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Aiming device for billiard cue

Abstract: An aiming device for a billiard cue is disclosed herein, which includes a fixing member, an extending member coupled with the fixing member at one end thereof, a parallel light source coupled with the other end of the extending member and having a projection hole for passing a parallel light beam emitted from the parallel light source, and a cylindrical lens mounted on one end of the parallel light source in front of the projection hole, whereby the parallel light beam becomes a fanned light beam after it passes through the cylindrical lens. The aiming device of the present invention can provide a high precise aiming in billiards. ...

Agent: Lin & Associates Intellectual Property, Inc. - Saratoga, CA, US
Inventor: Sen-Yung Liu
USPTO Applicaton #: #20080090670 - Class: 473 2 (USPTO)

The Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20080090670, Aiming device for billiard cue.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001]1. Field of the Invention

[0002]The present invention relates to an aiming device for a billiard cue, and in particular to an aiming device that can provide a high precise aiming in billiards.

[0003]2. The Prior Arts

[0004]Generally, when striking a cue ball, people use naked eyes to aim at the ball. Due to the inaccuracy of the viewing angle and the difficulty of long-distance aiming, the way of aiming at the ball by naked eyes is not precise enough. It can only help a little to adjust the striking strength and direction of the cue. Hence, ordinary people except for those skilled billiard players are hard to aim at the ball precisely by naked eyes.

[0005]Currently, aiming reference points are located at a periphery of a conventional billiard table. If these points are located at the other side of the table, it is inevitable to have a deviation of aiming by naked eyes. Later a laser light aiming device was produced, which could project a light point onto an object ball to be struck, but there is not a baseline between the projection point and the billiard cue, thereby players still cannot aim at the ball precisely.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0006]A primary objective of the present invention is to provide an aiming device for a billiard cue, which can generate a fanned light beam by scattering a parallel light beam through a cylindrical lens. The fanned light beam projects a projection line for aiming at between a cue ball and an object ball. By the projection line, the billiard cue is in alignment with the cue ball and the object ball so that the billiard cue can strike the cue ball to impact onto the object ball along the projection line to let the object ball fall into a pocket.

[0007]To achieve the above-mentioned objectives, an aiming device for a billiard cue in accordance with the present invention includes a fixing member, an extending member coupled with the fixing member at one end thereof, a parallel light source coupled with the other end of the extending member and having a projection hole for passing a parallel light beam emitted from the parallel light source, and a cylindrical lens mounted on one end of the parallel light source in front of the projection hole, whereby the parallel light beam becomes a fanned light beam after it passes through the cylindrical lens.

[0008]According to the present invention, the parallel light source may be a laser light source or other light sources. The fixing member may be a fixing clamp or a clamp that is sleeved on the billiard cue and fastened with screws. There is no limitation to the structure of the fixing member as long as it can fix the aiming device with the billiard cue. The extending member may be, but not limited to, a curved rigid member. Any flexible or bendable extending members such as a flexible member in accordance with the present invention or a multiple rod linkage with ball pivot mechanisms are applicable, so as to be capable of adjusting a desired angle and a range of the projection light emitted from the parallel light source. The cylindrical lens may be a circular, biconvex, biconcave, plano-convex, or plano-concave cylindrical lens.

[0009]The parallel light beam can be refracted by the cylindrical lens to produce a fanned light beam. The fanned light beam is projected to form a projection line when it radiates on a surface of an object. Along the projection line, the billiard cue is in alignment with the cue ball and the object ball so that the cue ball can be hit to impact onto the object ball precisely. Travel trajectories of the cue ball and the object ball can be controlled through the help of the projection line.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010]The present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art by reading the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, with reference to the attached drawings, in which:

[0011]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an aiming device for a cue billiard in accordance with the present invention.

[0012]FIG. 2 is a side view of FIG. 1.

[0013]FIG. 3A is an enlarged view showing a parallel light source and a cylindrical lens in accordance with the present invention.

[0014]FIG. 3B is an enlarged view showing an assembly of FIG. 3A.

[0015]FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing a track of a parallel light beam penetrating through a cylindrical lens.

[0016]FIGS. 5A-5E are schematic views showing different types of cylindrical lenses in accordance with the present invention.

[0017]FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing that the aiming device of FIG. 1 is in use.

[0018]FIG. 7 is a schematic view of an aiming device in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0019]With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, an aiming device 1 for a billiard cue in accordance with the present invention comprises a fixing member 10, an extending member 20, a parallel light source 30 and a cylindrical lens 40. The fixing member 10 is coupled with one end of the extending member 20 and the parallel light source 30 is coupled with the other end of the extending member 20. The cylindrical lens 40 is mounted on an end surface of the parallel light source 30, whereby a fanned light beam is projected out of the cylindrical lens 40 when a parallel light beam emitted from the parallel light source 30 passes through the cylindrical lens 40. The fanned light beam is projected on a surface of an object to form a projection line for aiming.

