US2030466A - Double dummy bridge game - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 11, 1936.

I. R. PARIS DOUBLE DUMMY BRIDGE GAME Filed .Sept. 23, 1952 6 Sheets-Sheet l i I?! I v OOQUVJ-4-4-d-L2OQ Feb. 11, 1936.

l. R. PARlS DOUBLE DUMMY BRIDGE- GAME Filed Sept. 23, 1932 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 Feb. 11, 1936.

|. PARIS 2,030,466

DOUBLE DUMMY BRIDGE GAME Filed Sept. 25, 1932 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Feb. 11, 1936. PARls 2,030,466

DOUBLE DUMMY BRIDGE GAME Filed Sept. 25, 1952 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 1 l l l l Invert/far.-

W/RPM,

Feb. 11, 1936. I. R. PARIS 2,030,466

DOUBLE DUMMY BRIDGE GAME Filed Sept. 25 1932 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Patented Feb. 11, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 26 Claims.

The present invention relates to a device which permits a card player such as a player of bridge to play a series'of double dummy bridge games successively, whereby he may test his skill in the bidding and playing of the game and thereby improve his skill in the game.

More particularly the present invention relates I to a novel device which provides the ready display of a plurality of series of four bridge hands, each series of four bridge hands constituting a bridge game. The hands and games are preferably preselected so as to illustrate any desired principle or principles in the bidding and playing of the game.

It is the object of the present invention to provide such a device in theform of a small compact box or other structure so constructed and designed as to permit, by a simple manual operation the display of any one of a plurality of series of printed indicia, each series consisting of four hands of thirteen playing cards each, and together constituting a bridge game.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of the type described with readily and manually operable devices to keep track of the cards in each hand as they are played in the course of the play of the game.

A further object of'the invention is to provide readily and manually operable devices which will keep track of the tricks taken in the course of the play of the game by North and South, and/or by East and West.

While the several forms of the invention disclosed and described in the present application are designed and adapted for the play of bridge, it is obvious that the invention may also be applied to the play of other card games.

More particularly the present invention embodies a box having a cover plate provided with a series of elongated slots and display devices disposed below the cover plate, such display devices having printed thereon a plurality of bridge hands and operable to display a hand of thirteen cards through each of the slots.

In order to simulate a bridge game'in actual play, the slots are preferably disposed along the sides of a square and correspond with the conventional North, South, East and West positions of bridge players at a card table.

The display devices disposed below the cover plate may take on a variety of forms. In one such form as disclosed in Figs. 2, 3 and 4, each slot has disposed below thereof a drum or roll having printed on its circumferential face a series of preselected bridge hands by means of the conventhereon corresponding ployed; I

tional printed indicia. A set of four such rollers or drums is provided and the hands of such rollers are numbered to correspond with each other, thereby facilitating the selection and display of four hands which together constitute a bridge game.

In other forms of the invention disclosed herein webs having printed thereon a series of preselected hands may be employed. Such webs may be endless and in this form of the invention there would be a pair of rolls carrying a web having printed thereon the hands for North and South and a cooperating pair of rolls carrying a web having printed thereon the hands forEast and West.

-Such webs, if desired, may also be attached to such rolls and may then be operated to wind or unwind as desired.

It will be understood that these several forms of the invention each offer the possibility of displaying a difierent number of games within a box of the same dimensions. The form employing drums, rolls or cylinders having the hands printed on its cylindrical surface offers the greatest limitation on the number of hands or games that may be embodied in one structure. The employment of endless webs considerably increases the number of games that may be displayed and the employment of the winding rolls increases the number of games that may be embodied in a single structure even further.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent from the following description and the drawings which constitute a part of the present application.

