AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF BILLIARD TABLES FOR оп FOR DRAWING RO
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Paul Antoine Cap, Knight of the Legion of Honour,
of Paris, (Empire of France,) and of 45, Essex Street, Strand, London,
for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF BILLIARD TABLES FOR
оптоп,
of Paris, (Empire of France,) and of 45, Essex Street, Strand, London,
for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF BILLIARD TABLES FOR
DRAWING ROOMS."
Sealed the 9th August 1858, and dated the 6th March 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Paul Antoine Cap at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
6th March 1858.
I, PAUL ANTOINE CAP, Knight of the Legion of Honour, of Paris, (Empire
of France,) and of 45, Essex Street, Strand, London, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF BILLIARD
TABLES FOR DRAWING ROOMS," to be as follows, and consists in constructing a
billiard table so that the several parts of which it is composed may be put up
together or undone easily and quickly, which will allow it to be temporarily
placed and used in a drawing room and removed when not wanted.
To obtain this, the legs and bands of the table are held together by means
of keys, screws, bolts, or otherwise, and so as to allow the several parts to be
placed in a case, which may serve as a sofa or as a bench in the antechamber;
the long bands may be made with hinges in the middle.
The surface of the table is divided in several parts and connected by means
of hinges placed underneath. It may be covered first with oilcloth, linen, or
other similar material, and then with the usual green cloth, tightened from
underneath by means of screws..
Some levels may be placed in suitable parts of the table, the legs of which
may be furnished with screws, for the purpose of raising or lowering as it may
be required.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Paul Antoine Cap in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
30th August 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PAUL
ANTOINE CAP, Knight of the Legion of Honour, of Paris, (Empire of France,)
and of 45, Essex Street, Strand, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Paul Antoine Cap, Her special licence that I, the. said Paul
Antoine Cap, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Paul Antoine Cap, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at
all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF BILLIARD TABLES FOR DRAWING ROOMS," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Paul Antoine Cap, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their,
or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be
performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Paul Antoine Cap, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the fol-
lowing statement, reference being had to the illustrative Sheet of Drawing
hereunto annexed, and forming part-of-this-my-Specification,-similar-letters-of-
reference being placed thereon, denoting similar parts where such parts appear
or can be seen in each of the Figures respectively.
It would be very desirable to all persons possessing a commodious and well-
furnished house to devote one portion thereof to the reception of a billiard
table, but in the majority of houses there is no room of sufficient capacity
except the drawing room, and therefore the agreable, healthy, and innocent
amusement and exercise of the game of billiards is, perforce, dispensed with.
To those whose occupations are of a sedentary nature, to females and children

page_text: (who cannot play at the public billiard rooms), this privation is of no small
importance, and my attention has been directed so to arrange or construct a
billiard table that it may be easily set up or mounted and as easily dismounted
and put aside. To effect this object it is necessary to construct the billiard
table upon a different system to those in ordinary use, so that it may be taken
to pieces and put away in a reasonably small space. It is evident that
portable billiard tables may be constructed in many ways, each differing in
detail though not in principle; also that the carcass or framing may be made
of various substances, metal or wood, and that the foundation on which the
billiard cloth is finally stretched may be of iron, slate, wood, or other material,
that some may be quite plain and others more or less highly ornamented, and
that the fastenings used in attaching the various parts or portions of the
portable table to each other may be of various kinds, such as bolts, hinges,
clasps, and other, and that various contrivances may be found to attain and
sustain horizontality or perfect level for the plane of the table, and that the
utility of the portable table may be further increased by making or constructing
it so as to serve for more than one purpose; and also that although many
billiard tables are constructed without pockets for the balls (called carambole
tables), yet it is desirable to construct portable tables adapted to the ordinary
game as played in England, and as the ordinary pocket would be found incon-
venient, I construct them with a species of drawer to be used as pockets, and
shut in when the table is taken down or packed away. To comply as far as
possible with the proviso contained in the herein in part recited Letters
Patent, I shall shew in the Drawing three tables, each constructed upon the
principle of my improvements, but varying in detail. The tables shewn in
the Drawing are supported either by swinging, moveable, or fixed legs, but it
does not of necessity follow that legs should be used to support the tables, as
the tables may (as hereafter explained) be used without such supports.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 of the annexed Drawing represents a longitudinal section drawn
through the line 1 and 2 of Figure 3; Figure 2 is a transverse section
following the line 3 and 4 at Figure 1; Figure 3 shews a top plan of the
table; Figure 4, a plan of the folding piece, on which the cloth is stretched;
Figure 5 represents a vertical and longitudinal section of a billiard table, with
folding legs taken through the line 1, 2, of Figure 6, which is a bottom or
reversed plan view of the same billiard table; Figure 7 shews a longitudinal
view of a billiard table differently put together than that represented by
Figure 5, and intended to be used as a dining or other table as well as a

