US2212846A - Game - Google Patents

Description

Patented Aug. 27, 1940 GAME Raphael A. Pilla, Philadelphia, Pa.

Application September 12, 1939, Serial No. 294,433

2 Claims.

' This invention has to ,do with games and is concerned primarily with games of the type involving the progressive movement of a marker or counter.

At the present time there are available to the public various games including a ladder or pathway of success, and which games involve the movement of a counter or marker along the ladder or pathway. With the now known games of this type the movement of the marker is controlled or actuated by devices that depend solely on luck or chance.

With this condition in mind this invention has in View, as an important object, the provision of a game of the character above noted in which the movement of the marker or counter is con; trolled by a device involving skillful manipulation; the successful operation of the device depending not only on the players knowledge of the theory underlying the device, but also skill ful manipulation of the same.

More in detail this invention has. in view, as

an object, the provision of a game of the character above noted which includes a playing board that involves certain novel features.

More in detail this invention has in mind'an arrangement in which the ladder or pathway is divided up into two main sections. In the lower or first section the counter or marker progresses upon every successful manipulation of the playing device. When the playermakes an unsuccessful attempt to manipulate the device, this failure is recorded on another portion of the card, and these failures or unsuccessful attempts must be'removed before progress can be made in the higher section of the ladder.

Yet another object of the invention is the provision of I a game of the character above notedwhich includes a novel type of playing device as the means for controlling movement of the marker. Along this line the invention has in view, as a further detailed object, the provision of a device comprising a stick and a strip offiexible material that maybe wound about the stick, the stick being considerably longer than the strip of material. l

In accordance with this invention the strip is first doubled on itself to form'a bighti which re?- ceives the stick. The double thickness of the strip is then wound tightly about the stick until the entire double strip is so wound. The player now grasps the stick at either end without touching the fabric, and by manipulationattempts to so unwind the double strip that the bight will shift from its original position of: receiving the! stick to one at the side thereof sothat when the unwinding is completed the fabric will fall free from the stick. I I H It. is obvious that in order for the player to successfully manipulate thestickto obtain the] desired end he must either depend on luck, or have a knowledge of the windings of the, strip about the stick.

Various other more detailed objects and advantages of the invention will in part become apparent, andin part be hereinafter stated, as the description of the invention proceeds,

The invention, therefore, comprises a novel game including a playing card which carries a ladder or pathway of success, and certain places where failures or disappointments may be scored. Acount'er is intended to be moved along the'ladder or pathway'of success which is included in the card, and the movement of the counter is controlled by a playing device that consists particularly of a stick; and a stripof flexible material that is adapted to be wound thereabout, suc-'- cessful manipulation of the stick ending in an unwinding of the strip therefrom without the player touching the same with his hands.

For a full and morecompl'ete understanding of the inv'ention reference may be had tothe following description and accompanying drawing, wherein Figure'l is a plan view of a playing card which is designed in accordance with the precepts of this invention,

Figure 2 is a side elevational showing of a stick with a stripof material wound 'thereabout,

Figure 3 is a'view takenfrom the end "with the stick shown in section, the material being in the tightly wound condition of Figure 2, j

Figure 4 is a view showing the stick and 'certain turns of the strip winding-in an expanded relation, i

Figure 5 shows the relative position of the stick and the bight when the double strip of Figure l'has been unwound,

Figure 6 is aview similar to Figure 4 but'de-' veloping a change in the windings involving an additional turn of a single thickness of the strip,

Figure 7 is a view showing the relative position of the stick and the bight when the strip in the condition of Figure -6 is unwound.

-Referring now to the drawing, whereinlike ref erence characters denote'corresponding parts, a playing card which is intended to be an essential element-of the present game'is shown in Figure 1 and identified by the'reference character A. This card may be made from any suitable material, such as cardboard, and as many of the cards A may be included in a single set as desired.

In order that the game may be more appealing to the players the card may carry a character which is associated With the attainment of success or a particular wish. Thus the jinni of Arabian mythology may be included on the card A as one example of this idea. This fanciful character is designated l0, and within the outline of the same the card A carries a ladder or pathway of success which is identified in its entirety by the reference character II. This ladder or pathway of success includes a plurality of individual steps l2 which may carry appropriate designations for certain particular lines of endeavor.

It is important to note that the ladder of success H includes a dividing line such as indicated at E3, which marks off the steps l2 above and below said line. In the form of the invention illustrated in the drawing the ladder of success ll includes various steps which might be associated with the advance of a young boy entering the employ of a bank. Each player must have a card of the general character indicated. Obviously this is intended purely for illustrative purposes, and is intended to be no limitation on the invention.

