US3797832A

US3797832A - Sub-conscious mind controlled amusement device

Info

Publication number: US3797832A
Application number: US00314988A
Authority: US
Inventors: D Benwell
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1972-12-14
Filing date: 1972-12-14
Publication date: 1974-03-19
Anticipated expiration: 1991-03-19

Abstract

An amusement device that includes an indicia-bearing curved strip that is supported in a horizontal plane at an elevation sufficient for a user to insert an upright elongate object such as a wand, pencil, or the like, within the confines of the strip. The user then attempts to cause the elongate object so held to move towards and away from the various indicia to answer a question posed by the user, either mentally or audibly. The movement of the elongate object and the hand holding the latter, is believed to be in response to mental concentration of the user to the extent that the subconscious mind takes over as may occur in a form of self-hypnosis.

Description

Unite States Patent [191 Benwell Mar. 19, 1974 SUB-CONSCIOUS MIND CONTROLLED AMUSEMENT DEVICE [76] Inventor: Dale D. Benwell, 455 E. Plymouth,

Long Beach, Calif. 90805 [22] Filed: Dec. 14, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 314,988

52 US. Cl. .j. 273/161 [51] Int. Cl. A63f 9/18 [58] Field of Search 273/1 R, 161

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1.420.956 6/1922 Bisey 273/161 Primary ExaminerAnton O. Oechsle 5 7 ABSTRACT An amusement device that includes an indicia-bearing curved strip that is supported in a horizontal plane at an elevation sufficient for a user to insert an upright elongate object such as a wand, pencil, or the like, within the confines of the strip. The user then attempts to cause the elongate object so held to move towards and away from the various indicia to answer a question posed by the user. either mentally or audibly. The movement of the elongate object and the hand holding the latter, is believed to be in response to 'mental concentration of the user to the extent that the subconscious mind takes over as may occur in a form of self-hypnosis.

8 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures SUB-CONSCIOUS MIND CONTROLLED AMUSEMENT DEVICE- BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention Amusement device.

2. Description of the Prior Art The popularity of alleged answering devices for questions such as the well-known Ouija Board, has prevailed for many years. The disadvantage of such a board and the movable accessory used therewith is that they are somewhat bulky and cumbersome, and occupy excessive space both when stored and prior to being sold.

A major object of the present invention is to provide a compact, lightweight amusement device of novel structure, which may be easily assembled by a user without the use of tools, and is capable of being operated in much the same manner as a Ouija Board, and when not in use, may be arranged into a compact configuration for storage.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A curved, rigid sheet that defines a confined space into which a number of spaced protuberances extend to define a series of side-by-side pockets. At least one side of the sheet has spaced indicia defined thereon, such as numbers, letters or words, each of which is aligned with one of the pockets.

The user is provided with an elongate member such as a wand, or the like, that can be extended into the confined space. Support means operatively associated therewith maintains the sheet at a sufficient elevation relative to the user to permit the elongate member to be conveniently extended into the confined space.

After the invention has been assembled, the user extends the elongate member into the confined space and then poses a question which the user desires to be answered. By concentration on the part of the user, the subconscious mind of the user may direct the hand and the elongate member held therein to move into and out of the pockets to indicate the answer to the posed question. It will be apparent that all persons are not so endowed as to be capable of having the hand holding the elongate member to move, with the moving member sequentially entering the pockets in succession to provide an answer. In general, those persons who have operated an Ouija Board successfully will find like success when using the present invention.

A major object in devising the present invention is to supply a compact, lightweight amusement device that may be easily and quickly assembled without the use of tools, and one that will provide amusement to persons in endeavoring to answer questions posed, either men tally or audibly to the device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first form of the device, together with an elongate member being held by a user in an operating position;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of a first surface of a portion of the device illustrating the spaced indicia thereon;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of a second side of that portion of the device illustrated in FIG. 2 that has second indicia thereon that are different from those on the first side thereof;

FIG. 4 is an alternate form of a portion of the device that has spaced indicia defined thereon; and

FIG. 5 is a second form of the amusement device.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In FIG. 1 a first form 10 of the invention is illustrated in which it will be seen to include a rigid sheet of material, preferably in the form of a ring 12, although the sheet may be in any other configuration so long as it defines a confined space 14 within the interior thereof. The ring 12 preferably has three or more strings 16 attached to the outer peripheral portion thereof in equally spaced relationship. The strings 16, as will be seen in FIG. 1, extend upwardly from the ring 12 and meet at an apex 18.

The apex 18 is secured to the free end of a first horizontally extending leg 20, and this let on the opposite end develops into a second vertical leg 22. The second leg is preferably secured to a base 24 of sufficient weight as to hold the first and second legs, and the stringsupported ring in the position illustrated in FIG. 1, when the base rests on a flat horizontal surface (not shown), such as a table, or the like.

The ring 12, as may be seen in FIG. 2, has a first surface 26 on which a number of circumferentially spaced first indicia 28 are defined, with this indicia being the letters of the alphabet. In FIG. 3, a second surface 30 of the ring 12 is shown, which has a number of circumferentially spaced second indicia 32 defined thereon, which indicia are illustrated as being the numbers of l to 9, a plus and minus sign, yes" and no, and the months of the year.

I It will be apparent that the first and second indicia may be varied, and not necessarily include the letters, numbers, months, words, and the like as illustrated, but other indicia which may be of greater interest to the user.

