of the several depressions 55 are of similar contour, a ball ejected from a depression will be similarly acted upon as it rolls into other depressions. As the momentum of the ball diminishes, however, the ball will remain in a depression 55 and come to rest in the hole 52 of that particular depression. As indicated in Fig. 3, the upper surfaces of the depressions may be suitably marked to designate the scores which are obtained when balls come to rest in the respective holes 52, the score markings being of different colors which may be initially chosen by each contestant. The rules which apply to the game shown in Figs. 1 and 2 are applicable to the modified game device illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4.

To facilitate the rolling of the balls upon the playing board 50, an annular retaining member may be employed. The outer edge of the retaining member 60 is adapted to nt between the sides of the casing 40 and to rest upon the upper edges of the curved sides 5l of the playing board 5B. The member 60 is provided with depending flanges 6I adapted to be inserted and glued in place between the legs 43 and the sides 5I of the playing board 50 as shown in Fig. Ll. The member 50 thus constitutes a back-stop to retain the balls on the playing board. When the balls are propelled by a contestant onto the board 50 they ywill sometimes roll Aupwardly along the curved sides 5| of the board but will be prevented from rollingout of the game device by the overhanging portion of 'the member 6D.

. The parts of the .game device shown in Figs. 3

It will be` observed from the foregoing that my invention provides a game in which the skill or dexterity of la contestant is of prime importance andone invwhich luck or chance is also a determining factor in deciding the winner of the contest.` While the game is played in a manner similar to that in which a regular game of craps isA played and is governed by the usual crap game rules, it has been determined that it'is more dinicult to control the rolling of balls than the rolling cf dice. rIhus, the outcome or result of each roll is unpredictable and it may be said that the present simulated game of craps involves more luck or chance than the ordinary game of craps. My improved game aifolds more entertainment than the ordinary game of craps and it is `to be particularly noted that through the use of the colored die face representations the rules of the crap game may be varied as desired to make the game even more interesting and more difcult to play. For example, it is within the concept of this invention to use playing balls of various colors and in this case the colors of these balls, in addition to the colors of the pictorial representations of the die faces, would be factors in determining the values'obtained. As a further modification, the game may be of circular outline in plan view and the balls rolled tangentially to the curved side member in the manner in which the balls of a roulette wheel are propelled. The improved game is of simple, yet sturdy construction and may be fabricated from wood, plastic or metal parts. As an important feature, the present game employs no mechanical ball-propelling means and thus, the use of devices which are apt to become broken or inoperative is entirely avoided and the skill of the players in rolling the balls is not dependent upon mechanical devices.

While my improved game of skill and chance has been herein shown and described as embodied in two preferred forms of construction, by way of example, it is to be understood that various changes may be made in its construction and in the manner of applying it to use without departing from the spirit of the invention and I therefore reserve the right to all such changes as properly come within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In combination in a game board: a bottom wall having an upper surface inscribed with spaced representations of the different spotted faces of a pair of dice; a ramp member mounted on said bottom wall and providing a rim therefor, said ramp member having an upper inclined ramp surface; upstanding side walls attached to said ramp member and formed with inner curved surfaces forming continuations of said ramp surface; and a transparent plate overlying said bottom wall and having edges underlying said ramp member, said plate having an upper playing surface provided with spaced, shallow, conical depressions of gradual slope disposed adjacent each of said spaced dice face representations on said bottom wall, the bottom of the central portions of said depressions resting upon said bottom wall.

2`. In combination in a game board: a bottom wall having an upper surface inscribed with spaced representations of the different spotted facesl of a pair of dice; a ramp member mounted on said bottom Wall and providing a rim therefor, said ramp member having an upper inclined ramp surface; upstanding side walls attached to said ramp member and formed with inner curved surfaces forming continuations of said ramp surface and provided with inwardly directed beads at their upper ends; and a transparent plate overlying said bottom wall and having edges underlying said ramp member, said plate having an upper playing surface provided with spaced, shallow, concave, conical depressions disposed above said spaced dice face representations on said bottom wall and provided with an aperture in each depression, the sides of said depressions being of gradual slope.

3. In a game of skill and chance, the combination of: a box-like structure having a bottom board and upstanding side Walls, said bottom board having spaced score markings thereon; and a sheet of transparent material disposed Within said structure in spaced, parallel relation to said bottom board and providing a playing surface, said sheet having downwardly deformed portions providing shallow depressions of gradual slope in the upper face of said sheet, each of said deformed portions being disposed above one of said score markings, the central bottom surfaces of said deformed portions being horizontal and ilat and resting upon said bottom board, said deformed portions thereby providing a plurality of spaced areas, each of which is of appreciable extent and depressed and in each of which a game ball may roll.

4. In a game of skill and chance, the combination of a box-like structure having a bottom board and upstanding side walls, said bottom board having spaced score markings thereon; and a sheet of transparent material disposed Within said structure in spaced, parallel relation to said bottom board and providing a playing surface, said sheet having downwardly deformed portions providing shallow depressions of gradual slope in the upper face of said sheet, each of said deformed portions being disposed above one of said score markings, the central bottom surfaces of said deformed portions being horizontal and flat and resting upon said bottom board, said deformed portions thereby providing a plurality of spaced areas, each of which is of appreciable eX- tent and depressed and in each of which a game ball may roll, each of said deformed portions having a hole therein to hold said game ball against movement.

5. A combination as in claim 3 wherein said box-like structure is open at its top for the manipulation of the game ball by a player,

WILLIAM F. BARRY.

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

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 152,036 Eggleston June 16, 1874 635,251 Homman Oct. 17, 1899 1,850,045 Achor Mar. 15, 1932 1,925,924 Hummel Sept. 5, 1933 2,116,500 James May l0, 1938 2,292,016 Scovil Aug. 4, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 547,710 France Sept. 30, 1922

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