US3467382A - Card game bid indicator - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 16, 1969 1.. H. LEADLEY CARD GAME BID INDICATOR Filed Dec. 20, 1967 NELLO NO TRUMP INVENTOR. Louis Hall Leadley A! orneys United States Patent 3,467,382 CARD GAME BID INDICATOR Louis Hall Leadley, 654 Arimo Ave., Oakland, Calif. 94610 Filed Dec. 20, 1967, Ser. No. 692,135 Int. Cl. A631 N12, 1/14, 3/00, 7/04 US. Cl. 273-148 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present invention relates to apparatus for visually displaying the contract bid in the course of playing a card game, and has specific, although not exclusive utility in displaying the contract in a bridge game.

In a card game, such as bridge, competitive bidding establishes a contract to which the last bidder must play in order to win a particular hand. Since the playing of a hand might well entail a number of minutes, and involve considerable concentration, it is possible that any one or all of the players might forget the value of the contract to be played. When this happens, it is necessary to break the concentration of the players by asking either the scorekeeper, or ones partner, what the contract is.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a visual indication of the value of the contract which is readily seen by all of the players, and which prevents interruptions which might cause a break in the concentration of the players in order to request the information provided by the indicator.

It is another object of the invention to prevent interruptions by kibitzers at a playing table by providing an immediate and constant visual indication of the contract being played by the players during each hand.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a compact, durable contract bid indicating device which permits immediate identification of the contract being played, and ready adjustment of the device to indicate such contract after each bidding is closed. An object related to the foregoing is to provide a practical contract bid indicating device in an attractive package which is small enough to be retained directly on the playing table without interfering with the play, and which makes an attractive gift or prize.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will appear from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of an indicator device constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a layout of an exemplary polyhedral shell which comprises a portion of the device of FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 3 is an elevation of a sphere, indicating the relative position of a series of integers thereon.

While the invention is clearly susceptible of various modifications and alternative constructions, a specific illustrative embodiment is set out in the drawing and will be described in detail hereafter. -It is to be understood that the invention is not intended to be limited to the specific disclosed form, but rather to cover all modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

3,467,382 Patented Sept. 16, 1969 Contract bridge is representative of the type of game to which the present invention is readily adaptable. Accordingly, the present invention will be described with respect to its utility in a contract bridge game. The concepts which underly this exemplification of the invention herein described may be adapted to other games without departure from the invention.

With reference now to the drawings, and specifically to FIGURE 1, the device, indicated generally at 10, is representative of the present invention. As there shown, polyhedral shell, in this instance a cube 12, houses a sphere 14 as may be seen in FIGURE 2, the shell is readily formed from a blank indicated generally at 16, which comprises a series of consecutive attached panels 18, 19, 20 and 21 which are separated by fold lines 23, 24, and 25, respectively. Extending outwardly from one of the panels, in this case panel 19, are two additional panels 27 and 29. These panels are separated from the panel 19 by fold lines 31 and 32, respectively.

As may be seen in FIGURE 2, each of the panels is formed with a window therein, and in keeping with the intended purpose of the device as it relates to a bridge game, the panel 18 is formed with a window 34 which is symbolic of a club suit in a deck of cards. Likewise, the panel 19 is formed with a window 35 symbolic of the heart suit, and the panel 20 is formed with a window 36 symbolic of the diamond suit, and the panel 21 is formed with a window 37 symbolic of the spade suit.

In order to render the device suitable for use in a bridge game, the panel 27 is formed with a window, in this instance, a square window 39 which is intended to represent a no-trump bid. It is desirable, but not necessary to print the word no-trump in a convenient position on the panel 27 with respect to the window. Likewise, the panel 29 is formed with a window 41, in this instance a circle, which may be representative of a bid in another card game, such as Whist. Again, the designation of the bid may be printed beneath the window, or somewhere on the panel 29 indicating the representation that that panel has.

It will be appreciated that the blank 16 is readily formed of heavy paper, metal or plastic, and readily folded along the various fold lines, about the sphere 14, to provide the structure 10.

With reference to FIGURE 3, in order to permit a simultaneous visual indication of the numerical value of the contract being played at any specific time, a series of integers 43 are imprinted on the sphere 14. In the instance shown, integers run from one through seven, indicating the number of tricks in a contract bridge game. It will be appreciated that any numerical designation, or pictorial representation, might be imprinted on the sphere to render the device usable for any specific game.

The numbers are of such size that they will appear in total within any one of the windows in the various panels of the cube, and they are so arranged on the sphere that only one integer will appear within any given window in its proper orientation, thereby eliminating any possible confusion as to the positioning of the device on the card table, or the precise nature of the contract being played at any given time.

The sphere is preferably of a diameter which approximates the distance between any two opposed side panels. In this manner, the various panels will be tangent to the surface of the sphere, and engage the same to cause a certain amount of frictional drag tending to resist movement of the sphere. Proper proportioning of the sphere and cube will provide sufiicient flexibility to permit the sphere to be positioned in the cube to permit indication of the contract being played at any given time and that position will 'be frictionally maintained, until physically changed. It will be appreciated that the sphere is readily manipulated within the cube by simply rotating the same" with the fingers. To this end, the various windows on the panels are of sufiicient size to permit a finger to extend therethrough.

If it is desired to minimize frictional rubbing between the interior of the panels and the sphere, a series of soft pads, such as those indicated at 45 and 46 on the interior surface of panels 20 and 21, respectively, may be employed to frictionally hold the sphere in its preset posi tion. The pads 45 and 46 may also be employed as an adjunct to the retention of the sphere in its proper position where it is considered that the frictional engagement between the panels and the sphere is inadequate for that purpose.

I claim as my invention:

1. For use in visually displaying the contract in a card game or the like, a bid indicator device comprising, a regular polyhedral shell, a sphere frictionally supported within said shell and manually engageable therethrough for relative rotation, one of said shell and sphere having symbols thereon representing the suits of a deck of cards, and the other one of said shell and sphere having integers representing the numerical value of the bid, a predetermined symbol and integer being superimposed to visually indicate the value of a contract being played.

2. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said shell is in the form of a cube.

3. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein the walls of said shell define windows therein, and said windows have shapes which are symbolic of the suits in a deck of cards used in the card game being played.

4. The apparatus as set forth in claim 3 wherein said windows are of sufiicient size to permit manual manipulation of said sphere therethrough.

5. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein the outer diameter of said sphere is substantially the same as the distance between the planes of the two closest opposed wall panels of said shell so as to permit said sphere to be frictionally engaged with the walls of said shell yet positionable therein with a desired integer displayed in a particular window.

6. The apparatus as set forth in claim 3 wherein said integers are positioned on said sphere so that an integer will appear in its proper orientation in only one Window at any given time.

7. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein pads are provided in said shell to frictionally engage said sphere and retain the same in a preset position during playing of each contract of the card game.

8. The apparatus as set forth in claim 2 wherein said shell is formed of a blank having four side panels disposed consecutively in a row, said side panels being separated by fold lines, each panel having a window formed therein, and two additional panels extending from said side panels and separated therefrom by fold lines.

9. The apparatus as set forth in claim 8 wherein said two additional panels are formed with windows therein.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,209,542 12/1916 Best 273148 1,550,011 8/1925 Cobb. 1,734,650 11/ 1929 Solinger 273-148 X 2,001,067 5/1935 Lane 273-453 3,258,268 6/ 1966 Treinis 273146 FOREIGN PATENTS 374,474 4/ 1923 Germany. 169,637 10/ 1921 Great Britain.

ANTON O. OECHSLE, Primary Examiner US. "Cl. X.R. 116-120; 273146

Images