UPRIGHT BALL MAZE BOARD GAME

Abstract

The apparatus comprises a game for developing the user's fine motor control while maintaining the user's interest to prolong game usage. The game comprises a removeable maze which is positioned upright adjacent to a backstop so that a gap is created between the maze and the backstop. A clear cover placed over the upright maze, creating a second gap between the upright maze and cover. A control member rests within this second gap and is used to guide a ball along the maze pathway of the game. If the user makes a mistake, the ball falls off the upright maze and falls down the first gap between the maze and the backstop. First and second ball returns may optionally exist on the top and the bottom of the apparatus. The upright maze can be removed from the apparatus and replaced with a different upright maze with a different maze pathway.

Claims

1. A game comprising: a backstop, wherein the backstop defines a plane which has a bottom end and an opposite top end; a first ball return device located at the bottom end of the backstop; a second ball return device located at the top end of the backstop; a removeable upright maze which lies adjacent to the backstop, wherein a first gap exists between the removeable upright maze and the backstop, wherein the upright maze has at least one entrance at the side of the maze corresponding to the bottom end of the backstop, and wherein the upright maze has at least one exit at the side of the maze corresponding to the top end of the backstop; a sheet of clear cover material which lies along the removeable upright maze, wherein a second gap exists between the removeable upright maze and the sheet of clear cover material; a control member configured to move through the second gap between the removeable upright maze and the clear cover material; and a ball with a diameter that is less than the width of either the first or second gaps.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein: the first ball return device includes a first ramp located at the bottom of the backstop which descends in a direction away from the backstop, wherein the first ramp is configured to receive balls which fall through either the first or the second gaps; and the second ball return includes a second ramp at the top end of the backstop which runs the width of the backboard and slopes toward the bottom end of the backstop, wherein the second ball return further comprises a tube which runs from the top end of the backboard to the bottom end of the backboard, wherein the second ball return ramp is configured to deliver any ball which reaches the end of the upright maze into the tube.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the game further comprises an upper shell section and a lower shell section, wherein the upper shell section is operably connected to the lower shell section via a joint or hinge, wherein the joint or hinge is configured operably to allow the upper and lower shell sections to substantially fold against each other.

4. The apparatus of claim 2, further comprising a ball retention apparatus placed at the bottom of the first ramp to catch balls as they roll down the first ramp.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control member has at least one handle configured to aid manipulation of the control member.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: a sensor which detects when a ball has passed through the first or second ball return device and is configured operably to thereafter or concurrently activate an output device which is configured to output a visual and/or audio signal.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the clear cover is removeable.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the clear cover is fixed in place, and upright maze is replaced through a side of the apparatus.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a pathway of the upright maze lies within a second plane parallel to a first plane of the backstop, and the pathway does not extend out of said second plane.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the pathway of the upright maze lies within a second plane parallel to a first plane of the backstop and parts of the pathway contain ridges or valleys which extend out of said second plane.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the upright maze is formed out of a single sheet of material, wherein the space between the edges of the maze pathway is cut out of the single sheet of material.

12. A method of using the apparatus of claim 1, comprising: obtaining the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus contains a first upright maze; obtaining a ball with a diameter less than or equal to the width of either the first or the second apparatus gaps; moving the control member to the side of the upright maze corresponding to the bottom end of the backstop; placing the ball on the control member at the location of the start of the maze; moving and tilting the control member to guide the ball along a path of the maze until the ball is moved to the end of the maze; causing the ball to enter the second ball return device; using the ball return device to return the ball to the apparatus user.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising: removing the first upright maze which laid between the clear cover and the backstop of the apparatus of claim 1; obtaining a second upright maze with a different maze-shape than the removed upright maze; placing the second upright maze between the clear cover and the backstop; placing the ball at the bottom of the second upright maze; using the control member to guide the ball along the path of the maze until the ball is moved to the end of the maze.

14. The method of claim 12, further comprising: moving and tilting the control member with the apparatus user's hands.

15. The method of claim 12, further comprising: removing the clear cover from the apparatus before replacing the original upright maze with a second upright maze.

16. The method of claim 12, causing the ball to interact with a sensor configured to activate a visual and/or audio indicator which emits a signal when the ball passes the sensor.

17. A game comprising: an open-backed frame configured to hold a removeable upright maze with a bottom side and a top side, wherein the removeable upright maze has least one entrance at the bottom of the maze and at least one exit at the top of the maze, wherein the upright maze has at least one pathway which connects the at least one entrance to the at least one exit, and wherein the upright maze is formed out of a single sheet of material, wherein the space between the edges of the maze pathway is cut out of the single sheet of material; and a ball with a diameter equal to or less than the width of upright maze's pathway; a control member configured to move the ball through the maze.

