US2891793A - Game field delineator - Google Patents

Description

June 23,1959 A, MU RY 2,891,793

GAME FIELD DELINEATOR Fil ed Sept. 26, 1957 INVENTOR. JACK A. MUDRY v nzwRr/e/ United States Patent GAME FIELD DELINEATOR Jack A. Mudry, St. Clair Shores, Mich.

Application September 26, 1957, Serial No. 686,311

1 Claim. (Cl. 273--1) A number of games which appeal to children require what may be called playing fields which consist of a flat area divided by lines into squares, triangles, or circular spaces, as the case may be. For prolonged use the lines may be painted on the surface of a floor or an analogous medium. However, when a particular game is to be played outdoors, the lines of the respective field may be drawn on the sidewalk or the pavement of a street with chalk, crayon, or other means. As there are some valid objections to this practice of smearing sidewalks, and as these lines, where permissible, have to be drawn for each new game, the object of my invention is to provide a portable device which may be placed on any suitable surface, such as the floor in a room, a basement, a sidewalk, or the lawn, when it will immediately serve as the field for the particular game for which the device has been made.

A further object of my invention is to provide a delincator of such structure that when placed on a flat surface it will require no supplementary parts, such as pegs or adhesives, to hold it in place.

A further object of the invention is to provide a delineator which may be easily carried from place to place, and one which, preferably, will be adapted to be rolled up into a compact form for the purpose of being stored.

Furthermore, the object of my invention is to provide a device which will be made of readily available material, which will be easy to make, and which will be reasonable in cost.

I shall now describe my invention with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan elevational view of one species of my game field delineator;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective view thereof;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of another species of my delineator, the view disclosing the delineator as placed upon a sidewalk, a figure of a person being included in the drawing to suggest the size of the delineator.

The delineator shown in Fig. 1 and identified generally by numeral is made of flexible and moderately-pliable material, such as rubber of the type used for mats, but may be made of any other suitable material, such as a species of vinyl resinoid plastic. What is required is that the material be light enough to be carried, but sufliciently heavy to stay in place, and of a kind which will not curl up at the comers or along the sides.

The delineator shown in Fig. 1 has the form of a rectangle in which two sides 11 are considerably wider than the two end sides 12. Each of the sides consists of a thin strip of uniform width and thickness, the preferred thickness ranging from A to of an inch. As a whole, the rectangle 10 is divided by a cross-strip 13 into two rectangular areas. Each of the areas, in turn, is divided by two diagonal strips 14 which cross each other at the center of the rectangle into four triangular areas 15 of equal space.

The triangular spaces serve as areas of play and may be assigned different scoring values according to indicating numerals which are displayed on web-like tabs 16. One such tab is disposed in each triangular space at the intersection of two diagonal strips defining, in part, the respective triangular space within said rectangle so that all four tabs form a rectangle 17 within the central portion of each rectangle.

The delineator disclosed in Fig. 3 is made in a difierent form but presents only a different alinement of rectangular playing areas. In this case the delineator, shown spread flat on a sidewalk S, has the form of an oblong grid and includes at one end a frame 19 subdivided by cross-bars 23 into three rectangles or rectangular playing areas marked 20, 21, and 22, respectively, the areas being disposed in line. Each of the rectangles includes an integrally-formed tab 24 projecting from what will be called the top side of each respective rectangle. Each tab carries a numeral, as in the case of the delineator shown in Fig. 1.

At the upper end of the frame is a pair of two rectangles 25 which are disposed side by side and separated by a bar 28. Separated from said pair of rectangles by a single rectangle 26, and forming the upper end of the grid, is another pair of rectangles 27 which are also disposed side by side.

On the whole, the structure of the delineators, whether it be the one shown in Fig. 1 or the one shown in Fig. 3, is *such that the rectangles serving as play fields or areas are separated from other adjoining rectangles by common, integrally-formed members. To put it differently, what is one side of one rectangle may be also one side of the adjoining rectangle or triangle or other geometrical figure.

After having described my delineator, what I wish to claim is as follows:

A portable game field delineator formed of a single piece of plastic material and adapted to be placed on a flat horizontal surface, comprising a frame having flat top and bottom surfaces, said frame including spaced side members, end members and interconnecting cross members integrally connected to define playing areas, and indicia carrying flat tab members integrally formed with said cross members and extending into the respective playing areas.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,017,536 Hase et a1. Oct. 15, 1935

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