Ball and ladder game

A tethered ball toss game is described in which a number of tethered balls arranged at both ends of a series of cords and secured to the ends of the cords by knots are tossed from a prescribed distance toward a number of horizontal bars positioned between upright supports which are retained in perpendicular angularity to the underlying support surface by bottom supports. Each of the horizontal bars are relocatable in a vertical direction along the side supports to other pre-determined points for engagement with the side supports by engaging a retractable latching member into a cooperating hole so that the bar is secured in the desired position. In this fashion the distance between the bars can be altered to vary the difficulty and skill levels of the game. Alternative embodiments of the game are also contemplated where the length of the bars is varied by changing the shape of the side supports to accommodate shortened horizontal bars. This different array of bars can be progressively shorter from bottom to top, or vice versa, or have shorter bars at the middle of the vertical distance.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
 The invention resides in the field of games involving the tossing of an
 article toward an object in order to score points by having the article
 engage one or more appendages or supports of the object.
 The basic concept of tossing an article toward an object is the game of
 horseshoes, or a later modification, quoits. This involves the throwing,
 or tossing, of a ring or horseshoe to engage an upright stake anchored
 into the ground. The stake may be anchored at a perpendicular angle to the
 surface of the ground, or at any other angle suitable for a variant of the
 basic game. The object of the game is to encircle the stake with the
 horseshoe or ring, the ring being the more difficult due to a lack of an
 opening.
 Other articles have been utilized to be tossed at objects, i.e., targets,
 such as beanbags and weights tied at the ends of short cords. However, in
 most instances, these articles are used with targets which require the
 placement of the article within the target, rather than around or hanging
 from the target. The present invention relies upon the latter, the use of
 balls tied at the ends of short cords, for tossing at a series of parallel
 bars arranged one above the other with scoring being gauged upon the skill
 difficulty of tossing the tied balls onto or over a designated bar.
 It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a series of
 substantially horizontal bars, arrayed one atop the other having an
 adjustable space between each set of the bars, such that one or more sets
 of tethered balls can be tossed toward any of the bars to be engaged over
 or onto a selected bar.
 It is also an object of the present invention to provide supports which
 hold the array of bars such that the available length of any of the bars
 can be altered, shortened or lengthened, in accordance with the varying of
 the shape of the supports so that the target areas are, likewise,
 shortened and lengthened.
 It is another object of the present invention to allow for the placement of
 the bars in one vertical array and permit the adjustment of the placement
 of the bars into another vertical array utilizing the same supports in
 order to vary the distance between the bars to increase or decrease the
 level of skill and difficulty in engaging the tethered balls over or onto
 the one of more horizontal bars.
 Other objects will appear hereinafter.
 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
 The present invention is a tethered ball toss game in which a number of
 tethered balls arranged at both ends of a series of cords and secured to
 the ends of the cords by knots are tossed from a prescribed distance
 toward a number of horizontal bars position between upright supports which
 are retained in perpendicular angularity to the underlying support surface
 by bottom supports. Each of the horizontal bars are relocatable in a
 vertical direction along the side supports to other pre-determined points
 for engagement with the side supports by engaging a retractable latching
 member into a cooperating hole so that the bar is secured in the desired
 position. In this fashion the distance between the bars can be altered to
 vary the difficulty and skill levels of the game.
 Alternative embodiments of the game are also contemplated where the length
 of the bars is varied such as by changing the shape of the side supports
 to accommodate shortened horizontal bars. This different array of bars can
 be progressively shorter from bottom to top, or vice versa, or have
 shorter bars at the middle of the vertical distance.
 A ball toss game for throwing tethered balls at a target is described
 comprising a pair of upright side supports retained in perpendicularity to
 an underlying support surface by respective bottom supports, a plurality
 of bar tossing members positioned between said upright supports which are
 removeably engaged at pre-determined points in a vertical direction along
 said side supports, said bar tossing members being releasably engaged by
 one or more retractable latching members in like dimensioned latching
 member receiving apertures located at the pre-determined points along the
 side supports and a pair of spheroids arranged at each of the ends of a
 plurality of elongated flexible cords and secured to said ends of the
 respective cords by passing the cords through a centrally located aperture
 in each spheroid and knotting the cords on either side of each spheroid
 tethering the pair of spheroids to each other with a pre-determined length
 of cord therebetween. With this equipment, the plurality of tethered
 spheroids are tossed from one or more prescribed distances at the bar
 tossing members in order to temporarily secure the tethered spheroids over
 said bar tossing members scoring points for those tethered spheroids
 remaining temporarily secured over said bar tossing members at the end of
 a series of tosses by a number of players.
