Improved ball marker
- Thread starter Bob Jewett
- Start date
That is actually not true. It is a very common misconception.
There are many pros of having a patent. It shows you are serious to investors, it is literally property that you can sell, you can license against it, it is fun to permanently have your name in the record books, it gives you a position in which you can send "cease-and-desist" letters to infringers, and it will give you a much better chance of winning a litigation case.
The last two have catches though. There is no law that is being broken by infringing on someone's patent. It isn't a criminal offense, it is a civil one. It is up to the patent holder to litigate. And this is extremely expensive, for both parties. $100k. Not even worth it in a small market like this. Also it costs a lot of money hire a patent attorney to write your patent for you, maybe $5k, unless you are someone like me who wrote their own patent (in which case it only cost me $800 total).
Sometimes it is better to be the first to market, and sell before anyone else does, regardles of intellectual property.
People are not going to steal your idea unless you prove it makes money.
There are a few patent attorneys on here that can add, or correct me.
boogieman
It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that ping.
I remember never owning jax in my life. When we moved to a new house when I was about 5 years old I found one on the basement stairs with my foot! The round ball part actually went into my foot!
This would be an easy to use ball marker, but might be easy to misplace.
It just needs a double decker mod on that back corner....that is the only problem I see with just a piece of chalk or any of them that mark on the cloth.
I can't for the life of me remember where I saw someone made a DIY home build marker that was piece of leather (or something) that swiveled on top of a piece of wood that would mark the ball part way up the ball so if the ball was sitting directly on the rack template you could mark the ball and get the template out from under the ball marker.
I make and 3D print crap so I made a 3D printed version of a double decker one using a 608 bearing for my home table......basically two ball markers stacked on top of each other....bottom one you can slide up to the ball on the cloth....or swivel the top one backwards (or sideways) and mark the ball part way up (if the ball is on the template)
...man, it may just be me, but this thing has an ally of subminimal power, a suggestion or 'influence' recognized by that little notch, the one right there to the right of everyone's avatar, wow, has that always been there?
I'll get back with the enormity of "what this means" if one has the long and latitude numbers.
..oh', and, Bob,
I can see where your little hole cut for what think your saying can be used for the mark-up 'dot' on the table also doubling as the other half of the Snap-on, like part of a cuff link, keeping it handy,, cool
I'll get back with the enormity of "what this means" if one has the long and latitude numbers.
..oh', and, Bob,
I can see where your little hole cut for what think your saying can be used for the mark-up 'dot' on the table also doubling as the other half of the Snap-on, like part of a cuff link, keeping it handy,
, cool
I bet that's exactly the amount,,,,,,,,,, now!
Nice marker! I designed a couple myself and agree about preferring two angled surfaces. The one in the pictures was my first shot. I made it a bit bigger so I can pin it down with two fingers for stability. My 3d printed ones work fine, but I had one machined out of aluminum (7075-T6!) that I left at the club. It had more heft and was much nicer. Shockingly it was thugged after less than a week. -bes
Here is how it looks in use, from the side and from above.
It doesn't stick out much.
It doesn't stick out much.
Having been playing the placement - setting up plots for quite a while now, it usually takes a few set ups to get the kinks out for a steady hand, I look at it as a therapy for that shaky hand thing. It's an art to place without any wobbles, after a few rounds, maybe it's just getting relaxed for all to go smooth.
Looking at that last image Bob, I'm thinking, getting a shaky as I would be moving in to remove the marker - is that thing magnetized? Just ease in with a magnet and let that thing pop out of there.
One good use - snooker refs spotting up accurately, quickly every time.
Looking at that last image Bob, I'm thinking, getting a shaky as I would be moving in to remove the marker - is that thing magnetized? Just ease in with a magnet and let that thing pop out of there.
One good use - snooker refs spotting up accurately, quickly every time.
I would like to buy one if you guys have one to sell.Bob and I worked a while on this project. He had the initial idea for many years, and we refined it together. Then we had a small batch made at a vendor I use for my dayjob a lot. I just checked my notes from the project. It was a fun time
I will definitely be looking for an answer on this one. Now you have me thinking that I don't know something that I should clearly know. I suppose that's the beauty of it all though, "you don't know what you don't know".
I am hoping that is construction paper, not cloth.
Aside from the fact that there is less mass protruding out from the sides, I really can't see any great improvement over the inexpensive one from Amazon like member Zerksies linked in post #31. What I don't like about this "better" ball marker is that there isn't really a good way to pull the marker away from the ball without getting dangerously close to moving the ball with your fingers. Maybe if I actually had one and used it would I see and get a better grasp of what makes it better.
Typical of us pool people wanting to overthink a simple solution. A ball marker needs no engineering from an M.I.T. graduate. Another example of overthinking is bridge heads. Must be 20 different types out there. They, and the many different ball markers all work. Some maybe better than others, but that's all subjective.
What do you mean? That is EXACTLY what I am currently making. It is a bridge that positions your cue automatically and to the correct spot.
I call it the "Brrrridge"" because it freezes out your competition.
Pros, like at Griff's doing the picking up/removing is good behavior/common sense.
If the balls have some separation, it has zero effect on the outcome, when in agreement.
One will pick the ball up, other will remove the template.
Break-shot, two balls trap the template. Both players agree. MOVE IT.
One hair left or right of the EXACT spot it was on will Have NO effect to the players/game/outcome.
If the balls have some separation, it has zero effect on the outcome, when in agreement.
One will pick the ball up, other will remove the template.
Break-shot, two balls trap the template. Both players agree. MOVE IT.
One hair left or right of the EXACT spot it was on will Have NO effect to the players/game/outcome.
Here is an earlier prototype. It can be made from brass L stock, so should be a lot cheaper. The square fits in the arms of the L. If you remove the balls and put the square in, the corner of the square sits where the base of the ball was. That allows you mark where the ball was or to place a ball exactly on a marked spot. I got sets made for Pool, Carom, and Snooker which explains the P.
The nesting feature of the new design eliminates the need of a different part.
The nesting feature of the new design eliminates the need of a different part.
A couple of pieces of chalk work fine for most people. Those don't provide the functionality that a serious ref wants.
Due to the interest, here's my offer: $25 each for the brass pool markers, which is what I paid. $10 for priority shipping for any number items.
Also available:
aluminum marker, $10
sets of the simpler design, brass L and aluminum square, for pool, snooker and carom, $30
Also available:
aluminum marker, $10
sets of the simpler design, brass L and aluminum square, for pool, snooker and carom, $30