TOKEN FOR BOARD GAMES

Abstract

The invention has as its scope a token for board games comprising a rigid body (11) of substantially planar shape and having a substantially hexagonal perimeter, where on the outer sides of the perimeter of the rigid body (11) there are, in an alternating manner, an interlocking seat (12) and a attachment element (14), where the attachment element (14) is complementary to the interlocking seat (12), so that each of the interlocking seats (12) is configured to accommodate a respective attachment element (14) belonging to a different hexagonal token. The invention further comprises a prefabricated block (100) comprising a plurality of game tokens.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a token for board games and the like.

BACKGROUND

In the field of board games, publishers often offer hexagonal tokens, usually a few millimeters thick, made of cardboard or plastic, to build maps and boards.

The technical problem raised by these tokens is simply that they are not stable and do not have any type of constraint so that they can remain in the position in which they are placed, therefore any minimum physical stress exerted either on the playing surface or directly on the token, can divide the tokens, thus ruining the scheme in which these tokens are placed.

A further disadvantage is that often the objects or structures to be placed above these tokens can also be unstable and at risk of being moved at the minimum impact.

An example of known art, the ornate model USA nr US D 790 638 S1 represents a token, it is imagined for a game not being specified, which has the sides comprising housings and protuberances of particular shape in order to be connected with a token identical to the first having the same housings and protuberances of compatible shape for better connection stability. These tokens comprise in the centre a hexagonal-shaped riser whose function is not better specified either in the text or in the claims for which it is not possible to give a functional explanation to this riser.

One scope of the present invention is to provide tokens for board games that are stable and remain in a predetermined position during the game.

Another scope of the present invention is to provide tokens for games that can permanently accommodate structures or other objects.

A scope of the present invention is to provide more game possibilities than the prior art.

Yet a further scope of the invention is to achieve the abovementioned result in an economical and practical way.

It is still a scope of the present invention to describe a token that can act as an additional object as well as a game once all the tokens have been assembled together.

Other scopes and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The scopes described are obtained by means of a token for board games comprising a rigid body of substantially planar shape and having a substantially hexagonal perimeter, where on the outer sides of the perimeter of the rigid body there is, in an alternating manner, an interlocking seat and an attachment element, where said attachment element is complementary to said interlocking seat, such that each of said interlocking seats is configured to accommodate a respective attachment element belonging to a different hexagonal token.

One advantage of this solution is that it offers the freedom to assemble and construct maps based on the space that will be available, giving the possibility to move on them in six directions, without there being any danger of moving the tokens or separating one token from the other.

According to an embodiment of the invention, each of said interlocking seats has two inclined sides having an inclination that can vary from 30° to 80° with respect to the side of the hexagonal token in which said seat is present and each of said attachment elements has two inclined sides having an inclination that can vary from 30° to 80° with respect to the side of the hexagonal token in which said attachment element is present.

In this way, by hooking the tokens more or less precisely, leaving a possible tolerance, with a vertical pressure, the inclined sides of the hook, match the two inclined sides of the seat that have a complementary angle with respect to those of the interlocking, will ensure that the tokens remain firm.

According to an embodiment of the invention, a reinforcement frame is provided in the lower surface of the token, in order to impart greater resistance to bending to said token and to be able to slightly raise said token from the surface, mitigating any irregularities in a support plane for the token.

According to a further embodiment of the invention, at the centre of the token there is provided a projecting body having a shape chosen from cylindrical, frusto-conical, with the lesser flat surface of the frusto-conical shape facing downwards and the greater flat surface facing upwards, or prismatic with a hexagonal base.

In this way, an object with a hole can be framed, by means of a slight pressure.

According to yet another embodiment of the invention, in the centre of the token there is provided a hole placed in the centre of the token itself and configured to accommodate an object external to said token.

This solution allows you to insert a possible structure or object with a cylindrical pin at the base.

According to a high embodiment of the invention, the hole located in the centre of the token has an hexagonal shape.

In particular, the hexagonal hole located in the centre of the token is configured to accommodate a component having a base of hexagonal shape complementary to the shape of said hexagonal hole and a pin for facilitating its assembly and removal.