 The length of the bar tossing members between the side supports may be
 varied to increase or decrease the level of difficulty and skill in
 temporarily securing the tethered spheroids over the bar tossing members.
 One such example may be the bar tossing members arranged in progressively
 shorter lengths from bottom to top, or the bar tossing members arranged in
 progressively longer lengths from bottom to top. Another example may be
 the bar tossing members arranged with shorter lengths at the middle of the
 vertical direction along said side supports, or the bar tossing members
 arranged with longer lengths at the middle of the vertical direction along
 said side supports.
 Further, the distance between the bar tossing members may be varied to
 increase or decrease the level of difficulty and skill in temporarily
 securing the tethered spheroids over the bar tossing members. Other
 variations of the game will be described more fully hereinafter.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
 The following detailed description is of the best presently contemplated
 mode of carrying out the invention. The description is not intended in a
 limiting sense, and is made solely for the purpose of illustrating the
 general principles of the invention. The various features and advantages
 of the present invention may be more readily understood with reference to
 the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the
 accompanying drawings.
 Referring now to the drawings in detail, where like numerals refer to like
 parts or elements, there is shown in FIG. 1 the tethered ball toss game
 structure 10 of the present invention. The tethered ball toss 10 is
 provided with a pair of side supports 12a, 12b which are arranged (as
 shown in FIG. 1) at a uniform distance from one another. Each of the side
 supports 12a, 12b have a series of holes 22 in which respective ends 24 of
 each of the horizontal bars 14, 16 and 18. [See FIG. 1A]. The distance d
 between the respective holes 22 in each of the side supports 12a, 12b may
 vary to increase or decrease the skill and difficulty level as described
 in more detail below. At the lowest point of the side supports 12a, 12b
 are a pair of bottom supports 26a, 26b which provide integral support for
 the side supports 12a, 12b so that the side supports are held in a
 perpendicular angular relationship to the bottom supports 26a, 26b which
 rest upon the underlying surface.
 With particular reference to FIGS. 1, 1A and 3, the bars 14, 16 and 18 are
 adjustably mounted into holes 22 through the engagement of retractable end
 24. Each of the bars may be vertically moved within the space between the
 side supports 12a, 12b when the space is of uniform width. To accomplish
 the relocation of a bar 16, a retractable latch or slide release 28, which
 pulls the end 24 of the bar 16 back into the hollow space within the bar,
 is actuated to disengage the end 24 from the cooperating hole 22
 permitting the bar to be removed from the supports 12a, 12b. To relocate
 the bar, one end 24 is placed within a cooperating hole 22 in one side
 support 12b, and the other end 24 is retracted using release 28 until that
 end is positioned over the cooperating hole 22 of side support 12a and
 released to engage the side support. This procedure is used to move, or
 relocate, any of the horizontal bars 14, 16 or 18 from one position to
 another position as may be desired for increasing or decreasing skill and
 difficulty levels to tossing the tethered balls. With specific reference
 to FIG. 3, the holes 22 are presented as being exemplary of a number of
 varying locations arrayed along the vertical dimension of the side support
 12b to show the locations (holes 22) where any bar may be placed. While
 these holes 22 are shown equidistant from each other, this may not
 necessarily be the only arrangement and holes may be non-uniformly spaced
 so that the distance d may not be identical in all forms of the game.
 Returning to FIG. 1, the tethered ball toss 10 shown is depicting a
 horizontal bar array having equally spaced bars 14, 16 and 18 located in
 the top, middle and bottom holes 22 (as shown in FIG. 3). This array
 leaves the intermediate holes without any bar engaged, but also allows for
 the relocation of any bar to those unoccupied holes 22. The distance d
 between any two of the bars can be changed as described and directly
 relates to the level of skill and difficulty of the ball toss and,
 consequently, scoring of the game.
