IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF BILLIARD TABLES, AND IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR ASCERTAINING THE DEGREE OF ELASTICITY OF 'THE CUSHIONS, AND THE STRENGTH OF THE CLOTH
Year: 1865

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Edward Gedge at the Office.
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 10th. October
1865. A communication from abroad by Eugené Ponsson, junior, of
No. 15, Passage des Petites Ecuries, Paris, France, Billiard Table
-Maker.
WILLIAM EDWARD GEDGE, of the Firm of John Gedge and Son, of No.
11, Wellington Street, Strand, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent,
do hereby declare the nature of. the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
CONSTRUCTION OF BILLIARD TABLES, AND IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR ASCERTAINING
THE DEGREE OF ELASTICITY OF 'THE CUSHIONS, AND THE STRENGTH OF THE CLOTH,"
(a communication to me from abroad by Eugene Ponsson, junior, of No. 15,
Passage des Petites Ecuries, Paris, France, Billiard Table Maker), to be as
follows:
227.
10
This Invention consists, firstly, in an optional displacement of the bands
or cushions of a billiard table, or in other words an optional lowering or
raising, by the aid of which the cushions may always be placed in proper
relation to the size of the balls. On the position of the cushions of a billiard
table depend two principle defects, first, the jumping of the ball; secondly, a
greater or lesser reduction of the speed of the ball after it has struck a cushion.
The first fault arises in that the ball on striking the upper part of the cushion

page_text: meets an inclined surface, on which it has a tendency to slide off the table by
reason of the oblique direction given to it by the elasticity of the cushion.
The second arises from the ball catching or engulfing itself between the lower
part of the cushion and the table, and there remaining for an instant stationary
under the pressure of the caoutchouc, thus losing a great part of the impulsion
given to it by the cue stroke. In the first case the cushion is therefore too
low, and in the second too high; hence the necessity of always. using on a
billiard table balls of the same size; and consequently if an accident happen
to one of the balls, as all three must be turned again and their dimension
lessened, the cushions which have hitherto answered perfectly will then
immediately present one of the defects above mentioned, and to remedy it the
cushions should be moveable, so as to answer with balls of different size.
From the preceding it will be easily conceived that the first defect will be
obviated by raising the cushions; and the second by lowering them, and the
method herein-after described will permit the attainment of the maximum
elasticity of a cushion. In ordinary billiard tables the cushions are fixed by
14 or 16 ordinary screws, these screws being placed before the adjusting in
the setting up of the table, and simply let into the cushion and the table so
that the cushion was fixed in an invariable manner to this table, whereas by
this Invention the cushions may be raised and lowered by means of. endless
screws, and when, they have arrived at the desired position the ordinary
screws come and press against an iron plate placed at the entrance of the space
left for the vertical movement. Finally, the pins which fix the cloth to the
table are placed in the middle of its thickness, so as not to hinder in any way
the movement of the cushion, without, however, being visible when this latter
has attained its highest position; it is moreover very easy in setting up a
billiard table to place the cushions at the height most suitable to the size of
ball used, it being only necessary for this purpose to loosen the ordinary
screws by one turn, and to work the endless screw until the desired result is
attained.
Secondly, in order to ascertain the precise elasticity of the cushions
delivered by the manufacturers, and obtain a billiard table uniting all the
qualities sought by good players, it is proposed to use an apparatus composed
of a hollow rule having an inclination of about of an inch in '39, being
about 6 feet long, and preceded by a curved part intended to act as a race
At the extremity of the rule is placed a wooden angle block having a groove
to receive the piece of caoutchouc which a 'counterweight serves to hold in a
fixed position.
Lastly, a click fitted at the origin of the curved part serves to lance the

page_text: ball by means of a tumbler. The cushion being placed and held by the
counterweight the ball is placed, and when freed starts forward, rolling in
the hollow groove on the upper part of the rule, and strikes the band; after
the shock it comes back along the rule, and stopping on one of the divisions
marked upon it renders an exact account of the elastic force of the cushion,
for the greater the elasticity of the cushion the further the ball will recoil, and
the trial will be exact and complete. The same result may be obtained by
means of a graduated dial, on which moves a hand carrying a ball at its lower
extremity. By drawing back the ball. to a stop placed on the side furthest
from the piece of the cushion to be tried and allowing it to beat against it,
the recoil will indicate the degree of elasticity.
Lastly, it is proposed to use an apparatus for testing the quality of the
cloth supplied for the billiard table. This apparatus is composed of a small
balance lever working by a hinge and mounted on an angle piece, the
extremities of which are furnished with small pins, on which the piece of
cloth to be tested is fixed; a counterweight is then drawn back, and the
cloth stretches by the opening of the two jaws, and if the counterweight
be still further drawn back the point at which the cloth will tear is eventually
attained, and the exact resistance of the cloth ascertained.