A New or Improved Device for Use in connection with Billiard Tables.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 7th July, 1894
Complete Specification Left, 8th Apr.. 1895-Accepted, 11th May, 1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
A New or Improved Device for Use in connection with Billiard
Tables.
I, JOHN FREDERICK MARSHALL, of King's College, Cambridge, Student, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to a device by means of which Lalls pocketted upon
a billiard table are automatically returned to the player or to a convenient
receptacle.
In carrying my invention into effect I employ pockets with an orifice at the
bottom of each so that the billiard balls can pass freely out of the same. Extending
along each side of the billiard table I have a conductor consisting for example of
a pair of light rods or rails or of a trough or the like and adjusted to conduct the
balls to a receptacle at the foot or baulk end of the table where they can be
readily reached by the player. The said conductors extend from a position under
the pockets at the corners of the top or spot end of the table along by the sides of
the table and then bend round the corners at the bottom of the table and continue
until they reach a receptacle close to the player standing in the usual place for
playing from baulk. To enable the balls to roll from that part of the conductors
on which they fall from the pocket to the said receptacle I arrange the said con-
ductors so that instead of being level they shall slope gently downwards from their
upper ends, that is to say from the ends which are under the top pockets, towards
the receptacle. The conductors at the curves, that is to say at the points where
they turn round the corners at the lower end of the table, are suitably canted to
enable the balls to remain upon them as the direction of their course is changed.
Or, a guard or plate may be suitably placed at the said corners to produce the
same effect. I sometimes incline the conductors upwards at or near the receptacle
80 as to reduce the velocity of the balls when they approach the position of the
striker.
Instead of allowing the balls to drop straight on to the conductor from the
pockets I sometimes employ what I term auxiliary conductors. These consist of
short lengths of conductor preferably curved and extending from opposite the
bottoms of the pockets to the main conductors that. is to say to the conductors
previously spoken of as serving to convey the balls to the receptacle. The said
auxiliary conductors are preferably hinged and made of light weight so that when
they are attached for example under the middle pockets balls passing from the
upper pockets will be able to raise the free ends of the said auxiliary conductors
and roll onwards to the receptacle.
In some cases instead of having the upper ends of the main conductors at the
upper pockets, I continue them round the corners where the said pockets are and
onwards till they meet. Balls may thus be conveyed by the conductors from any
part of the table.
The receptacle need not necessarily be a separate contrivance. A receptacle
may be constituted by a mere stop or impediment at or near the end of a conductor.
Dated this 7th day of July 1894.
J. G. LORRAIN, M. Inst. E.E., M. Inst. M.E.,
Norfolk House, Norfolk Street, Strand, London, W.C.,
Chartered Patent Agent.

page_text: A New or Improved Device for Use in connection with Billiard
Tables.
1, JOHN FREDERICK MARSHALL, of King's College, Cambridge, Student,.
do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
My invention relates to a device by means of which balls pocketted upon
a billiard table are automatically returned to the player or to a convenient
receptacle.
In the accompanying drawings,
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a billiard table with one form of conductor attached
thereto the figure being broken into three parts for convenience.
Figure 2 is an end elevation of a billiard table with the same form of conductor
attached thereto as is shown in Figure 1.
Figure 3 is a diagram showing a section of the same form of conductor with
a billiard ball thereon.
Figures 4, 5, 6 and 7, are diagrams showing billiard balls supported on modified
forms of conductor.
.
Figure 8 is a diagram illustrating a form of conductor bracket.
Figures 9 and 10 are details of the same.
Figure 11 is a side elevation of an auxiliary conductor with a ball thereon.
Figure 12 is an end elevation of the same.
Figure 13 is a side elevation of an auxiliary conductor with a ball passing under it.
Figure 14 is an end elevation of the same.
Figure 15 is a side elevation of a modified form of auxiliary conductor.
Figure 16 is an end elevation of the same.
Figure 17 is a view of a form of pocket constituting in fact a form of auxiliary
conductor.
Figure 18 is a diagram illustrating the canting of a form of conductor where it
passes round the corner of the table."
Figure 19 is an elevation of the upper or spot end of a billiard table showing how
the conductor may be continued along the said upper end.
Figures 20, 21, 22 and 23 illustrate various forms of receptacle which may be
employed.
Figure 24 is a view corresponding roughly with Figure 3 but showing the
conductor padded.
Figure 25 is a longitudinal section of a rod forming part of a conductor and
showing the padding .
Figure 26 corresponds with Figure 5 but shows the conductor padded.
