Toy Billiard Board and Cue for Children.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 29th Mar., 1892
Complete Specification Left, 28th Dec., 1892-Accepted, 4th Feb., 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
A Toy Billiard Board and Cue for Children.
I, THOMAS HUGH FLEMING of 24 Duke Street Douglas, Isle of Man, Iron-
monger, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to a game for children, and consists of a miniature billiard
board, and miniature cue, the former being in appearance as nearly as possible an
imitation on a reduced scale of a full size board, and the latter being the small
spring cue hereafter described, the action of which being pleasant and easily
mastered, enables the game to be played with much amusement by quite young
children who would be unable to manage the ordinary cue.
To make my toy billiard table, I take a level board of any suitable size, say
from 15" x 10" to 48" x 18" or thereabouts and I fix on the sides and ends the
side strips leaving openings at the four corners and centre of the sides to receive
the pockets which I construct of netting and suspend on small brass connections,
which bridge over the spaces between the edge strips.
I place small india-rubber pipe along the face of the edge strips and cover the
whole with a suitable cloth.
Short pegs to serve as dwarf legs are attached. The balls are of miniature size
and can be made of xylonite or any suitable material. The cue is enclosed in a
tubular case, which contains a coiled spring. The cue is longer than the tube and
projects at both ends. The tube is held in one hand and the end of the cue is
drawn back with the other hand, and then let go, when it flies forward and strikes
the ball.
Dated this 29th day of March 1892.
S. S. BROMHEAD,
97, Newgate Street, E.C., Agent for Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
A Toy Billiard Board and Cue for Children.
I, THOMAS HUGH FLEMING of 24 Duke Street, Douglas, Isle of Man, Iron-
monger, 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 is designed to gratify the desire so common in children, of
imitating the pursuits and amusements of their parents or seniors. It relates to a
miniature billiard board and cue, the former being as nearly as possible an imitation
of a full size billiard table without the legs, and the latter the special spring-action
cue hereafter described, the use of which being pleasant and easily mastered, enables
the game to be played with much amusement by young children of either sex, who
would find the ordinary cue difficult to manage.
I will now describe the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings,
in which
Fig. 1 is a plan view of a miniature billiard table a shewing the method of
supporting the net c by means of the metal brackets b.
Fig. 2 is a side elevation of a spring-action cue which is all shewn in section,
except the handle part d. e is a tube containing the coiled spring 9. f is the cue
rod which is solid with the handle d, and which passes through the tubular
casing e. f is a stop on the rod which when the handle d is drawn back,
compresses the spring 9. To strike the ball it is necessary to hold the tube e in one
FD Q77

page_text: hand, and draw back the handle d with the other hand. The handle is then let go
when the spring impels the rod f forward, and if the cue is near enough to the ball,
the latter is struck.
To make my toy billiard table I take a level board of any suitable size, say
from 15" x 10" to 48" x 18", or thereabouts and I fix thereto the necessary side
and end strips to form the boundary edge of the board, leaving openings at the four
corners and centre of the sides to receive the pockets.
I form the pockets of netting, and suspend them partly from the brackets b,
which bridge over the open spaces between the marginal strips.
I form the cushions with small india-rubber tube which I fix along the face of
the marginal strips. I then cover the whole except the pockets, with a suitable
cloth or flock paper.
Short pegs to serve as dwarf legs are placed beneath the board. The balls are
of miniature size and can be made of xylonite bone or any suitable material.
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. A billiard cue of any size, with spring-action as herein described and set
forth.
2. The combination of a miniature billiard table with a spring-action cue, as
herein described and set forth.
Dated this 28th day of December 1892
S. S. BROMHEAD,
97, Newgate Street, E.C., Patent Agent.