IE980307A1 - A screen. - Google Patents

Abstract

A screen for preventing a ball or other such mobile objects used in a game or otherwise from travelling beyond a predetermined location, the screen comprising a pair of spaced apart ground engaging uprights, at least one flexible membrane supported by and extendable between the uprights for engaging the ball for stopping its travel and a means for furling/unfurling the membrane. Fig. 1 is to accompany the Abstract.

Description

The present invention relates to a screen, and in particular, to a screen for preventing a ball or other such mobile object used in a game or otherwise from travelling beyond a predetermined location.

In football pitches, golf courses, and other locations where a ball or other such mobile object is used in a game, it is in many cases desirable to prevent the ball used in the game from travelling beyond certain perimeter boundaries. This, is particularly important, in the case of built-up areas, where golf courses, football pitches and the like may be located relatively close to private residences. For example, in the case of a football pitch, should one of the goal posts be located close to a boundary with a private residence, it is essential that the ball should not pass beyond the perimeter boundary of the football pitch, or a perimeter boundary of land owned by the proprietor of the football pitch. Similarly, in the case of a golf course, where a green is located adjacent the boundary with a private residence and the fairway extends in a direction from the green substantially perpendicularly to the boundary with the private residence, it is important that balls which overshoot the green should not travel beyond the perimeter boundary of the golf wts*-:------tf-i wni-.«-»rt -j-y,-m OPEN 70 < >:·; .' ’’ON ; - . Γ-Cf -Ο.λ; · :.·Λ, Q, ..’ l· r - i j Ν<- ; i- | course.

There is therefore a need for a screen for preventing a ball or other such mobile object used in a game or otherwise from travelling beyond a predetermined location.

The present invention is directed towards providing such a screen.

According to the invention there is provided a screen for preventing a ball or other such mobile objects used in a game or otherwise from travelling beyond a predetermined location, the screen comprising a pair of spaced apart ground engaging uprights, at least one flexible membrane supported by and extendable between the uprights for engaging the ball for stopping its travel and a means for furling/unfurling the membrane.

Preferably the furling/unfurling means comprises a winch rope connected to the membrane and wound onto a winch drum, and a drive means for driving the winch drum for winching the winch rope onto the winch drum for furling the membrane.

More preferably the flexible membrane is mounted between a top carrier member extendable between the uprights and a bottom carrier member extendable between the uprights .

Suitably the membrane is stretched between the first and second carrier members.

Preferably each carrier member comprises a carrier rope and more preferably the carrier rope comprises a steel rope.

Suitably the furling/unfurling means comprises a first winch rope connected to the membrane and wound onto a first winch drum, and a second winch rope connected to the membrane and wound onto a second winch drum, the first and second winch drums being driven by the drive means for winding the first and second winch ropes onto the first and second winch drums for furling/unfurling the membrane.

Preferably, the drive means comprises a drive motor.

Suitably the drive motor is electrically powered.

In a preferred aspect of the invention the screen comprises a pair of membranes, each membrane spanning substantially half the distance between the ground engaging uprights and being associated with a separate upright.

Preferably each membrane is furlable to its associated ground engaging upright.

Suitably the respective membranes overlap at a position 5 intermediate the respective uprights.

Advantageously each membrane is furlable/unfurlable between the uprights.

In one embodiment of the invention visual information may be provided on one side of one of the membrane, and if desired, on both sides of one of the membrane.

Indeed, if desired, visual information may be provided on each side of each membrane. The visual information may be any information, for example, information on forthcoming events, advertising material, such as, advertisements for products, for example, food products, drink, sports clothing and equipment, advertisements for services, for example, banking, insurance broking and the like, or for any other product or service.

In a further embodiment of the invention a flag pole extends from at least one, and preferably, both ground engaging uprights for carrying a flag, and ideally, each flag pole may be telescoped into its corresponding ground engaging upright. Each flag, if desired, may also carry visual information, for example, advertising material and the like.

Advantageously, a means for telescoping and extending each flag pole relative to its corresponding ground engaging upright is provided.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention the furling/unfurling means is at least partially housed within at least one of the uprights.

