THROWING AND CATCHING PRACTICE NET
A throwing and catching practice net has a frame having left and right side tubes attached to top and bottom sections, with the left and right side tubes forming an S-shape. Netting attached to the frame has a concave shape adjacent to the bottom section and a convex shape adjacent to the top section. A stand is pivotally attached to the frame.
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The field of the invention is throwing and catching nets for ball games such as baseball, softball, cricket and similar games.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONVarious games such as baseball, softball and cricket require throwing and catching a ball. Rebound nets have been used to allow players to practice throwing or pitching a ball, as well as catching. Typically a rebound net includes a netting material stretched across a metal frame. The netting material may have a target, to allow the player to practice pitching. The netting material is taut or elastic so that a thrown ball impacting the net rebounds off of the net. If the netting is flat, the ball will rebound on an outward trajectory which is a mirror image of the inbound trajectory. Accordingly, with flat netting unless the player throws the ball on a trajectory substantially perpendicular to the netting, the ball will rebound away from the player. Curved netting has been proposed to provide alternative rebounding characteristics. Still, engineering challenges remain in designing a versatile practice net.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONA throwing and catching practice net has a frame having left and right side tubes attached to top and bottom sections, with the left and right side tubes forming an S-shape. Netting attached to the frame has a concave shape adjacent to the bottom section and a convex shape adjacent to the top section. A stand is pivotally attached to the frame.
In the drawings, the same element number indicates the same element in each of the views.
As shown in
The frame 12 may be provided as multiple sections of hollow tubes that can be assembled for use, and then disassembled for compact storage or transport. In the example shown in
The stand tube segments 28 may be straight while the top and bottom tubes are curved. A stand hinge 30 having a back plate 32 is attached to each stand tube segment 28. The stand assembly 24 may include a stand base 38 releasably attached to the left and right stand base tubes 40. The stand base tubes 40 optionally have the same curvature as the bottom tubes 22 so that when the stand assembly is folded down the stand base tubes 40 may lie substantially flat against the bottom tubes, with the stand base 38 also flat against the bottom section 20. This design allows the net 10 be more compact when the stand assembly 24 is folded in. The tube elements forming the frame may be metal, such as steel or aluminum tubes, or non-metal such as plastic or fiberglass.
The tubes 16 and 22 may be releasably attachable to the top section 14 and the bottom section 20, respectively, as well as to the stand tubes 28, via nominally smaller diameter end segments that fit or slide into each other. The tubes may be held in place via friction. Alternatively, a spring may urge a button out through a hole at each connection, to hold adjacent tube sections together. The tube sections can be released by pressing the button in and pulling the tubes apart.
The stand assembly 24 may be folded in against the frame 12 for storage. During use the stand assembly 24 may be folded out to the position shown in
The stand assembly 24 may alternatively positioned further away from the frame 12, as shown in
Referring to
Although providing the frame 12 in sections that may assembled and disassembled allows for compact storage, the frame 12 may optionally also be provided as a single integral unit. Similarly, instead of the frame including eight separate components (top section 14, left and right top tubes 16, left and right stand tubes 28, left and right bottom tubes 22, and a bottom section 20), the frame may alternatively comprise a U-shaped top section attachable to a U-shaped bottom section, with the stand assembly 24 permanently or removably attached to either, in a two or three piece design.
The sides of the netting 50 are attached to the tubes 16 and 22 via the fittings 52. The sides of the netting accordingly conform to the curvature of the tubes 16 and 22. As shown in
Thus, a novel practice net has been shown and described. Various changes and use of substitutions may of course be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The invention therefore should not be limited except by the following claims and their equivalents.
Claims
1. A net comprising:
- a frame having convex lower tubes and concave upper tubes;
- netting attached to the frame, with the netting between the lower tubes having a concave shape, and with the netting between the upper tubes having a convex shape.
2. The net of claim 1 further comprising a stand assembly pivotally attached to the frame.
3. The net of claim 1 with the lower tubes having a radius of curvature of 68 to 88 cm over an arc of 30 to 60 degrees.
4. The net of claim 1 with the netting removably attached to the frame via multiple spaced apart fittings.
5. The net of claim 4 with the frame comprising hollow tubes and the fittings comprising clips.
6. The net of claim 2 with the stand holding the frame upright an angle of 50 to 75 degrees.
7. A net comprising:
- a frame having left and right side tubes attached to top and bottom sections, with the left and right side tubes forming an S-shape,
- netting attached to the frame and having a concave shape adjacent to the bottom section and a convex shape adjacent to the top section; and
- a stand attached to the frame.
8. The net of claim 7 with the frame having a vertical midpoint and with the netting substantially flat at the vertical midpoint.
9. The net of claim 8 with the stand pivotable on the frame from a first position where a lower end of the stand is adjacent to or in contact with the bottom tube, to a second position where the stand is at an angle of 80 to 100 degrees from an axis extending through the vertical midpoint of the frame.
10. The net of claim 7 with the left and right side tubes each divided into a top tube and a bottom tube, with the top tube substantially a mirror image of the bottom tube.
11. The net of claim 7 with left and right side tubes having substantially straight left and right stand tube segments, respectively, and with the stand pivotally attached to the left and right stand tube segments.
Type: Application
Filed: Dec 18, 2012
Publication Date: Jun 19, 2014
Applicant: PRO PERFORMANCE SPORTS, L.L.C. (Carlsbad, CA)
Inventor: Allen Holland (Sheffield)
Application Number: 13/718,746