Patent Application
20240416203
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The disclosure relates to game systems and more particularly pertains to a new game system for playing a game in which players launch projectiles by throwing them or striking them with a club in attempt to land the projectiles in particular zones to score points.
The prior art discloses myriad game systems which provide projectiles for launching into scoring areas. Many of these game systems include a golf club that is used to strike the projectiles onto a platform, and some of these comprise golf putt practice apparatuses. However, the prior art does not describe a game system which provides projectiles, a platform, and a plurality of containers positioned on the platform, where the projectiles are receivable in holes positioned at the top of and extending into the plurality of containers.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a platform with a front end and a rear end. The platform has a playing surface extending between said front end and said rear end which faces upwardly when the platform is positioned in a use configuration. A plurality of containers is positionable on the playing surface of the platform in a playing configuration when the platform is positioned in the use configuration. Each container comprises a perimeter wall and a top wall. The perimeter wall is positionable on the playing surface and bounds an interior space. The top wall is coupled to a top edge of the perimeter wall and has a hole extending through the wall to the interior space. A plurality of projectiles are provided, each of which has a size such that each projectile of the plurality of projectiles is alternately receivable into each container of the plurality of containers through the hole of the top wall thereof.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
The platform 12 comprises a plurality of panels 24, a support leg 38, and a handle 40. The plurality of panels 24 is pivotally interconnected such that the platform 12 is postionable in a folded configuration 32 wherein the plurality of panels 24 form a stack. The plurality of panels 24 includes a front panel 26, a middle panel 28, and a rear panel 30. The middle panel 28 is pivotally coupled to and extends between the front and rear panels 26, 30. Each panel 24 of the plurality of panels 24 has a playing side 34 and a reverse side 36. The reverse sides 36 of each of the front panel 26 and the rear panel 30 face the reverse side 36 of the middle panel 28 when the platform 12 is positioned in the folded configuration 32.
The support leg 38 is coupled to the rear panel 30 adjacent to the rear end 16 of the platform 12 and is pivotable alternately toward and away from the reverse side 36 of the rear panel 30. The support leg 38 extends away from the reverse side 36 of the rear panel 30 when the platform 12 is positioned in the use configuration 20. The handle 40 is coupled to an outer edge 42 of the middle panel 28 for carrying the platform 12 when the platform 12 is positioned in the folded configuration 32.
A plurality of containers 44 is positionable on the playing surface 18 of the platform 12 in a playing configuration 46 when the platform 12 is positioned in the use configuration 20. The playing configuration 46 comprises the plurality of containers 44 being spaced along a line extending from the rear end 16 of the platform 12 to the front end 14 of the platform 12. In the playing configuration 46, a rearmost container 46 of the plurality of containers 44 is positioned adjacent to the rear end 16 of the platform 12 and a frontmost container 48 of the plurality of containers 44 is spaced rearwardly from the front end 14 of the platform 12.
Each container 44 comprises a perimeter wall 50, a top wall 62, a plurality of scoring receptacles 68, and a plurality of scoring indicia 70. The perimeter wall 50 is positionable on the playing surface 18 and bounds an interior space 52. The perimeter wall 50 comprises a plurality of telescopically coupled tubes 54 such that the perimeter wall 50 is collapsible. The platform 12 has a plurality of grooves 60 extending into the playing surface 18, each of which is shaped for receiving a bottom edge 56 of the perimeter wall 50 of an associated container 44 of the plurality of containers 44. The top wall 62 is coupled to a top edge 58 of the perimeter wall 50 and has a hole 63 extending through the top wall 62 to the interior space 52. The top wall 62 is removable from the perimeter wall 50. The plurality of scoring receptacles 68 is coupled to an upper surface 64 of the top wall 62 and is circumferentially arranged along a perimeter edge 66 of the top wall 62. Each scoring indicia 70 of the plurality of scoring indicia 70 is positioned in an associated one of the scoring receptacles 68 and indicates a score value of the associated scoring receptacle 68. The scoring indicia 70 associated with each scoring receptacle 68 is depicted in
In other embodiments, the perimeter wall 50 of each container 44 of the plurality of containers 44 is formed of a bendable panel 72 that is positionable in a planar configuration 74 for storage and bended from the planar configuration 74 into a tubular configuration 76 to form the perimeter wall 50. Opposing edges 78 of the bendable panel 72 are secured together through a connector such as a latch, a magnetic fastener, a hook-and-loop fastener, or the like. In some embodiments, the bendable panel 72 is retained in the tubular configuration 76 by one or both of the top wall 62 and the platform 12.
