Patent Document

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/318,860, filed Sep. 13, 2001, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention is related to the field of marble games, more particularly to a marble sequestering game of skill wherein the marbles are held within a container. 
     2. Technical Background 
     Numerous marble games are known in the art. Many of these are board games, maze games, or puzzles. Some marble games are rotatable and tiltable and involve skill and chance. Marbles can be unsafe for young children and infants unless they are permanently held within a container. At present there is no known marble game that provides the attributes of a puzzle, skill, and chance game wherein the game is rotatable and tiltable, the marbles are held permanently in a container, and the game forms an attractive design when completed. The present invention provides a marble sequestering game with these attributes. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention has a plurality of cylindrical tube members that are transparent. They are connected to a top member that is cylindrical and hollow and communicates with the hollow tube members. The hollow tube members are attached to a rectangular base. Each tube member contains a plurality of marbles, a different color for each tube. When the device is inverted, the marbles fall into the top member and are mixed and contained therein. Since the top member is not transparent, it is not possible to visualize the marbles when they are in the top member, except at the opening of a tube member. When the device is rotated so that the top member is on top, in the upright position, the marbles contained within the top member begin dropping into the tube members. By rotating and tilting the device, specific colored marbles can be made to fall into the tube members. The object of the game is to sequester the marbles by color so that each vertical transparent cylinder contains marbles of only one color. However, the user may also choose to define a fixed combination of colors for each cylinder. The marbles are permanently enclosed within the cavities of the tube members and the top member. When the game is complete, the game further provides a decorative object. 
     An advantage of the present invention is that it provides a challenging game of skill using colored marbles. 
     Another advantage of the present invention is that it provides an attractive decorative object when the game is complete. 
     Another advantage of the present invention is that it provides a game that is safe for children. 
     Another advantage of the present invention is that it may be played by a single individual and does not require other participants. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES 
     FIG. 1 shows a top perspective view of the marble game of the present invention. 
     FIG. 2 shows a bottom perspective view of the marble game of the present invention. 
     FIG. 3 shows an example of the marbles sorted by color into each leg of the marble game, thereby completing the game. 
     FIG. 4 shows an alternative embodiment of the present invention including a plurality of intermediate horizontal tubular members connecting the hollow vertical tubes at a point between the base and the tubular top member. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     While the following description details the preferred embodiments of the present invention, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and arrangement of the parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings, since the invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced in various ways. 
     FIG. 1 shows the marble game  10  of the present invention. Game  10  has a plurality of transparent cylindrical tube members  11 , preferably four, which are hollow and can contain marbles  12 . One end of tube member  11  is attached to a top member  13  which is also tubular as well as hollow and can contain marbles  12 . The internal hollow portion  15  of tube members  11  are in communication with the internal hollow portion  16  of top member  13 . The opposite ends of tube members  11  are attached to base  14 , which closes tube members  11  at this end so that marbles  12  cannot exit tube members  11  at this end. Top member  13  is, preferably, not transparent but may be transparent if desired. Tube members  11  are, preferably, attached permanently and vertically to top member  13  and base  14 , however, tube members may be reversibly attached if desired. Although tube members  11  and top member  13  are shown as round or cylindrical, they may assume any shape as desired as long as the marbles  12  can move freely through the internal hollow portions  15  and  16 . Both top member  13  and base  14  are shown as square but they can also have as many sides as desired or be round. 
     Marbles  12  or similar spherical objects are placed in each tube member  11 , at least one marble  12  per tube member  11 . The marbles  12  have an identifying feature such that one unique marble type is associated with any given tube member  11  the user chooses. In FIG. 1 the marbles  12  are identified with a letter. For example, A is red, B is blue, C is green, and D is yellow. Various colored marbles are in each tube member  11 . However, the object of the game is to position marbles  11  of one color in one tube member  11 , i.e., one tube member  11  will have all red marbles, another tube member  11  will have all blue, and so on. Alternatively, a user may choose to create a defined pattern of colors in each tube member  11 . 
     By tipping or rotating game  10  upside down, as shown in FIG. 2, all the marbles  12  will fall into top member  13 . Game  10  can then be tipped and rotated by a user as desired to move marbles  12  around the internal hollow portion  16  of top member  13 . The marbles can be visualized in top member  13  at the openings of tube members  11  into top member  13 . Game  10  can also be tipped and rotated so that marbles  12  fall from top member  13  into a tube member  11 . As noted above, the object of the game is to sequester all the marbles  12  of a given color or other unique feature into a single tube member  11 , and to repeat this sequestering for all tube members  11 , so that each tube member  11  contains all the marbles of a given color or feature, as shown in FIG.  3 . This is accomplished by tipping and rotating game  10  to direct a marble  12  of a specific color to a specific tube member  11 . 
     An example solution to the game whereby each tube member has, for example, five marbles of a given color, as shown in FIG. 3, is as follows. To start the game, invert the game so that all marbles are contained in top member  13 . Rotate the game so that a marble color of choice, for example A, is located at the opening of a first tube member of choice. Return the game to its upright position so that the marble of choice falls to the bottom of the tube member of choice. Then rotate the game to remove all the other marbles from the tube of choice above the A marble, unless they are A marbles, and deposit all of them in the remaining three non-choice tube members. Then locate the next uppermost A marble in a non-choice tube member and remove all the other marbles above it into the other two remaining non-choice tube members. Then rotate the game so that the A marble in the non-choice tube member enters the top member by itself, and rotate the top member until the A marble in the top member is at the opening of the tube member of choice. Then turn the game to the upright position so that the A marble in the top member falls into the tube member of choice. If any other non-A marbles follow into the tube member of choice, return them to the top member and place them in the non-choice tube members. Repeat this process for all the A marbles. Then select a second tube member of choice and repeat the process so that all marbles of a given color, other than A, for example B, are in the second tube member of choice. Repeat the process for a third tube member of choice selecting, for example, color C. The fourth tube member will then have the remaining D colored marbles. 
     The foregoing description has been limited to specific embodiments of this invention. It will be apparent, however, that variations and modifications may be made by those skilled in the art to the disclosed embodiments of the invention, with the attainment of some or all of its advantages and without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. For example, the game  10  of the present invention is constructed of any suitable plastic but may also be made of glass. Game  10  may also be made in any height or width as desired. Game  10  may also have a center tube member and top portion  13  may have hollow cross members tubes connecting one side of top member  13  with the opposite side. Likewise, tube members  11  may also have hollow cross member tubes interconnecting each tube member  11 . In this manner, marbles could be moved from one side of top member  13  to the other without going around top member  13 , and marbles could be transferred from one tube member  11  to another without going through top member  13 . 
     It will be understood that various changes in the details, materials, and arrangements of the parts which have been described and illustrated above in order to explain the nature of this invention may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the principle and scope of the invention.

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