The invention also provides a method for preventing a ball or other such mobile object used in a game or otherwise from travelling beyond a predetermined location comprising mounting at least one furlable membrane between a pair of spaced apart ground engaging uprights and unfurling the membrane with furling/unfurling means.

Preferably, the furling/unfurling means comprises a drive means .

More preferably, the furling/unfurling means comprises a manually operable drive means.

Suitably, the drive means comprises a motor.

Preferably, the membrane is unfurlable with furling/unfurling means comprising a winch rope connected to the membrane and wound onto a winch drum.

More preferably, the membrane is mounted between a top carrier member extendable between the uprights and a bottom carrier member extendable between the uprights.

More preferably, the membrane is stretched between the first and second carrier members.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, a pair of membranes is mounted between the pair of spaced apart ground engaging uprights .

The invention will be more clearly understood from the following description of some embodiments thereof which are given by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a screen in accordance with a first embodiment of the invention for preventing a ball or other such mobile object used in a game from travelling beyond a predetermined location with the nets of the screen in the unfurled position; Fig. 2 is a partially schematic front perspective view of the furling/unfurling means of the screen of Fig. 1 at least partially mounted within the uprights of the screen of Fig. 1 which in turn have been omitted for clarity; Fig. 3 is a partially cut away front elevation of an upright of Figs. 1 and 2 with the furling/unfurling means visible through the opening in the upright and a central portion of the upright omitted for clarity; Fig. 4 is a top elevation of the uprights of Figs. 1 and 3 with the uprights partially cut away to reveal the furling/unfurling means located within the uprights, the carrier ropes and the winch ropes together with the nets which are truncated for clarity; Fig. 5 is an enlarged front perspective view of a portion of the screen of Figs. 1 to 4 illustrating the overlap of the nets and a single upright, and Fig. 6 is a front elevation of a second embodiment of a screen in accordance with the invention having a single monofilament net only.

Figs. 1 to 5 show a first embodiment of a screen 1 in accordance with a first embodiment of the invention.

The screen 1 is adapted for preventing a ball, typically a football, from travelling beyond a predetermined location in this embodiment of the invention beyond a location behind a goalpost, and within the perimeter boundary of the property on which a football pitch is located. Neither the football pitch nor the goalpost nor the perimeter boundary are illustrated in the drawings. However, the ground level of the football pitch is indicated by the reference numeral 2.

The screen 1 is made up of a pair of spaced apart ground engaging upstanding open-topped uprights namely a first upright 3 and a second upright 4. The uprights 3, 4 are typically formed from galvanised steel having a hollow circular cross section so that the first upright 3 defines a first housing 58 and the second upright 4 a second housing 59 respectively.

The uprights 3, 4 are located in and secured below the ground level 2 by concrete foundations 5.

The first upright 3 and the second upright 4 are further supported in the upstanding position by a first stay rope 12 and a second stay rope 13 respectively which extend between the free ends of the first and second uprights 3, 4 and the ground level 2.

A pair of membranes, in this embodiment of the invention a first monofilament net 6 and a second monofilament net 7 extend between the first and second uprights 3, 4 respectively for engaging a ball which travels beyond the goalpost.

The first monofilament net 6 is suspended between a first top carrier rope 8 secured between the first upright 3 and the second upright 4 at the free ends of the first and second uprights 3, 4 and a first bottom carrier rope secured between the first and second uprights 3, 4 adjacent the ground level 2. The first monofilament net 6 is secured under tension between the first top carrier rope 8 and the first bottom carrier rope 10 by gripping rings 22 mounted between the first monofilament net 6 and the first top carrier rope 8 and first bottom carrier rope 10.

The gripping rings 22 are slidable along the first top carrier rope 8 and first bottom carrier rope 10 so that the monofilament net 6 is furlable/unfurlable on the top and bottom carrier ropes 8, 10 respectively. More particularly, the first monofilament net 6 is substantially rectangular in shape and is made up of a first net top edge 14, a first net bottom edge 15, a first net side edge 16 disposed adjacent and parallel to the first upright 3 and a first net free side edge 17 located between the first upright 3 and the second upright 4 in the unfurled position shown in Fig. 1.

