US2776140A

US2776140A - Pin and hoop game

Info

Publication number: US2776140A
Application number: US433529A
Authority: US
Inventors: Charles H Carlson
Original assignee: ROCKFORD INVENTORS Inc
Current assignee: ROCKFORD INVENTORS Inc
Priority date: 1954-06-01
Filing date: 1954-06-01
Publication date: 1957-01-01
Anticipated expiration: 1974-01-01

Description

Jan. l, 1957 c. H. CARLSON 2,776,140

PIN AND HOOP GAME Filed June l. 1954 I7 IO IN VEN TUR.

United PIN AND HGOP GAME Charles H. Carlson, Rockford, Ill., assignor to Rockford Inventors, Inc., Rockford, Ill., a corporation of illinois This invention comprises novel and useful improvements in games.

An important object of this invention is the provision of a game of skill simulating bowling and which may utilize the rules of scoring applicable to bowling, which game can be played indoors and outdoors without the necessity of providing a special alley or the like.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a game apparatus employing a plurality of pins arranged in a manner simulating the arrangement of ten pins bowling and a hoop for circling all or any number less than all of the pins, `dependent upon the skill of the player.

A further object of this invention is the provision of a game apparatus employing a game board having a plurality of pins arranged thereon to be encircled by a hoop, which apparatus is so arranged that the loop may be detachably mounted on the board to provide a carrying handle for the game apparatus.

Yet another object of this invention is the provision of a game apparatus employing a board and a plurality of pins adapted to be arranged on the board in a preselected pattern, with a hoop adapted to be thrown thereon to encircle the pins in accordance with the skill of the player, which pins are adapted to be detached from the position aforementioned during playing of the game and conveniently and compactly stored on the board to facilitate storage and transportation of the game apparatus.

Still another object of this invention is the provision of a game apparatus including a board which is disposed horizontally when playing the game and has a plurality of pins projecting upwardly therefrom adapted to be encircled by a hoop, which apparatus is so arranged that the pins and the hoops may be mounted on the board and the entire game apparatus compactly 'stored or transported in an upright position. i

These, together with various ancillary objects and advantages of this invention will be more readily appreciated as the same becomes better'understood by reference to the following detailed description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. l is a front elevational view of the game apparatus in an upright storage position showing the pins and the hoop mounted on the game board;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the game board showing the pins and hoops in a storage position thereon;

Fig. 3 is an end elevational View of the game apparatus with the hoops and pins arranged in their storage position, parts of the hoops being broken away to illustrate the mounting of the pins;

Fig. 4 is a side elevational view of `one of the pins; and

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the game apparatus in a horizontal playing position showing the pin arrangement on the board and the hoops disposed thereon encircling some of the pins.

The game of the present invention is designed to simulate bowling, but utilizes hoops instead of bowling balls so that the game may be played indoors or outdoors, Without the necessity of providing 4special alleys. The

Patent O game apparatus includes a board 10 having a plurality of holes 11, here shown ten in number arranged on the board in the form of a triangle, to simulate the arrangement of the ten pins on a bowling alley. The board 10 may be of any desired shape, and is here shown in the form of a trapezoid, the minor end 12 of which is located adjacent the apex of the triangular hole pattern in the board. A pair of

support rails

13 and 14 are secured to one side of the board and extend along the relatively diverging edges thereof, for supporting the board in spaced relation to the supporting surface such as the ground. The ends 15 of the

support rails

13 and 14 located adjacent the minor end of the trapezoidal board 10 terminate coplanar with the minor edge 12 thereof, as indicated at 15 in Fig. 2 whereby the game apparatus may be stored in an upright position and supported in this position by the minor edge 12 of the board 10 and the adjacent ends 15 of the supporting rails. The other ends of the lsupport rails preferably project beyond the periphery of the board.

A plurality of pins 17 are provided with reduced lower end portions 13 adapted to be snugly received in the holes 11 in the game board, and when ten of such pins arc mounted in the corresponding holes on the board, the game apparatus simulates the pin arrangement utilined in bowling. Gne or more hoops 2i are provided, which hoops are preferably formed of a llexible material such as rubber, the cross-sectional diameter of the rim forming the hoop being small with respect to the diameter of the circle encompassed thereby as will be apparent from Fig. l. The hoops are dimensioned so as to loosely encompass the pins 17 when the latter are arranged in the triangular pattern on the board. The pins 17 are spaced relatively far apart so that the hoops 21 may pass between adjacent pins and thus encompass all or any number less than all of the pins dependent upon the skill of the player in throwing the rings, as is clearly shown in Fig. 5.

