US747989A - Game apparatus. - Google Patents

Description

No. 747,989. PATBNTBD DEC. 29, 190s.

H. K. LEONARD.

GAME APPARATUS.

APPLIDATION FILI-:D MAD. 12, 199s. No MODEL. 2 sHBBTs-sHDET 1.

PATENTED DEC. 29,` 1903.

H. K. LEONARD. GAME APPARATUS.

APPLICATION rILBn MAR. 12, 1903.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

N0 MODEL.

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FFICE.

GAlVlE APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 747,989, dated December 29, 1903. Application filed March 12, 1903. Serial No. 147,433. (No modeLl To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, HARSEY K. LEONARD, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Deposit, in the county of Broome and State of New Yorkyhave invented a new and useful Improvement in Games, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in games; and the object is to provide a device to be used for .amusement and to exercise the skill of the 'operator in learning to manipulate it, provision being made whereby as ones skill in manipulating the board to control the movable object increases the player is rewarded bya correspondingly higher number of points, so that when two or more are playing against one another the most skilful operator wins by reason of his exercise of superior skill.

With the foregoing objects in view my invention consists, first, in an oscillatory board or surface having openings therein for the reception of a movable object andpassageways or guides for the movable object leading to and around said openings, with a counting arrangement or system which provides for the highest count at the remotest point on the board from the starting-place of the movable object.

It further consists in an oscillatory board of the general nature described supported removably or otherwise on a universal pivot, whereby the board may be tilted in various directions by the operator` in playing the game.

It stillfurther consists in certain additional features of construction and arrangements of elements which will be described hereinafter in detail and set forth in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan View of myimproved game. Y Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional View, and Figs. 3 and 4 are modications.

The base A, which forms the support' for the movable b oard, is adapted to` rest upon some stationary object, as a table, desk, chair, or the like, Within convenient reach of the operator and preferably about on the level with the knees. This base has a rim 1 around it whereby to form an inclosure, and this inclosure may be divided into four or tive compartments 2 3 4 5 6 or more or less, as preferred, by meansof the partitions 7 '7, and these compartments for the purposes of my game may be termed markets, as I propose to call my game Driving pigs to market, and these marketshave their special prices from, say, ve cents per pound in the rst one to twenty-live cents in the last. At one end is located a series of pens for the movable objects or pigs, these being designated by the numerals 8, 9, 10, and 11, and in each one a number of 4marbles 12 l2 are contained, preferably of different colors in the different pens. l

B indicates the movable board. This has a rim 13 aronndits side and lower edges to prevent the objects from rolling off, and throughout its length at suitable intervals holes 14 14 are formed, through which the movable objects (pigs) may pass. The entire surface is tortuously grooved to and around these holes in the form of intersecting curves and scrolls 15 15, their function being to afford tracks for the balls or movable objects, and in arrangement the idea is of course to make them more or less indirect in order to prevent the object from rolling to the lower end of the board with too great ease and facility, as the skill in controlling the movable object all resides in causing it to roll asfar down the board as possible, .the game counting more to the player who accomplishes this with the greatest number of balls or movable objects. For this purpose the surface of the board is preferably marked O transversely, as at 16 16, to correspond with the position of the partitions 7 7 in the receptacle below, and the areas or zonesfthus divided oif are supplied with a number corresponding With those on the compartments below.

,The movable board B may be supported on a centrally-located post 20 on the base by means of a universal pivot 21, depending from the center of the movable board and adapted to rock and turn in a socket formed therefor in the top of the post.

In playing the game 'a ball or marble is placed on the starting-point at X, and the person playing the game takes hold of the board and proceeds to rock it on its pivotal support, so as to start the ball from its seat and work it down as far as possible through the channels to the end nearest the handles, the desideratum being to reach the lowest end with as many balls as possible, and therein lies the skill of manipulation, as it requires practice and skill to attain this end, the construction of the surface of the board being such that there is a tendency at all times on the part of the ball or marble to drop through any of the holes or recesses which it approaches.

The game may of course be played in various Ways, and that lis altogether arbitrary and has nothing to do with themechanical features of my invention. One method would be for each player to drive a pig to market until all are driven, when the movable board would be lifted off and a count made each player having a diierent color of balls, and the player getting the most for his pork being the winner. Another way it could be played would be to let each player drive the whole drove and then com pare the aggregate counts, the one making the most of course winning.

It is evident that alterations might be made in the arrangement of the holes and grooves in the board and likewise in the method of supporting the board. For instance, as I have illustrated in Fig. 3,it might be suspended from the top by means of an overhanging arm 25, or, as illustrated in Fig. 4, it might be pivotally supported at the upper end. In each event it is my preference to employ a universal joint. It is obvious that other slight changes might. be resorted to in the form and arrangement of the several parts described Without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention, and hence I do not wish to limit myself to exact construction herein set forth; but,

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In a game apparatus, the combination with a base, of an oscillatory game-board sustained thereabove, the board provided with a plurality of intersecting tortuous channels having holes located therein, and movable objects adapted to travel in the channels and to fall through the holes in the board, the starting-point of the objects located at one end ofthe board, the board subdivided transversely thereof, the subdivisions provided with increasing counts, corresponding with their distance from the starting-point.

2. In a game apparatus, the combination with a base provided with a series of separated receptacles at one end thereof, and subdivided throughout its length, of an oscillatory board supported above the base, the board provided with apertures therethrough, and movable objects adapted to be started at one end of the board and to arrive at the opposite end before falling through the apertures in the board, the skill ot" the operator determining the subdivision into which the object shall fall.

3. In a game apparatus, the combination with a base, subdivided into receiving-compartments, of an oscillatory game-board supported above the base, movable objects received on the board, the game-board provided with a plurality of intersecting tortuous channels having apertures extending through the board at such points over Which the movable objectis likely to pass, the movable object being under the control of the operator at all times when on the surface of the board,the object adapted to travel in the channelsand pass through any of the apertures to fall into any one of thecompartments in the base.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HARSEY K. LEONARD.

Witnesses:

EDGAR Rosn, HENRY TUTHILL.

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