Patent Application
20200094127
The present general inventive concept relates generally to a cover for a cue tip.
A billiard table (i.e., pool table) is an expensive investment, but provides a fun activity when playing with friends, small children, or house-guests. If a player strikes the cue ball too low however, the cue can slip and the cue tip will come into contact with the billiard cloth, which can leave burn marks in the felt material, damaging the surface of the table.
Therefore, there is a need for a device that effectively protects the surface of a pool table from pool cue tips.
The present general inventive concept provides a cover for a cue tip.
Additional features and utilities of the present general inventive concept will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the general inventive concept.
The foregoing and/or other features and utilities of the present general inventive concept may be achieved by providing a cue tip cover to be inserted onto an end of a cue stick, the cue tip cover including a main body comprising between 60 and 90 percent of the cue tip cover, a base disposed at a bottom portion of the main body, such that the base is flat, a front end disposed at a front tip portion of the main body, a rear end disposed at a rear portion of the main body, an aperture disposed at a center portion of the rear end to receive the end of the cue stick therein, and an inner cavity to receive the end of the cue stick as the end of the cue stick enters the aperture.
The cue tip cover may further include a foam portion disposed within the inner cavity to deform to receive the end of the cue stick therein.
The cue tip cover may further include a tip portion disposed at least partially within the inner cavity at the front end of the main body.
The tip portion may include an inner end disposed within the inner cavity to contact a cue tip of the cue stick, and an outer end opposite the inner end to contact a pool ball.
The base may be constructed from a material that allows the cue tip cover to be easily slidable along a surface of a pool table.
These and/or other features and utilities of the present generally inventive concept will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:
Various example embodiments (a.k.a., exemplary embodiments) will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings in which some example embodiments are illustrated. In the figures, the thicknesses of lines, layers and/or regions may be exaggerated for clarity.
Accordingly, while example embodiments are capable of various modifications and alternative forms, embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the figures and will herein be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that there is no intent to limit example embodiments to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, example embodiments are to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of the disclosure. Like numbers refer to like/similar elements throughout the detailed description.
It is understood that when an element is referred to as being “connected” or “coupled” to another element, it can be directly connected or coupled to the other element or intervening elements may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly connected” or “directly coupled” to another element, there are no intervening elements present. Other words used to describe the relationship between elements should be interpreted in a like fashion (e.g., “between” versus “directly between,” “adjacent” versus “directly adjacent,” etc.).
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes” and/or “including,” when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components and/or groups thereof.
Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which example embodiments belong. It will be further understood that terms, e.g., those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art. However, should the present disclosure give a specific meaning to a term deviating from a meaning commonly understood by one of ordinary skill, this meaning is to be taken into account in the specific context this definition is given herein.
The cue tip cover 100 may be constructed from plastic, cloth, foam, metal, glass, or any other material known to one of ordinary skill in the art that will allow for a cue tip 11 of the cue stick 10 to be inserted thereinto, and may have a length between 1 and 10 inches, depending on a user's preference.
Referring to
The main body 110 may be rounded, and may include between 60 to 90 percent of an entire portion of the cue tip cover 100.
The base 120 may be constructed from plastic, or any other material that allows the cue tip cover 100 to slide easily along the pool table 30. The base 120 may also be flat, and may include between 10 to 40 percent of the entire portion of the cue tip cover 100.
The front end 130 may be rounded, and may be disposed at a front tip portion of the main body 110.
The rear end 140 may be flat, and may be disposed at a rear portion of the main body 110.
The aperture 150 may be disposed at a center portion of the rear end 140, and may allow the cue tip 11 of the cue stick 10 to be inserted into the inner cavity 160 of the cue tip cover 100.
The inner cavity 160 may include the foam portion 170 disposed therein. When the cue stick 10 is inserted into the inner cavity 160, the foam portion 170 may deform in order to allow the cue tip cover 100 to be snugly inserted onto the cue stick 10. In other words, the foam portion 170 may cause the aperture 150 and the inner cavity to be very small, in order to cause the cue stick 10 to be inserted with a slight bit of difficulty to result in a tight fit. As such, the cue tip cover 100 will not fall off the cue stick 10 during use.
The tip portion 180 may be disposed within the inner cavity 160 at the front end 130 of the cue tip cover 100, such that an inner end 181 of the tip portion 180 contacts the cue tip 11 when the cue stick 10 is inserted within the inner cavity 160. An outer end 182 of the tip portion 180 opposite from the inner end 181 may be disposed outside the front end 130, such that the outer end 182 may contact a center portion of the pool ball 20 disposed on the pool table 30, as illustrated in
The inner end 181 may also be slightly concave, in order to allow the cue tip 11 to be properly in contact therewith.
The cue tip cover 100 may be designed so that the tip portion 180 is disposed at a level/height to contact an exact center of a regulation size pool ball.
As such, the cue tip cover 100 may be inserted onto a front end of the cue 10 to allow children to play pool on the pool table 30 without worry that felt on a surface of the pool table 30 will be damaged.
Although a few embodiments of the present general inventive concept have been shown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the general inventive concept, the scope of which is defined in the appended claims and their equivalents.
