Billiard table and rail cloth covering system

Abstract

A hook and loop fastening system for attaching a billiard table cloth to a table bed and a rail, a billiard table cloth with template markings for assisting the installer in the correct positing and tensioning of the bed cloth and in the cutting of slits in the cloth for pocket openings (for pocket pool tables) and rail bolt holes, and a rail cloth that incorporates a tract system for attaching the rail cloth on rails to replace conventional feather strips.

1 . A method for placing cloth on a game table comprising the steps of:
 providing a game table having a table bed with a rectangular periphery and a plurality of pockets in the periphery;   providing a plurality of elongated rails for being disposed on the periphery, each rail having contoured ends for being disposed proximate the pockets;   stretching a bed cloth over the table bed and securing the bed cloth thereto;   providing a plurality of preformed rail cloths whose preformed ends match the contoured ends of the rails;   stretching each of the preformed rail cloths over each of the rails such that the preformed ends of the rail cloth fits the contoured ends of the rail;   disposing the rails on the periphery of the table bed after the rail cloths have been stretched over each of the rails such that each rail extends from one pocket to another pocket thereby placing the contoured ends of each rail proximate one of the pockets.   
     
     
         2 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the step of stretching each of the preformed rail cloths stretches each cloth such that there is a single layer of rail cloth about each rail. 
     
     
         3 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the step of stretching each of the preformed rail cloths stretches each cloth such that the rail cloth does not bunch. 
     
     
         4 . A method for placing cloth on a game table comprising the steps of:
 providing a game table having a table bed with a rectangular periphery and a plurality of pockets in the periphery;   providing six elongated rails for being disposed on the periphery, each rail having contoured ends for being disposed proximate the pockets;   stretching a bed cloth over the table bed and securing the bed cloth thereto;   providing three pairs of preformed rail cloths, each pair being different from the other two pairs in that each pair has different preformed ends that match the contoured ends of a corresponding pair of rails selected from the six elongated rails;   stretching each of the preformed rail cloths over the corresponding rails such that the preformed ends of the rail cloth fits the contoured ends of the rail;   disposing the rails on the periphery of the table bed after the rail cloths have been stretched over each of the rails such that each rail extends from one pocket to another pocket thereby placing the contoured ends of each rail proximate one of the pockets.   
     
     
         5 . The method as recited in  claim 4 , wherein each of the preformed rail cloths includes a plurality of sections that, during the step of stretching each of the preformed rail cloths, are disposed on an undersurface of the corresponding rails such that the plurality of sections does not overlap. 
     
     
         6 . The method as recited in  claim 4 , wherein each pair of the three pairs of preformed rail cloths includes a first pair including a first rail cloth with similar ends; a second pair including a second rail cloth with dissimilar ends and a third pair including a third rail cloth with dissimilar ends. 
     
     
         7 . The method as recited in  claim 6 , wherein the first pair includes a fourth rail cloth that is substantially identical to the first rail cloth. 
     
     
         8 . The method as recited in  claim 7 , wherein the second pair includes a fifth rail cloth that is substantially identical to the second rail cloth and the third pair includes a sixth rail cloth that is substantially identical to the third rail cloth. 
     
     
         9 . A game table comprising:
 a table bed with a rectangular periphery and a plurality of pockets in the periphery;   a plurality of elongated rails disposed on the periphery, each rail extending from one pocket to another pocket with contoured ends proximate the pockets;   a bed cloth stretched over the table bed and secured thereto;   a plurality of preformed rail cloths, each having preformed ends that match the contoured ends of a corresponding rail selected from the plurality of rails, the preformed rail cloths being stretched over the corresponding rails such that the preformed ends of the rail cloth fits the contoured ends of the rail.   
     
     
         10 . The game table as recited in  claim 9 , wherein the plurality of elongated rails consists of six elongated rails. 
     
     
         11 . The game table as recited in  claim 9 , wherein the plurality of preformed rail cloths consists of three pairs of preformed rail cloths, each pair being different from the other two pairs in that each pair has different preformed ends. 
     
     
         12 . The game table as recited in  claim 9 , wherein the preformed rail cloths are stretched over the corresponding rails such that the rail cloths are a single layer thick. 
     
     
         13 . The game table as recited in  claim 9 , wherein the preformed rail cloths are stretched over the corresponding rails such that the rail cloth does not bunch.