US2010282A

US2010282A - Target for billiards and the like

Info

Publication number: US2010282A
Application number: US2905A
Authority: US
Inventors: Wanncmacher Charles
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1935-01-22
Filing date: 1935-01-22
Publication date: 1935-08-06
Anticipated expiration: 1952-08-06

Description

Aug. 6, c. WANNEMACHER 2,010,282

TARGET FOR BILLIARDS AND THE Filed Jan. 22, 1955 I I C/ v 75' 74 3 F f5 23 V Y 1 76.]- a? ,,"H zfl m Patented Aug. 6, 1935 UNITED STATES, PATENT OFFICE TARGET FOR BILLIARDS AND THE LIKE Charles Wanncmacher, Buffalo, N. Y.

Application January 22, 1935, Serial No. 2,905

8 Claims.

This invention relates to a target for practicing billiards in order to improve the skill of the player, and more particularly toa target of this character which is adjustable so as to render the playing of billiards more difficult as the skill of the player improves and also permit of adapting the target for use with billiard balls of different diameters or sizes.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a target for this purpose which can be readily placed upon any part of the plane of a billiard table in order to enable the player to practice billiard shots in the respective locality where the shot is to be made, and also to provide a target of this character which in effect simulates the object ball of a billiard game, and thus enables the player to improve the accuracy of his shots as readily as when shooting at a regular billiard ball.

A further object of this invention is to provide a target for this purpose which is comparatively simple in construction and capable ofbeing produced at low cost and also to so construct the target that the same is neat and attractive in appearance and can be easily'adjusted so as to adapt the same to the proficiency of the player and also enable billiard balls of different sizes to be used to suit varying requirements.

In the accompanying drawing:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a satisfactory form of target for practicing billiards embodying my invention, when viewing the same from the front side thereof.

Figure 2 is a rear elevation of the same.

Figure 3 is a vertical cross section thereof taken on line 33 Fig. 2. V

Figure 4 is a top plan view of the same.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary section taken on the correspondingly numbered line in Fig. 2.

Figure 6 is a rear elevation of a target containing a modified form of my invention as compared with the construction shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

In the following description similar characters of reference indicate like parts in the several figures of the drawing:

In its general organization this target comprises an arch l0 which is adapted to rest with the underside I I of its opposite ends on the plane or horizontal surface of a billiard table so as to form a passage I2 between the recess I3 on the central underside of this arch and the top or plane of the table through which billiard balls are adapted to pass, and two guides l4 mounted on the. arch on opposite sides of the passage and adapted to direct the billiard ball which is shot toward the front side of the target, rearwardly through this passage.

The arch is preferably constructed in the form of an upright plate of light material such as wood or the like, and at its opposite ends the same is 5 provided with laterally projecting feet 15 which are adapted to rest on the top or plane of the table and increase the bearing surface against the same, so that the arch is more stable and will be maintained in an upright position when re- 10 sisting the impact of the cue billiard ball when the latter strikes one or other of the guides M or some part of the arch when making a shot.

In the preferred construction each of the guides is made of ball-like form so as to simulate a billiard ball, and these guides are mounted on the front face of the arch so that their opposing inner surfaces project beyond the lower opposing edge portions of the recess I3 of the arch, whereby a billiard ball which is aimed at the passage in the 0 arch will either pass through the same or hit the inner rounded surface of either one or the other of the ball-like guides, and thus glance off at an angle to the direction in which it was shot by the cue and pass rearwardly through the passage I2 of the arch.

, In order to insure engagement of the cue ball with a rounded part of the opposing sides of the two ball-like guides when the cue ball is shot toward the same, each of these balls is preferably so mounted that at least a part of its rounded or globular surface is located immediately adjacent the one side of the passage in the arch so that when the respective portion of the guide is hit by the cue ball the effect will be substantially the same as when a cue ball hits an object ball and thereby causes the cue ball to be deflected at an angle from this guide and to be directed rearwardly through the passage in the arch if the shot has been made sufficiently accurate for this purpose.

