BILLIARD BALL FOR TRAINING

Abstract

The present invention relates to two integrated billiard balls for training, which include an image ball and an object ball assembled together by a connecting means and integrated through spherical contact therebetween so that, at the time of billiard training, a trainee can figure out a situation in which the trainee can hit the object ball coupled to the image ball of the training billiard balls, with a predetermined thickness, just by accurately hitting a cue ball while aiming the center of the image ball. Therefore, the present invention enables a trainee to easily practice thickness adjustment of an object ball and thus improve his or her billiard capability.

Claims

1. Training billiard balls comprising: an image ball and an object ball; and a connector causing the image ball and the object ball to be fitted and integrated together by spherical contact.

2. The training billiard balls according to claim 1, wherein the connector comprises: threads provided in holes provided in the image ball and the object ball, extending in a direction from a spherical surface to the center of each of the image ball and the object ball; and a threaded-connecting rod engaged with the threads of the holes.

3. The training billiard balls according to claim 1, wherein the connector comprises a connecting rod press-fitted into holes provided in the image ball and the object ball, extending in a direction from a spherical surface to the center of each of the image ball and the object ball.

4. The training billiard balls according to claim 1, wherein the connector comprises: threads provided in holes provided in the image ball and the object ball, extending in a direction from a spherical surface to the center of each of the image ball and the object ball; connector sockets engaged with the threads of the holes; and an elastic restoring member disposed in the connector sockets.

5. The training billiard balls according to claim 1, wherein the connector comprises: threads magnets embedded in holes provided in the image ball and the object ball, extending in a direction from a spherical surface to the center of each of the image ball and the object ball, such that the image ball and the object ball are attached to and detached from each other due to magnetic force.

6. The training billiard balls according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of equally-spaced rings are marked on a hemispherical portion of the object ball, adjacent to the image ball, so as to appear as stripes, by which portions of the object ball overlapped by the image ball are estimated.

7. The training billiard balls according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of equally-spaced rings are marked on hemispherical portions of the object ball and the image ball, adjacent to each other, so as to appear as stripes, by which portions of the object ball and the image ball overlapped by each other are estimated.

8. The training billiard balls according to claim 1, wherein the sizes of the training billiard balls are the same as those of billiard balls used in games.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0024] FIG. 1 is a plan view illustrating an assembly of training billiard balls according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0025] FIG. 2 is a disassembled cross-sectional view illustrating a connector;

[0026] FIG. 3 is an assembled cross-sectional view of FIG. 2;

[0027] FIG. 4 illustrates a modified embodiment of the connector illustrated in FIG. 3;

[0028] FIGS. 5 to 7 illustrate other modified embodiments of the connector, in which FIG. 5 is a disassembled cross-sectional view illustrating the connector, FIG. 6 is an assembled cross-sectional view, and FIG. 7 is a plan view illustrating a position in which an elastic restoring member of the connector is stretched;

[0029] FIG. 8 is an assembled cross-sectional view illustrating another modified embodiment of the connector;

[0030] FIG. 9 is a plan view illustrating a modified embodiment of the training billiard balls illustrated in FIG. 1;

[0031] FIG. 10 is a plan view illustrating a modified embodiment of the training billiard balls illustrated in FIG. 9;

[0032] FIGS. 11 and 12 illustrate an application of the training billiard balls according to the present disclosure, in which FIG. 11 illustrates a position in which a relatively-narrower portion of the object ball is overlapped by the image ball, and FIG. 12 illustrates a position in which a relatively-wider portion of the object ball is overlapped by the image ball; and

[0033] FIG. 13 illustrates another application of the training billiard balls according to the present disclosure.

MODE FOR INVENTION

[0034] Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. The following descriptions and the drawings shall be interpreted as being illustrative for a better understanding of the spirit of the present disclosure while not being limitative of the scope of the present disclosure. In other words, the following embodiments may be modified in a variety of manners when used in fields, and such modifications thereof within the spirit of the present disclosure shall be regarded as being within the scope of the present disclosure. The following description will fully convey the spirit of the present disclosure to a person having ordinary skill in the art.

[0035] As will be described in detail with reference to the drawings, the present disclosure provides training billiard balls according to a variety of embodiments.

[0036] FIG. 1 is a plan view illustrating an assembly of training billiard balls according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure, FIG. 2 is a disassembled cross-sectional view illustrating a connector, while FIG. 3 is an assembled cross-sectional view of FIG. 2.

[0037] As illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3, the training billiard balls 11 according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure include an image ball 21 and an object ball 31.

