A GAME COMPRISING MAGNETICALLY MOVEABLE GAME PIECES

Abstract: In a game in which playing pieces (3) can be moved magnetically on a game board (2) by means of manoeuvring devices (4) mounted beneath the board, the playing pieces are provided with a support plate (8) intended for contact with the board. The support plate is non-magnetic and the magnetic material (9) of the playing pieces is located substantially in the centre of the support plate. The support plates (8a, 8b) of two playing pieces (3a, 3b) which come into close contact with one another are able to overlap partially, so as to ensure that both pieces will remain upright should one of the pieces lose contact with its manoeuvring device (4).

Description: A Game Comprising Magnetically Moveable Game Pieces The present invention relates to a game in which play- ing or game pieces can be moved magnetically on a game board by means of a respective manoeuvring device positioned beneath the board, and in which each of the playing pieces is provided at the bottom thereof with a support plate intended for contact with the board, and magnetic material for magnetic coaction with an associated manoeuvring device. In games of this kind, and in particular in the case of games which include beneath the board a plurality of foil strips between which the manoeuvring devices are inserted, there are times during the game in which two pieces from the two teams involved are in such close contact or close proximity with one another as to cause one of the pieces to loose its magnetic contact with an associated manoeuvring device and possibly topple over and be attracted magnetically to the other piece, which retains magnetic contact with its manoeuvring device. This often makes it difficult to bring the "lost" playing piece guickly into play again, since the piece must first be released from the other playing piece and thereafter placed in an appropriate position on the board in order to obtain magnetic contact with its manoeuvring device. In order to avoid such occurrences, attempts have been made to provide each playing piece with a wide and high base part so as to prevent the magnets of respective pieces from being brought too close together, although this results in the drawback of clumsy and therewith often difficultly manoeuvred playing pieces, which negatively influences the realism in the game in question. The object of the present invention is to avoid these negative occurrences and to provide a game in which a playing piece which comes into the close proximity of an opponent's piece will remain standing on the board subsequent to having lost magnetic contact with its manoeuvring device and can be again captured by its manoeuvring device for quick continuance of the game being played. This object is achieved in accordance with the present invention in that the support plate is non-magnetic, in that the magnetic material of the playing piece is located essentially in the centre of said support plate, and in that two playing pieces of competing teams are configured in a manner which will enable said pieces to be brought into such close contact with one another that their support plates will partially over¬ lap one another, wherein that playing piece whose support plate is uppermost and which still has magnetic contact with its manoeuvring device locks the support plate of the second playing piece against the board through the medium of its support plate from above, so that said second playing piece subsequent to having lost magnetic contact with its manoeuvring device upon mutual contact between the two pieces will remain upright on the board and the magnetic material of said second playing piece is prevented from coming into closer proximity with the magnetic material of the first playing piece than that afforded by the overlap between the two support plates. In order to facilitate overlapping of the support plates, each support plate is relatively thin and will preferably have a thickness of at most about 0.5 mm. An edge part of one of the support plates may optionally be bevelled or slightly curved, so as to enable the other support plate ato slide beneath said one support plate more easily. According to one variant, a locking plate may be pro¬ vided slightly above the support and plate, parallel therewith, wherein the locking plate on one of the playing pieces is arranged so that it can be inserted in between the locking plate and the support plate of the other playing piece, thereby preventing toppling of a playing piece. Further features of the invention and further advan- tages afforded thereby will be apparent from the fol¬ lowing Claims and description. The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to exemplifying embodiments thereof illustra- ted in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of an inventive game; Figure 2 illustrates schematically two playing pieces in the close proximity of one another; Figure 3 is a view from above of one of the pieces shown in Figure 2; Figure 4 is a side view of a playing-piece support- plate; Figure 5 