US2946592A - Game pieces - Google Patents

Description

July 26, 1960 A. POST GAME PIECES Filed Dec. 24, 1956 IN V EN TOR. ARTHUR F057- GAME PIECES Arthur Post, 235 W. 102nd St., New York, NY. Filed Dec. 24, 1956, Ser. No. 530,347

- 4 Claims. (Cl. 273-137 This invention relates to games which require a game board employing playing pieces, such as, for example, checkers, chess, and the like. 7

Among the objects of the invention are: to introduce a keener interest, excitement and enjoyment to games of the foregoing type; to create a stimulus and zest for the game which might ordinarily be lacking in beginners or mediocre players; to provide a game employing playing pieces the capture of which results in an achievement award, incentive, or a prize; and to provide a novel game board employing novel playing pieces.

In brief, these objects are accomplished in accordance with the invention by the use of playing pieces designed to accommodate a coin, token or other evidence of award or reward to be retained by the player capturing or jumping the playing piece. Each player is provided with a shufiie and storage box to store his playing pieces and permit the shufiing of the pieces prior to placing the pieces on the board so that neither player may know at that time exactly which one or more pieces contain the prizes.

A more detailed description of the invention follows, in conjunction with a drawing, wherein:

thefold line 14 there is athinner spacing strip 22 which divides each leaf in ,half. The purpose of thisstrip 22 will appear later. The elements from which theleaves 10 and 12 are made may be thick cardboard, wood, or any suitable relatively light Weight material.

Each leaf has a rectangular hollow space opening tothe associated leaf until its edge is flush or level with the leaf, as seen in Fig. 4. r i

The spacing strip orseparator 22 serves a two-fold purpose; it acts as a stiffener to provide rigidity for the inner and outer sections of the leaf, and also as a stop to prevent the 'shufiie box from entering too far into the hollow interior of the leaf;

Theshuttle box 24 is a rectangular-shaped (substan-. tially square), foldable and movable construction adapted to store the playing pieces when the box is inserted into its associatedleaf 10 or 12 of the game board. The box consists of two equal-sized and similar halves in the form of shallow tray frames with the open portions facing each other and hinged together along theline 26. Each of the two trays has a depth which is slightly greater than one-half the thickness of a checker playing piece -and can be considered the top or the bottom of thebox 24. The tray frames of thebox 24 are provided with clasps 2 8 secured to-the frames for enabling easy removal of the box from the game board, in a drawer-- game boardand opened to the 'positionshownin Fig. 5,

Fig. 1 is a plan view tothe top of the foldable game board, shown byway of example only as a checker or chessboard, the foldable shuflie boxes being shown partly Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of thegame board of Fig. 1 along the line 3-3;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the foldable game board of Fig. 1 shown partly open, with the shufiie boxes fully inserted into the sides of the board;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one of the foldable shufile and storage boxes opened to .show the playing pieces therein;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of one form which certain of the playing pieces may take for accommodating a coin, token or other evidence of award or reward; and

Fig. 7 is a vertical section through the playing piece of'Fig. 6 along theline 7--7. I

Throughout the several figures of the drawing the' same parts are identified by the samereference characters;

Referring to the drawing in more detail, Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive show a foldable checkers or chess game board comprising two similar leaves-10 and 12 hinged or foldable'along-lin'e 14. Fig. 'l shows the conventional game field over which the playing pieces are moved in the open position of the game board;

Each of theleaves 10 and 12 is a rectangular-shaped the playing piece 'with acoin 34 therein under the two the checkers or playingpieces 30 are fully exposed and may be removed for playing the game.

The playig pieces or certain selected ones of the playing pieces are designed as receptacles, as shown in Fig. 6, to accommodate a coin, token, or a slip of paper to indicate an award or a prize. Ifa slip of paperis f employed, the paper may, by color'or printing, designate a number of points which by an additive calculation may total up to a predetermined number necessary to determine which player is the Winner of the game. In the particular modification shown in Figs. 6 and 7 the playing piece is a checker having an indent orgroove portion 31 in the bottom with two oppositely disposed flexible flap likespring constructions 32 to exert mild pressure on any coin, token or paper inserted under the flexible spring.

The size of the groove portion is preferably such that a penny, nickel, dime or quarter can be accommodated despite the differences in sizeof the coins. I Fig. 7shows spring flaps 32. Theflexible spring flaps 32" are of such construction so as to easily permit the insertion into or removal of the coin or token from the playing piece In the construction of theplayingpiece of Figs. 6 and] I it is important that the piece should completely conceal the coin, token or paper slip contained therein, when viewed from the fiat side opposite the groove, so as not to reveal to the opponent which piece contains an award or prize.

