Patent Publication Number: US-6712710-B2

Title: Multi-level pool game apparatus and method

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The field of the invention is pool games. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Single level pool and billiard games are a staple form of game entertainment. Applicant is not aware, however, of any prior art pool games that utilize multiple level pool tables. 
     Other games do exist in the prior art that operate at multiple levels. For example, we are all familiar with miniature golf courses where the ball must reverse multiple levels to reach the hole. Similarly, there are amusement park type games where balls are rolled or tossed and there are receptacles or holes at different levels, providing different scores, redirection of the balls, etc. 
     Applicant is also aware of multi-level games such as three-dimensional tick-tack-toe where play pieces are positioned by the players at multiple levels of the device. However in such games there is no movement of pieces from one level to another. 
     As noted above, applicant is not aware of any multilevel pool tables or similar structures where balls are propelled, not only over a single surface with the objective of being received in pockets at the periphery or other locations on the playing surface, but where the balls are able to travel from pockets at one surface at one level to one or more surfaces at another level for additional play at those surfaces. 
     SUMMARY OF THE ILLUSTRATED DISCLOSURE 
     The illustrated multi-level pool game apparatus  20  incorporates a presently preferred embodiment of the present invention. The pool game apparatus  20  includes a multi-level pool table  21  and a plurality of balls  30 . The illustrated table  21  comprises three generally level playing surfaces  22  that are generally rectangular and have upright peripheral retaining rails or walls  26 . The surfaces  22  are supported in stacked relationship with sufficient space between adjacent surfaces to provide the players with access to the intermediate and lower surfaces for striking the balls in accordance with the play of the game. 
     Each player may be provided with a plurality or set  31   a  of the balls  30  which are visually distinguishable from the sets of balls  31   b  of the other players. Means may be provided for striking or shooting the balls to propel them along the surfaces. In this connection striker or cue balls  32  and cue sticks  34  may be provided. Alternatively, the balls may be marble size, and one may be held and “shot” by the user as in other games of marbles. 
     Ball receiving pockets  28  in the form of entrance/exits are formed at each of the four corners of each of the illustrated playing surfaces  22 . In the illustrated pool table  21 , these pockets  28  are provided by a generally semicircular cut  29   a ,  29   b  and  29   c  in each corner of the play surface  22 . The pockets  28  lead to and are in communication with conduits  40 . In the illustrated apparatus, the conduits  40  extend between pockets  28  at adjacent playing surfaces  22 . Thus each conduit  40  provides a pathway for the balls between adjacent playing surfaces  22 . 
     The illustrated pool game table  21  is provided with a base in the form of four base sections  50 . Each base section  50  is disposed at corner of the lowest playing surface  22   a  to support that surface and also to provide a collecting compartment  52  for the balls. Each of the illustrated compartments  52  has a retrieval opening  54  to allow balls to be recovered by the players. 
     The illustrated pool table  21  is provided with guide means  60  at some of the pockets  28  to direct a ball entering such a pocket either upwardly or downwardly. In the illustrated apparatus  20  this is determined by the speed of a ball: a rapidly moving ball is carried upwardly to the next higher playing surface while a slower moving ball is allowed to drop down to the next lower playing surface (or in the case of the lowest playing surface  22   a , into a collecting compartment  52 ). 
     In one preferred form of play, each player may be provided with a group or set  31  of balls of a single color (or other distinctive visual appearance), with a cue ball  32 , and with a cue stick  34  for striking the cue ball. Play starts with the balls of all players at the uppermost surface  22   c . The players may then take turns striking their cue balls  32  with their cue sticks  34  with a dual objective: 1) to propel their own balls progressively downwardly to the intermediate surface  22   b , then to the lowest surface  22   a , and ultimately to the collecting compartments  52 , and/or 2) to propel their opponents&#39; balls to higher surfaces so as to negate their opponents&#39; efforts to have their balls reach the collecting compartments. 
    
    
     IN THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a multi-level pool game apparatus which incorporates a presently preferred embodiment of the invention. 
     FIG. 1A is a schematic top plan view of the apparatus of FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 2 is a schematic side sectional view of the apparatus taken along a diagonal plane such as  2 — 2  of FIG. 1A, illustrating the progressive movement of a ball from the lower level to the intermediate level, then to the bottom level and then to a collection compartment. 
     FIG. 3 is a schematic side sectional view of the apparatus like FIG. 2, illustrating the progressive movement of a ball from the bottom level to the intermediate level and then to the top level. 
     FIG. 4 is an enlarged schematic side sectional view of a portion of the apparatus showing of a ball emerging from the upper end of an upper conduit onto the top playing surface. 
     FIGS. 5A,  5 B and  5 C are enlarged schematic side sectional views of the apparatus illustrating a ball moving from the upper end of a lower conduit onto the intermediate playing surface. 
     FIG. 6 is an enlarged schematic side sectional view of the apparatus showing a ball leaving the intermediate playing surface with sufficient speed to enter the lower end of an upper conduit leading to the upper playing surface. 
