U.S. patent number 3,722,888 [Application Number 05/138,630] was granted by the patent office on 1973-03-27 for air cushion games.
Invention is credited to Jacques Ducharme.
United States Patent |
3,722,888 |
Ducharme |
March 27, 1973 |
AIR CUSHION GAMES
Abstract
Games of the type in which playing pieces are slid over a
playing surface characterized in that the panel forming the playing
surfaces is provided with a great number of holes in communication
with an air supply under pressure which lifts the playing pieces
off the playing surface, resulting in very little friction opposing
the movement of the playing pieces. Means are provided to control
the pressure of the air supplied to the through bores in order to
adjust the coefficient of friction between the playing pieces and
the playing surfaces. A few types of games are described
incorporating the above principle, including a game of curling.
Inventors: |
Ducharme; Jacques (Montreal,
Quebec, CA) |
Family
ID: |
22482898 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/138,630 |
Filed: |
April 29, 1971 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
273/126R;
473/587 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63F
7/3603 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A63F
7/22 (20060101); A63F 7/00 (20060101); A63f
007/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;273/108,126,127,128,86D,86C ;46/1J,44 ;161/407 ;248/363,346
;272/1R |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
557,514 |
|
May 1958 |
|
CA |
|
7,697 |
|
Apr 1902 |
|
GB |
|
Primary Examiner: Pinkham; Richard C.
Assistant Examiner: Brown; Theatrice
Claims
What I claim is:
1. A game comprising a box having a top wall defining a playing
surface on the top of said box, said top wall having a plurality of
through bores in communication with the inside of said box and
distributed substantially uniformly over said playing surface, a
supply of compressed gas in communication with said box, whereby
gas is discharged under pressure through said through bores, and
playing pieces adapted to be slid on said playing surface, said
playing pieces having an underface covering a portion of said
playing surface provided with at least one through bore when
supported by said playing surface, the relation between the weight
of each playing piece, the area of its underface and the pressure
of the gas in said box being such that an air cushion is produced
under said playing piece, lifting the same off said playing surface
to thereby permit movement of the playing piece on an air cushion
and wherein said box has at least first and second gastight
compartments, said air supply being connected to said first
compartment, said playing surface having a target area over said
second compartment where the playing pieces are to come to rest,
and further including valve means between said first and second
compartments which are manually operated to adjustably vary the gas
pressure in said second compartment.
2. A game comprising a box having a top wall defining a playing
surface on the top of said box, said top wall having a plurality of
through bores in communication with the inside of said box and
distributed substantially uniformly over said playing surface, a
supply of compressed gas in communication with said box, whereby
gas is discharged under pressure through said through bores, and
playing pieces adapted to be slid on said playing surface, said
playing pieces having an underface covering a portion of said
playing surface provided with at least one through bore when
supported by said playing surface, the relation between the weight
of each playing piece, the area of its underface and the pressure
of the gas in said box being such that an air cushion is produced
under said playing piece, lifting the same off said playing surface
to thereby permit movement of the playing piece on an air cushion,
the area of the underface of each playing piece being a small
fraction of the area of the playing surface, means to manually
adjustably change the gas pressure in said box during movement of
said playing piece on said playing area, so as to adjust contact of
said playing piece with said playing surface to adjustably change
the coefficient of friction between said playing piece and said
playing surface, and wherein said box is of elongated shape and
provides an elongated playing surface and further including
partitions in said box dividing the same in at least a central
compartment and two end compartments, and further including means
to adjustably maintain said end compartments at a gas pressure
smaller than in said central compartment.
3. A game as claimed in claim 2, wherein said supply of compressed
gas is connected to said central box compartments and said means to
maintain said compartments at a smaller gas pressure, includes
manually adjustable valve means between said central compartment
and said two end compartments.
4. A game as claimed in claim 2, wherein said air supply is
connected to said central compartment and said partitions have
apertures to connect said central compartment to said end
compartments and said last-named means include slide valve means
for each partition to adjustably close and open said partition
apertures, and an external manually controlled knob mounted on said
box and linkage means connected to said knob and to said slide
valves to open and close the same simultaneously.
