Billiard training aid

Abstract

A support that is positioned on either a table or a tripod and holds a cue stick to either train an arm of a billiard player to move in a perfectly straight fashion or to function as a bridge. The support includes a base and a cue stick-moving portion. The base is positioned on either the table or the tripod. The cue stick-moving portion moves relative to the base and holds the cue stick to either train the arm of the billiard player to move in the perfectly straight fashion or to function as the bridge.

Claims

1. A support for positioning on one of a table and a tripod and for holding a cue stick for one of training an arm of a billiard player to move in a perfectly straight fashion and for functioning as a bridge, said support comprising: a) a base; and b) a cue stick-moving portion; wherein said base is for positioning on one of the table and the tripod; wherein said cue stick-moving portion moves relative to said base; and wherein said cue stick-moving portion is for holding the cue stick for one of training the arm of the billiard player to move in the perfectly straight fashion and for functioning as the bridge; wherein said base has an upper surface; wherein said cue stick-moving portion includes a plurality of posts; wherein said cue stick-moving portion includes a plurality of V-wheels.

2. The support of claim 1, wherein said base is generally rectangular-parallelepiped-shaped.

3. The support of claim 1, wherein said base is made from aluminum.

4. The support of claim 1, wherein said plurality of posts of said cue stick-moving portion are parallel to each other.

5. The support of claim 1, wherein said plurality of posts of said cue stick-moving portion extend vertically upwardly from said upper surface of said base.

6. The support of claim 1, wherein said plurality of posts of said cue stick-moving portion are spaced-apart from each other.

7. The support of claim 1, wherein said plurality of posts of said cue stick-moving portion are disposed at corners of a rectangle.

8. The support of claim 1, wherein said plurality of posts of said cue stick-moving portion are four in number.

9. The support of claim 1, wherein said plurality of posts of said cue stick-moving portion are identical to each other.

10. The support of claim 1, wherein said plurality of posts of said cue stick-moving portion are made from aluminum.

11. The support of claim 1, wherein said plurality of V-wheels of said cue stick-moving portion extend horizontally from said plurality of posts of said cue stick-moving portion, respectively.

12. The support of claim 1, wherein said plurality of V-wheels of said cue stick-moving portion extend rotatably from said plurality of posts of said cue stick-moving portion, respectively.

13. The support of claim 1, wherein said plurality of V-wheels of said cue stick-moving portion are at a same elevation.

14. The support of claim 1, wherein said plurality of V-wheels of said cue stick-moving portion are identical to each other.

15. The support of claim 1, wherein said plurality of V-wheels of said cue stick-moving portion have steel bearings.

16. The support of claim 1, wherein said cue stick-moving portion includes a slide.

17. The support of claim 16, wherein said slide of said cue stick-moving portion is a box tube.

18. The support of claim 16, wherein said slide of said cue stick-moving portion has a square cross section.

19. The support of claim 16, wherein said slide of said cue stick-moving portion is hollow.

20. The support of claim 16, wherein said slide of said cue stick-moving portion has four axial corner edges.

21. The support of claim 16, wherein said slide of said cue stick-moving portion is straight.

22. The support of claim 16, wherein said slide of said cue stick-moving portion is horizontally oriented.

23. The support of claim 16, wherein said slide of said cue stick-moving portion movably extends between pairs of said plurality of V-wheels of said cue stick-moving portion.

24. The support of claim 16, wherein said slide of said cue stick-moving portion operatively engage said plurality of V-wheels of said cue stick-moving portion so as to allow said slide of said cue stick-moving portion to move forward and backward relative to said plurality of V-wheels of said cue stick-moving portion.

25. The support of claim 16, wherein said slide of said cue stick-moving portion is turned 45 relative to said base so as to allow two of said four axial corner edges of said slide of said cue stick-moving portion to operatively engage said plurality of V-wheels of said cue stick-moving portion.

26. The support of claim 20, wherein said cue stick-moving portion includes a plurality of uprights.

27. The support of claim 26, wherein said plurality of uprights of said cue stick-moving portion are spaced-apart from each other.

28. The support of claim 26, wherein said plurality of uprights of said cue stick-moving portion are identical to each other.