Before proceeding to give a detailed description of these drawings I shall first
describe my invention in general terms so as to define its scope after which I shall
proceed to show how I carry it into effect and for that purpose I shall describe the
several figures of drawings above referred to.
I employ pockets with an orifice at the bottom of each so that the billiard balls
can pass freely out of the same. Extending along each side of the billiard table
I have a conductor consisting for example of a pair of light rods or rails or of
a trough or the like and adjusted to conduct the balls to a receptacle at the foot or
baulk end of the table where they can be readily reached by the player. The said
conductors extend from a position under the pockets at the corners of the top or
spot end of the table along by the sides of the table and then bend round the

page_text: corners at the bottom of the table and continue until they reach a receptacle close
to the player standing in the usual place for playing from baulk. To enable the
balls to roll from that part of the conductor on which they fall from the pocket to
the said receptacle I arrange the said conductors so that instead of being level they
shall slope gently downwards from their upper ends, that is to say from the ends
which are under the top pockets, towards the receptacle. The conductors at the
curves, for example at the points where they turn round the corners at the lower
end of the table, are suitably canted to enable the balls to remain upon them as
the direction of their course is changed. Or, a guard or plate may be suitably
placed at the said corners to produce the same effect. I sometimes incline the
conductors upwards at or near the receptacle so as to reduce the velocity of the
balls when they approach the position of the striker.
Instead of allowing the balls to drop straight on to the conductor from the
pockets I sometimes employ what I terin auxiliary conductors. These consist of
short lengths of conductor preferably curved and extending from opposite the
bottoms of the pockets to the main conductors that is to say to the conductors
previously spoken of as serving to convey the balls to the receptacle. The said
auxiliary conductors are preferably hinged and made of light weight so that when
they are attached for example under the middle pockets balls passing from the
upper pockets will be able to raise the free ends of the said auxiliary conductors
and roll onwards to the receptacle.
In some cases instead of having the upper ends of the main conductors at the
upper pockets, I continue them round the corners where the said pockets are and
onwards till they meet. Balls may thus be conveyed by the conductors from any
part of the table.
The receptacle need not necessarily be a separate contrivance. A receptacle
may be constituted by a mere stop or impediment at or near the end of a
conductor.
Referring now to Figures 1 and 2, A is the billiard table and a' the pockets
at the upper or spot end of the table, a² the middle pockets and a the lower
pockets or those at the corners of the baulk end of the table. The said pockets
are preferably fitted with a ring round the orifice at the bottom as is shown
at a. It will be seen that the main conductors (each in this case consisting of
a pair of rods or rails B) slope gently downwards from the spot end of the
table to the baulk end so that the ball C may roll freely downwards and round
the corners at the baulk end to the receptacle D and it will also be seen that
they come close under the upper pockets and indeed should be just sufficiently
far from the same to enable the balls to pass clear of the end of the pocket.
At the middle pocket the main conductors are a considerable distance below
the pockets and at the baulk end a still greater distance below the pockets so
that the balls if they were to fall directly on to the main conductors would be
liable to injury. I therefore find. it convenient to employ both at the middle
pockets and at the lower pockets what I have termed auxiliary conductors as
indicated by the letter E in Figures 1 and 2, and on a larger scale in
Figures 11 to 16 inclusive. The said auxiliary conductors E may as in the
case of the main conductors consist of rods or rails, troughs or the like and are
freely binged at one end in any convenient manner. In the drawings they are
shown as hinged upon the spindles e one end of each of the said spindles being
attached to the bases el which serve for attachment to the sides of the billiard
table as shown in Figure 1. The said auxiliary conductors are curved in such
a manner that a ball dropping on them is conducted with as little shock as
possible to the main conductors. In Figures 11 and 12 a ball is shown as
having just dropped on to the auxiliary conductors from which it will roll to the
main conductors and onward to the receptacle. In addition to being freely hinged
the auxiliary conductors are made of light weight so that instead of blocking
the passage of a ball running under them they will be raised by the said ball so as
to allow the latter to pass freely under the same and onwards to the receptacle.

page_text: This is shown in Figures 13 and 14 where the auxiliary conductors under a middle
pocket are shown. It will be seen that a ball from an upper pocket has rolled
downwards to a position under a middle pocket and that it is raising the auxiliary
conductor so as to pass under it and onwards to the receptacle.
A slightly modified form of auxiliary conductor shown in Figures 15 and 16
where the rails are shown bent and canted in suitable curves to conduct the balls
to the main conductors. This arrangement is designed for use in the case where
the main conductors are arranged under the table or under a beading at the side of
the table or indeed wherever the main conductors do not lie vertically under the
line of the pockets. In Figure 17 I show a form of pocket curved so as to con-
stitute in fact an auxiliary conductor. In this case the ball drops on to the
wall of the pocket and is deflected out through the ring a on to the main
conductor.
