US630787A

US630787A - Indicator for duplicate whist.

Info

Publication number: US630787A
Application number: US69800698A
Authority: US
Inventors: Calvin A Watson
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1898-12-01
Filing date: 1898-12-01
Publication date: 1899-08-08
Anticipated expiration: 1916-08-08

Description

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Patented Aug. a, |899.

C. A. WATSON.

INDICATOR FOB DUPLICATE WHIST.

(Application filed Dec. 1, 1898.)

(No Modem WEST' wss;

TNC NOHRIS PETERS -.f'lTo-UTNO., WASHINGTON, D. C.

Snar- MRT H /Ymfrr/ W/TNESSES y110.6311387. Patented Aug. 8, |899. c. A.l wATsoN.

INDICATOR FOR DUPLICATE WHIST.

(Application led Dec. 1, 189B.)

(No Model.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2` Gore, .Nkmbex Numa Ori l 41|) A from/EY.

NITED- STATES' 'oALviN A. wATsoN,

.PATENT OFFICE.

on NEW YORK, N. Y.

INDICATOR FOR DUPLICATE WHIST.l

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters'Patent No. 630,78*?, dated August 8, 1899.

Applicationiiled December 1, 1898.

To all whom, t may concern: Be it known that' I, CALVIN A gWATsoN, of the city and State of New York, have in# vented certain new and useful Improvements in Indicators forDuplicate Whist andother Games, of which'the following is a description, referring to the accompanying drawings, which form part ofthis specification.

While particularly intended for duplicate whist, the invention will with or without slight modification be readily adapted to a great many otherv games, particularly games of cards belonging to the whist family.

The primary object of the invention is to facilitate the correct dealing, arrangement of the hands, selection'of the proper' pack, and-- redistribution of theca'rds and hands in the proper order and to lthe proper players in the duplicate or return series. V-hile all the features of the invention mutually contribute to this result, some of the features of the invention may be utilized without the othersas, for instance, would be the case if it were only necessary to use a single pack in playing only two hands. y

For the sake of clearness I will describe my invention just as I applyit to duplicate whist. Its use for other games will be readily understood from this.

In the drawings, Figurel illustrates four markers for the rst of a number of packs of cards# Fig. 2 shows the corresponding markers for the secondpack. Figs. 3, 4L, and 5 similarly show the markers for the third, fourth, and fifth packs, there being of course any desirable number of packs used. Fig. 6 shows the backs for two of the markers of the first pack, the other two being similar, but without the words Dealand Lead. Fig. 7 similarly shows the backs'of markers for pack No. 2. Figs. 8 and 9 show modifications corresponding to Figs. 6 and 7.1 Letters replace the numerals l and 2,res'p`ecti vely. Fig. 10 illustrates card-cases for the'first and second packs. Fig. Y V11 'shows a modification. Fig. l2 illustrates thescore-card to be used in combination .with my markers.

Throughout the drawings similar reference letters and figures indicate similar features of the invention.

Considering, first, a single pack only,which I will call No. 1: In a game of whist the Serial No. 6985006. (No model.)

cardsare dealt to the four players-thirteen to each player. Under my invention each player is also given a marker, which is pref'- erably in the form of 'a card M of such size as to projectslightly beyond the edges of the playing-cards. The face of these markers and preferably the backs also'show characters or colors to indicate several different facts. First, the number of the pack or deal is indicated. This may be conveniently done by a corresponding numeral, as is shown in Figs. l, 2, 3, 4, 5,6, and 7, or by-letters,as on/the backs ofthe' markers shown'in Figs-8 and 8. Secondly,'th'e position of the player of the hand towhich each markervbelongs is indicated by some characteigwhich maybe 'conveniently a heart, a spade, a diamond, and a club, respec tively, the heart and the diamond being colored alike to indicate that the corresponding players are partners a'nd are placed opposite each other, while the spade and club are colored alike, but dierently from the heart and diamond, to indicate theV other two partners. Thirdly, the dealer and the lead are indicated by appropriate characters. y

By the terni character as used in this specification I mean to designate and include numerals, letters, arbitrary or pictorial signs, or combinations of single characters or signs. By the term color I mean to include black and white, together with shaded surfaces made with lines or other designs of two or more colors. For the purpose of indicating the use of colors I have in the accompanying drawings employed Vertical'lining to indicate gules or red and horizontal lining to indicate black vor blue azure, adopting these two colors for the simple and obvious reason that red and black are the colors usually employed on cards to denote the different suits.