5. A game comprising a box having a top wall defining a playing
surface on the top of said box, said top wall having a plurality of
through bores in communication with the inside of said box and
distributed substantially uniformly over said playing surface, a
supply of compressed gas in communication with said box, whereby
gas is discharged under pressure through said through bores, and
playing pieces adapted to be slid on said playing surface, said
playing pieces having an underface covering a portion of said
playing surface provided with at least one through bore when
supported by said playing surface, the relation between the weight
of each playing piece, the area of its underface and the pressure
of the gas in said box being such that an air cushion is produced
under said playing piece, lifting the same off said playing surface
to thereby permit movement of the playing piece on air cushion, the
area of the underface of each playing piece being a small fraction
of the area of the playing surface, means to manually adjustably
change the gas pressure in said box during movement of said playing
piece on said playing area, so as to adjust contact of said playing
piece with said playing surface to adjustably change the
coefficient of friction between said playing piece and said playing
surface, and wherein said means to manually adjustably change the
gas pressure in said box include air bleeding openings in said box
for discharging the air to the exterior and lever-operated flap
valve means for adjustably opening and closing said bleeding
openings.
6. A game comprising a box having a top wall defining a playing
surface on the top of said box, said top wall having a plurality of
through bores in communication with the inside of said box and
distributed substantially uniformly over said playing surface, a
supply of compressed gas in communication with said box, whereby
gas is discharged under pressure through said through bores, and
playing pieces adapted to be slid on said playing surface, said
playing pieces having an underface covering a portion of said
playing surface provided with at least one through bore when
supported by said playing surface, the relation between the weight
of each playing piece, the area of its underface and the pressure
of the gas in said box being such that an air cushion is produced
under said playing piece, lifting the same off said playing surface
to thereby permit movement of the playing piece on an air cushion,
and wherein said supply of compressed gas comprises an
electrically-operated air blower having a casing with an air outlet
end, the bottom of said box having an air inlet opening, the outlet
end of said casing being suspended from said box through a flexible
tube in communication with said box bottom opening.
7. A game as claimed in claim 6, further including a sound
deadening box surrounding said air blower and having an air inlet,
an air filter in said air inlet and a second air filter disposed
intermediate said box and the outlet of said air blower, said sound
deadening box being inwardly lined by sound deadening fibrous
material.
Description
The present invention relates to games of the type in which playing
pieces are caused to be slid on a playing surface. Several games of
this type require the playing pieces to travel with very little
friction and normally the playing surface is ice, such as, for
instance, in the game of curling.
Indoor upkeep of ice surface requires expensive refrigerating
equipment and proper upkeep of the ice is time-consuming. Other
types of games in which the playing surface is a non-ice surface,
such as wood, cement and the like, are rather limited in their
possibilities due to the relatively high friction of the playing
surface.
It is the general object of the present invention to provide games
of the type in which playing pieces are slid over a playing
surface, in which the friction between the playing surface and the
playing pieces is reduced to a considerable degree and approaches
the friction of an ice surface, thereby affording new possibilities
in these types of games and also enabling to play on a permanent
non-ice playing surface games which are normally played on ice but
without the drawbacks of such an ice surface.
Another object of the invention is to provide means to vary the
effective friction between the playing surface and the playing
pieces, while the playing pieces are moving.
Another object of the present invention is to provide means to
adjust to different values the effective friction of the playing
surface at different sections of said surface.
In accordance with the invention, the playing surface consists of a
horizontally disposed flat panel, made of solid material and having
a plurality of through bores in communication with a chest or box
of gas under pressure. The playing pieces slide over the perforated
surface and are lifted by the gas issuing from the through bores,
so that the pieces ride on an air cushion formed underneath the
same.
The foregoing and other objects of the present invention will
become more apparent during the following disclosure and by
referring to the drawings, which illustrate a few preferred
embodiments of the invention embodying the air cushion principle.
In the drawings:
FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a table type game for imitating the
game of curling;
FIG. 2 is a longitudinal section along line 2--2 of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a cross-section along 3--3 of FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is a side elevation of one of the playing pieces used in the
curling type game of FIG. 1;
FIG. 5 is a partial top plan view of the playing piece of FIG.
4;
FIG. 6 is a cross-section along line 6--6 of FIG. 2;
FIG. 7 is a partial cross-section, on an enlarged scale, along line
7--7 of FIG. 1;
FIG. 8 is a partial longitudinal section along line 8--8 of FIG.
