Games using tangible projectile – Golf – Target or obstacle
Reexamination Certificate
2001-08-10
2003-03-11
Graham, Mark S. (Department: 3711)
Games using tangible projectile
Golf
Target or obstacle
C273S400000, C473S478000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06530844
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a ball barrier assembly use in sports training and for practicing, more particularly to a ball barrier assembly that can stand stably on a ground surface.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to
FIG. 1
, a first conventional ball barrier assembly
1
is shown to comprise a looped barrier frame
11
, a support frame
12
, and a barrier fabric net
13
. The barrier frame
11
and the support frame
12
are made from flexible materials, such as plastics and memory alloys. The barrier frame
11
has a periphery that forms a ball projectile opening
14
. The support frame
12
is connected to the barrier frame
11
, and is adapted to be disposed on a ground surface. The net
13
is connected to the barrier frame
11
, and is adapted to collect a ball that passes through the opening
14
of the barrier frame
11
and that impinges upon the net
13
.
For storage, the barrier frame
11
can be twisted at the same time, as shown in
FIG. 2
, to form a small disc with a size equal to one-third of the area of the opening
14
, as illustrated in FIG.
3
.
FIG. 4
illustrates a second conventional ball barrier assembly
3
disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,269,527. The ball barrier assembly
3
includes two leg frames
31
, a curved barrier frame
32
, and a barrier fabric net
33
. The leg frames
31
are adapted to be disposed on a ground surface. The barrier frame
32
has opposite ends
321
connected respectively to upper ends
311
of the leg frames
31
, and cooperates with the leg frames
31
to form a ball projectile opening
34
. The net
33
is loosely draped on the barrier frame
32
, and is adapted to impinge a ball that passes through the opening
34
, such that the ball falls on the surrounding area of the leg frames
31
.
The construction of the aforementioned conventional ball barrier assemblies
1
,
3
attains the purpose of impinging a ball via a net. However, during actual usage, the support frame
12
and the leg frames
31
of the conventional ball barrier assemblies
1
,
3
cannot stably support the barrier frames
11
,
32
on the ground surface due to lack of support.
Referring to
FIG. 5
, a third conventional ball barrier assembly
2
is shown to be substantially similar to the ball barrier assembly
1
of FIG.
1
. The ball barrier assembly
2
includes a looped barrier frame
21
, a lower support frame
22
, a rear leg rod
25
, and a barrier fabric net
23
. The barrier frame
21
and the support frame
22
are made from flexible materials, such as plastics and memory alloys. The barrier frame
21
has a periphery that forms a ball projectile opening
24
. The support frame
22
is adapted to be disposed on a ground surface. The rear leg rod
25
is connected to the barrier frame
21
and the support frame
22
. The net
23
is connected to the barrier frame
21
, and is adapted to collect a ball that passes through the opening
24
of the barrier frame
21
and that impinges upon the net
23
.
While the second ball barrier assembly
2
has a rear leg rod
25
for supporting the barrier frame
21
, however, the rear leg rod
25
cooperates with the support frame
22
to form only two supporting points for the barrier frame
21
, which is still not enough to stably support the barrier frame
21
on the ground surface.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, the main object of the present invention is to provide a ball barrier assembly capable of overcoming the aforementioned drawbacks of the prior art.
Accordingly, a ball barrier assembly of this invention comprises a looped barrier frame, an upright rear leg rod, a support rod unit, and a barrier fabric net. The looped barrier frame has a lower base portion and an upper frame portion. The lower base portion is adapted to be disposed on a ground surface, and is formed with at least two linear segments. The upper frame portion has a curved intermediate segment and two end segments. The two end segments extend downwardly from the curved intermediate segment, and are connected to the lower base portion. The upright rear leg rod has an upper end and a lower end. The upper end is connected to the curved intermediate segment of the upper frame portion of the barrier frame. The lower end is adapted to be disposed on the ground surface so as to cooperate with the linear segments of the lower base portion of the barrier frame to form at least three supporting points that are to be disposed in a triangular formation on the ground surface. The support rod unit interconnects the lower end of the rear leg rod and the lower base portion of the barrier frame. The barrier fabric net has a peripheral portion connected to the barrier frame, and is loosely draped on the barrier frame so as to form a lower section that extends to the ground surface, and that is adapted to collect a ball that passes through the barrier frame and that impinges upon the net.
REFERENCES:
patent: 1629907 (1927-05-01), Dwyer
patent: 2805070 (1957-09-01), Waters
patent: 3197208 (1965-07-01), Makar
patent: 3741549 (1973-06-01), Wilson
patent: 5088740 (1992-02-01), Peterson
patent: 5269527 (1993-12-01), Noval
patent: 5823885 (1998-10-01), Stempfer
patent: 5876291 (1999-03-01), Dubose
patent: 5941529 (1999-08-01), Kinsey
patent: 6319145 (2001-11-01), Coughlan
Graham Mark S.
Marger & Johnson & McCollom, P.C.
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