Tiered Beverage Pong Game System

Abstract

A tiered beverage pong game system comprising a plurality of tiered platforms, each having at least one of a width and a length that is greater than any higher tiered platform and a plurality of recessed beverage container placement markers located on the tiered platforms, each configured to seat a beverage container thereon. A top tiered platform comprises a single recessed beverage container placement marker and each tiered platform comprises a greater number of recessed beverage container placement markers than any higher tiered platform. The beverage container placement markers may be removable or interchangeable and may comprise one or more cutout portions in the bottom of the beverage container placement markers.

Claims

1. A tiered beverage pong game system comprising: a plurality of tiered platforms, each tiered platform having at least one of a width and a length that is greater than any higher tiered platform; and a plurality of recessed beverage container placement markers located on the tiered platforms, each recessed beverage container placement marker configured to seat a beverage container thereon; wherein a top tiered platform comprises a single recessed beverage container placement marker and each tiered platform comprises a greater number of recessed beverage container placement markers than any higher tiered platform.

2. The tiered beverage pong game system of claim 1, wherein each tiered platform comprises a quadrilateral shape.

3. The tiered beverage pong game system of claim 2, wherein the plurality of tiered platforms comprises four tiered platforms.

4. The tiered beverage pong game system of claim 1, wherein one or more of the recessed beverage container placement markers comprises a bottom having a cutout portion therein.

5. The tiered beverage pong game system of claim 3, wherein each tiered platform comprises a lesser number of recessed beverage container placement markers on a top surface of the tiered platform than is located on the tiered platform directly below.

6. The tiered beverage pong game system of claim 3, wherein a lowest tiered platform comprises four recessed beverage container placement markers on a top surface of the lowest tiered platform along each side of the quadrilateral.

7. The tiered beverage pong game system of claim 6, wherein the second lowest tiered platform comprises three recessed beverage container placement markers on a top surface of the second lowest tiered platform along each side of the quadrilateral.

8. The tiered beverage pong game system of claim 7, wherein the third lowest tiered platform comprises two recessed beverage container placement markers on a top surface of the third lowest tiered platform along each side of the quadrilateral.

9. The tiered beverage pong game system of claim 4, wherein the cutout portion in the bottom of the one or more recessed beverage container placement markers is located proximal a center of the bottom of the one or more recessed beverage container placement markers.

10. The tiered beverage pong game system of claim 4, wherein the bottom of one or more of the recessed beverage container placement markers is removable.

11. The tiered beverage pong game system of claim 1, wherein one or more of the recessed beverage container placement markers is seated within an opening in a top surface of any of the tiered platforms.

12. The tiered beverage pong game system of claim 11, wherein the one or more recessed beverage container placement markers is removable.

13. The tiered beverage pong game system of claim 1, wherein one or more of the recessed beverage container placement markers is seated within a recess in a top surface of any of the tiered platforms.

14. The tiered beverage pong game system of claim 13, wherein the one or more recessed beverage container placement markers is removable.

15. The tiered beverage pong game system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of tiered platforms is coupled to a flotation device.

16. The tiered beverage pong game system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of tiered platforms is configured to collapse within a center of a lowest tiered platform.

17. The tiered beverage pong game system of claim 1, wherein a beverage container is positioned on one or more of the recessed beverage container placement markers.

18. The tiered beverage pong game system of claim 17, wherein the beverage container comprises one or more of a liquid and a solid weight therein.

19. The tiered beverage pong game system of claim 17, wherein the beverage container comprises a weight configured to hold the cup upright when a ball is bounced into the beverage container.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] Example embodiments will become more fully understood from the detailed description given herein below and the accompanying drawings, wherein like elements are represented by like reference characters, which are given by way of illustration only and thus are not limitative of the example embodiments herein.

[0012] FIG. 1 provides an example of a tiered beverage pong game system indicating with arrows indicating a direction in which beverage containers are passed in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the system.

