Patent US3332099A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
Patent US4249738A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
US4249738A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Game apparatus and playing piece for use therewith
Assignee: Individual
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Filing: 1978-12-07
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Granted: 1981-02-10
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Expires: 1998-12-07
Abstract
Abstract A game apparatus includes a playing board having an enclosed space therein which is organized into compartments for playing a game such as solitaire with slidable playing pieces. Each playing piece includes a body portion and an off-center projection wherein the projection is used to both orient the playing piece and retain the playing piece within slots aligned in the compartments. The compartments include a mixing compartment and an array of parallel columnar compartments subdivided into unordered and ordered channels. The unordered channels are connected to the mixing compartment by a gate which delivers single rows of properly oriented playing pieces to the unordered channels for parallel stacking therewithin. The unordered channels are connected to the ordered channels by a passageway which includes a plurality of storage cells for temporarily storing the playing pieces as the playing pieces are shifted to the ordered channels. In a preferred method of using the apparatus, a solitaire-type game is played by shifting unordered playing pieces from the unordered channels to the ordered channels to provide an array of playing pieces in the ordered channels in which playing pieces of the same type or color scheme are sequentially organized.
Inventors
- 👤 Henry Troeger
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 01:04
CPC Classifications
A; A63; A63F; A63F9/00; A63F9/06; A63F3/00; A63F3/00173; A63F3/00574; A63F3/00634
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 22
Claim 1
Independent Claim
120 words
Game apparatus comprising: a plurality of playing pieces having directionally unique features; a playing board having an enclosed space therein for containing the playing pieces; partitioning means in the enclosed space for dividing the space into compartments, wherein the compartments include: a mixing compartment for randomly arranging the playing pieces and parallel columnar compartments for holding the playing pieces in an array said playing pieces being movable solely by gravity between said mixing compartment and at least some of said columnar compartments; and said partitioning means including gate means disposed between the mixing compartment and the columnar compartments, the gate means including means engageable with said playing pieces for orienting the playing pieces with said directionally unique features similarly disposed.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
120 words
Game apparatus comprising: a plurality of playing pieces having directionally unique features; a playing board having an enclosed space therein for containing the playing pieces; partitioning means in the enclosed space for dividing the space into compartments, wherein the compartments include: a mixing compartment for randomly arranging the playing pieces and parallel columnar compartments for holding the playing pieces in an array said playing pieces being movable solely by gravity between said mixing compartment and at least some of said columnar compartments; and said partitioning means including gate means disposed between the mixing compartment and the columnar compartments, the gate means including means engageable with said playing pieces for orienting the playing pieces with said directionally unique features similarly disposed.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
91 words
The game apparatus of claim 1 wherein the parallel columnar compartments include: a first bank of channels disposed adjacent to the gate means for receiving and storing the playing pieces in oriented array; a second bank of the channels for storing the playing pieces in a selected array, and wherein the playing board further includes: passage means connecting the first and second banks of channels through which passage means playing pieces selected from the first bank of channels can be manually moved to selected channels in the second bank of channels.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
33 words
The game apparatus of claim 2 further including storage means connected to the passage means for storing playing pieces temporarily after the playing pieces have been removed from the first bank of channels.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
47 words
The game apparatus of claim 1 wherein each of the playing pieces include a body portion and a projection displaced from the center of gravity of the body portion, wherein the projection engages the orienting means of the gate means to orient the playing pieces by gravity.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
68 words
The game apparatus of claim 4 wherein the gate means includes at least one rod, disposed transverse to the columnar compartments, whereinthe orienting means are surface portions of the rod which are engaged by the projections and wherein the rod includes recesses therein which are registered selectively with the columnar compartments to allow the playing pieces to move past the rod by receiving the projection through the recesses.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
50 words
The game apparatus of claim 5 further including means for rotatably mounting the rod and wherein the recesses are bores within the rod which receive the projections of the playing pieces one at a time so that each bore passes a single playing piece for each revolution of the rod.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
29 words
The game apparatus of claim 6 wherein slot means extend along each columnar compartment and adjacent to the rod for receiving and guiding the projections of the playing pieces.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
15 words
The game apparatus of claim 7 wherein the slot means extend into the mixing compartment.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
65 words
The game apparatus of claim 7 or 8 wherein the first recited rod includes grooves axially and circumferentially displaced from the bores and wherein the means for rotatably mounting the first recited rod permits axial motion of the rod to an open gate position to align the grooves with the slot means allowing a plurality of playing pieces to slide past the first mentioned rod.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
75 words
The game apparatus of claim 6 wherein the gating means further includes a second rod rotatably disposed downstream of the first recited rod wherein the second rod includes surfaces for engaging the projections to assure pivoting of the playing pieces to the desired orientation and wherein the second rod includes grooves adjacent the surfaces to pass the playing pieces when the second rod is rotated to align with the slot means to receive the projections.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
72 words
The game apparatus of claim 10 wherein the columnar compartments comprise: a first bank of channels disposed downstream of the additional rod for storing the playing pieces in an oriented array, and a second bank of channels for storing the playing pieces in a selected array wherein the second bank of channels is parallel to the first bank of channels, and an outward opening aperture to provide access to the playing pieces.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
106 words
The game apparatus of claim 11 further including: passage means extending normal to the first and second banks of channels and registering with each channel wherein playing pieces selected from the first bank of channels may be manually moved to the second bank of channels through the passage means, and stop means in the first bank of channels for inhibiting movement of the playing pieces to the passage means whereby the playing pieces linearly accumulate in the first channel behind the stop means as they pass the gate means so that the playing pieces may be selectively removed to the passage means one at a time.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
30 words
The apparatus of claim 12 further including storage means connected to the passage means for storing playing pieces temporarily after they have been removed from the first bank of channels.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
62 words
The game apparatus of claim 13 wherein the first recited rod includes grooves axially and circumferentially displaced from the bores and wherein the means for rotatably mounting the first recited rod permits axial motion of that rod to an open gate position to align the grooves with the slots allowing a plurality of playing pieces to slide past the first mentioned rod.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
38 words
The game apparatus of claim 14 further including detent means on the game board for engaging the first recited rod to hold the said rod in the open gate position when the game is in a playing mode.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
27 words
The game apparatus of claim 15 wherein the slot means extends into the mixing compartment to allow linear accumulation of the playing pieces in the mixing compartment.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
13 words
The game apparatus of claim 16 wherein the detent means is gravity biased.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
111 words
The game apparatus of claim 17 further including means for coupling the rods together for simultaneous rotation upon rotation of one rod, wherein the rotational relation is fixed with the grooves of both rods registering simultaneously with the slots when the first recited rod is in the open gate condition and with the grooves of the additional rod being out of registration with the slots when the bores of the first rod face down the slots to pass single playing pieces, whereby the playing pieces are suspended temporarily on the second rod by the projections to assure proper orientation of the playing pieces before the playing pieces pass into the channels.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
23 words
The game apparatus of claim 18 wherein the coupling means are gears and the fixed rotational relation is established by mating gear teeth.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
19 words
The game apparatus of claim 18 further including indexing means for releasably holding the rods in selected rotational positions.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
22 words
The game apparatus of claim 10 or claim 14 further including means for coupling the rods to one another for simultaneous rotation.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1984-02-10 | 1984-08-11 | 1985-02-10 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1988-02-10 | 1988-08-11 | 1989-02-10 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1992-02-10 | 1992-08-11 | 1993-02-10 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |