Corn bag toss game
The invention for which we are seeking a patent is an outdoor/indoor recreational game of excitement and skill suitable for participants of all ages ranging from children to adults and provides excellent entertainment and recreation for backyards, driveways, on the beach, or anywhere. The name of this game is “Corn Bag Toss Game” and consists of three main playing components; two sloped game boards, eight corn filled bags and two to four players. With two competitors, players compete against each other and walk from one end to the other each round throwing from each end. With four competitors, players form two teams of two at each end and compete against each other. The game is played by throwing corn filled canvas bags at sloped game boards with hopes of getting bags to land on the boards for one point each or getting bags to go through the hole in the game boards for three points each. Only the highest scoring player in each round receives points for their team and play continues until one team reaches 15, 21, or 30 points (as decided on before play) and are declared the winners.
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STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENTNot-Applicable
REFERENCE TO SEQUENCE LISTING, A TABLE, OR A COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTING COMPACT DISK APPENDIXNot-Applicable
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION“Corn Bag Toss Game” is an outdoor/indoor consumer game for recreational entertainment and sport.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION“Corn Bag Toss Game” is a game involving two or four players divided into two even teams who compete for points, with twenty-one, fifteen, or thirty points winning the game. The game is played by tossing cloth bags filled with corn at sloped boards that have a hole near the top of the slope. Points are awarded for each bag landing on the boards and a greater amount of points awarded for bags thrown through the hole. The layout of the playing court consists of two sloped playing boards placed twenty-seven feet(nine yards) other. Each member of a team of two stands on opposite sides of the playing court and alongside one of the game boards. Each player competes for points against the opponent standing on their side of the playing court and alternates throwing bags with the opponent at the opposite board until each player has thrown four bags. Scoring is totaled by the players at that end of the court who then collect the bags and alternate throwing towards the other board in the same manner as their partners. Scoring and rules of play vary upon the style which the players have chosen to play and is fully explained in the rules of play under the section titled “Detailed Description of the Invention.”
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING
Description of the Game: The “Corn Bag Toss Game” is a outdoor/indoor recreational game suitable to play anywhere with an unobstructed, flat rectangular area of at least thirty-seven feet by six feet. For indoor play the length of the playing court can be shortened to as little as fifteen feet. The playing court is created by attaching the guide string located under the front of one board to the hook on the front of the other board, and then pulling the two boards away from each other until the string is taught which creates an exact distance of twenty-seven feet (nine yards) (see
Methods of Scoring and Play—
1. The Cincinnati Style—Play begins by choosing partners, four players, two for each team One player from each team takes position along one side (left or right) of a playing board diagonally across playing court from their partner who is positioned alongside the playing board at that end of the playing court (see
2. West Side Style—This method of play consists of the exact rules and scoring as the “Cincinnati Style” with one main exception that adds to the challenge of the game. In “West Side Style” of play, a team must reach twenty-one points exactly to achieve victory. If a team goes over twenty-one points their score is reduced to thirteen points and play continues until one team scores twenty-one points exactly.
b 3. East Side Style—This method of play is exactly like “West Side Style” with one scoring exception. When a team goes over twenty-one points they do not automatically go back to thirteen points. Instead the points they score in that round are subtracted from the total score they held before that round started (i.e. team one has 19 points at the beginning of a round and they throw a “Cornhole” worth three points, putting them at twenty-two points, one too many. If team two makes no points in the round then team one will have three points deducted from their score giving them a new total of sixteen points). Again play continues until one team does reach twenty-one points exactly.
4. Old School Style—This method consists of the same rules and play as the “Cincinnati Style” but scoring is done differently. Bags on the board still represent one point, and bags through the hole, “Cornholes”, still represent three points. However when final scoring is done for each round, points do not cancel each other out as in “Cincinnati Style,” only “Cornholes” cancel. Instead, the team who has bags closest to the hole or through the hole count for that team (i.e. if team one has one bag in the hole, and team two has two on the board, team one will receive three points for the round and team two will receive zero points). If team one and team two both get a “Cornhole” those bags cancel each other, and from the remaining bags on the board it must be determined which team is closer to the hole, and they will receive one point for each bag that is closer to the hole than the closest bag of the opponent. As in “Cincinnati Style” the first team to reach twenty-one points is the winner.