In the drawings:

' Fig. 1 represents a plan view of the cover plate and it will be understood as the description of the several forms of the invention progresses, that the cover plate shown herein may be employed with any one of the forms of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of one embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2; i

Fig. 4 is a sectional View of a detail relating to one form of means for indicating the cards played or unplayed in the progress-of the game;

Fig. 5 is a side view of such detail;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of such detail;

Fig. 71s a plan view ofa modified form of the invention in which webs having printed indicia to bridge hands are em- Fig. 8 is a plan view of the form shown in Fig. 7 with the cover plate removed;

Fig. 9 is a longitudinal sectional view taken on the line 99 of Fig. 7;

Fig. 10 is a sectional detail view taken on the line III-l0 of Fig. 7;

Fig. 11 is a plan view of another form of the invention with the cover plate removed;

Fig. 12 is an end view of the form shown in Fig. 1 1

Fig. '13 is a side view of one of the indicators employed in the form shown in Figs. 9 and 10, and

Fig. 14 is a plan view of the same indicator element.

Referring now more specifically to the form of the invention disclosed in Figs. 1 and 2 and detail figures associated therewith,'the present device includes a box 20 having a cover plate 2! and any desired securing device may be employed for holding the box and cover plate in assembled relation and which may be readily disassembled so as to provide ready access tothe interior of the box when it is desired, for example, to replace the drums, rolls or webs disposed in the box by another set of drums, rolls or webs. The cover plate 2! has the slots N, S, E and W which constitute the conventional representation for the North, South, East and West positions of the bridge hands in abridge game. At one end of each slot and preferably somewhat spaced from the end of the slot is disposed an opening which is designed to display the number of the hand or game. For reasons which will appear more clearly in the further description of the various forms of the invention and particularly in connection with the description of the forms employing webs, the openings 22 for the North and South hands are disposed at opposite ends of the corresponding slots. Similarly, the openings 23 for the East and West hands are disposed at diagonally opposite ends of the corresponding slots. These openings 22 and 23 are designed to display the number of the game or hand. In other words, in order to display a game for play the display devices are operated until the number displayed in each of the openings 22 and 23 is the same, showing that the hands displayed in the corresponding slots N, S, E and W constitute together a bridge game.

At the-opposite end of each slot N, S, E or W is another opening 24. This opening 24 is designed to properly cooperate and.- register with the display devices disposed under the cover plate so as to display therethrough the declaration at which that particular game is played. Moreover, the display devices disposed under the cover plate have a declaration printed thereon only in asso-- ciation with the declarers hand. The result will be that when the display devices are operated so as to display a preselected bridge game, such as for example, game No. 1, as shown in the drawings, the declaration will appear only in one opening 24," whereas nothing will be displayed through the remaining openings 24. In the case shown in the drawings, the insignia 5C. appears in the opening 24 associated with the slot S..

This indicates that in this particular game South is the declarer and the contract or declaration is five clubs.

Referring now more specifically to the form of the invention embodied in Figs. 2, 3 and 4, the box enclosesfour drums, rolls or cylinders 25, associated with the slots N. S, E and W, one such cylinder for each slot. The cylinder may be made in any suitable manner and is preferably thereof which partially projects through a slot 21 in the cover plate. The cylinder carries on its cylindrical face a series of preselected bridge hands, these covering the entire cylindrical surface of the roll, drum or cylinder. Each bridge hand also has printed alongside thereof the number of the hand which is displayed through the opening 22 or 23. In such cases where the nature of the bridge hand is such that its relation to the remaining three hands which makes a bridge game leads in the proper bidding of the hands to a contract originated in the hand, the cylinder also has printed thereon and in line with the bridge hand the declaration or contract.

Each of these cylinders is so disposed within the box and below the cover plate as to permit of its manual rotation so as to display any desired bridge game. This may be accomplished in any suitable manner. In the specific embodiment of the invention disclosed herein, each drumor cylinder 25 is provided with a pin 28 at each end thereof which serve to engage the resilient metal brackets 29 carried by the under-face of the cover plate. The brackets 29 are preferably so shaped as to provide a bowed portion 30 which serves to receive the pins 28 and rotatably hold the drum or roll 25 in proper registry with the cooperating slots and openings in the cover plate. In the presentation of double dummy bridge games for study, it is customary to indicate to the student the opening lead. Where desired, therefore, the same may be done in the present device in a variety of ways, as for example, the opening lead may be indicated by means of a separately printed indication alongside the leading hand, the cover plate being designed to permit the display of such indication. In the present invention, however, it is preferred that no such separate printing be done but that merely the leading card be indicated by some symbol as for example by enclosing this card in a square as shown at 3| in Fig. 2. It will be noted that in the game displayed in Fig. 2 the contract arrived at is five clubs, with South as declarer and the King of Diamonds in the 'West hand is indicated as the first lead.