page_text: billiard table; Figure 8 shews (in section) a casting or block to serve as
elevator for Figure 7 when said table is used as a billiard table; Figure 9 is
a bottom or reversed plan of Figure 6; Figures 10, 11, 11%, and 12 shew
views of a dovetailed catch or fastening which I use to screw various parts of
my portable tables together; at Figure 10 four pair of clasps are seen in
position; Figure 11 is the socket part of the clasp catch a; Figure 11* the
other portion b, bearing the bolt c; and Figure 12 shews the junction of the
two parts. secured rigidly together by the pin d; Figure 13 shews a shelf
which is used (either in one or more pieces) to enlarge the superfice of the
table when it is required for dining or other purposes. Referring now to the
table represented by Figures 1, 2, and 3 in the Drawing, it will be observed
that this billiard table is composed of a framing a, a, in four parts, which are
made of oak veneered with mahogany, ebony, or other rich wood, and may be
ornamented or inlaid at pleasure. The parts of the framing a, a, are shewn
united or attached to the legs b by hooks c, which are themselves secured into
and by staples (or by bolts or otherwise) to the cross pieces a¹, forming a
solid whole. I place in the table d two plates or slabs, composed as herein-
after described, which are sustained not only by the parts of the framing a,
but also by cross pieces a', and when hinged together at their ends, as shewn
at Figures 2 and 4, form one uniform surface, which carries the cloth; or this
folding table, composed of two longitudinal plates or slabs as aforesaid, may be
hinged in any other convenient manner. And I would here observe that the
tongues or supports shewn in dotted lines on Figure 4 are on the under
surface of said folding table, and serve to assure its rigidity or horizontality
when in use. If it be preferred, a long sunken hinge, similar to the snuff-box
hinge, may be used to join these two slabs or any hinge or joint that will
ensure a perfectly flat and rigid surface. When the table is to be dismounted
and put away, these slabs are taken from within the framing, after the
cushions or bands are removed, and folded bookwise, the cloth being within
side is thus kept safe and clean. When the folding table or jointed slabs d
has been placed on the table as before directed, the bands or cushions are
mounted on and fixed to the framing by the aid of countersunk screws, the
heads of which are so formed as to be worked upon either by a screwdriver,
a claw key, or spanner, and the holes left above the screw heads may be filled
in with wooden or ivory corks, the bands or cushions are otherwise made in
the usual manner. In order to ensure to a table of this construction an exact
horizontality, the legs b (which may be four or six in number) are furnished
with a screw at each of their bases, working so as to lengthen or shorten the
legs or supports; spirit levels may be sunk in any part of the framing to serve

page_text: for the adjustment of the tables, and assure a perfect level or horizontal
position. I have just described one mode of constructing a billiard table
according to my Invention, and it will be seen that the whole table being
composed of several loose parts fitted together by joints and fastenings, it may
be set up in a very short time, and be dismounted and put away in even a
shorter period. A case or trunk of sufficient capacity is made to receive the
different portions, screws, bolts, and other fastenings, or a piece of ordinary
furniture, such as a sideboard, sofa, or other, may be so made as to contain the
whole, or the parts may be put away in a cupboard, anti-room, or other
convenient place.
Another modification of the Invention is shewn at Figures 5 and 6 of
the annexed Drawing, Figure 5 being a vertical and longitudinal section of
a billiard table taken through the line 1, 2, of Figure 6, which is a bottom
or reversed view of the same. This species or construction of table is
particularly convenient for billiard tables of small size; it is composed of a
rectangular framework formed by the four parts a, a, to these, secured by
bolts, are attached the four legs 6. The framing formed by the four parts a
is secured to the table formed of the parts c, c, c, by means of screws, as seen
in the Drawing at Figure 5, and the position or security of the framework is
further maintained by means of the two cross pieces d, d, Figure 5, fixed
thereto by hooks or clasps as well as by the screw plates f, affixed to the
cross pieces d by screws. These plates are used with advantage; they are
fixed near the top of the legs b, and serve to support or maintain them
laterally with the assistance of screws and bolts; and when the screws are
unscrewed, from the thickness of the plate the legs may be made to incline so
as to in part shut in and to occupy but little space. The plates of the cross
pieces d also perfectly support them, particularly when the hooks are fitted
into the screwed staples of the cross pieces. Turning to Figure 6 of the
Drawing, it will be understood that by unscrewing the screws which attach
the table c to the cross pieces d thèse parts are easily separated; but if the
screws are taken out of only one side, then one side of c can be folded on the
other, after the hooks are displaced from the staples. The three parts c are
maintained at an even height by means of cleets c', and the two articulations
or junctions placed near the middle allow the folding of one part of the table
over the other, even with the cloth thereon, preserving intact the middle line,
where the patches are placed. The cross pieces a have a hinge or joint in a¹,
which adds to their support. The Figures 3 and 4 represent, the first a
section, the second an underview of a combination analogous to the preceding,
but preferable thereto for billiard tables of large or full size. In this latter