 The tethered balls 20a, 20b and 20c, as shown in FIG. 1, are capable of
 engaging any of the bars 14, 16 or 18 by hanging over the bar. The
 tethered balls 20a can be described as two balls 30a, 30b which are tied
 into their respective positions at each end of a cord 32 by a series of
 knots 34. The balls 30a, 30b and the knots 34 are located proximate the
 respective ends of the cord 32 with a variable length of cord between
 them. The length of the cord 32 between the balls 30a, 30b may be of any
 length suitable to allow the balls 30a, 30b to act as weights and drape
 over any bar as shown in FIG. 1. The balls 30a, 30b also act as a
 restraint to the disengaging of the tethered balls 20 from any of the bars
 14, 16 or 18 by falling off due to the weight of one or the other of the
 balls.
 Alternate embodiments of the invention are shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. For the
 tethered ball toss 110 of FIG. 5, instead of each of the side supports,
 which remain perpendicular to the bottom supports 26a, 26b, being parallel
 to each other, the side supports 112a, 112b are shaped to approach each
 other as they extend upward, closing the distance between each of the
 supports. This results in the shortening of the bars 114, 116 and 118 as
 the bars are placed higher in the ball toss 110. The shortening of the
 length of the bars 114, 116 and 118 serves to increase the skill and
 difficulty levels of tossing the tethered balls 20 onto the bars having a
 shortened length.
 For the tethered ball toss 210 of FIG. 6, the side supports 212a, 212b are
 shaped to approach each other toward the middle of the vertical dimension
 of these supports which shortens the length of the middle bar 216 as
 against the length of the upper and lower bars 218 and 214, respectively.
 As in the case of the first alternative embodiment, the skill and
 difficulty levels are increased as the length of the middle bar 216 is
 shortened and the side supports 212a, 212b bend inward reducing the
 available space for engaging any of the tethered balls 20 onto or over the
 bars. For this embodiment, the upper and lower bars 218 and 214 may be
 relocated to positions closer to the middle bar if the shape of the side
 supports 212a, 212b permits. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the lower
 bar 214 may be relocated downward, away from the middle bar 216,
 increasing the distance d between the respective bars as described in
 connection with FIG. 3.
 The tethered ball toss game is played by standing a prescribed distance
 from the tethered ball toss 10 and throwing or tossing the tethered balls
 20 toward the bars 14, 16 and 18 in order to have the tethered balls 20
 engage, by draping over, any of the bars as described above. Each of the
 bars 14, 16 and 18 may be relocated (as described in regard to FIG. 3) to
 increase the skill or difficulty level of the game by increasing or
 decreasing the distance d between any of the bars 14, 16 or 18. Engagement
 of the tethered balls 20 with each of the bars 14, 16 or 18 earns the
 thrower an amount of difficulty or skill points, e.g. five (5) points for
 engaging the bottom bar 14, ten (10) points for engaging the top bar 18,
 and fifteen (15) points for engaging the middle bar 16. Likewise, point
 differentials may be utilized for relocated bars, or for the alternative
 embodiments having shortened bar lengths. The object of the game is to
 achieve a certain point value in the fewest number of tosses or throws.
 The tethered ball toss 10, 110 or 210 is preferred to have linear
 dimensions of 20 to 30 inches for the length of the bottom supports 26 and
 the length of the bars 14, 16 and 18 and 30 to 36 inches for the height of
 the side supports 12 to afford sufficient space for relocating the
 horizontal bars in accordance with the present invention. Further, the
 tethered ball toss 10, 110, 210 has separable elements so that the various
 supports and bars can be packaged as individual members and assembled for
 game use.
 The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without
 departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof and,
 accordingly, the described embodiments are to be considered in all
 respects as being illustrative and not restrictive, with the scope of the
 invention being indicated by the appended claims, rather than the
 foregoing detailed description, as indicating the scope of the invention
 as well as all modifications which may fall within a range of equivalency
 which are also intended to be embraced therein.