US3889945A - Billiard table with accessories - Google Patents

Abstract

A billiard table with accessories in which the heavy and expensive parts of the conventional table are either eliminated or supplanted by better or cheaper members, such as for making the table ''''knock down'''' and portable, either in the home or easily transported by automobile, structure for eliminating the customary clumsy appearing overhead lighting of the table surface by supplanting the fixture by using a table surface of transparent glass or plastic with the lighting fixture invisible underneath the table, a soft pliable sheet of plastic supplanting the present table surface cloth which is easily torn with the tip of the cue by inexperienced or careless players, the soft plastic sheet being more difficult to tear and incidentally permit the ball to roll thereover more accurately due to the woofs and warps of the usual cloth becoming twisted or worn unevenly, eliminating the ''''return Ball tunnels'''' underneath the table bed and supplanting same by a simple inexpensive pull cord attached to the bottom of each pocket to easily and quickly pull out onto the table the balls or gliders therein, supplanting the costly rubber cushions surrounding the table top with a cheap rigid wooden rail and using gliders instead of balls the gliders having a rubber ring encircling them to impact the wooden rail for securing the required re-action or by using a hollow glider of rigid plastic to provide an even better rebound, shaping the gliders so that they will contact the rail or other gliders with the same effect as with plastic balls on the conventional pool table, and providing a table top of inherent plastic material having ''''cut outs'''' for the more convenient and labor saving attachment of the pockets, recesses for the table legs, and a surrounding shallow trough for the rails which trough is adapted to be filled with a heavy rigid material such as portland cement which has the effect of more efficiently rebounding the balls or gliders due to its greater inherent weight than if the rails were separately attached to the bed.

Description

BILLIARD TABLE WITH ACCESSORIES Robert Ellis, 350 Lomas Santa Fe Dr., Solana Beach, Calif. 92075 [22] Filed: Apr. 19, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 352,602

[76] Inventor:

[52] 11.5. C1. 273/6; 240/4; 273/8; 273/12; 273/123 R; 273/126 R; 273/128 R [51] Int. Cl. A63d 15/00 [58] Field of Search 273/3 R, 6, 8, 9, 11 R, 273/12, 34 A, 123 R, 126 R, 128 R, 105 R, 130 AB, 131 A, 134 A, 135 A, 136 A, 178 R, 179 R; 240/4 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 731,439 6/1903 Dorsey 273/123 R 1,188,136 6/1916 Bajusz 273/12 1,357,778 11/1920 Jacobs 273/37 1,524,758 2/1925 Stedman et a1. 273/3 R 2,623,749 12/1952 Kummer 273/12 X 3,085,800 4/1963 Holstad 273/105 R 3,591,176 7/1971 Roth 273/6 3,602,505 8/1971 Friend 273/105 R 3,610,618 10/1971 Wiggins 273/9 X 3,610,625 10/1971 Erno et a1. 273/126 R 3,743,288 7/1973 Danklefsen 273/6 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 322,881 8/1957 Switzerland 273/118 R 369,283 11/1923 Germany 273/136 A 446,956 3/1948 Canada 273/128 R Primary ExaminerAnt0n O. Oechsle Assistant Examiner-R. T. Stouffer ABSTRACT A billiard table with accessories in which the heavy June 17, 1975 which is easily torn with the tip of the cue by inexperi- I enced or careless players, the soft plastic sheet being more difficult to tear and incidentally permit the ball to roll thereover more accurately due to the woofs and warps of the usual cloth becoming twisted or worn unevenly, eliminating the return Ball tunnels" underneath the table bed and supplanting same by a simple inexpensive pull cord attached to the bottom of each pocket to easily and quickly pull out onto the table the balls or gliders therein, supplanting the costly rubber cushions surrounding the table top with a cheap rigid wooden rail and using gliders instead of balls the gliders having a rubber ring encircling them to impact the wooden rail for securing the required re-action or by using a hollow glider of rigid plastic to provide an even better rebound, shaping the gliders so that they will contact the rail or other gliders with the same effect as with plastic balls on the conventional pool table, and providing a table top of inherent plastic material having cut outs for the more convenient and labor saving attachment of the pockets, recesses for the table legs, and a surrounding shallow trough for the rails which trough is adapted to be filled with a heavy rigid material such as portland cement which has the effect of more efficiently rebounding the balls or gliders due to its greater inherent weight than if the rails were separately attached to the bed.

2 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures SHEET PATENTEDJUN17 I975 [FIGB BILLIARD TABLE WITH ACCESSORIES This invention relates to billiard tables with associated accessories and the principal object of the invention is to provide a device of this nature which will be much cheaper than at present and incidentally portable and have some entirely new features, such as to provide effective gliders to supplant the presently used balls. As now used, billiard tables due to their excessive weight and cost, are confined mostly in billiard parlors and a comparatively few homes of the wealthy. It is my object to manufacture a billiard table with accessories sufficiently cheap for universal use and portable to be available in most all locations.

Other and further objects will appear in the specifications and be specifically pointed out in the appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings exemplifying the invention, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a top view of the table illustrating its sectional construction.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of FIG. 1 on the line 2-2 thereof.

