The present inventive concept pertains to the field of billiards and pool games. More particularly, the present inventive concept pertains to bridge supporting apparatuses and cue stick supporting apparatuses to aid players with disabilities to effectively play games such as billiards and pool.
“Billiards” and “pool” are terms used to refer to cue sports, i.e., games played by manipulating a cue to strike one or more balls and drive the balls across a table. Some such games include, for example, three-cushion billiards, in which a ball is struck to bounce off walls of the table no more than three times while striking other balls on the table. Pool is a game in which the table may have pockets and a cue ball is driven into other balls with the cue to attempt to knock the balls into the pockets. Many different such cue sports exist, all of which hinge on a user's ability to manipulate a cue.
A typical cue used in cue sports is a straight shaft with a wide end tapering down over the length of the shaft to a tapered end which is used to strike the balls. Traditionally, cue sports require each player to have two functioning hands to manipulate the cue. In practice, the wide end of a cue is grasped with one hand and a user supports a tapered end of the cue with their other hand. By forming their fingers and hand into a “bridge” shape to support the tapered end, a user may aim the tapered end of the cue to strike balls during cue sports.
As a result, prospective cue sports players who lack two functioning hands are at a distinct disadvantage to more able-bodied players. If these players lack a functioning hand, they will have a difficult time moving and aiming the cue effectively. As a result, such impaired players cannot compete effectively against more able-bodied players.
Bridges attached to sticks have been used in the games of billiards and pool for several decades. These bridges are generally placed on a game table while the stick is held in a user's first hand. The user's other hand will hold a cue stick used to hit a billiard ball or pool ball. An end of the cue stick having the tip used to contact the ball is generally placed in one of several notches of the bridge or when the ball is far from the user and therefore hard to reach with the cue stick alone. And even if the user can reach the ball with the tip of the cue stick from a far distance, sometimes the angle required to successfully hit the ball so that the ball traverses in the desired direction is hard to obtain. Thus the user can hold the cue stick with one hand while placing the end of the cue stick with the tip in one of the notches of the bridge at a desired angle so that the ball can be hit successfully.
However, user's with one or both disabled hands, or a user with one or both hands missing, can not hold either the cue stick or the bridge, and therefore are prevented from enjoying the games of billiards and pool.
Accordingly, there is a need to provide a user having one or two disabled hands with the ability to hold a cue stick to play billiards or pool. There is also a need to provide a user having one or two disabled hands with the ability to hold a bridge to play billiards or pool. There is a need to provide a user having one or no hands with the ability to hold a cue stick to play billiards or pool. There is also a need to provide a user having one or no hands with the ability to hold a bridge to play billiards or pool.
The foregoing and other features and utilities of the present inventive concept can be achieved by providing an arm bridge apparatus, including: a bridge plate including: at least one notch at a top side, at least one cue hole therein to receive a cue stick, a curved bottom side, and at least two holes in a middle portion thereof adjacent to a center of the curved bottom side; an arm support including: a first portion extending lengthwise having at least two slits aligned with and adjacent to a first side of the first portion, and a second portion extending at a predetermined angle away from one end of the first portion, the second portion being shorter than the first portion and connected to the bridge plate at the at least two holes therein; and at least two straps connected at a first end to a second side of first portion of the arm support, each strap extending across a bottom of the arm support and extending into a respective one of the slits along the first side of the first portion of the arm support, the at least two straps including a fastener to fasten the straps around a user's forearm.
In an example embodiment, the bridge plate includes a plurality of notches on each side of the top side thereof.
In another example embodiment, the bridge plate includes a cue hold equally disposed at opposite sides thereof.
In another example embodiment, the at least two straps are formed of nylon or leather.
In still anther example embedment, the bridge plate and the second portion of the arm support are connected by rivets.
In still anther example embedment, the fasteners are a pair of hook and loop fastener pads.
In yet another example embodiment, the first portion of the arm support further comprises a loop fastened to the second side thereof adjacent to the first end of each strap, each loop having a length to receive a second end of each respective strap after the strap is wrapped around the person's forearm such that the hook fastener pad extends through the respective loop and folds over to attach to the loop fastener pad.
In yet another example embodiment, the hook fastener pad and the loop fastener pad are positioned on opposite sides of the respective strap such that when the strap is wrapped around the person's forearm, the hook fastener pad attaches to the loop fastener pad.
In yet another example embodiment, the bridge plate is formed of wood.
