IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF METALLIC AND SLATE BILLIARD TABLES
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Daniel Harris, of 257, Oxford St., London, W.,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF METALLIC
AND SLATE BILLIARD TABLES."
Sealed the 20th October 1864, and dated the 25th April 1864.1
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Daniel Harris at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 25th
April 1864.
I, DANIEL HARRIS, of 257, Oxford St., London, W., do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF
METALLIC AND SLATE BILLIARD TABLES," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in facing the present surface of indian-rubber.
cushions with steel, elastic plates, or wires, by which arrangement the inci-
dental and reflective angles are equally yielded, and the elasticity increased.
Also, the adaptation of metallic girders and framework for slate bed billiard
tables, by which arrangement wooden wedges and supports of the same
material are entirely dispensed with, the slate being made to rest on polished
steel bearings by which the adjustment is perfectly maintained. And by aid
of the cast-iron girders the deflective pressure is not thrown on the metallic
sides, but on a wrought-iron.tension bar fixed during the process of casting
into the girder; the girder fits dovetailed in the frame.
My new metallic billiard bed is much lighter in material and weight than

page_text: others hitherto in use, while the rigidity of the plates is greatly increased
consequent on the introduction of tubular ribs being cast on cores over the
bottom surface of plates.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters. Patent, filed
by the said Daniel Harris in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 24th
October 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, DANIEL
HARRIS, of 257, Oxford Street, London, W., send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Daniel Harris, Her special licence that I, the said Daniel
Harris, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Daniel Harris, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN.
THE CONSTRUCTION OF METALLIC AND SLATE BILLIARD TABLES," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said Daniel Harris, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of
their hands and scals, 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 Daniel Harris, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement (that is to say) :-
The first part of my said improvements consists in inserting horizontally in
the india-rubber cushions one or more elastic steel plates or wires, which
plates or wires are covered on the side of the cushion on which the ball
strikes with another piece of india-rubber, or in facing the india-rubber
cushions with one or more elastic steel plates or wires, so as to render the

page_text: angles of percussion and repulsion more nearly equal, the cushion and table
being covered as usual with cloth.
:
The second part of my improvements consists in using screws, the heads of
which, gilt, plated, or otherwise finished, project beyond the sides and ends of
the frame to fasten the cushions to the framework, instead of, as now, sinking
the heads of these screws into the timber frame, and thereby weakening it.
The third part of my improvements consists in the use of metallic girders,
the ends of which terminate in a dovetail, in which steel, iron, or other
metallic screws are inserted vertically, and also one screw in the centre of each
girder to adjust the tables; these I apply to slate tables, and the screws are
rounded or flattened, and polished on the upper end.
The fourth part of my improvements consists of metallic girders similar to
the above as to their dovetailed ends, but having a tension bar or bars, on the
ends of which tension bar or bars the metal is cast, or the tension bar or bars
are subsequently fitted and secured to the girders by nuts, screws, rivets, or
otherwise, and having steel, iron, or other metallic screws working vertically in
their ends, and one in the centre of the girder.
The fifth part of my improvements consists in metallic frames for metallic
and slate tables, on the sides and ends of which iron dovetails are either cast
or fitted and secured by screws, rivets, or otherwise. I apply these metallic
girders with or without tension bar or bars, but with the adjusting screws
before-mentioned in the ends & centre to frames made of metal, and also to
frames made of timber, to metallic and slate tables, the dovetails in case of
timber frames being made in metal, and securely screwed, fitted, rivetted, or
otherwise secured to the frames.
The female dovetails at the ends of the table have a flange at bottom
through which a screw works vertically on the bottom of a male dovetail to
aid in adjusting the table in conjunction with the screws in the centre and
ends of the girders, whether these girders have or have not a tension bar or
bars, and the end of these screws being polished, act on the lower surface of
the metallic or slate table or on an intervening piece of metal. By the use of
these metallic girders with a tension bar or bars, the deflective pressure of the
tables, whether metal or slate, is not thrown on the metallic or timber frames,
but on the tension bar or bars; timber wedges and supports are entirely
dispensed with, and the screws afford a ready and easy means for adjusting
the tables.
The sixth part of my improvements consists in tubular or cellular ribs, being
cast on the under surface of metallic tables by which their weight is lessened
without impairing or injuring their strength. These tables may be cast in

page_text: one or more pieces, and if in more than one, the joints are accurately planed
and fitted.
Having particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention and improvements, and the manner in which the same is to be
performed, it must be clearly understood that what I claim as my Invention
and improvements are as follows, viz.:-
The application of elastic steel springs or wires to the india-rubber
cushions.
The fastening these cushions to the frame' by screws, the heads of which
project beyond the frame, and gilt, plated, or otherwise finished.
The use of metallic girders terminating in dovetails, and fitted with vertical
adjusting screws in the dovetails and the centre of the girders.
The use of metallic girders terminating in dovetails with adjusting screws
in the dovetails and centre, and having a tension bar or bars on which the
girder is cast, or to which the tension bar or bars are subsequently fitted and
secured by screws, rivets, or otherwise.
The dovetails at the ends of the tables with adjusting screws.
The application of these metallic girders with or without tension bar or
bars to metallic and slate tables and to metallic and timber frames.
The use of screws working vertically in the centre and ends of the girders
and in the flange at the bottom of the female dovetails fitted to or cast on the
ends of the frames to adjust the tables, and the use of a piece of metal between
the top of these screws and the lower surface of the tables.
The tubular or cellular ribs cast on the lower surface of the metallic
tables.
In witness whereof, I, the said Daniel Harris, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
Present,
W. H. KINGSTON.
DAN. HARRIS. (L.S.)