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of part of the table illustrating a different type of bed or surface of the table.

FIG. 5 is atop view illustrating different types of glid ers.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of FIG. 5 on line 6-6 thereof.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of part of the table illustrating how I empty a pocket of balls or gliders.

FIG. 8 is a top view of an integral bed of a table.

FIG. 9 is a cross section of FIG. 8 on line 99 thereof.

Referring to the drawings in which like numerals and characters of reference refer to similar parts throughout the several views, the numeral 10 denotes the customary flat horizontally disposed table top or bed which is customarily supported by the transverse beams 11 to which the legs 12 are attached. As the table top must be strictly levelwhen balls are used as playing objects, I provide adjustable sleeves 13 to the lower part of these legs by the thumb screws 14, the procedure of levelling being evident, for quick and convenient action. The numeral 15 denotes the pockets as goals for the balls 16 or gliders 17. Even when the table top 10 is absolutely level, the balls 16 will ocassionally traverse a crooked line due to the warps and woofs of the table top fabric covering being more or less twisted and slightly damaged from wear, I provide a flexible pliable plastic sheet 18 which is actually integral so that a rolling ball will slightly push up the pliable plastic material of sheet 18 as indicated by 19 in FIG. 4, to slow down the velocity of the ball 16 to the desired speed and always in a straight line.

In FIG. 1 the roll of this sheet plastic 18 is shown being unrolled in the direction of arrow 20 over the table top 10, suitable cut outs for the pockets 15 being attached thereto. This roll 18 may be part of several items such as table ports A, B and C, suitable for temporary storing in the trunk of a car for transporting to a picnic spot to set up and play a game of pool, the roll 18 of sheet plastic conveniently covering the sectional table top and joints, ready to play. In case gliders 17 instead of balls 16 are to be used, the plastic sheet 18 will have a glossy upper surface to better slide the gliders. The table sections A, B and C are secured together by the outer section A passing its holes 21, in the direction of arrow 30, over the ends of bolts 22 and tightened by the thumb screws 23 to secure a rigid table, the legs 12 being also fitted theretoto secure a reasonable level table top, this levelling not being required to be accurate as when balls are used, as will readily understood.

Lighting the table top has always been a problem, partly due to the shaldows of the balls onto the playing surface causing distortions to the view of the player. I overcome this lighting defect by eliminating the unattractive overhead lights and reflectors depending from the ceiling and placing the light 24 and reflector 25 underneath the table top 10, see FIG. 2, and cause the light to pass upwardly, in the direction of arrow 26, through the transparent table top 10T, see FIGS. 2 and 4, if gliders are used, and a transparent pliable plastic sheet 18T, such as vinyl, over the transparent table top 10T, when balls are used, see FIGS. 1 and 4. Electric current is supplied to lamp 24 through wires 27 and 28 from generator 29. It will thus be apparent that the game of billiards will be much improved without the annoyance of shaddows given by the playings objects.

Another defect in the game of pool is the returnof the balls or gliders from the pockets 15 back to the table top for setting uppurposes for the next game. The inconvenience of gathering the balls from the pockets has led to the use of tunnels or runways underneath the table, leading from the pockets to a collecting box at one end of the table, into which the balls automatically roll as soon as a ball enters a pocket. This installation is expensive and also troublesome as the balls frequently stick at some inaccessible place in the tunnel due to various causes such as dropping a piece of chalk into a pocket or a cigarette, etc. To overcome these annoyances and exp ense,I'-eliminate the tunnels and substitute a simple cord 31 have a lightly weighted ball 32 attached to one endthereof, which normallydroops over the side of the pocket 15 as shown in FIG;

within the railing 36 for convenient set up for the nextgame, no gathering or handling of the playing objects being necessary. The weight of the washers 33 will automatically return the flexible pocket 15 into normal position while the weight ball 32 with cord 31 will hang over the side of the pocket as shown.

In playing the game of billiards it is necessary to provide means for reducing the velocity of the ball traversing over the table top by the use of a slightly roughened surface such as special billiard cloth. However I have overcome that by using gliders 40 instead of balls, no such expensive cloth is necessary by substituting therefor a very smooth and slippery surface 18 such as sheet steel, laminated plastic, etc. Also, by substituting a soft rubber ring 41 around the glider and also a plain wooden rail 36 for the usual expensive rubber cushion attached to the inside of the rail surrounding the table top, similar bounce or re-active results are obtained. However, it would not operate properly if two rubber ringed gliders would collide as in the usual billiard games. So I have designed a glider in which the rubber ringed glider will collide with its rubber ring part 41 only with the wooden rail 36 while the extending bulbous plastic part 42 of the glider will collide only with the extending bulbous plastic part of other gliders, this result being caused by the extending bulbous part of the gliders extending underneath the overhang part 37 of the rail 36 so that the rubber ring 41 of the glider must collide with the edge of the overhang 37 beforehand, see FIGS. and 6. The rubberring 41 surrounds an upstanding circular part 61 of the plastic glider 40 and is secured thereto by the bolt 62 and nut 63 clamping cap 64 thereto as shown in FIG. 6. With this construction the rubber ring 41 is squeezed slightly to give it more resiliency when'its edge impacts the edge 37 of the wooden rail. When the bulbous part of the. gliders collide with each other a click will occur exactly the same as when two billiard balls collide.

