SLATE CONNECTOR AND POOL TABLE INCLUDING THE SAME

Abstract

A slate connector for pool tables, including an oblong nut and a positioning sleeve. The oblong nut has an oblong structure, and is provided with a threaded hole penetrating through the oblong nut. The positioning sleeve is provided with an arc-shaped groove for accommodating the oblong nut, and an outer side of the positioning sleeve is provided with a plurality of barbs extending along a circumferential direction of the positioning sleeve. The oblong nut is fittedly embedded in the arc-shaped groove of the positioning sleeve to form an oblong column structure with the positioning sleeve. A pool table including such slate connector is also provided.

Claims

1. A slate connector for a pool table, comprising: an oblong nut; and a positioning sleeve; wherein the oblong nut has an oblong structure, and is provided with a threaded hole penetrating through the oblong nut; the positioning sleeve is provided with an arc-shaped groove for accommodating the oblong nut, and an outer side of the positioning sleeve is provided with a plurality of barbs extending along a circumferential direction of the positioning sleeve; and the oblong nut is fittedly embedded in the arc-shaped groove of the positioning sleeve to form an oblong column structure with the positioning sleeve.

2. The slate connector of claim 1, wherein the positioning sleeve is also provided with a through-hole extending along an axial direction of the threaded hole, and a diameter of the through-hole is larger than a major diameter of the threaded hole.

3. The slate connector of claim 2, wherein the positioning sleeve is provided with a top plate, a bottom plate, and a middle connecting portion fixedly connected between the top plate and the bottom plate; the oblong nut is mounted between the top plate and the bottom plate, and is configured to be fitted onto the middle connecting portion to form a cylindrical structure; the top plate and the bottom plate are both oblong plates; and the through-hole and the plurality of barbs are provided on the middle connecting portion.

4. The slate connector of claim 3, wherein the middle connecting portion has a C-shaped cross-section, and the C-shaped cross-section forms the arc-shaped groove; and the middle connecting portion and the oblong nut are arranged along the axial direction of the threaded hole and are fitted with each other.

5. The slate connector of claim 3, wherein a thickness of the top plate is less than that of the bottom plate.

6. The slate connector of claim 1, wherein a center of the threaded hole coincides with a center of the oblong nut in a height direction of the oblong nut and a center of the oblong nut a width direction of the oblong nut; and two ends of the threaded hole are each provided with a chamfer.

7. The slate connector of claim 6, wherein the plurality of barbs are arranged in parallel in a height direction of the positioning sleeve.

8. The slate connector of claim 6, wherein the positioning sleeve is made of a plastic material through injection molding; and the oblong nut is made of a metal material; an outer surface of the oblong nut is configured to be antirust; and internal threads of the oblong nut are configured to be carburized and hardened.

9. A pool table, comprising: a slate; a cushion; a table cloth; a plurality of bolts; and the slate connector of claim 1; wherein a plurality of oblong nut holes are provided on a bottom surface of the slate, and a plurality of bolt holes are provided on a side surface of the slate; and the plurality of bolt holes are communicated with the plurality of oblong nut holes in a one-to-one correspondence; the cushion is provided with a plurality of via holes in one-to-one correspondence with the plurality of bolt holes; each of the plurality of oblong nut holes is embedded with the slate connector in an interference-fit manner; the oblong nut of the slate connector is located on one side of the plurality of bolt holes, and the threaded hole of the oblong nut is opposite to and communicated with a corresponding one of the plurality of bolt holes; and a screw rod portion of the bolt is configured to pass through a corresponding one of the plurality of via holes, the table cloth, and a corresponding one of the plurality of bolt holes in sequence to be threadedly connected with the threaded hole, so as to fixedly install the cushion on the slate.

10. The pool table of claim 9, wherein a side in each of the plurality of oblong nut holes away from a corresponding one of the plurality of bolt holes is provided with a blind hole for accommodating an end of the screw rod portion; and the blind hole is coaxial with a corresponding one of the plurality of bolt holes.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0058] FIG. 1 schematically shows an installation of a round nut in a slate in the prior art;

[0059] FIG. 2 is a top view of FIG. 1;

[0060] FIG. 3 is a sectional view of FIG. 1 along A-A;

[0061] FIG. 4 is a sectional view of FIG. 1 along B-B;

[0062] FIG. 5 is a front view of a slate connector according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0063] FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the slate connector of FIG. 5 along C-C;

[0064] FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the slate connector of FIG. 5 along D-D;

[0065] FIG. 8 schematically shows an assembly structure between a slate and a cushion of a pool table according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0066] FIG. 9 is a sectional view of the assembly structure of FIG. 8 along E-E;

[0067] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of holes of the slate of FIG. 8;

[0068] FIG. 11 schematically shows a comparison of contact area between a round nut and an oblong nut; and

[0069] FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a positioning sleeve of the slate connector in FIG. 5.

[0070] In the drawings:

[0071] 1, slate; 2, bolt; 3, round nut; 4, steel mold plate; 5, marble glue; 6, nut hole; 7 cushion; 8, positioning sleeve; 9, oblong nut; 10, contact position; 11, threaded hole; 12 chamfer; 13, barb; 14, through hole; 15, top plate; 16, bottom plate; 17, middle connecting portion; 18, oblong nut hole; 19, bolt hole; 20, blind hole; 21, via hole; and 22, table cloth.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0072] Technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure will be described clearly and completely below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present disclosure. Based on the embodiments of the present disclosure, all other embodiments obtained by one of ordinary skill in the art without making creative labor are within the scope of protection of the present disclosure.

Embodiment 1

[0073] Provided herein is a slate connector, which is used in the pool table to fixedly connect a cushion 7 to a side of a slate 1 that forms a table surface (i.e., play field). FIG. 5 is a front view of the slate connector. FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the slate connector along a C-C cross-section. FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the slate connector along a D-D cross-section.

[0074] The slate connector includes an oblong nut 9 and a positioning sleeve 8. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the oblong nut 9 has an oblong structure and is provided with a threaded hole running through the oblong nut 9. As shown in FIGS. 7-9, the oblong nut 9 is provided with the threaded hole 11 that runs through the oblong nut 9 and extends transversely. The transverse direction of the oblong nut 9 is the same as the axial direction of the threaded hole 11, and is consistent with the arrangement direction of the cushion 7 and the slate 1. As shown in FIG. 5, the center of the threaded hole 11 coincides with the center of the oblong nut 9 both in the height and width direction of the oblong nut 9. The height direction of the oblong nut 9 is the direction from the top to the bottom or from the bottom to the top, as shown in FIG. 5. The width direction of the oblong nut 9 is the direction from the left to the right or from the right to the left, as shown in FIG. 5. When the slate connector is mounted in the oblong nut hole 18 of the slate 1, the height direction of the oblong nut 9 is the thickness direction of the slate 1, and the width direction of the oblong nut 9 is the same as the length direction or the width direction of the slate 1. In other words, when the oblong nut 9 is mounted on the long side of the slate 1, the width direction of the oblong nut 9 is the same as the length direction of the slate 1, and when the oblong nut 9 is mounted on the short side of the slate 1, the width direction of the oblong nut 9 is the same as the width direction of the slate 1. The threaded hole 11 is located at the geometric center of the height direction and the width direction of the oblong nut 9, which can make the force between the contact surfaces of the oblong nut 9 and the slate 1 uniform, further reducing the stress concentration phenomenon. Two ends of the threaded hole 11 are each provided with a chamfer 12, as shown in FIG. 5, which facilitates the insertion of the end portion of the screw during the assembly through the chamfer 12.

[0075] The positioning sleeve 8 is provided with an arc-shaped groove for accommodating the oblong nut 9, and barbs 13 are provided on the outer side of the positioning sleeve 8 extending along the circumferential direction thereof. The positioning sleeve 8 is also provided with a through-hole 14 extending along the axial direction of the threaded hole 11, and the diameter of the through-hole 14 is larger than the major diameter of the threaded hole 11. As shown in FIGS. 5, 7 and 12, a plurality of barbs 13 are provided on the outer side of the positioning sleeve 8 extending along the circumferential direction thereof, which are arranged in parallel in the height direction of the positioning sleeve 8. After installing the slate connector into the oblong nut hole 18 of the slate 1, the slate connector can be prevented from being loosened or falling from the oblong nut hole 18 by means of the barbs 13. The positioning sleeve 8 is also provided with a through hole 14 along the axial extending direction of the threaded hole 11, and the through hole 14 corresponds to the position of the threaded hole 11 and is communicated the threaded hole 11. The through-hole 14 provided in the positioning sleeve 8 allows the screw end of the bolt 2 to pass through, ensuring the length of the threaded connection between the bolt 2 and the oblong nut 9, so as to form a reliable connection between the slate 1 and the cushion 7.

