Novelty display device

Abstract

The novelty display device has a body shaped to represent a substantial portion of a scaled reduction of a game ball belonging to a sport. An image or indicia associated with the sport is displayed on a flat surface formed on the body.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a novelty display device having a shape representing an aspect of a particular sport and displaying an image associated with said sport thereon.

BACKGROUND

Sports collectibles are common in various forms, as they are known to be desirable to display images and equipment related to various sports and popular players who are known to play sports. Types of collectibles include various types of actual sporting equipment, novelty items and collectibles such as pins, stamps, stickers and trading cards, all with player images or other logos or indicia of the sport or teams.

One known type of sports collectible item, previously made available by Activa Consumer Promotions Inc., includes a scaled reduction of a hockey puck including images associated with the sport of hockey, such as player photos and the like, being displayed on the flat sides of the puck shape. A display housing unit, also previously made available by Activa Consumer Promotions Inc., has a base shaped and patterned to represent a hockey rink. A peripheral wall extends upwardly from the base with images of arena seating and occupants of the arena thereon. Docking stations are provided in the base for supporting a plurality of pucks with different images thereon. While displaying a player image on the scaled reduction of a piece of sports equipment is aesthetically pleasing, in most sports the shape of the equipment does not readily provide a suitable display surface upon which an image can be printed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a novelty display device comprising:

a body having a first portion and a second portion;

the first portion being shaped to represent a substantial portion of a scaled reduction of a game ball belonging to a sport;

the second portion comprising a display surface having an image displayed thereon, the image being associated with said sport.

By providing a body which is shaped to represent only a portion of a game ball, a remaining portion of the body can be shaped to form a display surface upon which an image can be printed so that both the shape of the body and the image being displayed on the remaining portion can be readily recognized in association with a particular sport.

Preferably, the display surface is flat and the image is centered thereon, covered by a clear coating which is raised in relation to a periphery of display surface and surrounded by a peripheral display area.

When the image comprises a photo of a player of a sport or logo of a team or other indicia, preferably the first portion of the body represents a portion of a game ball associated with that sport.

When the first portion is shaped to represent a substantial portion of a spherical game ball, for example a basketball or a baseball, the display surface is round.

When the first portion is shaped to represent a substantial portion of a game ball which is elongated in one direction, the display surface may also be elongated and parallel to said one direction. The substantial portion being represented may be near one symmetrical half of the game ball divided either in the direction that the ball is elongate or transversely thereto. In most embodiments however, the substantial portion being represented comprises a major portion representing more than half of the game ball The first portion preferably includes a textured surface representative of an actual surface of the game ball being represented, for example the textured surface may represent seams, stitching or laces on the first portion opposite the display surface of the second portion.

The novelty display device may be supported on a display housing comprising a base with a plurality of docking stations, each being arranged to support the display device therein.

The display housing may include a wall spanning upwardly from a portion of a periphery of the base, in which the base and the wall are shaped and patterned to represent a ball stadium.

When a baseball stadium is represented, the base preferably spans substantially horizontally from a narrow end to a wide end of greater lateral dimension than the narrow end to represent a baseball playing field. The wall in this instance is preferably supported at the wide end of the base.

Each docking station may comprise an aperture having a diameter which is less than a diameter of the body to suspend the body of the display device therein.

Various embodiments of the invention will now be described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the novelty display device.

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view and FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the display device according to FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a top plan view and FIG. 5 is a bottom plan view of the device according to FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a rear elevational view of the device according to FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the display device.

FIG. 8 is a front elevational view, FIG. 9 is a side elevational view and FIG. 10 is a top plan view of the device according to FIG. 7.

FIG. 11 and FIG. 12 are respective bottom plan and rear elevational views of the device according to FIG. 7.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view and FIG. 14 is a front elevational view of a third embodiment of the display device.

FIG. 15 is a side elevational view and FIG. 16 is a top plan view of the device according to FIG. 13.

FIG. 17 and FIG. 18 are respective bottom plan and rear elevational views of the device according to FIG. 13.

FIG. 19 is a perspective view and FIG. 20 is a front elevational view of a fourth embodiment of the display device.

