Portable Sports Court System

Abstract

A portable boundary system (PBS), which is a complete pre-measured boundary-line system used for sport specific boundary lines/markings. Whether tennis, pickleball, basketball, badminton or other sports requiring boundary lines/markings, the PBS's of the present disclosure allow a single user to accurately set-up and define a sport's court/playing area. Assembly and disassembly of PBS's and “pop-up” nets takes a fraction of the overall time and cost of traditional court assembly methods. Since PBS's and “pop-up” nets are portable, they can be packaged efficiently and moved to varying locations. PBS's do not mark or mar gym floors, concrete, asphalt, grass or other hard or soft surfaces. PBS's are made from PVC/Vinyl and are durable and re-usable.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/661,829, filed on Apr. 24, 2018, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a portable sports court system including pre-measured, portable boundary lines and/or a portable net.

BACKGROUND

This section provides background information related to the present disclosure, which is not necessarily prior art.

Many professional and recreational athletes enjoy several different sporting activities. For example, tennis players enjoy racquetball, squash, paddleball and the very popular pickleball. Volleyball players may enjoy basketball, badminton and so on. However, changing from one sport to the next can require moving locations or creating new court boundaries; this can be time consuming and costly. Current boundary line systems can require permanent line markings using paints or semi-permanent “pinning” of the boundary lines to the ground or clay surface by use of stakes/nails etc. Other boundary systems provide a length of material (i.e. string, strips, tape) that need cutting or measuring (i.e. the use of a tape measure) to define the court boundary. Athletic clubs that have tennis courts or hard surfaces for one specific sport may be unwilling or may not have the time or manpower to lay down a temporary boundary system for another sport. An example of this is a tennis club that would also like pickleball courts. Currently, the tennis club has two choices, either paint on permanent boundary lines for pickleball (which confuses the tennis lines) or use a measuring tape to lay out (with tape or strips) a temporary pickleball court which must be measured each time and removed each time a player wishes to play pickleball. Another example is a gym floor. To accommodate volleyball, the gym would have to paint on volleyball boundary lines. To switch to pickleball or basketball the gym would have to permanently paint or painstakingly measure and layout a temporary court. This temporary court would also have to be taken up/removed to switch back to another sport. The last example is personal use. A person's driveway with a basketball hoop that wants official shooting lines would have to measure out the three point and/or free-throw boundaries using tape, chalk or a more permanent paint solution on their own driveways. If they also wanted to play tennis against the wall/garage, they would have to measure out the lines and use tape, cones or other methods of temporarily defining the proper boundaries. Having a system that will not permanently mark or mar the surfaces of courts, gyms, or driveways would be plus. Having a portable boundary system (PBS) in accordance with the present disclosure that is pre-measured for a specific sport and will not mark/mar or require extra time laying out the boundaries (i.e. using a tape measure) saves time and manpower. Clubs, gyms and personal sporting needs continue to use time consuming and/or permanent solutions to adapt to single or multiple sports.

Nets are also an issue for many clubs, gyms, and personal users. Most nets are fixed in place and/or rigid and come in several pieces that need assembly. In addition, storing the nets can take space and most clubs, gyms and personal garages do not have additional space. Even nets that break down do so with dozens of pieces and take time and manpower to assemble and disassemble. For sports requiring a net, the present disclosure advantageously includes a “pop-up” net, which using support poles, is joined together using elastic cord throughout to connect all pieces, and provides fast assembly. An elastic cord, running through the net's pole segments, advantageously helps guide the poles into place. The net will fold away, not unlike a camping tent, to condense the size and make storage and portability possible.

SUMMARY

This section provides a general summary of the disclosure, and is not a comprehensive disclosure of its full scope or all of its features.