18. The game of claim 17, further comprising a first ball return device.

19. The game of claim 18, wherein the removeable upright maze is configured so that if a ball falls off an edge of the maze or exits an end of the maze, the ball falls off the maze and drops into the first ball return device.

20. The game of claim 17, wherein the frame is covered by a clear cover which configured to have a gap between the clear cover and the removeable maze, wherein said gap is greater or equal to the diameter of the ball.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of the game apparatus.

[0010] FIG. 2 is a left elevational view of the game apparatus.

[0011] FIG. 3 is a right elevational view of the game apparatus.

[0012] FIG. 4 is a front perspective view of the game apparatus showing gameplay, wherein the ball is being guided along the upright maze via the control member.

[0013] FIG. 5 is a left side cross sectional view of the game apparatus's internal design.

[0014] FIG. 6 is an exploded view of the apparatus showing the apparatus shell, the replaceable upright maze, the control member, the ball, and the clear cover.

[0015] FIG. 7 is a front left elevational view of the apparatus showing an alternative method of inserting the replaceable upright maze into the game.

[0016] FIG. 8 shows possible alternative configurations of the replaceable upright maze.

[0017] FIG. 9 shows a left side view of a folding game apparatus in its unfolded open configuration.

[0018] FIG. 10 shows a left side view of a folding game apparatus in its folded closed configuration.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0019] With reference to the drawings, and in particular to FIGS. 1-3, the current invention is an upright maze game designed to develop the game player's fine motor muscles and skills. In one preferred embodiment of the apparatus the game comprises a backstop 1, wherein the backstop 1 has a bottom end, an opposite top end, left side, and a right side opposite the left side; a first ball return device 2 located at the bottom end of the backstop 1; a second ball return 3 device located at the top end of the backstop 1; a removeable upright maze 4 which lies adjacent to the backstop 1, wherein a first gap 5 exists between the removeable upright maze 4 and the backstop 1, and wherein the start of the maze 6 is at the bottom end of the backstop 1, and the end of the maze 7 is at the top end of the backstop 1; a sheet of clear cover material 8 which lies adjacent to the removeable upright maze 4, wherein a second gap 9 exists between the removeable upright maze and sheet of clear cover material 8; a control member 10 configured to move through the second gap 9 between the removeable upright maze 4 and the clear cover material 8; and a ball 11 with a diameter that is less than the width of either the first 5 or second 9 apparatus gaps.

[0020] Collectively, all parts of the apparatus which are not a removeable upright maze, control member, ball, and clear cover are known as the apparatus's shell because these parts house the upright maze, control member, ball, and clear cover during operation of the game. The shell is split into two sections, a top shell section and a bottom shell section. The top shell section contains all upright components (including any of the following: the backstop, removeable upright maze holding members, spacers, the first and second gaps, sensor(s), visual and/or audio indicator(s), rail(s) the second ball return, and the second ramp). The bottom shell section contains all lower components which are below the backstop (including any of the following: a first ramp, a first ball return, and holding containers).

[0021] The backstop 1 of the game provides form and support to the rest of the apparatus. The backstop 1 may preferentially stand angled nonvertically (relative to whichever surface upon which the game sits) so that balls 11 on the game maze 4 are affected by gravity and able to fall down the first gap 5 if they leave the path of the maze 4.

[0022] Alternatively, the backstop 1 may be vertical relative to the surface on which the game sits, and the control member 10 may be configured to create an angle towards the backstop 1 off which the ball 11 will roll if the ball leaves the path of the maze 4.

[0023] Referring now to FIG. 5, the backstop 1 may optionally contain a removeable upright maze holding members 13 at the bottom of the backboard 1 which holds the maze away from the backstop 1, thereby creating a first gap 5 between the backstop 1 and the maze 4. The backstop may also optionally contain spacers 12 at the top corners of the apparatus which hold the clear cover away from the maze 4, thereby creating a second gap 9 between the upright maze 4 and the clear cover 8. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, first and second gaps 5,9 may be greater in size or equal to the diameter of the ball 11.

[0024] A removeable upright maze 4 is inserted into the apparatus so that the maze 4 lies adjacent to the backstop 1. Preferably, the removeable upright vertical maze is held in place or supported by the removeable upright maze holding members 13 and the second ramp 20. This combination of removeable upright maze holding members 13 and the second ramp 20 are preferentially configured to position the plane in which upright maze 4 lies parallel to the plane in which the backstop 1 lies. However, the plane in which the upright maze 4 lies may be optionally placed non-parallel to the backstop's 1 plane so long as a width of the first gap 5 is greater to or equal to the width of the ball 11.