The gripping rings 22 therefore extend between the first net top edge 14 and the first top carrier rope 8 and between the first net bottom edge 15 and the first bottom carrier rope 10.

Similarly, the second monofilament net 7 is mounted between a second top carrier rope 9 and a second bottom carrier rope 11 secured between the first upright 3 and the second upright 4. The second top carrier rope 9 is secured between the first upright 3 and the second upright 4 at the free ends of the first upright 3 and the second upright 4 while the second bottom carrier rope 11 is secured the first and second uprights 3, 4 adjacent the ground level 2. The second top carrier rope 9 and the second bottom carrier rope 11 are spaced apart to the rear of the first top carrier rope 8 and the first bottom carrier rope 10 when viewed from the front as shown in Fig. 1. Accordingly, the first monofilament net 6 is disposed in a vertical plane to the front of the second monofilament net 7. The second monofilament net 7 is also rectangular in shape and provided with a second net top edge 18, a second net bottom edge 19, a second net side edge 20 disposed adjacent to and parallel to the second upright 4 and a second net side free edge 21 located between the first and second uprights 3, 4 in the unfurled position shown in Fig. 1 to the rear of the first monofilament net 6. The second net free edge 21 is shown in broken lines in Fig. 1.

The second monofilament net 7 is secured to the second top carrier rope 9 and the second bottom carrier rope 11 at the second net top edge 18 and the second net bottom edge 19 respectively by gripping rings 22 as described above in relation to the first monofilament net 6.

The first net free edge 17 and the second net free edge 15 21 overlap when the first monofilament net 6 and the second monofilament net 7 are in the unfurled position as shown in Fig. 1 to define an overlap region 23 between the first net free edge 17 and the second net free edge 21. The first monofilament net 6 and the second monofilament net 7 therefore define a continuous screen in the unfurled position shown in Fig. 1.

The first top carrier rope 8, second top carrier rope 9, first bottom carrier rope 10 and second bottom carrier rope 11 are tensioned to extend taut between the first upright 3 and the second upright 4.

The first monofilament net 6 is slidable on the gripping rings 22 between the first top carrier rope 8 and the first bottom carrier rope 10 to furl and unfurl the first monofilament net 6 as shall be explained more fully below. Similarly, the second monofilament net 7 is slidable in the gripping rings 22 between the second top carrier rope 9 and second bottom carrier rope 11 to furl and unfurl the second monofilament net 7.

The first and second monofilament nets 6, 7 respectively are furlable and unfurlable by a furling/unfurling means generally indicated by the reference numeral 24. The furling/unfurling means is located within and between the first and second housings 58, 59 of the first and second uprights 3, 4 respectively as shall be explained more fully below.

Furling and unfurling of the first and second monofilament nets 6, 7 ensures that when not in use, the first and second monofilament nets 6, 7 can be furled adjacent or indeed within the housings 58, 59 of the first and second uprights 3, 4 respectively to avoid wind resistance which in gale force winds could lead to damage to the screen 1.

The furling/unfurling means 24 for furling and unfurling the first monofilament net 6 is made up of a first net top winch rope 25 and a first net bottom winch rope 26 in communication with the first monofilament net 6. The first net top winch rope 25 and the first net bottom winch rope 26 are mounted between the first and second uprights 3, 4 and are disposed substantially parallel to the first top carrier rope 8 and first bottom carrier rope 10 respectively.

Similarly, the furling/unfurling means 24 is provided with a second net top winch rope 27 and a second net bottom winch rope 28 in communication with the second monofilament net 7 to furl and unfurl the second monofilament net 7.

The second net top winch rope 27 and the second net bottom winch rope 28 are mounted between the first and second uprights 3, 4 and are disposed substantially parallel to the second top carrier rope 9 and second bottom carrier rope 11 respectively.

