CHALLENGE LADDER CARD DISPLAY
United States Patent 3863371
A card rack with a vertical column of numbered pockets which receive contestants' cards, each card having a top tab at one side for displaying the contestant's name above the top of the pocket. A challenger's card is turned around, back to front, and inserted in front of the card of a higher-ranked contestant in the latter's numbered pocket, and then both the challenger's and the higher-ranked contestant's name tabs at the top are visible from the front of the card rack.
US Patent References:
Filing system for paper and the like
Fay - January 1930 - 1742382
Index system
Barker - October 1933 - 1929383
Card mailing cabinet and desk combination
Smith - December 1961 - 3012348
Filing system for paper and the like
Fay - January 1930 - 1742382
Index system
Barker - October 1933 - 1929383
Card mailing cabinet and desk combination
Smith - December 1961 - 3012348
Application Number:
05/407425
Publication Date:
02/04/1975
Filing Date:
10/18/1973
View Patent Images:
Export Citation:
Primary Class:
International Classes:
G09F7/00; G09F1/10
Field of Search:
40/124,124.2,124.4,78.15 211/50 273/150
Primary Examiner:
Michell, Robert W.
Assistant Examiner:
Contreras, Wenceslao J.
Attorney, Agent or Firm:
Oltman, And Flynn
Claims:
I claim
1. A card display assembly kit for challenge ladder competition comprising the combination of a rack having a plurality of vertically spaced, upwardly-facing, consecutively numbered pockets of a predetermined horizontal width, and a plurality of reversible cards of slightly smaller horizontal width than said pockets in the rack for slidable reception in said pockets individually facing forward or in pairs with one card of the pair reversed front to back, each of said cards having a tab at one side extending across the top of the card substantially less than the full width of the card and substantially less than the width of the pocket in the rack in which that card is received and projecting above the top edge of said pocket when said card is fully inserted therein, and similar indicia on both the front and the back faces of the tab on each card for naming the contestant whose card that is, whereby, when any card is removed from its pocket and is reversed front to back and fully inserted into a pocket containing another fully inserted, forwardly facing card, the top tabs on the two cards in said last-mentioned pocket are located side by side above the top edge of said pocket and simultaneously display visibly without obstruction by one another the name indicia for the two contestants whose cards those are.
2. A card display assembly kit according to claim 1, wherein the tab on the top of each card extends from a side edge of the card across substantially one-half the width of the card, whereby the tabs on two cards positioned simultaneously in one pocket of the rack, one facing forward and the other reversed front to back, do not overlap substantially.
3. A card display assembly kit according to claim 2, wherein the tab on the top of each card carries the name of a particular contestant on both the front and the back.
4. A card display assembly kit according to claim 3, wherein each card below the tab at the top has a table with respective columns for displaying the date, opponent and outcome of that contestant's previous matches.
5. A card display assembly kit according to claim 1, wherein each card below the tab at the top has a table with respective columns for displaying the date, opponent and outcome of that contestant's previous matches.
1. A card display assembly kit for challenge ladder competition comprising the combination of a rack having a plurality of vertically spaced, upwardly-facing, consecutively numbered pockets of a predetermined horizontal width, and a plurality of reversible cards of slightly smaller horizontal width than said pockets in the rack for slidable reception in said pockets individually facing forward or in pairs with one card of the pair reversed front to back, each of said cards having a tab at one side extending across the top of the card substantially less than the full width of the card and substantially less than the width of the pocket in the rack in which that card is received and projecting above the top edge of said pocket when said card is fully inserted therein, and similar indicia on both the front and the back faces of the tab on each card for naming the contestant whose card that is, whereby, when any card is removed from its pocket and is reversed front to back and fully inserted into a pocket containing another fully inserted, forwardly facing card, the top tabs on the two cards in said last-mentioned pocket are located side by side above the top edge of said pocket and simultaneously display visibly without obstruction by one another the name indicia for the two contestants whose cards those are.
2. A card display assembly kit according to claim 1, wherein the tab on the top of each card extends from a side edge of the card across substantially one-half the width of the card, whereby the tabs on two cards positioned simultaneously in one pocket of the rack, one facing forward and the other reversed front to back, do not overlap substantially.
3. A card display assembly kit according to claim 2, wherein the tab on the top of each card carries the name of a particular contestant on both the front and the back.
4. A card display assembly kit according to claim 3, wherein each card below the tab at the top has a table with respective columns for displaying the date, opponent and outcome of that contestant's previous matches.
5. A card display assembly kit according to claim 1, wherein each card below the tab at the top has a table with respective columns for displaying the date, opponent and outcome of that contestant's previous matches.
Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Various card display arrangements have been provided heretofore for different purposes, such as for holding employees' time cards, or for providing a visible record of present occupancy and future reservations for hotel rooms.
However, none of the prior card displays have been intended or adapted for displaying the present contestants' rankings and the outstanding challenges issued in challenge ladder competitions such as in tennis, golf, chess or various card games. Such challenge ladder competitions have become increasingly popular with various clubs and communities.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present card display arrangement is specifically intended for use in conjunction with challenge ladder competitions to provide a prompt and effective visual ladder display of the present status of the competition, including present rankings and challenges outstanding. it has a card rack with numbered, card-receiving pockets arranged vertically. Each contestant in the competition has a card with a top tab at one side that projects above a pocket in the rack -- at the left side if the contestant's ranking corresponds to the pocket number, and at the right side if the contestant has a lower ranking now and is challenging for the higher ranking, in which case the challenger's card (reversed back-to-front) is inserted in the pocket already occupied by the higher ranked contestant's card.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of this invention to provide a novel and improved card display arrangement for indicating visually the present rankings of the contestants, as well as outstanding challenges, in ladder competition.
Further objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of a presently-preferred embodiment thereof, which is shown in the accompanying drawing, in which:
FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of the present card display arrangement;
FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of one contestant's card in this display;
FIG. 3 is a back elevational view of this same card; and
FIG. 4 is a fragmentary front elevational view showing a ranking contestant's card and a challenger's card in front of it in the same pocket in the card rack.
Before explaining the disclosed embodiment of the present invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of the particular arrangement shown, since the invention is capable of other embodiments. Also, the terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. The term "contestant" is intended to include an individual player or a team of players in the competition.
Refeffing first to FIG. 1, a rack 10 is provided which has a single column of vertically spaced, card-receiving pockets 11, each of which is open at the top. Each pocket has a slight rearward inclination downward from its open upper end, and the open upper ends of the successive pockets lie in the same vertical plane. At the left side of the rack a number panel 12 is provided, carrying a vertical series of numbers which are horizontally aligned individually with the pockets and increase numerically from top to bottom.
It is to be understood that more than one vertical column of the card-receiving pockets may be provided in the rack, if desired.
Associated with each pocket 11 in the card rack 10 is a card 13, as shown in FIG. 2 (front view) and FIG. 3 (back view). This card is flat and generally rectangular, with a width just slightly less than the width of a pocket 11 in the card rack. At the top the card has a coplanar, upwardly projecting tab 14 that extends from one side edge of the card laterally inward for just slightly less than half the width of the card. This tab is at the left side of the card, viewed from the front, and is at the right side of the card, viewed from the back. Consequently, when one card is reversed, back-to-front, and positioned directly in front of another card, as shown in FIG. 4, both top tabs 14 on the two cards will be visible.
The vertical length of each card is somewhat greater than the depth of the card-receiving pocket 11 in the rack so that, when a card is inserted in the pocket, the top tab 14 on that card will be completely outside that pocket and will be visible at the front of the card rack.
Each card is provided with markings to identify one particular contestant and to provide for the tabulation of the results of that contestant's previous matches in the challenge ladder competition. Preferably, the contestant's name is written on the top tab 14, on both the front and back, and the contestant's telephone number is written directly beneath, also on both the front and back. Directly beneath the telephone number, the rest of the card (both front and back) is taken up by a table with columns for entries of the dates, opponents and scores of that contestant's previous matches in this competition.
In the use of this display arrangement, initially the contestants will be numbered individually in accordance with an estimate of their present relative abilities, based primarily on past performance. Any contestant may challenge a higher-ranked contestant to a match by removing his own (the challenger's) card from its numbered pocket in the card rack, turning it back-to-front, and inserting it into the numbered pocket in the card rack where the higher-ranked contestant's card is located.
This serves several purposes:
1. it notifies the higher-ranked contestant, that he has been challenged;
2. it makes the challenger temporarily unavilable for a challenge by a lower-ranked contestant, as long as the challenger's card is out of its own pocket and is reversed back-to-front;
3. it notifies all contestants of the current challenges; and
4. it notifes all contestants of the current standings of those contestants whose top tabs 14 are on the left, i.e., all except the challengers.
If a challenger defeats a previously higher-ranked contestant then the latter's card is put down one or more positions, depending upon the rules of the competition as established by the club or other sponsoring organization, and the victorious challenger's card is turned around so that its top tab 14 is at the left side of the pocket previously occupied by the defeated contestant. Also, all the cards of contestants ranked below the new ranking of the just-defeated contestant are moved down by one position in the rack.