In order to enable the guides of the target to be thus formed and still bring the same relatively close to the arch for rendering the device more compact, it is preferable to make each guide in the form of a truncated sphere by cutting away the rear side of the guide ball at a suitable distance rearward of its center so as to maintain the full diameter of the same in a direction crosswise of the passage l2 in the arch, and provide a flat face IE on the rear side of this guide, as best shown in Fig. 3.

In the use of this target for practicing billiard playing it is desirable, if the player is a novice,

to first separate the two guides on the arch a con- 5 siderable distance so that a ball shot toward the passage in the arch and the gap between the two guides on the race thereof, will have a greater range of opportunity for successfully attaining its objective, that is to say, passing through the gap between the guides and the passage in the arch and possibly contacting with either one or both of the opposing surfaces of the guides during such movement.

When, however, the player becomes more adept in shooting the cue ball through the gap between the two guides and the passage in the arch of the target, the same may be rendered more difficult by narrowing the gap between these guides.

Means are therefore provided whereby the balllike guides are capable of being adjusted one rela tively to the other for either increasing or decreasing the width of the gap between the same to suit the skill or proficiency of the player.

In the preferred construction both of these guides are made adjustable toward and from each other on the arch so that the center of the gap between these guides may be maintained inline with the center of the recess or passage within the arch. 7

In billiards it is also customary to use balls of difi'erent sizes to suit diiierent tastes and also to allow for difference in cost of the balls, which may be governed by the size or" the same, and for this reason the means for adjusting the two guides relatively to each other are so constructed that they also serve to compensate for difierences in the diameter of the ball-like guides which may be used, and enable the same to be not only moved horizontally toward and from each other but also vertically on the arch, so that the underside of the ball-like guides may either rest or nearly rest on the top or plane of the billiard table.

Although various means may be employed for thus adjusting the ball-like guides both horizontally and vertically on the arch, those shown in the drawing are satisfactory and constructed as follows:

The numeral ili represents a supporting plate or disk of metal or the like which may be secured to the rear fiat side 96 or" each ball-like guide by means of screws it? or other approved means of fastening. From each of the supporting plates ll two clamping bolts, studs or screws is project i rearwardly through an inclined slot 28 in the adjacent part of the arch it, each of these bolts having a threaded rear end which receives a screw nut 2! adapted to bear through the medium of a washer 22 against the rear side of the arch iii. Upon loosening the two screw nuts 2! the two clamping bolts 49 which are arranged side by side may be moved lengthwise in the respective slot 20 either inwardly or outwardly, and thereby move the respective ball-like guide it toward and from the center of the passageway i 2 in the arch, and also toward and from the top or plane of the billiard table which is represented by the line 23.

The two slots 25 on opposite sides of the passage in the arch converge downwardly so that by moving these two guides toward each other for the purpose of reducing the distance of the gap between the same these guides are also moved downwardly toward the top or plane of the table for the purpose of securing the desired width of the gap between the guides, and also bringing the ball-like guides into the desired position relative to the plane of the table.

In Fig. 2 the ball-like guides are represented as being moved comparatively close together for the purpose of producing a narrow gap between the same, through which a small ball, shown by dotted lines 9, can pass with comparative freedom, and in this View the ball-like guides are represented by dotted lines Ml in a position in which they are spaced farther apart, and therefore permit the passage of a comparatively large ball, which is indicated by dotted lines 8 in Fig. 2. Obviously these means for adjusting the ball-like guides enable the gap between the guides of the target to be readily adapted for the passage of cue balls of other dimensions within the range of this adjusting means.

After the ball-like guides have been adjusted into the desired position they are firmly held in place on the arch by tightening the nuts 2! so that the supporting plates E? are firmly clamped against the front side or face of the arch as best shown in Fig. 5.