The first net top winch rope 25 is looped about a first net top winch drum 29 mounted on a horizontal shaft 41 located within the first housing 58 of the first upright 3 adjacent the ground level 2. The first net top winch rope 25 extends between the first net top winch drum 29 and a secondary top pulley 35 mounted on a horizontal shaft 51 within the second housing 59 of the second upright 4 at the free end of the second upright 4 remote from the ground level 2. The first net top winch rope 25 is passed over first and second top pulleys 31, 32 mounted on a horizontal shaft 49 respectively located at the free end of the housing 58 of the first upright 3 so that the first and second top pulleys 31, 32 and the secondary top pulley 35 support the first net top winch rope 25 between the first and second uprights 3, 4 as described above.

The first net top winch rope 25 can therefore be passed between the first net top winch drum 29 and the secondary top pulley 35 through the first housing 58 of the first upright 3 and between the first upright 3 and second upright 4.

Similarly, the first net bottom winch rope 26 is looped about a first net bottom winch drum 39 and extends between the first net bottom winch drum 39 mounted on a horizontal shaft 42 in the first housing 58 between the first net top winch drum 39 and the ground level 2 and a secondary bottom pulley 47 mounted on a horizontal shaft 52 within the second housing 59 of the second upright 4 adjacent the ground level 2 by passing the first net bottom winch rope 26 over a first bottom pulley 43 and a second bottom pulley 44 similar to the first top pulley 31 and the second top pulley 32 but mounted on a horizontal shaft 50 in the first housing and located between the first net bottom winch drum 39 and the ground level 2. The first net bottom winch rope 26 can be passed between the first net bottom winch drum 39 and the secondary bottom pulley 47 through bottom openings 57 defined in the uprights 3, 4 upon rotation of the first net bottom winch drum 39.

The first monofilament net 6 is attached to the first net top winch rope 25 by a clip 53 which extends between the first top carrier rope 8 and the first net top winch rope 25. The clip 53 is mounted between the first monofilament net 6 and the first winch rope 25 at the first net free edge 17 of the first monofilament net 6. The clip 53 is fixed to the first net top winch rope 25 but is slidable on the first top carrier rope 8 so that upon movement of the first net top winch rope 25 between the first net top winch rope drum 29 and the secondary top pulley 35 the first monofilament net 6 is furled and unfurled in accordance with the direction of movement of the top winch rope 25.

Similarly, the first monofilament net 6 is attached to the first net bottom winch rope 26 at its first net bottom edge 15 and first net free edge 17 by a clip 54 which extends between the first monofilament net 6 and the first net bottom winch rope 26. The clip 54, like the clip 53, is fixed to the first monofilament net 6 and to the first net bottom winch rope 26 and is slidable along the first bottom carrier rope 10 to furl and unfurl the first monofilament net 6 upon movement of the first net bottom winch rope 26 between the first net bottom winch drum 39 in the housing 58 and the secondary bottom pulley 47 in the housing 59.

The furling/unfurling means 24 for furling and unfurling the second monofilament net 7 is substantially identical to the furling/unfurling means 24 hereinbefore described in relation to the first monofilament net 6. Accordingly, the furling/unfurling means 24 for the second monofilament net 7 is made up of the second net top winch rope 27 and the second net bottom winch rope 28 in communication with the monofilament net 7.

The second net top winch rope 27 corresponds to the first net top winch rope 25 and accordingly is looped about a second net top winch drum 30 mounted on the horizontal shaft 41 adjacent the first net top winch drum 2 9.

The second net top winch rope 27 extends between the second net top winch drum 30 and a secondary top pulley 36 mounted on the horizontal shaft 51 within the second housing 59 of the second upright 4 at the free end of the second upright 4 adjacent the secondary top pulley .

The second net top winch rope 27 is passed over first and second top pulleys 33, 34 located adjacent the first and second top pulleys 31, 32 on the horizontal shaft 49 at the free end of the housing 58 of the first upright 3.

Similarly, the second net bottom winch rope 28 extends between a second net bottom winch drum 40 mounted on the shaft 42 adjacent the first net bottom winch drum 39. The second net bottom winch rope 28 extends between the first housing 58 between the second net bottom winch drum 40 and a secondary bottom pulley 48 mounted on the horizontal shaft 52 within the second housing 59 of the second upright 4 adjacent the ground level 2 by passing the second left bottom winch rope 28 over first and second bottom pulleys 45, 46 mounted adjacent the first and second bottom pulleys 43, 44 on the horizontal shaft.