In utilizing'th'e invention to play a game ofcheckers I for example, each player will'be provided with twelve The colorv of the. playing pieces of one player maybe red,while the color playing pieces of the same color.

of the'p'laying piecesof the opponent may be black. Each player may select four of his playing pieces and insert coins or tokens of difierent values into them;

coin, another a 10-cent coin, and the other two pieces 5-cent coins. These four coin-bearing pieces of each player may be designated cash or prize checkers. Each player then places all of his twelve pieces, including the cash" checkers in his shufile box, face down (flat side only showing) and may hand the shuffle box to. his opponent who then may shufile the playing pieces. The box is designed so that it may be closed to conceal the shufling operation. After shutting, the boxes are returned by each player to his opponent with the playing pieces still facing down. Each player removes his playing pieces from his own shuffle box, one at a time, and places them on his side of the game board, if desired, in a particular order according to the rules agreed upon by the players. In removing pieces from the shuflie boxes, the players may not do anything that will enable them to ascertain which of the pieces hold coins. When the pieces are in playing position, they may or may not be turned face-up to reveal which hold coins, or tokens,

depending upon the rules of the game. After the game.

board is set up, the game is played exactly as in old fashioned checkers except that when a player captures a cash checker the coin or award belongs to him and may be removed immediately. If the piece must be used to crown an opponents king, it returns to play as an ordinary piece. Depending upon the rules of the game, as agreed upon by the players, the game may be over when one player captures all of his opponents cash checkers, no matter how many playing pieces there may be left on the game board or the position in which they may be at that time. More or fewer than four cash playing pieces may be used in the game as agreed upon by the players.

The invention is not limited to a game ofcheckers but may be used wherever there is employed a game board having a playing field and playing pieces; as for example in chess, chinese checkers, mate and backgammon.

What is claimed is: 1

1. For use with a checkers game board requiring a plurality of players, a set of playing pieces ofthe same general outline, said set including a group of playing.

pieces and also a plurality of special playing pieces different from the pieces of said group, said plurality.

of'special playing pieces constituting receptacles enabling a coin or token to be concealed therein in one position of said pieces, said receptacles each having a permanently accessible opening in one side thereof for enabling a coin or token to slide into said opening and be concealed therein, and resilient means attached only to a portion of the peripheral area of the special playing piece at the bottom of the receptacle at a location below the peripheral edge of the opening which is designed to rest on the game board, for exerting retaining pressure on said coin or token in such direction as to hold same within said receptacle, said resilient means permitting sliding movement of coins or tokens of various dimensions into and out of said receptacle, said receptacles when viewed from the other side having the same general shape and appearance as the playingpieces of said group so as to be indistinguishable therefrom.

2. For use with a checkers game board, a set of round checkers of the same general outline, said set including a group of playing pieces and at least, one special playing piece different from the playing pieces of said group, said special piece comprising a round checker, having one relatively flat surface and on the side opposite said flat surface a permanently uncovered and accessible indent of sufiicient size and design to enable the insertion and removal of coins or tokens of various sizes, a flexible pressure exerting means attached only to a relatively small arcuate area of said special checker at a location below that edge of the checker which is adapted to rest on the game board for holding said coin or said token in said indent, said special checker when viewed from the said one flat surface being indistinguishable in shape and appearance from the other checkers to be used in said game board.

3. For use with a game board requiring a plurality of players, a set of playing pieces of the same general outline for each player, said set including at least one playing piece which is different from the other pieces of said set, said one playing piece having a permanently uncovered accessible hollow space for retaining and concealing coins or tokens of various sizes in one position of said piece, a flexible spring in said one playing piece for exerting pressure on said coins or tokens when positioned in said hollow space, said one piece when viewed in that position in which the hollow space is adjacent said game board having the same shape and appearance as said other playing pieces so as to be indistinguishable therefrom, said spring being attached to said one piece at a location close to the bottom of the hollow space and having an elongated area extending into said hollow space for contacting said coins or tokens.

4. For use with a game board requiring a plurality of players, a set of playing pieces of the same general outline, said set including a group of playing pieces and also at least one special playing piece different from the pieces of said group for each of said players, said special playing piece having on one side a permanently uncovered open hollow space for retaining and concealing a coin or token in one position of the special piece, a pair of physically spaced flexible springs in said special playing piece oppositely and symmetrically disposed in said hollow space for exerting pressure on said coin or token in such direction as to retain same in said playing piece, said special piece when viewed from the other side having the same shape and appearance as the other playing pieces so as to be indistinguishable therefrom, the spacing between said springs permitting sliding movement of said coin or token into or out of the hollow space underneath the springs.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 174,958 Humrighausen Mar. 21, 1876 572,691 Brenzinger Dec. 8, 1896 714,930 Mease Dec. 2, 1902 715,795 Haskell Dec. 16, 1902 738,701 Sauer Sept. 8, 1903 986,158 Florsheim Mar. 7, 1911 1,155,273 Quade Sept. 28, 1915 1,399,453 Winslow Dec. 6, 1921 1,430,778 Williams Oct. 3, 1922 1,472,657 Lillard Oct. 30, 1923 1,546,831. Fritz July 21, 1925 1,623,881 Mayer Apr. 5, 1927 1,793,256 Shulman Feb. 17, 1931 2,147,900. Housekuecht Feb. 21, 1939 2,199,818 Franke May 7, 1940 2,253,823 Suteras Aug. 26, 1941 2,334,016 Loesch Nov. 9, 1943 2,548,606 Hutfaker Apr. 10, 1951 2,567,332 Goodhue Sept. 11, 1951 2,665,913 Hlavac Jan. 13, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 677,949 Germany July 5, 1939

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