US3738653A - Table tennis game with sloping peripheral boundary - Google Patents

Abstract

A game device for use with a ball and paddles comprising a game board having a playing surface having a recessed central portion and upstanding side portions adjacent to the periphery of said recessed portion. The upstanding side portions have a triangular cross section and are sloped downwardly and inwardly toward the playing surface. A layer of felt material is secured to the playing surface for providing a degree of friction to a ball bounced thereagainst and for reducing the coefficient of restitution of the surface in a specific embodiment.

Description

United States Patent .1191

Simpson 1 June 12, 1973 r [22] Filed:

[ TABLE TENNIS GAME WITH SLOPING PERIPHERAL BOUNDARY [76] Inventor: Warren 0. Simpson, 1276 Chalmero [52] U.S. C1. 273/30 [51] Int. Cl A63b 39/00 [58] Field of Search 273/30, 87 R, 87 A,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,580,616 1/1952 Spiegel 273/94 R 1,553,682 9/1925 Proud et a1. 273/30 2,275,179 3/1942 Heil 273/30 2,115,115 4/1938 Matterson et al 273/30 X 2,926,914 3/1960 Miller 273/95 R 1,276,015 8/1918 Belknap 273/30 1,125,459 1/1915 Burrowes 273/87 B FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 451,837 1949 Italy 273/30 Primary Examiner-Richard C. Pinkham Assistant ExaminerTheatrice Brown Attorney-Good, Gust, Irish & L'undy [57] ABSTRACT A game device for use with a ball and paddles comprising a game board having a playing surface having a recessed central portion and upstanding side portions adjacent to the periphery of said recessed portion. The upstanding side portions have a triangular cross section and are sloped downwardly and inwardly toward the playing surface. A layer of felt material is secured to the playing surface for providing a degree of friction to a ball bounced thereagainst and for reducing the coefficient of restitution of the surface in a specific embodiment.

6 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PATENTEB JUN 21975 3.738.653 MEI 1 G 4 INVENTOR WARREN O. SIMPSON X/WQM,M.Z

ATTORNEYS mimmw 3.738.653

IN'VENTOR WARREN O. SIMPSON ATTOR-N EYS PATENTED 3.7381653 SHEEI 3 0f 4 I56 3 :EJLEP... 5

INVENTOR WARREN O. SIMPSON @856 B Y MQM,M w,

ATTORNEYS PAIENIEU Jun 1 2 ma SHEEI l Uf 4 INVENTOR WARREN o. SIMPSON BY Wad M, M v

ATTORNEYS TABLE TENNIS GAME WITHSLOPING PERIPHERAL BOUNDARY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates generally to a game device and more particularly to the provision of a game board to be used with a ball and paddles wherein a ball is bounced back and forth upon the game board by a plurality of players.

2. Description of the Prior Art Prior art game devices used in playing the popular indoor game of ping-pong are well known and widely used. Typical game boards used for playing thissport comprise a table approximately feet by 9 feet having a hard, flat playing surface. In playing this sport, a small, resilient ball is bounced back and forth upon the playing surface, and due to the shape and hardness of the game board and the resilience of the ball, a reasonably uninhibited game of ping-pong requires an unob structed playing area of approximately 14 feet by 23 feet. Since many modern homes are constructed without extra space, such a large, open area. is frequently unavailable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention comprises a game board for use with a ball and paddles having a recessed portion and upstanding, sloped walls adjacent to the perimeter of the recessed portion. The playing surface of the game board can be covered with resilient material which increases the coefficient of friction between the ball and the surface of the game board, this material also serving to reduce the coefficient of restitution of the surface. Further, an obstacle such as a net can be positioned transversely across the surface of the game board midway between the ends thereof. The game can be played with conventional ping-pong paddles and a ping-pong ball. However, the unique characteristics of this game table produced by the sloped wall portions and the resilient material covering the surface may be further enhanced by using in place of the conventional ping-pong ball a slightly larger, less resilient plastic ball with a plurality of holes in its surface, typically a ball of the type commonly used as a practice golf ball. In addition, a modified ping-pong paddle or bat, having reduced dimensions and the end thereof opposite the handle portion truncated, can be used in place of a standard ping-pong bat. This modified bat is easier to maneuver and by reason of having one end thereof cut off, a player is less likely to hit the upstanding wall portions of the table-with the end of the bat.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improved game devicefor use with a ball and paddles which can be used for playing a game similar to ping-pong but which can be played within a reduced space.