Provision is made in the present invention for compactly storing the hoops on the game board and for this purpose a plurality of hoop receiving notches are provided at circumferentially spaced locations around the board 10 for receiving the hoops 21. As best shown in Figs. l and 2, the ends of the

support rails

13 and 14 adjacent theV minor end of the board are recessed to provide beveled surfaces 24 spaced inwardly of the minor edge 12 of the board and hoop retaining fingers 23 which extend in spaced parallel relation to the board. Similarly, the other ends of the support rails are also recessed to provide beveled surfaces 26 spaced inwardly of the periphery of the board and hoop retaining ngers 25 which extend in parallel spaced relation to the board and preferably beyond the periphery thereof. The board 10 is dimensioned so that the spacing between the major end 16 and the minor end 12 thereof is greater than the radius of the hoop and less than the diameter thereof, and the

beveled surfaces

24 and 26 formed by the recesses in the support rails are arranged so as to extend substantially secantially of the hoops 21 when the latter are mounted thereon, with the outer periphery of the hoops extending substantially tangentially of the minor edge 12. The game apparatus may thus be stored in an upright position resting on the edge 12 and the ends 15 of the support rails, and when thus disposed, the hoops 21 will extend beyond the periphery of the board, above the major edge 16 thereof, to form a carrying handle for the game apparatus. As is apparent, the hoops are retained in position on the

beveled surfaces

24 and 26 by the board 1i) which projects outwardly beyond the periphery of the hoops and engages one side thereof, and by the

iingers

23 and 25 formed by the support rails which engage the other side of the hoops. Since the hoops are formed of exible material, they may be deformed slightly to enable mounting or removal of the hoops from the board.

A cross piece 2S is secured to the same 'side of `the board to which the support rails are attached, :and extends therebetween as shown .in Figs. 1 and 3. A plurality of :holes 29 are provided in the Across piece, the axes of the holes extending parallel to each other and to the plane of the board 10, and opening towards the .major edge 16 of the board. When the pins 17 are not arranged in the triangular pattern on the falce of the board, during playing, the latter may be inserted in 'the holes 29 in the cross piece so as to extend parallel to the board between the support rails, thereby providing .a convenient and compact `storage of the pins.

In playing the game, the hoops 21 are detached from the board and the `pins -17 removed from the holes 29 in the cross rail and 'inserted in `the holes 11 in the face of the board. Since `the hoops are dimensioned so as to loosely encompass all or any number less than all of the pins when arranged on the face of lthe board, in accordance with the skill .and accuracy of the player, it is apparent that lthe game may be played so as to simulate bowling. Thus, each player may be permitted to throw two hoops in each turn and if all of .the pegs .are encircled with the first hoop, the .player has scored a strike or if he achieves this result after throwing the second hoop, the player has scored a spare. In this manner, the `number of pins encircled by `the vplayers in each turn corresponds to the number of pins knocked down by the bowling ball during each frame, and corresponding rules of scoring may thus be utilized when playing with the present game apparatus as are utilized in bowling. When `storing or transporting the game, the pins are removed from the holes 1^1 from the face of the `board and inserted in the holes 29 in the cross piece so as to extend parallel to the board between

4the support rails

13 and 14, and in a direction toward the major end of the board. The hoops 21 may then be inserted into the notches between the board and lthe lingers 423 `and deformed slightly so as to be receivable inthe notches between the boa-rd and the fingers 25, whereby the hoops are detachably mounted on the game apparatus between the rails and the board `10. When thus mounted on the board, lthe hoops 21 project beyond `the major end 116 of the board land form convenient [carrying handles for carrying 'the game apparatus in `an upright position with the pins 17 extending upwardly from the cross piece. Moreover, the game apparatus may be stored in this position, the apparatus resting on the min-or end 12 of the boar-d and the adjacent ends 15 of the support rails, as best shown in Figs. l and 2.

While in the foregoing description and in the accompanying drawings there has been illustrated .a preferred form of the apparatus, it is to be understood that various modifications may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and `scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A game apparatus for a hoop throwing game comprising a -at board having a plurality of pins projecting outwardly from one face thereof and arranged in la predetermined pattern, a hoop formed of a rim of small diameter relative to the hoop diameter dimensioned to be capable when accurately thrown of loosely encompassing all of said pins on said board, said pins being spaced relatively far apart s-o that the rim of said lhoop may pass downwardly therebetween, and means for detachably mounting said hoop to said board Vat spaced points adjacent the periphery of the board so :that `the plane of the hoop extends parallel to the plane of said board, said hoop when mounted on said board having a portion extending beyond the periphery of the board at one side thereof said portion forming a carrying handle for the game apparatus.

