IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR REGISTERING AND INDICATING BILLIARDS AND OTHER GAMES
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Benjamin Templar, of the City of Manchester,
Schoolmaster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR
REGISTERING AND INDICATING BILLIARDS AND OTHER GAMES."
Sealed the 25th November 1862, and dated the 2nd June 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Benjamin Templar at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 2nd
June 1862.
I, BENJAMIN TEMPLAR, of the City of Manchester, Schoolmaster, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR
REGISTERING AND INDICATING BILLIARDS AND OTHER GAMES," to be as follows:-
The nature of my Invention consists' in certain improved combinations and.
arrangements of parts by means whereof the progress of the game is indicated,
and the number of games played is registered. My improvements are par-
ticularly applicable to billiards, but they may be used for other games in
which numbers are to be scored. One object of my Invention being to.
prevent fraud by the marker or other person employed to score the games..
In performing my Invention I make use of a case containing two rollers, on
which numerals are marked in series from 1 to 20, and so on progressively up
to 100, or any other given numbers may be arranged in two or more rows on

page_text: each roller; pointers are also used to indicate the number scored; each roller
is provided with an eccentric acting on a bar to which catches are jointed;
these catches act on a ratchet wheel with ten or other convenient number of
teeth, and the catches are jointed to the bar in suchwise that in rising they
move the wheel round for one tooth or two teeth, but in descending they pass
without influencing the wheel; this wheel is the first of a series of indicating
wheels, the others deriving motion from it in the usual manner. When the
apparatus is used to score the game of billiards with 50 up the first roller
that is turned partly round to bring another series of numbers in sight, raises
the rack by means of the eccentric and thus turns the indicating wheel round
for one tooth. When the rack has thus been raised by one eccentric it is
beyond the reach of the other eccentric and so prevents the game being twice.
marked. When the game is finished the rollers are brought back to their
original position, and another game proceeds as before. When the game is
played with a 100 up, the first roller that is turned partly round acts on the
indicating wheel to score a game of 50, and the first roller that is turned
partly round to indicate the numbers above 50, acts on the indicating wheel
to score a second game of 50, by this means the game up to 63, which is
somtimes played and which is paid for like a game of 100, is also registered.
In playing the game of pool each slip used to present to view the "lives
of the players is provided with a slide with a loose catch acting on an
indicating wheel as above described. When this slide is drawn back on com-
mencing a game, a pendent catch moves the indicating wheel for one tooth,
thus registering the number of times that each set of "lives" is used. In all
cases the registering apparatus is kept under lock and key, and the owner of
the table can on inspecting the indexes ascertain how many games have been
played, thus checking the reckoning of the marker.
"
In applying my improvements to billiard marking, boards of the usual con-
struction where a row of numbers from 1 up to 20, and another row of tens
up to 100, are generally marked on the board. I apply two discs with the
numbers 20, 40, 60, and 80 marked thereon, instead of the row of tens.
These discs are turned round by hand, and in turning round the eccentric
upon either moves a bar with catches acting as before described on a set of
indicating wheels which registers the gaines played. The above details as to
numbers, and the arrangements of the parts, may be considerably varied and
modified.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Benjamin Templar in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
1st December 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, BENJAMIN
TEMPLAR, of the City of Manchester, Schoolmaster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Benjamin Templar, Her special license that I, the said Benjamin
Templar, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Benjamin Templar, 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 APPARATUS FOR REGISTERING AND INDICATING
BILLIARDS AND OTHER GAMES," upon the condition (amongst others), that I, the
said Benjamin Templar, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said, Letters Patent.
.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Benjamin Templar, 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 nature of my Invention consists in certain improved combinations and
arrangements of parts by means whereof the progress of the game of billiards
or other game is indicated, and the number of games played is registered.
My improvements are particularly applicable to billiards, but they may be
used for other games in which numbers and games are to be scored..
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily carried
into execution, I will proceed to describe the accompanying Sheet of Drawings;
reference being bad to the figures and letters marked thereon.
Fig. 1 is an elevation on a reduced scale of one of my improved apparatus
i