29. The support of claim 26, wherein said plurality of uprights of said cue stick-moving portion are parallel to each other.

30. The support of claim 26, wherein said plurality of uprights of said cue stick-moving portion are aligned with each other.

31. The support of claim 26, wherein said plurality of uprights of said cue stick-moving portion are perpendicular to said slide of said cue stick-moving portion.

32. The support of claim 26, wherein said plurality of uprights of said cue stick-moving portion are two in number.

33. The support of claim 26, wherein said plurality of uprights of said cue stick-moving portion straddle a midpoint of said slide of said cue stick-moving portion.

34. The support of claim 26, wherein said plurality of uprights of said cue stick-moving portion extend vertically upwardly from, and move with, a highestmost corner of said four axial corner edges of said slide of said cue stick-moving portion.

35. The support of claim 26, wherein said plurality of uprights of said cue stick-moving portion are made from aluminum.

36. The support of claim 26, wherein said cue stick-moving portion includes a cue stick holder; and wherein said cue stick-moving portion is for receiving the cue stick.

37. The support of claim 36, wherein said cue stick holder of said cue stick-moving portion is V-shaped in lateral cross section.

38. The support of claim 36, wherein said cue stick holder of said cue stick-moving portion extends along, and moves with, said plurality of uprights of said cue stick-moving portion for training the arm of the billiard player to move in the perfectly straight fashion and for functioning as the bridge.

39. The support of claim 36, wherein said cue stick holder of said cue stick-moving portion is parallel to said slide of said cue stick-moving portion.

40. The support of claim 36, wherein said cue stick holder of said cue stick-moving portion is made from aluminum.

41. The support of claim 36, wherein said cue stick-moving portion includes a protective pad.

42. The support of claim 41, wherein said protective pad of said cue stick-moving portion lines said cue stick holder of said cue stick-moving portion; and wherein said protective pad of said cue stick-moving portion is for preventing damage to the cue stick sitting in said cue stick holder of said cue stick-moving portion.

43. The support of claim 36, wherein said cue stick-moving portion includes hook and loop fastener straps; and wherein said hook and loop fastener straps of said cue stick-moving portion are for replaceably capturing the cue stick in said cue stick holder of said cue stick-moving portion.

44. The support of claim 43, wherein said hook and loop fastener straps of said cue stick-moving portion extend from said cue stick holder of said cue stick-moving portion.

45. A support for positioning on one of a table and a tripod and for holding a cue stick for one of training an arm of a billiard player to move in a perfectly straight fashion and for functioning as a bridge, said support comprising: a) a base; and b) a cue stick-moving portion; wherein said base is for positioning on one of the table and the tripod; wherein said cue stick-moving portion moves relative to said base; and wherein said cue stick-moving portion is for holding the cue stick for one of training the arm of the billiard player to move in the perfectly straight fashion and for functioning as the bridge; wherein said base comprises a tiltable base; wherein said tiltable base is for allowing the support to be operated at an angle; wherein said tiltable base comprises an upper plate and a lower plate; and wherein said upper plate is tiltable with respect to said lower plate; wherein said locking mechanism is a twistable locking mechanism; and wherein said locking mechanism travels in a track.

46. The support of claim 45 wherein said upper plate is connected to said lower plate by a hinge.

47. The support of claim 45 wherein said base further comprises a locking mechanism; and wherein said locking mechanism is for fixing the angle at which the upper plate is tilted with respect to the lower plate.

48. The support of claim 45 wherein said track comprises a bore in a block; and wherein said bore is substantially linear.