It is another object of the invention to provide a game device for use with a ball and paddles in which the ricochet of the ball is less predictable.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a game device which can be used in an indoor sport which requires skill to play and which provides enjoyment to the players.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The above-mentioned and other features and objects of this invention and the manner of attaining them will become more apparent and the invention itself will be best understood by reference to the following description of an embodiment of the' invention taken in con- 5 junction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of the game device;

FIG. 2 is a top plan viewof the game device;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken substantially along section line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a modified paddle or bat for use with the game device;

FIG. 5 is a top perspective view of a section of the game device partly broken away and sectioned for the purpose of illustration;

FIG. 6 is a partial sectional view taken substantially along line 66 of FIG. 5 showing; details of the structure of the upstanding wall portionsgand FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a net-supporting bracket showing details of its structure.

DESCRIPTION OF A SPECIFIC EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings, wherein like numerals refer to corresponding parts, there will be'seen a game device comprising generally a rectangular game board 1 having opposite end portions 2 and 3. End portion 2 includes a planar recessed portion 4 with sides 6 and 8, ends 10 and 12 and an imaginary longitudinal center line 14. This recessed portion 4 is preferably formed from a single piece of k inch thick plywood and has approximate length and width dimensions of 40 inches.

An upstanding, sloped wall 15 having ends 16 and 18 is secured to the end 10 of the recessed portion 4. As can be seen in FIG. 6, wall 15 has a right triangular cross-section with sides 20, 22 and 24, This wall 15 is preferably cut from a solid piece of wood with the side 24 having a height of approximately 2 inches and a length essentially equal to the width dimension of the recessed portion 4. The ends 16 and 18 of the wall 15 are mitered as shown. The wall 15 is secured to the upper surface of the end 10 with side 24 in a plane which includes the straight edge 26 of portion 4 and such that it is bisected by center line 14. The wall 15 is secured in this position with any suitable wood binding glue as shown in FIG. 6 and wood screws 28.

Secured to the side 6 of the recessed portion 4 is a sloped wall 32 like wall 15 positioned on the upper surface of the side 6 of flat portion 4 with its end 34 contiguous to the end 16 of wall 15 and its vertical side 38 in a plane which includes the edge 40 of the flat portion 4. The ends 34 and 16 meet to form a smooth miter joint 36. The wall 32 extends to a point 2 inches short of end 12. This wall 32 is secured in position with glue and wood screws in a manner similar to wall 15. i

A sloped wall 42 like wall 32 is secured in the same manner onto the upper surface of edge portion 8 such that its vertical side 44 lies in a plane which includes the edge 48 of flat portion 4. It extends to a folded position, as shown, for use. The recessed portion 4 and the sloped sides of walls 14, 32, 42, 50, 52 and 54 are covered with pool table grade felt 55 secured with a suitable rubber cement. The felt provides a coefficient of friction for a ball striking the surface that is greater than the coefficient of friction presented by a bare or a painted wood surface. Further, felt has a lower coefficient of restitution than woodand as a consequence, the rebound of a ball when it strikes the surface is reduced.

Two identical net supporting brackets 68 and 69 are clamped to sides 6 and 8 of the recessed portion of the game board 4. As can be seen in detail in FIG. 7, each 1 of the supporting brackets 68, 69 has a C shaped clamp 70 which is provided with a thumb screw 72 fitted into threaded hole 74. Secured to-the top of the thumb screw 72 is a clamping pad76. Secured to the clamp 70 is a net supporting member 82 with vertically upstanding portion 84. A pair of tensioning members 86 each have a threaded end 88 and a hooked end 94. The threaded ends 88 of the tensioning members 86 pass through the support member 84 in vertically spaced-apart relation and are fitted with wing nuts 92.

' supporting brackets 68 and 69 support a net which extends transversely between the sides 6 and 8 of the flat portion 4 of the game board, forming an obstacle between the opposite end portions 2 and 3 of the game board 1. The tension of the net can be adjusted by tightening or loosening respective wing nuts 92.

Conventional folding leg assemblies, indicated generally by 106, 107, 108, 109 are secured to the underside 111 of the game board 1 at corners 110, 112, 114 and 116. The structure of such leg assemblies is well known and does not require further description.

The game board as described can be used with conventional ping-pong bats and ping-pong balls. Due to the combination of the planar recessed portion and the sloped walls, the direction of rebound of the ball is less predictable than in conventional ping-pong and considerable agility is required on the part of a player to return the ball when it is hit towards him.

As a result of the reduced coefficient of restitution of the playing surface, the ricochet of a ping-pong ball off the surface is significantly reduced, reducing the amount of space required for playing the game. It has been found that the game can be played comfortably in an area approximately 9 feet by l4 feet.

