AN IMPROVED APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED TO Ce
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick Futvoye, of Regent Street, in the
County of Middlesex, Merchant, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED
APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED TO Ce
"
Ar
TAD
Sealed the 17th May 1853, and dated the 22nd March 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederick Futvoye
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 22nd March 1853.
I, FREDERICK FUTVOYE, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED IN GAMES OF CHANCE"
to be as follows:-
This improved apparatus is intended to be applied to such games of
chance as the racing, yatching, or hunting games, or such other similar
amusing games as are usually played with dice or other contrivances
having numbers or letters marked thereon. One of the objects of the
present Invention is to dispense with the use of dice, which are by some
persons considered objectionable, and to substitute therefor a series of
numbers, letters, signs, or devices ranged round a circular or other
table, on which is placed a circular rotating disc or wheel, which must

page_text: be mounted on a centre or spindle, and may, if thought desirable, be
also provided with numbers, letters, signs, or devices. The surface of this
circular table may be covered with cloth, leather, or other material,
and divided radially into compartments, each of which may be pro-
vided with a number, letter, or device. Supposing horses, yatchs, or
other figures are intended to be played with as in the well known games
above referred to, they are placed on the table in any predetermined
order;
and the rules of the game having been previously decided on,
the figures are to be moved round or upon the rotating disc according
to the numbers on the stationary part of the table, against which any
given or index point on the rotating disc or wheel may stop. The
stakes may consist of counters or small coins, and previous to com-
mencing the game each player must deposit in a dish or bowl, at the
centre of the rotating disc, the stakes that may be determined on.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Frederick Putvoye, in the Great Seal Patent
Office, on the 22nd September 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
FREDERICK FUTVOIE, of Regent Street, in the County of Middlesex,
Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of March, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the
sixteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Frederick Futvoye, Her special
licence that I, the said Frederick Futvoye, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Frederick Futvoye,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter
during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"AN IMPROVED APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED IN GAMES OF CHANCE," upon

page_text: the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Frederick Futvoye,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should par-
ticularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same
to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Frederick Futvoye, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, reference being had to the drawing here-
unto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is
to say):
This improved apparatus, to be employed in games of chance, is in-
tended to be applied to such games of chance as the racing, yachting,
or hunting games, or such other similar amusing games as are usually
played with dice or other contrivances having numbers or letters
marked thereon.
One of the objects of the present Invention is to dispense with the
use of dice, which are by some persons considered objectionable, and
to substitute therefor a series of numbers, letters, signs, or devices
ranged round a circular or other table, on which is placed a circular
rotating disc or wheel, which must be mounted on a centre or spindle,
and which may also, if thought desirable, be provided with numbers,
letters, signs, or devices. The surface of this circular table, or rather of
the rotating disc thereof, is to be covered with cloth, leather, or other
material, and divided radially into compartments, each of which may
be provided with a number, letter, or device.
Fig. 1, in the accompanying drawing is a plan view, and Fig. 2, is a
transverse vertical section of my improved apparatus.
The fixed part
receive the
is seen at a, a, and is recessed on its upper side to
moveable or rotating disc b, b, which turns on a centre c.
A bowl or
dish d, is placed in the centre of the rotating disc for the purpose of
receiving the counters or stakes.
It will be seen that the disc b, b, is divided by radial lines into onc
hundred parts; but any other number may be adopted at pleasure, and
at the discretion of the manufacturer.

page_text: The external edge of the disc, as also tho outer and fixed edge of
the table, is also divided into twelve parts and numbered. By these
means the character or nature of the game may be varied by adopting
any predetermined rules depending upon either or all these sets of
numbers.
Supposing horses, yachts, or other figures are intended to be played
with, as in the well-known racing or yachting games above referred to,
the figures are placed on the table in any predetermined order, and the
rules of the game having been previously decided on, the figures are
to be moved round from division to division upon the rotating disc,
according to the numbers on the stationary part of the table, against
which any given or index point on the rotating disc or wheel may
stop.
The rotating disc b, b, is set in motion by hand by means of the studs
or pins e, e, situated near its outer edge.
If preferred, for some games the moveable disc b, b, may be fixed or
made stationary by the insertion of a pin through the edge of the fixed
part of the table, and made to enter a hole in the edge of the rotating
disc, as at g. The numbers or figures whereby the horses are advanced
round the course may then be obtained by means of a teetotum or
other suitable contrivance.
The stakes may consist of counters or small coins, and previous to
commencing the game each player must deposit in the dish or bowl d,
at the centre of the rotating disc, the stakes that may be deter-
mined on.
A modification of the apparatus, possessing nearly all the same
advantages of the one just described, may be made by causing only the
centre of the disc to rotate; that part upon which the horses, yachts,
or other figures are placed being fixed, and forming a portion of the
stationary table. This modification will be understood by the sectional
view, Fig. 8, and plan view, Fig. 4; a, a, is the fixed part of the table
which must be marked and numbered in the same manner as the
rotating disc b, b, in the former instance. The bowl or dish d, is the
only moveable part; it is mounted on a centre c, and is provided at its
upper edge with numbers from 1 to 12. From the centre c, rises a
column or flag post, furnished with a fixed index or pointer f, so that

page_text: when the central moveable part is rotated, the index or pointer may
point to one or other of the numbers on the edge of the bowl.
Having now described my Invention, and the best means with which
I am acquainted for carrying the same into effect, I claim, in conclu-
sion, the apparatus above shewn and described to be employed in games
of chance, whereby the use of dice is dispensed with. I claim particu-
larly arranging the course in a circular form, either on a rotating or
stationary disc.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederick Futvoye, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twentieth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
Witness, EDW FUTVOYE,
23, John Street,
Bedford Row,
Solicitor.
FREDERICK FUTVOYE. (L.S.)