Top Mounted Ball Spotting Rack and Method of Racking Billiard Balls

Abstract

An improved billiards ball spotting rack for the compact and precise formation of a plurality of billiard balls that operates by resting on top of and in contact with said billiard balls. The top mounted ball rack consists of a rigid frame and a series of aligning features that induce all of the balls into a tight position in contact with each adjacent ball. The design of the aligning features is such that a secondary compressing action required by ball spotting racks of prior art, commonly performed by pressing the balls with the fingers or thumbs or by the use of a moving mechanical device, is not necessary to achieve a compact and precise formation where every ball is in contact with every adjacent ball.

1 . A ball spotting rack for the compact and precise arrangement of billiard balls on a table comprising of a rigid frame containing a series of precisely located aligning features. 
     
     
         2 . A ball spotting rack according to  claim 1 , wherein said aligning features are in any quantity from three to fifteen inclusive. 
     
     
         3 . A ball spotting rack according to  claim 1 , wherein said aligning features consist of any shape that induces said billiard balls to align their geometric centers with the geometric center points of the respective aligning feature (herein after referred to as “centering action”). 
     
     
         4 . A ball spotting rack according to  claim 2 , wherein the edge between the horizontal surface of said rigid frame and the vertical surface of said aligning features is shaped in any manner which facilitates the centering action. 
     
     
         5 . A ball spotting rack according to  claim 1 , wherein the said aligning features are arranged and located in such a manner that the distance between the geometric center points of said aligning features is sufficiently less than the diameter of the said billiard balls that said billiard balls are induced into contact with one another. 
     
     
         6 . The ball spotting rack according to  claim 1 , which operates by resting on top of and in contact with a plurality of billiard balls. 
     
     
         7 . The ball spotting rack according to  claim 6 , which induces said plurality of billiard balls into a precise formation wherein each ball is in contact with each adjacent ball without the need for a secondary compressing action. 
     
     
         8 . The ball spotting rack according to  claim 6 , that rests on top of and is supported entirely by a plurality of billiard balls and does not contact the playing surface upon which the billiard balls are located. 
     
     
         9 . A ball spotting rack according to  claim 6 , which induces any plurality of billiard balls up to and including the number equal to the quantity of aligning features in said rigid frame into any precise formation made possible by the quantity and arrangement of said aligning features. 
     
     
         10 . A ball spotting rack according to  claim 1 , which may also be used as a ball tray for storage, transportation or display.