A point-of-aim indicator for pool balls or the like which includes a relatively flat base member which has thereon a center line which is adapted for alignment with the vertical axis of an object ball together with means indicating the desired contact point of a cue ball with an object ball and the desired point of aim for the cue ball to establish contact with object ball at such contact point.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to aiming devices and more particularly to a 
point of aim indicator which will assist a participant to achieve 
excellence in the playing of a game of pool. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
As is well known, in the playing of pool, snooker, billiards, or similar 
games, it is necessary for the player to propel a cue ball along an 
appropriate direction to establish contact with an object ball at a 
position such that the latter will travel in the desired direction. More 
particularly, using as an example the playing of pool, the desired 
objective of impelling an object ball into a pocket essentially involves 
four prerequisites. First, the correct target (not necessarily the pocket 
itself) for the object ball must be chosen. Secondly, based on the target 
position, an accurate estimate of the object ball-cue ball contact point 
must be made. In the third place, the correct point of aim for the cue 
ball direction of travel must be determined to insure that the required 
contact point is encountered. Finally, an accurate stroke of the cue in 
establishing the appropriate direction of the cue ball must be made. 
All of these prerequisites have been established primarily in the past by a 
trial and error method. For example, the "target" is generally considered 
by pool players, as the center of the pocket and, in turn, the contact 
point is established by mentally constructing a line from the center of 
the pocket through the center of vertical axis of the object ball. In 
turn, the point of aim is established by an imaginary line parallel to 
that of the contact point depending upon the amount of lateral motion of 
the object ball required and the accurate stroke is provided by trial and 
error practice. All of these have necessitated for the most part an 
extensive period of time before any proficiency in the playing of pool can 
be established. 
The foregoing is, in and of itself, an oversimplification for as well known 
to any expert in the playing of pool, if a second "key" ball is placed 
adjacent an object ball with the two having contact established at the 
desired contact point in accordance with the above-stated principles, if a 
cue ball hits the "key" ball left of center, the travel or trajectory of 
the object ball will be thrown off to the right and to the contrary, if 
the cue ball contacts the "key" ball on its right side, the object ball 
will be thrown off line to the left. Such phenomenom is generally referred 
to by pool players as "throw" but few players realize that a corresponding 
phenomenom also occurs when a cue ball directly contacts an object ball 
without the intervening disposition of the key ball. As a consequence, a 
careful study of the travel of a cue ball and the impelled object ball 
indicated the error in the previously stated principle of establishing a 
contact point by drawing an imaginary line from the pocket through the 
vertical axis or center of the object ball. 
Thus, any pool player who desires to become proficient must be aware of 
this basic "throw" phenomenon and be able to estimate the correct "target" 
in order to correctly locate the desired contact point on the object ball 
and, in turn, the point of aim. Obviously, it is also necessary that any 
player who is to become proficient must be capable of precise manipulation 
of the cue in order to achieve the proper stroke. 
SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION 
Accordingly, it is the general objective of the present invention to 
provide a point-of-aim indicator which enables a pool player, who has 
established a basic knowledge of the throw phenomenon and the capability 
of executing a precise stroke, to determine precisely the point of aim of 
the cue ball to assure the proper travel or trajectory of the object ball 
to the desired pocket or position. 
Such objective can be achieved with various structures, which however, have 
common elements facilitating achievement of the objective. More 
particularly, each embodiment of the invention includes a relatively flat 
base member having a center line formed thereon which is adapted for 
horizontal alignment with the central vertical axis of the object ball 
either mentally or literally. Associated with such base member is means 
for indicating the desired contact point of the cue ball with the object 
ball together with a correlated means or mechanism indicating the point of 
aim of the cue ball to establish contact with the object ball at the 
desired contact point. 
More particularly, in one embodiment, the mentioned base member supports a 
simulated object ball so that such arrangement can be used at any location 
so that the prospective pool player can practice away from a pool table. 
The simulated pool ball includes a dot on its central circumference to 
represent the desired point of contact and such ball is mounted on a 
pivoted member so that the ball and the point of contact simulated thereon 
can be moved to any desired rotative position. Such pointer is associated 
with appropriate lines on the base member indicating the desired angle of 
contact ultimately related to the target position and the pivoted pointer 
also mounts an upright pin at an appropriate distance from the simulated 
object ball to provide indication of the required point of aim to 
establish contact between a cue ball and the object ball at the noted 
point of contact. 
