Game board

May 25, 1943.

F. S. KRAMER

GAME BOARD

Filed March 4, 1942

2320,184

Sheets-Sheet 1

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BY

INVENTOR.

Fay S. Kramer

May 25, 1943.

F. S. KRAMER

GAME BOARD

Filed March 4, 1942

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2,320,184

Sheets-Sheet 2

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Fay S. Framer

BY

Patented May 25, 1943

2,320,184

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE

2,320,184

GAME BOARD

Fay S. Kramer, Long Island City, N. Y.

Application March 4,1942, Serial No. 433,251

Claim. (Cl. 273—131)

This invention relates to a game-board’for any kind of game employing playing pieces, such as chess, checkers, Check-Mate,. Mah-Jong, Chinese-checkers, lotto, parchesi, bridge games, and the like.

The main object of the present· invention is to provide'means to make the game-board entirely self-contained.

Another object of the present invention· is to furnish all the playing pieces·· in a' single unit, self assembled,, and of such compactness that it may be conveniently carried in a pocket, purse, or the like.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide’the required playing pieces within the- game-board, said· pieces being; lemovable from the game-board in a single unit and to provide means to utilize the same pieces to different kind of games.

Still another object of the present invention’· is the method of manufacturing the game board and the playing pieces at very low cost so as to permit its wide distribution.

In the drawings a special form of the gameboard constructed according to the inVention is illustrated by way of: example in connection with a· board for chess, checkers, Chess-Mate and Chinese-checkers.

Figure 1 shows a perspective view' of the gameboard, the tray being partly removed, and the front of the sleeve showing a Chess-Board.

Fig. 2 shows a perspective view of the gameboard, the tray being partly removed again, and the sleeve from the reverse side showing a Check-Mate board.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the sleeve from the inside before being assembled:

Fig. 4^: is: a perspective view of all component parts arranged inside of the game-board.

Fig. 5 is a' plait View of the entire game-board, a part of the sleeve being cut out.

Fig. 6 is a cross sectional elevation according to 6—0 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a cross sectional elevation according to 7—7 of Fig. 5.

Figs. 8 and 9 show perspective views of a playing piece for chess or checkers in front and reverse side, respectively, having a typical chessman symbol on one side and a solid color on the reverse side.

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of the game-board, in another embodiment of the invention, the tray being partly removed, and the front of the sleeve showing a chess board.

Fig. 11 is a perspective view of the game-board shown’ in· Fig. 10; the tray being partly removed; and the sleeve from the reverse side, showing· a Chinese-checker board.

Figs. 12, 13-, 14; 15, and 16· show perspective 5 views of different kind of playing pieces for different games. :

Fig.· 17 is* a perspective view’ of a box, receiving the tray, and showing a chess board on the front side.

Fig. 18 is an' el'evattonal view of an· envelope·, receiving the tray and showing a· chess board on the front side.

Fig; 19· is an elevational view of a dial· with a spinner,

Fig; 20' is- a- side elevational view to' Fig. 19 partly in cross· section.

Fig. 21 is a· perspective view of the sleeve having a hole to· receive the' spinner.

By referring to the drawings it will be seen· that 20 the game-board- consists in- one modification' of the· invention· of a sleeve-1 the front and reverse of which may have printed· on or fixed to in any other way the playing board; such’as-for checkers and chess- 2 on its- front and; for- Check-Mate 3 25 on-its reverse (Figs. 1 and 2) or for checkers' and chess 8 on· its-front- and for Chinese-checkers 9 on its reverse.

The playing pieces·; 4- are carried- by a- tray 5 from which' they are’ stripped out- and’· then 30 mounted- on the surface: or playing board 2, 3.

8, and 9, respectively, of the sleeve 1,: when· playl· ing. The tray 5 together with all playing pieces 4 are assembled as one unit into-the'sleeve I in such-a-way that leaves the tray-5· free-fo be With35 drawn in· a- drawer-like manner.' The- gameboard- can conveniently be' carried in· am average pocket, purse, or the like.

In a·’ special- modification· of the- invention the sleeve· I' has inserted- a preferably U-shaped’ par40 tition· G-which·; when pasted into- position' into’· the sleeve I, forms together with the latter a compartment to hold the tray 5 in drawer fashion. The formed compartment is preferably accommodated exactly to the shape of the tray 5.

