US801031A - Table bowling-alley. - Google Patents

Description

PATENTED OCT. 3, 1905.

A. B. MBRGKLING. TABLE BOWLING ALLEY. APPLICATION FILED JAN,9,1905.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

TABLE BOWLING-ALLEY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 3, 1905.

Application filed January 9, 1905. Serial No. 240.200.

T0 fbZ Z whont it may concern:

Be it known that I, ANDREW E. MnRoKLINe, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Table Bowling-Alleys; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to characters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

The objects of this invention are to produce amusement of a novel variety; to reduce the cost of table bowling-alleys, to enable the same to be packed away in a small package, and thereby secure a greater convenience and occupy less space in storage; to reduce the cost of construction, and to secure other advantages and results, some of which may be referred to hereinafter in connection with the description of the working parts.

The invention consists in the improved table bowling-alley and in the arrangements and combinations of parts of the same, all substantially as will be hereinafter set forth and finally embraced in the clauses of the claim.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, in which like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in each of the several figures, Figure 1 is a plan of the improved bowling-alley or game apparatus. Fig. 2 is a detail View taken at line 00 of Fig. 4:. Fig. 3 is a central longitudinal section of the device. Fig. i is a sectional view taken at line y of Fig. 8; and Fig. 5 is a detail elevation of the ball-propelling device employed in connection with the other elements of the apparatus.

In said drawings, 6 indicates the bowling extension of the alley, comprising a long band of textile fabricsuch as felt, woven woolen, cotton goods, or like material adapted to stretch from one end of the table to or near to the opposite end. To one end of this said alley extension 6 is attached a frame 7, from which a swinging gate 8 is suspended, the said gate 8 being disposed to lie vertically over the said alley extension 6, so that the balls rolling over the latter may enter under said gate and beheld in a receptacle 9 in said frame at the back of said gate.

to prevent the bowling-balls in the event of their missing the pins from rebounding and This said gate serves thus striking the pins. In connection with said frame 7 or forming a part thereof are arranged posts 10 10, preferably coincident with the opposite longitudinal edges of the alley, the said posts extending up two inches, more or less, from the surface of the alley and at their upper extremities providing bearings for a horizontal rod 11, from which the gate 8 is suspended, the said rod 11 permitting a very free pivotal movement of said gate, so that the entrance of the balls beneath will not be materially interfered with, and yet the weight of the gate will provide sufficient resistance to prevent the return movement of the bowling-balls. At the back of said posts in the preferred construction of the frame I have provided a horizontal railing 12, which is suitably shaped and held in position to hold the said balls within proper bounds afterthe same have rolled beneath the swinging gate. Underneath the alley extension 6 the said frame provides a thin horizontal plate 71, to which the other parts of the frame 7 are rigidly secured. Underneath said plate 71 are stays or clips 13, (shown more clearly in Figs. 3 and 4,) the said clips being strap-like pieces of' proper shape to hook beneath the edge of the table T, so that when draft is applied to the band-like alley the said frame will be held firmly in proper relative position on the table. The said hooks permit the said frame to be applied to the table with the greatest ease and facility. I am aware that the frame 7 may be made in various ways to meet different ideas of neatness, propriety of expense, &c. For example, the said frame may be made of wood, or it may be partly of Wood and partly of metal, and the various modifications involved in such changes being obvious do not require specification. The said posts 10 10 provide terminal supports for fences 14: 14, disposed at opposite sides of the alley extension. These may be of any suitable material or of any desired construction; but I prefer to make the said fences in sections of thin cardboard, the sections being joined by textile fabric, preferably such as is employed in the manufacture of the alley extension. The said textile fabric permits of an easy folding of the sections together in packing the device away and also permits a very free adjustment of the fence, sothat it may be properly arranged to meet the demands of various tables. The outer or free ends of the fences 14 are preferably held by separable fence-posts 15. These comprise foundationpieces 16, of turned wood, and a wire-standard 17, to which or around which the textile fabric for uniting the sections is turned, as indicated in Fig. 1. The posts permit of an easy adjustment of the ends of the fences, so that the angles of the sections may be changed with relation to the longitudinal axial line of the alley at will to meet the requirements of the game, or, as before indicated, to meet the demands of the table. Ordinarily the said fences let are disposed in their relation to the alloy at angles less than right angles to the longitudinal line of the alley, so that the surface of the fences against which the balls impinge will tend to guide the balls toward the swinging gate, the said fences thereby serving not only to prevent the balls from rolling directly off the table, but as guides to conduct them into the receptacle 9 at the end of the alley.

In the folding and packing of the device for storage the posts 15 may be removed from the fence 14 by simply withdrawing the standard from the loop formed by turning the fence fabric from one side of the fence-section to the other, the said posts thereby being packed away independent of the other fence-sections, all of which conduces to compactness in storage.