In addition, the hexagonal hole placed in the centre of the token is configured to accommodate a component having a base of hexagonal shape complementary to the shape of said hexagonal hole and a hole for facilitating its assembly and removal.

Again, as highlighted above, there is at least one hole in a token, this hole can obviously also have another shape suitable for the purpose as well as a component suitable for housing there can have a base of complementary shape to accommodate suitable for the purpose not purely hexagonal, the example above in fact being merely explanatory of an embodiment: it is evident that by varying the shape of the hole and the base that houses the innovative functionality of this patent remains the same.

It is further apparent that there may also be one or more holes on the same token for housing one or more components without departing from the scope of protection of the present invention, since the functionality of the holes always remains the same.

Furthermore, the hole or holes on the one or more tokens can be made with non-slip material edges to make it even safer to interlock the hole with the game component so that the assembly of tokens assembled together can ideally also be positioned vertically or tilted or even “upside down”.

Still a further embodiment variant that always falls within the innovation proposed by the present invention may provide for the realization of one or more tokens in material such as iron or ferromangnetic material, in turn the game components in this variant will be made of iron or ferromagnetic material in such a way that the housing of the component in the one or more holes of the token/s forms an even more stable coupling and confers versatility to the game components.

Finally, the invention further comprises a prefabricated block of game tokens, where said prefabricated block comprises a plurality of game tokens as in the previous embodiments, said game tokens being connected to each other and where on the outer sides of the perimeter of the prefabricated block there are, alternately, provided an interlocking seat and an attachment element.

Further characteristics of the invention can be deduced from the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The advantages of the invention are evident from an examination of the figures illustrated in the attached tables, where:

FIG. 1 is a plan view and section view according to the plan A-A, of a token for board games, according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view and section view according to plan B-B, of a board games token, according to a further embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a plan and section view according to the C-C plane of a board games token, according to another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a plan and section view according to the D-D plane of a board games token, according to a further embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a plan view and section view according to the E-E plane of a central hexagonal portion of the board games token, according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a plan view and section view according to the plane F-F, of a central hexagonal portion of the board games token, according to a further embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 7 is a plan and section view according to the G-G plane of a board games token, according to yet another embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 8 is a plan view of a prefabricated block of board game tokens according to an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With initial reference to FIG. 1, a token for board games is represented, in plan and in section according to the plane A-A, according to an embodiment of the invention and globally indicated with the numerical reference 10.

In particular, the board games token of the invention comprising a rigid body 11 having a substantially planar shape and a substantially hexagonal perimeter, where on the outer sides of the perimeter of the rigid body 11 there are provided, in an alternating way, an interlocking seat 12 and a attachment element 14.

The attachment element 14 is complementary to the interlocking seat 12, such that each of the interlocking seats 12 is configured to accommodate a respective attachment element 14 belonging to a different hexagonal token.

Thanks to the fact that the sides of the token are of even number, alternating on them a seat for interlocking and a complementary attachment element to the seat, they can always provide a possibility of interlocking.

In particular, in the token of the invention, each of the interlocking seats has two inclined sides having an inclination that can vary from 30° to 80° with respect to the side of the hexagonal token in which the said seat is present and each of the attachment elements has two inclined sides having an inclination that can vary from 30° to 80° with respect to the side of the hexagonal token in which the said attachment element is present.

In this way, by hooking the tokens more or less precisely, leaving a possible tolerance, with a vertical pressure, the inclined sides of the attachment element, combine with the two inclined sides of the seat that will be of a complementary angle with respect to those of the interlocking seat, will ensure that the tokens remain firm.

Slight variations may be made to the shape of the interlocking seat, provided that they do not change the utility of the interlocking.

Optionally, on the lower surface of the token, a reinforcement frame 22 can be provided, in order to impart greater resistance to bending to the token and to be able to slightly raise said token from the surface, mitigating any irregularities in a support plane for the token, as illustrated in embodiment 20 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 3 is a plan and section view according to the C-C plane of a board games token 30, according to another embodiment of the invention.