A barrier 80 is mountable to a periphery 82 of the playing surface 18 of the platform 12. The barrier 80 extends around a rear portion 84 of the platform 12 and bounds a volume 86 when mounted to the periphery 82 such that the plurality of containers 44 is positioned in the volume 86 when the plurality of containers 44 is positioned in the playing configuration 46. The barrier 80 comprises a plurality of wall sections 88 and a plurality of clips 90. The wall sections 88 are pivotally interconnected such that the barrier 80 is foldable in an accordion fashion into a collapsed configuration 92. Each clip 90 of the plurality of clips 90 is attached to a lower edge 94 of an associated one of the plurality of wall sections 88 and is engageable with an associated panel 24 of the plurality of panels 24 of the platform 12.
A plurality of projectiles 94 is provided, each of which has a size such that each projectile 94 of the plurality of projectiles 94 is alternately receivable into each container 44 of the plurality of containers 44 through the hole 63 of the top wall 62 thereof and is alternately receivable into each scoring receptacle 68 of the plurality of scoring receptacles 68 of each container 44 of the plurality of containers 44. Each projectile 94 has a spherical shape.
The plurality of projectiles 94 includes different sets of projectiles 94 with different mechanical properties. A first set 98 of projectiles 94 of the plurality of projectiles 94 comprises a resiliently compressible material such that each one of the first set 98 of projectiles 94 is configured to rebound off of the front panel 26 of the platform 12 when thrown by a player 114 positioned forwardly of the platform 12 and attain a height above the platform 12 sufficient to land in one of the plurality of containers 44 or in one of the plurality of scoring receptacles 68 of one of the plurality of containers 44. A second set 100 of projectiles 94 of the plurality of projectiles 94 comprises a rigid material such that each one of the second set 100 of projectiles 94 is configured to transfer more kinetic energy to an object when rebounding off the object than one of the first set 98 of projectiles 94. The second set 100 of projectiles 94 is useful for variations of gameplay wherein it is desirable for a launched projectile 94 to retain less kinetic energy after impacting an object, as detailed more below. The second set 100 of projectiles 94 also has a plurality of openings extending therethrough to allow air to pass through each one of the second set 100 of projectiles 94 when launched.
The first set 98 of projectiles 94 includes a pair of subsets 102 of projectiles 94 having differentiable indicia from each other such as different colors, symbols, alphanumeric characters, or the like to indicate which one of a pair of players 114 is using each subset 102 of the pair of subsets 102 of projectiles 94 during a game. The second set 100 of projectiles 94 may also include such a pair of subsets 102 of projectiles 94.
A club 104 is provided which is engageable with a selected projectile 94 of the plurality of projectiles 94 to launch the selected projectile 94 toward the containers 44. The club 104 comprises a golf club 106. The golf club 106 may be a chipper, a wedge, or the like. A chipping mat 108 is positionable to support the selected projectile 94 thereon. The chipping mat 108 comprises a base 110 and a plurality of bristles 112, and each bristle 112 of the plurality of bristles 112 extends upwardly away from the base 110. The selected projectile 94 is positionable on a portion of the plurality of bristles 112.
