US687288A - Educational appliance. - Google Patents

Description

, I I No. 687,288. Patented Nov. '26, I90l.

T. E. THOMPSON. EDUCATIONAL APPLIANCE.

' (Application filed mar. 16, 1901.

(No Model.)

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THOMAS E; THOMPSON, OF LEOMINSTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

EDUCATIONAL APPLIANCE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 687,288, dated November26, 1901.

Application filed March 16,1961. serial No. 51,560. de ote.)

T0 aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS E. THOMPSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Leominster, in the county of Worcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Educational Appliances or Games, of which the following desoription,in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like characters on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention relates to that general class of educational appliances or games wherein a frame or board is provided with a series of channels or grooves to receive sliding blocks, which are adapted to be moved about in the channels and capable of being arranged in different orders or groupings, such an appliance forming the subject-matter of United States Patent No. 641,738, granted to me the 23d day. of January, 1900. The basic idea embodied in said'patent and the manner of manipulating the appliance orga me are the same in my present invention; but I have herein improved the apparatus in certain features, to be more fully explained hereinafter, where by the proper or improper arrangement or grouping of the blocks may be instantly detected.

It is the object of the game to start with the blocks of the several groups disarranged and interspersed among each other and then to bring them together in the respective channels in which they belong, as in the patent referred to.

Figure 1 is a plan view of an apparatus embodying one form of my invention, only a few of the blocks being shown. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section thereof on the line wee, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a part plan view of another embodiment of my invention. Fig. 4 is a like view of yet another modification. Fig. 5' is a vertical sectional view of such modification. Fig. 6 is a detail'in plan of another embodiment of my invention, and Fig. 7 is a perspective View of one of the blocks used in the apparatus shown in Fig. 6.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, the frame comprises a bottom board a, on the upper side of which are secured a number of strips or bars a, dividing the frame into a number of channels b b. The channels I) may be termed distributing-channels, and, as shown, they follow the general contour of the frame and inclose the channels b,wl1ich may be termed branch channels, the latter being arranged in a series parallel to each other and side by side, and, as shown in Fig. 1, the branch channels are closed at one end by a crosspiece b and at the other ends they open into the outermost one of the distributing-chan- 6o nels b. Upon the cross-piece b at the head of each of the branch channels b of the series is marked a distinctive character, symbol, or designationwhioh distinguishes that channel from the others of the series, and such character may be a numeral, as shown in Fig. 1, wherein the numerals from 2 to 10, inclusive, are marked at the heads of the branch channels.

o 0 represent a series of blocks movable into and out of and through the various channels in the frame, the construction being such as to prevent the blocks from leaving the frame, and in Figs. 1, 2, and 3 the sides of the channels are undercut, while the blocks are shaped like the frusta of pyramids, so as to be retained in the channels, or, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the blocks 0 having a head portion, a base portion, and a connecting-shank, being adapted to slide in grooves or channels b of an inverted-T shape. Any suitable means for preventing the blocks from leaving the frame may be employed, however, instead of the construction herein shown.

Only a few of the blocks are shown in Fig. 1 in order to simplify the drawings, but said blocks are marked in any suitable manner to constitute a series of groups, each block of a group bearing a different expression or embodiment of the symbol adjacent one of the branch channels-that is, those blocks belonging to the channel marked 2, for instance, willbearthesymbols6-4,86,1+1,

' of 4, &c.all expressing a result equal to 2, the numeral at the head of that channel. 5 Similarly the blocks belonging to the other channels will be appropriately marked,;the expressions being indicated 'on the obverse faces of the blocks. Inasmuch as the blocks of the several groups are interchangeable in the various channels they can be thoroughly disarranged by moving them into and out of the various branch and distributing chan nels, and thereafter they may be arranged in their proper grouping by the child or pupil.

So far as described the construction is substantially as in my patent referred to; but after the blocks had been arranged in groups by the child or pupil it was necessary for the teacher to carefully run over the exposed faces of the blocks to determine whether or not the grouping had been correctly performed, and in my present invention I have provided means whereby at a glance a telltale indication will show whether or not the grouping has been correctly performed.

The reverse faces of the blocks of a group, in accordance with my invention, bear a common telltale indication, the indications of the several groups differing from each other, and the telltale faces of the blocks are visible from the back of the board, as will be described.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, the branch channels are made open-bottomed by longitudinally slotting the bottom a of the frame, as at a and it will be manifest that the reverse faces of the blocks may be seen through these slots or sight-openings when they are grouped by reversing the frame.

In Figs. 4 and 5 the slots Z) in the bottoms of the channels 12 are made in the bottom board or back b of the frame, and in the modification shown in Fig. 3 the undercut channels I) are shown as having the open or slotted bottoms a It is now only necessary to provide a different telltale indication for the blocks of each group, and this may be effected in various ways. One convenient mode is to paint or color the reverse faces so that the group for the branch channel2 would have the telltale color red, for the channel 3 blue, for channel 4 yellow, and so on, and if the blocks have been properly grouped it will be manifest that upon inspection from the back of the frame the reverse faces of the blocks of each group will show the proper telltale color. If a red or yellow faced block appears in the group whose telltale indication is green, it will be at once obvious that that particular group is not correct, and the error can then be pointed out to the child or pupil.