Portable boundary systems according to the present disclosure are pre-measured PVC/vinyl lines manufactured to the exact specifications of an individual sport (i.e. pickleball, tennis, basketball, badminton, volleyball, etc.) A single user can lay out the contiguous (i.e. one piece PVC/vinyl-based product) to form the exact required boundary lines/markings of a specific sport or alternatively, with the non-contiguous product, (i.e. multi-piece PVC/vinyl-based product) a user can lay out the exact required boundary lines in just a few steps by linking the multi-piece boundary lines together with male/female connections, of Velcro connections depending on the boundary system selected. All PBS's, contiguous and non-contiguous, are pre-measured and made to sport specific boundary dimensions for time savings. The width of the boundary lines will be made to the specifications of the individual sport (i.e. pickleball USAPA regulation requires lines that are 2″ wide). PBS's will save time, allow for a single user set-up and break-down, eliminate the need for permanent “paint” markings on hard surfaces such as tennis courts, gym floors, or driveways, eliminate measuring and human error, eliminate the need to buy tape and chalk, and will store with minimal need for space.

Additionally, the “pop-up” net can be set-up and taken down in timely fashion. The “pop-up” net will use metal support poles joined together using elastic cordage. The elastic cord, running through the ‘pop-up” net's pole segments, will help guide the support poles into place. The net will unfold and fold, to expand and/or condense the size and make storage and portability possible. Current methods of creating boundaries and/or setting up a net for a sport are often costly, time consuming, and labor intensive. PBS's and “pop-up” nets remove excessive and reoccurring user costs in both labor and materials; (i.e. time of pre-measuring lines, linking multiple poles together for a net, using tape, chalk, paint or other boundary marking material for creating the court boundaries). PBS's and “pop-up” nets can be set up by a single user. PBS's also increase the accuracy of the court/playing area by being manufactured as a pre-measured system specific to each sport. Creating boundary lines by hand measuring is inefficient and can lead to inaccurate court lay-outs. The “pop-up” nets according to the present disclosure are lightweight, quick, and easy to assemble and save time. Current net systems' poles are not connected and can take extra time sorting and connecting the correct poles and can be difficult for a single user to assemble.

Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein. The description and specific examples in this summary are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

DRAWINGS

The drawings described herein are for illustrative purposes only of selected embodiments and not all possible implementations, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 1A shows the perspective view of the Portable Boundary System (PBS) for a regulation pickleball court with its dimensions listed;

FIG. 1B shows the perspective view of the Portable Boundary System in contiguous form for a pickleball court;

FIG. 1C shows the perspective view of the Portable Boundary System in non-contiguous form for a pickleball court and the connecting joint has been magnified, for this non-contiguous example the line connections have been made via Velcro bonded on the bottom side of the lines (a separate “L” shaped Velcro connection piece may be placed under the lines to conjoin them);

FIG. 2A shows the perspective view of the Portable Boundary System for a regulation basketball court 3-point line with its dimensions/radius listed, in contiguous form;

FIG. 2B shows the perspective view of the Portable Boundary System for a regulation basketball court 3-point line in non-contiguous form, the connecting joint has been magnified, for this non-contiguous example the line connections have been made via Velcro bonded on the bottom side of the lines (a separate “L” shaped Velcro connection piece may be placed under the lines to conjoin them);

FIG. 2C shows the perspective view of the Portable Boundary System for a regulation basketball court 3-point and free throw line with its dimensions/radius listed in contiguous form;

FIG. 2D shows the perspective view of the Portable Boundary System for a regulation basketball court 3-point line and free throw line in non-contiguous form, the connecting lines having been magnified, for this non-contiguous example the line connections have been made via Velcro bonded on the bottom side of the lines (a separate “L” shaped Velcro connection piece may be placed under the lines to conjoin them);

FIG. 3A shows a broken-down view and dimensions of the portable net that can be used with the pickleball portable boundary system;

FIG. 3B shows the assembled perspective view of the portable net system used for a regulation pickleball court with its dimensions listed;

FIG. 3C is an enlarged view of the pole connections and bungee/cord system that will help keep the poles together, making for easy assembly; and

FIG. 3D shows the perspective view of the pickleball net system completely disassembled.