illustrates another embodiment of the playing pieces of a game according to the invention; Figure 6 illustrates a variant of the support plate shown in Figure 5; and Figure 7 illustrates part of a modified support plate. According to Figure 1, an inventive game 1 includes a game board 2 on which a plurality of playing pieces 3 which, for instance, can form two teams in a ball game, such as football or ice hockey, can be moved magneti- cally by means of a number of manoeuvring devices 4 positioned beneath the board 2, said devices being intended for manipulation by two game participants. Each playing piece is provided at its bottom with magnetic material intended for coaction with corres- ponding magnetic material provided in the ends of res¬ pective manoeuvring devices 4 which extend inwards and beneath the game board. Disposed beneath the board 2 are a number of mutually adjacent non-magnetic foil strips 5, between which the manoeuvring devices 4 are placed, one and one. The magnetic material in the playing pieces and manoeuvring devices of the two teams preferably has the form of magnets, and the magnetic poles of the two teams will advantageously be turned in different directions in order to prevent a playing piece from the "wrong" team being placed on a given manoeuvring device. It is possible that during the course of the game two playing pieces from the two teams will come into such close contact with one another that the one piece will retain its magnetic contact with its particular man¬ oeuvring device, whereas the other piece will lose magnetic contact with its particular manoeuvring de¬ vice. This situaton is shown more clearly in Figure 2, which shows solely the upper foil strips of the plurality of the foil strips with intermediate manoeuv¬ ring devices mounted beneath a game board. In the Figure 2 illustration, a playing piece 3a is shown in coaction with its manoeuvring device 4a, whereas a second playing piece 3b no longer coacts mag¬ netically with its particular manoeuvring device 4b. The piece 3a includes a body 6a which is mounted, through the intermediary of a base or foot 7a, on a support plate 8a intended for contact with the game board 2. Magnetic material 9a, suitably in the form of a flat magnet, is provided in the bottom of the playing piece 3a for coaction with corresponding magnetic material 10a, suitably a flat magnet, in the manoeuv- ring device 4a. Similar magnetic material is provided in the playing piece 3b and manoeuvring device 4b. The two manoeuvring devices 4a and 4b are separated by a thin, flexible and non-magnetic foil strip 5a, and the manoeuvring device 4b is, in turn, separated from the nearest underlying manoeuvring device (not shown) by a corresponding foil strip 5b. The base 7 of respective playing pieces is mounted sub- stantially in the centre of the support plate 8 and may, advantageously, incorporate the magnetic material 9, although part of the magnetic material may be situ¬ ated in the support plate 8. The construction of the game 1 is such that when the support plate 8 on that one of the two playing pieces which has its manoeuvring device uppermost rests on the game board 2, there is formed at the edge of the sup¬ port plate a small opening or gap 11 between the sup- port plate and the board. Thus, when the playing piece 3b from the right in Figure 2 approaches the playing piece 3a, whose manoeuvring device 4a is lo¬ cated in the highest position, the edge part of the support plate 8b of the playing piece 3b is able to slide in under the support plate 8a of the game piece 3a until the position shown in Figure 2 is reached, resulting in a partial overlap between the two support plates. The playing piece 3b will thereby be held upright on the board 2 with the aid of the playing piece 3a and the magnetic material 9b of said playing piece 3b is unable to approach the magnetic material 9a of the playing piece 3a than the proximity permitted by the overlap between the two support plates. This pre¬ vents the two playing pieces from being bonded magneti- cally together. The magnetic contact between game piece and manoeuvring device can be readily re-established by returning the manoeuvring device 4b to a position centrally beneath the playing piece 3b, such as to enable the playing piece 3b to be moved again on the game board. It will be understood from the aforegoing that, in accordance with the invention, it is necessary that the support plates will prevent the base parts of respec- tive pieces from approaching one another too closely, and consequently it is necessary to adapt the possible overlap to the strength of the magnets used. A larger degree of overlap will require stronger magnets, and vice versa. Good coaction can be obtained between the playing pieces and manoeuvring devices, even when rapid man¬ oeuvres are made, by placing the underside of the magnet 9 contigous with or adjacent to the underside of the support plate and by giving the body 6 of the playing piece a small mass, e.g. the form of a flat figure (see Figure 3). Furthermore, when the support plate 