The second net bottom winch rope 28 can be passed between the second and bottom winch drum 40 and the secondary bottom pulley 48 through the bottom openings 57 hereinbefore described.

The second monofilament net 7 is attached to the second 5 net top winch rope 27 by a clip 55 which extends between the second top carrier rope 9 and the second net top winch rope 27 as described hereinbefore in relation to the first monofilament net 6 and the clip 53.

The second monofilament net 7 is also connected by a bottom clip 56 to the second net bottom winch rope 28 so that movement of the second net top winch rope 27 and second net bottom winch rope 28 causes furling and unfurling of the second monofilament net 7 as shall be explained more fully below.

In short, movement of the second net top winch rope 27 and the second net bottom winch rope 28 causes the second monofilament net 7 to furl and unfurl on the second top carrier rope 9.

The first net top winch drum 29 and the first net bottom winch drum 39 are connected by drive belts 38, respectively to a drive motor 37 located between the first net top winch drum 29 and the first net bottom winch drum 39 respectively. Accordingly, as the first net top winch drum 29 and first net bottom winch drum 39 are mounted on common shafts 41, 42 respectively with the second net top winch drum 30 and the second net bottom winch drum 40 respectively, movement of the drive belts 38, 60 by the motor 37 causes rotation of all winch drums 29, 39, 30, 40.

It is important to note that the first net bottom winch rope 26 extends between the first net bottom winch drum 39 and the first and second bottom pulleys 43, 44 in a crossed arrangement as will be explained more fully below.

As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the arrangement of the winch ropes 25, 26, 27 and 28 between their respective winch drums 29, 39, 30 and 40 and their corresponding secondary pulleys 35, 47, 36 and 28 respectively ensures that each winch rope 25, 26, 27 and 28 is made up of a pay out portion and a return portion between the uprights 3, 4.

Accordingly, the clips 53, 54 of the net 6 and the clips 55, 56 of the net 7 respectively are both connected to paying out portions or return portions of the winch ropes 25, 26 and 27, 28 respectively to ensure that the clips 53, 54 and 55, 56 travel in the same direction on the carrier ropes 8, 10 and 9, 11 during furling/unfurling.

In use, clockwise rotation of the drive motor 37 causes the drive belt 38 to rotate in a clockwise fashion to effect clockwise rotation of the first net top winch drum 29 and accordingly the second net top winch drum .

Clockwise rotation of the first net top winch drum 29 causes the first net top winch rope 25 to travel in a clockwise direction between the first net top winch drum 29 and the secondary top pulley 35 over the first top pulley 31. The first net top winch rope 25 is returned from the secondary top pulley 35 over the secondary top pulley 32 within the first upright 3 to the first net top winch drum 29. Simultaneously, the drive belt 60 causes the first net bottom winch drum 39 to rotate in a clockwise direction to cause the first net bottom winch rope 26 to pass from the first net bottom winch drum 39 to the first bottom pulley 43 and from the first bottom pulley 43 within the upright 3 to the secondary bottom pulley 47 within the second upright 4 and in turn from the secondary bottom pulley 47 between the first and second uprights 3, 4 to the secondary bottom pulley 44 and in turn from the secondary bottom pulley 44 to the first net bottom winch drum 39.

As the net 6 is connected to the winch ropes 25, 26 by the clips 53, 54 between the carrier ropes 8, 10 clockwise rotation of the winch drums 29, 39 and the winch ropes 25, 26 causes the net 6 to furl (i.e. return towards the upright 3) as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Reverse rotation of the motor 37 therefore causes the net 6 to unfurl.

As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, due to the mounting of the second top winch drum 30 on the shaft 41, the second bottom winch drum 40 on the shaft 42, and connection of the drive motor 37 to the first bottom winch drum 39 by the drive belt 60, rotation of the drive motor 37 also causes the second top winch drum 30 and the second bottom winch drum 40 to rotate clockwise so that the second top winch rope 27 and the second bottom winch rope 28 travel between their respective winch drums 30, 40 and their respective top and bottom pulleys 36, 48 so that the second net 7 is furled and/or unfurled between the uprights 3, 4 as hereinbefore described in relation to the first net 6.

