Field of the invention

The present invention relates to the field of game boards and to an apparatus for mounting a game board to a surface. The present invention is particularly suited for use as an apparatus for mounting a dartboard to a wall, however, it is to be appreciated that the present invention may have broader application in the mounting of other types of games boards to a surface.

Background of the invention

A number of existing games require a game board to be mounted to a surface such that the game board is maintained relative to the surface in a fixed position. One such game board is a dartboard. The game of darts requires a dartboard, which is a circular target board, to be mounted to a wall in a substantially fixed position. Darts are thrown by a player at the board and the location at which a dart penetrates a front surface of the board indicates the score achieved by the player.

Modern dartboards are made of bristle fibres which are mounted onto a backing board. The bristle fibres project forward of the backing board to enable a pointed end of a dart to penetrate and be held in position amongst the bristles. Dartboards have a substantially circular perimeter and a standard size and configuration. The dartboard is mounted on a wall such that the backing board faces the wall and the bristle fibres face away from the wall. In the standard game, the dartboard is mounted such that a bullseye at the centre of the dartboard is 5'8" or 1 .73 metres from the floor. The player must stand behind a line which is 7'9 ¹ A" or 2.37 metres from the face of the dartboard measured horizontally. The exact measurements outlined above can vary but all standards require the dartboard to be mounted to a wall at a certain height above a floor surface.

Dartboards typically include a mounting loop, ring or hook attached to a metal hoop extending around the periphery of the board which encases the backing board and the bristles. The mounting loop, ring or hook is typically attached to the hoop at a particular position around the periphery of the dartboard such that the loop, ring or hook can be hung over a screw or nail projecting from a wall such that the dartboard will hang from the screw or nail in a predetermined orientation (i.e. with the "20" at the top). Accordingly, the only portion of the dartboard which will actually be connected to the wall is the loop, ring or hook which is merely hung over the nail or screw projecting from the wall and is retained in position by the weight of the dartboard transmitting through the loop, ring or hook to the nail or screw in the wall. A dartboard mounted in this way can be easily moved by the application of the lateral force to the dartboard which can cause the dartboard to swing from the nail or screw in the wall. As can be appreciated, the above means of mounting a dartboard to a wall is relatively precarious and does not ensure a stable and fixed position of the dartboard relative to the wall surface.

Accordingly, there exists a need to provide an improved apparatus for mounting a game board to a surface that results in the game board being mounted to the surface in a relatively stable and fixed manner yet which still enables the game board to be removed from the surface if required. There exists a particular need to ameliorate the problems associated with mounting a dartboard to a wall as described above.

Summary of the invention

Accordingly, in a first aspect, the present invention provides an apparatus for mounting a game board to a wall, the apparatus including a base to be fixed to a wall and a holder to be fixed to a game board, wherein the base and the holder include a means for releasably retaining the base and the holder together and thereby releasably mounting the game board to the wall.

In one form, one of the base and the holder includes a recess for receiving therewithin a plug member of the other one of the base and the holder.

In another form, the recess is circular and has an inwardly facing annular surface about a circumference of the recess and the plug member is circular and has an outwardly facing annular surface whereby the plug member can be received within the recess at any rotational position relative to the recess.

In yet another form, the inwardly facing annular surface of the recess is countersunk and the outwardly facing annular surface of the plug member is tapered so that when the plug member is received within the recess the countersunk surface and the tapered surface are in face to face contact. In still yet another form, the recess is circular and has an inwardly facing conical surface about a circumference of the recess and the tapered portion is circular and has an outwardly facing conical surface about a circumference of the tapered portion whereby the tapered portion can be received within the recess at any rotational position relative to the recess.

In one form, the base and the holder include a circular ridge and a circular recess wherein the ridge is configured to be received within the recess to enable the base and the holder to slidably rotate relative to each other.

In one form, the apparatus further includes a means for releasably fixing the base and the holder at a plurality of rotational positions relative to each other.

In one form, the means for releasably fixing the base and the holder relative to each other includes a rotational fixing member that is slidably attached to the base to slidably rotate about the base and be fixable to the base at a plurality of rotational positions relative to the base.