The foregoing and other features and utilities of the present inventive concept can also be achieved by providing a hand bridge apparatus, including: a bridge plate including: at least one notch at a top side, at least one cue hole therein to receive a cue stick, a curved bottom side with a eyelet extending through each end of the curved bottom side, and at least two holes in a middle portion thereof adjacent to a center of the curved bottom side; a strap with a first end connected to a first one of the eyelets, including: a first connecting member, and at least one second connecting member positioned such that the first connecting member can fold over and attach to the at least one second connecting member; and a loop extending through the second eyelet to receive the second end of the strap and the first connecting member such that the first connecting member can fold over and connect to the at least one second connecting member.
In an example embodiment, the first connecting member is a hook fastener pad and the at least one second connecting member is a loop fastener pad.
In another example embodiment, the first connecting member is a slit through the strap and the at least one second connecting member is at least one button.
In another example embodiment, the first end of the strap is connected to the first eyelet via a rivet.
The foregoing and other features and utilities of the present inventive concept can also be achieved by providing a cue ring apparatus to support a cue therein, comprising; a strap including a hook fastener pad attached at a first end thereof and on a first side and a loop fastener pad attached at a second end thereof on a second side; an adjustable cue ring connected at a center of the strap such that the cue ring extends perpendicular to the strap.
In an example embodiment, the cue ring is connected to the strap by sewing the cue ring to the strap.
In another example embodiment, the adjustable cue ring includes tracks extending circumferentially around the ring and a screw connected at a side thereof such that threads of the screw engage with the tracks to adjust a diameter of the ring when the screw is rotated.
The foregoing and other features and utilities of the present inventive concept can also be achieved by providing an arm cue sling apparatus, comprising: a strap including a hook fastener pad attached at a first end thereof and on a first side thereof, and a loop fastener pad attached at a second end thereof and on a second side thereof; an adjustable cue ring connected at a center of the strap such that the cue ring extends directly parallel with the strap.
In an example embodiment, the cue ring is connected to the strap by sewing the cue ring to the strap.
In another example embodiment, the adjustable cue ring includes tracks extending circumferentially around the ring and a screw connected at a side thereof such that threads of the screw engage with the tracks to adjust a diameter of the cue ring when the screw is rotated.
In still another example embodiment, the strap is approximately 10.25 inches in length to extend around and fasten to a person's arm.
A billiards system according to exemplary embodiments of the present general inventive concept comprises a hand bridge and a cue holder. These apparatuses allow an individual to participate in the game of billiards if their hands are impaired or even missing.
As noted above, a typical pool or billiards cue (a tapered game stick with a leather tip to strike a game ball) has a wide end for holding with a hand and a narrow end which is used to strike a billiard ball. The cue tapers down from the wide end to the narrow end referred to as a tip. The tip is disposed at the narrow end and is usually made of leather so that the tip can grip the pool or billiards ball rather than slide off the ball when the tip of the cue makes contact with the ball. The billiards system allows a user to manipulate the narrow end by moving the wide end with one hand to play billiards/pool effectively.
Hook and loop fasteners are commonly sold under the trademark Velcro® and may be used in the present invention. The first connector may be a hook fastener pad 111a and the second connector may be a loop fastener pad 111b. The hook fastener pad 111a and the loop fastener pad 111b are formed to be spaced apart from each other along the strap 111. The straps 111 wrap across a user's forearm such that the arm support 103 extends lengthwise along the opposite side of the user's forearm and the bridge plate 101 is positioned closest to a user's wrist.
The arm support 103 can be formed of a metal that is strong to support the bridge plate. Alternatively, the arm support 103 can be formed of any material, such as, for example fiberglass, plastic, etc., that will support the bridge plate 101 securely while resting at a comfortable position along the user's forearm.
The straps 111 can be made from a nylon material or leather material. However, the straps 111 can alternatively be formed of any material that will perform the intended purposes as described herein.