page_text: for registering and indicating the game of billiards. Figs. 2 and 3 are two
views of the registering apparatus drawn full size. a is the case containing the
two rollers b and c; the axes of which rotate in bearings fixed in the case; on
these rollers numerals are marked from 0 to 14, and so on progressively up
to 100. The circumference of each roller is divided into six equal parts, and
the numerals are marked on five of these parts, while the sixth is left blank;
6¹ and c² are the usual pointers which slide in grooves in the case as is now
customary. One end of each roller is provided with an eccentric plate
imarked respectively b² and c². When the rollers are turned these eccentrics
act on studs. projecting from the bar d to which the catches e, e, e, are jointed;
these catches act on the ratchet wheel f, having ten teeth (connected with this
wheel is the wheel' f, having the numerals from 0 to 9) and the catches are
jointed to the bar d in suchwise that in rising they move the ratchet wheel f
round for one tooth or two teeth, but in descending they pass without influen-
cing the ratchet wheel; on the back of the wheelf is a peg acting at every
revolution thereof on the indicating wheel g, or a series of ordinary indicating
wheels may be used instead....
The Drawings represent the various parts of the apparatus in the positions
they occupy when the first game is going to be played, the pointers b' and c¹
which have to be moved by hand in the usual manner are both at zero; as
the game proceeds the marker scores the points made until one of the players
lias scored fifteen or any number above the last number on the first series of
numerals; the roller corresponding to the pointer is then turned round two-sixths
of a revolution by means of a knob outside the case, as shewn in Fig. 1, and
in thus, turning either roller partly round, the bar d is raised by the eccentric
attached to it sufficiently for the catches e to turn the indicating or ratchet
wheel round for one tooth or one tenth of a revolution, thus bringing the
figure 1-in the place before occupied by the zero. If the roller b is the first
'to be turned partly round, the eccentric 62, acting on the stud' in the bar d,
raises the other stud in the bar beyond the reach of the other eccentric, and
- vice versa; the first rise of the bar d is thus made to score one-game on the
indicating wheel f', but when the second player has completed his first
fifteen or more points- his roller can be turned two-sixths round to bring a
fresh series of numerals in view without scoring a game, because, as before
described, the stud in the bar d has already been raised beyond the reach of
the eccentric on the said second roller, and thus prevents the same game from
being registered twice: The object of making the first series of numerals on
the rollers and c from zero up to 14 is to be able to register, the "canon"
game, which is usually played with sixteen up, and the object of leaving the

page_text: next sixth of each roller blank is to insure sufficient turning of the roller to
mark on one game before the 15 can be brought into view. When such a
game has been played, the marker, by reversing the motion of the roller, on
which the winner's score has been indicated, allows the bar d by its own
weight to regain its original position; the next game then proceeds as before.
When the usual game of 50 up is being played, the game is registered on the
indicating apparatus (by either roller) at the same turning point as before,
and that part of the roller with the second row of numerals marked upon it,
from 15 to 30, remains in sight until the score of either of the players
exceeds 30, it then becomes necessary for the marker to turn the roller
another sixth of a revolution to bring the third row of numerals, from 30
to 50 in sight. This second turn of the roller does not influence the indicating
wheel, because the corresponding portion of the circumference of each of the
eccentrics and c³ is concentric, consequently an ordinary game of 50 up is
only registered like a "canon" game of sixteen up, the charge for each being
the same.
If another game of fifty up is to be played, the marker reverses
the motion of the rollers to allow the rack d to regain its original position,
and another game can then proceed as before; but if the next game to be
played consists of any number from 50 up to 100, the requisite partial turn
of either of the rollers to indicate the first score above 50 points-raises the
bar. d. sufficiently to move the first indicating wheel f' another tooth, thus
scoring a second game; by this means the game of 63 up, which is sometimes
played, and which is paid for like a game of 100 up, is registered in the same
manner. The fourth row of numerals is marked from 50 to 75, and the fifth
row from 76 to 100, but in turning the roller so as to bring the fifth row of
numerals in sight no motion is given to the bar d, because the corresponding
portions of the eccentrics 62 and care concentric. In registering the tenth
game played, the stud at the back of the wheel facts on a tooth of the
wheel g, and moves it so as. to bring its 1 into the place of its zero, and over
the 0 of the wheel f¹, thus indicating the number 10; in this way the wheel g
is made to register the tens, while the wheel f¹ registers the units. It is
plain that with the arrangement of the numerals already described, and with
the shape I give to the eccentrics, every game of any number of points
between 15 and 50 will be registered just as the ordinary game of 50 up is
registered.
Fig. 4 represents an elevation of part of my improved apparatus for
registering and indicating the game of billiards called pool; Fig. 5 is a section
of the same; and Fig. 6 is a view of one of the slides shewn in Fig. 4, with
the registering apparatus in detail. h, i, j, and k are four slips fitting in

