Patent Application
20230310975
The present disclosure relates to a game of billiards, and more particularly, to a ball rack for positioning and arranging billiards balls in various configurations.
The beginning action in the game of billiards includes racking the balls on the billiards tabletop in a tightly racked configuration, namely, a triangle or diamond ball layout. When properly racked, the balls form either a triangle composed of the individual balls aligned such that they tangentially touch one another without gaps intervening any two contiguous balls. However, using conventional racks, the user must place the balls in the interior of the rack and carefully remove the rack such that the stationary balls are not disturbed, and no gaps are introduced between the balls. When a gap is formed but not noticed, during the initial breaking strike, the balls may not disperse correctly and leave many balls grouped tightly together, which makes gameplay disadvantageous and possible less enjoyable.
One conventional ball rack design includes a frame which can be closed when the latch is engaged, and the balls enclosed within it in the usual manner. A bar pushes the billiard balls inwardly to force all the balls closely up into an apex. To remove the frame, the operator will simply press downward his hand on a button, thereby withdrawing the latch and allowing the side bars to spring outwardly, thus permitting the frame to be lifted without any possibility of contacting with or disturbing the balls.
In another attempt to solve the ball racking problem, one conventional billiard rack compresses billiards balls towards the center of the rack from all sides. The billiard ball rack has a retractable actuator that activates packing bars to compress the balls and resets the packing bars to their original position after compression. The packing bars have an angled edge for seating the balls into the table surface when the retractable actuator is actuated. Additionally, a method of compacting balls by urging the balls from at least three sides to the center of a frame.
In accordance with another prior art a device for racking billiard balls includes a frame of substantially equilateral triangular shape having a forward apex and an oppositely located rear wall which pivotably supports an elongated compression plate adapted to be forced manually upon the rearward row of balls confined within the frame. The compression plate applies a downward and forward force upon the rearward row of balls, causing all the balls to be driven toward the forward apex in inter-contacting relationship. The frame is dimensioned such that, when the balls are forwardly driven, a clearance space is formed between the rearward row of balls and the back wall. The clearance space permits slight forward movement of the device during its removal from the balls.
However, using these conventional billiards racks does not adequately leave the balls undisturbed while removing the ball rack, making it easy to disturb or affect the billiards ball formation. Thus, there exists a need of a ball rack that facilitates positioning and arranging billiards balls.
It is with respect to these and other considerations that the disclosure made herein is presented.
In one embodiment of the present disclosure, a ball rack configured to position and arrange billiards balls is disclosed. The ball rack may include a pair of frame arms defining two arms of a triangular structure. Further a pair of rear portions may be provided on each respective frame arm. In accordance with the implementation a pair of door supports may be provided on the pair of the rear portions. Further each door support may extend upwardly from the pair of frame arms. The door support may be configured to receive a door shaft, and further a door panel may be coupled to the door shaft. Further, a biasing spring may be configured to move the door panel between an opened position, and a closed position about a door pivot axis. In other aspects, a spherical protrusion may be mounted on the pair of arms such that the spherical protrusions are in contact with a billiards table. The spherical protrusion may enable easy sliding of the ball rack without disturbing tightly racked balls.
In another implementation of the present disclosure, a ball rack for positioning and arranging billiards balls is disclosed. The ball rack can include a formation-shaping frame, having a pair of frame arms. Further, the formation-shaping frame is coupled to a billiards-ball door, defining an interior portion. The billiards-ball door further forms at least one side of the billiards ball rack. The ball rack further comprises a pair of rear portions provided on each respective frame arm. Further a pair of door supports are provided on the pair of the rear portions. Each door support extends upwardly from the pair of frame arms and is configured to receive a door shaft, a door panel coupled to the door shaft, and a biasing spring configured to move the billiards-ball door between an opened position, and a closed position about a door pivot axis. The ball rack as disclosed may further comprise a spherical protrusion mounted on the pair of arms such that the spherical protrusions are in contact with a billiards table, further the spherical protrusion to enable easy sliding of ball rack without disturbing the tightly racked balls.