The main conductors may be attached to the billiard table by any convenient
device such for example as by the detachable bracket F shown in Figure 8 the
lower end of this bracket is affixed to the table by being thrust through the eyes
or straps which latter are shown in side elevation in Figure 8, plan in Figure 9
and in front elevation in Figure 10. When this device is employed all that is
necessary to be done when it is desired to remove the main conductors is to lift the
part out of the eyes f¹. The auxiliary conductors may be similarly removed by
raising the bases e¹ and bringing the heads of the screws which attach the bases to
the billiard table opposite the enlarged parts of the slots in the said bases through
which the said screws pass. Any other convenient means of attachment may be
employed instead of those illustrated.
The conductors both main and auxiliary may consist of any convenient form such
for example as a pair of rails as shown in section at Figures 3, 8 and 18 and in
elevation in Figures 1, 2, 17, 19, 20, 21, and 22. Or the conductors may take the
Or
form of a trough shallow as shown in Figure 4 or deep as shown in Figure 5.
the conductors may consist of a closed pipe or tube with orifices therein at the
positions underneath the pockets so that the balls may drop into the said pipes or
tubes. Or instead of consisting of closed pipes or tubes these may have a longi-
tudinal slot at the top, as shown in Figure 7, or other convenient part the said slot
enabling the pipe or tube to be cleaned or an obstruction removed. Or a tubular
conductor might be made of two parts hinged together as shown in section in
Figure 6. In the said Figures 3 to 7 inclusive a billiard ball is shown therein and
diagrammatically represented by C.
The
At the part where the conductors turn round the corners of the table the con-
ductor is canted so as to prevent the ball leaving the conductor at the said corner.
This canting is shown at Figure 18 in the case of a conductor consisting of two
rails. The said canting is also shown in Figures 1, 2 and 19. After being
brought round the lower corners of the table the conductors extend along the edge
of the lower end of the table as shown in Figures 20 and 21 either until they meet or
until they reach a separate receptacle D as shown in Figures 1, and 22.
receptacles may consist of baskets or the like adapted to be hung upon the conductors
or upon brackets as shown in Figures 2, 22 and 23. Or they may consist of a mere
depression of the main conductor as shown at d in Figure 20. Or the said receptacles
may be constituted by a mere stop or impediment in the main conductor as
shown at d¹ in Figure 21. To prevent damage to the balls and the possibility of
their coming violently against one another at the receptacle I find it convenient
to slightly elevate the conductor just before the receptacle is reached as shown
at din Figures 2, 20, 21 and 22. By this means the velocity of the balls is
decreased before reaching the receptacle. I sometimes find it convenient to continue
the upper ends of the main conductors round the upper corners of the table until
they meet as is shown in Figure 19. By this arrangement a ball can easily be
passed from the top to the bottom of the table by placing it on any part of the
main conductor at the head of the table.
It is generally. convenient for the purpose of avoiding the noise of, balls falling

page_text: on to the conductors and to avoid damage either to the balls or the conductors
to pad the latter. This can be effected either by clothing the conductor throughout
with a layer or sheathing of rubber or other suitable soft material or by placing
separate pads under the pockets at the places where the balls drop upon the con-
ductor. When I employ separate pads as aforesaid I preferably place them in
depressions or recesses of the conductor so that they will not act as obstructions
to balls rolling past them. Such separate pads are shown in Figure 25 where
the pad
is let into a recess or thinned part in the rod B. In this case the
pad is simply a rubber tube.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I, declare that what I
claim is:
1. The new or improved device for use in connection with billiard tables
substantially as set forth.
2. The combination of a billiard table, conductors, and pockets with orifices
therein substantially as set forth.
3. In a device for use in connection with billiard tables, the combination of
a main conductor and an auxiliary conductor substantially as set forth.
4. In a device for use in connection with billiard tables the combination of
a main conductor and a curved and open ended pocket substantially as set forth
with reference to Figure 17.
5. In a device for use in connection with billiard tables the employment of
a padded main conductor substantially as set forth.
6. In a device for use in connection with billiard tables the employment of
a padded auxiliary conductor substantially as set forth.
Dated this 8th day of April 1995.
For the Applicant,
J. G. LORRAIN, M. Inst. E.E., M. Inst. M.E.,
Norfolk House, Norfolk Street, Strand, London, W.C
Chartered Patent Agent.