GB1565725A

GB1565725A - Cues for billiards etc

Info

Publication number: GB1565725A
Application number: GB3965577A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1978-04-14
Filing date: 1978-04-14
Publication date: 1980-04-23

Description

(54) IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO CUES FOR BILLIARDS ETC.

(71) I, DENNIS ROBB of 78 Lyndhurst Road, Exmouth, Devon, EX8 3DT, a British subject, do hereby declare the invention for which I pray that a patent may be granted to me, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: This invention relates to a cue for games such as billiards, snooker, pool, etc. Such cues are traditionally made of wood and are used in games where the "cue" ball needs to be struck with considerable accuracy. The invention aims to provide a cue which has means to improve the accuracy which a player can bring to bear when striking the cue ball.

The invention has special reference to a cue made of wood since I have discovered that, although some warping is very common, it is very rare for such warping to extend to the tip end of the cue and according to the invention a cue is provided with a straight sight line extending from a point adjacent the tip to a point about a quarter of the length of the cue towards the butt end thereof. I have found that with the invention thus applied even a warped cue can be used with considerable success and the performance of the player using it substantially improved.

The presence of the sight line not only makes it easier for the player to determine exactly where his cue is pointing, but has also been found to facilitate concentration, and to tend to eliminate undesirable habits such as flourishes with the cue which, though mostly taking place after striking the cue ball, can sometimes affect the actual shot.

The above and other features of the invention will appear from the following description with reference to the accompanying drawing in which Figure 1 is an elevation of a cue according to the invention, the proportions having been changed in order to show the details more clearly on the available scale, and Figure 2 shows four aspects of a cue similar to that shown in Figure 1.

In the case of wooden cues, some slight warping is at times inevitable, and according to the invention, illustrated in Figure 1, a cue 11 is provided with a straight sight line 12 which extends from near the tip 13 to a point only about a quarter of the way along the cue towards the butt end thereof. The reason for this is that I have found that, although warping of wooden cues is quite common, it is very rare for the narrow end itself to be appreciably warped, and can be used to execute an accurate shot provided the rest of the cue can be ignored. This is facilitated by the shortened form of sight line which makes it easier for the player to concentrate on that part of the cue.

In Figure 2 of the drawing there are illustrated four views of the same cue 21, where four separate straight lines 22a, 22b, 22c, and 22d are provided for the convenience of the user so that one is visible in any position of the cue and can be brought uppermost by only a small rotational movement.

The sight lines of the invention may be of various thicknesses according to personal preference of the user and lines between the limits of one thousandth and one thirtysecond of an inch have been found to be satisfactory.

In the past there have been proposals in which a sight was applied to a games implement such as a putter for golf, but these are not in any way comparable to the sight lines of the present invention where the user actually looks along an elongated implement to sight an accurate shot and the improvement in performance when using a cue according to the invention is quite surprising.

WHAT I CLAIM IS: 1. A wooden cue for billiards and similar games which is provided in the region of the striking tip with a straight sight line, characterised in that the sight line extends from a

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. (54) IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO CUES FOR BILLIARDS ETC. (71) I, DENNIS ROBB of 78 Lyndhurst Road, Exmouth, Devon, EX8 3DT, a British subject, do hereby declare the invention for which I pray that a patent may be granted to me, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: This invention relates to a cue for games such as billiards, snooker, pool, etc. Such cues are traditionally made of wood and are used in games where the "cue" ball needs to be struck with considerable accuracy. The invention aims to provide a cue which has means to improve the accuracy which a player can bring to bear when striking the cue ball. The invention has special reference to a cue made of wood since I have discovered that, although some warping is very common, it is very rare for such warping to extend to the tip end of the cue and according to the invention a cue is provided with a straight sight line extending from a point adjacent the tip to a point about a quarter of the length of the cue towards the butt end thereof. I have found that with the invention thus applied even a warped cue can be used with considerable success and the performance of the player using it substantially improved. The presence of the sight line not only makes it easier for the player to determine exactly where his cue is pointing, but has also been found to facilitate concentration, and to tend to eliminate undesirable habits such as flourishes with the cue which, though mostly taking place after striking the cue ball, can sometimes affect the actual shot. The above and other features of the invention will appear from the following description with reference to the accompanying drawing in which Figure 1 is an elevation of a cue according to the invention, the proportions having been changed in order to show the details more clearly on the available scale, and Figure 2 shows four aspects of a cue similar to that shown in Figure 1. In the case of wooden cues, some slight warping is at times inevitable, and according to the invention, illustrated in Figure 1, a cue 11 is provided with a straight sight line 12 which extends from near the tip 13 to a point only about a quarter of the way along the cue towards the butt end thereof. The reason for this is that I have found that, although warping of wooden cues is quite common, it is very rare for the narrow end itself to be appreciably warped, and can be used to execute an accurate shot provided the rest of the cue can be ignored. This is facilitated by the shortened form of sight line which makes it easier for the player to concentrate on that part of the cue. In Figure 2 of the drawing there are illustrated four views of the same cue 21, where four separate straight lines 22a, 22b, 22c, and 22d are provided for the convenience of the user so that one is visible in any position of the cue and can be brought uppermost by only a small rotational movement. The sight lines of the invention may be of various thicknesses according to personal preference of the user and lines between the limits of one thousandth and one thirtysecond of an inch have been found to be satisfactory. In the past there have been proposals in which a sight was applied to a games implement such as a putter for golf, but these are not in any way comparable to the sight lines of the present invention where the user actually looks along an elongated implement to sight an accurate shot and the improvement in performance when using a cue according to the invention is quite surprising. WHAT I CLAIM IS:

1. A wooden cue for billiards and similar games which is provided in the region of the striking tip with a straight sight line, characterised in that the sight line extends from a point near the striking tip to a point only a quarter of the length of the cue towards the butt end thereof.

2. A cue according to claim 1 wherein the sight line is repeated at intervals around the circumference of the cue.

3. A cue according to Claim 2, wherein the number of sight lines is between two and four.