Card holding attachment for card tables

May 21, 1940. i. levin 2,201,187 • CARD HOLDING ATTACHMENT FOR CARD TABLES Filed Nov. 13, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 1

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May 21, 1940. i. levin 2,201,187

CARD HOLDING ATTACHMENT FOR CARD TABLES Filed Nov. 13, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2

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Patented May 21, 1940

2,201,187

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE

2,201,187 CARD HOLDING ATTACHMENT FOR CARD TABLES

Isreal Levin, Philadelphia, Pa.

Application November 13, 1937, Serial No. 174,432 3 Claims. (Cl. 273—148)

The present invention relates tb a card-deck holder, and it relates more particularly to a card-deck and score-recording means holder adapted to be permanently attached to wooden 5 or metal card or bridge tables.

An object of the present invention is to provide a card-deck holder adapted to be secured to an element of a card table.

Another object of the present invention is to 10 provide a card-deck holder having means for releasably locking the deck of cards in place, said holder being adapted to be permanently attached to a card table.

Another object of the present invention is to 15 provide a single holder for attachment to a card table, said holder being adapted. to releasably retain a deck of playing cards and scorerecording means.

Another object of the present invention is to 20 provide a combined card-deck and score-recording means holder adapted to be secured to a pivotable leg of a folding card table in such manner as to be disposed generally within the projected area of the table top when the table 25 is opened for use, and which will not protrude beyond the general outline of the table when the latter is collapsed.

With the above and other objects in view which will appear more fully from the following 30 detailed description and accompanying drawings, the present invention consists of a carddeck and score-recording means holder adapted to be more or less permanently secured to an element of a card table and including at least 35 one card-deck receiving compartment, means for releasably retaining a deck of cards in said compartment, and means for releasably holding score-recording means such as a score-pad and . pencil in proximity to said compartment.

The present invention further consists of other novel features of construction, all of which will appear more fully from the following detailed description and drawings.

- · For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there is shown in the accompanying drawings one form thereof which is at present preferred, since the same has been found in practice to give satisfactory and reliable results, although it is 50 to be understood that the various instrumentalities of which the invention consists can be variously arranged and organized and that the invention is not limited to the precise arrangement and organization of the instrumentalities 55 as herein shown and described.

Referring to the drawings, in which like reference characters indicate like parts:

Figure 1 represents a perspective view of a typical card table, showing one embodiment of a card-deck and score-recording means holder 5 constituting the present invention attached to an element thereof.

Figure 2 represents a bottom plan view of the card table illustrated in Figure 1, but with the legs folded inwardly;—the dotted lines indicating 10 an alternative disposition of the card-deck holder relative to the table.

Figure 3 represents an enlarged perspective view of the holder illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 but with the hinged card-deck retaining member 15 swung into an inoperative position;—the scorerecording means and the decks of playing cards being outlined in dashed dotted lines.

Figure 4 is a front elevational· view of the carddeck and score-recording means holder illustrated 20 in the preceding figures, the hinged card-deck retaining member again being shown in an inoperative position.

Figure 5 represents a sectional view taken on line 5—5 of Figure 4 looking in the direction 25 of the arrows.

Figure 6 represents a fragmentary sectional view taken on line 6—6 of Figure 4 looking in the direction of the arrows;—the hinged carddeck retaining member being shown operatively 30 positioned relative to the holder.

Figure 7 represents a plan view of a prepared blank from which may be constructed (after suitable bending) the card-deck and scorerecording means holder illustrated in the pre- 35 ceding figures.

Figure 8 represents a plan view of another prepared blank from which may be constructed (after suitable bending) the hinged card-deck retaining member. 49

In the particular embodiment of the present invention illustrated in the drawings, the carddeck and score-recording means holder, indicated generally by the numeral 11, is adapted to be more, or less permanently secured to an element 45 of a collapsible card or bridge table, and which table may be constructed from metal or from wood. A typical table such as that illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 may include a flat top portion 12 bounded by a square frame !3, pivoted f,o table legs 14, 14, and perhaps a transverse frame stiffening member 15. It is to be understood that the card-deck holder fl is adapted to be used not only in conjunction with the particular type of table illustrated in the drawings, but these 55

2,201,187 holders may also be used with those collapsible card tables wherein the legs fold inwardly diagonally across the underside of the table top.

The entire holding device II, with the excep5 tion of the hinged deck-retaining member, is preferably constructed from a single integral piece of any suitable and preferably inherently resilient sheet material such as the sheet metal blank IS illustrated in Figure Ί. This blank 16 10 may be so proportioned as to provide, when operatively folded, the contiguous panels of a single or a plurality of adjacent open-ended card-deck receiving compartments II, IT. These openended compartments are each preferably bounded 15 by the rear walls or panels 18, IS, the two extreme side panels 89, 19, the front panels 20, 20 and the adjacent side panels 21,' 21. Several apertures 22, 22, may be provided somewhere along the imaginary boundary line separating ²⁰ the two contiguous rear panels 18, 18 for the purpose of receiving the aligned locking projections 23, 23 provided along the edges of the compartment side panels 21, 21. Thus, when blank 16 is transversely bent across the several 25 fold lines indicated in dashed dotted lines in Figure 7 (each bend approximating 90°), the two side panels 21,21 and their respective projections 23, 23 are brought into close proximity with eachother. These projections 23, . 23 may then be 0 inserted through the aligned apertures 22, 22 and bent in opposite directions in the manner illustrated in Figure 5, thus permanently and securely locking the panels in their respective compartment-forming positions.

³⁵ Aligned notches 24, 24 are preferably provided in the outer edges of the front and rear panels 18 and 20 at the outer open ends of the card-deck receiving compartments IT, IT. These aligned notches 24, 24 facilitate the extraction of the 40 decks of cards from these compartments by permitting one’s fingers to contact and seize the retained deck.