[0013] FIGS. 2-5 provide perspective views of four sides of an implementation of a beverage pong game system comprising quadrilateral tiered platforms and an exemplary color coding scheme.

[0014] FIG. 6 provides a top view of an implementation of a beverage pong game system.

[0015] FIG. 7 provides a perspective view of an implementation of a beverage pong game system coupled to a flotation device.

[0016] FIGS. 8-9 provide perspective and top views, respectively, of an implementation of a beverage pong game system.

[0017] FIGS. 10-11 provide perspective and top views, respectively, of an implementation of a beverage pong game system comprising a cutout portion in a bottom of a beverage container placement marker.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0018] Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. Although methods and materials similar to or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of the tiered beverage pong game system, suitable methods and materials are described above. All publications, patent applications, patents, and other references mentioned herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety to the extent allowed by applicable law and regulations. The tiered beverage pong game system may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof, and it is therefore desired that the present embodiment be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive. Any headings utilized within the description are for convenience only and have no legal or limiting effect.

[0019] Furthermore, any reference to singular includes plural embodiments, and any reference to more than one component or step may include a singular embodiment or step. Also, any reference to attached, fixed, connected or the like may include permanent, removable, temporary, partial, full and/or any other possible attachment option. Additionally, any reference to without contact (or similar phrases) may also include reduced contact or minimal contact. As used herein, phrases such as make contact with, coupled to, touch, interface with and engage may be used interchangeably.

[0020] The features, structures, or characteristics of the invention described throughout this specification may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. For example, the usage of the phrases exemplary embodiments, some embodiments or other similar language refers to the fact that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment may be included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, appearances of the phrases exemplary embodiments, in some embodiments, in other embodiments or other similar language, throughout this specification do not necessarily all refer to the same group of embodiments, and the described features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.

[0021] FIG. 1 provides an exemplary depiction of a beverage pong game system having a structure of tiered platforms of decreasing size which form a quasi-pyramid shape. While it is contemplated that embodiments of the system may comprise any number of tiered platforms of any size or shape, for simplicity of illustration, an exemplary embodiment having four tiered platforms of a quadrilateral shape will be discussed as an illustrative and non-limiting example. As shown, a plurality of beverage container placement markers 15 are present on a top surface of the tiered platforms. The beverage container placement markers 15 may be flush with the top surface of the tiered platform or may comprise a disk or other recessed structure having a raised lip around the edge to facilitate proper placement and prevent tipping of a beverage container 22 when placed on or in the beverage container placement marker 15. While this disclosure is intended to cover any shape of beverage container placement marker 15, a round shape may be preferable to match the typical footprint of a standard beverage container 22 such as a cup, glass, or other drinking receptacle.

