Rebound Screen

Abstract

A rebound screen is provided that includes a frame having a base for supporting the screen on a surface and an upwardly extending portion attached to the base. The upwardly extending portion includes a lower horizontal cross member and an upper horizontal cross member joined by a pair of side members. Each of the side members is formed with a curved shape that enables a ball striking a net secured between the side members to rebound off of the net in a direction either back to the individual who threw the ball or in a random direction depending upon the portion of the net and the corresponding curve provided by the side frame members that the ball strikes.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure generally relates to a screen for practicing sports, and more specifically to a screen adapted to return a projectile thrown against the screen in an unpredictable manner.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In practicing various sports that involve the throwing of a projectile, such as a ball, it is often necessary to practice catching as well as throwing the ball. For example, in baseball while it is necessary for the player to be able to throw the baseball to the intended target, it is also necessary for the player to be able to field or catch the baseball as well.

To allow players to practice both throwing and catching a projectile or ball when a second player is not available, many different structures have been developed for this purpose. These structures range from static, planar structures, to moveable frames. In each case, the structure is designed for the player to throw the ball against the structure to enable the player to practice the throwing motion of the ball. In addition, to enable the player to practice catching or fielding the ball, when the structure is struck with the ball, the structure rebounds the ball back to the player to facilitate the player catching, fielding or otherwise stopping the motion of the ball off of the structure.

To enhance the functionality of the structure, some structure have additional elements secured thereto that enable the structure to rebound the ball or projectile back to the player in an adjustable and/or more random or unpredictable manner. In doing so, not only do the structures promote practicing of the throwing and catching of the ball, but also the reaction time of the player by causing the ball to return to the player in a number of different and/or random manners thereby causing the player to react to the different rebound flights of the ball.

However, with these prior art rebound screens it is required to add additional components to the structure of the screen to enable the screen to be adjusted into a different configuration or to provide the random nature for the screen, significantly adding to the complexity and cost of the screen. Also, the additional components added to the screens to provide the adjustability and/or random rebound aspect cannot readily be removed from the screen such that the screens can operate only in a single rebound manner at any time.

Therefore, it is desirable to develop a rebound screen capable of operating in different manners that does not require additional components to be added to the screen for operation in the different manners.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a rebound screen is provided that includes a frame having a base for supporting the screen on a surface and an upwardly extending portion attached to the base. The upwardly extending portion includes a lower horizontal cross member and an upper horizontal cross member joined by a pair of side members. Each of the side members is formed with a curved shape. A net is attached between the side members and the upper and lower cross members of the upwardly extending portion and against which a ball or other projectile can be thrown. The curvature of the side members provides a surface for the netting that enables a ball striking the net to rebound off of the net in a direction back to the individual who threw the ball or in a wide variety of different and/or random directions depending upon the portion of the net and the corresponding curve provided by the side frame members that the ball strikes.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, the position of the lower cross member can be varied with respect to the base to vary the curvature of the net secured to the frame, thereby varying the amount of the net capable of providing the random rebound attribute to the screen.

Numerous other aspects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will be made apparent from the following detailed description taken together with the drawing figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawings illustrate the best mode currently contemplated of practicing the present invention.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a first embodiment of the rebound screen of present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is an isometric view of a second embodiment of the frame for the screen of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side plan view of the frame of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a front plan view of the frame of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is top plan view of the frame of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 6 is an isometric view of a third embodiment of the screen of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With reference now to the drawing figures in which like reference numbers designate like parts throughout the disclosure, a rebound screen constructed according to the present disclosure is shown generally at 10 in FIG. 1. The screen 10 includes a frame 12 including a base portion 14 with a pair of supporting legs 15, and a rebound portion 16 extending upwardly from the base portion 14. The rebound portion 16 includes a lower cross member 18 and an upper cross member 20 joined by a pair of side members 22.

The screen 10 also includes a net 26 secured to the rebound portion 16. The net 26 includes a number of filaments 28 of a suitable flexible material, such as nylon, that are woven or otherwise interconnected with one another in the illustrated embodiment to form the net 26 with regularly sized and spaced apertures 30 therein. The apertures 30 can be formed with any desired shape, but in the illustrated embodiment are generally square in shape.

In the illustrated embodiment the net 26 includes a peripheral filament 32 that defines the shape of the net 26. The peripheral filament 32 is affixed to the upwardly extending portion 16 by a number of stretchable or deformable connectors 34 extending between the rebound portion 16 and the peripheral filament 32. These connectors 34 can take the form of other suitable stretchable filaments or springs, and are each secured at one end to one of the upper or lower cross members 18, 20 or the side members 22 of the rebound portion 16 and to the peripheral filament 32 at the opposite end. The number and placement of the connectors 34 can vary as desired, but in the illustrated embodiment the connectors 34 are positioned to enable the net 26 to conform to the shape of the upwardly extending portion 16 of the frame 12. The net 26 can also include a target 36 formed within or by some of the filaments 28 forming the net 26. The target 36 as a color different that the filaments 28 in order to provide a clear visual indication of the target 36 in contrast to the remainder of the net 26. The shape of the target 36 can be selected as desired, but in the illustrated embodiment is generally square or rectangular in shape.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 2-5 the frame 12 is formed of a number of rods 38 formed of a suitable material, such as a metal or relatively rigid plastic, and interconnected with one another to form the frame 12. The rods 38 are each tubular in shape with a circular cross-section, and can each include a narrow end (not shown) that can be inserted into a corresponding open end (not shown) of an adjacent rod 38. A screw 40 is inserted though aligned apertures 42 in the respective rods 38 to secure the rods 38 to one another. Alternatively, in the embodiments of FIGS. 1 and 6, the rods 38 forming the base portion 14, and the side members 22 and upper cross member 20 can be integrally formed with one another.