= It will now be understood that by means of the structure thus far described, a simple compact device is made available to bridge players which each player may employ to test his skill in the play of the game and to improve his game thereby. The rollers or drums 25, as shown, are readily removable and after a player has exhausted the possibilities of study and learningin the hands or games made available by one set of rolls or drums, the set may be removed and a new set ofrolls having a different set of hands or games may be substituted therefor.

It will be understood that if desired the series of hands, together with the rules thereof and other indicia such as the contract for each game for each roll or cylinder may be printed on a flat sheet of paper or other fabric and then applied to a roll made of any material, such as by pasting or otherwise.

' While many bridge players are capable of following through the play of a hand mentally without having any record of the cards played and tricks scored, it is desirable to provide the present device with readily operable means which will give a definite indication at any time in the play of the game whether any card in the game has already been played or still remains unplayed. For this purpose the cover plate has attached to the underface thereof a bracket 32 somewhat removed from each slot N, S, E or W. While this bracket may take on a variety of forms, the specifie form shown in Figs. 3 and 4 comprises a relatively long and narrow strip 33 having an upwardly bent leg 34 at each end thereof, each leg having an outwardly bent foot portion 35. This foot portion is preferably attached to the underface of the cover plate by any means such as the rivet 36. The strip 33 also has along each longitudinal edge thereof a bent-in strip indicated by the reference characters 31 and 31'. A spindle 38 extends the whole length of the bracket and is suitably mounted in the end walls 34, as shown. The spindle 38 carries a series of thirteen playing indicators 39, freely rotatable on the spindle. When this indicator assembly comprising the bracket and set of thirteen indicators is properly mounted under the cover plate, the indicators 39 project partly through the elongated slots 40 in the cover plate, there being one such slot for each card at each position N, S, E and W, and provides one indicator for each playing card.

The indicators may be of any suitable form provided they are so designed and constructed that they may be readily and freely operated from one position to the other and thereby indicate whether the card assoiated therewith has been played or not. One specific form of such indicator is shown in Figs. and 6 and may be made of wood, metal, plastic material, or the like and comprises the relatively large semi-cylindrical portion M and hubs d2, one on each side thereof, the hubs having central passages to receive the spindle 33. These indicators are constructed and designed in the manner shown in these figures so that they may be freely placed on the spindle 38 and freely rotate'thereon independently of each other.

The outer cylindrical face 43 of the portions 4| of the indicators may have any desired indicator disposed thereon so as to indicate whether the card has been played or not. In the present embodiment of the invention, one sector of this face is painted red and the other sector is painted green, one of these colors, such as red, indicating that the card has already been played, and the other color, such as green, indicating that the card has not yet been played. The indicator assembly is so designed with relation to the cover plate and the slot 40 that when the assembly is mounted on the underface of the cover plate, only approximately one-half of face 43 is displayed through the slot. The operation of the indicators and indicator assembly will now become apparent.

After a student or player has selected any de sired game he moves all of the play indicators 39 so that they all display green. This may be readily accomplished by a rapid and simple movement of his fingers or finger tips over the portion of the indicators projected through the slots db. Having assured himself that all indicators display green, he then proceeds with the play of the game, and of each hand. As each card is played a simple movement of the indicator associated with the card throws the indicator into such a position as to display red, thereby showing that this card has already been played. The strips 31, 31 serve as stops for the movement of the indicators for the reason that shoulders 44 thereof strike the stop strip 37 and the shoulders 45 strike the stop strip 31'.

In order to permit the player to keep record of the tricks taken by North and South and/or by East and West, two other indicator and bracket assemblies, identical with the one already described, are disposed on the underface of the cover plate immediately below the slots 46 and 41. As indicated in Fig. 1, the slot 46 has printed indicia thereon to indicate that these are tricks taken by North and South and the slot 41 has printed indicia thereon to indicate that these are tricks taken by East and West. To further simplify the keeping of a record of the tricks taken the space on the cover plate disposed below the slots 46 and 41 has numbers 1 to 13 printed thereon in association with the immediately adjacent indicators. Here, too, before the beginning of play the indicators 39 may be moved so that they all show red or green, as desired and as each trick is taken the correspondingindicator of the side taking the trick is operated to display the other color, thereby showing that this side has taken that particular trick.

