Abstract:
An entertainment device consisting of a track for rolling marbles. The track may be configured onto at least one support surface, such as walls, tables, doors, floors, and vertically or horizontally oriented rod-like structures, such as the branches of a tree. The three dimensional track configurations may consist of at least one interconnected substantially vertical and substantially horizontal support surface.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims benefit under 35 USC §119(e) of subject matter disclosed in Provisional Application No. 61/204,896, filed 13 Jan. 2009, entitled “Wall Coaster”, and Provisional Application No. 61/277,241, filed 23 Sep. 2009, entitled “Wall Coaster”. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention is directed to an entertainment device consisting of a track for rolling marbles. It may be set up on either one or more two dimensional or three dimensional surfaces, or combinations thereof, where the path the marble traverses may include open-air trajectories. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    A conventional marble track toy, known as Blocks and Marbles™ is manufactured by Tedco, Inc. of Hagerstown, Ind. A similar product, called Amazing Marbles™, is manufactured by TNT, Inc. of Dallas, Tex. These designs include cubes which have an internal marble channel with right-angle turns therethrough, and rectangular blocks which have an exposed trough for the marble to roll along. The cubes are constructed having one section of the channel oriented vertically, with an opening at the top of the cube widened to facilitate capture of a falling marble. The marble track is constructed by stacking the cubes and rectangular blocks such that a marble dropped into the interior channel of a cube near the top of the track, or rolled along a trough in a rectangular block near the top of the track, will pass through a sequence of interior channels and troughs as it descends along the track. 
         [0004]    A disadvantage of this construction is that cubes and rectangular blocks from the construction set are to be used to support other cubes and rectangular blocks that form the marble track, thereby limiting the overall length and height of the marble track. Another disadvantage of this design is that the positions of the cubes and rectangular blocks are limited to points on a three-dimensional grid to provide the necessary alignment of the pieces of the construction set. 
         [0005]    U.S. Pat. No. 5,007,876 discloses a marble track consisting of track segments having a variety of geometries, including curved track segments, track segments for launching the marble into mid-air trajectories, and track segments for catching the marble from mid-air trajectories. Each track segment includes a cylindrical stacking element which may be removably inserted into the cylindrical stacking segment of another track segment, thereby limiting the heights of the track segments to multiples of the cumulative heights of the cylindrical stacking elements. 
         [0006]    U.S. Pat. No. 4,171,090 discloses a marble track where the track itself contains of a pair of flexible elongated rods that are supported on a horizontal surface by support poles. The support poles are inserted into holes in a base plate which are located at positions on a two dimensional grid. Although the heights at which the flexible elongated rods are attached to the support poles can be adjusted, this track does not permit mid-air trajectories of the marble. 
         [0007]    Swedish Patent No. 47513 discloses a marble track consisting of track dowels and cubic blocks having channels therethrough. The channels through the cubic blocks have widened mouths into which the ends of the track dowels rest. Since the track dowels are of fixed lengths, the cubic blocks must essentially be separated by the lengths of the track dowels. This marble track does not include any components which can launch the marble into a mid-air trajectory. 
         [0008]    U.S. Pat. No. 1,252,616 (Jan. 8, 1918) discloses a marble track consisting of chutes which are supported on a horizontal surface by pins. These pins are inserted through bores in support rods which are, in turn, mounted in base blocks. The bores are spaced at regular intervals along the support rods and the bottoms of the chutes have downward projections to prevent the chutes from sliding off the pins. This design limits the number of orientations of the chutes as well as the height of the track. 
         [0009]    U.S. Pat. No. 6,056,620 discloses a marble track consisting of chutes, bumpers and pivoting systems that allow the marble to travel through the air from one chute to the next. This patent discloses that the track is mounted on a vertical surface. This patent discloses the use of magnets to adhere the chutes and other components to paramagnetic or ferromagnetic surfaces. However, this significantly limits the surfaces to which the parts can adhere, that being vertical surfaces. 
         [0010]    It is desirable to provide a marble track toy that consists of a series of chutes which can be affixed to virtually any solid vertical surface, horizontal surface or a combination of both. None of the above disclosed designs provide for mounting on virtually any vertical or horizontal surface. Furthermore, none of these designs provide a marble track toy which can be configured to operate on both two and three dimensional surfaces. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0011]    The present invention provides a marble track amusement device having track elements which are removably attachable on both vertical and horizontal surfaces. It is not limited in height by the number or size of the components. It contains elements that provide for mid-air trajectories of the marbles which are not limited in height by the number or size of these elements. The instant marble track amusement device is not limited to arrangements on a three-dimensional, two dimensional, or even one-dimensional grids. The three-dimensional orientations of the components are infinitely adjustable. 
         [0012]    The track elements are not required to support and/or stabilize each other. They only function to control the path of the marble, thereby substantially increasing the variety of track geometries and facilitating the ease of assembly, disassembly and replacement of track segments. 