[0022] FIGS. 2-5 provide respective views of all four sides of a quadrilateral tiered platform structure comprising an exemplary color scheme that is designed to facilitate use of the tiered beverage pong system for entertainment while engaging in a game in accordance with one or more rule sets. In some embodiments, rather than colors, symbols, teams, mascots, or other insignia that relates beverage containers placement markers 15 with a vertical side wall 21 of a tiered platform may also be used which may be interchangeable to facilitate the ability to attach beverage container placement markers 15 and vertical side wall 21 overlays to fit player interests or occasions. In this exemplary embodiment which comprises a lowest tiered platform 11, a second lowest tiered platform 12, a third lowest tiered platform 13, and a highest tiered platform 14, each tiered platform may comprise a different number of beverage container placement markers 15 in accordance with the width and length of the respective tiered platform. As shown, the leftmost beverage container placement marker 15 on the lowest tiered platform 11 comprises a first color 16. Two middle beverage container placement markers 15 on the lowest tiered platform 11 comprise a second color 17 and the rightmost beverage container placement marker 15 comprises a third color 18. Moving to higher tiers, in this embodiment, the second lowest tier 12 has a leftmost beverage container placement marker 15 comprising the first color 16, a middle beverage container placement marker 15 comprising the second color 17, and a rightmost beverage container placement marker 15 comprising the third color 18. The third lowest tiered platform 13 comprises a beverage container placement marker 15 to the left having the first color 16 and a beverage container placement marker 15 to the right having the third color 18. The colors of the beverage container placement marker 15 are used to indicate the direction in which a beverage container 22 that sits upon the beverage container placement marker 15 will be passed to another player during use of the tiered beverage pong game system 10 to play a game. A fourth color 19 is present on the vertical side wall 21 of the first side of the tiered platforms as shown in FIG. 2 and this fourth color 19 is not present among the beverage container placement markers 15 that are aligned along the first side of the tiered platform structure. The highest tiered platform 14 as shown in this embodiment comprises only a single beverage container placement marker 15 which comprises a fifth color 20. FIGS. 3-5 depict second, third, and fourth sides of the tiered platform structure respectively, each of which uses a first 16, second 17, or third 18 color on the respective vertical side walls 21 of the tiered platforms that is not found among the colors of the beverage container placement markers 15 present on the same side of the platform. In some embodiments, rather than colors, symbols, teams, mascots, or other insignia that relate beverage containers placement markers 15 with a horizontal 24 or vertical side wall 21 of a tiered platform may also be used and may be interchangeable to facilitate the ability to attach beverage container placement markers 15 and horizontal 24 or vertical side wall 21 overlays to fit player interests or occasions.

[0023] As shown in FIGS. 8-9, in some embodiments, the beverage pong game system 10 may comprise a plurality of tiered platforms 11, 12, 13, 14 having recessed beverage container placement markers 15 without any notation of a specific color or other indicia present on one or more of the vertical side walls 21, horizontal side walls 24 or beverage container placement markers 15. In such embodiments, rather than using colors or symbols to indicate in which direction to pass a beverage container during game play, the direction of passing may be determined based on order, placement, or location of the beverage container into which a ball is bounced.

[0024] In some embodiments, the beverage container placement markers 15 may comprise one or more cutout portions 26 in the bottom 25 of the beverage container placement marker 15 as shown in FIGS. 10-11. While it is contemplated that the one or more cutout portions 26 may be located anywhere in the bottom 25 of the beverage container placement marker 15, in some implementations, the cutout portion 26 may be located proximal a center of the bottom 25 of the beverage container placement marker 15. The cutout portion 26 may comprise any shape such as by non-limiting example, round, oval, square, rectangular, etc. but is not limited to these shapes. In some embodiments, the cutout portion 26 may be configured such that a user may insert a finger into the cutout portion 26 and remove and/or interchange the bottom 25 of the recessed beverage container placement marker 15. In such embodiments, the bottom 25 of the beverage container placement markers 15 may be placed within an opening in any of the tiered platforms that is configured to prevent the bottom 25 of the beverage container placement marker 15 from falling through the opening thereby creating a recessed beverage container placement marker 15. In other embodiments, the bottom 25 of the beverage container placement marker 15 may be coupled to or integral with the side walls 27 of the beverage container placement marker 15 so as to form a removable inlay that fits into a recess on the upper surface of any of the tiered platforms.