The detailed description is set forth with reference to the accompanying drawings. The use of the same reference numerals may indicate similar or identical items. Various embodiments may utilize elements and/or components other than those illustrated in the drawings, and some elements and/or components may not be present in various embodiments. Elements and/or components in the figures are not necessarily drawn to scale. Throughout this disclosure, depending on the context, singular and plural terminology may be used interchangeably.
Some embodiments of the present disclosure, illustrating all its features, will now be discussed in detail. It must also be noted that as used herein and in the appended claims, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.
Unless otherwise indicated, the drawings are intended to be read (for example, cross-hatching, arrangement of parts, proportion, degree, or the like) together with the specification, and are to be considered a portion of the entire written description of this invention. As used in the following description, the terms “horizontal”, “vertical”, “left”, “right”, “up” and “down”, “upper” and “lower” as well as adjectival and adverbial derivatives thereof (for example, “horizontally”, “upwardly”, or the like), simply refer to the orientation of the illustrated structure as the particular drawing figure faces the reader. Similarly, the terms “inwardly” and “outwardly” generally refer to the orientation of a surface relative to its axis of elongation, or axis of rotation, as appropriate.
In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure a ball rack for positioning and arranging billiards balls is disclosed. The ball rack as disclosed enables conventional arrangement of the billiards balls in a triangular or diamond formation. The ball rack may include a formation-shaping frame. The formation-shaping frame may be triangular structure. The triangular structure in accordance with an exemplary aspect may be equilateral triangular structure. The triangular structure may further include a pair of frame arms. Each arm of the pair of frame arms may be configured to have same length to enables formation of an isosceles triangle. In another aspect the lengths of the pair of frame arms may not be same to enable non-conventional arrangement of the billiards balls.
Further the base of the triangular structure of the ball rack may include a billiards-ball door configured to hold a plurality of billiards balls securely and tightly in the formation. The billiards-ball door may be coupled to the formation-shaping frame to define an interior portion corresponding to the desired positioning and arranging of the plurality billiards balls. The billiards-ball door may be mounted on a pair of door supports, further the pair of door supports may be provided on a pair of rear portions. The pair of rear portions may be further provided on the pair of frame arms at a distal end from an apex formed by the triangular structure. The apex is formed at point where the pair of frame arms join with each other.
The pair of door supports may be configured to extend upwardly from the pair of frame arms. The door supports may be further configured to provide handgrips to a user to grip and maneuver the billiards ball rack along a surface on billiards table. Further the pair of door supports may be configured to receive a door shaft. The door shaft may be further coupled to a door panel. The door panel and door shaft may be further coupled with a biasing spring. The biasing spring may be further configured to move the billiards-ball door between an opened position, and a closed position about a door pivot axis.
Further the billiards-ball door may be pivoted downwardly about the door pivot axis to arrange the billiards-ball door in the closed position. The billiards-ball door may be spaced apart from the door pivot axis and pivoted upwardly about the door pivot axis to arrange the billiards-ball door in the opened position. In accordance with the exemplary embodiment the door pivot axis may be spaced from the surface by a distance greater than the height of each billiards ball.
Further in accordance with the exemplary aspect the ball rack may be movable relative to the formation-shaping frame to allow ingress and egress of the billiards balls to and from the interior portion. Further to enable easy sliding of the ball rack a spherical protrusion may be mounted on the pair of arms. The spherical protrusion may be positioned such that the spherical protrusion is in contact with a billiards table. The spherical protrusion in an aspect may be positioned at the apex, and at the rear end of the pair of arms. Further the spherical protrusion enables easy sliding of ball rack without disturbing the tightly racked balls.
The balls may be tightly racked by the biasing spring wrapped around the door shaft, and further the ends of the biasing spring engage in the formation-shaping frame and the door panel. The ball rack in accordance with the exemplary aspect further includes bearings. The bearings may be located between the ends of the door shaft and the formation-shaping frame to reduce friction therebetween.
In another aspect of present disclosure, a billiards ball rack is configured enable positioning and arranging billiards balls. The billiards balls, may be placed in an interior portion. The interior portion may be defined by a pair of arms connected at an apex. The pair of arms joined at the apex form a “V” shape as a part of a triangular structure. Each arm from the pair of the arms, may be configured to provide formation-shaping arm. The formation-shaping arm enable arranging the billiards balls in a shape defined by the formation-shaping arm. Further in accordance with the aspect, the pair of arms may include two rears end. Each arm from the pair of arms has rear end, and the rear end are positioned at a distal end from the apex.
