US35851A - Improvement in lining billiard-cushions - Google Patents

Description

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEo LOUIs wAeKnn, or BUFFALO, NnwYonK.

,IMPROVEMENT lN LINING BILLIARD-CUSHIONS.

i Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 355i, dated July S, 19132.

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LOUIs WAOKER, of theother matter,constitntes and forms a billiardcushion7 both elastic and durable, and not liable to become untrue and otherwise out of order;.and I do hereby declare that thc following is a full, clear, and exact description of the combination,construclion,and Operation of the sam c, referen ee bei ng had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 isa vertical elevation of a section of the Outside guard of a billiard-table without its cover or Outsidelning,showiug the different sections and how formed and combined. Fig. 2 is a vertical elevated end view of the same.

A represents the hander rest mold; F, the guard-board; E, the eushlon chair or seat.

B is a preparedpiece o1 india-rubber.

C is a strip of prepared rawhide.

d is thegroove in which the margin of the linings o r coverings are fastened. Y

It is well known that there has not been made an application of any material for surfacing billiard-cushions that-has proved Aentirely satisfactory. My experience in the manufacture of billiard-tables and in repairing them has convinced me that thev greatest diffiuculty existed in the want ot' a suitable material for coating or surfacingthe exposed surface of the cushion. Among the many diculties which I experienced was the gradual decrease of the reacting force of the ball; second, the angles became more or less untrue by being marred, broomed,7 indented, die. This was more or less occasioned by the instability and want of elasticity of the materials used for surfacing the .cushionswsuch as leather, steel,

wood,guttapercha,&e.none of which proved capable of sustaining the eoneussive force of the walls; third, I also have diseoyered that with any material in common use for covering billiard-cushions aslightchange in the temperature or moisture of the atmosphere or in the angle of the surface could not occur without aieeting its elasticity. v

To make and combine my invention inconstructing the billiardcnshion herein described, first, Imake the chair or seat Of the cushion of any suitable wood (preferring pine) in the form represented by E, Fig. 2; second, I then make in form, as represented by B, a stri p or bar Of vulcanized rubber, which is secured to E, as represented` I then haveastrip of previously-prepared rawhide, (beets hide prefcrred,) which has been thoroughly stretched nearly to the extent of its tension and dried, after which itv is made of an exact thickness and chemically prepared and subjected to an immense pressure, by which it becomes extremely solid, hard, and elastic, capable of resisting an indefinite amount of concussive force for an indefinite time, and is not affected by any changes of temperature or atmosphere.

The manner of preparing the rawhide is as follows: After the rawhide has been placed in fresh water for several days and perfectly cleaned from hairs, it is split in'layers of the required thickness. After this the ,hide is stretched cna board or on the llloor by means of nails, taking the utmost care to prevent wrinkles,roughness,or anv inequality.l When half dry, the hide is hardened by heavy pressure between hot plates of iron. Thus prepared, this strip of rawhide is thenv secured to the surface of therubber, as indicated by G, thus .forming au elastic and durable billiardtable cushion.

d is agroove in which the edge of the lining is secured.

D is a piece Ot' india-rubber used when the seatE is required to be joined at angles by ruiter-joints and placed between the parts of E, thus compensating for contraction and expansion caused by the atmosphere, which also has a material e'ectupon'the cushions, all of which produces much` irregularity in the surface as well as the required angle of the cushion.

After repeated experiments and test trials of materials of various kindsk'for combining and forming a durable, permanent, and at the same time an elastic billiard-table cushion which would insure, first, a reacting force, being given to the ball by the cushion with accuracy and precision at all times in all de grecs of temperature and altdifferent states of the atmosphere; second, a device by which the required angle could be truly and correctly lma'de'and retained; third, a material by which a surface could be formed capable of resisting Y the continued coneussive force of theballs without becoming marred and untrue, (lamef),

fourth, producing .a surface having lan even- -ness ot' elasticity which would cause the ball that it could be so prepared that it would not only become extremely hard, but at thesame timeproduce the required elasticity as well as -iiexibility, and I found that after a continued useof several months theA cushion retained an exact trueness of surface.

Having thus described the nature of my invention, I do not claim any particular form or angle'of a billiard-table cushion, nor do I claim `any particular' form of the seat E nor the material of which it is made; but

What I do claim as my invention,l and desire to secure by 'Letters Patent,l is i The combina-tial! of the covering C, of rawhide prepared iu the manner specified, with the billi'ard-cns'hiouB D E d, constructed and y arranged as herein shown and described.- y LOUIS WACKER.

Vlitneeses:

ALBERT ZLEQELE, CHARLES, STRoH.

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