5. Beach Style—This method also consists of the same methods of play and the exact same methods of scoring as the “Cincinnati Style”. Games are still played to 15, 21, or 30 points depending on the length of game decided on before play starts by the players. However the difference when playing this method is that in order to win the game a team must obtain points of or over the winning point mark and most importantly have at least two points more than their opponents. Thus to become victorious a team must win by two points and have reached or surpassed the winning point total of 15, 21, or 30 points.
Building and Assembly Instructions for Game Components—
Corn Toss Bags—The Corn Toss bags are made from duckcloth, a heavy canvas like fabric found in any fabric store. For each Corn Toss Game two sets of four bags of two different colors are needed. A half yard of fabric of two colors is needed. Cut the duckcloth into a rectangle seven inches wide by fourteen inches long (see
Corn Toss Board Sets—Standard, Collapsible Leg Boards: These boards vary in material (listed throughout the build steps where applicable) but all consist of three main components, the top, the sub-frame and the leg assembly. The finished product is shown by
Cut and assemble the legs for the board. Cut two pieces of 2.0 in.×2.0 in. wood to 10.375 inches long(see
Measure the sub-frames for the holes to be drilled to attach the legs. From the end of the frame to become the rear/back of the board measure along the side 2.0 inches from the back edge and 0.75 inch from the top or bottom of the side rail to find the center for the hole and drill a 0.25 inch diameter hole (see
The final process is to cut and attach the top material to the game board sub-frames. The top material can be made of 0.375 inch or 0.5 inch thick plywood, or 0.375 inch thick Acrylic Plexi-Glass. A 0.375 inch thick liquid poured plastic composite could also be used as a material in place of the wood to create the sub-framing and the top. The Acrylic Plexi-Glass can be a solid color (usually white), smoked or clear with a painted or sandblasted back to add color and prevent seeing through the board top so that the game hole will clearly stand out to the players. Plywood tops can be painted any desired color, most commonly white, with a high gloss exterior paint or sealed with a clear gloss polyurethane for a natural wood look and provide the same smooth finish as the Acrylic and plastic composite create. The board tops must be of a smooth and slick gloss finish in order for the bags to slide and create consistent game play. The tops must be cut to perfect 2.0 foot wide×4.0 foot rectangles and then positioned on the top of the sub-frames to be attached. Pre-drill three holes evenly spaced down each side of the long edges and two along each of the short edges approximately 0.75 inch from the edge through the top material and into the sub-frame. Pre-drill with a drill bit slightly smaller in diameter than the wood screws being used to attach the top and then counter-sink the holes in the top using a counter-sink the exact diameter as the screw heads. Attach the top with the wood screws and sink the screw heads below the surface so that they will not interfere with the bags sliding on the boards during play (see
The game boards are now complete, with the legs pulled down into game play position the rear of the board top should sit 12.75 inches off the ground and the front should sit 1.75 inches off the ground creating the perfect slope (see
Finally a self winding plastic reel with a 27.0 foot line of string is attached under the front of one of the game boards. A small metal eye hook is screwed into the front of the other game board. When setting up the playing court the hook on the end of the string in the reel is hooked to the eyehook on the opposing board, the boards are stretched apart until the string is fully stretched. This ensures that the boards are exactly 27.0 feet apart and ready for play. Once the boards are positioned the string is unhooked from the eyehook of the second board and the reel automatically winds in the line (see
Optionally, handles can be attached to the outside sub-frame rails of one long side of each game board, and window clasps can be attached to the sub-frame rails on both short ends of the boards to allow the boards, with the legs folded in, to be attached to each other and carried much like a suitcase (see
Claims
1. We claim our invention to be the outdoor/indoor recreational game entitled “Corn Bag Toss Game.”
2. We claim this invention as the entire methodology of the game; including the playing court layout and dimensions, the rules of the game/methods of scoring, and the dimensions and weights of the game boards and game bags; all described and dimensioned in detail within this application.
3. We claim that this invention revolves around the five rules/methods of scoring listed and described in this application as “Cincinnati Style,” “West Side Style,” “East Side Style,” “Old School Style,” and “Beach Style”.
4. We claim this patent to protect the integrity of the “Corn Bag Toss Game” and to not allow any variations or approximations to the methods of play, scoring or game board/bag dimensions to be built and/or distributed by anyone other than ourselves.
Type: Application
Filed: Jul 28, 2003
Publication Date: Feb 3, 2005
Inventors: Justin Greiwe (Loveland, OH), Nicholas Greiwe (Loveland, OH), Jared Wagster (Cincinnati, OH)
Application Number: 10/628,140