[0025] FIG. 6 provides a top view of an exemplary configuration of beverage container placement markers 15 on the plurality of tiered platforms. To play a game by using the tiered beverage pong game system 10, the tiered platform structure may be placed on a table, floor, or other appropriate surface which is conducive to bounce a ping pong or other ball off of. A beverage container 22 is placed on each beverage container placement marker 15 as shown in FIG. 1 and at least partially filled with a beverage which may be alcoholic or non-alcoholic in nature. Alternatively, the beverage container 22 may be at least partially filled with a non-liquid material, gel, or other object to provide adequate weight to the beverage container such that the beverage container 22 remains upright upon a user bouncing a ball into the beverage container 22. Non-limiting examples of such non-liquid materials include sand, rice, beans, plastic poly pellets, condiment packets, a block of material such as wood, metal, or plastic, and the like. In some embodiments, the beverage container 22 itself may be comprised of a weighted material such that the beverage container 22 itself remains upright when a ball is bounced therein without the need for any filling or additional weight to be added within the beverage container 22. In one embodiment, the beverage containers 22 on the three lower tiered platforms 11, 12, 13 may be filled to approximately one quarter of the capacity of the beverage container 22 and the beverage container 22 on the highest tiered platform 14 may be filled to a higher level such as for example, to half of the capacity of the beverage container 22, however any appropriate fill level may be used for any of the beverage containers 22. All beverage containers 22 may contain the same type of beverage or the beverage containers 22 may contain different beverages depending upon player preferences. In accordance with one set of exemplary rules, a player or team of players is associated with each side of the quadrilateral tiered platform structure and a minimum of four players is needed to engage in use of the game system.

[0026] To determine which player will have the first turn in the game, a player associated with each side of the tiered platform structure bounces a ping pong ball or other ball of appropriate size and weight on a surface on which the tiered platform structure rests with a goal of having the ball bounce into a beverage container 22 at the highest possible platform level. Whichever player's ball lands in a beverage container 22 at a platform level higher than that at which the other players' balls landed is awarded the first turn and becomes the first player to begin the game. During this initial step to determine which player gets to take the first turn, the players may bounce their balls one at a time or all of the players may bounce their balls simultaneously in response to a chant indicting the time at which the balls are to be released such as for example one, two, three, Kong Pong after which the balls are released. If multiple players' balls land within a beverage container 22 on the same tiered platform, this process can be repeated until there is an individual player having a ball that has landed in a beverage container 22 at a higher platform level that that of the other players. This player becomes the first player to take a turn and bounces the ball from the surface on which the tiered platform structure rests in an attempt to land the ball into one of the beverage containers 22 on the first player's side of the tiered platform structure.

[0027] The first player bounces the ball with the goal of the ball landing in one of the beverage containers 22 on the first player's side of the tiered platform. If this is successfully accomplished, the first player passes the beverage container 22 that the ball landed in to another player in accordance with the color or other symbol associated with the beverage container placement marker 15 that the beverage container 22 is located upon. FIG. 1 depicts the direction in which the beverage containers 22 are passed according to an exemplary embodiment of the game rules. For example, the beverage containers 22 on the left side of the first player's side of the tiered platform structure may be passed to the player whose side of the tiered platform structure is to the left of the first player, the beverage containers 22 on the right side of the first player's side of the tiered platform structure may be passed to the player whose side of the tiered platform structure is to the right of the first player, and the beverage containers 22 in the middle of the first player's side of the tiered platform structure may be passed to the player whose side of the tiered platform structure is across from the first player in accordance with matching the colors, symbols, or other insignia of the beverage container placement marker 15 with the same color, symbol, or other insignia on the vertical 21 or horizontal side wall 24 of the tiered platforms to which the beverage container 22 is passed. This is merely an example and the beverage containers may be passed in any other direction that corresponds to an association between the beverage container placement markers 15 and the vertical side walls 21 of the tiered platforms on a player's side of the tiered platform structure. The player who receives the beverage container 22 from the first player then consumes the beverage therein. Alternatively, in embodiments of the game in which beverages are not used and some other form of weight or weighted beverage container 22 is used, the player who receives the beverage container 22 merely collects the beverage containers 22. The beverage container is then removed from the tiered platform leaving the beverage container placement marker from which it was removed empty.

[0028] However, if the first player's ball lands in a beverage container 22 that is on another player's side of the tiered platform structure, the first player then consumes the beverage therein or collects the weighted beverage container 22 and contents therein and removes the beverage container 22 from the tiered platform leaving the beverage container placement marker 15 from which it was removed empty. If the ball lands in the beverage container 22 located on the highest tiered platform 14, the first player then chooses which other player the beverage container 22 is passed to for consumption of the beverage or collection of the weighted beverage container 22.