According to an exemplary embodiment, the bridge plate 101 may have several notches 105 to allow for multiple angles and positions of a cue to be supported by the bridge plate 101. The bridge plate 101 can be secured to the arm support 103 with a pair of rivets 107a that extend through holes 101a in the bridge plate 101 and respective holes 105 of in arm support 103, which is explained in more detail with respect to
Once the first section 103a is bent with respect to the second section 103b, the pair of holes 105 in the second section 103b is aligned with the pair of holes 101a in the bridge plate 101. A rivet 107a extends through each pair of the holes 101a and 105, respectively, to permanently fasten the bridge plate 101 to the arm support 103. As described above with respect to
In an alternative embodiment, a pair of loops 113 can be fastened to a side of the second portion of the arm support 103 opposite the side in which the slits 109 are formed, each loop 113 being fastened adjacent to respective pairs of holes 107. In this example embodiment, each strap 111 can be fed through a respective loop 113 and then folded back over to attach the hook fastener pad 111a to the loop fastener pad 111b. Here the Velcro® pads are positioned on the strap 111 such that the hook fastener pad 111a extends through the loop 113 while the loop fastener pad 111b stops short of the loop 113, thus providing for the hook fastener pad 111a to fold over and attach to the loop fastener pad 111b. In this case the hook fastener pad 111a and the loop fastener pad 111b would be positioned on the same side of the strap 111.
Also illustrated in
The bridge plate 501 is similar to the bridge plate 101 according to the embodiment of
A loop 505 is place through eyelet 503a of the bridge plate 501 to receive an end 509b of the strap 509. An opposite end 509a of the strap 509 is riveted through the other eyelet 503b of the bridge plate 501 with a rivet 107a. The strap 509 is preferably riveted at a center part of the first end 509a to provide the least amount of twist and the most secure connection between the bridge plate 501 and the strap 509 when a user fastens the strap 509 to the user's hand. The strap 509 includes a hook fastener pad 511a positioned near the end 509b thereof so that it can stick to a loop fastener pad 511b positioned adjacent to the hook fastener pad 511a when the hook fastener pad 511a is inserted through the loop 505 and then folded back over the loop 505 and aligned over the loop fastener pad 511b. Alternatively, the strap 509 can include other forms of attaching to itself after being inserted through the loop 505, such as for example a series of buttons and a slit such that the slit extends through the loop 505 and then can be fastened to any desired button that was enable to hand bridge apparatus 500 to fit snuggly on a user's hand.
When using Velcro®, the loop fastener pad 511b is generally longer than the hook fastener pad 511a to provide for adjustment of tightness for different size hands. In other words, if a user's hand is small, the hook fastener 511a pad will tend to extend further across the loop fastener pad 511b before sticking the pads together, while if a user's hand is large, the hook fastener 511a pad will tend to extend to a lesser extent across the loop fastener pad 511b before sticking the pads together. Once the strap 509 is securely fastened to a user's hand, the bridge plate 501 will remain in an upright position on the top side of the user's hand so that the user can place a cue in any one of the notches 501a or holes 501b to support and angle the cue to hit a billiard or pool ball.
A pad 707 is inserted half-way through the cue ring 701 such that a first end is sewn to the strap 703 at one side of the cue ring 701 and a second end of the pad 707 is sewn to the strap 703 at another side of the cue ring 701. This pad 707 is sewn to the strap 703 tightly during manufacturing so that the cue ring 701 is securely fastened to the strap 703 such that the cue ring 701 and screw 705 assembly cannot move with respect to the strap 703.
Here the user will most likely also use the fully assembled arm bridge apparatus 100 according to the embodiment of
For example, if the user has no hands, the user can fasten the arm cue sling apparatus 1000 to one arm and fasten the arm bridge apparatus 100 to the other arm. Then the user can operate the cue with the arm cue sling apparatus 1000 while resting and aiming the end of cue closest to the tip within either the notches 101c or holes 101b in the bridge 101. Alternatively, if the user has one hand only, the user can fasten the arm cue sling apparatus 1000 to his/her arm having no hand and then fasten the hand bridge apparatus 500 to the one hand on the other arm. Thus the user can operate the cue with the arm cue sling apparatus 1000 while resting and aiming the end of cue closest to the tip in one of the notches 501a or holes 501b of the hand bridge apparatus 500. The cue is securely fastened into the cue ring 1001 by tightening the cue ring 1001 with the screw 1005 once the cue is in the desired position within the cue ring 1001. Thus the cue cannot move with respect to the cue ring 1001.
Accordingly, it is to be understood that the embodiments of the invention herein described are merely illustrative of the application of the principles of the invention. Reference herein to details of the illustrated embodiments is not intended to limit the scope of the claims, which themselves recite those features regarded as essential to the invention.
This application claims one or more inventions which were disclosed in Provisional Application No. 62/488,920, filed Apr. 24, 2017, entitled “Billiards Systems.” The benefit under 35 USC § 119(e) of the United States provisional application is hereby claimed, and the aforementioned application is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20180304144 A1 | Oct 2018 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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62488920 | Apr 2017 | US |