APPARATUS FOR A NEW GAME OF SKILL
Year: 1884

page_text: We, WILLIAM SAPTE Junior and JAMES OAKLEY both of No 18 Laurence
Pounteney Hill in the City of London Merchants, do hereby declare the nature
of the said invention for "APPARATUS FOR A NEW GAME OF SKILL," to be as
follows:-
:-
This invention relates to apparatus, for a new game of skill, which is constructed
and arranged as follows:-A table or board properly levelled has extending along
it a straight raised rib along which a ball is propelled, as in billiards, from an end
platform level with the surface of the rib. The table is divided by cross lines or
partitions into compartments numbered in order from the platform. When the
ball, owing to inaccuracy in its direction, drops or runs off the rib into one of these
compartments, the number of the compartment is counted in favour of the player,
this number being higher the farther the ball has travelled along the rib. On the
same table there may be several such ribs, parallel to one another, but differing in
width of face, so that inferior players may use those that have the greatest width.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicants,
28, Southampton Buildings,
London, W.C.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
We, WILLIAM SAPTE Junior and JAMES OAKLEY both of No 18 Laurence
Pountney Hill, in the city of London, Merchants, do hereby declare the nature
of our invention for "APPARATUS FOR A NEW GAME OF SKILL," and in what
manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :—
This invention relates to apparatus for a new game of skill, which is constructed
and arranged as follows:-
A table or board properly levelled has extending along it a straight raised rib
along which a ball is propelled as in billiards, from an end platform level with the
surface of the rib. The table is divided by cross lines or partitions into compart-
ments numbered in order from the platform. When the ball, owing to inaccuracy
in its direction, drops or runs off the rib into one of these compartments, the
number of the compartment is counted in favor of the player, this number being
bigher the farther the ball has travelled along the rib On the same table there
may be several such ribs parallel to one another, but differing in width of face, so
that inferior players may use those that have the greatest width. Fig. 1 of the
accompanying drawings is a perspective view of a table, part of which is shewn to
an enlarged scale by fig. 2; and fig. 3 is a transverse section. A ball B is propelled
from the platform A along one of the longitudinal ribs C of which there may be
several C¹ CC³ (fig. 3) having faces of various breadths. The table is divided by
cross partitions D so as to present a series of compartments numbered in order
from A to the end. The greater the accuracy of direction given to the ball, the
farther will it run along the face of the rib, as indicated at B fig. 2, until finally
it runs off as indicated at B' into one or other of the numbered compartments.
The number of the compartment into which the ball drops being counted in favor
of the player will therefore express a measure of his skill. A wide-faced rib scul
as C¹ may be used by inferior players, whilst more skilful players may use the
narrower rib C or the narrowest C. The numbers 1, 2, 3, etc., being applied to
the successive compartments when the wide ribs are used, multiples of these may
be applied to the corresponding compartments when the narrower ribs are used.
Thus the compartment which counts 5 when the rib C¹ is used may be doubled
or trebled, so as to count 10 or 15 when the narrower rib C2 is used, or may be
multiplied four or six fold so as to count 20 or 30 when the still narrower rib C³
is used.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is :-
The construction and use of apparatus for a new game of skill, consisting of a
tablo presenting straight raised ribs along which balls are propelled, and numbered
compartments to receive the balls as they drop off the ribs, substantially as herein
described.