Board game with pieces that cannot be lost or stolen

Abstract

A board game constituted by a game board defining a set of adjacent squares separated by slots, and by a plurality of pieces having a flared foot extending the base of the piece by a segment with a section smaller than the width of said slots, said pieces being movable on the surface along trajectories guided by the interaction of said segment of the flared foot and said slots, characterized in that a. the width of said segment is less than half the width of said slots, and b. in that said flared foot is eccentric relative to the base of the piece by a distance corresponding to half the width of a square.

Description

Board game with unlosable and unstealable pawns Field of invention

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of board games such as chess, checkers, backgammon, Ludo, etc. and, in general, all board games played on a standardized surface with pieces moved by the players on the surface of a flat board.

[0002] Such board games can be made available to players by communities, for example in media outlets, clubs or associations, hotels or leisure centers. To avoid the loss of pieces, it is customary to provide a procedure where the pieces are not self-service, but are given to the players as part of a procedure providing for the verification of the return of all the pieces after use. Such an organization is relatively tedious both for the structure lending the board games and for the players. Large board games have also been proposed, making the loss or theft of pieces unlikely, due to their weight and bulk. This solution is also not well suited to use in closed spaces. They also do not respect gaming habits regarding the dimensions of the game board.

[0003] The problem of lost or stolen pieces therefore remains a concern for organizations wishing to make board games available to the public. State of the art

[0004] Known in the prior art is patent application GB1231696 which proposes a chessboard whose pieces are mechanically fixed and which are not removed from the board during play. Each piece has a rod projecting from the base and provided with a foot at the lower end, the board having squares for moving the pieces during play and for storing the pieces when removed from play. The board is divided into squares and intersected by slots which extend along the edges of the squares. The pieces are mechanically fixed in the slots of the board and are movable therein. Some of the slots extend beyond the boundaries of the chess field at two opposite ends of the field and extend at right angles to the end faces of the board where they are connected together by storage slots for holding the pieces removed from the field during play and during transport.

[0005] US3130972 relates to a game providing up to four participating positions with a game board structure having a playing face carrying movable playing components for each of the participating positions and with provision for limiting the directional movement of the components to that permitted in the game.

[0006] US10926165 provides a game board assembly comprising: a game board comprising a base, side walls extending from the base, and a top wall coupled to the side walls, a track being defined through the game board, the track comprising at least one main track defined through the top wall, and a side track defined through at least one of the side walls, the main track intersecting the side track; and a plurality of playing pieces, each comprising a handle, a head at the top of the handle and a foot at the bottom of the handle, the handle fitting therein and being slidable along the track and the head and foot each comprising dimensions that prevent removal of the playing piece from the track. Disadvantages of the prior art

[0007] The solutions of the prior art are not entirely satisfactory, in particular because they restrict the movements of the pieces, for example by preventing certain movements leading to the crossing of a moving piece in relation to pieces positioned on the trajectory, or movements from one edge to the other of the game board, or diagonally.

[0008] For this reason, they do not allow the usual rules of the game to be applied.

[0009] Furthermore, the prior art solutions do not respect the integrity of the game box; it is split to allow the positioning of the piece. This creates a visual effect that is detrimental to the pleasure of playing, due to the significant visual alteration of the board. Solution provided by the invention

[0010] In order to overcome these drawbacks, the present invention relates, in its most general sense, to a board game having the following characteristics.

[0011] The invention relates to a board game consisting of a board defining a set of adjacent squares separated by slots, and by a plurality of pieces having a flared foot extending the base of the piece by a segment of section smaller than the width of said slots, said pieces being movable on the surface according to trajectories guided by the interaction of said segment of the flared foot and said slots. The game according to the invention provides that: the width of said segment is less than half the width of said slots and in that said flared foot is eccentric relative to the base of the piece by a distance corresponding to half the width of a square.

[0012] Preferably, said segment is constituted by a bent rod, one branch of which is engaged transversely in the base of the pin and the other branch crosses the slot and is engaged in said flared foot, having a width greater than the width of the slots.

[0013] Advantageously, said branch passing through the slot has a length at least twice the thickness of said apron.

[0014] According to a variant, said bent rod has a branch engaged transversely in the base of the pawn, extended by a branch crossing the slot, the latter being extended by a third branch extending parallel to the plate, in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the pawn, the end of this third branch being engaged in said flared foot.

[0015] According to one variant, said foot has a hemispherical shape.

[0016] According to another variant, the squares of said apron are fixed to a base of a gaming table by a central rod having a height greater than the cumulative height of said foot and said segment, said central rod having a width less than 30% of the width of a square.

[0017] According to a particular embodiment, the apron is surrounded by a border separated from the edge of the peripheral boxes by a slot having a width between the width of said segment and the width of said flared foot.

[0018] Detailed description of a non-limiting example of embodiment

[0019] The present invention will be better understood on reading the following description, concerning a non-limiting example of embodiment illustrated by the appended drawings where:

[0020] ] represents a schematic view in partial section of a game according to a first variant of the invention.

