An Improved Form of Board or Table upon which to Play Games Combining some of the Principal Features of Billiards and Bagatelle.
Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 28th Jan., 1887.
Specification Accepted, 1st Mar., 1887.
COMPLETE
An Improved Form of Board or Table upon which to Play Games
Combining some of the Principal Features of Billiards and
Bagatelle.
I HARRY STEVENS of 23 Cranbury Avenue Southampton Contractor 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 board or table is made of the materials of which billiard and bagatelle tables
and boards are usually made; it can be made either as a table supported on its own
legs or as a board to be placed upon a table and may be made either rigid throughout
its length or be hinged in the centre so as to double up in the same way as bagatelle
boards are commonly made; in the following description of my invention the term
board-unless otherwise stated-is to be taken as applying to either of these forms of
construction.
The cushions around the board are made of the ordinary materials used for the
cushions of Billiard and Bagatelle tables and boards. My board can be of any size,
the proportions I find most advantageous are a width equal to one third of the length.
Like billiard and bagatelle tables and boards it is intended for the playing of games
with varied coloured ivory or similar balls with cues, the players playing from one
end as in bagatelle and towards which end a space is marked off by lines upon the
cloth from which balls may be played as is the practice with the baulk lines and space
in the game of billiards, this end of my board I speak of in my following description
as the lower end and the other end of the board I call the upper end.
My improvements are as follows:-Instead of the receptacles for balls as formed
and placed upon the ordinary bagatelle board I place in my board receptacles for the
balls around the sides and top only of the board and these receptacles are so formed
and placed that the inner edge is in a line or thereabouts with the inner face of the
cushion as are the edges of the middle pockets of a billiard table, whilst the outer part
of these receptacles is formed by a curved continuation of the sides of the board,

page_text: solidly constructed of similar material to the rest of the board and its sides and in
such a manner as to be flush with the underside of the board so that such board may
be laid upon an ordinary table without detriment or inconvenience and also in such
manner as to maintain the continuity of the sides of the board so that its strength is
not impaired.
When made as a folding board I provide on the outside of the sides of the lower
half rounded projections in positions to correspond with the positions of the receptacles
on the sides of the upper half so that they cover over the open top of those receptacles
when the board is closed. I also introduce a peculiar formation of the cushions and
side of the board which I describe thus:-At the lower side of the receptacles placed
at the sides of the board I curve the cushion and side of the board outwards towards
the back of the receptacle with a long and gradual curve as compared with that of the
cushion immediately above these receptacles, so that the difficulty of making a ball
enter such receptacles from any point below their centre is greatly reduced.
upper side of these receptacles I curve the cushion towards the receptacles with an
ordinary quadrant curve as are the cushions on each side of the middle pockets of a
billiard table.
At the
At the top end of the board instead of the cushion being rounded in a single and
continuous curve as in an ordinary bagatelle board, I break the single curve by two
receptacles which I place near the top end of the board; between these two receptacles
I curve the cushion with a slight or flat curve; procceding from these two receptacles
down the board I first curve the cushions on both sides slightly towards the central
part of the board and then curve them outwards towards the sides of the board to the
next receptacles on each side of the board thus forming between the top receptacles
and the next ones on each side a cushion having an ogee curve in such a way that a
ball travelling up the side of the board along the cushion will not follow round the.
cushion of the top end of the board as it will do in the curved top end of a bagatelle
board.
The number of receptacles in my board and their position may be varied, but I find
the best number to be eight or when desired to make the board more difficult for
scoring hazards then the number may be with advantage six; and for position 1
prefer to distribute them at about equal distances around the sides and top end of
the upper half of the board, but I do not confine myself either to this number or
spacing.
:-
When made as a folding board I further introduce the following improvements :-
The loose end (hitherto in use with folding bagatelle boards for closing up the open
space at what becomes one end of the board when it is closed) I so construct that it
also forms a marking apparatus for recording the respective scores made in playing
the game, the principle of indicators sliding in grooves by the side of a row or scale
of figures hitherto in use for billiard markers being applied, springs being placed at
the back of the indicators to prevent their slipping when it is desired to work this
marker vertically.
At the ends of this my combined loose end and marking apparatus I provide
flattened holders of metal (as brass or copper) bored with holes thus forming eyes by
which when in use for marking it may be suspended; these holders I construct with
round stems running down into the ends of the said loose end and so attached that
they will turn freely as by terminating them in nuts morticed into the said loose end
thus enabling them to be turned at right angles to the face of the loose end so that
they will lie between the edges of the board when it is closed, the holes receiving pins
or studs which I place for that purpose projecting above the top of the cushions, by
which arrangement the loose end is secured in its position when the board is closed.
I further utilize this loose end as a level with which to adjust the board for play, by
inserting in the edge an ordinary glass spirit level bulb.
To more clearly explain the nature of my invention and to assist in the more ready
understanding of my foregoing description of the same I have prepared a drawing
which accompanies my specification; this drawing shews my board in the folding

page_text: form so that
may illustrate all my improvements; besides a general plan of the
board in which these are depicted there is a sectional view to more fully set forth the
construction and configuration of the outer side of the side receptacles and their
covers and the combined loose end marker and level is shewn both in elevation above
the board and in half plan in position for closing the board.
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. The construction and configuration of the sides of the board forming the outside
of the side receptacles in conjunction with the placing of those receptacles in that
position.
2. The shape and arrangement of the cushions and sides of the board on the lower
side of the side receptacles.
3. The central flat curved and two side ogee curved arrangement of the cushions
around the top end of the board divided from one another by two receptacles placed
in that position.
And when made as a folding board:-
4. The rounded pieces on the lower half of the board placed to cover the open part
of the side receptacles when the board is closed.
5. The combination of marking apparatus with the loose end provided with revolving
holdors at each end.
6. The combination of a level with the last named.
All the above enumerated features of novelty being substantially as described in
detail in my foregoing specification elucidated by the drawing.
7. The combination of all or of any two or more of these features of novelty with a
board or table in other respects similar to the board or table commonly used in the
game of bagatelle.
HARRY STEVENS.