US20030073519A1

US20030073519A1 - Devices for collecting tennis balls

Info

Publication number: US20030073519A1
Application number: US09/977,133
Authority: US
Inventors: Alexander Shau
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2001-10-15
Filing date: 2001-10-15
Publication date: 2003-04-17

Abstract

Picking up tennis balls is and always has been irritating. Although inventions such as the ball tube and ball basket have been invented, the ball player still has to search the court for the balls. The present invention will dramatically reduce the extra work by trapping the ball, and requiring the player to turn to only one place to find the balls.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This present invention relates to tennis equipment, and more particularly equipment to collect tennis balls.

Tennis fences have always been necessary to protect the tennis ball (when it's hit) from going places other than the tennis court. Unfortunately, after all the tennis balls bounce off the metal fence, they may scatter all over the place. This may be very annoying and inconvenient for the ball players. The ball players have to go all over the court and pick up the balls. Also, this could be very time consuming, and most people hate doing it. Picking up tennis balls is and always was irritating for most people.

There are a few devices that help picking up tennis balls more enjoyable and less time consuming. For example, there has been the ball tube and the ball basket. Although these inventions have been made to collect balls, the user still has to scan the court for all the balls. It is therefore strongly desirable to have a place to turn to for the balls, instead of having to search the court for the missing balls.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The main objective of this invention is to ease the process of picking up tennis ball, so that the player will have more time to play. By trapping tennis balls in one place, the present invention will save a lot of time. This means that the ball player won't have to run around the court and search for the balls.

While the novel features of the invention are set forth with particularly in the appended claims, the invention, both as to organization and to content, will be better understood and appreciated, along with other objects and features thereof, from the following detailed descriptions taken in conjunction with the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates the “J” net of the present invention. [0006]
FIG. 2 illustrates the Velcro net of the present invention. [0007]
FIG. 3 illustrates the net and Velcro of the present invention. [0008]
FIG. 4 illustrates the raised “J” net of the present invention. [0009]
FIG. 5 illustrates the slanted “J” net of the present invention. [0010]
FIG. 6 illustrates the attachable “J” net of the present invention. [0011]
FIG. 7 illustrates the raised attachable “J” net of the present invention. [0012]
FIG. 8 illustrates the slanted attachable “J” net of the present invention.[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows the main layout of the “J” net design. The present invention has a net shaped in the form of a “J” ([0014] 101). When the ball hits the net, it will slide down. When the ball has reached the arc (102) of the “J,” the arc will make sure that the ball doesn't escape. By doing this, This arc will collect the balls. This net will surround the entire tennis court, as if it were the fence of it.
FIG. 2 illustrates the basic layout of the Velcro net design. There is the net ([0015] 201), and at the bottom, there is a strip of Velcro (202). When a tennis ball strikes the net, it will drop down onto the Velcro. The ball will stick to it, and will make it easier to collect balls.
FIG. 3 shows the drawing of the net and Velcro design. In this design, the net is half net ([0016] 302), half Velcro (301). The bottom half is the Velcro and the top is the net, and together, they form a slant. If the ball hits the top of the net, it will slide onto the Velcro and stick to it. If a ball hits the Velcro, it will stick to it and can't move.
FIG. 4 shows the main points of the raised “J” net design. It is very similar to the first net shown in FIG. 1. This net is identical to the “J” net in FIG. 1, except there is a space between the net and the ground ([0017] 401). The purpose for this is so that the ball player can push the net down at any desired location, causing all balls to roll there. This makes it so that the ball player only has to look in one place to find the balls.
FIG. 5 points out the main details of the slanted “J” net design. This is very similar to the “J” net, but the arc is slightly slanted towards the one lowest point ([0018] 101). This net will have the same effect as the “J” net, but balls will slant to the center of the net when it drops into the pocket.
FIG. 6 shows the main details of the attachable “J” net design. The attachable “J” net can be attached anywhere, such as the existing fence and the net at the center of the court. Instead of the “J” net being one long net, the hooked arc will be hooked to the net. At both ends of the net, a string will be hooked to both the top ([0019] 603) and bottom (601) of the net. This will hold the pocket arc in place. In this way, the existing tennis net is used to stop the tennis ball, while providing a collecting device as the hook of the “J” net.
FIG. 7 illustrates the raised attachable “J” net design. This is almost identical to the attachable “J” net, except the bottom is raised above the ground ([0020] 701). The reasoning for this is so that the ball player can push down the ball collecting device at any desired location, causing all balls to roll to the desired location. This is advantageous, because the ball player can have all the balls right where he wants it with a push of the net.
FIG. 8 illustrates the slanted attachable “J” net. This is very similar to the attachable “J” net, except the bottom is slightly slanted towards the center ([0021] 801) or any other desired locations of the net. When the ball hits the net, it will drop into the pocket, then roll to the desired locations.
While specific embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described here in, it is realized that other modifications and changes will occur to those skilled in the art. For example, there will be a wide variety of methods to improve on the modified tennis court fences. In our examples, a net that helps gather balls will surround the court. It should be understood that the above particular examples are for demonstration only and are not intended as limitation on the present invention. It is therefore to be understood that the appended claims are intended to cover all modifications and changes as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention. [0022]

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A tennis ball collecting device comprises:

a) a soft material to stop tennis balls,

b) a tennis ball holder to collect the tennis balls stopped by said soft material in (a).

2. The soft material to stop tennis balls in claim 1 is a net.

3. The tennis ball holder in claim 1 is a “J” shaped trap placed at the lower portion of a net.

4. The “J” shaped tennis ball holder in claim 3 is slanted to one or more predefined positions in order to induce the collected tennis balls to roll to the predefined locations by gravity.

5. The “J” shaped tennis ball holder in claim 3 is flexible so that a tennis player can push down said ball holder at selected positions in order to induce the collected tennis balls to roll to the selected locations by gravity.

6. The tennis ball holder in claim 1 is Velcro

7. The Velcro in claim 6 is located at the lower portion of the soft material.

8. The Velcro in claim 6 is beneath the soft material.

9. The soft material in claim 1 is the existing tennis net.

10. The tennis ball holder in claim 9 is a soft material that is flexible so that a tennis player can push down said ball holder at selected position in order to induce the collected tennis balls to roll to the selected location by gravity.

11. The tennis ball holder in claim 9 is slanted to a predefined position in order to induce the collected tennis balls to roll to the predefined location by gravity.