[0025] If the removeable upright maze holding members 13 and the second ramp 20 position the upright maze so that it is parallel to the backstop, the removeable upright maze will have the same angle relative as the backstop relative to the surface upon which the game rests.

[0026] However, if the removeable upright maze holding members 13 and the second ramp 20 position the upright maze so that it is not parallel to the backstop, then the upright maze may have any non-horizontal angle relative to the surface upon which the game rests. An angled control member 10 may optionally be used to encourage the ball to fall off the maze should the game user make a mistake during gameplay.

[0027] The removeable upright maze holding members 13 and second ramp 20 may distance the maze 4 from the backstop 1, creating a first gap 5 between the maze 4 and backstop 1 which may have a width greater than or equal to that of a ball 11 used in the game. The removeable maze 4 has an entrance 6 which is aligned with the bottom edge of the backstop 1, and an exit 7 aligned with the top edge of the backstop 1.

[0028] The removeable upright maze 4 is preferentially cut out of a single flat plane of material so that the spaces between maze paths are gaps big enough for a ball to fall through. The height of the maze's path may optionally vary from the plane in which the maze 4 lies. Accordingly, the maze 4 may have ridges, ramps, divots, slopes, or other such geometric structures which change the elevation of the maze relative to the plane in which the maze 4 lies (thereby creating a partially three-dimensional maze).

[0029] Referring now to FIG. 4, the player operates the game by placing a ball 11 on the control member 10 at the bottom and entrance 6 of the upright maze 4. The player then lifts the control member 10 and tilts it from side to side to guide the ball along the upright maze 4. If the player makes a mistake, the angle of the maze 4 or angle of the control member 10 causes the ball 11 to fall off the edge of the maze 4 and into a first gap 5 alongside or behind the maze. The ball then falls down into the first ball return 2 which is attached to the bottom of the game.

[0030] The first ball return 2 is a device which collects balls 11 which fall off the maze 4 and returns them to the player to restart the game. Although any device which retains and returns balls to the user may be used, a preferred embodiment of the apparatus comprises a first ramp 19 which slopes downward towards the player and which may run into a first holding container or first ball retention device. As balls 11 fall off the maze 4, they drop onto the first ramp 19 and then may roll down into a holding container to await collection by the player.

[0031] A second ball return device 3 is attached to the top of the apparatus to collect balls 11 which successfully navigate the maze 4 and return them to the game user. Although any device which retains and returns balls to the user may be used, a preferred embodiment of the apparatus uses a second ramp 20 which runs from one side of the maze and slopes down towards the other side. This sloping ramp may then run into a channel which guides the ball down to a second holding container or second ball retention device. This second ball retention device may optionally be substituted for the first holding container or first ball retention device. The second ramp may optionally extend beyond the backboard.

[0032] A sensor may optionally be attached to either the first or the second ball return device, which then may optionally be configured to activate visual and/or audio indicators 17. If the sensors are attached to the first ball return, the sensors may detect the presence of the ball and then activate associated visual and/or audio indicators 17. The visual and/or audio indicators 17 associated with the first ball return may indicate that the player failed to complete the game. Accordingly, the visual and/or audio associated with the first ball return may produce a red light, may produce buzzing sounds, or may produce any other combination of visual and audio signal which indicates a failure to complete the maze. The visual and/or audio indicators 17 may be any device which produces light or sound, which includes but is not limited to: lights, speakers, clickers, buzzers, bells, screens, displays, and noisemakers.

[0033] Conversely, if the sensors are attached to the second ball return, the sensors may detect the presence of the ball and then activate associated visual and/or audio indicators 17. The visual and/or audio indicators 17 associated with the second ball return may indicate that the player succeeded in completing the game. Accordingly, the visual and/or audio indicators associated with the first ball return may produce a green light, may produce ringing sounds, or may produce any other combination of visual and audio signals which indicates a successful completion of the maze. The visual and/or audio indicators 17 may be any device which produces light or sound, which includes but is not limited to: lights, speakers, clickers, buzzers, bells, screens, displays, and noisemakers.

[0034] Referring to FIG. 6, the maze 4 is configured to be removeable from the game apparatus so that the maze 4 may be replaced with different mazes 4 which contain different combinations of maze pathways. This maze 4 interchangeability provides great versatility to the game apparatus in training different fine motor control motions and in providing variety to the game user to that the game user does not become bored with repeating the same maze 4 pathway over and over.