In Fig. 3 the symbols at the heads of the branch channels are syllables or groups of letters, and the blocks relating to or belonging in any one channel are marked with different words containing the corresponding syllable or group of letters. Thus in Fig. 3 the first branch channel has marked at its head, on the frame of the board, the letters a t, and the blocks c,belonging to that chan nel, hear such words as cat, bat, &c., and so on for the other channels. The telltale-indication feature is carried out in this instance-as hereinbefore described, the reverse faces of the blocks of a group having a distinctive color or other telltale indication,

so that by reversing the frame the correctness of the grouping can be determined.

In Fig. 6 an open supporting-frame F is illustrated, one end and a part of two sides of the frame being shown, and a series of wires or rods f are strung across the frame from side to side to sustain movable blocks g, one of the blocks being shown separately in Fig. 7, the said blocks being provided with holes, as g, for the passage therethrough of the supporting-wires. In this arrangement I have shown cubical blocks, each set of blocks on a wire constituting a group, and the symbol for each group will be displayed or indicated upon the frame-as, for instance, by the numerals 2, 3, t, &c., (see Fig. (5,)and, as before, one face of each block of a group will bear an expression or embodiment of the symbol or numeral at the head of that particular group, while another face of the block may bear an incorrect expression as related to the distinctive or grouped numeral. For instance, referring to Fig. 7, the face g is shown as bearing the symbol 2+1, and for the group headed by the numeral 3 that would be the correct expression or embodiment of that numeral, while the face q bears the symbol 5-3, which is of course incorrect. With the blocks all turned upon their respective rods or wires in disarranged order the child or pupil is instructed to turn them one by one until the proper face of each block is up permost, theincorrect expressions or symbols being used to fill out two of the block-faces. The face opposite the face g however, will bear the telltale indication, and, referring to Fig. 6, in group 2 the fifth block from the top is directly reversed to show the telltale inclication on its reverse face, a blue color being chosen for this group, and in group 8 the fourth block from the top is turned over to show its telltale-indication color--viz., red. Now if all the blocks in the various groups have been turned or moved to bring the correct expressions or embodiments uppermost then the reverse faces of the blocks will show from the back of the frame the proper telltale indications for each group, whereas if one or more blocks of a group have not been turned to bring the proper expression uppermost then there will be breaks visible when viewed from the back of the frame, and it will be at once apparent that that particular group has been incorrectly arranged.

As in my patent referred to, it will be obvious that the channels may be marked with various other symbols or characters than those shown and the blocks with characterizations of such symbols, and so, too, it will be obvious that instead of using color as the telltale indication any other device may be em ployed, provided that the telltale indications of the several groups differ from each of the other.

My invention is not restricted to the precise construction and arrangement of the frame or board herein shown, norto the particular mode of maintaining the blocks in the frame, as the same may be varied or rearranged Without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

Having fully described my invention, What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In an apparatus of the class described, a supporting-frame having a series of distinctive symbols, characters or designations displayed upon one of its faces, the several symbols differing from each other; and a series of groups of movable blocks supported by said frame, each block of a group bearing on its obverse face an expression or embodiment of one of the symbols displayed upon the frame, the reverse faces of the blocks of a group bearing a common telltale indication, the indications of the several groups differing from each other, the obverse and reverse faces of the blocks being visible from opposite faces of the frame.

2. In an apparatus of the class described, a supporting-frame provided with a series of channels, and having a series of distinctive symbols, characters, or designations dis played thereupon adjacent said channels, the several symbols differing from each other, and a distributing-channel connecting the said series of channels; a series of groups of movable blocks adapted to slide into and out of the series of channels and through the distributing-channel, each block of a group bearing on its obverse face an expression or embodiment of one of the symbols, the reverse faces of the blocks of a group bearinga common telltale indication, the indications of the several groups differing from each other, and means whereby the reverse faces of the blocks may be observed when grouped in the series of channels.

3. In an apparatus of the class described, a supporting-frame provided with a distributing channel having a closed bottom and a series of branch channels opening into said distributing-channel and having longitudinally-slotted bottoms, a series of distinctive symbols, characters or designations differing from each other and displayed upon the frame adjacent the branch channels; and a series of groups of movable blocks adapted to slide into and out of the series of branch channels and through the distributing-channel, each block of a group bearing on its obverse face an expression or embodiment of one of the symbols, the reverse faces of the blocks of a group bearing a common telltale indication, the indications of the several groups differing from each other, the reverse faces of the blocks being visible through the slots from the back of the frame when the blocks are grouped in the branch channels.

4. A frame provided with a series of openbottomed channels closed at one end, and With a groove or channel connecting the other ends thereof, each of the open-bottomed channels having at its head or closed end a distinctive symbol, character or designation, the symbols of the several slots differing from each other, and a series of groups of movable blocks adapted to slide into and out of the series of channels and through the connecting-channel, each block of a group bearing on its obverse face an expression or embodiment of one of the symbols, the reverse faces of the blocks of a group bearing a common telltale indication, the indications of the several groups difiering from each other and being visible through the open-bottomed channels at the back of the frame.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence'of two subscribing Witnesses.

THOMAS E. THOMPSON.

Witnesses:

JOHN G. EDWARDS, AUGUSTA E. DEAN.

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