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Four dimensional billiards

Four dimensional billiards description/claims

This application claims priority of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/505,714, filed on Aug. 24, 2004, titled FOUR DIMENSIONAL BILLIARDS; which is a 371 of International Application No. PCT/US03/06015 filed Feb. 25, 2003 titled FOUR DIMENSIONAL BILLIARDS which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/359,416 filed Feb. 25, 2002, titled FOUR DIMENSIONAL BILLIARDS which are incorporated by reference in this application in its entirety.

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a new sport similar to the traditional game of billiards. In particular, tire invention provides additional elements and complexities to the traditional game of billiards.

2. Related Art

As a sport, today's billiards is viewed by the public as a very low-key game. Unlike other sports, billiards championship events do not draw much attention from the public. Any observer of a billiards championship competition will notice that the games have become much shorter in duration and easier to complete. A top champion usually finishes the game fairly quickly. The competitors' skills have advanced highly, while the standards of the game have remained static. Once a player starts the game, it is very likely that he or she will place the balls in the pockets with no effort—so much so that winning or losing has come down to just a few small errors by a participant in the last moments of a game. As a consequence, watching these games has become somewhat boring and monotonous, and because of this, public participation is extremely low as compared to other sports. To attract public interest and open new opportunities for participation in the game and championship competitions, the game of billiards must somehow become more exciting and challenging, with a view to eventual commercial gains.

A typical game of billiards consists of a standard set of fifteen (15) game balls that are identical to one another in size and mass, and a sixteenth (16th) ball, the cue ball, usually of the same size and mass as the game balls. However, with automatic vending-machine type billiard tables the cue ball is slightly larger than the game balls to enable the return of the cue ball in the event that it inadvertently falls into one of the game table pockets.

The underlying object of traditional billiards is to knock the game balls into the pockets of the game table by way of an impact initiated by the cue ball. Variations of the game of billiards may include utilizing a number of game balls that is different than fifteen (15), changing the initial setup of the balls, adding any number of additional balls at various locations around the table or utilizing similar and dissimilar ball shapes and weights. Additionally, the markings on the balls may be altered from the standard numbering of 1 through 15, where the first eight balls are of various solid colors and the remaining seven are striped with various colors. For example, the markings on the balls may be altered to simulate other sports or sports paraphernalia. And finally, the ordering scheme in which the game balls are to be knocked into the game table pockets may be altered.

In analyzing traditional billiards, regardless of the variations described above, the game is technically based on three elements or dimensions: (1) distance, (2) angle, and (3) force. In other words, the three technically variants are the distance of the ball from the target, the angle of the ball in relationship to the target, and the force behind the ball provided by the player to drive the ball to the target. To the masters, handling these three elements has become too easy. Players at the championship levels have mastered the technique of handling these elements. To make the game more complicated, a new element or a new dimension must be added to the game. Once this is accomplished, the game will become more challenging to play and more interesting to watch.

A playing surface that introduces “motion” as a fourth dimension to the traditional game of billiards, by altering the natural inertia of the game balls during play is disclosed. A basic technique for altering the inertia of the balls is to place a portion of the playing surface in continuous motion. Unlike traditional rectangular style billiards table with a solid surface, the playing surface may be a rectangular style billiards table having a portion of the surface designed to move in the same horizontal plane as the playing surface.

By way of example, one portion of the playing surface could act as a turntable that would rotate at variable speeds in both the clockwise and counter-clockwise direction, turning only that portion of the playing surface and delivering movement to the game. Thus, those billiards balls that are situated, or come to rest, on tire moving section, will continue to move about that section of the table at the speed in which the underlying surface is moving. Players would then have to factor in the relative movement of those balls resting on the moving portion of the playing surface when attempting to hit target balls into the pockets of the table. Accordingly, players will be faced with moving targets and moving obstacles as they attempt to hit their target balls.

Alternatively, the moving portion of the playing surface could move at a velocity that would not allow the balls to stop on the moving surface, but would instead change the direction of the balls or alter the speed of the balls as they pass over the moving surface. In addition to having a portion of the playing table in motion, the movement of the balls may also be altered through electrostatic and electromagnetic forces applied to various portions of the playing surface. In this embodiment, the composition of the balls may need to be alter to respond to the electrostatic and electromagnetic forces applied to the playing surface. And finally, the balls themselves could be altered, through the use of a battery or other electrical source, to put or maintain the balls in motion.

Other systems, methods, features and advantages of the invention will be or will become apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following figures and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, features and advantages be included within this description, be within the scope of the invention, and be protected by the accompanying claims.

A more complete appreciation of the invention and many of the advantages thereof will be readily obtained as the same becomes better understood by references to the detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings. The components in the figures are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention. In the figures, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the different views.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a billiards table of one embodiment of the invention;

• Provisional Patent
• Utility Patent

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