6;
FIG. 9 is a perspective view of another type of game in accordance
with the invention;
FIG. 10 is a partial cross-section of the top panel of the game of
FIG. 9 or FIG. 1;
FIG. 11 is a top plan view of a modified embodiment of a game for
playing an imitation of curling;
FIG. 12 is a longitudinal section along line 12--12 of FIG. 11;
FIG. 13 is a top plan view of a playing piece or "stone" for use in
imitation curling game of FIG. 11;
FIG. 14 is a side elevation of the stone of FIG. 13;
FIG. 15 is a partial vertical section of the stone of FIG. 13;
FIG. 16 is a partial perspective view of the box, or chest, for
supplying air under pressure to the playing surface of the table
type game of FIG. 11; the side walls are cut away along line 16--16
of FIG. 12;
FIG. 16A is a partial plan section of the chest of FIG. 16 showing
the central portion thereof;
FIG. 17 is a partial longitudinal section on line 17--17 of FIG. 11
showing the arrangement of a gas pressure regulating valve;
FIG. 18 is a view along line 18--18 of FIG. 17 showing the bottom
of the pressure regulating valve;
FIG. 19 is a top plan view of the valve of FIG. 17;
FIG. 20 is a section along line 20--20 of FIGS. 16A and FIG.
12;
FIG. 21 is a partial cross-section along line 21--21 of FIG. 20;
and
FIG. 22 is a vertical cross-section of the embodiment of FIGS. 11
and 12 taken at the center portion of the table and showing the air
blower arrangement.
In the drawings, like reference characters indicate like elements
throughout.
FIGS. 1 to 7 and also 10 show a first embodiment of the invention
in the form of a table game imitating the game of curling normally
played on ice with stones and curling brooms. This embodiment
comprises an elongated box or chest, generally indicated at 1 and
consisting of a top wall 2, side walls 3, end walls 4 and bottom
wall 5. The top wall 2 is covered by a smooth and flat panel 6
adhering thereto and defining a playing surface for the game. The
top wall 2 and panel 6 are provided over the entire playing surface
with a plurality of through bores 7, 7' (see FIG. 10) opening at
the top of panel 6 and in communication with the inside chamber 8
defined by chest 1.
The side walls 3 extend upwardly from panel 6 to define lateral
longitudinally extending boards 9 and also extend downwardly from
the bottom wall 5 to reinforce the table and, finally, extend
outwardly from the end walls 4, being joined at each outer end by a
transverse panel 10, which together with the side walls and
extensions, support a shelf 11 at a lower level than panel 6. The
table assembly is supported by floor-engaging legs 12. The lower
ends of the legs 12 are provided with adjustable pads, not shown,
in order to set panel 6 in truly horizontal position.
The chest 1 is made as gastight as possible. In the center of the
chest, bottom wall 5 has a pair of holes 13 receiving the outlets,
or discharge ends, of electrically-operated air blower assemblies
14, the casings of which are secured to the bottom wall 5, so as to
supply air under pressure within the chamber 8. The top wall 2 and
panel 6 are reinforced and maintained in flat condition by means of
upright boards 15 disposed centrally thereof, but allowing free air
circulation within the chamber 8. The boards 15 support at their
center a horizontally disposed traverse baffle 16 arranged opposite
the discharge ends of the two air blowers 14 for more equally
distributing the air within the chamber 8.
The chamber 8 is divided by transverse partitions 17 into a central
compartment 18 and two end compartments 19. As shown in FIG. 6,
each partition 17 is provided with a hole 20 making communication
between the compartments 18 and 19. This hole can be adjustably
closed by a slide valve 21 applied against the partition 17 and
consisting of a board slidable through the side walls 3 and
provided with a handgrip 22 at both ends. The board 21 has two
spaced holes 23 which can be selectively brought into register with
hole 20 by lateral movement of the slide valve by one or the other
of handgrips 22. In the position shown in FIG. 6, hole 20 is
closed. By moving the valve 21 one way or the other, one or the
other of the two holes 23 will be progressively brought into
register with hole 20. Thus, the air pressure in the end
compartments 19 can be adjustably decreased with respect to the air
pressure within the central compartment 18.