[0020]The fixing member 10 is, but not limited to, a fixing clamp in this embodiment. An inner rim of the fixing clamp 10 is configured to fit to an outer shape of a billiard cue P (see FIG. 6) for mounted thereon. A gasket 11 can be further disposed on the inner rim of the fixing clamp 10 so as to securely mount the fixing member 10 to the billiard cue P. Moreover, the fixing member 10 may have a frame configured with the outer shape of the billiard cue P and fixed on the billiard cue P with screws.

[0021]The extending member 20 may be, but not limited to, a curved rigid member. Any flexible or bendable extending members 20 such as a flexible member in this embodiment or a multiple rod linkage with ball pivot mechanisms are applicable, so as to be capable of adjusting a desired angle and a range of the projection light emitted from the parallel light source 30. There is no limitation to the bending angle of the extending member 20 and it can be adjusted according to the length of the billiard cue P and the location where the extending member 20 is installed.

[0022]The parallel light source 30 is, but not limited to, a laser light source in this embodiment. Any light sources that emit a parallel light beam may be used in the present invention. But a diameter of the light beam of the parallel light source 30 cannot be too large; otherwise it will be difficult to align with a baseline on the billiard cue P accurately.

[0023]Referring to FIGS. 3A and 3B, the parallel light source 30 has a projection hole 32 defined on one end surface thereof for passing the parallel light bean. A diameter of the projection hole 32 determines the diameter of the projection light emitted from the parallel light source 30. The parallel light source 30 comprises a battery 31 to provide power supply and a switch 35 to turn on/off the power supply. In this embodiment, the switch 35 is located on the parallel light source 30, but it may be located on the extending member 20 or the fixing member 10 as well. On the other hand, the battery 31 in the present invention is a button battery, but it can also be a lithium battery or alkaline battery. Accordingly, the parallel light source 30 can be constructed to receive different types of batteries. The battery 31 can be placed in a battery pack 34 disposed between the fixing member 10 and the extending member 20, whereby the projection head 33 of the parallel light source 30 is lighter (see FIG. 7). At this time, the switch 35 is provided on the battery pack 34. Besides, the cylindrical lens 40 is set in a direction parallel to the fixing member 10.

[0024]Referring to FIG. 4, a parallel light beam L1 emitted from the parallel light source 30 through the projection hole 32 enters into a lens surface 41 of the cylindrical lens 40, which is closest to the parallel light source 30, and goes out of a lens surface 42 of the cylindrical lens 40, which is farthest from the parallel light source 30. The parallel light beam L1 becomes a fanned light beam L2 caused by refraction of the light from the cylindrical lens 40. The fanned light beam L2 projects on a surface of a table B to form a projection line L3, which can be precisely applied to an aiming at between a cue ball and an object ball in billiards.

[0025]The cylindrical lens 40 is a circular cylindrical lens as shown in FIG. 4. Referring to FIGS. 5A-5E, the cylindrical lens 40 according to the present invention may be a biconvex cylindrical lens 50, a convex-concave cylindrical lens 60, a plano-convex cylindrical lens 70, a plano-concave cylindrical lens 80, a biconcave cylindrical lens 90, or combinations thereof. Accordingly, the parallel light beam L1 can enter into a lens surface 51, 61, 71, 81 or 91 of the cylindrical lens, which is closest to the parallel light source 30, and goes out of a lens surface 52, 62, 72, 82 or 92 of the cylindrical lens, which is farthest from the parallel light source 30, respectively. On the other hand, a length of the cylindrical lens 40 should be greater than the diameter of the projection hole 32, so that the parallel light beam L1 can be projected completely.

[0026]FIG. 6 shows an illustrative example of the aiming device 1 according to the present invention, which is in use. Firstly, the aiming device 1 is mounted on the billiard cue P with the fixing member 10. Then, the extending member 20 is bended downwardly and the projection line L3 of the fanned light beam L2 is in alignment with a reference baseline P1 on the billiard cue P by adjusting the extending member 20. When this adjustment is finished, the cue ball B1 and the object ball B2 are aimed along the projection line L3. By doing so, we can control the travel trajectory of the cue ball B1 to hit the object ball B2 more precisely.

[0027]Although the present invention has been described, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that a variety of modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention which is intended to be defined by the appended claims.

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