Corresponding reference numerals indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Example embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The present disclosure includes a sport specific, pre-measured portable boundary system (PBS) for placement on a surface (such as a gym floor, court, driveway, or other pavement, basement floor, or any other sporting surface), which includes a plurality of pre-measured PVC/Vinyl-based boundary lines. The boundary lines are pre-measured based on the boundary of the particular sport (including, but not limited to pickleball, tennis, volleyball, badminton, basketball, etc.) The boundary lines will have a non-skid surface to prevent them from sliding on the surface on which they are arranged. The boundary lines may be contiguous (i.e. one large “template”) or non-contiguous (i.e. segmented pieces that interlock together to make the template of boundary lines specific to the sport/game). A “pop-up” net, for sports requiring a net, will also be manufactured. The “pop-up” net will use support poles, joined together using elastic cord throughout, to connect all the pieces. The elastic cord running through the net's pole segments will help guide the support poles into place. The net will fold away, not unlike a camping tent, to condense the size and make portability possible.

FIG. 1A shows the perspective view and dimensions of the premeasured and ready to go Portable Boundary System for a pickleball court. FIG. 1B shows the complete layout of our Portable Boundary System in contiguous form where the vinyl/PVC based lines are laid out on a playing surface to form all the required pickleball boundary lines. FIG. 1C is the Portable Boundary System for a pickleball court in non-contiguous form. Whereas the top and bottom rows of number 1's are one piece forming the two baselines of the court, and the middle sets of 1's form the pickleball kitchen lines. Numbers 2 and 3 on the sides form the side lines of the court and are one piece, and number 2 in the middle section form the service line to split the court. These boundary lines are laid out on the playing surface and then connected by the joints shown at reference letter “V”. The line width is specific to the requirements of each sport, and underneath the line is a nonskid surface to keep the lines in place on the playing surface.

FIG. 2A shows the perspective view and dimensions of the premeasured and ready to go Portable Boundary System for a basketball 3-point line. FIG. 2B shows the complete layout of the Portable Boundary System in non-contiguous form where the vinyl/PVC based lines are laid out on a playing surface to form the required boundary line. Whereas number 1 is the 3-point line of a regulation basketball court, and line number 2 is the baseline where the net will be. At reference letter “V” is the connection joint where line 1 and 2 will meet. The line width is specific to the requirements of each sport (i.e., two inches) and underneath the line is a nonskid surface to keep the lines in place on the playing surface. FIG. 2C shows the perspective view of the Portable Boundary System for a regulation basketball court 3-point and free throw line with its dimensions/radius listed, in contiguous form. FIG. 2D shows the perspective view of the Portable Boundary System for a regulation basketball court 3-point line and free throw line in non-contiguous form, the connecting lines having been magnified. For the non-contiguous example of FIG. 2D, the line connections have been made via Velcro bonded on the bottom side of the lines (a separate “L” shaped Velcro connection piece may be placed under the lines to conjoin them).

FIG. 3A shows a broken-down view and dimensions of the portable net that can be used with the pickleball portable boundary system. This figure shows how the poles will be constricted together for ease of assembly through a bungee/elastic cord running throughout the poles. The pickleball net is then slid over the side poles to form a complete and stable net. Number 3 also shows a hole for where a center support rod will be stuck to help with tensioning and stability of the net. FIG. 3B shows the perspective view of the pickleball net system after it has been assembled. Number 4 is tensioning straps that can be tightened after setup to keep the net taught. FIG. 3C is an enlarged view of the pole connections and bungee/cord system that will help keep the poles together, making for easy assembly. FIG. 3D shows the pickleball net system completely disassembled. Number 1 is the net system after it is removed from the poles and rolled up. After the net has been removed, the base and net pole segments will be pulled apart as the bungee/elastic cord stretches so that the poles can be folded over one another. Number 3 shows the poles stacked on top of each other resting alongside number 2, which is the net base legs. Once disassembled the pickleball net is extremely portable and ready to be moved to the next playing location, or stored in a compact carry case.