However, the net 7 is located between the carrier ropes 9 and 11 adjacent the upright 4 and connected to the paying out and return portions of the winch ropes 27, so that the net 7 travels in an opposite direction to the net 6 e.g. towards the upright 4 during furling. Accordingly, the net 7 is attached to paying out portions of the winch ropes 27, 28 by the clips 55, 56 in Fig. 1 and the net 6 is attached to the return portions of the winch ropes 25, 26 by the clips 53, 54 in Fig. 1. Therefore, the clips 53, 54, 55, 56 of the monofilament nets are connected to corresponding paying out or return portions of the winch ropes 25, 26, 27, so that the top and bottom clips of each net 6, 7 move in the same direction between the uprights upon movement of the winch ropes 25, 26, 27, 28.

An electrical power supply is supplied to the electrically powered motor 37 which may be provided from a power house (not shown). Flag poles (not shown) may be mounted on the top of each upright 3, 4 for carrying flags, which in the case of a football match, may be the colours of the home and visiting teams. The flag poles are mounted on the uprights 3, 4 and may be telescoped into the uprights 3, 4. A suitable drive motor (not shown) may be located in each upright 3, 4 for extending the flag poles out of the uprights 3, 4 and for withdrawing the flag poles telescoping into the uprights 3, 4. It is envisaged that the flags would partly furl around the flag poles as they are being withdrawn into the uprights 3, 4.

When not in use, the nets 6, 7 are furled adjacent their corresponding uprights 3, 4 or within the housings 58, 59 of the uprights 3, 4 for minimising wind resistance which would be offered to gale force winds by the screen 1. When required the second motor 37 is operated for driving the second winch drums for furling the nets 6, 7 into the overlapping unfurled position illustrated in Fig. 1. After a football match, the first drive motors are operated for driving the winch drums 29, 30, 39, 40 for again furling the nets 6, 7 adjacent their corresponding uprights 3, 4.

In a typical screen in accordance with the invention, the first net 6 is 15m in length and the second net 7 14m in length to give a screen having a membrane 28m in length with an overlap region 23 of lm in length.

In an alternative form of the screen 1 of the embodiment of Figs. 1 to 5, the furling/unfurling means 24 is made up of a single continuously looped winch rope mounted between the uprights 3 and 4 and passed between pulleys and a single drive winch drum located in the upright 4 to provide a top winch rope and a bottom winch rope substantially similar to the first net top winch rope 25 and the first net bottom winch rope 26 previously described.

Due to the arrangement of the single continuous winch rope, the second net top winch rope 27 and the second net bottom winch rope 28 can be dispensed with as the first monofilament net 6 and the second monofilament net 7 are both in communication with the pay out and return portions of the single top net winch rope and the single bottom net winch rope.

More particularly, the first and second monofilament nets 6, 7 are mounted between the uprights 3, 4 between a first top carrier rope 8 and first bottom carrier rope 10 and a second top carrier rope 9 and a second bottom carrier rope 11 as previously described. The carrier ropes 8, 9, 10, 11 are ideally mounted in a tubing such as 0.5 inch or 1 inch Hydradare (Trademark) tubing to minimise friction between the rings 22 and the carrier ropes 8, 9, 10, 11 and to facilitate movement of the rings 22 between the uprights 3, 4 on the Hydradare tubing.

Dedicated stoppers can also be provided between the carrier ropes and the rings 22 to prevent passage of the rings 22 over pulleys during furling/unfurling of the nets 6, 7.

The furling/unfurling means is made up of the continuous winch rope looped over a single pulley substituted for the top pulleys 31, 32, 33, 34 in the upright 3 to define a pay out portion and a return portion between the uprights 3, 4 as previously described. The pay out portion and the return portion are in turn passed over a pair of secondary pulleys 35, 36 located adjacent the free end of the upright 4 as previously described.

