US997314A - Game apparatus. - Google Patents

Description

CHARLES H. MOORE, OF TOLEDO, OHIO.

GAME APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 30, 1909.

Patented July 11, 1911. serial No. 493,096.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES H. MOORE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Toledo, in the county of Lucas and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Game Apparatus; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and fig ures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to game apparatus, and is designed to furnish means by which two or more opposed players may, under established rules, carry on a mimic warfare.

To this end, my invention consists, substantially, in the board, men, guns and proj ectiles hereinafter described, and shown and illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which- Figure 1 is a top-plan view of my gameboard hereinafter described with the men hereinafter referred to, in place thereon; Fig. 2 a transverse sectional elevation of the same; Figs. 3 to 7 inclusive, the men employed in the game, and Fig. 8 a central, longitudinal, sectional elevation of one of the guns hereinafter referred lto.

Like numerals and letters of reference indicate like parts throughout the drawings.

In the drawings, 1 isa flat rectangular board composed of wood, metal or other suitable material, and having around its margin an upturned flange 2 of suflicient height to keep the men and balls used in the game from falling off the board. AtY each end of the board a narrow space,-which may be termed the barracks ,-is partitioned olf with partitions 3, corresponding in height with the flanges 2, the partitions having, midway of their length, an opening 4 of suicient width to permit the passage therethrough of the men from the barracks out upon the board. In front of this opening is secured a narrow bar 5, as a barrier or breastwork for the protection of the men as they move onto the field. The board is laid olf in a large square field, the angles of which coincide with the middle of the ends and sides of the boards. This square is checkered with equal squares after the fashion of a checker board, the squares being in strongly contrasting colors. This arrangeother two being of the color of theV dark squares of theeld. The spaces within the barracks are divided intosquares, asshown. Each of these squares,-save the middle one,being occupied at the beginning of the game by one of the men.

The men employed in playing the game in the present instance,-for illustration ten in number,- are composed of wood, metal, celluloid or any other suitable substance, and vary in form or markings, as illustratedin Figs. 3 to '7 inclusive, to determine their rank and value. Each man YVhas a base nearly as wide as the width of a squareyand of suflicient height to be struck by the projectiles employed. The underside of `the base may, if desired, be marked with a num- Y ber to indicate the numerical value of the piece in the final counting up, of the game. In the middle of the field, in a spacel'occupying, say, four squares, is marked a neutral to the dimensions of the board andthe guns composing the armament.

At each corner of the lield inclosed by the j flanges 2 and the partitions 3 is secured a block 8 or other means for the swiveled sup-V port of a gun. The guns are made of wood, metal, or other suitable material in imitation of a small cannon. The gun 9near its breech is embraced by a band 10, the ends of which are pivotally connected, as at 11, with a pin 12 which lits in socket 18, thus forming a swivel upon which the gun may be turned horizontally and elevated, as may be desired. The bore of the gun extends axially through its entire length, and in the bore is a plunger 14 of'greater length than the gun. A stout rubber band 15 is secured to the ring 10 on opposite sides of the gun, as at 16, and eX- tends through an opening 17 in the protrud ing rear end of the plunger 14. The ball a T is placed at the desired spot in front ofthe A gun which is now aimed. By pulling upon the rearV end of the plunger,-by means of the finger piece 18,-t-he stout rubber band is stretched and placed under tension, as illustrated at the upper left hand corner of Fig. 1. Now when the' plunger is released,

its forward end forcibly strikes the ball and drives it against the selected victim with greater or less force and accuracy, according to the skill employed, and somewhat after the fashion of propelling a billiard ball with a cue.

It is obvious that with the devices above described, the military game may be played in many ways and with various rules. For illustration two or four players may participate in the game. The men are placed on squares in the barracks, with m-en of highest value at the extreme ends in their order, leaving the center square vacant each player has a gun at his right with one or more balls to shoot. As A moves a man out from the barracks onto the field, a square at each move, B has the privilege of either a shot at his opponents man or a move,-but not two successive shots. The goal to be reached by each player is the light colored triangular field on the opposite side of the board. A and B shoot or move alternately. Then a player shoots au opponents man onto the opposite dark triangular field, the man is dead and counts for the player; if an opponents man is shot onto either of the triangular fields, it is a prisoner and must remain there unless it is exchanged. `W hen one players men are all disposed of, the eX- tent of his losses in killed, wounded and prisoners is footed up and compared with the corresponding losses of the other side.

The foregoing will indicate in a general way how the game is played. There may b-e also, of course, rules relatingto men falling on dark or light squares or both, or taking refuge in the neutral red cross square, but as these features of the game constitute no part of the mechanical invention, they need not be here further elaborated.

That I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,-

l. A game apparatus comprising a board having elevated marginal flanges and partly inclosed spaces at twoopposite ends of the board, the space between said partly inclosed spaces being marked with squares of contrasting colors, two series of pieces adapted to be moved upon the various squares of the board, a ball and means for projecting such ball upon the checkered field of the board.

2. A game apparatus comprising a rectangular board having elevated flanged margins, said board having at each of the two opposite ends an inclosed compartment,- there being an opening leading from each compartment to the space between the compartments,-a barrier in front of each of said openings, a checkered field upon the board between the end compartments, a series of pieces adapted for movement upon the squares of the checkered field, a ball and means for propelling the ball against such pieces upon such field.

3. A game apparatus comprising a rectangular board having thereon a rectangular field checkered in contrasting colors, two compartments at opposite ends of said board, each of said compartments having an opening leading onto said checkered field, and two series of pieces having respectively distinguishing marks of determinate value combined with a projectile and means for projecting such projectile against said pieces upon said eld.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES H. MOORE.

Witnesses CLAYTON MURPHY, LEONA KIBURTZ.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

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