US1368875A - Game apparatus - Google Patents

Description

H. ADAMS.

GAME APPARATUS.

APPLICATION man MAY 2o, 1920.

aq/ented Feb. 25.9%.

- ifm/gwn??? 5mg! @www HARRY ADAMS, THE UNTTED STATES NAVY.

GAME APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. i5, 192i.

Application led May 20, 1920. Serial No. 382,916.

To all 'whom t may concern.: i

Be it known that I, HARRY ADAMS, a citizen of the United States, of the United States Navy, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Game Apparatus; and l do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the inacter to pool or billiards, and it comprises an apparatus constituting. a board, a plurality of balls on said board, a plurality of pockets or indentations into which said balls are to be projected, and an impeller adapted to coperate with one of said balls whereby other balls of the series may be driven into the corresponding pockets or indentations.

Tn order to el'ect the operation of the cue ball I use, instead of an ordinary hand-operated cue, a mechanical impeller comprising a lever provided with a weighted arm and a spring-returned plunger,adapted to be caused to strike said lever and throw the weighted arm into sudden contact with the cue ball, whereby suilicient velocity is imparted to the said ball to accomplish the results desired; the force of the blow imparted to the ball being dependent upon the nature ot the blow applied to the plunger.

My invention will be more fully understood after reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like parts are indicated by similar reference symbols throughout the several views, and in which Figure l is a plan view of the board constructed according to my invention and showing 15 balls in addition to the cue ball, with a number oi' recesses into which said balls are to be impelled, together with a view of the impeller resting on said table.

Fig. 2 shows a section along the line 2-2 of Fig. l, and looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 3 shows a section along the line 3 3 of Fig. l, and looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the impeller in the distended position.

Fig. 5 shows a central section through the impeller of Fig. 4, the lever carrying the weighted arm being shown in elevation, and the ball about to be struck being shown in dotted lines.

Fig. 6 is a similar view to Fig. 5, but shows the plunger in the lowered or operaltive position with the ball started on its flight; and

Fig. 7 is a view of one oi' the balls used in the apparatus.

A represents a table having the usualv pockets a, at the corners and sides thereof, being generally similar, but on a smaller scale, to the ordinary l-ball pool table. This table may be provided with grooves a at each end thereof to receive the balls B" after the same Vhave been pocketed. The balls are shown 1n these grooves or racks in full lines, and their pyramidal arrangement on the table is shown in dotted lines. The table may be also provided with the usual spots a2 for the initial position of the cue ball, and a3 for the initial position of the number one ball of the pyramid. i

B represents the cue ball, which may be of special design or color, or generally similar to the other balls.

E represents the impeller or operating device adapted to take the place or" the ordinary cue ball used in pool or billiards, or the mallet used with croquet or similar games. This impeller comprises a heel member E provided with the pin e on which the lever F is pivoted. This lever` has a short operating arm f and a weighted arm 7. The heel member E is provided with a spline groove c in which projects a guide pin e of the plunger sleeve E2, which plunger sleeve is preferably made in tubular form and conta-ins a return spring H.

This sleeve E2 is preferably provided with an air vent e2 to prevent excessive cushioning effect ot the air therein.

The complete apparatus for a miniature pool game is indicated in Fig. l.

In order to use the device to play miniature pool, up-end the impeller and move it with the weighted arm f close against the cue ball, as shown in Fig. 5; then a sudden blow on the top of the sleeve E2 will cause the lower end of said sleeve to strike the arm f of the lever F, imparting a quick movement to the weighted arm f and throwing the ball outward. The force of the blow imparted to the ball will, of course, depend weighted armsired a light blow only may bev given -to the sleeveV E2, while if a stronger shotis desired the blow would, of course, be harder. TheY direction of the initial path of theballfcan` be determined by properly positioning the It will be o vious that considerable dexterity may be obtained vafter-practice in imuvr` partirngf the proper velocity, to the ball, or in' Vstarting the ball in the proper direction; Y

Vhile' fihave shown the invention as appliedV to propelling balls on atable, for instance-Tin apparatus `for playing Vl-ball pool invminiature', it will be obviousthat theimpellers maybe'used orplaying billiardsonl a miniature scale and used to impel balls on a lawines in'miniature croquet, golf; orthe like; the idea being that the "ball is struclrbya weighted arm and inipelled lin the desired direction and jthatthe velocity imparted to` the ball will depend upon the nature of the blow imparted to theimplement itself and transmitted by it to the ball.

Itlwill be obvious that various modiiications mightbe'made iny theherein described apparatus,v4 and intheconstruction, combina# tion and arrangement of 'parts which could be usedwithout departing from the spirit of? my `invention*;and `lido notmean to limit the kinvention fto such.V details except-'as particularly pointed "out 1n the claims.

Having thusdescribed my` invention'I what l claim and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is I plurality of balls, and an impeller having a heel piece,a lever pivoted to said heel piece and having a striking arm adapted to strike ,the ball, and a hollow plunger slidably mounted on said heel piece and adapted to operate said lever;

2;V Game apparatus comprising a table, a plurality of balls, and an impeller having a heel piece, a lever pivoted to said heelpiece and having a striking arm adapted to strike the ball, and a hollow plunger slidably Vmounted on said heel piece and adaptedV to l operate said lever, withVV a return spring mounted in said hollow plunger. Y f3. An impeller for use in game apparatus Vof the character described; comprising a heel piece, a hollowV plungerfslidably mounted thereon, and a bell cranlrleverpivoted to said heel piece and having an arm adapted tofengagesaid plunger, and a second arm `adaptedfto strike vthe ball;

l.V Game apparatus comprising a table,

4. An impeller for use in game apparatus Y of the character described,"comprising a heel piece, a f hollow `plunger y slidablyi mounted thereon, a return spring'rinclosed in saidVV plunger, andxa `bellcranlr lever pivoted toA saidfheel piece'` and` having an arm adapted to engagesaid plunger, anda second arm:

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