HOLDER FOR GAME PIECES

Abstract

A holder assembly has magnetic contact engaging material on the backs of the playing pieces and compatible magnetic contact engaging material on an obverse face of a piece holder adapted to rest upon a planar support. Varieties of hand grips are employed to protrude from the reverse face of the piece holder. Each grip is contoured to afford an easy grip to a player, especially those handicapped by arthritis or other hand crippling diseases. The grip is configured to seat the holder at an angle on the planar support and to enable a player to view comfortably the held pieces. The pieces may be laid face down on the support and the holder then contacting them enables the pieces to be erected in order in front of the player. When the magnetic contact engaging material comprises magnets on the backs of the playing pieces and the compatible magnetic contact engaging material comprises iron on the holder, the pieces can be placed and played onto an iron playing board in a secure, non-slidable manner.

Description

REFERENCE REGARDING FEDERAL SPONSORSHIP Not Applicable

REFERENCE TO MICROFICHE APPENDIX

Not Applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a holder for game playing pieces and, in particular, to improvements in magnetically attaching such game pieces to the holder.

2. Description of Related Art and Other Considerations

The present invention relates to holders for small game playing pieces such as those used in dominoes, tile rummy and other similar games. Such pieces are not easy to manipulate with the currently used racks or boxes and sacks, and are particularly difficult for those afflicted with crippling conditions of the hands to handle, having an adverse effect upon the enjoyment of the games. While the present game equipment is adequate, many persons are inhibited from playing because of the collapse of racks, the falling of personal pieces from their placement on the racks or otherwise with the subsequent revelation to other players of the contents of another's hand, and the delay of the game flow by the needed re-structuring of the order of pieces after a spill. Such problems and considerations have been addressed and discussed in my U.S. Pat. No. 4,478,417 dated 23 Oct. 1984. In that patent, the game playing pieces were held onto a holder assembly by means of contact engaging material strips or bands, e.g., hook-and-loop fasteners, such as the “Velcro”® brand hook and loop fasteners. While such hook-and-loop fastener attachment worked well, some players exhibited discomfort in manipulating or moving the game playing pieces on the rack or board and, particularly, on the holder.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

These and other problems are successfully addressed and overcome by the present invention. A holder for small, flat game pieces is normally rested upon a planar support, such as a table top. Each game piece has one face with game indicium thereon and an opposite plain face with contact-engaging material thereon. The game pieces are adapted to engage compatible contact-engaging matter on a piece holder with a planar holder plate to receive the engaging material and a hand/finger grip protruding from the back of the holder plate. The contact-engaging matter consists of (1) a magnetic plate or strip on one of the game pieces and the holder and (2) an iron plate or sheet on the other of the game pieces and the holder. Preferably, the magnetic plate is adhered to the game piece while the holder is provided with an iron plate. The holder preferably has a thin iron construction on its obverse face and the grip on its reverse face. The holder lower edge is adapted to rest on the planar support while a grip end point of the hand/finger grip displaced from the lower edge affords an easel aspect to the holder so that the obverse face thereof inclines from the vertical. The grip is so constructed as to aid a player can hold the holder assembly at an angle. The playing pieces may be arranged as desired upon the planar support and then the holder plate is applied to the backs of the pieces so that the magnet and iron plates engage and so that the entire set of playing pieces can be maneuvered to the desired position, either in the hand or upon the support.

The materials of the holder plate may vary, with PLEXIGLAS® being presently preferred because of its beauty, workability and availability. While the holder and its grip can be joined by solvent welding, they may be molded in one piece.

Several advantages are derived from this arrangement. The magnet/iron plate construction provides an alternate and better method of holding playing pieces onto the holder. When the magnets are secured to the playing pieces, these pieces can be placed on a playing board having at least an iron base so as to hold the piece when played. In addition, the hand/finger grips provide an improved and more facile gripping of the holder by a player as compared to those employed by the prior art.

Other aims and advantages, as well as a more complete understanding of the present invention, will appear from the following explanation of an exemplary embodiment and the accompanying drawings thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a domino playing piece;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the piece of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a rear elevational view of the piece of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a front elevational view of a rummy tile piece;

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of the piece of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a rear elevational view of the piece of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a front elevational view of the holder assembly of the invention, showing a holder plate, a first embodiment of its hand/finger grip, and playing piece such as exemplified as that depicted in FIGS. 1-3;

FIG. 8 is a side elevational view of the assembly of the holder in position to pick up playing pieces, and FIG. 8A is a section taken along cutaway line 8A-8A of FIG. 8;

FIG. 9 is a rear elevational view of the holder plate of FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is a right end elevational view of the holder assembly of FIG. 7;

FIG. 11 is a right side elevational view similar to FIG. 10 of the holder assembly of FIG. 7 holding two playing prices; and

FIGS. 12-14 are isometric views of alternate embodiments of the holder as viewed from their rear sides depicting variations of its hand/finger grip.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIGS. 1 through 6 show different aspects of two playing piece types, with FIGS. 1-3 depicting a domino playing piece 20 and FIGS. 4-6 depicting a rummy tile playing piece 28. The domino piece is shown in reduced scale while the tile piece is approximately full scale. Domino 20 has a front face 22 with game indicia 24 thereon. Tile 28 has a front face 30 with indicium 32 thereon. Preferably, each piece has a magnetic plate 34 on the respective rear faces 26 and 36, the rear faces being otherwise plain. As will be shortly described as an alternate embodiment, rather than magnetic plates 34, plates of iron may be secured to the playing pieces and magnetic material used elsewhere.

