US998424A - Game apparatus. - Google Patents

Description

H. R. STEVENSON.

GAME APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED DEO.19, 1910.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HERBERT RICHARD STEVENSON, 0F MONTREAL WEST, QUEBEC, CANADA.

GAME APPARATUS.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that T, Hnnnnnr ltroriano STEV1H-$SO1\T, a subject of the King of Great Britain, and resident of the town of Montreal West, in the Province of Quebec, in the Bomii'iion of Canada, have invented certain new and useful. Improvements in Game Apparatus, of which the following is a specifieation.

The invention relates to improvements in game ap aratus, as described in the present specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings that form part of the same.

The invention consists essentially in the novel adaptation of the rules of the game of baseball to an indoor table game, played on a suitable board.

The objects of the invention are to devise a form of amusement for indoors which will prove of great interest, both to the young and their elders, to derive the benefit of the common knowledge of the game of baseball for the purpose of an interesting parlor game, and generally to provide a simple, inexpensive and pleasant occupation for the leisure moments.

Tn the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan View of the game board showing the men in various positions, and in addition enlarged perspective views of the men and ball apart from the board. Fig. 2 is a detail showing a portion of the pack of cards used.

In playing this game, a square board 1 is used, made of any suitable material and marked off in a number of squares 2, somewhat similar to a checker-board. The board 1 represents the baseball field.

3 and 4.- are the foul lines, being the lines dividing off the margin squares 2 and the sides of the board, and immediately inside these lines, the sides 5 and 6 of the diamond are formed, representing the paths between the home plate 7 and the first base 8 and the paths between the third base 9 and said home plate 7, the sides 10 and 11 represent the paths between the first base 8 and the second base 12, and the second base 12 and the third base 9, thus the diamond space 13 is inclosed toward one corner of the board, leaving the field 14 outside thereof.

15 is the catchers position, immediately behind the home plate 7, on the extreme corner square of that part of the board.

16 is the batters position on the third square, two squares beyond the corner square Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed December 19, 1910.

Serial No. 597,993.

and in diagonal alinement with the home plate square 7 17 is the diamond 1i 18 is the pitchers position in the square beside the box.

19 is the short-stop in the row of squares immediately beyond the side 10 of the diamond, intermediate of the length thereof.

20 is the third base man in the square beside the base plate 9.

21 is the second base man in the square beside the base plate 12, and 22 is the first base man in the square beside the base plate 8.

23 is the position of center field in the direct diagonal line of squares across the board behind the second base 12.

24 is the position of right field.

25 is the position of left field.

26 are the cards used in playing the game. The cards 26 are marked simply with the numerals 1, 2, 8, 41-, 5 and6 in groups of each numeral. The pack consists of fifty-two cards, twelve marked 1, eight marked 2, eight marked 3, eight marked 41-, eight marked 5 and eight marked 6.

The rules of the game of baseball hold throughout this table game.

The game is played with a special pack of cards, as described and each hand to a player consists of two cards, by preference there are two players, one representing one side and the other, the other side, each having his particular colored counters or men. The dealing may be done by mutual arrangement, the main purpose being that each player will receive a hand in turn, and if the side in to bat receives certain combinations of numbers in the cards before him, either in the same hand or successive hands, then his men are supposed to perform actions on the board or field.

The rules of the board game, of course, are not arbitrary, though they follow throughout the rules of the game of baseball, and the moves may be made either diagonally or straight across the squares of the board, the paths being in each case guided by the small squares inside the large square. This is one of the essential features of this game apparatus, for by following the directions, guided by the squares on the board, the fielders, the batsmen, the base runners and the ball may be moved to meet any combinations in the cards as dealt.

As an example of how the game may be Patented July 18, 1911..

pitchers box in the center of the played with this apparatus I will suppose that two persons are playing as opponents and will call the one A and the other B. Assuming A is taking innings and B is in the field, the fielding pieces belonging to B will be placed on the board as indicated on the drawings while A has possession of the ball 27. The cards are shufiied and A draws two from the pack; in the event of these two cards being consecutive numbers, A has made a hit and he moves the ball the corresponding number of squares 2, to the sum total of the numerals on the two cards. The ball may be moved diagonally of the squares either straight up the board or laterally, or it may be moved the number of one card in one direction and the number of the other card in another direction, or the ball may be moved straight across the squares 2, that is to say, 'parallelwith the diamond lines, the idea being to get as near as possible to first base. It is now Bs turn to draw two cards from the pack and according to the chance indicated on the cards, he may move one of his fielders either diagonally of the small squares or straight across, that is to say, parallel with the sides of the diamond, or he may move two men, one for the number on each card, his aim being to land a fielder on the same square as the ball, in which case A is put out.

The above is just given as an example of how the pieces of the apparatus are used in combination, but it is obvious that certain combinations of cards may mean certain things in the progress of the game and any suitable rules may govern the game, though as before stated they may be made to follow throughout the rules of the game of baseball.

hat I claim as my invention is:

A game apparatus, comprising a board symmetrically divided into a number of squares forming guides for diagonal or cross paths, said board having a diamond marked off from one corner thereof, the sides of said diamond being parallel with the sides of the squares and the corners of said diamond being squares in said board and constituting the home plate, first base, second base and. third base and the square in the middle of said diamond constituting the pitchers box, a plurality of men represented by counters and constituting the teams in the baseball representation, a counter representing the ball, and a pack of cards marked with numerals and adapted to be dealt out in hands.

Signed at the city and district of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, this sixteenth day of December, 1910.

HERBERT RI CHAR-D STEVENSON.

lVitnesses G. H. Tnnsmnnn, H. E. PLANTE, Jr.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). C.

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