[0021] represents a schematic view in partial section of a game according to a second variant of the invention. Principle of the invention

[0022] The game table according to the invention consists of a base (10) surrounded by a peripheral edge (15) to form a box open upwards. The board is formed by a set of planar elements (21, 22) corresponding to game squares, for example 8x8 squares alternately white and black, for a game of chess. Each of these planar elements (21, 22) is connected to the base (10) by a spacer (11, 12). Each planar element (21) is separated from the adjacent planar elements (22) by a slot (30) of a width L C The peripheral plane elements (22) are separated from the peripheral border (15) by a peripheral slot (35) of width L P.

[0023] The pins (31, 32) have a base (41, 42) in which is engaged a bent rod (51, 52) having a first branch engaged in the base (41, 42) and extending in a transverse plane of the pin (31, 32), in a radial direction relative to the vertical axis of the pin when the base (41, 42) is cylindrical.

[0024] This first branch is extended by an elbow and a second branch oriented at approximately 90° relative to the first branch, perpendicular to the surface of the deck. This second branch crosses the deck passing through the slots (30, 35) and ends with a flared foot (61, 62), of hemispherical or ogival shape in the example described. The greatest width of this flared foot (61, 62) is greater than the width L C slots separating two adjacent boxes, and with width L Pseparating the peripheral squares from the border (35). This prevents the removal of the pawns which remain blocked by this flared foot (61, 62) which cannot cross the board.

[0025] The length of the first branch is determined so that when the second branch is engaged in a slot (30, 35), the pawn is centered on the corresponding square.

[0026] The movement of the pins (31, 32) is possible by sliding the second branch into one of the slots (30, 35). For this purpose, the width of this second branch is less than half the width L C slots separating two adjacent boxes, and less than the width L Pseparating the peripheral squares from the border (35). If a pawn is placed on the path of the pawn to be moved, it is possible to pass the latter, the slot being wide enough to allow the crossing of the two branches crossing the board. A slight tilting of the pawn allows the crossing of the flared feet.

[0027] Alternatively, the flared feet (61, 62) can be asymmetrical and have a flat surface to facilitate the crossing of two pins (31, 32).

[0028] It is also proposed to provide a longitudinal rib (16) along the edge (15) to allow the positioning of the flared feet (61, 62) of the pawns placed on a peripheral square.

[0029] The pawns that are removed from a game in progress can, for example, be pushed back along the peripheral edge (15) and tilted outwards. Optionally, the peripheral edge (15) has vertical slots allowing the passage of the second branch when tilting the pawn, which will then be positioned horizontally and no longer vertically. Implementation variant

[0030] According to the embodiment variant illustrated by the, the bent rod (51, 52) has a branch engaged transversely in the base (41, 42) of the pawn, extended by a branch crossing the slot (30, 35), the latter being extended by a third branch extending parallel to the plate, in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the pawn, the end of this third branch being engaged in said flared foot (61, 62). This variant avoids having to apply a tilting of the foot for the crossing of two pawns.

Claims

Board game consisting of a board defining a set of adjacent squares (20, 21) separated by slots (30, 35), and by a plurality of pieces (31, 32) having a flared foot (61, 62) extending the base (41, 42) of the piece (31, 32) by a segment (51, 52) of section smaller than the width of said slots (30, 35), said pieces (31, 32) being movable relative to the surface along trajectories guided by the interaction of said segment of the flared foot (61, 62) and said slots (30, 35),Characterized in that the width of said segment (51, 52) is less than half the width of said slots (30, 35), and in that said flared foot (61, 62) is eccentric (41, 42) relative to the base of the pawn by a distance corresponding to half the width of a square. Board game according to claim 1 characterized in that said segment (51, 52) is constituted by a bent rod (51, 52) one branch of which is engaged transversely in the base (41, 42) of the pawn and the other branch crosses the slot (30, 35) and is engaged in said flared foot (61, 62), having a width greater than the width of the slots (30, 35). Board game according to the preceding claim, characterized in that said branch passing through the slot (30, 35) has a length at least twice the thickness of said board. Board game according to claim 1 characterized in that said foot (61, 62) has a hemispherical shape. Board game according to claim 1 characterized in that the squares of said board are fixed on a base of a game table by a central rod having a height greater than the cumulative height of said foot and said segment, said central rod having a width less than 30% of the width of a square. Board game according to claim 2 characterized in that said bent rod (51, 52) has a branch engaged transversely in the base (41, 42) of the pawn, extended by a branch crossing the slot (30, 35), the latter being extended by a third branch extending parallel to the board, in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the pawn, the end of this third branch being engaged in said flared foot (61, 62). Board game according to claim 1 characterized in that the board is surrounded by a border separated from the edge of the peripheral squares by a slot (30, 35) having a width between the width of said segment and the width of said flared foot (61, 62). Board game according to claim 1 characterized in that it has a peripheral border (15) having vertical slots. Board game according to claim 1 characterized in that said peripheral edge (15) has a longitudinal rib (16).

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