Turning now to the form of the invention shown in Figs. '7, 8 and9, it will be understood that the cover plate of this box has substantially the same outward appearance as the cover plate shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings. In this form of the invention, however, in order to provide for the embodiment of a much greater number of games in the same compact space, a pair of webs M and 59 are employed, each web having a pair of spools 5t and at cooperating therewith. The spools may be carried by the underface of the cover plate in the same manner as that shown in Fig. 3.

If desired means may be provided whereby both webs may be operated simultaneously and in either direction. For this purpose each spool is provided with a bevel gear 52 in the manner shown in Fig. 8, the North and South spools having their shafts extending to carry the wheels 53 and 54 respectively for the ready manipulation of the spools and webs. It will be understood that by the manipulation of the wheel 53 the web 48 is unrolled on the lower spool and is wound onto the upper spool and the web 49 is unrolled from the East spool and wound on the West spool. The manipulation of the wheel 54 will reverse the direction of movement of the webs.

Referring now to Figs. 9 and 10, it will be seen that the spools instead of being disposed immediately below the slots, are mounted along the line removed from the slots, thereby permitting a fiat portion of the web to be displayed through the slots. In order to facilitate the proper display of the hand through the slots the cover plate is preferably provided with a strip 55 immediately under each slot, the strip being somewhat spaced from the cover plate and permitting of the travel of the web between the strip 55 and the adjacent portion of the cover plate. The strip preferably has a lipped portion 56 which assists in the free operation of the webs thereover. If desired the four strips 55 together, may constitute an integral frame, as shown.

It will be understood that in the operation of the form of the invention disclosed in Figs. '1 and 8 a hand which had previously been displayed as the South hand and together with three other hands constituted a game, will sometime subsehands that were associated with its first display.

the space between "the slots N and Sis made different from the space between the slots of E and W. More specifically, in the present form of the invention the space between the slots N and S is made longer than the space between the slots E and W. This difference is made to correspond to the smaller dimension of a printed hand or the difference in the two spaces may correspond to an integral multiple of this smaller dimension.

It will now be understood why the openings 22, 23 and 24 are disposed in the specific manner shown. This is for the reason that any particular hand may be associated with game No. 1 or the like at one time and may subsequently be associated with a game of a different number. In the form of the invention shown in Figs. 7, 8, 9 and 10 in which webs are employed, some of the hands have two identifying numbers, one at each end thereof. It will be understood that when any specific hand is displayed at S one of these numbers will be displayed through the opening 22 at the left hand thereof and when the same hand is displayed through the slot N the other number at the other end of the hand will be displayed through the slot 22. For the same reason the openings 24 which are designed to display the contract of the declaring hand are so disposed that no confusion is likely to arise. In other words, whereas any specific hand, when displayed through the slot S may arrive at a certain contract, when the same hand is associated with another set of hands in a different game, the hand now being displayed through the slot N may not be the declarer at all or else the contract may be different. For this reason a space is provided at each end of each hand to bear the printed indication of the contract so that the same may be properly displayed through the proper opening 2 5.

The form of the invention disclosed in Figs. 7 to 10 inclusive is also provided with a set of indicators for each hand and with two additional sets of indicators for keeping a record of the tricks. It is obvious that the indicators shown in Figs. 3 to 6 inclusive may also be employed in this form of the invention. Figs. 9 and 10, however, show a difierent form of indicating devices and a different manner of operating the same. In the form shown in these figures the indicator assembly is so organized that while each of them may be operated individually and manually, means are provided for operating a set of indicators in unison so that they may all display the same color or other indicia at the beginning of play.