In another form, the fixing member is configured to engage the holder and be rotationally fixed to the holder when the holder and the base are retained together.

In one form, the means for releasably fixing the base and the holder relative to each other includes a plurality of ridges and troughs associated with each of the base and the holder, the ridges and troughs of the base being configured to engage the ridges and troughs of the holder and thereby prevent rotation of the base and the holder relative to each other when the base and the holder are retained together.

In one form, when the base is fixed to the wall the means for releasably retaining the base and the holder together includes a fastening device which is capable of fastening the holder to the base at any rotational position relative to each other in a plane substantially parallel to the wall.

In another form, the means for releasably retaining the base and the holder together includes a hook and loop fastening device in which hook portions associated with one of the base and the holder releasably engage loop portions associated with the other one of the base and the holder. In yet another form, the means for releasably retaining the base and the holder together includes a magnetic fastening means in which a magnet associated with one of the base and the holder releasably engages a material associated with the other one of the base and the holder that is attracted by the magnet.

The holder can be integrally formed with the game board.

The base can include holes for receiving fasteners for fixing the base to a wall.

The holder can include holes for receiving fasteners for fixing the holder to a game board.

In another aspect, the invention provides a combination of a game board and the apparatus of any one of the forms of the invention set out above.

In one form of the combination, the game board is a dart board.

Further aspects and concepts will become apparent to those skilled in the art after considering the following description and claims in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Brief Description of the drawings

In the accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, embodiments of the invention are illustrated, which together with a general description of the invention given above, and the detailed description below, serve to exemplify embodiments of the invention.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a combination of a dartboard and an apparatus for mounting the game board to a wall, the apparatus including a base which is fixed to a wall and includes a recess for receiving therewithin a plug member of a holder which is to be fixed to the dartboard and then subsequently releasably mounted to the base such that the dartboard is thereby releasably mounted to the wall.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the base and the holder of the apparatus of Figure 1. Figure 3 is a front view of the base of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a side view of a cross section of the base of Figure 1 taken along the section line A-A in Figure 3 illustrating part of a means for releasably retaining the base and the holder together.

Figure 5 illustrates a front view of the holder of Figure 1 .

Figure 6 illustrates a side view of a cross section of the holder of Figure 1 taken along the section line B-B in Figure 5 illustrating another part of the means for releasably retaining the base and the holder together.

Figure 7 illustrates a side view of a cross section of the base and holder of Figure 1 taken along the section lines A-A and B-B of Figures 3 and 5 wherein the parts of the means for releasably retaining the base and the holder together associated with the holder and the base are positioned to face each other.

Figure 8 illustrates a side view of a cross section of the base and holder of Figure 1 taken along the section lines A-A and B-B of Figures 3 and 5 wherein the parts of the means for releasably retaining the base and the holder together associated with the holder and the base are positioned to face each other are brought into contact such that the base and the holder are releasably retained together.

Figure 9 illustrates a front view of a holder in accordance with an alternative embodiment of the invention wherein the holder which is integral with the dartboard and which includes a recess for receiving therewithin a plug member of a base.

Figure 10 illustrates a side view of a cross section of the holder and dartboard of Figure 9 taken along the section line C-C.

Figure 1 1 illustrates a base in accordance with an alternative embodiment of the invention wherein the base is configured to be fixed to a wall and which includes a plug member for being received within a recess of a holder, such as the holder incorporated in the dartboard of Figures 9 and 10, to thereby releasably mount the holder and a dartboard to a wall. Figure 12 illustrates a side view of a cross section of the base of Figure 1 1 taken along the section line D-D.

Figure 13 illustrates a perspective view of an apparatus for mounting a game board to a wall in accordance with another embodiment of the invention including a base which is configured to be fixed to a wall and a holder which is configured to be fixed to a game board and then subsequently releasably mounted to the base to thereby releasably mount the game board to the wall, wherein the base and the holder include a magnetic fastening means for releasably fastening the base and the holder together.

Figure 14 illustrates a perspective view of the base and the holder of the apparatus of Figure 13 wherein the holder is fixed to a dartboard, and wherein the base includes a rotational fixing member for fixing the base and the holder at a plurality of rotational positions relative to each other.