In the case of token 30, in the center of the token there is provided a projecting body 32 having a frusto-conical conformation, with the lesser flat surface of the frusto-conical shape facing downwards and the greater flat surface facing upwards.

In this way, an object with a hole can be interlocked, by means of a slight pressure, the hole must also be frusto-conical with the lesser flat surface facing the opening.

As a further variant of what is illustrated in FIG. 3, a simple cylinder or other three-dimensional geometric shape can also be used, such as a prismatic shape with a hexagonal base, or another shape that in any case serves to direct the structure or object in a certain position.

The difference between the lower diameter and the upper diameter of the frusto-conical shape is minimal, so as not to make it difficult to interlock or remove the object or structure.

FIG. 4 is a plan and section view according to the D-D plane of a board games token 40, according to a further embodiment of the invention.

In the case of token 40, there is a hole 42 in the center of the token and configured to accommodate an object external to said token.

The variant shown in FIG. 4 appears more suitable for soft tokens, such as tokens made of cardboard, and provides a hole 42 of variable diameter according to the need in the center of the token 40, so as to be able to insert a possible structure or object with a cylindrical pin at the base.

You can apply other shapes as well as a hole if you need a more binding shape.

Note that the conformation of the tokens as shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 with token 30 with projecting body 32 and tokens 40 with hole 42 also allow as it appears evident to couple the tokens 30 and 40 by means of interlocking of said hole 42 with said projecting body 32 with each other to form an at least “double plane” of tokens that may be interesting for some variations of the game.

According to a further variant (FIG. 7), the token 70 has a hole 72 located in the center of the hexagonal token.

In particular, the hexagonal hole 72 located in the center of the token 70 is configured to accommodate a component 50 (shown in FIG. 5) having a base 51 of hexagonal shape complementary to the shape of said hexagonal hole 72 and a pin 52 for facilitating assembly and removal.

Alternatively, the hexagonal hole 72 located in the center of the token is configured to accommodate a component 60 (shown in FIG. 6) having a base 61 of hexagonal shape complementary to the shape of said hexagonal hole 72 and a hole 62 to facilitate assembly and removal thereof.

The invention also comprises a prefabricated block 100 of game tokens, wherein said prefabricated block 100 comprises a plurality of game tokens as described above.

In particular, a variant of the invention is its production in prefabricated blocks 100 simulating an assembly of pieces, to save possible assembly times, or to favor a future printing of images, for example by joining 6 hexagonal tokens, outlining their welded edges with an engraving, I can form a more complex shape (FIG. 8), eliminating the joints where the tokens will already be attached from the production, but leaving them instead available on the external sides, in order to complete them with other single tokens.

Note that this variant is also quite different from the known art document cited as well as from others presented as known art.

In the prefabricated block 100 of FIG. 8, the game tokens are connected to each other and on the outer sides of the perimeter of the prefabricated block 100 there are alternately provided an interlocking seat 12 and a attachment element 14, which allows the coupling of the prefabricated block 100 to other tokens and/or other prefabricated blocks.

In some embodiments, the tokens may be made of soft materials, such as cloth or rigid or semi-rigid fabric or “carpet” type in order, once assembled, to act as a playground for children; again, for this purpose it is evident that the joints between tokens are substantially simple, so as to entice both adults and children to approach said game.

Again, advantageously, the type of joints makes the positioning of the set of tokens stable, so that said tokens can subsequently also form “frames” assembled for recreational purposes, as is the case for puzzles, but in this case, advantageously, the final format made being a single semi-rigid body, not easily disassembled (unless it is done voluntarily) so that, for example, being able to hang a “frame” formed with said tokens without the need for further fixings or frames, etc.

Furthermore, in order to make the final form of assembly of tokens more pleasant and comfortable to handle, as well as more logical to use, some of said tokens can be made with one or more sides without interlocking elements, to be “smooth”, so as to be used as external and/or finishing elements for embodiments such as a sort of puzzle, which therefore will have smooth and finished edges, and/or a sort of carpet for children, which identically may have first external elements of interlocking, so that smooth to give a “finishing” effect as well as to provide one or more “initial” elements to the game, being more coherent to start with a token with one or more smooth sides or without male or female interlocking elements, as well as identically said finishing tokens, as they will be defined, can have the function of closing the game.