The game system 10 is used to play a game in which at least one player 114 attempts to score points by launching at least some of the plurality of projectiles 94 into one or more of the plurality of containers 44 or into one or more of the plurality of scoring receptacles 68 of the plurality of containers 44. To set up the game, the platform 12 is positioned in the use configuration 20 and the plurality of containers 44 is positioned in the playing configuration 46. The barrier 80 is mounted to the periphery 82 of the playing surface 18 of the platform 12.
In a first version of the game, a pair of teams comprising one or more players 114 each participate in one or more rounds of play. In each round of play, the pair of teams take turns in alternating fashion to launch one of the first subset 102 of projectiles 94 of the plurality of projectiles 94 toward the plurality of containers 44 in an attempt to earn points.
For each turn, one of the players 114 of the team taking the turn defines a launching player 114. The launching player 114 faces the front end 14 of the platform 12 and throws one of the plurality of projectiles 94 toward the front panel 26 of the platform 12 such that the launched projectile 94 rebounds off the front panel 26. Points are added to the launching player's 114 team's total score if the launched projectile 94 lands in one of the plurality of containers 44. In an embodiment of the game system 10 with three containers 44, two points are added to the launching player's 114 team's total score if the launched projectile 94 lands in the frontmost container 48, four points are added to the launching player's 114 team's total score if the launched projectile 94 lands in the rearmost container 46, and three points are added to the launching player's 114 team's total score if the launched projectile 94 lands in the container 44 positioned between the frontmost and rearmost containers 44.
The round of play continues until the teams have launched all of the plurality of projectiles 94 used for the game. Before starting another round of play, all of the plurality of projectiles 94 are retrieved. The team which reaches a total score of 21 points is the winner of the game.
In a second version of the game, the pair of teams participate in one or more rounds of play. In each round of play, one of the pair of teams takes a turn consecutively launching all of the second subset 102 of projectiles 94 of the plurality of projectiles 94 in an attempt to earn points, then the other one of the pair of teams takes a turn consecutively launching all of the second subset 102 of projectiles 94 of the plurality of projectiles 94 in an attempt to earn points.
For each turn, one of the players 114 of the team taking the turn defines a launching player 114. The launching player 114 positions one of the projectiles 94 of the second set 100 or projectiles 94 on one of the chipping mat 108, the ground surface 22, a tee, or the like which is spaced forwardly with respect to the platform 12. Then the launching player 114 swings the club 104 at the one projectile 94 to urge the one projectile 94 toward the plurality of containers 44. The projectiles 94 of the second subset 102 of projectiles 94 are not intended to rebound off of the front panel 26 in the second version of the game. The second subset 102 of projectiles 94 are therefore more desirable for use in the second version of the game, because the projectiles 94 of the second subset 102 of projectiles 94 are less likely to rebound significantly away from an impacted one of the plurality of scoring receptacles 68 than the projectiles 94 of the first subset 102 of projectiles 94.
If the launched projectile 94 impacts one of the plurality of containers 44 without landing in any of the plurality of containers 44 or in one of the plurality of scoring receptacles 68 of the plurality of containers 44, one point is added to a total score of the launching player's 114 team. If the launched projectile 94 lands in one of the plurality of scoring receptacles 68 of the plurality of containers 44, the score value indicated by the score indicia of the scoring receptacle 68 in which the launched projectile 94 lands is added to the total score of the launching player's 114 team. If the score indicia of the scoring receptacle 68 in which the launched projectile 94 lands is a negative value, the total score of the launching player's 114 team decreases.
Points are added to the launching player's 114 team's total score if the launched projectile 94 lands in one of the plurality of containers 44. In an embodiment of the game system 10 with three containers 44, three points are added to the launching player's 114 team's total score if the launched projectile 94 lands in the frontmost container 48, five points are added to the launching player's 114 team's total score if the launched projectile 94 lands in the rearmost container 46, and four points are added to the launching player's 114 team's total score if the launched projectile 94 lands in the container 44 positioned between the frontmost and rearmost containers 44.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