     FIG. 7 is an enlarged schematic side sectional view of the apparatus showing a ball leaving the top playing surface and entering the upper end of an upper conduit leading to the intermediate playing surface. 
     FIG. 8 is an enlarged schematic side sectional view of the apparatus illustrating a ball leaving the lower end of an upper conduit and progressing onto the intermediate playing surface. 
     FIG. 9 is an enlarged side sectional view of the apparatus showing a ball leaving the intermediate playing surface with sufficiently slow speed to drop down and enter the upper end of a lower conduit to a lower playing surface. 
     FIG. 10 is an enlarged schematic side sectional view of the apparatus illustrating a ball leaving the lower end of a lower conduit and progressing onto the bottom playing surface. 
     FIG. 11 is an enlarged schematic side sectional view of the apparatus illustrating a ball leaving the bottom playing surface with sufficiently slow speed to drop down and enter one of the collecting compartments. 
     FIG. 12 is an enlarged schematic side sectional view of a corner support member of the apparatus. 
     FIG. 13 is a schematic perspective view of an alternative simplified embodiment of the invention. 
     FIG. 14 is a schematic plan view of a cue stick, a cue ball and two different sets of player balls. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The illustrated multi-level pool game apparatus  20  is shown in FIG.  1 . The illustrated apparatus  20  includes the multi-level table  21  and a plurality of balls  30 . The illustrated table  21  has three stacked and spaced about playing surfaces  22 . Each of the illustrated playing surfaces  22  is generally rectangular and is provided by a generally rectangular plate section  24  that has an upstanding peripheral retaining rail  26  to retain the balls on the associated playing surface  22 . Each of the playing surfaces  22  is generally flat or level. The plate sections  24  may be formed of any suitable material such as molded plastic. At each corner of each surface  22 , there is a ball-receiving pocket  28  provided by generally semicircular cutout portion  29 . 
     The illustrated plate/sections  24  are supported in stacked spaced apart relation as shown in FIG. 1 by four upright corner support sections  25 , one of which is illustrated in FIG.  12 . The support sections  25  may also be fabricated from a suitable material such as molded plastic. Each illustrated support section  25  provides an upper conduit  40   c , a low conduit  40   a  and a base section  50 . Each illustrated conduit  40  is a generally tubular C-shaped portion that is cut away to some extent at its interior side. This cutaway saves on cost and material and provides visibility whereby the user can see the balls as they pass along the passageways defined by the conduits. 
     The uppermost of the play surfaces  22   c  has its four pockets  28   c  each in communication with the upper end of an upper conduit  40   c  of one of the upright support sections  25 . Each support section  25  has a small inwardly extending upper portion  41  which provides a floor for its associated upper cutout portion  29   c . This ensures that the balls will proceed from the upper end of an upper conduit  40   c  through an associated upper pocket  28   c  and onto the upper surface  22   c  as illustrated at the upper left of FIG.  3  and in FIG.  4 . Similarly, balls from the upper surface  22   c  will proceed through an upper pocket  28   c  and into the upper end of an associated upper conduit  40   c  as illustrated at the upper right of FIG.  2  and FIG.  7 . 
     Now attention is directed to the intermediate surface  22   b . This surface  22   b  has four corner cutouts  29   b  providing pockets  28   b  at each corner. These pockets  28   b  are each in communication with the lower end of an associated upper conduit  40   c  and with the upper end of an associated lower conduit  40   a . As shown at the middle left of FIG.  2  and in FIG. 8, a ball proceeding down an upper conduit  40   c  will have sufficient momentum from the fall to move across the associated cutout  29   b  onto the intermediate surface  22   b.    
     A ball directed from the intermediate surface  22   b  to a pocket  28   b  may proceed either upwardly or downwardly. In this regard, FIGS. 3 and 6 show such a ball proceeding upwardly, while FIGS. 2 and 9 show such a ball proceeding downwardly. The construction of the illustrated apparatus  20  facilitates this alternative flow, which depends upon the speed at which the ball is moving when it enters a pocket  28   b . More particularly, a middle guide  60  is provided at the juncture between each pair of aligned upper and lower conduits  40   c ,  40   a . These middle guides  60  extend generally horizontally inwardly toward their associated cutouts  29   b  and are generally horizontally aligned with the intermediate playing surface  22   b . Thus when a ball is propelled sufficient speed along surface  22   b  and into a pocket  28   b , it will span the associated gap  29   b  and reach the associated guide  60 . This is illustrated to the center left of FIG.  3  and in FIG.  6 . The ball may then progress upwardly through the upper conduit  40   c  and ultimately onto the upper playing surface  22   c.    
     The upper ends of the lower conduits  40   a  are positioned sufficiently below the level of the intermediate playing surface  22   b  and the level of the associated middle guide  60  to allow a ball from surface  22   b  to enter the upper end of a conduit  40   a . As shown in FIGS. 12,  2  and  9 , the inside or inward surfaces of the upper ends of the lower conduits  40   a  form arcuate collector surfaces  43  for catching a slow moving ball that falls through an associated cutout  29   b  and guiding that ball into the upper end of the associated lower conduit  40   a . The ball may then progress downwardly through that lower conduit  40   a  to the lower playing surface  22   a.    
