US2904336A

US2904336A - Magnetic game of skill

Info

Publication number: US2904336A
Application number: US719028A
Authority: US
Inventors: Washburn Alfred Fraser
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1958-03-04
Filing date: 1958-03-04
Publication date: 1959-09-15
Anticipated expiration: 1976-09-15

Description

Sept. l5, 1959 A. F. WASHBURN I MAGNETIC GAME OF SKILL Filed March 4, 1958 xxxxa xx I I INVENOR. ALFRED FRASER WASHBURN ATTORNEY United States Patentu A W .7 .a.... ans

base aarsk t h e 9f aaisp a ai gr aai n ma ma The a e 'arieated .s Q-i i the; P le 9 ike la t ar lq a a at th fewe m ends pf? the ma aes- T ese m iss wit it IS, an? I ia-gua s? .qf m Aicemral. area u of ea e 191 ed.

Meter a iiiq s d i Ibis wand, is t d m gi; a s iri adedby senszsattat d ms eatis sis av lan ea h othe T e ma s iefi :siii iii in i e wansim'a i a so qui a Player is saes ialia n h? sha Wai into the fenced area to capture the treasure and toremove it. without contact by, either guard, he has scored a point in th e game. Players take turns in attempting to score a maximum number of points representing suc- .cessful. capturesvof. the treasure. Aftereach capture,; the treasure is replaced. within the fenced area and a new attempt is made by..a player .to. captureit. Becauseofthe strongimagneticfields involved;Considerable skill will, be required to capture the treasure without interference by the guards. It s er ore prit si el biestqit lX R iQQ to provide a magnetic game in which a loose removable paramagnetic body is guarded by a spring mounted permanent magnet from capture by a permanent magnet carried on a wand.

A further object is to provide a game with a plurality of very flexible springs adjustably mounted on a baseboard, each of the springs carrying a permanent magnet at the free end thereof, the magnets being oriented with poles of like polarity outermost.

A still further object is to provide a game having an 2,904,336 Patented Sept. 15, 1959 2 V areath re f enclqsedby ien e arid ha ii a me albady 1.052%?15: i$PQ$dufl1 L Ib wi h flex ble sh nes sa ryiii e ane t ma ne s at th i end rra ed I 1. h h sa: beard owerli n thebad i m bile s nner i fli .obiee is to. prgi' sie .asa ilessribesi intheriiro ided wiih m9 a ma net ea eetss a iii a i a. atzt tlissl9 qr=- 1 lis a-pe asati e ew at a ameembay aetli .ipa. a a sU re asi na -vie s ai -an enla ed a9 taken nih aes r; W3 3 re E '1- .4 ss tiqna vie aken 91. 11a i a 2; Fig. 5 is esidevyiew. Fi l -in QfiR l fiIhWQl ansima a a tiedh ebyg 1 saqi oaal-viq ta sen an linesaflip F-ieis a ew s m l r 0' i 2 s ar n art d iet he ewi sp n reniqii di Fig. -,8,is a top plan yiew of another form ofithe game. e iriiis to t e ske n the shawn 1 B. "2 ene all ies aii l fiat-Mar blo k hicfi $W a -b 29a .drth game. I he PR SI T Q- PP he bl k a afiq mad sirs i ar e -ares 16- li lase iap t atid a at i iea a site d o theb qq s- Bash. naw ha a e-g e rass e t iiwhis fi ndsa ps i siee t all flimii a leA h h is i ht 41 91.1 than 1809 t sh w- Eash r Qy s anned itli h t strai h in a dl x ended ilesia Dlrms tl iii the o ves a e t e an portion Qt cg ledw e springs d 29' The r iia a e .iiise ed in he-smiles ii e a ttliefl t e ges 1 m t at he be ame forc sad r athe gr w-e wi h. the em i der o tlie' b dy

portions

22, 24 extending upwardly out of the grooves, The. Pa tsa w i h. t e beds ortions 13 the t n e lqt i Qtv the stem es may beiianeedby i si n gs riiig around. t ev raqve ii sprin s are this adjustably located in the grooves. Also; thebody i iisbe male lsm ei O ishqrt r by dis o aalnic la the enqp rt oi n thee o vcs- At tre .1112 at ea i i lai s i r de perm nent mea 2 .b o la suitable eme oint. 28-. The spr ii s era P ead tha h will normally ove t; jg 'a'cen't'ral region or areaof th elbloel; with magnetsz g ilri m bile-s spensio thereaverri. t is. rc qn s e a 9)? tease fitfqrmski i ardboard fib tboar ar. ther non-magnetic material. The fence may be rectangular, Q FEL I 9513 3? any e a nti iqiis eeineiri a ar r t??? .iiiaa i ts 1 r s iesl ne p e r qr ip e P9 9 at 1 .1195! forwardly extead lia i a se th ens Q the magne s, e s i srr ii erein im P la ty. ey il a-ai e! a h 931 we no n a e a d sd in i r Within e n s as a mQ-va le bqs .33, @92 ai a b t ramagnet m tal It desired; this rrietal may be enclosed wholly or partially in a plastic or painted cover 34 as shown in Fig. 3. To lend realism to the game, the magnets may be painted at 35, as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 4, to resemble snake heads and the body 33 may be formed in the shape of a miniature skull. Each of the magnets 26 will be attracted toward the body 33 but this attraction will be resisted by the inherent resiliency in the bodies of the springs which simulate snakes.

