IMPROVEMENTS IN BILLIARD MARKING BOARDS
Year: 1881

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by George William Walter Edwards at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 22nd October 1881.
GEORGE WILLIAM WALTER EDWARDS, of Wolverhampton, in the County of
Stafford, Hairdresser. "IMPROVEMENTS IN BILLIARD MARKING BOARDS."
A billiard marking board constructed according to this Invention is made to be
suspended over the billiard table, either from the gas pendants or otherwise as
convenient. The marking board is numbered on both sides, say up to number
fifty, and is provided with two sliding fingers or pointers, one sliding along the top
of the board and the other sliding underneath the board. Each sliding finger is
duplex and indicates its respective score on both sides of the marking board at
once. The sliding fingers are moved along by means of a billiard cue, and the
marking is thus readily effected by the players themselves from almost any position
in which they may be playing. The "spot" sliding finger is the upper one, and is
provided with a pawl which works in connection with ratchet teeth placed at
intervals along the bottom of a groove formed along the upper edge of the marking
board. After the highest number marked upon the board has been scored with the
upper sliding finger, the sliding finger may be passed onwards to a point where the
pawl falls down into a vertical position, and the sliding finger may then be passed
back again to commence a new game, as in sliding it back the pawl rises over the
teeth. As the sliding finger arrives at the starting end again the pawl again
drops into a vertical position, and thus as it moved forwards inclines backwards
and prevents the sliding finger from being pushed back to the starting end till the
highest number marked has again been scored. The pawl is prevented by the bottom
of the groove from falling into a vertical position except at each end of the board, and
suitable teeth are arranged to prevent the sliding finger being pushed forwards
after scoring a game until it has first been brought back to the starting end and
the position of the pawl reversed. In pushing the "spot" sliding finger forwards
to reverse the position of the pawl after scoring the highest number marked on the
board, the slide pushes inwards the projecting end of a bar, which by means of a
ratchet pawl on the inner end thereof gearing into teeth formed on the edge of a
revolving dial, marked from 0 to 9, causes the dial to revolve 10 th as each game of
50 is scored, and thus shews through an opening in the face of the marking board the
.. 577

page_text: number of games played up to 9. As the wheel is moved through the 16th division
a stud or projection thereon moves a second wheel through a 10 th division, scoring
The bar is
tens, and a third wheel is similarly actuated to score hundreds.
returned to its normal position by means of a spring as the pressure is removed.
There is no special novelty in the arrangement of dials and push-bar taken by
themselves, a similar arrangement being employed for analogous purposes. Any
suitable mechanism may be employed for registering the number of games played,
provided that it is actuated each time the upper sliding finger is passed into
position to reverse its pawl for enabling the sliding finger to be moved back.
My improved billiard marking board has thus not only the advantage of being
readily seen and operated by the players, but with the registering apparatus at the
end it will also indicate the number of games (of 50 each) which have been
played, as the "spot" sliding finger must score the number of the game before it
can be used to commence marking a fresh one.
For playing games of 100 each a similar arrangement to that now in use may
be employed by marking the two sets of numbers up to 50 on the opposite sides of
a square bar, and two sets of numbers from 51 to 100 on the two remaining
sides. After both the players have scored 50 the bar is turned to shew the
higher numbers.
If it is desired to dispense with the registering apparatus at the end of the
board, the "spot" sliding finger (may be made to move freely forwards and
backwards as desired, the same as the lower one, the pawl and teeth not being then
required.