AU616007B2

AU616007B2 - Portable net support assembly

Info

Publication number: AU616007B2
Application number: AU33754/89A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Jeffrey Harris Seymour
Original assignee: HANDLEY HOLDINGS Pty Ltd
Current assignee: HANDLEY HOLDINGS Pty Ltd
Priority date: 1988-04-29
Filing date: 1989-04-28
Publication date: 1991-10-17
Anticipated expiration: 2009-04-28
Also published as: AU3375489A; EP0340027A2; DE68913335D1; DE68913335T2; EP0340027A3; EP0340027B1

Description

-n -wUI 616007 COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA Patents Act 1952 r.

I

9 Name of Applicant Address of Applicant Actual Inventor Address for Service JEFFREY HARRIS SEYMOUR 12 Verdun Street, TINGALPA. QLD. 4173

AUSTRALIA.

JEFFREY HARRIS SEYMOUR GRANT ADAMS COMPANY, Patent Trade Mark Attorneys, 333 Adelaide Street, BRISBANE. QUEENSLAND. 4000

AUSTRALIA.

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR THE INVENTION ENTITLED: "PORTABLE NET SUPPORT ASSEMBLY" The following statement is a full description of the invention including the best method of performing it known to the applicant.

P. 10 0:2 2 1 2 THIS INVENTION :relates to a portable net support assembly.

The posts which support tennis nets are usually permanently anchored in concrete), at mid-point of the sides of the tennis courts, to oppose the bending movements applied to the posts by the nets when the latter are tensioned to the required height for play. In certain installations, the posts may be releasably received in sockets but the whole support net assembly is not portable.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a net support assembly which is portable.

It is a preferred object to provide such an assembly where the posts are free standing but do not require heavy base plates or feet.

'It is a further prefered object to provide such an assembly which can be easily disassembled and I: compactly packed for transport.

SIt is a still further preferred object to provide an assembly which easily allows the net to be S. tensioned to the correct playing height.

SOther preferred objects will become apparent from the following description.

'In a broad aspect the present invention 25 resides in a portable net support assembly including: a pair of substantially vertical posts, each provided with feet, one of said posts preferably having a means to tension a net supported between the posts; spacer means to interconnect the posts and spaced above a supporting court surface; and a foot means on the spacer means, intermediate the posts, engageable with the court surface, so arranged that any pivotal movement of one of the posts about its feet under tension applied by the net is opposed by a i i i L .i 1 gravitational moment when the post tends to be raised about the foot means as a fulcrum.

Preferably the feet extend transversely to the net are detachable from the lower ends of the posts.

The feet may be tubular to enable them to be filled with a ballast e.g. sand.

Preferably each post has a horizontal arm adjacent its lower end which underlies the net and which is braced by an oblique strut interconnecting the post upright and the arm.

Preferably the spacer means includes two or more tubular spacer sections provided with respective male/female connections.

Preferably the foot means is provided 15 integrally on the underside of one of the tubular spacer e• sections.

To enable the invention to Y fully .understood, a preferred embodiment will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings: FIG. 1 shows the net support assembly, as assembled, with a net shown in dashed lines; and FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the components of the assembly.

Each post assembly 10, 11 has a tubular 25 upright 12 provided with a horizontal arm 13 and oblique strut or brace 14.

A winding mechanism 15 (with a rachet, to tension the net is mcunted on one post assembly an anchor hook 16 being provided on the other post assembly 11. Lower net cord hooks 17 are provided on the arms 13.

Each post assembly has a detachable transverse "j foot 18 of hollow box section closed by end caps 19 and a peg 20 received in frictional engagement in the lower end of its perspective upright 12. The feet 18 may be filled with a ballast sand) if so desired.

The horizontal arms 13 are interconnected by six tubular spacer sections 19-24 interconnected by suitable male/female friction couplings. As shown in FIG. 1, the tubular spacer sections are aligned with (and connected to) the horizontal arms 13 and are spaced a small distance above the court surface. A foot 25 is formed integrally with the tubular spacer section 21 and engages the court surface.

A shackle (not shown) may be provided on the top of the tubular spacer section (above the foot for releasable connection to the lower cord of the net 26.

When the net 26 is attached to the post assemblies 10, 11, and the winding mechanism 15 is operated, the tension in the top cord 27 of the net tends to pull the upper ends of the post uprights inwardly (and would do so if the post assemblies were not restrained).

The pivotal movements of the posts about their feet 18 are opposed by gravitational moments as the posts seek to pivot upwardly about the foot 25 as a I fulcrum, the tubular spacer sections 19-24 being rigid cm f> re s n under tension.

0:06 25 The support assembly and net become balanced in tension when the net is at the correct playing height. If further tension is applied to the net to t raise it further, this will tend to overload the tubular I spacer sections and they will tend to bow laterally in the horizontal direction, indicating that too much tension has been applied to the net.

As stated above, the tension in the net 26 will tend to pull each post assembly upwardly and inwardly but as this movement must be about the foot as a fulcrum. The weight of each post assembly being 4 Jf'j raised about a relatively long lever arm, will oppose this movement and the uprights will remain vertical. In this manner, heavy base plates or feet for the posts are not required.

By varying the dimensions of the components, the support assemblies can be used for tennis, volley, or badminton or other ball/net sports. The net support assembly is particularly suitable for the tennis-based game operating under the trade mark "COMPACT TENNIS", where it can form a part of the special raquet/bat/ball court system as set out in the specification for that game.

As the comiponents can be made from e.g.

tubular steel, aluminium or plastics material and the components are easily coupled together, the support assembly can be compactly packed for transport and easily assembled on site (and disassembled and packed for further transport).

Various changes and modifications may be made to the embodiment described and illustrated without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims.

0e i

Claims

2. A portable net support asLsembly including: a pair of substantially vertical posts, each provided with feet, one of said posts preferably having a, means to tension a not supportod between the posts; spacer means to initerconnect the posts and spaced above a supporting court surface; and a focot means on the spacer means, intermediate the posts, ongageable with the court surface, so arranged that any pivotal movement of one of -the posts about its feet under 'tension applied by the net is opposed by a gravitational moment when the post Lends to be raised about the foot means as a, fulcrum. 2. A support assembly according to Claim 1 15 wherein: the feet are detachable from the lower ends of the posts and extend transversely to the net.
3. A support assembly according to Claim 2 wherein: -the fe,;et are tubular and are filled with ballast material.
4. A support assembly according to any one of Claims 1 to 3 wherein: each post has a horizontal arm adjacent its 25 lower end which underlies the net and which is braced by an oblique strut interconnecting -the post and the arm, the spacer means being connected to the horizontal arm. A support assembly according to any one of Claims 1 to 4 wherein: the spacer means includes two or more tubular spacer sections provided with respective male/female connections.
6. A support assembly according to Claim wherein: the foot means is provided integrally on the underside of one of the tubular spacer sections.
7. A portable net assembly substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
8. A portable net support assembly and a net supported by the assembly substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accomanying drawings.
9. A method of supporting a net employing a portable net support assembly substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accomanying drawings. DATED this twenty-eighth day of April, 1989. JEFFREY HARRIS SEYMOUR, S 15 by his Patent Attorneys, GRANT ADAMS COMPANY. f I U *U i t I r 'i