[0076] The oblong nut 9 is fittedly embedded in the arc-shaped groove of the positioning sleeve 8 to form an oblong column structure with the positioning sleeve 8.

[0077] The slate connector not only includes an oblong nut 9 with a threaded hole 11, but also includes a positioning sleeve 8 for embedding the oblong nut 9. The oblong nut 9 together with the positioning sleeve 8 forms an oblong column structure. An outer side of the positioning sleeve 8 is provided with barbs 13. As the barbs 13 are tapered, the size of the bottom of the barbs 13 is smaller than that of the top of the barbs 13. As such, when the slate connector formed by the positioning sleeve 8 and the oblong nut 9 is in an interference fit in the oblong nut hole 18, the side of the barbs 13 with a smaller size firstly enters into the oblong nut hole 18, while the other side with a larger size enters into the oblong nut hole 18 later, which makes the installation of the slate connector easier and prevents the barbs 13 from pressing against the inner wall of the oblong nut hole 18 to generate an interference fit when the slate connector is withdrawn from the oblong nut hole 18, thus inhibiting the slate connector from withdrawing from the oblong nut hole 18. Therefore, the positioning sleeve 8 realizes the function of stopping withdrawal. This improves the stability and reliability of the installation of the slate connector in the slate 1.

[0078] When the precisely-manufactured oblong nut 9 is nested with the positioning sleeve 8 prepared through precise injection molding, a precise oblong connector slightly larger than the oblong nut hole 18 of the slate 1 is formed. When the connector is embedded into the oblong nut hole 18 of the slate 1, the bottom surface of the connector is in contact with and compacted against the bottom surface of the oblong nut hole 18 of the slate. This eliminates the rotational freedom of the connector around the X-axis and the Y-axis and the movement freedom of the connector along the Z-axis. Moreover, the oblong shape of the connector eliminates the rotational freedom along the Z-axis. The interference fit of the connector with the oblong nut hole 18 of the slate to make its two long sides rest against each other, thereby eliminating the movement freedom of the slate connector along the X-axis and the Y-axis. Such an assembly eliminates the six degrees of freedom of the slate connector at the same time, effectively satisfies the six-point positioning principle, and realizes the self-positioning function of the slate connector. The above X-axis may be a length direction or a width direction of the pool table, and correspondingly, the Y-axis is a width direction or a length direction of the pool table, and the Z-axis is a height direction of the pool table.

[0079] In an embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, the positioning sleeve 8 is provided with a top plate 15, a bottom plate 16, and a middle connecting portion 17 fixedly connected between the top plate 15 and the bottom plate 16. The oblong nut 9 is mounted between the top plate 15 and the bottom plate 16, and forms a long-cylindrical structure by adhering to the middle connecting portion 17. The top plate 15 and the bottom plate 16 are both oblong plates. The size of the top plate 15 is slightly larger than that of the oblong nut hole 18 of the slate 1. The size of the bottom of the bottom plate 16 is slightly smaller than that of the oblong nut hole 18 of the slate 1, and the bottom of the bottom plate 16 is tapered. The through hole 14 and the barbs 13 are provided in the middle connecting portion 17. The top surface of the oblong nut 9 is fitted with the top plate 15, the bottom surface of the oblong nut 9 is fitted with the bottom plate 16, and one side of the oblong nut 9 is fitted with the middle connecting portion 17. The thickness of the top plate 15 may be less than, equal to or greater than the thickness of the bottom plate 16. The positioning sleeve 8 may be made of a plastic material through precision injection molding. The oblong nut 9 is made of a metal material, such as copper, steel, iron, and aluminum, and the surface of the oblong nut 9 is subjected to antirust treatment, and at the same time, the internal threads of the oblong nut 9 are subjected to carburizing and quenching treatment, which increases the abrasion resistance of the internal threads of the oblong nut 9, and substantially improves the service life of the oblong nut 9, thereby increasing the service life of the slate 1.

[0080] The top plate 15, the bottom plate 16 and the middle connecting portion 17 of the positioning sleeve 8 are integrated as a single piece through injection molding. When the slate connector is installed in the oblong nut hole 18 of the slate 1, the positioning sleeve 8 made of plastic is fitted with the bottom of the oblong nut hole 18. The thickness of the bottom of the oblong nut hole can be fixed, which can be ensured by the depth dimension of the processed slate. The centerline of the oblong nut of the slate connector coincides with the centerline of the bolt through hole 19.