FIG. 21 is a side elevational view and FIG. 22 is a top plan view of the device according to FIG. 19.

FIG. 23 and FIG. 24 are respective bottom plan and rear elevational views of the device according to FIG. 19.

FIG. 25 is a perspective view of a display housing for supporting a plurality of the novelty display devices therein.

FIG. 26 and FIG. 27 are respective front and side elevational views of the display housing.

FIG. 28 and FIG. 29 are respective top plan and rear elevational views of the display housing.

In the drawings like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to the accompanying figures there is illustrated a novelty display device generally indicated by reference numeral 10. Though various embodiments of the device 10 are described and illustrated herein, the common features will first be described.

The novelty display device 10 includes a first portion 12 and a second portion 14 which are integrally moulded as a single body. The first portion 12 has a shape which represents a substantial portion of a scaled reduction of a game ball belonging to a sport. The first portion, thus, is visually recognisable as a sports game ball from which a section is cut away along a flat plane to define the second portion 14 of the body. The second portion 14 comprises a flat display surface along the cutting plane through the scaled reduction of the game ball which defines only a portion of the game ball representation.

In addition to being suitably shaped to represent a game ball, the first portion 12 of the body includes textured markings 16 formed thereon which comprise further scaled representations of a game ball for the relevant sport. The first portion of the body also includes additional logos 18 and other similar indicia.

The flat display surface defining the second portion 14 of the body includes an image 20 displayed thereon in the form of a photo of a player, team logo or other indicia of that team associated with the sport which the game ball represents. The image 20 is reduced in size in relation to the display surface while being centered thereon so that a peripheral display area 22 is defined which surrounds the image about a full periphery thereof. The peripheral display area 22 includes additional indicia 24 including names of the player, team or any other indicia including logos and the like associated with either the sport or the player. The image is supported directly on the display surface while a clear coating 26 spans overtop of the image so that the clear coating 26 is raised in relation to the surrounding peripheral display area 22.

Turning now more particularly to the embodiment of FIGS. 1 through 6, the first portion of the body is shaped to represent a baseball in which the first portion comprises a major portion which is more than half the overall spherical volume of the ball. The flat display surface defined by the second portion 14 is thus round. The texture 16 in this instance comprises representations of seams and stitching of the type commonly found on a baseball.

Turning now to the embodiment of FIGS. 7 through 12, the first portion of the body is shaped to represent a basketball in which the first portion also represents a major portion comprising more than half the spherical shape of the ball so that the flat display surface defined by the second portion 14 of the body is similarly round in shape. The texture 16 in this instance also represents the conventional pattern of seams found on an official game ball in the sport of basketball.

Turning now to the embodiment of FIGS. 13 through 18, a further embodiment is illustrated in which the first portion of the body is representative of a football. The overall shape of the body is thus oblong similar to a football. The first portion of the body represents more than half of the shape of a football which has been divided along a flat plane lying parallel to the longitudinal center of the ball extending in the elongate oblong direction of the ball. The display surface accordingly has a flat oblong shape recognizable as the profile of a football. The texture markings 16 comprise textured representations of the stitching or laces on a football and are located on the rear side of the first portion of the body diametrically opposite the display surface of the second portion 14. The image 20 and indicia on the peripheral display area 22 are oriented to be upright and readable when the elongate longitudinal direction of the body is in an upright orientation.

Turning now to the embodiment of FIGS. 19 through 24, a fourth embodiment is illustrated in which the first portion of the body is also representative of a football. The overall shape of the body is thus oblong similar to a football. The first portion of the body represents more than half of the shape of a football which has been divided along a flat plane lying parallel to an elongate central axis extending in the elongate oblong direction of the ball. The display surface accordingly has a flat oblong shape recognizable as the profile of a football. The texture markings 16 also comprise textured representations of the stitching or laces on a football and are located on the rear side of the first portion of the body diametrically opposite the display surface of the second portion 14. The image 20 and indicia on the peripheral display area 22 are oriented to be upright and readable when the elongate direction of the central axis of the body is in a generally horizontal and laterally extending orientation.