On the face of the markers shown in the iirst five Iigures I. have used hearts, spades, diamonds, and clubs to indicate the four players. I have used numbers to indicate the successive packs or deals,'and Ivhaveim'arked the words Deal and Lead on the respective markers for each pack, so as to indicate who is to deal and who is to lead. Whatever character and color be employed for these IOO tion when it is put in use is the same. This operation is as follows:

9 eso,

The cards of the first pack having been dealt in the usual manner and the markers having been distributed to the four players, the thirteen tricks are played as usual in whist, each player retaining his own cards, so as to preserve them for the duplicate or return game. After the thirteen tricks have been played the four hands are gathered up with the respective markers and laid aside. The markers projecting slightly from the pack serve to separate the four hands of thirteen cards each, and when the duplicate or return games are played the four hands are merely separated by their markers and distributed to the four players. The partners that had the hands marked by hearts and diamonds originally will receive in the duplicate or return game the cards marked by spades and clubs, or equivalent characters or colors if another means of distinguishing has been chosen instead of the characters and colors illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Of course any number of packs may be used. If ve packs are used, with ve sets of markers, as shown in Figs. l to 5, then of course the five packs are used successively and successively laid aside to be used a second time in the return or duplicate games. It will be seen from Figs. l to 5 that the markers of the second pack show that the deal goes to the player who led with the rst pack, his hand being indicated by the spade on both markers. Similarly the second hand (indicated by a diamond in the markers of the iirst pack, Fig. l) takes the lead, as indicated by the diamond 0n the markers of the second pack, Fig. 2. Similarly in the successive packs. Therefore taking any one player-such, for instance, the player at the north end-and assuming that he dealt the irst pack, and therefore received the marker showing the heart andthe wordDeal,he has only to make sure that he receives the marker showing a heart in each successive deal in the original series of deals to insure his dealing, leading, the., in proper rotation. After each pack has been used it is laid aside forthe return or duplicate games. Vhen the duplicate or return games are played, the partners indicated by the heart and diamond markers in the original games will receive the spade and club markers, with the corresponding hands in the return games, each pack being used successively, as before. In order to facilitate the selection of the packs, I prefer to have peculiar cases made for them. For the iirst pack in which the deal is indicated by a heartmarker, Fig. l, I provide a case having a corresponding index either by color or character, preferably both. In Fig. l0 I show cases for the first and second packs, that for the iirst being red in whole or in part, that for the second being blue or black to indicate the fact that the deal goes to the player indicated by the spade-marker in Fig. 2. The numerals l and 2 in Fig. 10 or the letters A and B in Fig. l1 indicate the numbers of the packs to which .heart-marker in Fig. l.