However, in lieu of the rubber ring glider above mentioned, I may prefer to use the hollow rigid plastic glider 44 which consists of thin rigid plastic material, an upper part 45 slipping over a lower part 46 and glued together as shown, the double strength overlapping part 47 being level with the overhanging edge 37 of the wooden rail so as'to better resist the impacts when playing. An inner plastic tube 48 is secured between the parts 45 and 46 and filled with a heavy material such as portland cement so as to give weight to the glider and thus create a more active rebound from the rail part 37. A number of light weight small plastic balls 49 are placed within the hollow interior of the glider 44 so as to create a rattling sound every time the glider collides with the rail or another glider. Both circular and radially disposed serrations 50 are on the upper surface of the glider so as to prevent slipping of the cue thereon in order to apply ENGLISH thereto. These serrations cross each other in order to accomplish the above results. Gliding pins 60 are attached to the bottom of the gliders as shown in FIG. 6.

And still another method of reducing the cost of manufacture and/or to produce a better product is illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9, in which the entire table top structure is either molded or pressed from thermo plastic or laminated resin respectively, all that is then necessary to complete the billiard table is to attach the legs 12A, shown by dotted lines, attach the pockets to encircle the holes 15A, and pour in a heavy filler such as portland cement 51A to fill the table encircling trough 52A for creating a quick and stronger rebound of the gliders or balls. The cross beams All are also molded or pressed simultaneously with the table or bed 10A.

It will thus be apparent that I have evolved a billiard table with accessories therefore which can be success- 1. In a billiard table with associated accessories, a

horizontally disposed level playing surface, a horizontally disposed level surface under said playing surface forming a support therefor, holes through said support surface defining pockets, said support surface and said playing surface being surrounded by a raised border,

said playing surface comprising a thin integral sheet of plastic material which is adapted to be reversible on top of said support surface, holes through said sheet of material adapted to mate with the holes in said support surface, billiard balls adapted to roll across one surface 1 of said sheet of plastic materialand be propelled into said pockets when said one surface is uppermost, said one surface being pliable and sufficiently soft and roughened to gradually retard the speed of one of said billiard balls rolling thereover, the opposite surface from said roughened surface of said plastic material being considerably more smooth and slippery than said roughened surface, and gliders adapted to slide across said opposite surface and be propelled into said pockets when said opposite surface is uppermost.

2. In a billiard table with associated accessories, a horizontally disposed level playing surface, said playing surface being surrounded by a raised border of rigid material, said raised border being positioned so as to be elevated above and protruding inwardly over said playing surface by support means, the protruding portion of said raised border having an inner edge, a plurality of similarly associated gliders adapted to slide across said playing surface and to impact into said inner edge of said raised border, each gliders having a centrally upstanding rigid projection thereon with an elastic rubber ring tightly slipped over said upstanding projection, a bulbouscircular projection below said rubber ring and extending radially outward therefrom, said bulbous projection being of rigid plastic material, the elevation of said rubber ring on said glider being level with the elevation of said inner edge above said playing surface such that said rubber ring will rebound from said inner edge, whereas the elevation of said circular projection above the playing surface is such that similar gliders will rebound therfrom, yet said circular projection will slide beneath said raised border.

Claims (1)

1. In a billiard table with associated accessories, a horizontally disposed level playing surface, a horizontally disposed level surface under said playing surface forming a support therefor, holes through said support surface defining pockets, said support surface and said playing surface being surrounded by a raised border, said playing surface comprising a thin integral sheet of plastic material which is adapted to be reversible on top of said support surface, holes through said sheet of material adapted to mate with the holes in said support surface, billiard balls adapted to roll across one surface of said sheet of plastic material and be propelled into said pockets when said one surface is uppermost, said one surface being pliable and sufficiently soft and roughened to gradually retard the speed of one of said billiard balls rolling thereover, the opposite surface from said roughened surface of said plastic material being considerably more smooth and slippery than said roughened surface, and gliders adapted to slide across said opposite surface and be propelled into said pockets when said opposite surface is uppermost. 2. in a billiard table with associated accessories, a horizontally disposed level playing surface, said playing surface being surrounded by a raised border of rigid material, said raised border being positioned so as to be elevated above and protruding inwardly over said playing surface by support means, the protruding portion of said raised border having an inner edge, a plurality of similarly associated gliders adapted to slide across said playing surface and to impact into said inner edge of said raised border, each gliders having a centrally upstanding rigid projection thereon with an elastic rubber ring tightly slipped over said upstanding projection, a bulbous circular projection below said rubber ring and extending radially outward therefrom, said bulbous projection being of rigid plastic material, the elevation of said rubber ring on said glider being level with the elevation of said inner edge above said playing surface such that said rubber ring will rebound from said inner edge, whereas the elevation of said circular projection above the playing surface is such that similar gliders will rebound therfrom, yet said circular projection will slide beneath said raised border.

Images