US863412A - Puzzle or game apparatus. - Google Patents

Description

PATENTED AUG. 13. 1907;

H. MAORUM. PUZZLE 0R GAME APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR 29 1907.

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HOWARD MAGRUM, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

PUZZLE OR GAME APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 13, 1907.

Application filed March 29,1907. Serial No. 365,374.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HOWARD MACRUM, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Ouyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented new and useful Improvements in Puzzles 01' Game Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to puzzles or game apparatus, andparticularly to that class of puzzles or game apparatus in which one or more spherical balls or objects are designed to be seated or placed in certain positions by manually manipulating the device to control their movements.

The object of the present invention is to provide a puzzle or game apparatus of this type in which an improved construction of playing surface is provided to increase the difficulty of seating the ball, and which is designed to be employed either as a puzzle or game apparatus; and a further object is to provide a construction of article of this nature which may be made to subserve the function of a paper weight or other similar useful article.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating the invention,Figru-e 1 is a perspective view of the device in proper position for use. Fig. 2 is a bottom perspective view thereof. Fig. 3 is a central vertical transverse section of the device. Fig. 4 is a plan view of a modified construction. Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the same.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 3, inclusive, 1 designates a box or receptacle which may be of circular, rectangular or other preferred form and is provided with a transparent top or cover 2, consisting of a pane of glass or sheet of mica suitably fitted in the upper portion of the body of the box. In the form disclosed in these figures, the box is rectangular and provided with a bottom 3 suitably seciu'ed in position therein. In the form shown in Figs. 4 and 5 the body and top of the box or receptacle is formed of a single piece of transparent material, such as glass, and such body 1 is formed in its bottom with a recess to receive the bottom 3, which conforms in construction with that shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. The bottom in this case may be cemented or otherwise secured in position, and the device as thus constructed is intended to serve the additional function of a paper weight.

The upper surface of the body 3 is formed to provide a playing field or surface which is highest at the center and slopes downwardly toward the edges, and may be in practice of generally circular or angular formation, so that, in other words, the playing field will have the general shape of the frustum of a cone, pyramid or other similar object having a continuously circular sloping face or a plurality of angularly arranged sloping sides.

1n the present instance, theupper surface of the bottom 3 is provided with a plurality of sloping sides 4 facing the respective sides of the inclosing chamber and extending downward from the center or highest point of such surface, at which point a seat, receiving socket or recess 5 is provided to receive a spherical or other shaped ball or movable object 6 inclosed within the casing, the ball and sloping playing surface being visible through the transparent top of the casing. The angular sides have their corners or points of intersection 7 alining with the corners of the rectangular box and radiating thereto from the central pocket 5, thus rendering it difficult to control the movements of the ball over the sloping faces so as to conduct it into the pocket, which is properly shapedfor its reception. In the use of the device as a puzzle, a single pocket 5 of the arrangement shown may be employed, the solution of the puzzle consisting in so tilting or manipulating the device as to seat the ball within the pocket. For the purpose of adapting the device to be used in playing different games a number of auxiliary pockets 8 may be provided, said pockets being located along the lines 7 at the points of intersection of the sloping sides and preferably midway between the pocket 5 and the corners of the casing.

In playing a game involving a desired number of scores or points, the pockets 5 and 8, respectively, may be considered as plus and minus pockets, the seatingof the ball within the pocket 5 counting a certain number of points for the player, while, on the other hand, the seating of the ball in either one of the pockets 8 will be counted aloss of a certain number of points. Each player in turn may have an inning, which terminates at a certain time or when the ball is seated within one of the pockets, and the one who first makes the required number of points or the greatest number of points in a determined number of innings may be adjudged the winner. The pocket 5 is counted a plus pocket on account of the difficulty of seating the ball therein, while the pockets 8 are counted minus pockets owing to the comparative ease with which the ball may be seated within one of them by simply allowing it to roll around the playing surface. In using the device either as a puzzle or a game, the eyes and hand will be trained and interest and amusement afforded.

It will, of course, be understood that the device when constructed for use as a paper weight or the like may have its body portion of a circular or angular form, as desired, and the outside surface of the casing and the playing field may be used, in either adaptation of the device, for advertising purposes. For convenience in keeping score in a game, an erasable tablet 9 may be secured within a recess in the bottom 3 so as to lie flush with the underside of the bottom.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, is

l. A puzzle or game device comprising a casing having a transparent portion and a playing field therein provided with a sloping surface having a plurality of angularly rerelated sides approximately midway of the height of the 10 lated sides, said surface being formed at its highest porplaying field. tion with a main pocket and at the points of junction of In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence its sides with auxiliary pockets. f two Witnesses 2. A puzzle or game device comprising a casing having a transparent top and a bottom Whose upper surface forms a playing field, said surface being of frusto-pyramidal Witnesses: form and having a pocket at the highest ppint thereof and H. B. HARE, auxiliary pockets at the points of junction of its angularly H. F. DENNELL.

HOWARD MACRUM.

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