The rear portions may further include two door support mounted on each of the rear portions. The door supports may be positioned opposite to each other and configured to form a base of the triangular structure. The base of the triangular structure may be configured to provide a billiards-ball door. The billiards-ball door may further a door panel. The door panel may be mounted on in the door supports, such that one an upper edge of the door panel is mechanically coupled with two passages provided on each of the door support. Further an axis extending between the two passages may define door pivot axis. The door pivot axis in accordance with an aspect may be parallel to the table, and further the door panel may be configured to open or close or rotate about the pivot axis.
Further in another aspect door pivot axis may be perpendicular to the table. Further to open or close or rotate along perpendicular door pivot axis the door panel may be spilt into two halves each mounted on the respective door support. Further each door panel may have additional support provided on adjacent to the rear end.
In accordance with the exemplary aspect, the passages may include biasing spring. The biasing springs may be coupled with the door panel to securely and restrictively open and close the door panel. In closed position the door panel may provide pressure to securely hold billiard balls placed in the interior portion in a tight formation. Further while removing the billiards ball rack, the door panel is opened, and the billiards ball rack is slidable in the direction towards the apex without disturbing the racked billiards balls. The billiards ball rack may further include a spherical protrusion disposed on the pair of arms.
These and other advantages of the present disclosure are provided in detail herein.
The disclosure will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which example embodiments of the disclosure are shown, and not intended to be limiting.
A billiards ball rack 10 in accordance with the present disclosure is shown in
To form the initial formation, the plurality of billiards balls 12 are placed in the interior portion 14 defined by the billiards ball rack 10 as shown in
The billiards ball rack 10 includes a formation-shaping frame 16 and a billiards-ball door 18 coupled to the formation-shaping frame 16 as shown in
The formation-shaping frame 16 includes a pair of frame arms 20, 22 that connect at a apex 24 defining a forward end 26 of the billiards ball rack 10 as shown in
The billiards-ball door 18 is coupled to rear portions 28, 30 of each respective frame arm 20, 22 for pivotable movement relative to the formation-shaping frame 16 about a door pivot axis 32 between an opened position, as shown in
Each of the billiards balls 12 has a height 60 as shown in
In the illustrative embodiment, each frame arm 20, 22 of the formation-shaping frame 16 includes a formation-shaping beam 36, 38 and a door support portions 40, 42. The formation-shaping beams 36, 38 are configured to interact with the plurality of billiards balls 12 during formation of the initial formation. The door support portions 40, 42 provide the rear portions 28, 30 of the formation-shaping frame 16 and are configured to support the billiards-ball door 18. In some embodiments the door support portions 40, 42 are omitted and the billiards-ball door 18 is coupled directly to the formation-shaping beams 36, 38.
Each door support portions 40, 42 extends upwardly from the formation-shaping beams 36, 38 and is formed to include a passageway 44, 46 that receives a portion of the billiards-ball door 18 to mount the billiards-ball door 18 to the formation-shaping frame 16. The passageways 44, 46 may be a through-hole or a blind hole. The door support portions 40, 42 also provide handgrips that a user can use to grip and maneuver the billiards ball rack 10 along the surface 11.
The billiards-ball door includes a door shaft 48, a door panel 50 coupled to the door shaft 48, and a biasing spring 52 as shown in
The biasing spring 52 is coupled to the formation-shaping frame 16 and at least one of the door shaft 48 and the door panel 50 and is configured to bias the door panel 50 toward the opened position. Illustratively, the biasing spring 52 may be a torsion or other type of spring that is wrapped around the door shaft 48 and has ends that engage the formation-shaping frame 16 and the door panel 50. In some embodiments, the biasing spring 52 may bias the door panel 50 toward the closed position. According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, the biasing spring 52 may alternatively bias to an open position such that a user applies manual force to close the door during a racking operation.