The overall air pressure within the chamber 8, that is within the
central compartment 18 as well as within the end compartments 19,
can be manually adjusted by a second slide valve 23 consisting of a
plate secured to an actuating bar 24, the latter transversely
guided across the side walls 3 and actuable by handles 25. By
manipulating either handle 25 transversely of the table, valve 23
will progressively cover or uncover a hole 26 made in the bottom
wall 5 of the chest or box 1.
The game is provided with targets 27 consisting of a plurality of
concentric circles inscribed on panel 6 in the two end zones of the
playing surface on top of the end compartments 19. Hog lines 28
define a central zone of the playing surfaces and the two end zones
or houses where the targets 27 are located. The hog lines 28 are
disposed just above the partitions 17.
The game is played with a plurality of playing pieces 29, each in
the form of a disc made of a core of compressed wood, as shown at
30 in FIG. 4, with two solid and smooth flat layers 31. The discs
or playing pieces 29 preferably have a diameter such in relation to
the spacing between the holes 7 of the panels 6 that, at anyone
place over the playing surface, the disc will cover at least one
hole 7 and, preferably, about four to five holes 7.
In a preferred embodiment, the playing surface is about 11 feet
long by 2 feet wide; the spacing between holes 7 is about 1 inch
and the holes are about thirty thousandths of an inch in diameter.
The air blowers 14 are adapted to supply air under pressure in the
box or chest 1 at about 5 inch water gauge. The playing pieces 29
weigh about 3 ounces and have a diameter between 21/4 and 23/4
inches. The air pressure is sufficient to lift the playing pieces
off the playing surface 6, so that air cushion is formed underneath
the playing pieces, so that they travel with very little friction
on the playing surface.
The game is played in a manner similar to the conventional ice
curling game with the air blowers 14 continuously in operation and
the playing pieces 29 initially stored on a shelf 11. The first
player plays his two discs 29 along the playing surface to the
opposite end of the table such as to try to reach the tee or center
circle of the target 27. The next player tries to dislodge the
discs of the first player by playing two discs 29. The game is
continued in the same manner. Players change ends of the table when
one "end" is completed.
The air cushion provided under each playing piece 29 produces so
little friction that a very slight departure in the uniformity of
the air distribution along the length and width of the playing
surface and/or a very slight inclination of the playing surface,
causes undue or unwanted movement of the playing pieces at the end
of their throw. In order to overcome this defect and in order also
to slow down the playing pieces in the houses or end zones, slide
valves 23 are adjusted for the entire game so as to substantially
decrease the air pressure in the end compartments 19. For instance,
supposing an air pressure of 5 inch water gauge is desired in the
center zone, then one will adjust the pressure in the end zone to
about 1 inch water gauge pressure. This will allow the playing
pieces to slightly touch the actual surface of the panel 6,
increasing the friction resulting in the playing pieces remaining
stationary after their intended movement has been completed.
The players can also, if desired, actuate either slide valve 23 by
means of one or the other handle 25 during the play, to thereby
adjustably allow escape of air through the chest bottom to vary the
overall pressure in the center compartment and also in the end
compartments, so as to vary the friction during the time the
playing pieces are in actual movement. Thus, manipulation of
handles 25 has a certain analogy with the use of curling brooms,
because in ice curling, the brooms reduce the friction of the ice
just ahead of the stone. In the present embodiment, friction is
increased by opening the slide valve 23 and decreased by closing
it. Thus, the game may be played in two manners: first, with the
air pressure adjusted at a maximum for minimum air friction, the
valve 23 being normally closed; second with the air pressure
adjusted at less than maximum with valve 23 normally open. In the
first case, friction is increased by opening valve 23, if the
playing piece 29 is thrown too fast. In the second case, friction
is decreased to prolong the movement of the playing piece, if the
latter is thrown too slow. The second case more closely resembles
the use of a broom in ice curling. Obviously, a combination of the
two manners of play could be used.
FIG. 9 shows another embodiment of a game embodying the air cushion
principle of the invention, wherein the playing surface is defined
by a top panel 30 of a box, or chest 31, the inside of which is
connected by a hose 32 to a supply of gas, preferably air under
pressure, not shown.
