Automatic Billiard Ball Returner.
Year: 1896

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Automatic Billiard Ball Returner.
I, WALTER BUTTERY of 12 Pemberton Gardens, Holloway, in the County of
London, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This invention relates to an attachment for billiard tables and the like for the
purpose of automatically returning to the "baulk" end of the table the balls played
into the pockets at the top end and sides of the table and delivering them into a
receptacle arranged within reach of the player; and the object of the invention is to
avoid loss of time and inconvenience caused by taking the balls out of the said
pockets and returning them by hand or rolling them over the table to the player.
The invention consists in providing underneath a billiard or similar table which
may otherwise be of ordinary construction, a number of guide rails or carriers,
corresponding to the number of pockets from which the balls are to be returned
extending from openings formed through the legs or frame of the table under the
respective pockets to the "baulk" end of the table and having a sufficient
downward inclination to ensure the expeditious travel of the balls in that direction.
I form the guide rails preferably of brass or other metal tubing or of metal wires
of sufficient diameter to carry the balls, arranged with a concave surface upwards.
The tubes or carriers from the two top corner pockets are arranged to converge
gradually to a junction immediately under the centre line near the baulk" end of
the table where they are connected into a single path over which the balls from
both branches complete their travel to a receptacle into which they are delivered by
gravitation.
The tubes or carriers from the two side or middle pockets also converge gradually
towards the centre to some extent but do not form a junction each having a separate
delivery into the ball receiver.
The separate pockets are arranged to discharge or drop the balls through the
openings formed through the frame or legs of the table into which the ends of the
tubes or carriers project, said openings and the portions of tubes or carriers therein
being made in the form of a curve descending in an inward direction from the
pocket and so designed as to give the necessary fall or impetus to the balls dropping
from the pockets.
In order to ensure a quick return of the ball I propose to form the pockets of
netted cord the upper portion of which is connected in the usual manner to the
plate, the lower portion being stretched at a suitable angle down and around the
opening in the frame or leg of the table. In this way the ball entering a pocket
falls upon the inclined net and is instantly ejected through the opening onto the ball
rails. The lower portion of this netted cord is formed of a double thickness or I
may otherwise strengthen it by the addition of a pad or by the use of a metal plate.
The tube sections may be supported by brackets or equivalent devices secured on
the underside of the table at any convenient positions.
At the baulk end of the table I provide a receptacle consisting of a net or dish
shaped tray of metal or other suitable material supported by brackets or similar
devices secured to the table and lined if desired with rubber or other suitable material
for deadening sound, the lower extremities of the rails or ball returner being

page_text: connected therewith for the purpose of delivering the balls therein as already
described.
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Automatic Billiard Ball Returner.
I, WALTER BUTTERY of 12 Pemberton Gardens, Holloway in the County of
London, Manufacturer, 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 :-
This invention relates to billiard tables in which certain of the pockets are in
communication with an inclined track or rails leading from these pockets to the
"baulk" end of the table so that when a ball drops into one of these pockets it
travels to the "baulk" end and enters a suitable pan, tray or other receptacle there,
the ball being thus within reach of the player standing at that end.
My invention consists in providing means for the rapid, accurate and automatic
travel of the balls from the pockets to the tray or pan, as will be hereafter
explained.
In order that my invention may be better understood, reference is had to the
accompanying sheet of drawings, upon which,
Figure 1 is a plan view of a frame of a billiard table to which my invention has
been applied.
Figure 2 is a side elevation on a smaller scale of a table similarly fitted,
Figure 3 being an end elevation of Figure 2.
Figure 4 is a cross section of the track on which the ball travels.
Figure 5 is an elevation of a portion of a leg of the table shewing the path of the
ball through the same, and Figure 6 is a sectional plan on line -x of Figure 5
with the rail or track removed, and the ball shewn in the passage through the leg D.
In carrying out my invention I provide underneath a billiard table which may
otherwise be of ordinary construction, a number of guide rails or carriers A a
corresponding to the number of pockets from which the balls are to be returned,
extending from openings formed through the legs or frame of the table under the
respective pockets to the "baulk" end of the table and having a sufficient downward
inclination to ensure the expeditious travel of the balls in that direction.
I form the guide rails of brass or other metal tubing A arranged with a concave
surface upwards or of metal wires or tubes of small diameter a, of sufficient diameter
to carry the balls, but, preferably, I employ the arrangement shewn in section on
Figure 4, consisting of four wires or tubes a held in position by means of a
longitudinal metal trough A the latter being formed of the halves of a suitably
shaped pipe or tube. The troughs or carriers from the top and middle pockets,
which are the only ones which I usually fit with the ball returner, converge
gradually towards the centre to some extent being also inclined from the "spot" to
the "baulk" end and each having a separate delivery into the ball receiver or tray,
see Figures 1, 2 and 3.
The separate pockets B are arranged to discharge or drop the balls through the
openings formed through the frame C or the leg D of the table into which the ends
of the tubes or carriers project, said openings and the portions of tubes or carriers

page_text: therein being made in the form of a curve descending in an inward direction from
the pocket.
In order to give the necessary impetus and so ensure the quick return of the ball
I form the pocket E of netted cord the upper portion thereof being connected to the
plate in the usual or any suitable manner whilst the lower portion e is stretched at a
suitable angle down and around the opening in the frame C or the leg D of the
table, as will be seen from Figures 5 and 6; and in order to preclude the possibility
of the ball being prevented from entering the orifice through the opening in
the legs or side of the table (through the sagging or stretching of the net) I insert
a guide or tongue of leather or any other suitable material the upper end of which
is attached to the brass plate or pocket carrier and the other end is drawn tight and
attached to the interior or edge of the opening or passage to admit the balls. I may
also interweave strips of leather in the lower portione of the netted cord so as to
stiffen the same.
In this way the ball entering a pocket falls upon the inclined tongue and net and
is instantly ejected through the opening on to the ball rails, as is shewn on Figure 5.
The tube sections A may be supported by brackets or equivalent devices secured
on the underside of the table frame at any convenient positions.
At the "baulk" end of the table I provide a suitably shaped receptacle F for
receiving the balls and which is supported by brackets or similar devices, secured to
the table and lined, if desired, with rubber or other suitable material for deadening
sound, the lower ends of the rails or tracks being connected therewith for the
purpose of delivering the balls therein as already described.
The lower portione of the pocket and also the wires a supported in trough A
may be secured to the sides of the leg D (see Figure 5) by any convenient means;
and I may also continue the trough and wires through the passage in the leg D so
as to abut against the pad or lower portion e of the pocket.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is :-
1. In ball returners for billiard tables, the combination of an inclined surface e
formed with or attached to the pocket E, with a passage in the leg D (or frame ()
of the table communicating with a track or carrier A a, substantially as specified.
2. An automatic billiard ball returner consisting of an inclined plane or surface e
attached to or formed with a pocket E, a passage through the leg D (or frame C)
and a carrier or track A a delivering the ball into a receiver F, the whole constructed
and combined substantially as and for the purposes herein described.
Dated this Second day of February 1897
Dated this Second day of February 1897
For the Applicant,
GEDGE & FEENY,
60 Queen Victoria Street, London, E.C., Chartered Patent Agents.