A marker which is to be employed in conjunction with the ladder H is shown at M, and on the occasion of the first successful manipulation of the playing device, which is hereinafter described in detail, the player places this marker i l on the lower-most step ii. On the occasion of every successive successful manipulation of the playing device this marker Hi may advance one step.

In order to facilitate progress during the early stages of the playing of the game, all successful attempts of the player to manipulate the playing device will result in a forward movement of the marker 64, this rule applying up to the dividing line i3.

However, all failures or unsuccessful attempts are intended to be recorded by placing a marker M in the appropriate scoring columns under Wish Disappointments which are designated !5. When five failures are so recorded no progress above line it can be made as a result of successful manipulation until each block of five failures is cancelled by one successful manipulation; if less than five failures are on the score each success entitles the player to advance one step above line i3, except that the final step may not be taken until all failures are removed.

Referring now more particularly to Figures 2 to 7, inclusive, the novel playing device of this invention will be described.

This device includes, as an essentialelement, a stick l6 which may carry at each end fanciful or ornamental characters which might have some relation to the pictorial representation on the card A. For instance, in line with the jinni of Arabian mythology which is shown on the card A, the stick It might carry, at each end, representations of Aladdins Lamp, which are designated ill;

A strip of material is shown at if as being of double thickness and tightly wound about the strip i6. Prior to winding of the strip of material !8 about the stick it the same is folded back on itself to form a double thickness terminating in a bight, such as shown at E9 in Figures 4 and 5. The double thickness strip is then tightly wound about the strip to assume the condition shown in Figures 2 and 3, which provides an inner layer and an outer layer 2 I.

Referring now more particularly to Figure 4, it will be noted that if exactly the same number of turns are made by the inner and outer layers 20 and 2 i, respectively, the stick it, for all effective purposes, remains in the bight 59 so that if the double thickness is completely unwound by the player the bight it will catch the stick I6 in the manner depicted in Figure 5. Such a result would, in accordance with the theory of this game, be considered a failure or unsuccessful attempt, and would result in one scoring under Wish Disappointments.

Referring now more particularly to Figures 6 and '7 it will be noted that the outer layer 2| has been unwound for one turn in the direction of the arrows of Figure 4. At the same time the inner layer 28 has not been so carried around. This results in a shifting of the bight from the location identified by the reference character I!) to that location marked 22. Thus When the double strip is completely unwound the bight i9 assumes the position at one side of the stick it, as shown in Figure 7, with the result that the strip will fall away from the stick, this being the result of successful manipulation by the player.

It is, of course, possible that a player might manipulate the stick and accidentally cause one layer to unwind without the simultaneous unwinding of the other layer for the same turn, and thus achieve the desired result more or less by chance. However, it is evident that a player having a knowledge of the windings, and the manner in which the bight shifts from the location marked 59 to that designated 22, will be able to combine this knowledge with successful manipulation to more readily achieve the desired result.

While various flexible materials may be employed for the strip l8, the invention has particularly in mind the use of an appropriate fabric. Also various types of ornamental features may be included in the card A, fabric H3 or stick 5 6 to carry out any desired theme.

Preferably, each player chooses a card which best expresses his ambition. The number of playing sticks he has to manipulate each turn he is allowed to play depends upon the number of steps in the ladder, that is, one stick for each step. The first player to reach the top is the winner.

While a preferred specific embodiment of the invention is hereinbefore set forth it is to be clearly understood that the invention is not to be limited to the exact constructions illustrated and described, because various modifications of these details may be provided in putting the invention into practice within the purview of the appended claims.

' I claim:

1. In a game of the character described, a playing device comprising a strip of flexible material comparable to a fabric and having a body capable of holding a roll formation, said strip being doubled on itself to form a. bight with the strip of material defining two layers that are folded into a multi-turn roll, a member received in said bight and projecting from each side of said roll an appreciable distance and supporting said roll, said roll frictionally engaging said member whereby rotation of said member causes a. corresponding rotation of said roll to shift the bight in said strip whereby the strip may be caused to fall .free from said member.

2. In a game of the character described, a playing device comprising a fabric strip having a body capable of holding a roll formation doubled on itself to form a bight and defining two layers, said strip being wound into a multi-turn roll with the bight at the center thereof, a stick received in said bight and projecting from each I side of said roll, said roll being supported by and frictionally engaging said stick whereby rotation of said stick causes a corresponding rotation of said roll to shift the bight in said strip, and a handle element at each end of said stick.

RAPHAEL A. PILLA.

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