Looking now at FIG. 1, to provide the random and repeating nature of the rebound for a ball or projectile striking the screen 10, the side members 22 of the upwardly extending portion 16 are each shaped to have a curve 43 along their length. The curve 43 provides the net 26 secured to the side members 22 of the rebound portion 16 with a shape corresponding to the curve 43. As a result, the net 26 will cause a ball striking the net 26 to rebound in a manner that matches the angle of the net 26 at that location on the frame 12.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, the side members 22 each include a lower angled section 44 and an upper vertical section 46. The lower angled section 44 is angled upwardly from the horizontal at an angle of between thirty (30) and forty-five (45) degrees, with the illustrated embodiment angled at about forty (40) degrees with respect to the horizontal, while the upper section 46 is positioned at approximately ninety (90) degrees with respect to the horizontal. In this configuration, when a ball strikes the vertical upper portion 46, the ball rebounds back to the player in a repeatable manner as if striking a vertical surface. However, due to the curvature of the lower section 44, a ball striking this portion 44 will rebound back towards the player in a direction corresponding to the angle of the net 26 in the lower section 44. Thus, depending upon the incoming angle of the ball with respect to the lower section 44 of the screen 12, the ball can rebound back to the player at an angle that is lower, higher or the same as the incoming angle, resulting in an infinite number of different and relatively random rebound angles off of the screen 10 without the need to adjust the configuration of the screen 10.

Looking now at FIGS. 2-5, in a second embodiment of the screen 12, the side members 22 include a curved section 48 that extends inwardly from the vertical section 46 opposite the lower section 44. In other embodiments, the vertical section 46 can be made to be very small or omitted entirely, such that the side members can be formed entirely of the curved sections 44 and 48 (FIG. 6). The section 48 extends inwardly from the vertical section 46, or the lower section 44 is the vertical section 46 is omitted, at an angle of ten (10) to thirty (30) degrees from the vertical, with the illustrated embodiment extending inwardly approximately twenty (20) degrees from the vertical. In this configuration, in additional to the manner in which the ball can rebound off of the lower section 44 or vertical section 46 as described with respect to the previous embodiment, a ball striking the section 48 can rebound downwardly towards the ground or other surface on which the base 14 is positioned, or onto the sections 44 and/or 46 depending upon the incoming angle of the ball. As a result, the “randomness” of the rebound path of the ball back to the individual or player throwing the ball at the screen 10 is increased to provide an infinite number of rebound paths without the need for any adjustment of the structure of the screen 10. The structure of the frame 12 in FIGS. 2-5 can also have the lower cross member 18 positioned level with the base portion 14. In this configuration, the net 26 can additionally be secured to the side members 22 down to the lower cross member 18, i.e., to the level of the ground, in order to provide and additional rebound aspect to the screen 10 when a ball strikes the lower part of the net 26.

Numerous additional features and advantages of the present disclosure are contemplated as being within the scope of the following claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter regarded as the invention.

Claims

1. A rebound screen comprising:

a. a frame including a base portion and a rebound portion, the rebound portion including a first curved section; and

b. a net secured to the at least one curved section of the rebound portion.

2. The screen of claim 1 wherein the rebound portion further comprises a vertical section adjacent the first curved section.

3. The screen of claim 2 wherein the rebound portion further comprises a second curved section adjacent the vertical section and opposite the first curved section.

4. The screen of claim 3 wherein the first curved section is curved at an angle of between about thirty and forty-five degrees with respect to horizontal.

5. The screen of claim 4 wherein the first curved section is curved at an angle of about forty degrees with respect to the horizontal.

6. The screen of claim 3 wherein the second curved section is curved at an angle of between ten to thirty degrees with respect to the vertical.

7. The screen of claim 6 wherein the second curved section is curved at an angle of twenty degrees with respect to the vertical.

8. The screen of claim 1 further comprising a lower cross member secured to the frame and to the net.

9. The screen of claim 8 wherein the cross member is affixed to the base portion.

10. The screen of claim 8 wherein the cross member is affixed to the rebound portion.

11. The screen of claim 1 wherein the rebound portion comprises:

a. a pair of opposed side members joined to the base portion;

b. a lower cross member joined between the side members; and

c. an upper cross member joined between the side members and spaced from the lower cross member.

12. A method of practicing throwing and catching a ball, the method comprising the steps of:

a. providing a rebound screen in a configuration according to claim 1;

b. striking the net with a ball to cause the ball to rebound off of the net along a rebound path; and

c. retrieving the ball, wherein the screen provides an infinite number of rebound paths for the ball without the need for adjusting the configuration of the screen.