Combination game and educational device

Claim 1

A game device comprising a generally rectangular housing including a horizontal bottom wall, vertical front and rear siDe walls, vertical end walls, and a hinged lid pivotally connected to the upper marginal portion of said rear side wall for swinging movements between closed and open positions, said lid being comprised of transparent non-magnetic material, a flat rectangular horizontal game board disposed within said housing directly below said lid when the latter is in its closed position, said game board consisting of a flat bottom plate and a channel-forming panel sheet fixedly secured to the upper surface of said bottom plate, said game board, in combination with said housing walls, establishing beneath said game board a compartment for receiving a misplayed playing piece, said game board being of appreciable thickness and the channel-forming panel sheet thereof being relieved in order to define, in combination with said bottom plate, a shallow generally sinuous channel which commences at a receiving end of the board and terminates at a discharge end of the board and thus extends substantially from one end of the board to the other and defines a generally sinuous or serpentine path of movement for a playing piece, said channel presenting straightaway portions which are connected by reverse bends, the width of said channel throughout a major portion of its length being substantially uniform, the side walls of said channel at spaced regions therealong being provided with lateral pocket-like bulges, certain of which are formed in one side wall in the medial regions of said straightaway portions, and others of which are formed in one side wall in the vicinity of the reverse bend portions, said bulges establishing localized widened channel areas, certain of such widened channel areas having associated therewith playing piece traps in the form of hole which extend through the bottom plate and establishes playing piece communication between the channel and said compartment, means located at the discharge end of the board, positioned against one end wall of the housing, and forming a downwardly and rearwardly inclined playing piece ramp the upper end of which communicates with the discharge end of the channel and the lower end of which terminates adjacent to said bottom wall of the compartment, a longitudinal rail extending along the bottom wall a small distance forwards of the rear wall of the housing and having one end thereof terminating adjacent to the lower end of the ramp and its other end terminating a short distance inwards of the adjacent end wall of the housing, a transverse rail extending along said bottom wall, positioned inwards of the other end wall of the housing, and having its rear end connected to said other end of the longitudinal rail and its front end connected to the front wall of the housing, said longitudinal and transverse rails defining with the ramp-forming means and the front and bottom walls of the housing a walled enclosure for receiving a playing piece which passes through any of said trap-constituting holes in the bottom plate of the playing board, said longitudinal rail forming with the back and bottom walls of the housing a return trough in communication with the lower end of said playing piece ramp, a movable playing piece in the form of a spherical ball, comprised of magnetic material and designed for rolling reception in said channel, a magnetized stylus designed for manipulation over the outer surface of said lid so as to attract said game piece and cause the latter to travel along said channel from the receiving end thereof to the discharge end thereof, and a plurality of shelf-like ledge-forming strips carried by certain of the vertical walls of the housing and adapted loosely to support the game board for removable reception of the latter within the housing.