Undertaking
Patent
1985-01-04
1987-11-24
Stouffer, Richard T.
Undertaking
52489, 52714, 273411, A63B 7102
Patent
active
047083360
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Field
The invention relates to the embodiment of courts for squash, racquetball or similar sports, and to modular constructions that can be used for playing these sports and for other purposes.
2. Background Art
A traditional squash court consists of masonry, generally of building blocks, extending on four sides to make a quadrilateral having the dimensions required for a squash court, and in which at least an access opening to the court delimited by this masonry is made. The masonry is coated on the inside with a monolayer coating generally made up of white cement and sand and reinforced with mineral fibers, the coating also containing a resin and additives. This combination of a coating having this composition with the masonry generally of building blocks, from the viewpoint of rebound of the ball and acoustic absorption, provides characteristics that have proved optimal, so that this structure is widely used in the playing of this sport. The ground is covered with a parquet floor.
Quite obviously it is understandable that such a court represents a stationary installation whose cost is relatively high.
It has already been proposed to make a reconstructable squash courts, making possible a relatively simple, less costly installation and giving the unit a character of relative mobility if the court, for certain reasons, has to be moved from one place to another.
Known embodiments of the applicant consist of a metal frame which acts as support to wood panels optionally combined with a coating.
However, while it is possible in this way to make a reconstructable squash court having the required dimensions at low cost, the characteristics obtained in regard both to the rebound of the ball and acoustic absorption differ widely from what is the case for a "traditional" squash court. Consequently, athletes engaging in this sport, in particular in competition, are hardly attracted by this embodiment which, on the one hand, affects the playing technique and, on the other hand, creates for the players a different ambience considering the resonances due to the modification of the acoustic effect resulting from the impact of the ball on the court walls.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
One of the aims of the invention is to remedy these drawbacks of existing reconstructable squash courts and to create a reconstructable court providing playing characteristics similar to those encountered in traditional courts, while being both of simplified embodiment and lower cost and, as needed, making possible the mobility of the court thus embodied.
Consequently, the invention relates, according to a first aspect, to a reconstructable court for squash or similar sports, characterized in that the court walls consist of an assembly of box-shaped modular panels comprising a bottom intended to be directed toward the inside of the court to form a part of the wall and an assembly flange of the panels and of which at least the face directed toward the inside of the court is formed by a reinforced coating similar, in its composition, to the coating of traditional courts.
According to a preferred embodiment, the box-shaped panels consist entirely of a material whose composition is similar or analogous to that of the reinforced coating generally used as the inside coating in traditional squash courts.
As indicated above, this coating is made up of a mixture of white cement and sand reinforced with mineral fibers and containing at least a resin and additives. The mechanical strength of a material of this type, for a sufficient thickness, is perfectly suited for making reconstructable boxes that can be assembled with one another via their flanges to form the walls of a court.
The research which served as the basis for the invention showed that a suitable strength can be obtained where the panels are made from the above material and whose bottom and flanges have a thickness on the order of 10 mm, wherein the flanges themselves, intended for assembly of the panels, can have a height of 40 to 50 mm, for exampl
REFERENCES:
patent: 600897 (1898-03-01), Siebold
patent: 1193575 (1916-08-01), McFarland
patent: 3185267 (1965-05-01), Pavlecka
patent: 3971075 (1976-07-01), Heinbaugh et al.
patent: 3998018 (1976-12-01), Hodges
patent: 4161089 (1979-07-01), Omansky
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