Panel 30 is provided over its entire surface with a plurality of
uniformly distributed through bores 33 in communication with the
inside of the chest, so that air is discharged through said holes
continuously during the game. The playing surface has a shape in
the form of a regular hexagon with upstanding posts 34 at each
corner. Elastic bands 35 are strung between the posts. The playing
pieces 36, in the form of discs with flat top and bottom surfaces,
float on the air discharged through the holes 33, whereby the
coefficient of friction of the playing surface is considerably
reduced. However, the air pressure within the chest can be
decreased by opening anyone of a plurality of valves 37 provided at
the side walls of the chest. These valves may consist of a disc
pivoted at 38 to the chest and having one or two operating handles
39 and an excentric hole 40 adapted to come in register with a hole
41 made in the chest wall to allow bleeding of an adjusted amount
of air.
The game is placed on a table top; the air under pressure is
continuously supplied during the game and the playing pieces 36 are
moved over the panel 30 with the object of reaching the center of
target 42 marked at the center of panel 30. The disc can be bounced
off the elastic bands 35. Due to the low coefficient friction, the
disc can be made to travel for a considerable time on the table
before coming to rest, bouncing off the elastic bands 35 all the
time. In fact, trials have determined that on a playing surface of
a size having 3 feet across, the playing disc can be made to bounce
back and forth about 60 times before coming to rest.
The valve 37 may be manipulated by the player to drop the pressure
at the required moment to have the playing piece come to a stop at
the center of target 42.
FIGS. 11 to 22 show another embodiment in accordance with the
invention and illustrating the construction of a table for playing
a game analogous to ice curling and showing improvements over the
first embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 8. As in the first
embodiment, there is provided a chest 45 which is substantially
airtight, of elongated rectangular shape and defined by a top wall
46, side walls 47, end walls 48 and bottom 49. Top wall 46 is lined
on its upper surface with a layer or panel 50 providing a smooth
and flat playing surface and adhered to the top wall.
The side walls 47 extend above the top panel 50 and below the
chest. The protruding portions form boards 47' for the playing
surface. The walls of the chest are extended past the end walls 48
to define a storage zone 51 at each end of the table on the outside
of the back line 52, marked on panel 50. The storage zone 51 is
preferably divided in two sections by longitudinal center line 53,
marked on the top panel, and each section is a different color, so
that the two sets of differently colored playing pieces or stones
87 may be lodged each in the storage zone of like color. The walls
of the chest form a rigid unit completed by outer end walls 47".
The top wall 46 and panel 50 are maintained in rigid flat condition
by a system of longitudinal boards 54 and transverse boards 54', as
shown in FIGS. 16 and 16a, located within the chest; boards 54 are
provided with air communication holes 55 and boards 54' terminate
short of side walls 47, so that the various compartments thus
defined are all in air communication with each other.
The assembly is supported by legs 56 with adjustable foot pads, not
shown, so as to be able to set the top layer 50 in as perfectly
horizontal position as possible. In a preferred embodiment, the
overall length of the table is about 12 feet and its width about 24
inches. The top panel 50 is marked with hog lines 57 defining a
central playing zone 58 and two end playing zones, or houses, 59,
each containing a target 60 marked on the playing surface. The
panel 50, over the entire area of the playing surface between the
back lines 52, is provided with a great number of uniformly
distributed holes 61, each in register with a hole 62 made in top
wall 46. Just underneath each hog line 57, the chest 45 is provided
with a transverse partion 63 (See FIGS. 16 and 16A), which
separates the chest into three airtight compartments, namely a
center compartment underneath central playing zone 58 and two end
compartments each underneath an end playing zone 59. Each partition
63 has a central aperture 64, which can be adjustably closed by a
slide valve 65 in the form of a door of rectangular shape guided in
guideways 66 (See FIGS. 20,21) secured to the partition 63 and
running past the aperture 64.
A cable 67 is secured to slide valve 65 by an attachment plate 68.