As shown in FIGS. 7-9, a holder assembly 38 comprises a planar holder plate 40, which can be rectangular in shape having front and rear faces 42 and 44. Plate 40 is preferably made of a thin element of PLEXIGLAS® or a like transparent or translucent plastic. When magnetic plates 34 are affixed to playing pieces 20 and 28, an iron plate 46 is adhered to holder front face 42. Accordingly, the playing pieces are therefore adapted to be secured by their magnetic plates 34 on playing pieces faces 26 so that the magnetic and iron plates magnetically engage when in contact and, consequently, hold the pieces to the holder plate, as depicted by the engagement of domino 20A as illustrated in FIG. 7 or of playing pieces, in general, such as one or more dominos 20, 20A or tiles 28 as depicted in FIGS. 8-11.

In FIG. 8 (see also FIG. 8A) row of playing pieces 20, 20A or 28 are positioned in a desired arrangement upon a support 48. The support is preferably planar to accommodate both the playing pieces and may comprise the playing board upon which the pieces are played, depending upon the nature of the game, e.g., see also FIGS. 10 and 11.

As illustrated in FIGS. 7-11, a hand grip 50 is fixed to reverse or rear face 44 of holder 40 of assembly 38 to facilitate the maneuvering the holder. Grip 50 protrudes from the reverse face to afford a handle which is graspable by the normal or handicapped fingers of the user.

The ability to maneuver the holder assembly is aided by the configuration and attitude of the grip. Holder plate 40 has a lower forward edge surface 52 defining a planar surface edge visible in FIG. 10, resting on support 48. The hand grip terminates at a rear edge surface 54 which terminates at a lesser level than that of surface 52 by a space 56 as seen in FIG. 9 so as to enable assembly 38 to tilt backwards as illustrated in FIGS. 10 and 11 for helping a player or user to better view the playing piece. Hand grip 50 has an opening 58 for a player's fingers and an upper portion 60 for the thumb. Thus a player is helped to maintain the proper attitude of the plate holder when flexibility of the player's wrist or fingers is limited.

Such a tilting backward is needed to achieve a slant to the holder assembly on the support once the pieces in their proper or desired order are picked up from the support as shown in FIGS. 8 and 8A. As stated above, because edge surface 54 is displaced from edge surface 52, obverse or front face 42 is sloped away from the player to aid visibility as well as for balance, although a tipped over holder assembly in accordance with the invention does not disturb the arrangement of the playing pieces.

The invention therefore is seen to provide an easily comprehended device for aiding all players in quick, accurate assembly of playing pieces in good order with the pieces being maintained in order until removed from the holder as desired.

Alternate embodiments of the present invention affording the same benefits are shown in FIGS. 12-14 as holder assemblies 138, 238 and 338. The game piece holder plates 140, 240 and 340 of FIGS. 12-14 are similar to holder 38 of FIG. 7 and are similarly constructed. The hand grips 150, 250 and 350 of FIGS. 12-14, however, are differently configured but function similarly as hand grip 50 of the previously described embodiment. Grip 350 of FIG. 14 has a U-shaped configuration and a user thumb-engaging inner part. All embodiments are integrally formed by molding with their holder plates. These different configurations are useful in affording different finger recesses for those unable to otherwise grip firmly the smooth outer wall of the grips.

Any embodiment is capable of mass production by conventional fabrication techniques from materials readily available from commercial suppliers. If molded, the die cost is minimal, while manufacture from sheet materials can be effected by most craftsmen.

Although the invention has been described with respect to particular embodiments thereof, it should be realized that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A game piece holder assembly adapted to be rested upon a planar support and adapted to receive a multiplicity of flat game pieces each having opposed faces with at least one game indicium on one of the game piece faces and a first contact-engaging medium on the other of the game piece faces, a planar holder having opposed surfaces and a second contact-engaging medium on one of said holder surfaces which is adapted to engage the first contact engaging medium of each of said game pieces, wherein one of said game pieces and said holder contact-engaging media includes a magnet and the other of said game pieces and said holder contact-engaging media includes an iron plate to engage and hold the pieces to the holder.

2. The game piece holder assembly according to claim 1 wherein said game pieces include said magnet medium and said holder includes said iron plate medium.

3. The game piece holder assembly according to claim 1 wherein said game pieces include said iron plate medium and said holder includes said magnet medium.

4. The game piece holder assembly according to claim 1 wherein said planar holder has opposite holder plate upper and lower edges and a reverse face, and further including an hand grip affixed to said reverse face of said holder plate, said hand grip being secured to said reverse plate face such that the plane of said plate is at an angle to rest upon said planar support and to support the game pieces for viewing by a user.

5. The game piece holder assembly in accordance with claim 4 wherein said hand grip projects from said reverse plate face such that a point of said grip end remote from said reverse plate face is displaced from the plane of said holder plate lower edge such that the obverse face of said holder plate is canted with respect to said support surface when said holder assembly rests on said support.

6. The game piece holder assembly in accordance with claim 5 wherein said hand grip comprises a rearwardly extending portion which is so dimensioned as to enable the viewing of the game pieces by the user.

7. The game piece holder assembly in accordance with claim 6 wherein said hand grip has a U-shaped configuration with a user thumb-engaging inner part.

8. The game piece holder assembly in accordance with claim 6 where in said hand grip has an opening for the user's fingers and an upper portion for the player's thumb.