the respective cases belong. By this means when the return set of games is played the color on the case will indicate which partners are to have the deal for that pack. I furthermore provide characters or emblems on the score-card, so that the players have to remember absolutely nothing, the score-card itself indicating, in conjunction with the markers, exactly how the cards are to be distributed for each game in both the original and return sets. This I accomplish by marking the column of one pair of partners for the original games with hearts and diamonds or any other corresponding indicating color or character and the column of the other partners with spades and clubs, reversing these colors or characters for the return or duplicate scores, as shown in Fig. 12. The use of such a scorecard, in conjunction with the markers and card-cases described, is extremely simple. Take, for example, the iirst and second packs in the original series of games: The case numbered l shows the index color red, and the red markers are accordingly distributed to the two partners whose score is to be kept in the column marked with a diamond and heart, while the other two markers go to their 0pponents. Red has the deal, as shown by the After the game has been played and the cards properly separated by the markers have been put back in the case the second case No. 2 is taken,and as this shows the color black or blue corresponding to clubs and spades the corresponding players are to deal, and the marker showing the spade also indicates the dea-l, as shown in Fig. 2, and so on throughout the successive packs, the deal passing in regular rotation and no mistake being possible so long as the correspondence between the color of the card-case, which is also the color of the marker indicating the deal, and the color indicated on the score-card for each pair of partners is preserved. When, however, the irst pack is to be dealt in the first return game, its color shown on the case, which is red, indicates that it is to be dealt by the partners opposed to those who originally dealt it, and this is indicated by the heart and diamond at the top of the return-column score, Fig. l2.

Instead of making the backs of the markers shown in Figs. l to 5 identical with the faces, as might very well be done, I may Vary the design by simply putting circles with the number of the pack, with the color of the respective heart, spade, diamond, or club shown on its face, and the word Deal or Lead where these are proper. Two such backs are indicated in Fig. (i. Two of those for the second pack are indicated in Fig. 7. Figs. 8 and 9 show the employment of letters instead of numerals to indicate the packs.

It will be seen from the foregoing that the principles of my invention admit of considerable latitude in application, an almost endless variety of designs with arbitrary indicating characters or symbols being possible.

IOO

IIO

For instance, gold and silver or other metallic surfaces may be used as the equivalent of colors.

In order, therefore, to specify the characteristic features of my invention in accordance with the statute, I append hereto the following claims:

I. In combination as indicators for duplicate whist and other games, a plurality of cases showing characters to indicate numerical order, and a plurality of markers forindicating hands or divisions of the pack, and adapted to iit between the hands in such cases, substantially as set forth.

2. In combination as indicators for duplicate whist and other games, a plurality of cases showing numerical order or succession to identify the several packs, and showing also partners or sides, and a plurality of markers showing the several players hands, and adapted to be fitted between the hands in the said cases, substantially as set forth.

3. In combination as indicators for duplicate whist and other games, a plurality of cases showing numerical order or succession to identify the several packs, and showing colors inv a corresponding order of rotation, and a plurality of markers for each of the said cases, adapted to be fitted therein between the hands, the markers of each set showing colors or characters indicative of the several hands or players, substantially as set forth.

4. In combination as indicators for duplicate whist and other games, a plurality of cases showing numerical order or succession to identify the several packs, and showing colors in a correspondingly regular order of rotation, and a plurality of markers for each of the said cases, adapted to be iitted therein between the hands, the markers of each set showing colors or characters indicative of individual hands or players, and being also indicative of the case to which they belong, substantially as set forth.

5. As an indicator forduplicate whist and other games and for use in coperation with a plurality of markers for indicating the hands or divisions of one or more packs, a score-card provided with means for correspondingly indicating by colors or characters, the rotation of deal, substantiallyas set forth. f

6. As an indicator for duplicate whist and other games, and for use in cooperation with a plurality of card-cases showing numerical order or succession, a score-card, marked or colored to indicate the rotation of deal,when said card-cases are used, substantially as set forth.

7. In combination in a set of markers for duplicate whist and other games, a device upon each marker in color or character indicating the pack or case to which such marker belongs, and several different devices in color or character upon several markers, indicating the respective players hands, substantially as set forth.

8. In combination in a set of markers for duplicate whist and other games, a device on each such marker in color or character indicating the pack to which such marker belongs, and several different devices in color or character upon the several markers indicating the respective players7 hands, and also a device in color or character on one or more of the' markers to indicate the dealer7 subf stantially as set forth.

CALVIN A. WATSON.

Witnesses:

GEORGE I-I. SoNNEBoRN, HAROLD BINNEY.