The first monofilament net 6 is in communication with the pay out portion of the continuous winch rope through rings 22 extending between the first net top edge 14 and the pay out portion and the second monofilament net 7 is in communication with the return portion of the continuous winch rope again through rings 22 extending between the second net top edge 18 and the return portion disposed between the single pulley and the pair of secondary pulleys 35, 36.

The continuous winch rope is in turn passed between the secondary top pulleys and a secondary bottom pulleys 47, 48 located adjacent the ground level 2 within the upright 4 as previously described. The continuous winch rope is in turn passed between the uprights 3, 4 adjacent the ground level 2 between a single pulley located within the first upright 3 adjacent the ground level 2 and the secondary bottom pulleys 47, 48 and finally returned to a drive motor 37 located within the second upright 4 and in turn returned to the single pulley adjacent the free end of the first upright 3 over the second of the top pulleys 35, 36 as previously described to complete the continuous loop of winch rope.

Accordingly, the single continuous winch rope defines the single bottom winch rope between the single pulley located within the first upright 3 adjacent the ground level 2 and the secondary bottom pulleys 47, 48.

As previously described, the first monofilament net 6 is connected to the bottom winch rope formed by the continuous winch rope at its bottom edge 15 by rings 22 extending between the monofilament net 6 and return portion of the continuous winch rope while the second monofilament net 7 is connected to the paying out portion of the continuous winch rope at its bottom edge 19.

The continuous winch rope is preferably double wrapped about the motor to increase traction to facilitate movement of the continuous winch rope in the continuous loop between the pulleys and the motor.

Accordingly, in use, a single motor effects movement of the continuous winch rope between the uprights 3, 4 to furl/unfurl the monofilament nets 6, 7. More particularly, the first monofilament net 6 is attached to the paying out portion of the winch rope at its top edge 14 and to the return portion of the winch rope at its bottom edge 15 while the second monofilament net 7 is attached to the return portion of the continuous winch at its top edge 18 and to the paying out portion of the continuous winch rope at its bottom edge 19 thereby minimising the number of winch drums, motors etc. required to effect furling/unfurling of the screen 1 in accordance with the invention.

Referring now to Fig. 6 there is illustrated a screen 1 according to a further embodiment of the invention which is indicated generally by the reference numeral 61. The screen 61 is substantially similar to the screen 1 of Figs. 1 to 5 and accordingly like numerals indicate like parts. The main difference between the screen 61 and the screen 1 is that only a single monofilament net 6 is provided which extends fully between the uprights 3, 4. Likewise, only one top carrier rope 58 and one bottom carrier rope 59 is provided for supporting the net 6 between the uprights 3, 4. It should be noted that the screen 61 of Fig. 6 is provided with flag poles 62 on the uprights 3, 4.

Accordingly, the furling/unfurling means 24 for furling and unfurling the single net 6 of Fig. 6 is simply made up of the first net top winch drum 29 and the first net bottom winch drum 39 connected to the drive motor 37 by drive belts 38 and 60 respectively. The single net 6 is unfurled and unfurled by winch ropes 25, 26 as previously described looped between the top winch drum 29 and bottom winch drum 39 and pulleys 35, and 47 respectively as previously described so that rotation of the winch drums 29, 39 causes furling and unfurling of the single net 6 between the uprights 3, 4. More particularly, the single net 6 is attached to the top winch rope 25 and the bottom winch rope 26 by the clips 53, 54 as previously described.

Accordingly, the embodiment of the screen of Fig. 6 is more or less identical to the embodiment of the screen described in relation to Figs. 1 to 5 but with the monofilament net 6 extending fully between the uprights 3, 4 so that the screen 1 is provided by a single monofilament net 6 which can be furled and unfurled as previously described in relation to the first monofilament net 6 of Figs. 1 to 5.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the drive means can comprise a drive motor as hereinbefore described or a manual drive means and the like.

The invention is not limited to the embodiment hereinbefore described which may be varied in construction and detail.