[0038] The two training billiard balls 11, including the image ball 21 and the object ball 31, are fitted together using a connector. The two training balls 11 are integrated with each other while being in spherical contact with each other.

[0039] As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, the connector includes holes 23 and 33 provided in the image ball 21 and the object ball 31, extending in the direction from the spherical surface to the center of each ball, with threads 25 and 35 being provided in the holes 23 and 33. A threaded connecting rod 41 is engaged with the threads 25 and 35, such that the two training billiard balls 11 are integrated with each other while being in spherical contact with each other.

[0040] In addition, FIG. 4 illustrates a modified embodiment of the connector illustrated in FIG. 3, in which the holes 23 and 33 are provided in the image ball 21 and the object ball 31, extending in the direction from the spherical surface to the center. A connecting rod 43 is press-fitted into the holes 23 and 33, such that the two training billiard balls 11 are integrated with each other while being in spherical contact with each other.

[0041] The connecting rods 41 and 43 may be made of a synthetic resin or a metal having high impact resistance.

[0042] FIGS. 5 to 7 illustrate other modified embodiments of the connector. FIG. 5 is a disassembled cross-sectional view illustrating the connector, FIG. 6 is an assembled cross-sectional view, and FIG. 7 is a plan view illustrating a position in which an elastic restoring member of the connector is stretched.

[0043] In the connector, the threads 25 and 35 are formed in the holes 23 and 33 provided in the image ball 21 and the object ball 31, extending the direction from the spherical surface to the center, and connector sockets 47 are screw-engaged with the holes 23 and 33 via the threads 25 and 35. In addition, an elastic restoring member 45 disposed in the connector sockets 47.

[0044] The elastic restoring member 45 may be implemented as a spring or a rubber string having elastic restoring force. In FIG. 5, the elastic restoring member 45 is illustrated as being a spring, with both ends thereof being connected to hooks 48 within the connector sockets 47.

[0045] FIG. 8 is an assembled cross-sectional view illustrating another modified embodiment of the connector.

[0046] In the connector illustrated in FIG. 8, magnets 49 and 50 are embedded in holes provided in the image ball 21 and the object ball 31, extending in the direction from the spherical surface to the center, such that the image ball 21 and the object ball 31 can be attached to and detached from each other due to magnetic force.

[0047] As described above, the image ball 21 and the object ball 31 can be attached to and detached from each other via the magnets 49 and 50. Here, the magnets 49 and 50 may be provided with strong magnetic force, such that, even when a cue ball hit by a cue stick contacts the image ball 21, the image ball 21 and the object ball 31 can remain attached to each other instead of being separated.

[0048] In addition, as illustrated in FIG. 9, a plurality of equally-spaced rings 37 are marked on the object ball 31 of the training billiard balls 11. The equally-spaced rings 37 are marked on a hemispherical portion of the object ball adjacent to the image ball 21, so as to appear as stripes in FIG. 9, by which portions of the object ball 31 overlapped by the image ball 21 can be estimated.

[0049] In addition, as illustrated in FIG. 10, a plurality of equally-spaced rings 37 and 27 are marked on the object ball 31 and the image ball 21 of the training billiard balls 11. The equally-spaced rings 37 and 27 are marked on hemispherical portions of the object ball 31 and the image ball 21, adjacent to each other, so as to appear as stripes in FIG. 10, by which portions thereof overlapped by each other can be estimated.

[0050] The stripe-appearing equally-spaced rings 37 and 27 may be realized by forming shallow grooves in the object ball 31 and the image ball 21 and then filling the grooves with material having a color different from those of the balls, such that the colored portions are coplanar with the spherical surface of the object ball 31 and the image ball 21 without protruding from the surfaces of the balls.

[0051] The training billiard balls 11 may be made of a synthetic material, the same as or equivalent to the commonly-known material of billiard balls used games.

[0052] The training billiard balls 11 may have the same size as that of billiard balls used in games, so that skills learned in training can be directly applied to games.

[0053] FIGS. 11 and 12 illustrate an application of the training billiard balls according to the present disclosure. FIG. 11 illustrates a position in which the object ball is arranged with respect to the cue ball such that a relatively-narrower (or thinner) portion of the object ball is overlapped by the image ball, i.e. the object ball is arranged to be narrow (or thin) with respect to the cue ball, while FIG. 12 illustrates a position in which the object ball is arranged with respect to the cue ball such that a relatively-wider (or thicker) portion of the object ball is overlapped by the image ball, i.e. the object ball is arranged to be wide (or thick) with respect to the cue.

