Billiard cue

Abstract

The present invention is to provide a billiard cue having an improved shaft. The shaft includes a wooden main shaft, an interior shaft, and an exterior coating. The wooden main shaft has a hollow core with a predetermined length extending along the direction of a longitudinal axis of the main shaft. The interior shaft is made of a material harder than the wooden main shaft and is tightly received in the hollow core of the main shaft. The exterior coating is made of a fiber composite material and is coated on the exterior periphery of the main shaft. Accordingly, the main shaft takes advantages of the wooden material and can prevent curvature and/or deformation by means of the interior shaft and the exterior coating.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates generally to a billiard cue, and more particularly to a billiard cue with an improved shaft.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Although a wooden material is provided with specific elasticity and toughness and is quite adapted to making billiard cues. However, there are still several flaws not overcome yet. For example, a conventional billiard cue made of the wooden material is vulnerable to curvature or deformation due to the climatic factors. Furthermore, the conventional billiard cue is made of identical natural wood, which forms different fiber structure due to growing sequence and difference environment, so that a rod body of the conventional billiard cue will have different elasticity and hardness at each parts thereof as a result of different fiber structure and then the conventional billiard cue is ineffective in manipulation of hitting a cue ball.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0003] The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a billiard cue with an improved shaft, which keeps advantages of a wooden rod body and is not vulnerable to curvature or deformation due to the climatic factors, i.e. the rod body of the improved billiard cue will keep straight for a long time.

[0004] Another objective of the present invention is to provide a billiard cue with an improved shaft, which is preferably stable in manipulation of hitting a cue ball under the circumstance of keeping advantages of a wooden rod body.

[0005] In keeping with the principle of the present invention, the foregoing objectives of the present invention are attained by the billiard cue including an improved shaft. The shaft is composed of a wooden main shaft, an interior shaft, and an exterior coating. The wooden main shaft has a hollow core with a predetermined length extending along the direction of a longitudinal axis of the main shaft. The interior shaft is made of a material harder than the wooden main shaft and is tightly received in the hollow core of the main shaft. The exterior coating is made of a fiber composite material and coated on the exterior periphery of the main shaft. Accordingly, the main shaft takes advantages of the wooden material and prevents curvature and/or deformation by means of the interior shaft and the exterior coating such that the billiard cue is preferably stable in manipulation of hitting the cue ball.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0006] FIG. 1 is a front view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

[0007] FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the direction indicated by a line 2-2 as shown in FIG. 1; and

[0008] FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the direction indicated by a line 3-3 as shown in FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] Referring to FIG. 1, a billiard cue 10 provided by a preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a shaft 12 and a butt 14, which are coupled with each other by a method of being threadedly engaged or adhesively engaged or others. The shaft 12 has a large diametrical end coupled with the but 14 and a small diametrical end fastened sequentially with a ferrule 16 and a tip 18. The butt 14 has a large diametrical end fastened with a bumper 20 and a small diametrical end coupled with the large diametrical end of the shaft 12.

[0010] Referring to FIGS. 2-3, the shaft 12 is in shape of taper and includes the small diametrical end, which outer diameter is substantially 13 millimeters, and the large diametrical end, which is 20 millimeters. The shaft 12 is composed of a main shaft 22, an interior shaft 24, and an exterior coating 26.

[0011] The main shaft 22 is in shape of taper with a total length of 73.66 centimeters (29 inches) and is made of a natural wooden material, such as maple, mahogany, walnut, and other hardwood. The main shaft 22 has a small diametrical end, which outer diameter is in a range of 11 millimeters to 11.4 millimeters, and a large diametrical end, which outer diameter is in a range of 18 millimeters to 18.4 millimeters. The main shaft 22 has a hollow core 28, which extends along the direction of a longitudinal axis of the main shaft 22 and runs through the two ends of the main shaft 22. The diameter of the hollow core 28 is about 6 millimeters. Please note that the above sizes and proportions are applied to the present invention only and can be altered according to other circumstances.

[0012] The interior shaft 24 is made of a material harder than wood, like metals or fiber composite materials including carbon fiber composite material, fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP), and so on, and is corresponding to the hollow core 28 of the main shaft 22 both in length and outer diameter. In the present embodiment, the interior shaft 24 is a hollow rod body, i.e. a tube, and has an outer diameter of 6 millimeters and an inner diameter of 4 millimeters. The interior shaft 24 is tightly received in the hollow core 28 of the main shaft 22.

[0013] The exterior coating 26, which is fixedly coated on an exterior periphery of the main shaft 22, is made of a fiber composite material, like carbon fiber composite material, glass fiber composite material, fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP), etc. The exterior coating 26 has a thickness in a range of 0.8 millimeters to 1 millimeter. In other words, the overall diameter of the shaft 12 is 13 millimeters at the small diametrical end and 20 millimeters at the large diametrical end. Please note that the exterior coating 26 is made by a prior art of rolling the exterior periphery of the main shaft 22 by a fiber cloth soaked with epoxy resin or winding around the exterior periphery of the main shaft 22 by a fiber bundle and then hardening and forming by heat treatment. Since the prior art is not in accordance with subject matter, it will not be described in details thereafter.

[0014] From the aforemention, the billiard cue 10 includes the shaft 12, which is effective in hitting a cue ball by means of specific elasticity and toughness provided by the wooden main shaft 22. Additionally, the interior shaft 24 and the exterior coating 26 can prevent the wooden main shaft 22 from the curvature and/or deformation due to climatic factors and keep the shaft 12 straight for a long time. In the meantime, the interior shaft 24 and the exterior coating 26 can alternatively be made of a metal or a fiber composite material or other materials, either one of which structurally can also keep the shaft 12 straight by current manufacturing technology thereof. Accordingly, the billiard cue 10 of the present invention is preferably free from a flaw of ineffective manipulation due to a conventional billiard cue's fiber structure.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A billiard cue comprising a shaft, said shaft comprising: a wooden main shaft having a hollow core with a predetermined length extending along the direction of a longitudinal axis thereof; an interior shaft made of a material harder than said wooden main shaft and tightly received in said hollow core of said main shaft; and an exterior coating made of a fiber composite material and being coated on the exterior periphery of said main shaft.

2. The billiard cue as defined in claim 1, wherein said hollow core of said main shaft runs through two ends of said main shaft.

3. The billiard cue as defined in claim 1, wherein said interior shaft is a hollow rod body.

4. The billiard cue as defined in claim 1, wherein said main shaft has a small diametrical end with an outer diameter in between 11 millimeters and 11.4 millimeters, and a large diametrical end with an outer diameter in between 19 millimeters and 19.4 millimeters; wherein said interior shaft has an outer diameter of 6 millimeters substantially; wherein said exterior coating has a thickness in between 0.8 millimeters and 1 millimeter.

5. The billiard cue as defined in claim 3, wherein said main shaft has a small diametrical end with an outer diameter in between 11 millimeters and 11.4 millimeters, and a large diametrical end with an outer diameter in between 19 millimeters and 19.4 millimeters; wherein said interior shaft has an outer diameter of 6 millimeters substantially; wherein said exterior coating has a thickness in between 0.8 millimeters and 1 millimeter.