49. The support of claim 48 wherein said block is fixedly attached to said lower plate.

50. The support of claim 49 wherein said upper plate and said lower plate are both substantially rectangular parallelepiped shaped; wherein said lower plate has a length and a width; wherein said length of said lower plate is greater than said width of said lower plate; wherein said upper plate has a length and a width; and wherein said width of said upper plate is less than said width of said lower plate.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

(1) The figures of the drawings are briefly described as follows:

(2) FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic perspective view illustrating a first embodiment of the billiard training aid placed on a cooperating playing table with a pool/billiard stick resting thereon and ready for use by a person;

(3) FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic perspective view illustrating a first embodiment of the billiard training aid placed on a cooperating tripod with a pool/billiard stick resting thereon and ready for use by a person;

(4) FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic perspective view illustrating a first embodiment of the billiard training aid pro se;

(5) FIG. 4 is a top plan view thereof, taken in the direction of arrow 4 in FIG. 3;

(6) FIG. 5 is an end elevational view thereof, taken in the direction of arrow 5 in FIG. 3, the opposite end being a mirror image thereof;

(7) FIG. 6 is a side elevational view thereof, taken in the direction of arrow 6 in FIG. 3, the opposite side being a mirror image thereof;

(8) FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a second embodiment of a billiard training aid illustrating a tiltable base;

(9) FIG. 8 is a top plan view thereof taken in the direction of arrow 8 in FIG. 7;

(10) FIG. 9 is a front elevational view thereof taken in the direction of arrow 9 in FIG. 1 and illustrating a catch for holding the slide of the billiard aid in place;

(11) FIG. 10 is a left side elevational view taken in the direction of arrow 10 in FIG. 7 with parts broken away illustrating just the upper plate; and

(12) FIG. 11 is a left side elevational view taken in the direction of arrow 10 in FIG. 7 with the base of the invention tilted in respect to the tiltable adjustment member.

A MARSHALING OF REFERENCE NUMERALS UTILIZED IN THE DRAWING

(13) 10 support of embodiments of present invention for positioning on one of pool table 12 and tripod 14 and for holding cue stick 16 for one of training arm 17 of billiard player 17a to move in perfectly straight fashion and for functioning as bridge 12 pool table 14 tripod 16 cue stick 17 arm of billiard player 17a 17a billiard player 18 base for positioning on one of pool table 12 and tripod 14 20 cue stick-moving portion for holding cue stick 16 for one of training arm of billiard player to move in perfectly straight fashion and for functioning as bridge 22 upper surface of base 18 24 plurality of posts of cue stick-moving portion 20 26 plurality of V-wheels of cue stick-moving portion 20 28 slide of cue stick-moving portion 20 30 four axial corner edges of slide 28 of cue stick-moving portion 20 32 plurality of uprights of cue stick-moving portion 20 34 cue stick holder of cue stick-moving portion 20 for receiving cue stick 16 35 midpoint of slide 28 36 protective pad of cue stick-moving portion 20 for preventing damage to cue stick 16 sitting in cue stick holder 34 of cue stick-moving portion 20 38 hook and loop fastener straps of cue stick-moving portion 20 for capturing cue stick 16 in cue stick holder 34 of cue stick-moving portion 20 40 tiltable base 18 42 upper plate of tiltable base 40 44 lower plate of tiltable base 40 45 hinge of tiltable base 40 46 twistable locking mechanism 48 track 50 block

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

(14) Referring now to the figures, in which like numerals indicate like parts, and particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, the support of the embodiments of the present invention is shown generally at 10 for positioning on one of a table 12 (FIG. 1) and a tripod 14 (FIG. 2) and for holding a cue stick 16 for one of training an arm 17 of a billiard player 17a to move in a perfectly straight fashion and for functioning as a bridge.

(15) The configuration of the support 10 can best be seen in FIGS. 3-6, and as such, will be discussed with reference thereto.

(16) The support 10 comprises a base 18 and a cue stick-moving portion 20. The base 18 is for positioning on one of the table 12 and the tripod 14. The cue stick-moving portion 20 moves relative to the base 18 and is for holding the cue stick 16 for one of training the arm 17 of the billiard player 17a to move in the perfectly straight fashion and for functioning as the bridge.

(17) The base 18 is generally rectangular-parallelepiped-shaped, has an upper surface 22, and is made from aluminum.

(18) The cue stick-moving portion 20 includes a plurality of posts 24.

(19) The plurality of posts 24 of the cue stick-moving portion 20 are parallel to each other, extend vertically upwardly from the upper surface 22 of the base 18, are spaced-apart from each other, are disposed at corners of a rectangle, are four in number, are identical to each other, and are made from aluminum.