Figure 14a illustrates an enlarged view of a portion of the base of the apparatus of Figure 13 showing detail of the structure of the rotational fixing member.

Figure 15 illustrates a perspective view of an apparatus for mounting a game board to a wall in accordance with another embodiment of the invention including a base and a holder for respectively being mounted to a wall and to a game board and being releasably mounted to each other to thereby releasably mount the game board to the wall, wherein the base and the holder each include a plurality of interengagable ridges and troughs for preventing relative rotation of the base and the holder when releasably retained together.

Detailed Description

Referring to Figures 1 to 8, there is shown an apparatus 10 for mounting a game board 40, in the form of a dart board, to a wall 5. The apparatus 10 includes a base 20 which is configured to be fixed to the wall 5 and a holder 30 which is configured to be fixed to the game board 40. The holder 30 and the base 20 include a means for releasably retaining the holder 30 and the base 20 together to thereby releasably mount the game board 40 to the wall 5.

Referring to Figures 3 and 4, the base 20 is in the form of a substantially planar member which may be square, round or any other shape. The base 20 includes a wall facing surface 22 which when the base 20 is mounted to the wall 5 as in Figure 1 faces towards and is in face to face contact with the wall 5. The base 20 also includes a game board facing surface 24 which is opposite to the wall facing surface 22. The game board facing surface 24 is configured to face towards the game board 40 as in Figure 1 when the game board 40 is mounted via the apparatus 10 to the wall 5 in the manner described below. The base 20 includes a lateral surface 23 which extends between the wall facing surface 22 and the game board facing surface 24 and defines a periphery of the base 20. The base 20 further includes a recess 27 within the game board facing surface 24. The recess 27 is configured in the form of a countersunk manner and is defined by a lateral annular wall 28 which is upstanding from and surrounding a bottom surface 29 of the recess 27.

The countersunk configuration of the recess 27 is best illustrated in Figure 4 which is a side view of a cross section of the base 20 taken along the section lines A-A of Figure 3. The lateral annular wall 28 which is upstanding from and surrounding the bottom surface 29 of the recess 27 also slopes outwardly to provide the countersunk profile of the recess 27. Whilst the recess 27 illustrated in Figures 1 to 8 is countersunk it is to be appreciated that the recess 27 need not necessarily be countersunk. The annular wall 28 may not necessarily be sloped relative to the bottom surface 29 of the recess 27 but may be substantially vertical relative to the bottom surface 29 of the recess 27. As will become apparent below, the purpose of the recess 27 is to receive therewithin the holder 30 or a plug member of the holder and the configuration of the recess 27 is to be understood by reference to this purpose.

Referring to Figures 5 and 6, the holder 30 is made up of a substantially planar member. In the embodiments illustrated in Figures 1 to 8, the holder 30 is in the form of a circular disc shape. The holder 30 includes a game board facing surface 24 which is configured for face to face contact with the game board 40 in the manner described below and as illustrated in Figure 1 . The holder 30 also includes a wall facing surface 32 which is configured to face towards the wall 5 when releasably retained to the base 20 in the manner described below. The holder 30 also has a lateral surface 38 which extends between the game board facing surface 34 and the wall facing surface 32 and defines a lateral periphery of the holder 30. In the embodiment of the holder 30 illustrated in Figures 1 to 8 in which the holder 30 is a circular disc shape the lateral surface 38 is an annular surface. As shown in Figure 8, the holder 30 is configured to be received within the recess 27 of the base 20. The lateral surface 38 of the holder 30 is sloped relative to the wall facing surface 32 and the game board facing surface 34 so as to form a shape and configuration that is complimentary to the countersunk shape, configuration and profile of the annular wall 28 of the recess 27 of the base 20. When the holder 30 is received within the recess 27 the holder 30 is dimensioned to be received within the recess 27 in a relatively tight fit such that the lateral surface 38 of the holder 30 is in face to face contact, or close to face to face contact, with the countersunk or non- countersunk annular wall 28 of the recess 27. Accordingly, in the embodiment illustrated in Figures 1 to 8, the holder 30 is in the form of a plug that is dimensioned to be received within the recess 27 the holder 30.