Cable 67 extends along the inside of the perimeter of the central
compartment of the chest 45, as shown in FIG. 16a, being trained on
idle corner pulleys 69. The ends of the cable are attached by the
intermediary of tension springs 70 to a chain 71 wound on a drum
72, which is secured to a shaft 73 extending to the exterior of the
chest and adapted to be manually rotated by a knob 74. The two
apertures 64 are transversely offset with respect to the
longitudinal center line of the table, as shown in FIG. 16a, and
the two slide valves are disposed on opposite sides of the two
respective apertures 64, so that it will be understood that
rotation of knob 74 in one direction will move the two slide valves
65 in opposite transverse directions to adjustably close the
apertures 64 an equal amount. Rotation of the knob 74 in the
opposite direction will correspondingly open the apertures 64 an
adjusted equal amount. Thus, manipulation of knob 74 will adjust
the air pressure within the end compartments of the chest to an
equal value, which will be lower than the air pressure in the
central chest compartment, depending on the amount of closure of
apertures 64.
Central compartment 75 of chest 45 is provided near each end
thereof with a bleeding valve assembly 76 for adjustably bleeding
the air to the surrounding atmosphere by manipulation of the
associated lever handles 77. Each valve assembly comprises a flap
valve disc 78 normally closing the circular aperture 79 made in the
bottom wall 49 of the chest 45. As shown in FIGS. 17 to 19, the
flap valve disc 78 is mounted inside the chest being pivoted at 80
to a bracket 81 secured to the bottom wall 49. The valve disc 78 is
urged into closed position by coil spring 82 surrounding pivot 80
and applied at its ends against the bracket and the valve disc.
A transversely extending actuating rod 83 is journalled in the side
walls 47 below bottom wall 49 of chest 45 and is provided with a
pair of lever arms 84 rigidly secured thereto and carrying at their
outer ends a roller 85 engaging the undersurface of the flap valve
disc 78.
A U-shaped rod 86 is secured underneath the valve disc 78 and
surrounds a roller 85. The rod 83 is rotated by either one of the
L-shaped lever handles 77 attached thereto. Rotation of the handles
77 in a plane parallel to the side walls of the table and towards
the center of the table will open the valve in an adjusted manner.
Release of the handle causes automatic closing of the valve under
action of spring 82 and also under action of the air pressure
within the chest.
The playing pieces 87 are a small scale reproduction of a
conventional stone used in ice curling. The body 88 is of circular
shape when seen in top plan view and is preferably made of
compressed wood chips with a convex side surface 89 and a central
cavity 90 for light weight construction, the cavity being closed by
a bottom disc 91 having its bottom surface preferably recessed with
respect to the peripheral bottom edge 92 of the playing piece. The
playing piece has a curved handle 93 secured to a disc 94 by a snap
ring 95, the disc 95 being glued, or otherwise secured, to the body
88 centrally thereof.
The stones or playing pieces have about between 21/4 inches and
23/4 inches in diameter and each of the two sections of the end
storage zone 51 can hold eight playing pieces, which is the regular
number of pieces for each competing team in the conventional ice
curling game. Normally the edge 92 is smooth but it can be provided
with a layer of velvet material 96 in the form of a narrow annular
band adhered to the bottom edge 92 all around the stone and
providing downwardly directed flexible bristles or filaments
adapted to touch the playing surface while air escapes between the
filaments and between the solid bottom edge 92 of the stone and the
playing surface. This, due to slight additional friction around the
periphery of the stone, will cause curving of the stone when
imparting a rotation thereto, so as to more closely approach the
actual ice curling game.
However, the stones can be played without the velvet-like fabric 96
by using the playing boards 47' for bouncing the stones off the
same to position one stone behind an opponent's stone or to hit a
stone behind another stone.
The weight of the stones and the size and spacing of holes 61 are
like in the first embodiment.
Air is supplied to the chest 45 at about 5 inches water gauge by
means of an electrically air-operated blower 97 schematically shown
in FIG. 12 and shown in more detail in FIG. 22. The air supply
enters the center of the chest 45 through a central hole 98, shown
in FIGS. 11 and 22. The air entering the chest hits a baffle 99
provided with a downwardly directed air diverging cone 100.
Referring to FIG. 22, the combined electric motor and fan are
housed in a casing 101, the air inlet of which is at the bottom and
the outlet 102 of which being suspended by a rubber tube to a
flanged opening 104 made in the center of a box 105 secured to the
bottom 49 of the chest 45. The air issuing into box 105 is diverted
radially outwardly by means of a conical baffle 106 secured to the
bottom of an annular air filter 107, which is secured by tie bolts
108 to the underside of chest bottom wall 49. Air filter 108 is
similar to the air filters used for the air intakes of internal
combustion engines. The inside of the air filter is in
communication with opening 98.