The increased friction between the game board surface and the ping-pong ball increases the reaction of the ball due to its spin or English, and consequently greater agility is required by a player to return a ball which has been hit towards him.

Both the reduced rebound of the ball and the increased reaction of the ball due to spin can further be amplified by using a hollow plastic ball with a plurality of holes in its walls, such as a practice golf ball, in place of a standard ping-pong ball, since such a ball has a smaller coefficient of restitution than a conventional ping-pong ball, and further increases the friction between the ball and the playing surface.

Enjoyment of the game can be further enhanced when the conventional ping-pong paddle is replaced with a paddle shown in FIG. 4. This paddle comprises generally a wide, flattened striking portion 132 having ends 134 and 136. End 134 of the striking portion is truncated and a standard hand grip 138 is rigidly se cured to the opposite end 136. The hitting portion is approximately 6 inches long along its longest axis and 5 V; inches wide along its shortest axis. This paddle is otherwise constructed in a manner similar to conventional ping-pong paddles wherein it has a V4 inch thick plywood center with a 54; inch thick soft cellular rubber covering cemented to both sides of the hitting surface.

Since a player has a natural tendency to gauge his movements from the surface of the table, due to the upstanding walls he is prone to strike the walls with the ends of a standard ping-pong paddle. Since the end of the modified paddle is truncated, this problem is significantly reduced. Further, the overall dimensions of the paddle are smaller than those of a conventional pingpong paddle, and a player is therefore able to maneuver the paddle more quickly, thereby improving his ability to return a ball which is hit toward him.

Typical dimensions for a working embodiment are:

Recessed portion inches long X 40 inches wid X h inch thick,

Sloped walls 2 inches high,

Height from floor 28% inches.

The sloped walls 15, 32 are preferably disposed at an angle of 30, however, this angle may be varied between 15 and 45 with satisfactory results, providing a range of l35 to 165 for the obtuse angle formed with the planar surface 10. Thus, for a 40 inch wide planar surface 4, a 15 slope will provide a transverse dimension of the playing surface of about forty percent (40 percent) sloped and 60 percent planar, while a 45 slope will provide about 10 percent sloped and percent planar.

The playing surface is continuous and smooth and includes the planar portions 2 and 3 as well as the periph-' eral sloped portions 15, 32. Since this playing surface causes a ball impinged thereagainst to rebound, it is referred to as being hard, even though it may have a covering of the aforesaid felt thereon.

While there have been described above the principles of this invention in connection with specific apparatus, it is to be clearly understood that this description is made only by way of example and not as a limitation to the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A table tennis game device including a ball and paddles, a game board having a continuous, hard and smooth playing surface; said playing surface including a rectangular horizontal flat planar surface portion and a peripheral sloped surface portion essentially bounding said planar portion, said sloped portion having upwardly facing flat surfaces which intersect said planar portion and extend upwardly and outwardly at an obtuse angle therefrom, and an upstanding barrier net secured to said game board midway between the ends and extending transversely thereof.

2. The game device of claim 1 further comprising a cover of resilient material secured to said playing surface for increasing the coefficient of friction between dimension of said playing surface is in the ratio of about 10 percent sloped and 90 percent planar to about 40 percent sloped and 60 percent planar.

6. The game device of claim 1 wherein the obtuse angle is about 150 with the transverse playing surface dimension being about percent sloped and 80 percent planar.

Claims (6)

1. A table tennis game device including a ball and paddles, a game board having a continuous, hard and smooth playing surface; said playing surface including a rectangular horizontal flat planar surface portion and a peripheral sloped surface portion essentially bounding said planar portion, said sloped portion having upwardly facing flat surfaces which intersect said planar portion and extend upwardly and outwardly at an obtuse angle therefrom, and an upstanding barrier net secured to said game board midway between the ends and extending transversely thereof.

2. The game device of claim 1 further comprising a cover of resilient material secured to said playing surface for increasing the coefficient of friction between said surface and a ball and reducing the coefficient of restitution of said playing surface.

3. The game device of claim 2 wherein said material is felt.

4. The game device of claim 1 wherein said obtuse angle is about 135* to 165* and said peripheral surface portion includes a plurality of miter joints disposed at the respective corners of said planar surface.

5. The game device of claim 4 wherein the transverse dimension of said playing surface is in the ratio of about 10 percent sloped and 90 percent planar to about 40 percent sloped and 60 percent planar.

6. The game device of claim 1 wherein the obtuse angle is about 150* with the transverse playing surface dimension being about 20 percent sloped and 80 percent planar.

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