The present disclosure thus provides the following advantages, for example: (1) PBS comes pre-measured to exact sport court usage specifications; (2) PBS eliminates need for pre-measuring boundary lines; (3) PBS eliminates reoccurring costs of materials (i.e. tape, chalks, paints, used to define the “lines” and boundaries of courts); (4) PBS saves assembly time; (5) PBS saves disassembly time; (6) PBS saves professional costs of labor because it eliminates hand measuring and set-up time; (7) PBS improves upon current PVC/Vinyl “strips” because it comes as a complete and accurately measured court; (8) PBS are durable and re-usable; (9) current marketed PVC/Vinyl strips (line markers) are short strips of PVC/Vinyl; they are used more as teaching tools; they do not constitute a pre-measured court and still need measuring tools and labor to style into a shape; (10) PBS's are easy to store and carry; (11) PBS's are pre-measured to specific sport/game and therefore create an accurate boundary versus hand measuring; (12) PBS can be laid out be a single user; (13) Pop-up nets are manufactured as a two-piece product; (14) Pop-up nets are easy to assemble; (15) Pop-up nets are easy to disassemble; (16) Pop-up nets store with minimal storage space; and (17) Pop-up nets can be assembled by a single user.

The foregoing description of the embodiments has been provided for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure. Individual elements or features of a particular embodiment are generally not limited to that particular embodiment, but, where applicable, are interchangeable and can be used in a selected embodiment, even if not specifically shown or described. The same may also be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the disclosure, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the disclosure.

Example embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough, and will fully convey the scope to those who are skilled in the art. Numerous specific details are set forth such as examples of specific components, devices, and methods, to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that specific details need not be employed, that example embodiments may be embodied in many different forms and that neither should be construed to limit the scope of the disclosure. In some example embodiments, well-known processes, well-known device structures, and well-known technologies are not described in detail.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular example embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” may be intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “including,” and “having,” are inclusive and therefore specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. The method steps, processes, and operations described herein are not to be construed as necessarily requiring their performance in the particular order discussed or illustrated, unless specifically identified as an order of performance. It is also to be understood that additional or alternative steps may be employed.

When an element or layer is referred to as being “on,” “engaged to,” “connected to,” or “coupled to” another element or layer, it may be directly on, engaged, connected or coupled to the other element or layer, or intervening elements or layers may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly on,” “directly engaged to,” “directly connected to,” or “directly coupled to” another element or layer, there may be no intervening elements or layers present. Other words used to describe the relationship between elements should be interpreted in a like fashion (e.g., “between” versus “directly between,” “adjacent” versus “directly adjacent,” etc.). As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

Although the terms first, second, third, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections, these elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections should not be limited by these terms. These terms may be only used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer or section from another region, layer or section. Terms such as “first,” “second,” and other numerical terms when used herein do not imply a sequence or order unless clearly indicated by the context. Thus, a first element, component, region, layer or section discussed below could be termed a second element, component, region, layer or section without departing from the teachings of the example embodiments.

Spatially relative terms, such as “inner,” “outer,” “beneath,” “below,” “lower,” “above,” “upper,” and the like, may be used herein for ease of description to describe one element or feature's relationship to another element(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. Spatially relative terms may be intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. For example, if the device in the figures is turned over, elements described as “below” or “beneath” other elements or features would then be oriented “above” the other elements or features. Thus, the example term “below” can encompass both an orientation of above and below. The device may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relative descriptors used herein interpreted accordingly.

Claims

1. A portable boundary system for placement on a sporting surface on which a sport is played, the system comprising:

at least one portable boundary line with a non-skid surface configured to resist skidding of the boundary line along the sporting surface;

wherein the at least one boundary line has a length corresponding to a boundary of the sport.

2. The portable boundary system of claim 1, wherein the at least one portable boundary line includes a plurality of boundary lines.

3. The portable boundary system of claim 2, wherein the plurality of boundary lines correspond to a plurality of boundaries of the sport, the plurality of boundary lines are contiguous to provide a boundary template for placement on the sporting surface.

4. The portable boundary system of claim 2, wherein the plurality of boundary lines are separate pieces that each include a coupling member for coupling the plurality of boundary lines together to form a boundary template for placement on the sporting surface.

5. The portable boundary system of claim 1, wherein the sport includes at least one of the following: basketball; tennis; pickleball; racquetball; squash; and paddleball.

6. The portable boundary system of claim 1, further comprising a foldable net.

7. The portable boundary system of claim 6, wherein the foldable net includes a plurality of interconnectable supports with a cord extending therethrough.