(20) The cue stick-moving portion 20 further includes a plurality of V-wheels 26.

(21) The plurality of V-wheels 26 of the cue stick-moving portion 20 extend horizontally rotatably from the plurality of posts 24 of the cue stick-moving portion 20, respectively, are at a same elevation, are identical to each other, and are made from DELRIN with steel bearings.

(22) The cue stick-moving portion 20 further includes a slide 28.

(23) The slide 28 of the cue stick-moving portion 20 is a box tube, and as such, has a square cross section, is hollow, and has four axial corner edges 30, is straight, is horizontally oriented, extends movably between pairs of the plurality of V-wheels 26 of the cue stick-moving portion 20, operatively engage the plurality of V-wheels 26 of the cue stick-moving portion 20 so as to allow the slide 28 of the cue stick-moving portion 20 to move forward and backward relative to the plurality of V-wheels 26 of the cue stick-moving portion 20, and is turned 45 relative to the base 18 so as to allow two of the four axial corner edges 30 of the slide 28 of the cue stick-moving portion 20 to operatively engage the plurality of V-wheels 26 of the cue stick-moving portion 20.

(24) The cue stick-moving portion 20 further includes a plurality of uprights 32.

(25) The plurality of uprights 32 of the cue stick-moving portion 20 are spaced-apart from each other, are identical to each other, are parallel to each other, are aligned with each other, are perpendicular to the slide 28 of the cue stick-moving portion 20, are two in number, straddle a midpoint 35 of the slide 28 of the cue stick-moving portion 20, extend vertically upwardly from, and move with, a highestmost corner of the four axial corner edges 30 of the slide 28 of the cue stick-moving portion 20, and are made from aluminum.

(26) The cue stick-moving portion 20 further includes a cue stick holder 34.

(27) The cue stick holder 34 of the cue stick-moving portion 20 is V-shaped in lateral cross section, extends along, and moves with, the plurality of uprights 32 of the cue stick-moving portion 20 for one of training the arm 17 of the billiard player 17a to move in the perfectly straight fashion and for functioning as the bridge, is parallel to the slide 28 of the cue stick-moving portion 20, is made from aluminum, and is for receiving the cue stick 16.

(28) The cue stick-moving portion 20 further includes a protective pad 36.

(29) The protective pad 36 of the cue stick-moving portion 20 lines the cue stick holder 34 of the cue stick-moving portion 20, and is for preventing damage to the cue stick 16 sitting in the cue stick holder 34 of the cue stick-moving portion 20.

(30) The cue stick-moving portion 20 further includes hook and loop fastener straps 38 (VELCRO).

(31) The hook and loop fastener straps 38 of the cue stick-moving portion 20 extend from the cue stick holder 34 of the cue stick-moving portion 20, and are for replaceably capturing the cue stick 16 in the cue stick holder 34 of the cue stick-moving portion 20.

(32) In a second embodiment, the base 18 is a tiltable base 40. The tiltable base 40 is for allowing the support 10 to be operated at an angle. The tiltable base 40 comprises an upper plate 42 and a lower plate 44. The upper plate 42 is tiltable with respect to the lower plate 44.

(33) To accomplish this, the upper plate 42 is connected to the lower plate 44 by a hinge 45. The base further comprises a locking mechanism 46, which locking mechanism 46 is for fixing the angle at which the upper plate 42 is tilted in respect to the lower plate 44. In a preferred construction, the locking mechanism 46 is a twistable locking mechanism 46, and the locking mechanism 46 travels in a track 48. The track 48 comprises a bore in a block 50, and the bore is substantially linear. The block 50 is fixedly attached to the lower plate 44.

(34) The upper plate 42 and the lower plate 44 are both substantially rectangular parallelepiped shaped. The lower plate 44 has a length and a width. The length of the lower plate 44 is greater than the width of the lower plate 44. The upper plate 42 has a length and a width. The width of the upper plate 42 is less than the width of the lower plate 44.

(35) It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together, may also find a useful application in other types of constructions differing from the types described above.

(36) While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodiments of a billiard training aid, accordingly it is not limited to the details shown, since it will be understood that various omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and its operation can be made by those skilled in the art without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

(37) Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention.