AU2003100979A4

AU2003100979A4 - Sports net winder

Info

Publication number: AU2003100979A4
Application number: AU2003100979A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Peter Albert Dawson
Original assignee: Allsports Products Pty Ltd
Current assignee: Allsports Products Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2003-11-28
Filing date: 2003-11-28
Publication date: 2004-01-29
Anticipated expiration: 2011-11-28
Also published as: AU2003100979B4

Description

I

P/00/012 Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990

ORIGINAL

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION INNOVATION PATENT Invention Title: "SPORTS NET WINDER" The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us: TITLE: SPORTS NET WINDER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention THIS INVENTION relates to a sports net winder.

The invention particularly relates, but is not limited, to a tennis court net winder, and to a foldable, lockable handle therefor.

Throughout the specification and claims, reference to "tennis" shall include other sports which employ a net supported between two posts/supports, such as badminton, volleyball and beach volleyball.

2. Prior Art Conventional tennis court net winders have a winding handle with a shaft, rotatably journalled in a net post, with a screwthreaded portion which is operably engaged by a travelling nut. A hook, or other protuberance, on the travelling nut, is releasably engageable by an upper net cord. A stabilizing link may extend below the travelling nut and engage a loop or socket on the net post, to stabilize the travelling nut as it travels along the screw-threaded shaft.

At a distal end of the winding handle, external of the net post, a handle grip portion extends parallel to, but laterally offset from, the screw-threaded shaft, and is connected thereto by a crank portion.

In this time of high insurance costs and threat of litigation for negligence or avoidable accidents, the extended position of the 2 handle grip portion, relative to the adjacent net post, is of concern.

The handle grip portion is within a height range which could result in an injury to, or even the loss of, a child's eye, on impact with the winding handle. The extended handle grip portion can also cause injury to the arm(s) or torso(s) of adults or youths.

To minimise the risk, there is a need to eliminate, or avoid, the extended positioning of the handle grip portion when the winding handle is not adjusting the tension of the net when the net has been tensioned for use).

One solution is to provide a detachable winding handle.

The crank portion has a socket, or sleeve, which releasably engages a spigot at the end of the screw-threaded shaft, extending from the net post. While the removable handle removes the danger of the extended handle grip portion, the spigot is itself a danger which can cause, eg., eye injuries. In addition, the removable handle can be lost, and must be fitted each time the net is to be adjusted.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION There is a need for a safe, efficient winding handle for sports nets, which minimises the risk of injury.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a winding handle for a sports net where the handle grip portion can be moved to a retracted position when not in use.

It is a preferred object to provide such a handle, where 3 the handle grip portion can be releasably secured to the net support to prevent unwanted adjustment of the net tension.

It is a further preferred object to provide such a handle which can be retro-fitted to existing net supports net posts).

It is a still further preferred object to provide such a handle which is releasably inexpensive to manufacture and is not liable to be lost when not in use.

Other preferred objects will become apparent from the following description.

In one aspect, the present invention resides in a winding handle for a sports net, including: a crank portion, integral with, or connectable to, a winding shaft, extending substantially laterally to the shaft; and a handle grip portion, hingedly connected at a proximal end, to a distal end of the crank portion, movable between a first, extended, operable position substantially parallel to the shaft, and a second, retracted, position substantially aligned with the crank portion and operable to be releasably secured to the net support.

Preferably, a distal end of the handle grip portion has an elongate slot extending diagonally across the distal end to releasably receive a restraint member on the net support, and at least one hole in the distal end to operably receive restraint means releasably securing the distal end of the handle grip portion to the restraint member.

4 Preferably, the restraint member is a tab or plate on the net support; and a pair of aligned holes in the distal end of the handle grip portion, extending perpendicular to the elongate slot, are operable to receive a padlock or other restraint means to releasably secure the distal end to the tab or plate.

In a second aspect, the present invention resides in a winding apparatus for a sports net including: a winding handle as hereinbefore described; a net support; a winding shaft, journalled in the net support, having a screw-threaded portion, at or adjacent one end, to operably engage a travelling nut or like net tensioner; the travelling nut, having hook or protuberance means releasably engageable by a net cord; and a stabilizing link, engageable with the net support, to prevent rotation of the travelling net relative to the net support as the travelling nut is moved along the screw-threaded shaft.

In a third aspect, the present invention resides in a sports net assembly including: a pair of spaced net supports; a winding handle as hereinbefore described; a screw-threaded winding shaft rotatably journalled in one of the net supports; a travelling nut, having a hook or protuberance on the screw-threaded shaft; and a sports net having at least one net cord connected to the hook or protuberance on the travelling nut and at least a second net cord connected to the other of the net supports.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS To enable the invention to be fully understood, a preferred embodiment will now be described, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is a part-sectional side elevational view of a sports net winder incorporating the handle of the present invention; FIGS. 2 and 3 are respective side views showing the handle grip portion in the extended, and retracted, positions, respectively; and FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the winding handle, with the handle grip portion in the extended position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, a sports net 100 with upper and lower net cords 101, 102 is supported by a pair of net posts 103, only one being shown.

