US2107141A - Squash-racket court and the like - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 1, 193s. H LT 2,107,141

, SQUASH RACKET. COURT AND THE LIKE Filed Nov. 25, 1.936

' IN VENTOR= GEORGE HERBERT COLT ATTORNEYS Patented Feb. I, 19 38 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application November 25, 1936, Serial No. 112,627

In Great Britain December 2, 1935 7 Claims.

invention relates to squash-racket courts and the like.

. I-Iitherto,.the walls of courts such as squashracket courts, racket courts, fives courts and .5 the like have been constructed of an opaque material such for example as bricks and plaster or woodand it has only been possible for a limited number of spectators to view the play therein from a stand, or gallery located at the upper part of one or more of the walls and disposed outside the playing area. Further, in addition to this disadvantage, the view of the play thus obtained has not been entirely satisfactory.

It is the chief object of the invention to provide an improved construction whereby a large number of spectators may be enabled to view the play and a better-view thereof may be obtained, while at the same time the playing surfaces of the Walls are not materially changed.

According to the invention one or more of the bounding walls of a court of the kind above referred to are constructed wholly or in part of one or more transparent or substantially transparent panels so formed that during play they appear opaque to players Within the court but .allow spectators outside said court to view the play. The transparent panels may, for example, include one or more sheets of glass, unbreakable or safety glass, celluloid or any other suitable transparent material and preferably one or both faces of such layers are treated in a manner, and for the purpose hereinafter described. Further, a screen of net orother suitable material is preferably disposed on the outer face of the transparent layers, said screen being'retained in position in any desired manner.

In order that the said invention may be clearly understood and readilycarried into effect the same will now be more fully described with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawing in which:- v

I Figure 1 is a perspective view of a panel, one portion being broken away to show the formation thereof. 7

Figure 2 shows one method of mounting the panels in position.

Figure 3 shows a portion-of a court constructed in accordance with the invention.

The transparent panels employed in connection with the construction of a court according to the invention may, for example, comprise one or more sheets of glass, unbreakable or safety ,glass, celluloid or similar substances, or combinations thereof.

v Referring to Figural which shows one form of 7 panel adapted to be employed in the construction 'of a court according to the invention It] denotes a sheet of glass or other transparent material which in the embodiment illustrated is roughened or otherwise treated on the surface 5 I i, for example in the manner indicated. In this example the surface of the sheet I0 is provided with a plurality of frosted areas [2 which may, for example, be of one millimetre in diameter and so spaced that there will be, for example, 10 six or seven thereof to the inch. As indicated in the figure the areas 12 may bearranged in rows in staggered relationship or in any other suitable manner. In certain cases two or more layers of glass or other transparent substance 15 may be employed in place of the single sheet l0, one or both surfaces of each layer being roughened if desired. It is not essential that the roughening should be effected in the patterned manner indicated above, since any other method of evenly distributed obscuration may be employed which will attain the end in View. The surface is in fact roughened or treated in such away .as to provide a certain degree of obscuration or opacity and to ensure that-the material will only bepartially transparent. Further the surface is roughened to abolish or reduce disturbing reflections from the surface of the panel, whilst at the same time providing a surface which will be evenly illuminated by any suitable light source. The roughening also produces a surface which is similar or substantially similar, having regard to its action on the ball while in play,to the surfaces of the walls hitherto employed or the surfaces of those walls or parts thereof which are not composed of transparent panels. In order to ensure that the panels when in position will appear relatively opaque to players within .the court a screen l3, Figure 1, is provided on the outer surface of .sheet ID. The screen l3 may comprise white or coloured net or other suitable material of the type indicated in the figure which may be secured in position in the manner shown by means. of ,an additional .sheet 14 of glass or other transparent material which is adapted to maintain said net or the like in a fiat'condition and to prevent it from becoming dirty. 'In certain cases the sheet l4 may be dispensed with and the screen may be so suspended that it will hangv loosely adjacent the outer face of the panel 'or panels. The size of the mesh may be varied as desired, but preferably itshould .be in the region of 25 30 to the inch. Instead ofemploying net or thelike as. above described, it may be feasible to employ sheets of perforated metal suitably coloured on both surfaces. Further, coloured transparent material of the celluloid type, or tinted glass, may be used in place of, or in addition to the net or perforated metal, or if desired in certain cases latticed screens or shutters in the form of louvres may be employed. It may be feasible also in certain cases to dispense with the roughening of the surfaces of the panel and to employ only the layer of net or its equivalenton the outer face.