More specificaly, this form of indicator assembly comprises a bracket attached to the underface of the cover plate having a pair of end plates 51 and three rods 58, 59 and 60 disposed in the manner shown in Figs. 9 and 10 and carried by the end plates. The rod 58 is in the nature of a rocker shaft and has extending therefrom and integral therewith the plate 6|. An arm 62 is also attached to one end of the rocker shaft 58, the upper free end of the arm 62 projecting through a corresponding slot 68 in the cover plate. The shaft 60 carries a series of thirteen indicators 63 each individually and freely rotatable through a limited angle on the rod 60. The hub portion 64 of each indicator 63 is provided with the projecting pin 65.

Each indicator element 63 is constructed approximately in the same manner as the indicator element39 shown in Figs. and. 6. The element In operation, at the beginning of play of a hand I the operator moves each arm 62 from the full line position to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 9. The strip 6| thereby engages the lugs or pins 65 and moves all indicators in the set associated therewith to the position where the pins or lugs 65 engage the shaft 59 and all indicators then display the same color, showing that the cards had not been played and that no tricks had been taken. If desired the operator may immediately thereafter move the arm 62 back to its full line position. This, however, is not necessary by reason of the fact that as soon as the first card in any particular hand is played the manual operation of the individual indicator associated with the particular card causes its pin 65 to push the strip 6| back to the position shown in Fig. and the arm 62 is moved therewith. Thereafter the indicators are each free to be operated manually in the play of each card and thereby indicate that the particular card has already been played. The ends of the slot 68 serve as stops for the movement of the arm 62 and for the rocker shaft 58 and strip 6| associated therewith.

It will be understood that in this form of the invention, as in the form illustrated in Fig. 1, the device may also be provided with .sets of trick counters as described.

In the form of the invention shown in Figs. 11 and 12, two endless webs 69 and 10 are employed, the web 69 being carried by spools H and 12 for the North and South hands and the web 10 being carried by spools 13 and," for the East and West hands. These spools are manually operable in substantially the same manner as the spools appearing in Figs. 2, 3 and 4 and if desired a positive engagement between the spools and the webs may be provided in the form of teeth 15 carried by the spools and openings 16 provided in the webs for engagement therewith.

Like the other forms of the invention described herein, the form shown in Fig. 11 may also be provided with the card indicators and trick counters and is otherwise so constructed as to give all of the indications previously described and associated with the other forms of the invention.

I claim:

1. A new article of manufacture for the play of double dummy bridge comprising a plate, said plate having four elongated slots therein, and means carrying insignia of playing cards, said means being operable to display through said slots preselected groups of said insignia forming any one of a plurality of possible bridge games, each game consisting of four simultaneously displayed hands, one hand being displayed through each slot.

2. A new article of manufacture for the play of double dummy bridge comprising a plate having four elongated slots disposed along the sides of a rectangle and corresponding to the North, South, East and West positions of bridge hands, and means carrying insignia of playing cards, said means being disposed below said plate and operable to display through said slots preselected groups of said insignia forming any one of a plurality of possible bridge games, each game consisting of four simultaneously displayed hands, one hand being displayed through each slot.

3. A new article of manufacture for the play of double dummy bridge comprising a plate, said plate having four elongated slots therein, and means carrying insignia of playing cards, said means being operable to display through said slots preselected groups of said insignia forming any 'one of a plurality of possible bridge games, each consisting of four simultaneously displayed hands,

one hand being displayed through each slot, and manually operable means for registering the progress of the play of the game.

5. A new article of manufacture for the play of double dy bridge comprising a plate, said plate having four elongated slots therein, means carrying insignia of playing cards, said means being operable to display through said slots preselected groups of saidinsignia forming any one of a plurality of possible bridge games, each game consisting of four simultaneously displayed hands, one hand being displayed through each slot, and manually operable means for registering the progress of the play of the game, said last named means comprising a manually operable indicator for each card in each hand.

6. A new article of manufacture for the play of double dummy bridge comprising a plate, said plate having four elongated slots therein, means carrying insignia of playing cards, said means being operable to display through said slots preselected groups of said insignia forming any one of a plurality of possible bridge games, each game consisting of four simultaneously displayed hands, one hand being displayed through each slot, and manually operable means for registering the progress of the play of the game, said last named means comprising a manually operable indicator for each card in each hand, and having one position to indicate that the card associated therewith had notbeen played and a second position to indicate that the card associated therewith had been played.