As shown in Figures 4 and 6 to 8, the apparatus 10 further includes a retaining means 25, 35 associated with the base 20 and the holder 30 for releasably retaining the base 20 and the holder 30 together with the holder 30 positioned within the recess 27 in the manner described above. The retaining means 25, 35 may include any suitable means for releasably retaining the holder 30 within the recess 27 with the wall facing surface 32 of the holder 30 in face to face contact or close to face to face contact with the bottom surface 29 of the recess 27 and with the lateral surface 38 of the holder 30 in face to face contact or close to face to face contact with the annular wall 28 of the recess 27 of the base 20 as shown in Figure 8. In one form, the retaining means 25, 35 is in the form of a hook and loop fastener arrangement wherein one of the hook and loop portions of the fastener is arranged on and substantially covers the bottom surface 29 of the recess 27 whilst the other one of the hook and loop fastening means is arranged on and substantially covers the wall facing surface 32 of the holder 30. The retaining means 25, 35 may instead or in addition be comprised of a magnet and a material that is attracted by the magnet or any other means capable of providing releasable engagement therebetween in a manner similar to the arrangements described above.

The action of the retaining means 25, 35 is illustrated in Figures 7 and 8 which shown side cross section views of the base 20 and the holder 30. In Figure 7, the base 20 and the holder 30 are illustrated in a spaced apart position corresponding to when the holder 30, which would be fixed to the game board 40, is spaced apart and separate from the base 20, which would be fixed to the wall 5. Figure 8 illustrates the holder 30 subsequently positioned within the recess 27 of the base 20 and the retaining means 25, 35 being operable to releasably retain the base 20 and the holder 30 together. With the base 20 fixed to the wall 5 and the holder 30 fixed to the game board 40 and the base 20 and the holder 30 releasably retained together in the manner illustrated in Figure 8 the game board 40 is also releasably mounted to the wall 5 by the apparatus 10.

The retaining means 25, 35 provide releasable engagement therebetween across substantially the entire wall facing surface 32 of the holder 30 and the bottom surface 29 of the recess 27 to provide a relatively stable mounting therebetween and in turn a relatively stable mounting of the game board 40 to the wall 5. The stability of the mounting of the game board 40 to the wall 5 is enhanced by the arrangement of the holder 30 being received within the recess 27 of the base 20 in a manner in which the lateral surface 38 of the holder 30 is in face to face contact or close to face to face contact with the annular wall 28 of the recess 27 and can be further enhanced by the countersunk configuration of the annular wall 28 of the recess 27 and the complimentary shaped sloped lateral surface 38 of the holder 30. The face to face contact or close to face to face contact between the planar wall facing surface 32 of the holder 30 and the planar bottom surface 29 of the recess 27 results in further enhancing the stability of the mounting of the game board 40 to the wall 5. The apparatus 10 is advantageous in that the holder 30 is substantially resistant to wobbling or any other movement relative to the base 20 when the holder 30 and the base 20 are releasably retained together by the retaining means 25, 35. When the apparatus 10 is operable for mounting the game board 40 to the wall 5 wobbling or other movement of the game board 40 relative to the wall 5 is resisted.