Claims (29)

1. A screen for preventing a ball or other such mobile objects used in a game or otherwise from travelling beyond a predetermined location, the screen 5 comprising a pair of spaced apart ground engaging uprights, at least one flexible membrane supported by and extendable between the uprights for engaging the ball for stopping its travel and a means for furling/unfurling the membrane. 10

2. A screen as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the furling/unfurling means comprises a winch rope connected to the membrane and wound onto a winch drum, and a drive means for driving the winch drum for winching the winch rope onto the winch drum for furling 15 the membrane.

3. A screen as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2 wherein the flexible membrane is mounted between a top carrier member extendable between the uprights and a bottom carrier member extendable between the uprights. 20

4. A screen as claimed in Claim 3 wherein the membrane is stretched between the first and second carrier members .

5. A screen as claimed in Claim 3 or Claim 4 wherein each carrier member comprises a carrier rope.

6. A screen as claimed in Claim 5 wherein the carrier rope comprises a steel rope.

7. A screen as claimed in any of Claims 2 to 6 5 wherein the furling/unfurling means comprises a first winch rope connected to the membrane and wound onto a first winch drum, and a second winch rope connected to the membrane and wound onto a second winch drum, the first and second winch drums being driven by the drive 10 means for winding the first and second winch ropes onto the first and second winch drums for furling/unfurling the membrane.

8. A screen as claimed in any of Claims 2 to 7 wherein the drive means comprises a drive motor. 15

9. . A screen as claimed in Claim 8 wherein the drive motor is electrically powered.

10. A screen as claimed in any of Claims 1 to 9 wherein the screen comprises a pair of membranes, each membrane spanning substantially half the distance 20 between the ground engaging uprights and being associated with a separate upright.

11. A screen as claimed in Claim 10 wherein each membrane is furlable to its associated ground engaging upright.

12. A screen as claimed in Claim 10 or Claim 11 5 wherein the respective membranes overlap at a position intermediate the respective uprights.

13. A screen as claimed in any of Claims 10 to 12 characterised in that each membrane is furlable/unfurlable between the uprights. 10

14. A screen as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein visual information may be provided on one side of the membrane.

15. A screen as claimed in any of Claims 1 to 14 wherein visual information is provided on both sides of 15 the membrane.

16. A screen as claimed in any of Claims 1 to 15 further comprising a flag pole extendable from at least one upright.

17. A screen as claimed in Claim 16 wherein the flag 20 pole is telescopically engageable with the upright.

18. A screen as claimed in Claim 16 or Claim 17 further comprising a means for telescoping and extending the flag pole relative to the upright.

19. A screen as claimed in any of Claims 1 to 18 wherein the furling/unfurling means is at least partially housed within at least one of the uprights.

20. A method for preventing a ball or other such mobile object used in a game or otherwise from travelling beyond a predetermined location comprising mounting at least one furlable membrane between a pair of spaced apart ground engaging uprights and unfurling the membrane with furling/unfurling means.

21. A method as claimed in Claim 20 wherein the furling/unfurling means comprises a drive means.

22. A method as claimed in Claim 21 wherein the drive means comprises manually operable drive means.

23. A method as claimed in Claim 21 wherein the drive means comprises a motor.

24. A method as claimed in any of Claims 20 to 23 wherein the membrane is unfurlable with furling/unfurling means comprising a winch rope connected to the membrane and wound onto a winch drum.

25. A method as claimed in any of Claims 20 to 24 wherein the membrane is mounted between a top carrier member extendable between the uprights and a bottom 5 carrier member extendable between the uprights .

26. A method as claimed in Claim 25 wherein the membrane is stretched between the first and second carrier members .

27. A method as claimed in any of Claims 20 to 26 10 wherein a pair of membranes is mounted between the pair of spaced apart ground engaging uprights.

28. A screen for preventing a ball or other such mobile object used in a game or otherwise from travelling beyond a predetermined location 15 substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and/or as shown in Figs. 1 to 5 or Fig. 6 of the accompanying drawings .

29. A method for preventing a ball or other such mobile object used in a game or otherwise from 20 travelling beyond a predetermined location substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and/or as shown in Figs. 1 to 5 or Fig. 6 of the