'7. A new article of manufacture for the play of double dummy bridge comprising a plate, said plate having four elongated slots therein, means carrying insignia. of laying cards, said means being operable to display through said slots preselected groups of said insignia forming any one of a plurality of possible bridge games, each game consisting of four simultaneously displayed hands, one hand being displayed through each slot, and manually operable means for registering the progress of the play of the game, said last named means comprising an indicator for each card operable to indicate whether the card associated therewith had been played or is still to be played.

8. A new article of manufacture for the play of double dummy bridge comprising a plate, said plate having four elongated slots therein, means carrying insignia of playing cards, said means being operable to display through said slots preselected groups of said insignia forming any one of a plurality of possible bridge games, each game consisting of four simultaneously displayed hands, one hand being displayed through each slot and a group of indicators permanently associated with each slot, said indicators being manually operable to register the progress of the play of the game.

9. A new article .of manufacture for the play of double dummy bridge comprising a plate, said plate having four elongated slots therein, means carrying insignia of playing cards, said means being operable to display through said slots preselected groups oi. said insignia forming any one of a plurality of possible bridge games, each game consisting of four simultaneously displayed hands, one hand being displayed through each slot and a group of indicators permanently associated with each slot, said indicators being manually operable to register the progress of the play of the game, and means for simultaneously moving the group of indicators from one indicating position to another indicating position.

10. A new article of manufacture for the play of double dummy bridge comprising a plate, said plate having four elongated slots therein, means carrying insignia of playing cards, said means being operable to display through said slots preselected groups of said insignia forming any one of a plurality of possible bridge games, each game consisting of four simultaneously displayed hands, one hand being displayed through each slot, a group of indicators associated with each slot, said indicators permanently being manually operable to register the progress of the play of the game, and two additional series of indicators manually operable to register the tricks scored. 11. A new article of manufacture for the play of double dummy bridge comprising a plate having four elongated slots in the face thereof, and a roll rotatably mounted immediately below each slot, 'the cylindrical face of each roll having printedthereon a series of bridge hands, each hand being disposed longitudinally of the roll and adapted to be displayed through its corresponding slot.

12. Anew article of manufacture for the play of double dummy bridge comprising a plate having four elongated slots in the face thereof, said slots being disposed along the sides of a rectangle, and a roll rotatably mounted immediately below each slot, the cylindrical face of each roll having printed thereon a series of possible bridge handseach hand being disposed longitudinally of the roll and adapted to be displayed through its corresponding slot, the roll also carrying a game number adjacent each hand, the hands of the same number on the four drums constituting a possible bridge game.

13. cA new article of manufacture for the play of double dummy bridge comprising a plate having four elongated slots in the face thereof, said slots being disposed along the sides of 9. rectangle, a pair of cooperating brackets-carried by the under face of said cover plate adjacent each slot, and a roll rotatably mounted in each of said pair of brackets, the cylindrical face of each roll having printed thereon. a series of possible bridge hands, each hand being disposed longitudinally of the roll and adapted to be displayed through its corresponding slot, the roll also carrying a game number adjacent each hand, the hands of the same number on the'four drums constituting a possible bridge game.

14. A new article of manufacture for the play of double dummy bridge comprising a plate having four elongated slots disposed along the sides of a rectangle, said slots corresponding tothe North, South, East and West positions of bridge hands, and a pair of webs each having a series of possible bridge hands disposed transversely thereon, disposed below said plate, means for moving said webs so as to display any four preselected hands through said slots, the hands on said webs being so arranged that any one of a plurality of possible bridge games may be displayed through said slots.

15. A new article of manufacture for the play of double dummy bridge comprising a plate having four elongated slots disposed along the sides of a rectangle, said slots corresponding to the North, South, East and West positions of bridge hands, a pair of endless webs, each having a series of possible bridge hands disposed transversely thereon, disposed below said'plate, means for moving said webs so as to display any four preselected hands through said slots, the hands on said webs being so arranged that any one of a plurality of possible bridge games may be displayed through said slots.

