Pool ball rack

Claim 1

In combination with a plurality of pool balls, a pool rack comprising a top wall having a plurality of pool ball receiving openings each of a diameter slightly greater than the diameter of said pool balls, support means extending downwardly from said top wall and adapted to rest on the playing surface of a pool or pocket billiard table for supporting said top wall in a plane substantially parallel to the playing surface and above and spaced therefrom a distance greater than the radius and less than the diameter of said openings, whereby said pool balls when passed downwardly through said openings into engagement with the table surface are located in predetermined spaced-apart relation to one another when the rack is removed from the playing surface, and a resilient ring secured to the top wall around each of said openings and having an inner diameter less than the diameter of the pool balls for supporting one of the pool balls on the rack, the inner portion of the ring being sufficiently resilient to permit said pool ball to be forced downwardly therethrough into a position in contact with the playing surface, the level of the underside of said ring relative to the playing surface and the inNer diameter thereof being such that the ring throughout its inner circumference is in contact with a part of the upper hemisphere of said pool ball when the ball is supported on the playing surface.