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US 8,408,552 B2Granted
Interlocking game chips
AssigneeNone recorded
InventorPeter Sardo
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AssigneeNone recorded
InventorPeter Sardo
Estimating the term…
A poker or game chip has an outer ring and an inner disk. The inner disk is typically engaged with the outer ring, but may be disengaged by pushing on the inner disk. When the chips are in a stack, pushing on an inner disk causes it to disengage with the outer ring, and engage in the outer ring of an adjacent chip. In a stack of chips, all of the chips may have a moveable inner disk and, upon application of pressure, may be shifted to engage with the outer rim of an adjacent chip, thereby causing the stack of chips to lock. A stack of chips is thereby secured together, so that the chips will not easily disengage and spread along the top of the table.
A set of interlocking chips comprising:
A set of interlocking chips comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
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From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.
Card games: card game appurtenances
Coin inlet arrangements; Coins specially adapted to operate coin-freed mechanisms: coins specially adapted to operate coin-freed mechanisms
Payment aspects of a gaming system, e.g. payment schemes, setting payout ratio, bonus or consolation prizes: involving non-monetary media of fixed…
Type of games: card games, e.g. poker, canasta, black jack
About 4 years 11 months of term left · ends 11 Oct 2031 (estimated)
The present invention relates to chips for games, and has particular application to games in which stacks of chips can be used during the play of the game.
While playing card games such as poker, players typically use stacks of chips. For example, players are often moving stacks of chips to different locations on the table, to place bets or to collect winnings. The chips are normally stacked one atop of another, but are prone to tipping over. When a stack tips over, the chips often scatter and spread across the table. The player must stop play and stack the chips again, thereby interfering with and slowing the rate of play.
Consequently, it would be desirable to have poker or game chips that can be stacked such that the chips are not prone to tipping over as they are moved about the board.
FIG. 1 illustrates one embodiment of a poker or game chip according to the present invention;
FIG. 2 illustrates the outer ring of a chip according to the present invention;
FIG. 3 illustrates an inner disk having at least one locking member, with attachment wires not shown for clarity;
FIG. 1 illustrates a chip 10 that has an outer ring 12. Ridges 14 may be on the upper surface of the outer ring 12 so that the surface of the chips may engage when stacked. FIG. 1 also illustrates an inner disk 16 that is locked into place in the outer ring 12.
FIG. 2 is an illustration of an outer ring 12 having an inner rim 18 that is typically an indentation 20 that extends around the inside edge of the outer ring. The outer ring may be made of any material that is common for poker or game chips, such as a plastic or clay-based material.
FIG. 3 illustrates the inner disk 16. In this embodiment the inner disk 16 has multiple locking members, which in this embodiment are ball bearings 22. The ball bearings are typically biased outwardly, such as by compression springs. As will be seen in FIG. 4, the inner disk 16 may include attachment members such as wires or straps 28, which are omitted from FIG. 3 for clarity.