16. A new article of manufacture for the play of double dummy bridge comprising a plate having four elongated slots disposed along the sides of a rectangle, said slots corresponding to the North, South, East and West positions of bridge players, the plate also having one opening adiacent one end of each slot and another opening in line with but spaced from the opposite ,end of each slot, and a pair of webs, each having a series of possible preselected bridge hands, identifying numbersand the contract for each game printed thereon, and means for moving said webs to display said hands through said slots, and said numbers and declarations through said openings, the hands on said webs being so arranged that any one of a plurality of possible bridge games may be displayed through said slots.

17. A new article of manufacture for the play of double dummy bridge comprising a plate having four elongated slots disposed along the sides of a rectangle, said slots corresponding to the North, South, East and West positions of bridge hands, a pair of endless webs, each having a series of possible bridge hands disposed transversely thereon, disposed below said plate, means for moving said webs so as to display any four preselected hands through said slots, the hands on said webs being so arranged-that any one of a plurality of possible bridge games may be displayed through said slots, the space between one pair of opposed slots being greater than the space between the other pair.

18. A new article of manufacture for the play of double dummy bridge comprising a casing plate having four elongated slots disposed along the sides of a rectangle, said slots correspondingto the North, South, East and West positions of bridge hands, and a pair of webs each having a series of possible bridge hands disposed transversely thereon disposed below said cover plate, means for moving said webs so as to display any four preselected hands through said slots, the hands on said webs beingso arranged that any one of a plurality of possible bridge games may be displayed through said slots, said plate also having suitably disposed openings, and said webs having suitably arranged printed indicia, whereby a game is identified by a number displayed through some of said openings, each game also gisplaying the contract alongside the declarers and. l

1 9. A new article of manufacture for the play of double dummy bridge comprising a plate hav- ,the arrangement being such that some hands may be displayed in more than one game, the plate having suitable openings and the webs bearing suitable indicia for display through said openings to indicate the number of the game, and

the contract at which the game is to be played.

20. A set of four rolls, each having printed on its cylindrical surface and longitudinally thereof a series of bridge hands, said hands being so selected that any handon any one of the rolls together with at least one hand on each of the remaining rolls constitutes a bridge game.

21. A pair of webs each having printed thereon a series of bridge hands, said hands being so selected that any hand on either web together with another hand on the same web and spaced from the first hand and with another pair of spaced hands on the second web constitute a possible bridge game.

22. A new article of manufacture for self instruction in the game of bridge comprising a plate and four groups of manually operable indicators carried by said plate, said groups being arranged along the sides of a square, the space within the square being adapted to receive display means having printed insignia of playing cards arranged to display four bridge hands spaced from said indicators, each of said indicators having two indicating positions and being individually operable from either position to the other to indicate whether the cardassociated therewith has been played or not, without disturbing the card insignia.

23. A new article of manufacture for self in struction in the game of bridge and adapted for use with means carrying printed insignia of playing cards arranged for display of four bridge hands on said plate, and four groups of manually operable indicators carried by said plate, one group for each bridge hand, each indicator having two indicating positions and being independently operable to indicate whether the card associated therewith has been played or not, without disturbing the card insignia.

24. A new article of manufacture for self instruction in the game of bridge comprising a. plate, four groups of manually operable indicators carried by said plate, said groups being disposed along the sides of a square, each indicator having two positions, and means for displaying playing card insignia adjacent and spaced from said indicators.

' 25. A new article of manufacture for self instruction in the game of bridge comprising a plate adapted for use with means carrying insignia of playing cards and arranged to display along the sides of a rectangle four bridge hands, and a lineal group of manually operable indicators carried by said plate adjacent and spaced from each bridge hand, each of said indicators having one position to indicate that the corresponding card still remains to be played and a second position to indicate the corresponding card has been played, said indicators being movaoso iee able from one position to the other without disturbing the card insignia.

26. A new article of manufacture for the play of double dummy bridge comprising a plate having four elongated slots disposed along the sides of a square, readily manipulable means disposed on the under side of the plate and operable to display through said slots preselected groups of card insignia forming any one of a plurality of bridge games, a rod disposed on the under side.

of the plate parallel to each of the slots 'and spaced laterally therefrom, and a series of rotatable indicators carried by each of said rods,

said plate having openings in registry with said indicators to permit the ready manipulation thereof.

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