In order to play the game, there is provided a wood or plastic wand in the form of a cylindrical rod 36, best shown in Figs. 5 and 6. Inserted in one end of the rod is a cylindrical permanent magnet 38. This magnet is oriented with its outer end or outer pole N of the same polarity as that of the forward ends of the magnets 26 so that when the Wand is thrust into the fence to capture the body 33, with its leading tip directed toward the spring mounted magnets 25, the approaching tip will repel the magnets 26. However, continued movement of the wand into the fence toward the treasure T will bring the other end of the magnet 38 within the area of the magnets 26 and thereby attract said magnets whereby said magnets 26 may capture the treasure before the magnet 38 of the wand. Thus, any attempt made by the player to thrust the wand into the fence to capture body 33 will be subject to interference by the spring mounted magnets which are suspended in their mutually overlapping magnetic fields so that they are mobile in three planes or dimensions. With some practice the player can learn to thrust the catcher C in underneath the guards G to capture the treasure T and remove it before the guards can overcome their inertia and respond to intercept the capture. The magnets 26 will tend to follow magnet 38 toward body 33 so that the capture will require some dexterity and skill.

One or more magnet carrying rods 36 may be used to play this game in which the shapes and lengths of the

body members

22 and 24 may be changed as desired.

While the game is illustrated in Fig. 1 as having only two guards G and is played with one catcher C, it is possible to have four guards G and two catchers C, as shown in Fig. 8. A single treasure T will still be used disposed in the ring 30*, here shown as circular. The player will manipulate the two catchers until one of them captures the treasure T. Since there are now four guards to avoid, greater dexterity will be required of the player to score a point by capturing the treasure without interception by the guards. Each of the permanent magnets 26 and permanent magnets 38 in the game of Fig. 8 are oriented similarly to the

magnets

26 and 38, respectively, of the game of Fig. 1 so that four magnets 26 are influenced by the movements of magnets 38 as they enter the overlapping moving magnetic fields of magnets 26.

The magnets 26 may either be shaped to form the head of a snake or the like, or a suitable permanent magnet may be enclosed in a plastic or other material shaped to simulate the snake head or the like.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiments of my invention, it is to be understood that I do not limit myself to the precise constructions herein disclosed and that various changes and modifica' tions may be made within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent is:

l. A magnetic game, comprising a nonmagnetic baseboard having an upper flat surface, said baseboard having a plurality of closely spaced circular grooves in said surface, a plurality of coil springs respectively anchored at one end in the grooves, with said one end being slidably adjustable in the groove, a permanent magnet mounted at the other free end of each spring in suspension so that the magnets are free to move over the space between the grooves, a confined body of paramagnetic metal removably disposed on said surface in the space between the grooves, and at least one cylindrical nonmagnetic wand carrying a permanent magnet at the free end thereof, said wand being adapted to reach said body for engagement by said latter magnet, the magnets carried by said springs tending to interfere with said engagement.

2. In a magnetic game of skill, a support, a body of paramagnetic metal, removably disposed on the support, a plurality of springs mounted on the support, said springs carrying permanent magnets having magnetic fields which overlap each other, engagement between said body and each of the magnets being prevented by resisting resilience in each spring, and a wand carrying a permanent magnet and adapted to engage said body on being thrust through said magnetic fields, the magnets carried by said springs tending to intercept engagement of the body by said wand magnet.

3. In a magnetic game of skill, a support, a body of paramagnetic metal removably disposed on the support, a plurality of springs mounted on the support, said springs carrying permanent magnets having magnetic fields which overlap each other, engagement between said body and each of the magnets being prevented by resisting resilience in each spring, and a wand carrying a permanent magnet and adapted to engage said body on being thrust through said magnetic fields, the magnets carried by said springs tending to intercept engagement of the body by said wand magnet, the magnets carried by the spring having forward opposed ends of like polarity so that said forward ends repel each other and keep the spring mounted magnets freely and mobilely suspended over said body.

4. In a magnetic game of skill, a support, a body of paramagnetic metal removably disposed on the support, a plurality of springs mounted on the support, said springs carrying permanent magnets having magnetic fields which overlap each other, engagement between said body and each of the magnets being prevented by resisting resilience in each spring, and a wand carrying a permanent magnet and adapted to engage said body on being thrust through said magnetic fields, the magnets carried by said springs tendings to intercept engagement of the body by said wand magnet, the magnets carried by the springs having forward opposed ends of like polarity so that said forward ends repel each other and keep the magnets freely and mobilely suspended over said body, said wand magnet having a free end with a polarity similar to the polarity of the forward opposed ends of the magnets carried by the springs so that said spring mounted magnets tend to follow said wand magnet when the latter is thrust through said magnetic fields to engage the body of paramagnetic metal.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 606,744 St. John July 5, 1898 678,608 Woolf July 16, 1901 1,509,873 Ordway Sept. 30, 1924 2,622,366 Abplanalp Dec. 23, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 677,746 Germany July 14, 1939