Referring to Figures 1 to 3 and 5, the base 20 includes a plurality of fastening holes 21 which extend through the base 20 from the game board facing surface 24 to the wall facing surface 22. The fastening holes 21 provide a means for receiving a screw or a nail or some other like fastener therethrough to fix the base 20 to the wall 5 as illustrated in Figure 1 . The holder 30 also has a plurality of fastening holes 31 which extend through the holder 30 from the game board facing surface 34 to the wall facing surface 32. Each of the fastening holes 31 facilitate a means through which a screw or a nail or some other like fastener may extend to thereby fasten the holder 30 to a rear surface or a wall facing surface 45 of a game board 40. Referring to Figures 9 to 12, there is shown an alternative embodiment of the apparatus 100 which includes a holder 130 which is integrally formed into a rear surface 145 of a game board 140 in the form of a dart board having a front target surface 147. The holder 130 is configured to be releasably retained together with a base 120 which is fixed to the wall 5 to thereby releasably retain the game board 140 to the wall 5. Accordingly, the embodiment illustrated in Figures 9 to 12 incorporates the reverse arrangement of the embodiments illustrated in Figures 1 to 8 whereby in the embodiment illustrated in Figures 9 to 12 the holder 130 and a recess 137 associated with the holder 130 is provided within the rear surface 145 of the game board 140. The recess 137 within the rear surface 145 of the game board 140 may be countersunk or non-countersunk and dimensioned to receive a complimentary shaped base 120 therewithin. The recess 137 is defined by a planar and round shaped bottom surface 139 and an annular wall 138 upstanding from the bottom surface 139. The annular wall 138 may be sloped or substantially at right angles to the bottom surface 135. Similarly, the base 120 includes a round and planar wall facing surface 124, an opposite game board facing surface 122 and a lateral annular surface 128 which extends between the wall facing surface 124 and the game board facing surface 122 and which may also be sloped or substantially perpendicular relative to the wall facing surface 124. The wall facing surface 124 and the lateral annular surface 128 of the base 120 are dimensioned to provide a complimentary fit within the recess 137 within the rear surface 145 of the game board 140 with the wall facing surface 124 and the lateral annular surface 128 in face to face contact, or close to face to face contact, with the planar and round shaped bottom surface 139 and annular wall 138 respectively of the recess 137.

The base 120 is configured to be fixed to the wall 5 such that when the base 120 is received within the recess 137 within the rear surface 145 of the game board 140 then game board 140 is thereby releasably mounted to the wall 5. Like the embodiment illustrated in Figures 1 to 8, the embodiment illustrated in Figures 9 to 12 includes retaining means 135, 125 respectively associated with the recess 137 within the game board 140 and the base 120 to enable the game board 140 and the base 120 to be releasably retained together so that when the base 120 is fixed to the wall 5 the game board 140 is also releasably mounted to the wall 5.

As illustrated in Figure 1 1 , the base 120 includes a plurality of fastening holes 121 which extend between the wall facing surface 124 and the game board facing surface 122 to facilitate the passage therethrough of a nail or screw or some other like fastener to facilitate fixing of the base 120 to the wall 5. Because the holder 130 is incorporated into the game board 140 the holder 130 does not require a plurality of fastening holes as in the embodiment illustrated in Figures 1 to 8.

Referring to Figures 13, 14 and 14a, there is shown another embodiment of the invention in the form of an apparatus 1 10 which is for mounting a game board 40, in the form of a dartboard or any other like game board, to a wall 5 in a similar manner to the embodiment of the apparatus 10 shown in Figure 1. The apparatus 1 10 includes a base 120 which is configured to be fixed to the wall 5 and a holder 130 which is configured to be fixed to the game board 40. The holder 130 and the base 120 include a means, described in more detail below, for releasably retaining the holder 130 and the base 120 to thereby releasably mount the game board 40 to the wall 5.

Referring to Figures 13 and 14, the base 120 is in the form of a ring shaped member, however it is to be appreciated that the base 20 may have any other profile such as square, rectangular or the like. The base 120 includes a wall facing surface 122 which, when the base 120 is mounted to the wall 5, faces towards and is in face to face contact with the wall 5. The base 120 also includes a game board facing surface 124 which is opposite to the wall facing surface 122. The game board facing surface 124 is configured to face towards the game board 40 when the game board 40 is mounted via the apparatus 1 10 to the wall 5 in the manner described below.