A portion of one form of court is shown diagrammatically in Figure 3 and in this construction the entire walls I5 are formed by the panels above described. In certain cases, for example in a squash-racket court, a fourth wall is provided in which a door is located to allow access to the court and if desired this fourth wall and the door may be constructed wholly or in part of I tersunk in the manner shown to lie flush with the playing surface of the panels. The bolts pass through apertures in the limbs of the T shaped girders and are secured by nuts IS. The T shaped girders may, if necessary, be supported by suitable externally disposed struts or the like indicated by I! to ensure that the wall so constructed will withstand the strain to which it is subjected during play. If desired, the T shaped girders may be dispensed with and the panels supported on channelled girders and in such a case the panels may be secured at each corner by a countersunk bolt such as 3, the arrangement being such that one bolt will serve to secure the contacting corners of four panels, the portions of the panels adjacent the corners being clamped between each bolt head and its respective girder.

The panels may, however, be secured in other ways such as contact bevelling but the whole construction should be such that the inner surfaces of the panels will be flush with each other to produce an even playing surface, the girders and the supporting frames being so disposed that they will be outside the court when completed. If desired, instead of forming all of the walls of transparent material in the manner above described one or more of said walls may be constructed wholly or in part inthe manner hitherto employed, for example of bricks and plaster or wood, one or more apertures or the like being provided therein, if desired, in which a transparent panel or panels may be mounted in the manner above described or in any other suitable manner. In those cases where the panels are mounted in apertures in opaque walls, they may be secured in position in any suitable manner so as to lie flush with the playing surface of the wall in which they are mounted. The whole construction whether composed wholly or partially .of transparent panels may be strengthened in known manner by the provision of suitable tie-beams, transverse struts and the like (not shown) at or adjacent the upper part of the walls, said beams or struts being so constructed and arranged as to lie outside the normal trajectory of the ball when in play. Further, the beams, struts, ,or the like, may be suitably coloured to match the interior of the court.

When a court constructed in accordance with the invention is in use the interior thereof should be well lighted while the exterior should be less well lighted so that the spectators may follow the play from the exterior of the court and the players will not be hindered by their presence. Any suitable lighting may be employed but preferably the light should be as white as possible when the game is played with dark coloured balls in a court having white walls. To this end, the light employed may be screened through suitable filters such as frosted glass, muslin, net, gauze or like materials, in order to diffuse the light and at the same time to whiten it to ensure that any wall or walls or parts thereof which consist of the panels will resemble in whiteness as nearly as possible any other wall or walls or parts thereof which are constructed of opaque materials. Similarly, when the game is played in a court having dark walls, the source of illumination may be colour screened so that the light reflected from the wall or walls or from any part thereof may be dark in colour. In all cases it is desirable to direct the major portion of the light vertically downwards into the court so as to escape a direct glare on the spectators. In certain cases it may be desirable to provide blinds or the like formed of a suitable opaque material on the outer faces of the walls or parts thereof which are constructed of, or include the transparent panels, said blinds being adapted to act as screens when the exterior of the court is brightly illuminated so that the players may continue their game without being affected by the brilliance of the exterior light. Further, any suitable heating system may be disposed adjacent the walls of the court, said system being, for example, thermostatically or otherwise controlled and adapted to maintain the temperature of the air surrounding and inside the said court at such a level that sweating of the interior surfaces of the walls will be prevented.

As' above indicated, the invention is not limited in its application to squash-racket courts since it may equally well be applied to racket courts, fives courts, or any other games court or the like which is normally bounded by walls of an opaque material. i

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A games court comprising a plurality of upstanding walls, one of the surfaces of each of which serves as a'playing surface, a' plurality of trainsparent panels constituting at least a part of at least one of said walls, eachof said panels having a plurality of opaque zones distributed over its playing surface and a mesh screen disposed adjacent the other surface of the panels.

2. A games court comprising a plurality of upstanding walls one of' the surfaces of each of which serves as a playing surface, a plurality of transparent panels constituting at least a part of at least one of said walls each of said panels having a plurality of opaque zones distributed over .its playing surface, said zones being arranged in rows and the rows staggered with respect to each other, a mesh screen disposed adjacent the other surface of the panels and a further layer of transparent material over the outer surface of said screen to retain the same in position.

3. A games court as'in claim 2 in which the further layer comprises a layer of coloured transparent material.

4. A games court comprising a plurality of upstanding walls, one of the surfaces of each of which serves as a playing surface, at least one transparent panel in at least one of said walls and. flush with the playing surface thereof said panel having a plurality of opaque zones distributed over its playing surface, a mesh screen disposed adjacent the other surface of the panel and an adjustable opaque blind disposed on the outer side of said screen.

5. A games court comprising a plurality of upstanding walls, one of the surfaces of each of which serves as a playing surface, a plurality of transparent panels constituting at least one of said walls, each of said panels having a plurality of opaque zones distributed over its playing surface, a mesh screen disposed adjacent the other surface of the panels and a supporting framework for said panels disposed on the outer side thereof.

6. A games court as in claim 5, wherein the framework comprises girders of T shape in cross section and the panels are secured. thereto at a plurality of points adjacent their edges.

7. A games court as in claim 5, in which the framework is of channelled form, the panels being secured thereto at each corner, the arrangement being such that one bolt or the like would serve to secure as many as four abutting corners.

' GEORGE HERBERT COLT.

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