The alley extension 6, preferably at a point between the ends of the fences when the latter are in their preferred positions, is provided with ten spots 29, Fig. 1, imprinted thereon, the said spots being in the usual order employed in connection with the game of tenpins. On these spots may be arranged the pins 17. (Shown in Fig. 3.)

At the end of the alley opposite the swinging gate I have provided an alley-extension holder 18, adapted to cooperate with the clips 13 in holding the textile alley under tension. The said holder 18 comprises a clamp 181, provided at the top or near the top with a spring-actuated ball-propeller 19 of any suitable construction and beneath said ball-propeller havinga broad clamping-jaw 20, adapted to extend transversely across or nearly across the extension. From this transverse bar 20 the body of the said clamp extends around and underneath the edge of the table, as shown in Fig. 3, and on the under side thereof it is provided with a clamping-screw 23, having a second transverse bar 24.. The last said transverse bar is somewhat wider than the textile alley and is provided with a loop 25, which forms a slot with the transverse bar 2 1, through which the textile extension extends, said textile alley extension thus being held adjustably to the holder 18.

W'hen the alley is to be fixed upon the table under tension, the hooks 13 13 of the frame to which one end of the alley extensionis fastened are caught at one end of the table. The said alley extension is then drawn smoothly across the table and through the loosely-arranged clamp 18 applied to the opposite edge of the table. Said clamp is then screwed up to fasten the alley extension in place under tension. The fences are then properly arranged in position substantially as shown in Fig. 1. The pins 17 are then placed on the spots 29, a bowling-ball 31 placed in the front of the ball-propeller19, the latter drawn back against the power of the spring 31, and on releasing the hold the ball is driven over the alley extension to the pins or against one of the fences or into the receptacle through the gateway of the swinging gate. When the alley is to be fixed upon the table under tension, as above described, the said holder 18 is slipped along the textile band to a position where it will while holding the band lie in proper relation to the edge of the table opposite that holding the opposite end of said alley or band.

I am aware that various changes of construction may be employed, and I do not wish to be understood. as limiting myself to all the details of construction referred to, it being understood that various modifications may be employed without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new is- 1. The improved game apparatus herein described comprising a flexible alley of textile fabric adapted to be rolled or folded for packing and storage, said flexible alley having at one end thereof, a fence having a swinging gate in the line of said alley, and back of said gate also in the line of the alley having a receptacle for the bowling-balls, and at the opposite end having a ballpropulsion device adjustably attached thereto and means for holding the said alley upon the table, substantially as set forth.

2. The improved game apparatus herein described, comprising a flexible alley of textile fabric adapted to be rolled or folded for packing and storage, said flexible alley having at one end thereof a swinging gate and on oppo site sides of said swinging gate and flexible alley, a folding fence, and also having back of said swinging gate a receptacle for the bowling-balls, and at the opposite end having a ball-propulsion device adjustably attached thereto and means for holding the said alley upon the table under tension, substantially as set forth.

3. The improved bowling-alley herein described comprising a flexible band adapted to be stretched upon a table to form a bowlingalley, said band having at one end a clip adapted to engage the edge of the table, and having adjustably arranged thereon, a clamp adapted to cooperate with said clip to hold said flexible band stretched upon the table, a receptacle at the end of said band for the balls, means for preventing the rebounding of said balls, and a fence, substantially as set forth.

. being adapted to hold fixed both the ball-pro- 4. The improved bowling-alley herein described comprising a flexible band having clips attached at one end and distant from the said clips having an adjustable clamp, provided at the top with a ball-propeller, the said clamp peller and flexible band to the table, a receptacle for the balls, means for preventing the rebounding of said balls, and a folding fence, substantially as set forth.

5. The improved bowling-alley herein described comprising flexible band having hooks attached at one end and distant from the said hooks having an adjustable clamp, a receptacle for the halls, means for preventing the rebounding of said balls and asectional fence arranged on opposite sides of said band and adapted to be unfolded and disposed at acute angles to the alley to guide the balls into the receptacle after passing the pins on said band, substantially as set forth.

6. The improved bowlipg-alley herein described, comprising a flexible hand having a frame at one end with a receptacle for balls, said frame also providing supporting means for a swinging gate and vertical fences, said fences attached each at one end to said frame 4 suspended from said supporting means of the frame and adapted to prevent the return of the balls, and means for fixing the band under tension to the table, substantially as set forth.

7. The combination With the alley adapted to be stretched upon a table and having at one end an attached frame to which a hook is attached and which is provided With a suspensory support for a gate, posts for folding fences and a railing to prevent passage of the bowling-balls from the table,of folding fences attached at opposite sides of said alley to said posts of the frame and a swinging gate suspended from the suspensory support of said frame, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this 22d day of December, 1904.

ANDREW E. MERGKLING.

Witnesses:

RUSSELL M. EVERETT, CHARLES H. PELL.

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