[0029] If the first player is unsuccessful in landing the ball into a beverage container 22, the first player may try as many times as necessary to do so or may forfeit the first players turn after one or any other predetermined number of unsuccessful bounces. Play continues by repeating this process and moving in a clockwise or counterclockwise manner or by having the player who consumed the beverage or collected the weighted beverage container 22 be the next player to take a turn. A winner is determined when a player or team has cleared all of the beverage containers 22 from that player or team's side of the tiered platform structure and has also cleared the beverage container from the highest tiered platform 14.

[0030] In an alternative embodiment, the tiered platform structure may or may not have beverage container placement markers 15 and/or color or symbol coding associated with the vertical side walls 21 of the tiered platforms. Beverage containers 22 are placed on each tiered platform other than the highest tiered platform 14 and filled at least partially with a beverage. Alternatively, the beverage container 22 may be at least partially filled with a non-liquid material, gel, or other object to provide adequate weight to the beverage container such that the beverage container 22 remains upright upon a user bouncing a ball into the beverage container 22. Non-limiting examples of such non-liquid materials include sand, rice, beans, plastic poly pellets, condiment packets, a block of material such as wood, metal, or plastic, and the like. A determination is made using any appropriate methodology to determine which player is the first to take a turn. The first player then consumes the beverage within a beverage container 22 or removes the weighted material from within the beverage container 22 on the lowest tiered platform 11 and places the empty beverage container 22 back onto the lowest tiered platform with a portion of the beverage container 22 extending over the outer edge of the lowest tiered platform. The player then attempts to flip the empty beverage container 22 up onto the second lowest tiered platform 12 such that the beverage container 22 lands upside down. If the first player is unsuccessful, the beverage container 22 is returned to the lowest tiered platform 11 and play continues to the next player. If the first player is successful, the beverage container 22 is removed from the tiered platform structure and the first player consumes a beverage from a second beverage container 22 or removes a weighted material from the second beverage container 22 on the lowest tiered platform 11 and attempts to flip that beverage container 22 to the second lowest tiered platform 12. Anytime a beverage container 22 is successfully flipped to a higher tiered platform and lands upside down, the beverage container 22 is removed. A player continues to play as long as the player continues to successfully flip the beverage containers 22 to the next highest tiered platform. When a player's tiered platforms are cleared of all beverage containers 22 and the player is the first to successfully flip the player's last beverage container 22 to the highest tiered platform 14, that player is deemed the winner. The non-winning players then may consume the beverages in the beverage containers 22 or remove the weights from the beverage containers 22 on their respective sides of the tiered platform structure.

[0031] Alternatively, in another embodiment, all players may start simultaneously in response to reciting a chant or phrase such as by non-limiting example, one, two, three, Flip Kong after which all players drink the beverage from within a beverage container 22 or remove the weighted material from within a beverage container 22 on the lowest tiered platform 11 on the players' respective sides of the tiered platform structure and then attempt to flip the beverage container 22 to the second lowest tiered platform 12 and continue in accordance with the rules above, however, in the event of an unsuccessful flip, the player continues to attempt to flip the beverage container 22 until success is achieved after replacing the beverage container 22 on the original tiered platform on which it was positioned.

[0032] While the beverage containers 22 may be flipped in accordance with any appropriate methodology, to enhance the competitiveness of the game, flipping technique may be limited to the use of one or any other predetermined number of fingers or digits.

[0033] In some embodiments, the tiered platform structure may be collapsible and reversible so that two versions of a game having different rules may be played using the same tiered platform structure in a different configuration. In other embodiments, the tiered platform structure may be coupled to a flotation device 23 for use for aquatic entertainment.

[0034] In places where the description above refers to particular implementations a tiered beverage pong game system, it should be readily apparent that a number of modifications may be made without departing from the spirit thereof and that these implementations may be applied to other to systems and techniques for touch sensing and alternative energy sources.