The net post 103 may be releasably received in a tubular 6 PVC socket 104, below the court surface 105, the depth of insertion of the net post 103 being set by a plate 106 on the net post 103.

A tab 107, with hole 108, is provided on the net post 103, for the purpose to be hereinafter described.

The lower net cord 102 is releasably connected to a "wavy" rod 109.

The winding handle 10, to be hereinafter described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4, has a shaft 11.

The shaft 11 has a collar 12 adjacent a plain shaft portion 13 journalled in aligned holes 111 adjacent the upper end of the net post 103 (below a post cap 112).

A screw-threaded portion 14 of the shaft 11 is engaged by a travelling nut 30 with a hook 31 releasably engaged by the upper net cord 101.

A stabilizer link 32, on the bottom of the travelling nut is hingedly engaged in a loop 113 on the net post 103, to prevent rotation of the travelling nut 30 relative to the net post 103 (and net 100) as the travelling nut 30 moves along the screw-threaded portion 14 of the shaft 11.

The winding handle 10 has a crank portion 15 which extends laterally to the shaft 11, spaced a small distance from the net post 103.

A proximal end of a handle grip portion 16 is hingedly 7 connected to a distal end of the crank portion 15 via a hinge pin 17.

(The proximal end of the handle grip portion 16 has a lug or tab which is received in the bifurcated distal end of the crank portion The distal end of the handle grip portion 16 has a diametrical slot 18 and a pair of aligned holes 19.

The slot 18 is designed to receive the tab 107 when the handle grip portion 16 is in the retracted position (see FIG. where the holes 109 are aligned with hole 108 in the tab 107.

A padlock 40 releasably secures the handle grip portion 16 to the tab 107, and thereby net post 103.

When the tension of the sports net 100 is to be adjusted, the padlock 40 is unlocked, and the handle grip portion 16 is moved to the extended position (see FIGS. 1, 2 and 4) to enable the shaft 11 to be rotated to move the travelling nut 30, and thereby increase/release the tension on the sports net 100.

With the sports net 100 tensioned, and the handle grip portion 16 secured to the net post 103 by the padlock 40, the net 1 00 cannot be removed (or stolen).

In addition, the winding handle 10 is secured to the net post 103 and cannot be lost (or stolen) The winding handle 10 can be retro-fitted to existing net posts, with the addition of the tab 107 to the latter.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the winding 8 handle is shown integral with the winder shaft. In an alternative embodiment not shown, the crank portion 15 may have a socket or hub engageable with a spigot of square cross-section) at the end of the shaft 11, the socket or hub preferably being secured to the spigot by a locking pin or other suitable restraint.

It will be readily apparent to the skilled addressee that the winding handle can also be applied to an internal court net winding mechanism.

It will be readily apparent to the skilled addressee that the winding handle 10, with the handle grip portion 16 retracted (and secured to the net post 103) will not cause, or at least minimise, the likelihood of injury, eg., eye injuries, to persons passing the net post 103.

In addition, the security of the whole sports net system (net 100/posts 103/winding apparatus) against theft is improved, without having to remove the net 100 when not in use.

In an alternative embodiment, not shown, the slot 18 and aligned holes 19 at the distal end of the handle grip portion 16 may be replaced by a side recess to receive the tab 107 and a single hole to be aligned with hole 108.

Various changes, modifications and variations may be made to the embodiments described, without departing from the invention defined in the claims.

Claims

1. A winding handle for a sports net including: a crank portion, integral with, or connectable to, a winding shaft, extending substantially laterally to the shaft; and a handle grip portion, hingedly connected at a proximal end, to a distal end of the crank portion, movable between a first, extended, operable position substantially parallel to the shaft, and a second, retracted, position substantially aligned with the crank portion and operable to be releasably secured to the net support.

2. A winding handle as claimed in Claim 1, wherein: a distal end of the handle grip portion has an elongate slot extending diagonally across the distal end to releasably receive a restraint member on the net support, and at least one hole in the distal end to operably receive restraint means releasably securing the distal end of the handle grip portion to the restraint member.

3. A winding handle as claimed in Claim 2 wherein: the restraint member is a tab or plate on the net support; and a pair of aligned holes in the distal end of the handle grip portion, extending perpendicular to the elongate slot, are operable to receive a padlock or other restraint means to releasably secure the distal end to the tab or plate.

4. A winding apparatus for a sports net including: a winding handle as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 3; a net support; a winding shaft journalled in the net support, having a screw-threaded portion, at or adjacent one end, to operably engage the travelling nut or like net tensioner; a travelling nut, having hook or protuberance means releasably engageable by a net cord; and a stabilizing link, engageable with the net support, to prevent rotation of the travelling net relative to the net support as the travelling nut is moved along the screw-threaded shaft. A sports net assembly including: a pair of spaced net supports; a winding handle as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 3; a screw-threaded shaft rotatably journalled in one of the net supports; a travelling nut, having a hook or protuberance on the screw-threaded shaft; and a sports net having at least one net cord connected to the hook or protuberance on the travelling nut and at least a second net cord connected to the other of the net supports. DATED this twenty-eighth day of November 2003. ALLSPORTS PRODUCTS PTY LTD By its Patent Attorneys FISHER ADAMS KELLY