If desired, the means for adjusting the guides toward and from each other for the purpose of either reducing or increasing the width of the gap between the same may be so constructed that this target will be limited to use with only one diameter of ball-like guides. In this case the construction of the adjusting means is in all respects similar to that shown in Figs. 2 and 5, excepting that the guide slots 2d which receive the clamping bolts is of the guides as are arranged horisontally, as shown in Fig. 6. In this construction the slots 24 are so located with reference to the lower edge ol the arch and the top or plane 23 of the billard table that the lowermost parts of the ball--like guides always rest on or are arranged close to the top of the billiard table so that the use of variable sized ball-like guides is not possible and only a variation in the width of the gap between these ball-like guides is possible.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that this target for practicing billiards serves as an aid to billiard players desiring to improve their game, inasmuch as this target may be first set up with the guides of the target spaced comparatively far apart, to enable the player at first to shoot the cue ball through the gap and passage between the guides and arch without great difficulty, and as the players profiiciency increases the guides may be adjusted to reduce the gap between the same so as to render making of the shot more difficult and thus enable the player to progressively increase the accuracy of his p ay.

Owing to the compact construction of this target the same does not occupy an undue amount of room on the table top, the same is light and can therefore be readily shifted from one part of the table to another, and it has very few parts which can be manufactured at low cost, and are not liable to get out of order during normal use of the same.

I claim as my invention:-

1. A target for practicing billiards including an arch adapted to rest at its opposite ends on the plane of a billiard table so as to form a passage for billiard balls in' this arch over said plane, guides mounted on said arch on opposite sides of said passage and adapted to direct a billiard ball through said passage, and means for adjusting said guides relatively to each other for widening or narrowing said passage.

2. A target for practicing billiards including an arch adapted to rest at its opposite ends on the plane of a billiard table so as to form a passage for billiard balls in this arch over said plane, guides mounted on said arch on opposite sides of said passage and adapted to direct a billiard ball through said passage, and means for adjusting said guides on said arch relatively to the plane of said table.

3. A target for practicing billiards including an arch adapted to rest at its opposite ends on the plane of a billiard table so as to form a passage for billiard balls in this arch over said plane, guides mounted on said arch on opposite sides of said passage and adapted to direct a billiard ball through said passage, and means for adjusting said guides on said arch relatively to each other and also relatively to the plane of the table.

4. A target for practicing billiards including an arch adapted to rest at its opposite ends on the plane of a billiard table so as to form a passage between said arch and table for billiard balls, ball-like guides arranged in front of said arch on opposite sides of the passage therein, and means for adjusting said guides on said arch.

5. A target for practicing billiards including an arch adapted to rest at its opposite ends on the plane of a billiard table so as to form a passage between said arch and table for billiard balls, ball-like guides arranged in front of said arch on opposite sides of the passage therein, and means for adjusting said guides on said arch consisting of slots formed in said arch and clamping bolts mounted on said ball-like guides and arranged in said slots.

6. A target for practicing billiards including an arch adapted to rest at its opposite ends on the plane of a billiard table so as to form a passage between said arch and table for billiard balls, ball-like guides arranged in front of said arch on opposite sides of the passage therein, and means for adjusting said guides on said arch consisting of slots formed in said arch on opposite sides of said passage and converging downwardly, and clamping bolts mounted on said guides and arranged in said slots.

'7. A target for practicing billiards including an arch adapted to rest at its opposite ends on the plane of a billiard table so as to form a passage between said arch and table for billiard balls, ball-like guides arranged in front of said arch on opposite sides of said passage and each having a convex front face and a flat rear face, and means for mounting said guides on said arch including bolts connected with the flat face of each guide and secured to said arch.

8. A target for practicing billiards including an arch adapted to rest at its opposite ends on the plane of a billiard table so as to form a passage between said arch and table for billiard balls, ball-like guides arranged in front of said arch on opposite sides of said passage and each having a convex front face and a flat rear face, and means for adjustably mounting said guides on said arch including a plate secured to the flat face of each guide, a pair of clamping bolts projecting rearwardly from each of said plates, and slots formed in said arch and receiving said bolts.

CHARLES WANNEMACHER.