8 is provided with a downwardly directed friction means 12 located excentrically in relation to the magnet, as illustrated in Figure 4, it is possible to rotate the playing piece so as to enable said piece, for example when the game concerned is an ice hockey game, to shoot a puck with the aid of a club held by the piece concerned. The support plate 8 may advantageously be made from, for instance, a transparent plastic material and may have a diameter of, e.g. 20 mm and a thickness of about 0.25 mm. In order to enable the support plate of a playing piece to enter readily beneath the support plate of another game piece, the thickness should not, however, exceed about 0.5 mm when the support plates have totally straight edges. The magnet may, for in¬ stance, have a diameter of about 6 mm and a thickness of 1.5 mm. Other values may, of course, be used, de¬ pending on the configuration and size of the game. More positive locking between two playing pieces in close contact with one another can be obtained with the embodiment illustrated in Figure 5, where each playing piece is provided with a locking plate 13 arranged at a given distance above its support plate 8 and extends parallel therewith and which has substantially the same lateral extension as the support plate. This arrange- ment enables the playing pieces to lock together effec¬ tively irrespective of which support plate is located beneath or above the other, since the locking plate 13 on one of the pieces will always be positioned between the locking plate and the support plate of the other piece, as illustrated in Figure 5. The locking plate 13 may, advantageously, be used to move a game ball 14 over the board 2 by means of one edge of said plate, i.e. when the game concerned is a football game. The ability of the locking plate to move the ball 14 across the board can be varied by varying the height of the locking plate 13 above the support plate. In the case of a back, the locking plate will have a relatively low position, e.g. a height of 2 mm in the case of a ball diameter of 10 mm, thereby enabling high but relatively short passes to be made. In the case of a forward, the locking plate may have, for instance, a height of 4 mm, which results in a flatter ball trajectory. In order to facilitate overlapping of two immediately adjacent support plates, at least one support plate may be bevelled or curved at its edges. Examples of such configurations are shown in Figures 6 and 7, in which the support plate 8 of Figure 6 has a circumferential bevel 15 and the support plate 8 of Figure 7 has a slightly upwardly curved edge part 16 and is therefore slightly cupped. In this regard, it is suitable that the degree of bevelling and the extent to which said edge part is raised are adapted to the opponent pieces in a manner to enable the desired overlap to be achie- ved, and consequently two playing pieces provided with a pronounced upwardly curved support plate should not be intended to meet one another. In order to provide special effects in the game being played, it may be desirable for different playing pieces of one team to be held by their respective manoeuvring devices by magnetic forces of mutually different magnitudes, which can be achieved by using magnets of mutually different strengths or by covering the manouevring devices with fewer or more foil strips. For example, in the case of a football game, where each team includes a goalkeeper, backs and forwards, the magnetic force generated in each position may be greatest between the goalkeepers and their respective manoeuvring devices and smallest between a forward and its manoeuvring device. This means that it is easier to "lose" a forward in each team, for instance in close conflict with a back or the goalkeeper of opponent's team. This effect can also be achieved by extending the forward manoeuvring devices further beneath the game board than the devices for manoeuvring goalkeepers and backs, in the case of a game provided with several foil sheets beneath the board. As will be readily understood from the aforegoing, the arching of game board produced by the manouevring devices locally facilitates over¬ lapping between the support plates of respective play¬ ing pieces. A locking plate 13 according to Figure 5 used in a football game can advantageously have a non-round form so as to facilitate manoeuvring of the ball, for ex¬ ample when dribbling. The support plate 8 and the base or foot 7 and, when applicable, also the locking plate 13 may suitably be made in one piece, for example may be extruded in one piece from a plastics material, wherein the suitable mouth of a suitable recess for subsequent insertion of a magnet can open into the underside of the support plate. The friction device 12 may be made in one piece with the aforesaid parts, although it may, for example, also have the form of a pointed impression in the support plate. It will be understood that the invention is not re¬ stricted to the aforedescribed embodiments and that many other variants are possible within the scope of the present invention.