page_text: case the legs and the cross pieces of the framing a are maintained in position by
hooks and pins inside the legs under the framing, instead of being hinged,
mounted, and drilled near their tops for the passage of the bolts, in such wise
that it is sufficient to put back the hooks to allow of the elevation or folding
up of the legs, which, nevertheless once in position and fastened by the screws
of the bolts, are as firm and solid as the cross pieces d, being sustained by the
screw plates f. In this mode the framing made of the parts a is joined to
the table formed by the parts c² and c3 by means of hooks i, and to avoid
folding the table in the line of the patches of the cloth, I leave one portion
or side of the table larger than the other, and still allow the table to be folded
into a small compass, to be put away or masked as occasion may require. The
bands or sides h may be mounted with screws as heretefore directed, or they
may be furnished with projecting pieces to be inserted into the places j,
furnished with the screws, which on pressure secure the bands h in their
places, as seen at Figures 7 and 9, which latter construction allows of the table
being used as an ordinary table or dining table, and the parts j, which serve to
receive and fix the bands, are then employed to receive and secure the pieces and
shelves serving, to enlarge the table, as at Figure 13, where is seen a shelf or
board furnished with plates h', which being slipped into the screwed parts j of
the table, enlarges at once its capacity, a similar one being placed in the
opposite side and at the ends if required, or a series of flaps may be used,
fastened as in ordinary dining tables. It is understood that the table for
dining or other ordinary purposes does not stand so high as a billiard table,
and the adjusting screws placed in the legs of a billiard table can be made to
effect the necessary difference; but I find a simpler way is to have supporters k
of cast iron or other material placed under such legs, and afterwards regulate
the height of the table, and this method better secures the solidity of the table
on the floor of the room; one casting and part of leg of table is shewn in
section at Figure 8 of the Drawing. When the portable table used is found
to be not sufficiently rigid, but moves-with-the-pressure usually applied to the
sides or ends in billiard playing, I weight the body of the table underneath
the carcase, either by placing moveable shelves on ledges to be formed-on-the
inner parts of the legs and piling sand bags or other heavy weights on the
said shelves, or weighting the table in any manner that may be found most
convenient. Further, should it be desirable to use my portable billiard table
without such being supported by legs, I place on any ordinary table two or
more cross pieces, flat on their upper surface, but so formed underneath that
the said pieces let the supporting table into a cavity formed to its exact size;
on each side of this cavity are stops (which may be made moveable to suit

page_text: the size of other tables, or fixed, serving to hold or secure the supporting table
between the cavities); these stops are furnished with screws, padded at their
ends, which press the stops and framing of the supporting tables simultaneously,
and serve to keep the billiard table in a horizontal position after it is so
arranged by the spirit level. The slabs or boards forming the folding portion
or part on which the game of billiards is played are made or prepared with
three or more thicknesses of wood, with the grain of cach crossing or partially
crossing the other, and glued or otherwise made to adhere to each other, so
as to form solid slabs, on which the waxed cloth and the green or playing cloth
are stretched, or in some cases the playing cloth alone, the waxed cloth being
dispensed with.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be carried into
practical effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict
myself to the precise details or arrangements which I herein had occasion to
describe or refer to, as many variations may be made therefrom without
deviating from the main characteristics or principle of my Invention, nor do I
make any any claim to the exclusive use of any of the parts of mechanisın or
substance used in forming or constructing my portable billiard tables taken as
parts and not combination or used for the purposes of my Invention; but
what I consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention
secured to me by the herein in part recited Letters Patent, are the various
combinations and application of parts of mechanism and material, such parts
forming, when so combined, applied, or put together as herein-before described
aud illustrated in the Drawing, "An Improved Construction of Billiard Tables
for Drawing Rooms."
In witness whereof, I, the said Paul Antoine Cap, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
JULES FAUVELLE,
10, Boult Bonne Nouvelle.
P. A. CAP. (L.S.)