⁴³ In the use for a chess or checkers game the tray 5 has thirty two cutouts (Fig. 4) corresponding to the thirty two playing pieces of the chess game and carries thirty two playing pieces 4 in a single unit, whereby the pieces 4 are held in 50 place by the snug fit.

Figs. 10 and 11 show the same modification of the invention in connection with a chess and checkers game 8 on the front and a Chinesecheckers game 9 on the reverse side. The tray 5 which is again arranged in the sleeve I in a

3,320,184 drawer-like manner, has here sixty two cutouts, receiving the sixty two playing pieces 4, since sixty playing pieces are necessary for the Chinese-checkers game and two pieces serve as reserve pieces when one is lost. The sixty playing ΰ pieces have printed on or fixed to in any other way six different colors, ten pieces each carrying the same color, and two pieces are left white in order to put later the color of the lost piece on this reserve piece. The other side of the playing 20 pieces 4 have just two different colors distributed in such a way that a complete set of chess pieces and a complete set of checkers pieces and besides that six reserve pieces are available.

The playing pieces 4 can be arranged as shown 1 in Figs. 8 and 9 with different colors and carrying symbols in use for chess and checkers, but also with coin marks, letters, play-cards, signs, or the like in any shape as shown in Figs. 12 to 16.

The main body of the present invention, being 23 the tray 5 carrying the playing pieces in one single unit, can not only be put into a sleeve as shown in Figs. 1, 2, 10, and 11, but also into a box 1' (Fig. 17) or into an envelope I² (Fig. 18), or the like, whereby preferably the device which 25 receives the tray 5 always carries the particular playing board on its front and/or reverse side.

Since some games use one or more dice, there is provided also a spinner 10 (Fig. 19) which is mounted on a dial JI and eyeletted to a disc 4' 30 which can be inserted into a cutout 4² of the tray 5 instead of a playing piece 4. For some games the spinner to will be sufficient without needing the dial 11. In this case the board may have a cutout 4³ (Fig. 21) corresponding to the disc 4' 35 carrying the spinner. The spinner 10 can be inserted from the outside when playing the game and inserted-from the inside when not playing the game.

Since it is quite important to manufacture the 40 game-board in highly economic way, the entire game-board is made of two elementary parts, namely the main part, the tray 5, and a secondary part, the sleeve I, box I', envelope I², or the like.

The main part, the tray 5, in a preferred con- 45 struction the tray 5 together with the U-shaped partition 6, and the playing pieces 4 are cut out in a single operation from a fairly thick cardboard after having printed on or in any other way attached the color and/or the symbols for ⁵⁰the respective game.

The secondary part, the sleeve I, box Γ, and envelope i² is made preferably of thin cardboard having printed on or attached otherwise the playing board or boards 2, 3 on the outside, whereas ⁵⁵in the case of the sleeve i the inside receives along the margins two strip-glued areas 7.

After finishing the printing and cutting out operation the game-board is assembled simply by folding the sleeve I, and pasting the partition 6 GO securely into position inside of the sleeve I together with the tray 5 containing all playing pieces 4 as one unit into the compartment formed by the partition 6 and the sleeve i.

When the game board is used, it is necessary to remove the tray 5 from the sleeve i, the box I', the envelope I², or the like, then to strip out the playing pieces 4 of the tray 5, which pieces 4 consist preferably of die-cut plates and are then mounted on the playing board 2 or 3, 8 or 9, of the sleeve I, the envelope I², the box I', or the like.

While the present invention refers preferably to a low-cost pocket-sized game, it is understood that the same general construction features may be applied with much benefit to game-boards of larger size employing discs or other shaped playing pieces, such as are used in parchesi, backgammon, bingo, or the like, when only the basic invention namely the storing of playing members in a tray as a single unit inside of a compact self-contained game-board, as described, is used.

I have thus described specifically and in detail a game board embodying the features of my invention in the use for chess, checkers, checkmate, and Chinese-checkers, as example only, in order that the manner of constructing, applying, operating and using the invention may be fully understood, however, the specific terms herein are used descriptively rather than in a limiting sense, the scope of the invention being defined by the claim.