An inner end panel for the card-deck receiving compartment may be integrally formed from the 45 same blank from which the other compartment panels are formed, in which case the blank illustrated in Figure 7 would be suitably modified to provide such inner end panels, or these inner end panels may be omitted leaving the inner ends 50 of the compartments 17,17 open, and the surface of the table element to which the holder will later be attached will then serve to close the ends Of these compartments. The surface of such table element will thus constitute the inner ends of 55 these compartments or chambers. The holder may be more or less permanently secured to the table in many different ways. Thus, the extreme side panels 19,19 may each be provided with outwardly bent projecting flanges 25, 25 by means 60 of which the card-deck holder may be more or less permanently mounted on the particular table element selected. These projecting flanges 25, 25 bearing suitable apertures may each be fastened to the table element by means of retaining &lt;15 screws or nails 26, 26, or the like.

The card-decks are preferably releasably retained in their respective compartments by any suitable means, as for instance the manually operable latchable hinged retaining member or 70 fragmentary lid 27. This lid may be formed from a separate blank, such as that illustrated in Figure 8, and may be provided with a pair of hinge forming projections 28, 28 adapted to be rolled or curled up in the manner more particularly il75 lustrated in Figure 3. A similar pair of adjacent hinge-forming projections 29, 29, adapted to be curled up in a similar manner, is preferably provided at the adjoining outer corners of the front compartment panels 20, 20, and may be disposed between the straddling projections 20,28. A pivot δ pin or hinge pin 30 may then be slipped through the aligned curled projections 28, 2Ϊ, 27, and 28, and secured by any suitable means, as for instance by up-setting the slightly projecting ends thereof. A latch-forming projection 31, which io will cooperate with the juxtaposed outwardly pressed or bent catch-element or detent 32, may be provided at the opposite edge of the fragmentary retaining lid 27. An inherent springiness or resilience in the latch forming projection 15 31 permits the lid 27 to be snapped into the operative deck-retaining position illustrated in Figure 6, and to be readily swung into the inoperative position illustrated in Figure 3, thus permitting the withdrawal of one or both of the 20 card-decks disposed in the adjacent compartments 17, 17. If desired, separate card-deck retaining members or lids may be provided for each compartment in place of the common single element 27 shown in the drawings. ²⁸

Means, preferably integral with the card-deck holder 11, may be provided for releasably retaining score-recording means in proximity to the deck-receiving compartments 17, 17. Such scorerecording means ordinarily would consist of a 30 score pad 33 and pencil 34, such as those illustrated in dashed dotted lines in Figure 3. The score pad 33 may be frictionally releasably retained by means of a pair of spring members 35, 35 struck integrally from the front compartment ³⁸panels 20, 26 and bent so as to permit the ready insertion and withdrawal of the score pad between these arms 35, 35 and the front compartment panels 20, 20. The pencil 34 may in turn be retained in proximity to the score pad 33 40 by means of a pair of spring clips 36, 36 formed from suitable projections also integral with the front compartment panels 20, 20. The form, shape and size of the particular clips 35 and 36 illustrated in the accompanying drawings have 45 been selected merely for purposes of illustration, and it is to be expressly understood that the specific size, shape and angularity of these clips may be widely varied without departing from the scope of the present invention. By virtue of the 50 foregoing spring clip members 35 and 36, pads and pencils of different shapes and sizes may be readily retained, due to the absence of sizelimiting walls. The score-recording means may thus be retained by the holder 11 not only when 55 the card-decks are not in use, but may also be temporarily retained during the course of each game. Thus, the pad and pencil 33 and 34 may be periodically removed for the sole purpose of recording the score at the end of each individual 60 game and then replaced, leaving the card table top unencumbered by these score-recording elements during the progress of the games.

The disclosed embodiment of the present invention may be modified to accommodate any 65 predetermined number of packs of cards, merely by increasing the number of compartments provided. Thus, the blank illustrated in Figure 7 may be slightly modified by extending it at either end to an extent determined by the number of 70 extra compartments to be added. The compartments need not be of the same width, but may be of different widths to accommodate differently sized packs of cards. In this manner, the present invention may simultaneously house a deck 75

2,201,187 of bridge cards and a deck of pinochle cards which differ in their respective widths. Furthermore, in the construction of the above card-deck holder, the particular size, shape, relative posi5 tion and number of the card-receiving chambers may be varied to suit particular requirements.

One of the many advantages of the present invention resides in the fact that, upon the termination of the game, the decks of cards, together 10 with the score-recording means which were employed, may be placed within their respective places in the hereinabove described holding device and the card table then collapsed or folded up and stored away as usual. When the card 15 table is subsequently erected for future use, the decks of cards together with the score-recording means become instantly available for further use, thus eliminating the possibility of mislaying these items and also eliminating the customary search 20 therefor.

The holder f I may be operatively secured to any one of the many elements constituting the customary card table, and need not necessarily be secured to a leg thereof. Thus, the card-deck 25 holder 11 may be secured to the transverse frame stiffening member 15 in the manner illustrated in dotted lines in Figure 2, and indeed this holder I f may be so secured thereto as to depend downwardly therefrom when the card table is erected. SO In any event, the holder I f is particularly adapted to be mounted on a table element in such fashion as to be within the projected area of the table top at all times, and to be within the general outline of the table when the latter is 35 opened or collapsed, thus serving to protect the person and clothing of the players, as well as the holder 11 and neighboring objects from accidental injury.

The present invention may be embodied in ¢0 other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof, and it is therefore desired that the present embodiments be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, reference being had to the appended claims rather than to the foregoing description to indicate the scope of the invention.