Claims: Claims 1. A game in which playing pieces (3) can be moved magnetically on a game board (2) by means of a respec- tive manoeuvring device (4) mounted beneath the game board, and in which the playing pieces are provided at the bottom thereof with a support plate (8) intended for contact with the game board and magnetic material (9) intended for magnetic coaction with an associated manoeuvring device (4), c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the support plate (8) is non-magnetic; in that the magnetic material (9) of respective playing pieces is located essentially in the middle of the support plate; in that two playing pieces (3a, 3b) of competing teams are constructed so as to enable said pieces to be brought into such close proximity with one another that their support plates (8a, 8b) will partially overlap one another, wherewith that playing piece (3a) whose support plate (8a) is uppermost and which still has magnetic contact with its manoeuvring device (4a) locks, with its support plate (8a), the support plate (8b) of the other game piece (3b) against the game board (2) from above, such that said other playing piece (3b), subsequent to having lost magnetic contact with its manoeuvring device (4b) upon mutual contact of the two playing pieces is held standing upright on the game board and the magnetic material (9b) of said playing piece is prevented from approaching the mag¬ netic material (9a) of the first playing piece more closely than is allowed by the overlap between the two support plates. 2. A game according to Claim 1, c h a r a c ¬ t e r i z e d in that the support plate (8) is thin and has a thickness of at most about 0.5 mm, preferably about 0.25 mm. 3- A game according to Claim l or 2, c h a r a c ¬ t e r i z e d in that support plate (8a) of the first playing piece (3a) has a bevelled edge part (15) so as to permit said support plate to slide up onto the support plate (8b) of the second playing piece (3b). 4. A game according to any one of Claims 1-3, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the magnetic mate¬ rial (9) of said playing pieces consists of a magnet; and in that the magnets of the playing pieces in com¬ peting teams are facing in opposite directions so as to coact with manoeuvring device magnets that are similarly facing in opposite directions. 5. A game according to Claim 4, c h a r a c ¬ t e r i z e d in that a downwardly extending friction device (12) is provided on the underside of respective support plates (8) and positioned excentrically in relation to the magnet (9), said friction device (12) functioning to enable the playing piece to be rotated. 6. A game according to any one of Claims 1-5, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that each playing piece includes a locking plate (13) which is positioned slightly above a respective support plate (8) and extends parallel with said plate, wherewith when the support plates of two playing pieces are brought into overlapping relationship, the locking plate (13) of that playing piece whose support plate is positioned above the support plate of the other playing piece will lie over the locking plate of said other playing piece. 7. A game according to Claim 6, c h a r a c ¬ t e r i z e d in that the locking plate (13) is con- figured in a manner such as to enable a game ball (14) to be moved over the board by means of the edge of the locking plate. 8. A game according to any one of Claims 1-7, in which there is arranged beneath the game board (2) a plurality of mutually superimposed non-magnetic foil strips (5) between which respective manoeuvring devices (4) are positioned at different levels, c h a r a c ¬ t e r i z e d in that the playing piece (3a) whose manoeuvring device (4a) is located at a level higher than the other playing piece (3b) is arranged so that the support plate (8a) of said playing piece (3a) can partially overlap the support plate (8b) of the other playing piece from above. 9. A game according to Claim 8, in which the playing pieces form two teams, each comprising a goalkeeper, backs and forwards, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that in each team the greatest magnetic force prevails between a goalkeeper and its manoeuvring device and the smallest magnetic force prevails between a forward and its manoeuvring device. 10. A game according to Claim 9, in which goalkeepers and backs each have a support plate (8) which is bevel¬ led on the underside at the edge thereof, c h a r ¬ a c t e r i z e d in that the goalkeepers have the largest bevel.

Inventors: BERNTSON SVANTE, BERNTSON, SVANTE
Applicants: SWEGAME LTD, SWEGAME LTD.
Application year: 1991
Main classification: A63F7
IPC codes: A63F7