US993994A - Billiard-counter. - Google Patents

Description

F. U. HOBBS.

BILLIARD COUNTERx APPLICATION FILED NOV. 18, 1910.

993,994. P11111111 May 30,1911.

WIT/1519858 "UNITED STATES PATENT o'Fr1oE AssIGnoR' .TO THE BnUn'swmK-Bnxi'i- FRANK c. ones, or NEW YORK, N. Y.,

ICOIIJIIENDERHCQMPANYI OF NEW YORK, OF NEW YORK COUNTY, NEW YORK,v

conronarron or NEW YORK.

' :erLLrAnn-coUNTE Specification of Letters Itatent. v i911 Application filed Novemaer is, 1910. Serial No. 593,035. I

b To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK C. HOBBS, a

citizen of the United States, residing in the city of New York, in the county of New Yorkand State of New York, (whose post- .ollice addressis care Bruns\vickBalke-Gollender Company of New York, 2-935 Vest Thirty-second street, New York, N. Y.,)

' have invented a new and useful Improvement in Billiard-Counters, of which the following 1s aspecl-fi'cation, reference belng had to the accompanying drawing-forming a part thereof.

My invention relates to that type of game registering devices used in playing games on billiard tables, known as string counters; and which consists, as is well known, of-two series of 'buttons, or disk-shaped units made 'j of wood; centrally perforated; and strung on awire, over head (usually locate over .the billiard table) so that the players can "slide, or manipulate the buttons on the wire,

I .ered parts of the split button drop off of the by the application to the counters, of the playing end-portion of a billiard cue.

As is well knownto billiard room keepers, it sometimes (not infrequently) occurs that, in too hastily or roughly shoving upy one or more buttons with the cue, in registering the score of an inning, one of the wooden. counters is broken in two, the fracture being diametric of the button and passing through its central aperture,or eye, so that the sev- ,tion) .of the strung wire. And as the billiard room keeper well knows, all this 111- volves much trouble.

It has been'suggested, I believe, to lessen the trouble of the replacement of broken oif buttons by new ones, to provide for use (to be supplied to billiard room keepers) substitute buttons made-of wood, in two parts,

. and supplied with means for securely uniting the twoparts, after their application,

, "separately, to the wire; and I believe patents have been granted ,forfsuch :ldevices, adapted to avoid all thetrouble incident to the stringing onto the wire ofnew, cen trally perforated, button. f But such devices have none of them ever gone'into practical operation, or use by room keepers (that I know of) and'the custom still prevails of curing the. deficiency of ,a' broken ofl button in the manner I have above explained. V

' My invention has for itsYob'ject to pro,- vlde for use string cou11ter bi1ttons,-which so as to permit the parts of the fractured button'to become detacjhedfrom the string wire. Andto this end and object my invention consists in a wooden ,button,or centrally peripheral disk, of tl1e- -usual size and shape, provided with a peripherally arranged integral lnetallic'band, which encircles the button, inca sing the perimeter of the, wooden disk,'fronr any cause, get? split diametrilcally (with thegra-in' of the wood) disk experienced no fracturing o f'its stock.

Though the .contingency; of the w d getting split is practically impossible, on account of the, wooden disk "beinglhound or banded by a metallic device which embraces, laterally, at every point' in its circumference, an appreciable part of the wooden stock constituting the perimeter of the disk.

To enable those skilled in the art to make anduse a string counter, provided with my improvednon-breakable wooden buttons, I 'will now proceed to more fully describe my invention by reference to the accompanying drawing, which forms part of this specification, and in which I have shown the invention carried out with that precise form of non-breakable, wooden, button, or counter unit, which I have so. far successfully used in practicing my said invention. 4

In the drawing Figure 1 is a side View or elevation, full size, of a sufficient portion of a s-"ring counter to illustrate my invention; Fig. 2 is a side view, same scale, of one counter buttons, detached from the string wire; Fig. 3 is an edge'view of the button detached, double size; and Fig.4 1s a dla metric sectional view,-double size, showing cannot-possibly get broken or split iii-two,

the disk; in such manner thatfeven should its two parts will be maintained in juxtaposltion ustthe same asthoughthejwooden' of my improved non-breakable wooden plainly the precise construction of the metal-bound wooden button of my invention.

In' the several figures the same part will be found always designated by the same letter of reference. A, is the usual wire on which the buttons are strung, as shown at F ig. 1,-in the usual manner.

B, is the wooden, metal-bound, counter button or disk, of about the usual shape and appearance, except that its circular, perimetral portion, is i'ncased within and it is banded,-or bound, circumferentially, by the metallic binder C. And this binder C, of

sheet metal, is of such shape, in cross sectron, at every point in its circumference, as plainly shown, (see particularly Flg. 3) as to incase within it an appreciable portion of the Wooden disk, at the vicinity of its perimeter; and to surround the perimeter of the disk circumferentially, as shown.- And, preferably, the combined arrangement of the wooden and-metallic parts of the button, is such that the metallic band, or binder C contacts circumferentially with the peripheral edge of the Wooden disk, as clearly shown at '6, Fig. 3. The metal binder device, also at its circular edges 2'. 2'. forcibly contacts with the wood ofthe button as seen; and theseedges 2'. 2". should fit' tight against the wood, (whether the binder C be I 7 made to fit tight to the periphery of the disk vat e or not) vin order that the combined .metal and wooden parts shall be securely and lastingly fastened together. And in making the combination Wood and metal button, this rigid and durable-union of the wooden and metallic parts may be readily attained to by, either spinning (a pre viously suitable shaped circular metallic blank) on to the periphery of the wooden disk; or by upsetting and compressing a suitableshaped metal blank onto the perimeter of the wooden disk, between a suitabl shaped set of metal dies.

It will be readily understood that a wooden counter button, or disk, otherwise substantially like those now in use, but made with a metallic binder device C substantially like that shown, and applied to the Wooden part in substantially the Way de scribed, cannot possibly be broken off of,'or broken so as to become detached from, the string wire A.

'Wishing it to be understood that I do not confine myself, in practicing my invention,

.to the precise forms and arrangement to- In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 16th dayof November,

I FRANK C. HOBBS; In presence of WM. H. LANSMITH, Jr,

M. CouooRAN

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