[0054] As illustrated in FIGS. 11 and 12, at the time of billiard training, a trainee can practice adjusting the width t of an overlapping portion of the object ball 31 by merely hitting a cue ball 61 with a cue stick 51 by aiming at the image ball 21 so as to accurately deliver the cue ball 61 to the center of the image ball 21 (indicated with an arrow S).

[0055] Specifically, the training billiard balls 11 are located on any location of a billiard table. Here, as illustrated in FIGS. 11 and 12, the training billiard balls 11 may be arranged such that the width t of the overlapping portion of the object ball 31 is relatively-thin or thick with respect to the cue ball 61.

[0056] In this position, a trainee performs aiming by determining the line of the cue stick 51 necessary to deliver the cue ball 61 to the center of the image ball 21 (indicated with the arrow S). In this position, when the object ball 31, attached to and located behind the image ball 21, is viewed from the cue ball 61, the width t of the overlapping portion of the object ball 31 can be determined. Afterwards, the cue ball 61 is hit with the cue stick toward the center of the image ball 21, as indicated with the arrow S. Although the cue ball 61 does not directly contact the object ball 31, it may be regarded that the width t of the overlapping portion of the object ball 31 has been determined, since the cue ball 61 has contacted the center of the image ball 21, as indicated with the arrow S. Thus, the training of delivering the cue ball to a position overlapping an intended portion of the object ball 31 can be assisted and accomplished by delivering the cue ball to the center of the image ball 21.

[0057] As illustrated in FIG. 9, since the equally-spaced rings 37 are marked on the object ball 31, the equally-spaced rings 37 allow a trainee to easily determine the width of a portion of the object ball 31 overlapped by the cue ball 61 when delivering the cue ball 61 to the image ball 21. As illustrated in FIG. 10, since the equally-spaced rings 37 and 27 are marked on the object ball 31 and the image ball 21, the rings allow a trainee to easily determine the width of an overlapping portion when delivering the cue ball 61 to the object ball 31 or the image ball 21.

[0058] In addition, the present disclosure allows a trainee to practice a feather shot, i.e. delivering the cue ball 61 to a narrow portion of the training billiard balls 11. If a relatively-wider portion of the image ball 21 of the training billiard balls 11 is contacted, the object ball 31 attached to the image ball 21 may move, and thus, cannot be contacted by the cue ball. Thus, it is required to deliver the cue ball to contact a significantly-narrow portion of the image ball 21 so as to minimize the movement of the object ball 31, so that the cue ball can contact the object ball 31. Accordingly, the present disclosure is significantly helpful for training to deliver the cue ball to a significantly-narrow portion of the object ball 31.

[0059] In a case in which the elastic restoring member 45 is used as the connector illustrated in FIGS. 5 to 7, when the cue ball 61 contacts the image ball 21, the impact is transferred to the object ball 31. Then, the elastic restoring member 45 allows the image ball 21 and the object ball 31 to be instantaneously separated from each other and then return to the original spherical-contact position.

[0060] In addition, the present disclosure is suitable for practicing a gather shot or a nurse short, in which two object balls are continuously brought closer to each other while being contacted by a cue ball in a four-ball billiards game. Since the image ball 21 and the object ball 31 are attached to each other, the balls are not scattered when contacted by the cue ball 61, thereby reducing the labor of the trainee to bring the balls together. In addition, since only the direction of the training billiard balls 11 is changed, it is possible to practice the nurse short in a variety of directions.

[0061] In addition, the present disclosure is suitable for practicing a rail-first shot in which a cue ball contacts first and second object balls after hitting three or more rail cushions, in particular, when two balls are close to each other. In this case, when the training billiard balls 11 according to the present disclosure are used, training can be convenient, since the two balls are not scattered.

[0062] In addition, practice moving the cue stick along a line, i.e. stroke practice, can be performed. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 13, the cue ball 61 may be delivered toward the center of the training billiard balls 11 (i.e. the point of contact of the image ball and the object ball), as indicated with an arrow C. When the cue ball 61 simultaneously contacts the two training billiard balls, the training billiard balls roll in the same direction, thereby indicating that the stroke was proper. When the cue ball 61 contacts the image ball 21 or the object ball 31 first, one of the two balls moves further, and thus, the training billiard balls turn. The trainee can find unbalance in the stroke by observing such movement. This is helpful for the stroke practice.

[0063] Although the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure have been described for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure as disclosed in the accompanying claims.