Baseball and softball base anchoring system
A tapered box that is buried in the ground with a removable lid that is used to anchor baseball bases in place but also allows for them to be easily removed when the playing surface is being groomed. This novel system eliminates the problems created when soil accidentally falls into the present art anchoring systems. Additionally no concrete is needed to hold the anchor in place; non-corrosive materials are used to eliminate rusting parts from adhering to one another and, because the lid is made of a rubberized material it has shock absorbing properties to help prevent injuries.
While there are several different manufacturers of baseball bases, the system used to anchor these bases to the playing surface is very similar. The typical present art-anchoring system is a solid square shaft that slides into a corresponding hollow square tube. The portion of the anchoring system that is buried in the ground typically arrives with each new base that is purchased but requires further assembly. The portion of the anchoring system that goes into the ground (which may be the solid square rod or more typically the hollow square sleeve) needs to be cemented into the ground itself as indicated in
With reference to the present art, once the ground anchor is installed the base stem is slid over or into the ground assembly so that the base rests on the playing surface (ground). Currently the male/female portions of the anchoring systems are made of metal and often times due to moisture, the metal sections will anodically corrode and become inseparable. However, the anchoring means of the present invention addresses this problem because it is made of non-corrosive materials.
The most significant drawback of present art anchoring systems has to do with the need to level or groom the playing surface. To groom a field the bases need to be removed from their ground anchor and set aside while a leveling device is pulled over the playing surface. It is necessary with current anchoring systems to place plastic or rubber plugs in the ground unit to keep soil from falling into the space occupied by the bases stem. This means having to keep track of these plugs when they are not in use, carefully inserting the plugs to keep soil from falling into the anchor prior to dragging the field and then carefully extracting the plugs after the grooming is done. It should be noted that if or when soil falls into the stems space it is a very tedious and time-consuming chore to “fish” soil out of the space.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a base anchoring system that will allow the playing field to be leveled and groomed without having to insert plugs into the bases support system.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a system that is impervious to corrosion and freezing of the working parts of the anchoring means, thereby adding life and longevity to the base anchoring system.
It is another object of the present invention to eliminate the need for frequent cleaning of the base system supporting means.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a base anchoring means that will allow easy removal of dirt and foreign matter that may enter the anchoring system.
It is also an objective of the present invention to provide a base anchoring means that will reduce the labor of maintaining and grooming the playing field.
And finally, it is an objective of this invention to use shock absorbing, rubberized material for the lid of the invention to reduce the potential of personal injury when players incorrectly slide into a base. Several thousand injuries of this type occur every year.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe above objects are realized in the present invention by providing both a baseball and/or softball base anchoring system, designed to eliminate the above mentioned drawbacks that are commonplace with the present art base anchoring systems. The uniquely implemented tapered ground box with the removable lid of the present invention eliminates these current drawbacks by addressing three common problems that exist with the current anchoring systems:
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- 1. The present invention requires no additional assembly or purchase of additional materials or delay in the installation and the installation is not as exacting.
- 2. The present invention eliminates the problem of corrosion freezing of the male/female base and anchoring assemblies together.
- 3. The present invention eliminates the concerns and the problems dealing with the soil getting into the anchoring assembly.
- 4. The present invention reduces the labor required to maintain the playing field.
- 5. Lastly, the present system, through the use of rubberized material in the lid of the invention, provides for a more forgiving stationary object when sliding: into a base.
Therefore, the present inventions design emphasis and is primary purpose and objectives, are characterized by its ability to provide a more effective, efficient, and comprehensive method for securing the bases of a playing field, while concurrently eliminating the above mentioned drawbacks and problems, as outlined by the claims.
The present invention including parts, steps, sequences, and processes shall more fully be made to appear in the course of the following descriptions: the drawings merely present and the description merely describe preferred embodiments of the present invention by way of illustration or example, and in no way are meant to be circumscribing as to the actual embodiments which may be needed for a particular situation, operation, or application.
An example of a preferred embodiment satisfying the objectives of the present invention can be seen by directing attention to the drawing or illustrations in
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While the present invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, various modification as well as alternative embodiments of the invention will become apparent to the persons skilled in the art upon the reference to the above described invention. Thus it should be realized that various changes or alterations might be made without departing from the disclosed inventive subject matter. It is, therefore, contemplated that the following claims will cover such modifications that fall within the scope of the invention.
Claims
1. This invention unlike other base anchor system eliminates the need to “fish” soil out of the base receptacle, it comes ready to install (no concrete needed), requires no ground anchor plugs, is non-corrosive, and has shock absorbing capabilities.
Type: Application
Filed: Jan 17, 2007
Publication Date: Jul 17, 2008
Inventor: Rodney Dean Jacobson (Montpelier, ID)
Application Number: 11/654,882
International Classification: A63B 71/00 (20060101);