The air sucked in by the blower 97 comes from the exterior by being
first filtered by an annular air filter 109, similar to air filter
107. The air entering the filter passes through a central hole 110
made in the bottom of a sound deadening box 111 spacedly
surrounding the air blower 97 and attached to box 105 underneath
the same. The air filter 109 is secured underneath box 111. The
latter is internally lined with a sound-absorbing material 112,
such as fiberglass and the like. The air passing through opening
110 is diverted by perforated baffle 113, which further cuts down
the sound emitted by the air blower.
With this arrangement, the air is filtered twice so as to prevent
any foreign particle and also any fibers which might become
detached from the insulating layer 112 from reaching the small pin
holes 61 of the top panel, whereby the latter will never become
obstructed. Because the entire blower 97 is suspended by a rubber,
or otherwise resilient tube 103, any vibrations from the blower
will not be transmitted to the table assembly.
Thus, the air blower assembly produces a minimum of noise.
The electrically-operated air blower 97 may be controlled by a
coin-operated timing mechanism so that, upon insertion of a coin,
the blower will operate for a predetermined time period sufficient
for the playing of one game. The coin-operated timing mechanism,
not shown and of conventional construction, is mounted on one side
panel 114, shown in FIG. 12, which hides the air blower mechanism
and box 111, shown in FIG. 22.
With the air blower 97 in operation, clean air is distributed at a
uniform pressure over the entire playing surface 50, the two slide
valves 65 being fully open. Trial stones are played and, if they
keep moving in the end zones 59 while they are supposed to be at
rest, end zone pressure regulating knob 74 is rotated so as to
gradually close the slide valves 65 to decrease the air pressure in
the end zones to an accurate equal amount adjusted, so that the
stones in the end zones will cease to move due to slight
inclination of the playing surface or slight unequal air
distribution or slight weight unbalance of the stones. The stones
will then barely touch the playing surface. Thus, the friction
coefficient of the end zones 59 has been slightly decreased with
respect to the central playing zone 58.
The game is played like conventional ice curling game with each
player of a team alternating with players of the other team and
each player playing two stones 87 at a time from one end to the
other end of the table, so as to reach the target area 60 at the
other end of the table. While a stone is moving, the player or one
of his team may wish to operate one or the other of the lever
handles 77 to adjustably open the flap valve 78 so as to adjustably
decrease the overall pressure in chest 45, thereby increasing the
friction on the moving stone slowed down more or less while the
stone is moving, so that the latter may more accurately reach the
tee or center of the target area 60.
As previously mentioned, stones can be bounced off the boards 47'
to hit a stone behind another one or to place a stone behind
another one.
As in the first embodiment, the valve assembly 78 could be operated
in reverse with apertures 79, used as continuously bleeding
apertures, and with manipulation of the lever 77 closing more or
less the bleeding apertures to increase the air pressure and
therefore reduce the coefficient of friction of the moving stones,
more closely resembling the actual ice curling game when curling
brooms are used to reduce the ice coefficient of friction.
Although the levers 77 have been shown as being directly connected
to the valve operating rod 83, it is clear that the levers could be
arranged closer to the end of the table and linked to the rod 83 by
a suitable linkage for operating the flap valves located in the
central chest compartment.
Although bleeding valves have been shown as the means to vary air
pressure, other means could be used, such as a suitable electric
control for varying the speed of rotation of the air blower,
although this system would not be as fast to response.
Although table type games have been described, it is understood
that the system would be clearly applicable to a full size curling
ring with air blowers of suitable capacity.
The air cushion principle could be applied to other types of games,
such as shuffle board and the like games wherein a playing piece is
to be slid on a playing surface as opposed to being rolled.
In order to impart a curve to a stone in the curling game
described, the playing surface formed layer 50 in FIGS. 11 to 22 is
preferably made concave transversely thereof with, for instance,
the central longitudinal zone lowered about fifty thousandths of an
inch relative to the side edges. A stone played fast enough does
not curve but a stone played at a low speed will curve towards the
center line of the playing surface. With such a concave surface,
one can place a stone behind another in the target area or hit a
stone behind another stone.
* * * * *