[0035] The game may be sold to consumers as a kit which contains the game apparatus (including the game shell, the upright maze, the control member, and the clear cover) and multiple alternative upright mazes 4. Optionally, the alternative upright mazes 4 may be sold individually by themselves to supplement game apparatuses already owned by the consumer.

[0036] Removeable upright mazes 4 have numerous pathway configurations because the direction, angles, and turns of the pathway can be changed to create new maze 4 configurations. Upright mazes 4 may have only one pathway from start to finish or multiple different concurrent pathways from start to finish. The pathways may follow a series of sharp acute angles, sharp right angles, or sharp obtuse angles which turn and twist sharply from top to bottom, or the pathways may follow gradual angles which turn slowly and with no sharp angles, or the pathways may use a combination of sharp and gradual angles. FIG. 8 provides examples of possible maze configurations, though the mazes shown are not anywhere close to comprehensive of all possible maze configurations. Sharp maze angles are preferable as they provide a higher level of difficulty and therefore maximize development of the user's fine motor control. However, other softer and more gradual angles are also useful for lower difficulty removeable upright mazes.

[0037] Although any method may be used to remove and replace the maze 4 in the apparatus, two preferred embodiments exist. The first preferred embodiment exists where the clear cover is removeable or openable. The removal or opening of the clear cover then allows the game user to have direct access to the original upright maze 4 seated within the game apparatus. The original upright maze 4 is then lifted out of the apparatus and a new game maze 4 inserted where the original maze previously was seated. Optional holding means (for example, but not limited to: clamps, screws, latches, or catches) may be used to secure the maze 4 in place within the apparatus. In a preferred embodiment of the apparatus, these holding means may be the second ramp 20 and the removeable upright maze holding members 13. When the new maze 4 is placed within the game, it may rest on the second ramp 20 at the top of the backboard and the removeable upright maze holding members 13 at the bottom of the backboard. The second ramp 20 and removeable upright maze holding members 13 may be configured to distance the upright maze 4 from the backboard 2 and thereby create a first gap 5. Once the new game maze 4 is inserted, the clear cover 8 is replaced in the game, where it may rest against the first set of spacers 12 which may create the second gap 9 which is greater than or equal to the diameter of the ball 11.

[0038] Referring now to FIG. 7, another preferred embodiment of maze removal exists where the original maze 4 slides out through an edge 14 of the apparatus and the replacement maze is slid in through an edge of the maze 4. In this embodiment, the clear cover 8 may be removable or openable, and optional holding means (for example, but not limited to: clamps, screws, latches, or catches) may be used to hold the maze in place within the apparatus.

[0039] The clear cover 8 is a solid clear object which is placed on the apparatus such that the maze 4 is seated between the cover and the backstop 1. The clear cover is configured such that a second gap 9 exists between the cover 8 and the maze 4 that is wider than the diameter of the ball 11. The clear cover 8 may be made out of polymer, glass, or any other substance which can be seen through by the player.

[0040] A control member 10 is located between the clear cover 8 and the upright maze 4. The control member 10 is an elongated object which extends across a portion of the game apparatus. This length of this control member extension 10 is preferentially at least as wide as the width of the upright maze, and more preferentially is long enough to extend out beyond the sides of the clear cover.

[0041] The control member may optionally have at least one handle 15 attached to at least one end of the control member to aid the player in manipulating the control member to guide the ball 11 up the upright maze 4. Rails may exist along at least one side of the apparatus to more easily guide the control member 10 up the game apparatus.

[0042] In an alternative embodiment of the claimed apparatus, no second ball return 3 device exists. When balls 11 exit the top of the maze 7 the balls 11 drop off the top of the maze 7 and fall down through the first gap 5 between the maze 4 and the backstop 1 so that the first ball return device 2 collects the ball.

[0043] In an alternative embodiment, the backstop 1 is substituted for an open- backed frame which is configured to contain the removable upright maze 4, the control member 10, and the clear cover 8. In this embodiment, the clear cover 8 and first 2 and second ball returns 3 may be optionally omitted to reduce the weight of the apparatus and improve its portability. However, if the first ball return 2 is included in this embodiment, the first ball return device may be configured to catch both the balls 11 which fall off the maze 4 and also to catch all balls 11 which reach the top of the maze 4 and fall off the exit of the maze 7.

[0044] Referring now to FIGS. 9-10, in another alternative embodiment of the claimed apparatus, the apparatus is configured to fold so that the upper shell section of the apparatus can fold substantially flat against the lower shell section of the apparatus. This folding configuration may be achieved by a hinge or joint 18 which attaches the upper shell section to the lower shell section of the apparatus.