Therefore, still tokens of this kind with the shape described above, in future embodiments can be fantastically made of materials such as “mirror” to be able to “play” to assemble a mirror with shape and custom size, as well as a stylized decoration composed to the user's liking, or, again, if the tokens were made with prints or colours, being able to become a DIY pastime or “intelligent” game for the little ones.

The present invention has been illustrated and described in some of its preferred embodiments, but it is understood that embodiment variations may practically be made thereto, without departing from the scope of protection of the invention as claimed below.

Claims

1. A token for board games comprising a rigid body (11) having a substantially planar shape and having a substantially hexagonal perimeter, wherein on the outer sides of the perimeter of the said rigid body (11) there are provided, in an alternating manner, an interlocking seat (12) and a attachment element (14), where said attachment element (14) is complementary to said interlocking seat (12), such that each of the said interlocking seats (12) is configured to accommodate a respective attachment element (14) belonging to a different hexagonal token, characterized in that said token provides a hole (42,72) placed for example in the centre of the token itself and configured to accommodate an object external to said token to accommodate a component (50/60) having a base (51/61) of complementary shape to the shape of said hole (72) and a pin (52) or a hole (62) for facilitating its assembly and removal.

2. The game token as in claim 1, wherein the hole (72) in the centre of the token has a hexagonal shape.

3. The game token as in the preceding claims, wherein the hexagonal hole (72) placed in the centre of the token is configured to accommodate a component (50/60) having a base (51/61) of hexagonal shape complementary to the shape of said hexagonal hole (72).

4. The game token as in the preceding claims, wherein other shapes will be applied on said token beside to a hole in case of need for a more binding shape for a component.

5. The game token as in the preceding claims, wherein said at least one token comprising at least one or more holes (72) on the same token for accommodating multiple components (50/60).

6. The game token as in the preceding claims, wherein the hole (72) or the holes on the one or more tokens can be made with non-slip material edges to make safer the fit between the hole and the game component so as permit to position the assembly of tokens assembled together ideally also in a vertical or inclined position or even “upside down”.

7. The game token as in the preceding claims wherein one or more tokens are made of material such as iron or ferromagnetic material, in turn the components in this variant will be made of iron or ferromagnetic material in such a way that the housing of the component in the one or more holes (72) of the token/s forms an even more stable coupling and confers versatility to the game.

8. The game token as in the preceding claims, wherein each of said interlocking seats (12) has two inclined sides (12′) having an inclination that can vary from 30° to 80° with respect to the side of the hexagonal token in which said seat (12) is present and each of said attachment elements (14) has two inclined sides (14′) having an inclination that can vary from 30° to 80° with respect to the side of the hexagonal token in which said attachment element (14) is present.

9. The game token as in the preceding claims, wherein a reinforcing frame (22) is provided on the lower surface of the token, in order to impart greater resistance to bending to said token and to be able to slightly raise said token from a support plane for the token.

10. The game token as in the preceding claims, wherein at the centre of the upper surface of the token there is provided a projecting body (32) having a shape chosen from cylindrical, frusto-conical, with the lesser flat surface of the frusto-2 conical shape facing downwards and the greater flat surface facing upwards, or prismatic with a hexagonal base.

11. The game token as in the preceding claims, wherein said rigid body (11) is made of a material selected from plastic and cardboard, cloth, rigid fabric, semi-rigid or carpet type.

12. Prefabricated block (100) of game tokens, where said prefabricated block (100) comprises a plurality of game tokens as in the preceding claims, said game tokens being connected to each other and wherein on the outer sides of the perimeter of said prefabricated block (100) there are alternately provided an interlocking seat (12) and a attachment element (14), or some of said tokens can be made with one or more sides without interlocking elements, to be “smooth”, so as to be used as external and/or finishing elements.

13. The game token as in the preceding claims, wherein a token (30) comprises a projecting body (32) and a token (40) comprises a hole (42), said projecting body (32) and said hole (42) also allow to couple the tokens (30 and 40) with each other to form an at least “double plane” of tokens that may be interesting for some variations of the game.