     The lower end of each lower conduit  40   a  is provided with an inwardly extending lower guide  62  that is generally an extension of the lower end of that lower conduit. The lower guide  62  extends generally horizontally and generally at the height of the lower playing surface  22   a . The lower guide  62  has a slightly raised lip  63  at its end that causes a ball rolling down the associated lower conduit  40   a  and over the lip  63  to have its path of movement directed somewhat upwardly. Thus, as shown at the lower left of FIG.  2  and in FIG. 10, a ball coming down a lower conduit  40   a  is thereby assisted to bridge the gap  29   a  and pass onto the lower surface  22   a.    
     As shown at the lower right of FIG.  2  and in FIG. 11, the base sections  50  extend sufficiently below the lower play surface  22   a  and thus below the lower guides  62 , and the gaps  29   a  are sufficiently large, to allow a ball moving sufficiently slowly from the lower surface  22   a  through a pocket  28   a  to drop down through the associated gap  29   a  and into a compartment  52 . Balls may be retrieved from the compartments  52  through the associated retrieval openings  54 . The bottoms of the illustrated compartments  52  are inclined slightly to cause balls to roll to the areas adjacent to the openings  54 . 
     As shown at the lower right of FIG. 3, when a ball is moving sufficiently rapidly along lower surface  22   a , it will bridge the gap  29   a  and travel upwardly through the associated lower conduit  40   a.    
     FIGS. 5A through 5C illustrate a ball  30  moving up to the intermediate surface  22   b.    
     In FIG. 5A, the ball  30  is moving up a lower conduit  40   a . In FIG. 5B the ball has engaged and pushed aside the associated guide  60 . In FIG. 5C, the ball has continued past the associated pocket  28   b  and gap  29   b , and moved onto the intermediate surface  22   b.    
     In the play of the game, the players may take turns causing balls to move across the surfaces  22  and into pockets  28  in accordance with rules of the particular game being played. In one presently preferred form of the game, each player may be provided with a plurality or set  31  of balls  30  which are distinctively visually marked so it is different as to different them from the balls of the other player or players. One or more cue or striker balls  32  may be provided and the players may be provided with a striker means such as a cue stick  34 . The objective of each player is to move all of his or her balls from the upper surface  22   c  to the compartments  52  before the other players are able to do the same with their balls. To accomplish this, each player would attempt to get his or her balls to travel for the upper surface  22   c  through a pocket  28   c  and an associated upper conduit  40   c  to the intermediate surface  22   b , then through a pocket  28   b  and down an associated lower conduit  40   a  to the lower surface  22   a . Finally, he or she would want to propel their balls through a pocket  28   a  and into a compartment  52 . Such pattern of play would be challenging and interesting in and of itself. 
     The illustrated apparatus  20  however permits a more varied and complex pattern of play. As noted above, a ball entering an intermediate pocket  28   b  may travel either upwardly or downwardly. Similarly, a ball from the lower surface  22   a  entering a lower pocket  28   a  may travel upwardly to a higher surface  22   b  or downwardly into one of the compartments  52 . Thus it would be possible for a player who was attempting to have one of his or her balls move downwardly, instead inadvertently travel upwardly to a higher level if that ball had sufficient speed when it entered a pocket  28 . This would probably not happen very often if it were only a question of a player striking his or her ball too hard to give it too much speed. However, to make the game more interesting and exciting, each player may be allowed to propel the balls of his or her opponent into pockets  28  and may thereby intentionally propel an opponent&#39;s balls to a higher level to thereby impede their progress toward the lower compartments  52 . This also gives the players more choices as to their strategy in that they can work on propelling their balls downwardly toward the compartments  52  or their opponents&#39; balls upwardly to a higher level surface. 
     Obviously, there are many alternate ways that the scoring can be accomplished other than the first player to have all his or her balls reaching the pockets being the winner. For example, players may get points whenever one of their balls moves from a higher to a lower level surface, and may lose points when one of their balls progresses in the opposite direction from a lower to a higher level surface. Players may be given more points for their own progress as distinguished from impeding an opponent&#39;s progress or, vice versa, may be given more points for impeding an opponent&#39;s progress than for their own progress. The winner might be the player having the most points after a predetermined time interval. 
     Whatever the details of scoring utilized in play of the game, it will be appreciated that the structure of the illustrated apparatus  20  which allows the selective direction of a ball to an upper or lower location adds greatly to the play value and the variety and interest of this game. It also adds a dimension of skill in that the players are not only trying to cause balls to enter to a pocket but also must take into account the speed at which a ball enters the pocket, as such will determine whether the ball goes upwardly or downwardly. 
     FIG. 13 illustrates a simplified alternative preferred embodiment  120  having two levels  122   a ,  122   b  instead of three levels. Ball at the lower level  122   a  can be propelled upwardly to the upper level  122   b , and balls at the upper level  122   b  can be propelled downwardly to the lower level  122   a.