Various card display arrangements have been provided heretofore for different purposes, such as for holding employees' time cards, or for providing a visible record of present occupancy and future reservations for hotel rooms.
However, none of the prior card displays have been intended or adapted for displaying the present contestants' rankings and the outstanding challenges issued in challenge ladder competitions such as in tennis, golf, chess or various card games. Such challenge ladder competitions have become increasingly popular with various clubs and communities.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present card display arrangement is specifically intended for use in conjunction with challenge ladder competitions to provide a prompt and effective visual ladder display of the present status of the competition, including present rankings and challenges outstanding. it has a card rack with numbered, card-receiving pockets arranged vertically. Each contestant in the competition has a card with a top tab at one side that projects above a pocket in the rack -- at the left side if the contestant's ranking corresponds to the pocket number, and at the right side if the contestant has a lower ranking now and is challenging for the higher ranking, in which case the challenger's card (reversed back-to-front) is inserted in the pocket already occupied by the higher ranked contestant's card.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of this invention to provide a novel and improved card display arrangement for indicating visually the present rankings of the contestants, as well as outstanding challenges, in ladder competition.
Further objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of a presently-preferred embodiment thereof, which is shown in the accompanying drawing, in which:
FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of the present card display arrangement;
FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of one contestant's card in this display;
FIG. 3 is a back elevational view of this same card; and
FIG. 4 is a fragmentary front elevational view showing a ranking contestant's card and a challenger's card in front of it in the same pocket in the card rack.
Before explaining the disclosed embodiment of the present invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of the particular arrangement shown, since the invention is capable of other embodiments. Also, the terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. The term "contestant" is intended to include an individual player or a team of players in the competition.
Refeffing first to FIG. 1, a rack 10 is provided which has a single column of vertically spaced, card-receiving pockets 11, each of which is open at the top. Each pocket has a slight rearward inclination downward from its open upper end, and the open upper ends of the successive pockets lie in the same vertical plane. At the left side of the rack a number panel 12 is provided, carrying a vertical series of numbers which are horizontally aligned individually with the pockets and increase numerically from top to bottom.
It is to be understood that more than one vertical column of the card-receiving pockets may be provided in the rack, if desired.
Associated with each pocket 11 in the card rack 10 is a card 13, as shown in FIG. 2 (front view) and FIG. 3 (back view). This card is flat and generally rectangular, with a width just slightly less than the width of a pocket 11 in the card rack. At the top the card has a coplanar, upwardly projecting tab 14 that extends from one side edge of the card laterally inward for just slightly less than half the width of the card. This tab is at the left side of the card, viewed from the front, and is at the right side of the card, viewed from the back. Consequently, when one card is reversed, back-to-front, and positioned directly in front of another card, as shown in FIG. 4, both top tabs 14 on the two cards will be visible.
The vertical length of each card is somewhat greater than the depth of the card-receiving pocket 11 in the rack so that, when a card is inserted in the pocket, the top tab 14 on that card will be completely outside that pocket and will be visible at the front of the card rack.
Each card is provided with markings to identify one particular contestant and to provide for the tabulation of the results of that contestant's previous matches in the challenge ladder competition. Preferably, the contestant's name is written on the top tab 14, on both the front and back, and the contestant's telephone number is written directly beneath, also on both the front and back. Directly beneath the telephone number, the rest of the card (both front and back) is taken up by a table with columns for entries of the dates, opponents and scores of that contestant's previous matches in this competition.
In the use of this display arrangement, initially the contestants will be numbered individually in accordance with an estimate of their present relative abilities, based primarily on past performance. Any contestant may challenge a higher-ranked contestant to a match by removing his own (the challenger's) card from its numbered pocket in the card rack, turning it back-to-front, and inserting it into the numbered pocket in the card rack where the higher-ranked contestant's card is located.
This serves several purposes:
1. it notifies the higher-ranked contestant, that he has been challenged;
2. it makes the challenger temporarily unavilable for a challenge by a lower-ranked contestant, as long as the challenger's card is out of its own pocket and is reversed back-to-front;
3. it notifies all contestants of the current challenges; and
4. it notifes all contestants of the current standings of those contestants whose top tabs 14 are on the left, i.e., all except the challengers.
If a challenger defeats a previously higher-ranked contestant then the latter's card is put down one or more positions, depending upon the rules of the competition as established by the club or other sponsoring organization, and the victorious challenger's card is turned around so that its top tab 14 is at the left side of the pocket previously occupied by the defeated contestant. Also, all the cards of contestants ranked below the new ranking of the just-defeated contestant are moved down by one position in the rack.