Turning now to FIGS. 25 through 29, a display housing 30 is illustrated for supporting a plurality of the novelty display devices therein. The housing 30 includes a base comprised of a substantially horizontal sheet supporting a plurality of docking stations 34 therein. Each docking station comprises an aperture formed in the sheet 32 having a shape which conforms to the game ball representation of the display device to be supported therein. In each instance, the diameter or cross sectional dimension of the aperture is arranged to be less than that of the first portion of the body of the display device so that the display device is suspended therein. The sheet 32 includes a peripheral flange 36 which depends downwardly from a full periphery of the base sheet 32 to suspend the sheet 32 spaced above a supporting surface upon which the display housing 30 rests.

The base sheet 32 tapers outwardly with increasing lateral dimension from a narrow end 38 to a wide end 40 in the illustrated embodiment. Accordingly the sheet 32 in plan view is visually recognizable as a baseball playing field locating a baseball diamond thereon. A peripheral wall 42 is supported only at a wide end 40 of the base to extend upwardly therefrom in three sections in which each section comprises a planar sheet angularly offset from the next adjacent sheet in a generally arc shaped pattern about the wide end of the base. Images of stadium seating with occupants therein are printed on interior surfaces of the wall 42. The base sheet 32 also includes images printed thereon which are visually representative of a baseball playing field. The walls also include horizontal slots 44 formed therein spaced upwardly from the bottom end of the walls towards the top end thereof into which additional items can be inserted and suspended from the walls, including representations of sports pennants and the like.

Since various modifications can be made in my invention as herein above described, and many apparently widely different embodiments of same made within the spirit and scope of the claims without department from such spirit and scope, it is intended that all matter contained in the accompanying specification shall be interpreted as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense.

Claims

1. A novelty display device comprising:

a body having a first portion and a second portion;

the first portion being shaped to represent a substantial portion of a scaled reduction of a game ball belonging to a sport;

the second portion comprising a display surface having an image displayed thereon, the image being associated with said sport.

2. The device according to claim 1 wherein the display surface is flat.

3. The device according to claim 1 wherein the image is centered on the display surface.

4. The device according to claim 1 wherein the image is covered by a clear coating which is raised in relation to a periphery of display surface.

5. The device according to claim 1 wherein there is provided a peripheral display area surrounding the image.

6. The device according to claim 1 wherein the image comprises a photo of a player or indicia associated with a team of a sport and the first portion of the body represents a portion of a game ball associated with said sport.

7. The device according to claim 1 wherein the first portion is shaped to represent a substantial portion of a spherical game ball and the display surface is round.

8. The device according to claim 1 wherein the first portion is shaped to represent a substantial portion of a game ball which is elongated in one direction, the display surface being generally parallel to said one direction.

9. The device according to claim 1 wherein the first portion includes a textured surface representative of an actual surface of the game ball being represented.

10. The device according to claim 9 wherein the textured surface comprises seams.

11 The device according to claim 9 wherein the textured surface comprises stitching.

12. The device according to claim 9 wherein the game ball being represented comprises a football and the textured surface comprises a representation of laces located on the first portion opposite the display surface of the second portion.

13. The device according to claim 1 wherein the game ball being represented comprise a baseball.

14. The device according to claim 1 wherein the game being represented comprises a basketball.

15. The device according to claim 1 wherein the game ball being represented comprises a ball which is elongate in one direction and wherein the substantial portion being represented comprises more than one half of the game ball.

16. The device according to claim 1 wherein the game ball being represented comprises a football.

17. The device according to claim 1 in combination with a display housing comprising a base with a plurality of docking stations, each being arranged to support the display device therein, and a wall spanning upwardly from a portion of a periphery of the base, the base and the wall being shaped and patterned to represent a ball stadium.

18. The combination according to claim 17 wherein the ball stadium being represented comprises a baseball stadium and wherein the base spans substantially horizontally from a narrow end to a wide end of greater lateral dimension than the narrow end to represent a baseball playing field, the wall being supported at the wide end of the base.

19. The combination according to claim 17 wherein each docking station comprises an aperture having a diameter which is less than a diameter of the body.