[0081] As shown in the FIGS. 5 and 6, the oblong nut 9 and the positioning sleeve 8 form an oblong column structure. The middle connecting portion 17 and the oblong nut 9 are arranged along the axial direction of the threaded hole 11 and are fitted with each other. The middle connecting portion 17 has a C-shaped cross-section, and is provided with the arc-shaped groove in which the oblong nut 9 is embedded. The cross-section of the oblong nut 9 is oblong (which may also be referred to as runway-shaped), including two flat surfaces at two sides and two arc surfaces at two ends for connecting the flat surfaces. The outer peripheral surface of the oblong nut 9 fits with the arc groove, so that when the oblong nut 9 is embedded in the positioning sleeve 8, the oblong nut 9 is closely fitted to the arc groove of the positioning sleeve 8 through the flat surfaces and the arc surfaces of the outer peripheral surface. As shown in FIG. 6, the slate connector has an oblong column structure, and the positioning sleeve 8 is semi-envelopedly wrapped around the outer side of the oblong nut 9, i.e., the top, the bottom, and part of the outer peripheral side of the oblong nut 9 are wrapped with the positioning sleeve 8, so that the positioning sleeve 8 forms a semi-enveloped structure for the oblong nut 9.

[0082] The use of the slate connector of the present disclosure in connecting the slate 1 and cushion 7 of the pool table can save a lot of time and workload for pre-installation, as a self-positioning oblong column structure is adopted herein, which omits the processes of pre-installation with a steel mold plate and infusion of marble glue. It is measured to save more than ten times of working time and labor. For example, an infusion process for a set of slate that has 30 nuts needs 15-20 min by a worker, that is, the installation of one nut needs 30-40 s, while knocking down an oblong nut with a hand hammer merely need 3 s. Moreover, the slate connector not involves the negative impacts caused by the connection of nuts and bolts and the positional deviation due to the assembly gap. Therefore, it has a high positioning accuracy, and thus improving the installation accuracy of the cushion.

[0083] The above slate connector has the advantage of firm installation and avoids the situation of breaking the slate 1 due to the nut rotation. As the oblong nut 9 is wrapped with a hard plastic positioning sleeve 8, when the oblong nut 9 is embedded into the oblong nut hole 18 of the slate 1, the positioning sleeve 8 provided with the barbs 13 is compressed, where a tapered design is used to make the installation easy. It can be gently knocked downward with a hand hammer, and the compressed hard plastic barbs 13 produce a certain amount of interference fit between the oblong nut 9 and the oblong nut hole 18 of the slate 1, so that the oblong nut 9 is firmly fixed in the oblong nut hole 18 of the slate 1, and will not rotate, thereby eliminating the phenomenon of breaking the slate.

[0084] The use of the above slate connector eliminates the phenomenon of crushing the connection between the slate 1 and the cushion, and saves valuable stones. As shown in FIG. 11, the contact position and the contact area between the existing round nut 3 and the oblong nut 9 of the present disclosure with the slate 1 are compared as follows. The existing round nut 3 and the slate 1 are in line contact, and the contact position 10 is only the two lines at the top and bottom sides of the threaded hole with an actual contact area of about 10 mm.sup.2. However, the oblong nut 9 of the present disclosure and the slate 1 are in surface contact, the contact position 10 includes the flat surfaces and the arc surfaces at both ends of the flat surfaces with an actual contact area of about 410 mm.sup.2. Despite the arc surfaces of the actual contact area, the actual contact area between the oblong nut 9 and the slate 1 is more than 40 times larger than the actual contact area between the existing round nut 3 and the slate. As the contact between the oblong nut 9 and the slate 1 is from the existing line contact into a surface contact, the contact area can be greatly increased. Compared with the existing round nut, the use of the oblong nut 9 can improve the contact area of about 40 times, reducing the pressure at the contact region, avoiding the crushing of the slate caused by the scrapping. In addition, a smaller pressure can also prolong the service life of the slate, which saves a lot of valuable stones.

[0085] The use of the above-mentioned slate connector improves the performance of the pool table. The contact area between the oblong nut 9 and the slate 1 is large, resulting in a small pressure. This can greatly improve the tightening force, render a more reliable and stable cushion connection. As such, the noise created by hitting the ball is small with a solid sound, and the cushion is not prone to loosing, thereby significantly improving the game and recreation performance of the pool table, and promoting the development of this sport.