The ring 12 is illustrated in FIG I, with the first surface being upwardly disposed, and the first indicia 28 being visible to the user. An elongate member 34 is provided, such as a wand, or the like, and this member is adapted to be held in the hand 36 of a user. When so held, the elongate member 34 may be extended upwardly into the confined space 14, as illustrated in FIG. 1. The ring 12 is preferably formed from a material, which while rigid, may be penetrated by a sharp pin. The inner peripheral edge 37 of the ring 12, as may be seen in FIG. 2, has a number of radially extending pins 38 mounted thereon, and these pins cooperatively define a number of circumferentially extending pockets 40. The pockets 40 are of such width that the elongate member 34 may easily enter the same.

The device when assembled as shown in FIG. 1, is easily used. The user grasps the elongate member 34 in his hand 36 and positions the elongate member within the confined space 14. The user (not shown) then poses a question desired to be answered, the hand 36 in response to this question will move, with the elongate member 34 then sequentially moving in and out of the pockets 40 to indicate the answer to the question by the indicia 28 associated therewith. Should it be desired to use the second surface 30 of the ring 12 to permit the second indicia 32 to be used in answering a question, the strings 16 are simply untied at the apex 18, and the strings then reversed to support the ring with the second surface 30 upwardly disposed.

A second alternate form of the ring is shown in FIG. 4 and identified by the numeral 12'. The ring defines a confined space 14, and the ring has a first surface 26' on which the first insignia 28' are defined. The pockets 40' in the alternate form of the ring 12' are defined by a succession of circumferentially spaced protuberances 44 forming a part of the sheet defining the ring 12. The pockets 40', as may best be seen in FIG. 4, are radially aligned with the first indicia 28' in the same manner as the pockets 38 are aligned with the indicia 40 in the form of ring first described. The alternate form of ring 12 has three or more strings 16 connected thereto in the same manner as previously described, and serves the same purpose as the strings 16 do in the first form of the device illustrated in FIG. 1.

The second form 42 of the amusement device is shown in FIG. 5, and in this form the ring 12 does not require the strings 16, but instead the ring is supported by at least three downwardly projecting legs 46 that rest on a flat horizontal surface such as defined by a table 48, or the like. The second form 42 of the device is used with an elongate member 34 in the same manner as with the first form.

The use and operation of the various forms of the amusement device have been previously described in detail, and need not be repeated.

1 claim:

1. An amusement device for testing the power of the sub-conscious mind to control the movement of the hand of a user after a user has posed a question and concentrates on having an answer provided thereto, which device includes:

a. an elongate lightweight rigid pointer capable of being held in a projecting position by the hand of a user;

b. a rigid sheet that defines a confined space in the form of a through opening of substantially greater area than the transverse cross section of said pointer and through which confined space said pointer extends when held by said user;

0. a plurality of first insignia that are defined in side by-side relationship on a first surface of said sheet that is visible to said user;

d. first means that project into said confined space from the edge of said sheet that defines said confined space to provide a plurality of side-by-side pockets into any one of which said pointer may move, with each of said pockets being aligned with one of said insignia, and said pointer when moved into one of said pockets visually indicating through said insignia associated therewith a portion of or an entire answer to said question; and

second means for holding said sheet at a sufficiently elevated position relative to said user that said pointer can be extended upwardly into said confined space.

2. A device as defined in claim 1 which further includes:

f. a plurality of second insignia defined on a second surface of said sheet, which second insignia are different from said first insignia, and said first and second surfaces oppositely disposed from one another, and said second insignia aligned with said pockets.

3. A device as defined in claim 2 wherein said second means is capable of selectively holding said sheet in either first or second positions whereby either said first or second insignia are visible to the user.

4. A device as defined in claim 1 wherein said sheet is in the form of a ring that has an inner peripheral edge that defines said confined space and from which said first means extend.

5. A device as defined in claim 4 wherein said second means includes:

f. a plurality of strings that project upwardly from circumferentially spaced portions of said ring to meet at an apex thereabove;

g. a horizontal bar having first and second ends, said first end having said apex secured thereto; and

h. an upright that supports said bar at a desired elevation above a fixed surface.

6. A device as defined in claim 4 wherein said second means is a plurality of circumferentially spaced legs that extend downwardly from said sheet to support said sheet at a desired elevation above a fixed horizontal surface.

7. A device as defined in claim 1 wherein said first means are a plurality of circumferentially spaced pins that define said pockets therebetween.

8. A device as defined in claim 1 wherein said first means are a plurality of circumferentially spaced portions of said sheet that extend inwardly into said confined space to define said pockets therebetween.

Claims

1. An amusement device for testing the power of the subconscious mind to control the movement of the hand of a user after a user has posed a question and concentrates on having an answer provided thereto, which device includes: a. an elongate lightweight rigid pointer capable of being held in a projecting position by the hand of a user; b. a rigid sheet that defines a confined space in the form of a through opening of substantially greater area than the transverse cross section of said pointer and through which confined space said pointer extends when held by said user; c. a plurality of first insignia that are defined in side-byside relationship on a first surface of said sheet that is visible to said user; d. first means that project into said confined space from the edge of said sheet that defines said confined space to provide a plurality of side-by-side pockets into any one of which said pointer may move, with each of said pockets being aligned with one of said insignia, and said pointer when moved into one of said pockets visually indicating through said insignia associated therewith a portion of or an entire answer to said question; and e. second means for holding said sheet at a sufficiently elevated position relative to said user that said pointer can be extended upwardly into said confined space.

2. A device as defined in claim 1 which further includes: f. a plurality of second insignia defined on a second surface of said sheet, which second insignia are different from said first insignia, and said first and second surfaces oppositely disposed from one another, and said second insignia aligned with said pockets.

5. A device as defined in claim 4 wherein said second means includes: f. a plurality of strings that project upwardly from circumferentially spaced portions of said ring to meet at an apex thereabove; g. a horizontal bar having first and second ends, said first end having said apex secured thereto; and h. an upright that supports said bar at a desired elevation above a fixed surface.