Games using tangible projectile – Player held and powered – nonmechanical projector – per se,... – Having projectile retrieving means
Reexamination Certificate
2002-05-17
2003-11-25
Chiu, Raleigh W. (Department: 3711)
Games using tangible projectile
Player held and powered, nonmechanical projector, per se,...
Having projectile retrieving means
C473S553000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06652397
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to sporting equipment generally, and specifically to ball or other sports object retrieval systems for tennis and other sports employing a racquet, stick, bat and other like playing equipment for striking a ball or other sports object, wherein a guard is applied to the playing equipment with a replaceable adhesive segment for ball retrieval.
2. Description of the Prior Art
During the long history of sports employing equipment to strike a ball or other sports object, such as tennis employing a racquet or other sports employing a club, bat, stick or other ball striking means, players have been forced to bend or crouch to recover the ball after play. This task is particularly strenuous to elderly and handicapped players, who are well represented in these sports. Thus the desire for a ball retrieval device to free the player from frequent, repetitive bending, crouching and stooping has long been recognized by players of these sports.
Another problem with sports employing equipment to strike balls or other sports objects, such as shuttlecocks or pucks, is that the ball striking equipment often strikes other surfaces and become damaged or scraped detracting from its appearance or operation.
Often in an attempt at ball retrieval the ball striking equipment will be scraped on the ground. This is especially true in tennis, where the racquet is often used as a scoop to scoop up a ball, and simultaneously scrape the ground.
The number and diversity of devices spawned in the attempt to fulfill this need demonstrate both the long felt need for a solution, and the nonobviousness of the solution presented by the subject invention. Note for example, some of the devices designed to recover tennis balls: U.S. Pat. No. 3,874,666, April, 1975 Ross; U.S. Pat. No. 4,834,393, May, 1989 Feldi; U.S. Pat. No. 4,053,156, October, 1977 Bai; U.S. Pat. No. 5,458,328, October, 1995 Dubose; U.S. Pat. No. 4,004,806, January, 1977 Malik; U.S. Pat. No. 4,116,436, September, 1978 Bjorhn; U.S. Pat. No. 4,575,081, March, 1986 Cavanagh; U.S. Pat. No. 4,568,089, February, 1986 Jenkins; U.S. Pat. No. 4,948,129, August, 1990 Bartasius; U.S. Pat. No. 4,919,421, April, 1990 Vandeveld; U.S. Pat. No. 4,895,366, January, 1990 Bartasius; U.S. Pat. No. D355,232, February, 1995 Hodges; U.S. Pat. No. 5,056,786, October, 1991 Bellettini; U.S. Pat. No. 4,210,327, July, 1980 Schubert; U.S. Pat. No. 4,993,712, February, 1991 Urwin; U.S. Pat. No. 4,045,068, August, 1977 Nelson; U.S. Pat No. 4,114,881, September, 1978 Norton; U.S. Pat. No. 4,997,185, March, 1991 Bartasius.
None of these inventions provide the most desirable and effective solution. These attempts have been plagued by elaborate and excessively expensive design, intrusion on play, unpleasing, obtrusive and commercially undesirable aesthetics, and ineffectiveness.
Previous fastener systems been designed to retrieve tennis balls with the player's racquet have major drawbacks. U.S. Pat. No. 3,874,666, April, 1975 Ross, uses a hook material (ex. Velcro) affixed to the end of the tennis racquet. This system does not retrieve tennis balls reliably because a tennis ball's standard covering, especially when worn, is not effectively adhered by the hook element of a hook and loop fastener system.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,834,393, May, 1989, Feldi, uses a strip of hook material attached to the tennis racquet by its adhesive tape backing and a tennis ball specially covered in loop fastener material. The drawback of this system is that it requires a specially designed tennis ball, increasing expense, decreasing the flexibility of use of the system, and intruding on play by introducing a ball with unusual flight characteristics.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,056,786, October, 1991 Bellettini, adopted a similar strategy, but used an supplementary loop fastener covering over a tennis ball, rather than redesigning the tennis ball with a loop fastener cover. This design intrudes on play by changing the playing characteristics of the ball.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,997,185, March, 1991 Bartasius and U.S. Pat. No. 4,210,327, July, 1980 Schubert, use a specially designed tennis racquet with a flat or concave butt containing hook fastener material designed to engage the nappy surface of the tennis ball.
These designs are of doubtful effectiveness because hook material will not securely grasp all tennis balls. The Schubert design is difficult and expensive to implement because it calls for a specially designed racquet, substantially increasing expense and decreasing the players choice of racquets. As an additional limitation, none of the above designs retrieve playing objects other than fresh, nappy tennis balls.
Other devices in the prior art present a variety of problems. U.S. Pat. No. D355,232, February, 1995 Hodges, depicts a cumbersome device, intruding on playing ability. U.S. Pat. No. 4,993,712, February, 1991 Urwin is difficult to apply, requiring careful aim to retrieve the ball. U.S. Pat. No. 4,045,068, August, 1977 Nelson, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,114,881, September, 1978 Norton, are not racquet based at all, but require an additional, cumbersome and expensive retrieval device. These devices are intended for retrieving numerous balls after a practice session, not for the continuous, effortless retrieval of balls during play.
Still other designs carry elaborateness and expense to an extreme. U.S. Pat. No. 5,458,328, October, 1995 Dubose, and others use a specially designed net to capture tennis balls, creating a significant additional expense. These devices are limited in function to the capture of balls hit into the net only. Other designs employ expensive special netting and duct work or other elaborate devices to return balls to the players. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,004,806, January, 1977 Malik; U.S. Pat. No. 4,116,436, September, 1978 Bjorhn; U.S. Pat. No. 4,575,081, March, 1986 Cavanagh; U.S. Pat. No. 4,568,089, February, 1986 Jenkins; U.S. Pat. No. 4,948,129, August, 1990 Bartasius; U.S. Pat. No. 4,895,366, January, 1990 Bartasius. These systems are too expensive for most players, do not capture or retrieve all balls played, do not work in sports other than tennis, and therefore do not accomplish the goal of eliminating bending to retrieve struck playing balls.
A number of devices have been designed to retrieve golf balls in play. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,326,145, July, 1994 Lee; U.S. Pat. No. 4,254,981, March, 1981 Wilson. These mechanical devises are not club mounted, but are mounted to a rod to retrieve balls from mud, water and other hazardous and difficult to reach areas. The inventions cited are characteristic of the designs for retrieval of golf balls. Not club mounted, they require the player to carry an additional device. Many golf ball retrieval designs are effective, but are designed solely for the retrieval of balls caught in difficult to reach places. These devices do not aim at assisting the player in recovering a ball in play and within reach and to eliminate the need to bend over to retrieve the ball. And they would be impractical and unsuited to this task.
To be useful, a ball retrieval system must be racquet-mounted, effective at grasping the ball, inexpensive, light weight, and must not increase wind resistance to the playing stick during play. Previously attempted solutions have been plagued by elaborate and expensive design, intrusion on play, aesthetic obtrusiveness, and ineffectiveness.
What is needed is a system for using the ball striking equipment as a means for picking up the ball during play without bending and without damaging the ball striking equipment, while maintaining the normal playability of the ball and ball striking equipment.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to allow the player to retrieve the tennis ball, racquet ball, or other racquet, stick or bat based sport playing object (ball) by touching and lifting the ball with the racquet, club, bat or other ball striking equipment, relieving the player of the need to bend, stoop or crouch to retr
Chiu Raleigh W.
Meeker Donald W.
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