page_text: grooves in the case (, which slips are drawn out, as shewn in Fig. 4, to present
to view the "lives" of the players. I wish to remark that the apparatus may
be provided with any convenient number of slips. On the back of each slip
is fastened a pendant catch e, similar to those shewn in Fig. 3, and below each
slip at the back of the apparatus is mounted an indicating ratchet wheel h¹,
see Fig. 6. A stud in the wheel h¹ acts on a second wheel h², to help to
register the games, as already described.
The mode of operation is as follows:-When a game of pool is to be played,
a slip is drawn out for each player, thus exhibiting each player's three
"lives." As soon as a player has lost a "life" the corresponding slip is
pushed in to cover one of the circles, and while doing so the catch e pushes
on the wheel h¹ one tooth. The covering of the second and third "lives"
does not affect the registering apparatus.
As a player sometimes wants to "star" three "lives," and as it would confuse
the calculation of the pools played if any slip were drawn quite out, and so
made to register twice in the same pool, I make use of the following arrange-
ment: Each groove for the slips h, i, &c., is furnished at the left-hand side
of the case with two short slips p and q, the former being marked with a
star as usual, and the latter with an extra "life," which can be used only in
"starring." In commencing the game the slips p and q are all pushed in, as
shewn in the first, second, and fourth grooves; but supposing the player,
represented by the slip j in the third groove, to want to "star" three "lives,"
the slip jis drawn back again to uncover two of the circles in the groove, and
the small slips p and q are drawn out to represent the star and the third
"life," and thus the catch at the back of the slip is kept from registering
twice in one pool. By means of this apparatus each first inward move of
the slips h, i, &c., to take off the first "life" brings the catch e in contact
with and moves the indicating wheel h¹ to score one, but when the slips h, i,
&c., are drawn out previous to commencing a pool, the catch e passes over
the indicating wheel without moving it. At the end of the day, or whenever
it is requisite to ascertain the number of pools that have been played, the
case is opened, and the indicating wheels are examined. The two upper
indicators will always register the total number of pools of all kinds played,
as the two top slides are used in every pool, no matter how many players
there may be, as in all games at pool there must be at least two players, and
there may be nine or any other number according to the number of slips in
the case.
The indicating wheels of each slip will tell in how many pools it
has been used, and, by the following method of subtracting, the proprietor
. may know how many pools of various kinds have been played.

page_text: 23
23
14
10
For example, suppose the numbers on the indicating wheels "to
stand as in the margin, there being ten slips in the pool board; the
19 proprietor beginning at the bottom with the tenth pair of wheels would
see that there had been no pool with ten players, and only one with
nine players; the difference between this one and the 3 immediately
above it would show that there had been two pools with eight players;
3 subtracting the 3 from the 7 would give 4 as the number of pools with
seven players, and so on to the top, the top numbers showing that there
had been twenty-three pools in all played.
8
7
1
0
In this, as in the billiard-marking apparatus, the proprietor may at the
close of the day set all the wheels at zero ready for the next day.
Fig. 7 represents a billiard-marking board of a usual construction to whichi
my improvements are also applied. This board is provided with two rows of
numerals, from 1 up to 19, and with pointers sliding in grooves as usual.
Above the rows of numerals are two buttons fixed on the axes of the discs
and s; these discs are marked with the numbers 20, 40, 60, and' 80, and a
blank space is left between the numbers 20 and 80. Two openings are made
in the marking board above the axes of the discs to exhibit the numbers 20,
40, 60, and 80 when required. To the back of each disc is attached an
eccentric similar to those shewn in Fig. 2, and these eccentrics act in the
same manner on the bar d, with catches e for giving motion to the indicating
wheels, as before described. On commencing a game the pointers are both
at zero, and when either of the players has scored any number above 19,
the marker by turning the button of the corresponding disc brings the
figure 20 opposite the opening in the case. This first partial rotation of the
disc is not sufficient to influence the registering apparatus. The marker must
then move the pointer back to the left-hand end of the groove in the case,
and the game proceeds as before until one of the players has scored above 39,
when the disc of the player so scoring is turned to exhibit the number 40,
and so on up to the end of the game. The second partial rotation of either
of the discs raises the bar d, and scores a game, as before described. It will
be seen that this apparatus does not indicate any game of less than forty up.
In turning the first disc from the 40 to the 60 another game is registered
just as with the rollers, so that the game of sixty-three up is registered like
the game of one hundred up, as before described. In all cases the registering
apparatus is kept under lock and key, and the owner of the tables can on
inspecting the indexes ascertain how many, games have been played, thus
checking the reckoning of the marker.
The above détails as to the arrangement of the numerals and the shape

page_text: of the parts may be considerably modified, and when my improved apparatus
is employed for scoring games other than billiards, the parts must be modified
accordingly.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, and described the manner
of performing the same, I declare that I claim,-
First, in reference to the apparatus shewn in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 7, the
general arrangement of the marking boards, and particularly the combination
of the parts marked b, c, d, e, f, f, and g, for indicating and registering the
games played.
Secondly, in reference to the apparatus shewn in Figs. 4, 5, and 6, the
general arrangement of the parts for indicating and registering the pools of
each kind played.
And, thirdly, in reference to the apparatus shewn in Figs. 4, 5, and 6; the
particular combination of the small slides marked p and q for "starring" three
lives" at the game of pool.
In witness whereof, I, the said Benjamin Templar, have hereto set my
hand and seal, the Twenty-ninth day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
BENJAMIN TEMPLAR. (L.B.)