The base 120 includes a plurality of retaining means in the form of apertures 125 which are configured to receive a fastener therethrough to fasten the base 120 to the wall 5. The game board facing surface 124 includes an annular recess 126 which extends about the ring shaped base 120. The recess 126 is bounded on radially inward and outward edges by an outer annular ridge 127 and an inner annular ridge 128. The outer ridge 127 and the inner ridge 128 are each upstanding from the recess 126 of the wall facing surface 122 to thereby define edges of the recess 126. In one form, the inner ridge 128 has either integrally or mounted therewithin an annular magnet member 129 or alternatively is formed out of a non-magnetic metallic material. The magnet 129 may be a continuous annular member or may be a discontinuous member about the inner annular ridge 128. The base 120 further includes a rotational orienting member 121 mounted to an outer circumferential edge 129 of the base 120. The edge 129 extends between the wall facing surface 122 and the game board facing surface 124 of the base 120 at an outer circumference thereof. The orienting member 121 may take any suitable form. The purpose of the orienting member 121 is to be able to be slidably rotated about the circumference of the base 120 and to be selectively fixed to a variety of positions about the circumference thereof, or in other words, about the radius of the base 120 for a purpose which will be described herein below. The orienting member 121 includes a body portion 131 which is curved along its longitudinal length to conform to the radius of the edge 129 of the base 120. The orienting member 121 includes a trough section 132 extending longitudinally along the length of the body 131 . The trough 132 is configured to receive the edge 129 of the base 120 therewithin to enable the body 131 to slide about the edge 129 of the base 120. The orienting member 121 also includes a positional fixing means 133 which may take any suitable form and which is configured to fix the position of the orienting member 121 at any one of a plurality of positions about the edge 129 of the base 120. The fixing means 133 may be a screw which can be tightened or loosened against the base 120 to respectively fix or release the orienting member 121 relative to the base 120. Alternatively, the fixing means 133 may be a biased member (not shown) which is biased into frictional engagement with the base 120 and is manually releasable to enable the orienting member 121 to be released and slid about the edge 129 of the base 120 to a desired position. When the orienting member 121 is at the desired position the biased member is manually released to provide frictional engagement with the base 120 to fix the orienting member 121 in the desired position relative toe the base 120.

The holder 130 is a substantially ring-shaped member including a game board facing surface 134 which is configured for face to face contact with the game board 40 in the manner described below and illustrated in Figure 14. The holder 130 also includes a wall facing surface 135 which is configured to face towards the wall 5 when releasably retained to the base 120 in the manner described below. The holder 130 also has a radial edge 138 extending about the periphery of the holder 130 and extending between the game board facing surface 134 and the wall facing surface 135. The holder 130 includes a plurality of fixing means for fixing the holder 130 to the game board 40. The fixing means may take any suitable form but in the embodiment illustrated in Figures 13 and 14 are in the form of a plurality of apertures 136 which are configured to receive fasteners therethrough to fasten the holder 130 to the game board 40 as illustrated in Figure 14. The wall facing surface 135 of the holder 130 includes an annular or ring-shaped recess 139 which when the holder 130 is fixed to the game board 40 faces away from the game board 40. The recess 139 is configured to receive the ridge 128 of the base 120 in a relatively tight fit in a manner enabling the ridge 128 to slidably rotate within the recess 139 to enable the game board 40 to be rotated relative to the base 120 and to the wall 5 to an appropriate orientation. The recess 139 may be formed out of a metallic material which is configured to interact with the magnet 129 of the base 120 to releasably retain the holder 130 to the base 120 whilst enabling the holder 130 to rotate relative to the base 120. The interaction of the recess 139 and the ridge 128 prevents lateral or vertical movement of the holder 130 relative to the base 120 whilst enabling relative rotational movement of the holder 130 relative to the base 120.

The holder 130 includes a pair of tabs 137 that are radially spaced apart about the periphery of the holder 130 by a distance so as to be received between tabs 140 associated with the orienting member 121 when the ridge 128 of the base 120 is received within the recess 135 of the holder 130 and is magnetically retained thereto. Positioning of the tabs 137 of the holder 130 between the tabs 140 of the orienting member 121 provides that the holder 130, and the game board 40 attached thereto, is oriented relative to the base 120, and the wall 5 to which the base 120 is mounted, at a pre-determined orientation depending on the position of the orienting member 121 about the circumference of the base 120. In other words, relocation of the fixing member 121 about the base 120 adjusts the rotational position of the holder 130 and the game board 40 relative to the base 120 and the wall 5 to a desired orientation. Although in the embodiment illustrated and described above, the holder 130 includes a recess 139 which is metallic and attracted to the magnet 129 in the ridge 128 of the base 120, it is to be appreciated that the holder 130 may incorporate a magnetic material whilst the base 120 may incorporate a material that is magnetically attractive, such as a metal, to facilitate releasable retaining or attachment of the holder 130 to the base 120.