In some embodiments, the biasing spring 52 may be omitted. In some embodiments, each end of the door shaft 48 may receive one or more separate biasing spring(s) 52. It should be appreciated that, although referred to as a biasing spring 52, one or more springs may be utilized for biasing. Moreover, although described as a torsion spring, a spring arm or other biasing mechanism is contemplated and may be used in place of the torsion spring. In some embodiments, bearings (not shown) may be disposed between the ends of the door shaft 48 and the formation-shaping frame 16 to reduce friction between door shaft 48 and the formation-shaping frame 16.
During use, each of the billiards balls 12 may be gathered into the interior portion 14 by sliding the billiards ball rack 10 across the surface while the billiards-ball door 18 is in the opened position such that the billiards balls 12 enter the interior portion 14 through the ball doorway 34. Thus, the billiards-ball door 18 allows the billiards balls 12 to be gathered without physically lifting the billiards balls 12 off the surface 11. Once the billiards balls 12 are gathered in the interior portion 14, the billiards-ball door 18 is configured to be movable from an opened position to a closed position by applying a force on the door panel 50 as shown in
In some embodiments, the billiards ball rack 10 may be referred to as an alignment tool for items used in a game. Accordingly, the present disclosure should not be limited only to billiards and can be used to form items into an initial formation for other games and/or game play items arranged in tight formation.
In accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure,
The rear portions 28, 30 may further include door support portions 40, 42 mounted on a respective end of the rear portions 28, 30. The rear portions 28, 30 may be positioned opposite to each other and configured to form a base of the triangular structure. The base of the triangular structure may be configured to provide a billiards-ball door 18. The billiards-ball door 18 may further include a door panel 50. The door panel may be mounted in the door support portions 40, 42, dispose respectively proximate to the rear portions 28, 30 such that an upper edge of the door panel 50 is mechanically coupled with two passageways 44, 46 disposed on each of the door support portions 40, 42. Further, an axis extending between the two passageway 44, 46 may define door pivot axis.
In accordance with the exemplary aspect, the passageway 44, 46 may include biasing spring 52. The biasing springs 52 may be coupled with the door panel 50 to securely and restrictively open and close the door panel 50. In closed position the door panel 50 as shown in
Further the height of ball doorway 34 may be higher than the billiards balls 12, so as to not disturb the formation while removing the billiards balls 12.
Although only a number of exemplary embodiments have been described in detail above, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible in the exemplary embodiments without materially departing from the novel teachings and advantages. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this disclosure as defined in the following claims.
While the methods, equipment and systems have been described in connection with specific embodiments, it is not intended that the scope be limited to the particular embodiments set forth, as the embodiments herein are intended in all respects to be illustrative rather than restrictive.
Unless otherwise expressly stated, it is in no way intended that any method set forth herein be construed as requiring that its steps be performed in a specific order. Accordingly, where a method claim does not actually recite an order to be followed by its steps or it is not otherwise specifically stated in the claims or descriptions that the steps are to be limited to a specific order, it is no way intended that an order be inferred, in any respect.
“Optional” or “optionally” means that the subsequently described event or circumstance may or may not occur, and that the description includes instances where said event or circumstance occurs and instances where it does not.
Throughout the description and claims of this specification, the word “include” and variations of the word, such as “comprising” and “comprises,” means “including but not limited to,” and is not intended to exclude, for example, other additives, components, integers or steps. “Exemplary” means “an example of” and is not intended to convey an indication of a preferred or ideal embodiment. “Such as” is not used in a restrictive sense, but for explanatory purposes.
Disclosed are components that can be used to perform the disclosed methods, equipment and systems. These and other components are disclosed herein, and it is understood that when combinations, subsets, interactions, groups, etc., of these components are disclosed that while specific reference of each various individual and collective combinations and permutation of these may not be explicitly disclosed, each is specifically contemplated and described herein, for all methods, equipment, and systems. This applies to all aspects of this application including, but not limited to, steps in disclosed methods. Thus, if there are a variety of additional steps that can be performed it is understood that each of these additional steps can be performed with any specific embodiment or combination of embodiments of the disclosed methods.
The present application claims benefit to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/398,276 “Billiards Ball Rack,” filed Aug. 16, 2022.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63298276 | Jan 2022 | US |