Additional simplified embodiments of the invention include a flat base 
member with appropriate indications thereon through the use of designated 
points or pins of the desired contact point on an object ball to achieve 
its desired trajectory and a correlated point of aim position of the cue 
ball to establish contact with the object ball at such required position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION 
With initial reference to FIGS. 1-4, the illustrated embodiment of the 
invention constitutes a self-contained unit which includes an object ball 
7 so that such unit can be used for instructional or training purposes at 
any location. More particularly, the object ball 7 is supported on a 
generally spherical socket 18 best shown in FIG. 4 that is mounted at one 
end of a pointer 16 supported for pivotal motion about a substantially 
vertical axis which coincides with the central vertical axis of the object 
ball 7 on a relatively flat base member 5 of appropriate lateral 
dimensions which can be laid on any flat surface for instructional 
purposes. The pivotal axis and thus the central vertical axis of the ball 
is in alignment with a center line 2 on the base member 5 which includes 
additional indicating lines 12 at spaced angles on a horizontal plane 
which clearly indicate the position of the pointer 16 as it is pivoted 
about its vertical axis. As indicated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the indicating 
lines 12 are at equal angular intervals of one-eighth of a 90.degree. arc 
and preferably additional radial demarcations 14 in terms of percent of 
the full 90.degree. arcuate interval are also indicated on the base member 
to enable precision in the indicating process. Preferably, each of the 
arcuate intervals indicated on the base member 5 are provided with 
indicating circles 9 of different colors to enable quick determination of 
the precise angle and the base member 5 is similarly provided with lines 
parallel to the described center line 2 to indicate colored sections 11 
between the required points of contact. Thus, when the pointer 16 is 
pivotally moved, the contact point 21 on the ball 7 will be disposed at 
one position or another relative to the supporting base member 5 to 
provide a quick visual indication of the appropriate disposition of such 
ball-contacting point. Preferably, the base member is also provided with 
another 90.degree. arcuate line 8 which underlies the position of a pin 19 
on the pointer as it is moved about its pivotal axis. It is to be 
understood that the disposition of the pin and the underlying 90.degree. 
arc is spaced from the surface of the object ball 7 a distance equivalent 
to the radius of a standard pool ball so that such pin actually indicates 
the central vertical axis of a contacting cue ball when it is in 
engagement with the contact point 21 on the object ball 7. 
As best shown in FIG. 4, the ball supporting socket 18 is pivotally secured 
to the base member by a simple screw member 36 which can be removed, if 
for example, an object ball of different dimensions is required such as 
for snooker ball which is slightly smaller than that of a conventional 
pool ball and other lines (not shown) can be placed on the base member 5 
and a different pin position can be arranged on the pointer to accommodate 
such variable diameter balls. 
To facilitate adjustment of the pointer 16 to a desired position, a handle 
20 is secured adjacent the outer end thereof to enable manual grasping and 
ease of adjustment thereof. Additionally, a stop 22 restrains additional 
motion of the pointer 16 when it attains alignment with the center line 2. 
In use, the player arbitrarily pivots the pointer 16 to different positions 
(e.g. 1/8) so that the pin 19 and the center of the object ball 7 are 
aligned with each choosen position. The desired position of the contact 
point 21 is thus determined and by sighting towards the upstanding point 
of aim pin 19 on the pointer, the player can mentally train himself to 
recognize the relationship of the contact point and correlated point of 
aim. 
As previously indicated, the structure illustrated in FIGS. 1-4 can be 
utilized at any location, but other embodiments of the invention are 
illustrated which are of somewhat simpler construction and are utilized by 
a player at a pool table. More particularly, with reference to FIG. 5, a 
generally flat rectangular base member 5' is provided with a center line 
2' having adjacent numberical indicia 9' indicating the appropriate 
angular contact points on an object ball as indicated by the points 21' at 
various point of contact positions. At each of these positions, 
essentially parallel bars 28 project laterally from the described center 
line 2' to and beyond the represented contact points 21' and at a further 
distance corresponding to some of the angular intervals of the first 
embodiment, is another indicating point 19' which provides the desired 
point of aim. To facilitate an understanding of the unit, each of the 
parallel bars has at an equal distance from the center line 2', a short 
arcuate line 26 generally indicating the circumferential disposition of 
the object ball at its exterior periphery. Preferably the distance on the 
bars 28 to the contact point is indicated by a particular color (e.g. 
yellow), the distance to the point of aim is indicated in another color 
(e.g. red) and any intervening distance between the point of contact and 
the ball periphery is in yet another color (e.g. white). 
In use, the unit shown in FIG. 5 is held in hand and will be viewed by the 
player. By comparison with the contact point location on the object ball 
on the table with the corresponding contact point on the unit, the desired 
point of aim towards which the cue ball must be stroked to assure the 
required direction of motion of the object ball can be visualized. 
Yet another embodiment of the invention is shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 which can 
be used on a pool table with an existing object ball thereon to establish 
the desired contact point and point of aim. As illustrated, this unit also 
includes a relatively flat base member 5" which is a relatively thin 
elongated structure having two upstanding pins 21", 19", one of which is 
arranged to contact the object ball when the device is properly aligned 
with the target. This establishes the desired point of contact and the 
other pin 19" on the same center line of the unit but at a distance spaced 
therefrom the equivalent to the radius of the cue ball, establishes the 
point of aim for the cue ball, thus if the one pin 21" is placed in 
contact with an object ball, the point of aim of the cue ball to make 
contact with the object ball at that point is automatically established 
and can be utilized by the player to establish the direction of the cue 
ball propulsion. 
In summary, in each embodiment of the invention, once the player has 
established the requirements for establishing a target position and has 
mastered the appropriate cue contact with the cue ball, the illustrated 
devices enable a quick determination of the desired point of aim of the 
cue ball to establish appropriate contact point to achieve the desired 
trajectory of the object ball into the pocket or to whatever position is 
desired. 
It will be apparent that yet other modifications and/or alterations in the 
structures as described can be envisioned without departing from the 
spirit of the invention and the foregoing description of three embodiments 
accordingly is to be considered as purely exemplary and not in a limiting 
sense and the actual scope of the invention is to be indicated only by 
reference to the appended claims.