         [0013]    The track can be configured to accommodate variable mid-air trajectories. This requires a highly precise positioning of the individual track elements. The present marble track amusement device consists of chutes, re-directors, stairs, catapults, loops and kinetic pivoting components, all of which may be removably attached to a vertical surface. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
         [0014]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the invention showing marble track elements consisting of chutes, re-directors, tubes, stairs and funnels on a substantially vertical planar mounting surface. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0015]    As shown in  FIG. 1 , the marble track  100  consists of elements such as a downward sloping chute  120   a  (generically identified by numeral  120 ), shown herein as sloping to the left side of the drawing, a second downward sloping chute  120   b , shown herein as sloping to the right side of the drawing, a re-director  130  to change the direction of a marble in mid-course, a tube  140 , stairs  150  and a funnel  160 . All of track elements  120 ,  130 ,  140 ,  150  and  160  are secured to at least one planar support surface using attachment means such as clamps, magnets (for mounting to paramagnetic or ferromagnetic support surfaces) or re-usable putty (commonly referred to as “poster putty). Further, the marble track  100  may be mounted onto multiple alternating horizontal and vertical planar support surfaces (not shown). Exemplary support surfaces include refrigerator doors and walls, doors, table tops (or a combination of a table top and adjoining legs), other horizontal and vertical surfaces, such as floors, windows and vertically or horizontally oriented rod-like structures, including tree limbs, such as those found on a Christmas tree. 
         [0016]    Each chute element  120  has a specially designed rim  121  on each end to assist with attachment to the supporting surface. Each re-director  130  has at least one integral tab  131  that provides a surface area which the attachment means uses to adhere the re-director to the support surface. Each of the stair elements  150  has at least one integral tab  151  that similarly assists with adherence to the support surface. The re-director acts to move the marble quickly in a direction that is opposite from the direction that the marble was originally traveling. The stairs direct the marble downward by permitting the marble to bounce from each individual stair to the next. The marble track  100  of  FIG. 1  also includes a funnel  160 . The funnel is meant to catch the marble from a mid air trajectory or sudden drop from the stairs  150  and channel the marble to a smaller opening. 
         [0017]    Since track elements  120 ,  130 ,  140 ,  150  and  160  may be mounted on almost any surface, the positions to which these track elements can be set are essentially infinitely variable. Configuring a marble track with open-air trajectories generally requires trial-and-error positioning of the track elements  120 ,  130 ,  140 ,  150  and  160  to insure that the marble  170  will be properly “caught” by each track element  120 ,  130 ,  140 ,  150  and  160  in succession along the track. For example, when the marble  170  is put in a left downward sloping chute  120   a , the marble will roll from left to right as the left side of the chute is lower than the right. The marble  170  will travel over the rim  121  of the chute  120   a  and be caught by a second chute  120   b , shown in  FIG. 1  as sloping from right to left. Once the marble  170  leaves chute  120   b  it will hit the re-director  130  and quickly be directed into tube  140 . If the re-director  130  is not positioned at precisely the correct location, the marble  170  will either fail to enter the re-director  130  completely or it will not enter the tube  140  as it exits the re-director  130 . Once the marble  170  hits the stairs  150  it will move down the stairs  150 . The tube  140  and the stairs  150  must be positioned precisely with respect to one another in order to enable the marble  170  to move down each successive step of stairs  150  without falling to the ground. The marble  170  moves from the stairs  170  to the funnel  160 . The funnel  160  corrects for any imprecision in trajectory accuracy since there is a much wider opening at the top  162  than at the bottom  161 . 
         [0018]    The infinite adjustability of the positions of the chutes  120 , re-director  130 , tube  140 , stairs  150  and funnel  160  allows the user the satisfaction of fine-tuning the orientation of the track  100  so that the marble  170  consistently completes the track. This also allows the user to construct extremely challenging marble tracks having diverse mid-air trajectories requiring precise positioning. Further, since elements  120 ,  130 ,  140 ,  150  and  160  can be positioned to direct the marble  170  along a significant variety of paths and trajectories; the vertical and horizontal positioning of these elements is not restricted to locations on only a one-dimensional or two-dimensional grid. Also, since the track elements are attached directly to the support surface, rather than being in contact with each other, the course the marble takes is only dependent on the track geometries and the positioning of each of the structural elements. There is thus a substantial increase in the variety of track designs. This flexibility also makes the marble track amusement device easier to assemble, disassemble and replace or adjust portions of the track. 
         [0019]    An alternate embodiment of the marble track amusement device  100  may consist of some elements being attached to a vertical support surface, such as a conventional wall, with other elements being attached to a horizontal support surface, such as a table. This allows the marble  170  to travel on both vertical and horizontal planes. In a variation on this embodiment, an “L” bracket or a re-director can be affixed to either the vertical or horizontal support surface to allow the marble to travel in one plane, divert to the other plane, and then travel back to elements along the original plane. The diversion from plane to plane can continue as many times as the user wishes. 
         [0020]    The overall length and width of the track is only limited by the dimensions of the support surfaces and the strength of the means for attaching the track element to those surfaces. In addition, a track element may take the form of a trampoline, a water wheel-type mechanism or a catapult which can launch the marble  170  onto or into another structural element. Also, since the various track elements can be mounted on planar surfaces with a 360° freedom of orientation they can serve multiple functions. For instance, the bottom of a chute can function as a bumper, or two chutes mounted side by side can allow two marbles to race. 
         [0021]    The structural elements of the marble track may be constructed of any plastic or metal. It may be comprised of a pliable elastomeric material, or a rigid substrate may be coated with an elastomeric material to cushion the impact of the marble with a specific track element, thereby decreasing the likelihood that the marble will bounce off the track. The cross-section of a track element may be altered to better trap a falling marble. The marble track device may include a mechanical or electromechanical means for raising the marble to the top of the track once it has reached the bottom of the track. It may also include electrical or mechanical means for generating sounds or noises when triggered by contact between the marble and selected structural elements. 
         [0022]    Accordingly, it is to be understood that the embodiments of the invention herein described are merely illustrative of the application of the principles of the invention. Reference herein to details of the illustrated embodiments is not intended to limit the scope of the claims, which themselves recite those features regarded as essential to the invention.