Embodiment 2

[0086] Provided herein is a pool table, which includes a slate 1, a cushion 7, a bolt 2, a table cloth 22, and the aforementioned slate connector. As shown in FIG. 10, a plurality of oblong nut holes 18 are provided on the bottom surface of the slate 1, and a plurality of bolt through holes 19 in a one-to-one correspondence and communication with the plurality of oblong nut holes 18 are provided on the side surface of the slate 1. The side of the oblong nut hole 18 away from the bolt through hole 19 is also provided a blind hole 20 opposite to and coaxial with the bolt through hole 19. The blind hole 20 can accommodate the screw end of the bolt 2. The oblong nut hole 18 is an oblong hole, and fits with the shape of the slate connector. The slate connector with an oblong column structure is embedded in the oblong nut hole 18. As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the cushion 7 is provided with a plurality of via holes in one-to-one correspondence to the plurality of bolt through holes 19. The slate connector is embedded in the oblong nut hole 18 in an interference fit, the oblong nut 9 of the slate connector is located on one side of the bolt through hole 19. The threaded holes 11 of the oblong nut 9 are provided opposite to the bolt through holes 19 and are connected with the bolt through holes 19. The screw end portion of the bolt 2 passes through the via hole 21, the table cloth 22, and the bolt through hole 19 in sequence to be connected with the threaded holes 11, so as to fixedly install the cushion 7 on the slate 1. At the same time, the table cloth 22 is clamped between the cushion 7 and the slate 1. The bolt 2 with a pointed end is used for facilitating piercing the table cloth 22, thereby omitting the process of making an incision in the table cloth 22 due to the impossibility of penetrating the table cloth when a flat-ended screw is used.

[0087] The aforementioned pool table is adopted herein. The slate connector is assembled into the oblong nut hole 18 of the slate 1. The screw rod portion of the bolt 2 successively passes through the via hole 21 of the cushion 7, the table cloth 22 and the bolt through hole 19 of the slate 1 to be threadedly connected with the threaded hole 11 of the oblong nut 9, so that the cushion 7 is pressed tightly and fixedly connected to the slate 1. The oblong nut 9 is fitted with the oblong nut hole 18 through flat surfaces and rounded arc surfaces, which can avoid the stress concentration, thereby avoiding the rupture of the slate 1 at the oblong nut hole 18 due to the stress concentration, and improving the strength of the connection while avoiding the crushing of the slate 1. As such, a lot of valuable stones can be saved. The oblong nut hole 18 and the slate connector both have an oblong structure, which can realize the self-positioning between the slate connector and the slate 1, and can prevent the oblong nut 9 from rotating, thereby avoiding the crushing of the slate 1 due to the rotation of the oblong nut 9. Moreover, the threaded hole 11 can be automatically aligned with the bolt through hole. 19, so that the bolt 2 can be quickly threaded with the threaded hole 11, improving the speed of matching of the bolt 2 with the oblong nut 9, shortening the assembling time, and improving the installation efficiency of the pool table.

[0088] Moreover, since the outer side of the positioning sleeve 8 is provided with barbs, after the positioning sleeve 8 is installed into the oblong nut hole 18, the interference fit between the barbs 13 and the oblong nut hole 18 of the slate 1 can prevent the slate connector from being loosened or falling out of the oblong nut hole 18, so as to reliably enable the positioning sleeve 8 and the oblong nut 9 to be embedded in the oblong nut hole 18 of the slate 1, which is conducive to improving the reliability and stability of the connection, facilitating the subsequent disassembly and installation of the cushion, and avoiding the loss of the slate connector during disassembly and assembly.

[0089] A blind hole 20 for accommodating the screw end is provided in the oblong nut hole 18 of the slate 1, and is located on the side away from the bolt through hole 19. The blind hole 20 is coaxial with and connected to the via hole 11 and the bolt through hole 19, so that when the cushion 7 is fixedly mounted to the slate 1 through the bolt 2, the screw end of the bolt 2 that is threadedly connected to the threaded hole 11 of the oblong nut 9 can be inserted into the blind hole 20, thereby increasing the freedom of selection of the length of the bolt 2 on the basis of ensuring that the bolt 2 is sufficiently connected to the threaded hole 11.

[0090] In summary, the above are only preferred embodiments of the present disclosure, and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present disclosure. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, and improvements made within the spirit and principles of the present disclosure shall be included in the scope of protection of the present disclosure.