2. The combination of claim l1 wherein said pins are detachably mounted on said one face of `said boa-rd, and

4 means on the other side ot said board for detachably mounting said pins thereon with the axis of said pins paralleling the plane of said board to permit compact storage .of the pins on the game apparatus.

3. A game apparatus for a hoop throwing game com prising a board having a plurality of pins projecting upwardly from one face thereof and arranged in a predetermined pattern, a pair of support rails attached to the other face of said board for supporting the latter with the pins in upright playing position, means between said board and said support rails defining a plurality of spaced hoop receiving notches about the periphery of said board, a hoop formed of a rim of small diameter relative to the hoop diameter dimensioned to be capable when accurately thrown of loosely encompassing all of said pins on said board, said hoop `being detachably receivable in said notches between said board and `said rails to permit compact storage of the hoop, said hoop when mounted in said notches projecting beyond the periphery of the board at one side thereof to form a carrying handle for the game apparatus.

4. A game apparatus for -a hoop throwing game comprising a board having a plurality of pins detachably mounted thereon and projecting upwardly from one face thereof, a pair of support rails attached to the other face of the board in spaced relation to each other for support ing the board with fthe pins -in upright playing position, said Isupport rails having notches in the ends thereof forming a plurality of hoop receiving recesses spaced around the periphery of said board, and a hoop adapted to be thrown at the board to encircle the pins in the playing of the game, the board and hoop being d-imensioned for the hoop to be detachably received in said recesses f-or transport with the plane of said hoop paralleling the plane of said board, said hoop when disposed Iin 'said recesses projecting beyond the periphery of said board at one edge thereof t-o form a carrying handle for the apparatus.

5. The combination of claim 4 wherein the edge of said board opposed 'to rsaid one edge thereof is straight, said support rails terminating coplanar with said straight edge for supporting said game apparatus in an upright position.

6. A game apparatus for a hoop throwing game comprising a board having .a plurality of pins detachably mounted thereon and projecting upwardly from one face thereof, a pair of support rails attached to the other face of the board in spaced relation to each other for supporting the board with the pins in upright playing position, said support rails having notches in the ends thereof forming a plurality of hoop receiving recesses spaced around the periphery of `said board, a hoop adapted fto be thrown at the lboard to encircle Ithe pins in the playing of the game, the board and hoop being dimensioned for the hoop to Ibe detachably received in said recesses for transport with the plane of said hoop par- -alleling the plane of said board, said hoop when disposed in said recesses projecting beyond the periphery of said board at Ione side thereof to form la carrying handle for the apparatus, a board reinforcing cross rail attached to said other face of said board `and extending between said support rails, and means on said cross rail for detachably receiving said pins for transport and for supporting said pins with the `axes thereof in a plane parallel to the plane of said board and between said support rails.

7. The combination of claim 6 wherein said hoop is formed of exible material.

8. A `game apparatus for a hoop throwing game comprising a board, a plurality of pins detachably mounted on said board projecting upwardly from one face thereof and yarranged in number and pattern to simulate .the arrangement lof ten pins in a bowling alley, a pair of support rails attached to the other face of the board in spaced relation lto each other for supporting the board in a horizontal position, ysaid rails having notches in the ends thereof forming a plurality of hoop receiving recesses spaced around the perimeter of the board, a hoop ormed by a rim of small diameter with respect to the hoop dviameter dimensioned to be capable when accurately ithrown of `loosely encompassing 'all of said pins on said board, .said pins being :so spaced that the rim of the hoop may pass loosely downward therebtween whereby the hoop may :also encompass less than lthe .total number of pins, the hoop Iand the board being related as to size so that the hoop may be -detachably received in said recesses for transport with the plane of the hoop disposed in parallel relation with the plane of the board, ywith :a portion of the hoop extending beyond the perimeter of the board to iorm a carrying handle for the apparatus, and 'a board reinforcing cross rail attached to said other face of the board Iand extending between the support 1rails, said cross rail having means for detachably receiv- `ing said pins for Itransport with the axes thereof in a plane parallel yto -the plane of the board and between lthe support rail-s.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 731,192 Lewis June 16, 1903 1,036,438 Brown Aug. 20, 1912 1,393,408 Tenney Oct. 11, 1921 1,523,756 Collins Jan. 20, 1925 1,777,249 Blackman Sept. 30, 1930 2,176,725 Shelton Oct. 17, 1939 2,230,813 Pressman Feb. 4, 1941 2,472,719 Mysels June 7, 1949 2,618,484 Bishop Nov. 18, 1952