Referring to Figure 15, there is shown another embodiment of the apparatus 210. The apparatus 210 includes a holder 230 and base 220. The base 220 includes a plurality of openings 215 which are configured to receive respective fasteners for attachment of the base to either a game board 40 or a wall 5. The holder 230 also includes a plurality of openings 235 for receiving respective fasteners for attachment to either the game board 40 or the wall 5.

The base 220 and the holder 230 are both generally ring-shaped members each including an annular facing surface 217, 227 each including a plurality of ridges 218, 228 and troughs 219, 229, or, in other words, a set of teeth, projecting therefrom. Accordingly, when one of the base 220 and holder 230 is fixed to a wall 5 and is presented with the other one of the base 220 and holder 230 fixed to a game board 40 the respective ridges 218, 228 of each of the base 220 and holder 230 are received within respective troughs 219, 229 of the other one of the base 220 and holder 230. The apparatus 210 also may incorporate a magnetic material that facilitates magnetic attraction between the base 220 and the holder 230 so that when brought together they are releasably retained to each other. The plurality of troughs 219, 229 and ridges 218, 228 facilitates rotational adjustment and fixing of the base 220 and the holder 230 relative to each other at a desired relative rotational position when retained together to thereby facilitate rotational adjustment and fixing of the game board 40 relative to the wall 5 to which it is mounted.

The different embodiments of the apparatus 10, 1 10, 210 may further include a means for stabilising and spacing the game board 40 relative to the wall 5. In particular, the means for stabilising and spacing the game board 40 operates to stabilise the game board 40 in a plane parallel to the wall 5 to thereby ensure that a wall facing surface of the game board 40 (ie the surface of the game board to which the holder 30, 130, 230 is attached) is spaced apart from the wall 5 by a substantially even distance about the circumference of the game board 40. In one form, the means for stabilising the game board 40 includes one or more spacing members coupled to either the base 20, 120, 220 or the holder 30, 130, 230. Each of the spacing members may include an elongate flexible member formed out of a flexible material such as plastic or the like that is fixed at a proximal end to a respective one of the openings 35, 15, 135, 1 15, 235, 215 by the fastener that is inserted through the respective openings to fasten the base 20, 120, 220 to the wall 5 or the holder 30, 130, 230 to the game board 40 and extends radially therefrom. In another form, each of the spacing members may include an elongate flexible member formed out of a flexible material such as plastic or the like that is integrally formed with the base 20, 120, 220 or the holder 30, 130, 230 and extends radially therefrom. At a distal end of each of the flexible spacer members includes a helical spring or other like resiliency compressible member that is configured to engage and bias the radially outer end of the spacer member from either the wall facing surface of the game board 40 or from the wall 5. In use, when the base 20, 120, 220 and the holder 30, 130, 230 are releasably mounted to each other so as to mount the game board 40 to the wall 5 the spacer members will be in engagement with both the wall facing surface of the game board 40 and the wall 5 and the spring will act to apply a force between the wall facing surface of the game board 40 and the wall 5 to maintain the wall facing surface of the game board 40 and the wall 5 at a distance from each other. As can be appreciated, by mounting a spacer member to each of the plurality of openings 35, 15, 135, 1 15, 235, 215 about the circumference of the base 20, 120, 220 or the holder 30, 130, 230 the plurality of spacer members will maintain an even distance between the wall facing surface of the game board 40 and the wall 5 about the periphery of the game board 40 such that the game board 40 will be maintained in a plane substantially parallel to the plane of the wall 5. The spacer members are advantageous in that they substantially prevent a portion of the wall facing surface of the game board 40 from being relatively closer to the wall 5 than another portion of the wall facing surface of the game board 40.

The invention has been described herein with reference to preferred embodiments. Modification and alteration may occur to persons skilled in the art upon reading and understanding this specification. It is intended to include all such modifications and alterations insofar as they fall within the scope of the following claims or equivalence thereof.