BILLIARD TABLE

Description

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a billiard table of the type consisting of a flat upholstered playing surface or base and a perimeter frame, and comprising a series of improvements in the frame to improve the performance and maintenance of the table.

Thus, the invention is comprised in the field of sports, particularly the field of billiards in any of its variants.

Given the arrangement, ingenuity and achievable social benefit, the invention represents a major step forward with respect to the current state of the art, particularly in terms of ease of maintenance and table quality.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Known billiard tables are made up of a playing surface, which is generally upholstered slate, and a frame formed by pieces of wood with a padded rubber part, and the entire frame upholstered on the outside. This has several implications. First, wood is an anisotropic material, i.e., its characteristics depend on of the direction in which they are measured. Thus, a ball will bounce slightly differently according to the direction from which it arrives. Furthermore, different points have different elasticities due to the natural variation of wood.

Moreover, the upholstery is the part of the table that deteriorates the fastest, so it is necessary to reupholster the tables quite frequently, especially competition tables.

On almost all tables, reupholstering involves dismantling the playing frame and separating its parts to access the rails, which are made up of a rigid part (usually wood) and a rubber part, both covered with cloth. Then, the old cloth must be unstapled or unstuck and the new one put in place.

There are no known systems that are as simple to apply for quick configuration and implementation as the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a billiard table according to the claims.

The invention proposes a novel frame in which the bands are easy to release for the replacement of parts and also offers isotropic behaviour, resulting in a higher quality table.

To this end, the inventor has created a novel system of removable bands that greatly simplifies the reupholstering process. By means of a continuous clipping system, with an oblique tongue and groove joint, the rails are strongly secured to the playing rail support when it is screwed to the slate. The more pressure is applied, the more secure the two pieces become, so that the playing experience is enhanced by the system.

Namely, the billiard table is formed by a structure, usually with four legs, on which a slate playing surface and a frame are arranged. The frame is formed by a rail support fixed to the structure, for example, to the playing surface, and rails coupled to that support with an elastic part. In particular, the rails are fixed to the rail support by means of a fixing with an oblique tongue and groove joint, the lower part of which is towards the playing surface and the upper part of which is towards the outside of the table.

Preferably the rails are formed by a rigid part, which carries the fixing, and a strip of soft material (gum, rubber, etc.) for the balls to bounce off. Both the rail support and the rigid part of the rail, in that case, can be extruded profiles, usually made of aluminium.

Other variants will be described in the final section of this description.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

To this end, and with the aim of complementing the description being provided and facilitating a better understanding of the features of the invention, a diagram and a drawing are included as an integral part of this description, for illustrative purposes only and without limitation, depicting the following:

• • FIG. 1 shows a detailed section of a part of the table, showing the playing surface and the frame.

FIG. 2 shows a front section at the time of releasing the rail.

FIG. 3 shows an exploded perspective section view.

The following various parts or components are referenced:

• • 1. Playing surface (slate).
  • 2. Frame.
  • 3. Rail support
  • 4. Rail
  • 5. Cloth.
  • 6. Rigid part (of the rails).
  • 7. Strip of soft material.
  • 8. Fixing.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

The embodiment of the invention is briefly described below as an illustrative and non-limiting example thereof.

Shown as a preferred embodiment of the invention is a billiard table with a playing surface (1), for example, made of slate, which defines the area where the balls move and is surrounded by a frame (2), which can have pockets according to the type of table. Likewise, the dimensions (length, width, and height of the frame (2)) depend on the type of table and on the type of billiards to be played (snooker, American billiards, French billiards, etc.). The pockets can be made by means of a corner piece, for example, made of injected plastic, which is not part of the invention.

As can be seen in the figures, the frame (2) is made up of a rail support (3) on which rails (4) covered with a cloth (5) are fixed. The rails (4) are made up of a rigid part (6) supporting a strip of soft material (7), usually made of rubber.

The rail support (3) is fixed to the structure of the table, for example, through a fixing to the playing surface (1) which is attached to the structure. In the figures, the fixing is through a series of screws or the like, arranged a short distance from one another. The strip of soft material (7) is integral with the rigid part (6), which is attached to the rail support (3) such that it can be dismantled. The cloth (5) can be attached in various ways, for example, by means of a longitudinal beading at the upper part of the rail support (3) and staples at the lower part.

The figure shows how the fixing (8) between the rail support (3) and the rails (4) is performed by means of an oblique tongue and groove joint, preferably at 45° with the surface (1). This tongue and groove joint has a direction that starts from the surface (1) as the lowest point, and rises as it moves away from the centre of the table. Thus, upon tightening the rail support (3), the tongue and groove joint causes the rail (4) to be supported against the surface (1) and, in turn, the tightening of the rail (4) against its support (3), rendering it completely immobilised. The tightening torque of the screws of the board, which translates into the tightening of the rail (4), can be 11 N.

Therefore, by simply loosening the playing frame (2), and without having to completely separate it from the surface (1), the rails (4) are readily separated. This makes it much easier and cheaper to reupholster them, or even replace them with other identical pre-upholstered rails (4). It is not necessary to separate the frame (2) from the surface (1), or to dismantle it, since the rails (4) come off as independent pieces. It is sufficient to lift the rail support (3) until the fixing (8) can be uncoupled, which depends on the length of the tongue and groove joint.

The fact that the rail (4) - rail support (3) attachment system is continuous means that the pressure on the rail (4) is constant and the bouncing of the ball is identical at any point of the rail (4). In other words, there are no areas where the rail (4) causes a cleaner bounce that in other areas.

Moreover, since the two pieces are made from aluminium (both the rail support (3) and, in the rail, the rigid part (6) where the rubber is fixed), system durability and isotropy are guaranteed.