US3462145A - Football kicking tee - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 19, 1969 w. L. SHIRLEY ET AL 3,462,145

. FOOTBALL KICK ING TEE Filed June 13. 1966 INVHNIUR. William Lfihirlgy Henfy L. Lee

Jef D. Branjy p9 W Avg/.9

United States Patent 3,462,145 FOOTBALL KICKING TEE William L. Shirley and Henry L. Lee, both of Union Springs, Ala. 36089, and Jeff D. Brantly, 3143 Cloverdale Road, Montgomery, Ala. 36106 Filed June 13, 1966, Ser. No. 557,147 Int. Cl. A63b 67/00 U.S. Cl. 273-55 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Our invention relates to an improved device for holding footballs in kicking position.

An object of our invention is to provide a simple, fully effective device by means of which a football may be held in generally upright position for practice kicking extra points and field goals.

More specifically, our invention contemplates a device of the character designated which, by simple rearrangement may selectively be employed for holding the ball in position for kicking by either right footed or left footed kickers.

Another object of our invention is to provide a football holder which consists essentially of a staple-like frame, the vertical legs of which are adapted to be stuck into the ground, the football holding arm being disposed to extend outwardly of the frame, generally in the same plane occupied by the vertical legs of the frame, together with a spring which biases the arm downwardly, whereby the ball is held firmly but displaceably between the outer end of the arm and the ground on which the ball rests.

A more detailed object is to provide a football holder in which the frame itself may be integrally formed of a single length of wire, the pivotal connection for the arm being a simple loop formed in one leg of the frame, the arm itself being loosely pivotally connected by in turn forming a loop in its end which passes through the loop in the leg, together with a cross member secured to the leg in which the loop is formed and below the same, whereby a tension spring may selectively be connected to opposite ends of the cross member and to the arm, thus permitting the device to be arranged for right and left footed kickers, as will hereinafter appear.

A device illustrating features of our invention is shown in the accompanying drawings forming a part of this application in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view showing the device holding a football in position for kicking by a right footed kicker;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the device set up as shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an end elevational view of the device shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is a view illustrating the method of converting the device from right to left footed kicking position; and

FIG. 5 is a view corresponding to FIG. 2 and showing the device holding a football in position for kicking by a left footed kicker.

Referring now to the drawings for a better understanding of our invention, we show in FIG. 1 a frame indicated generally by the numeral and which generally described and illustrated may be in the form of an enlarged staple. Thus, the frame may embody the legs 11 and 12, adapted 3,462,145 Patented Aug. 19, 1969 to be stuck into the ground generally in vertical position, and a base portion 13. The entire frame may be formed integrally of a single length of wire of about one-quarter inch diameter.

In one leg of the frame, namely, the leg farthest away from the ball, we provided a loop indicated at 14. The holding arm indicated generally by the numeral 16 embodies a loop 17 at its end which passes through the loop 14, whereby the arm 16 is loosely pivoted to the leg 11, for movement in horizontal and vertical planes through considerable arcs. The arm is provided with a downturned, outer end portion 18 adapted to engage the upper end of a football F resting on the ground, thereby to hold the ball in proper kicking position as will later appear.

Intermediate its ends arm 16 which, incidentally, may also be formed of an integral length of wire, is provided with a loop 19. The loop 19 preferably is formed in the arm 16 at a point outwardly of the loop 17 a distance not exceeding the width between the legs 11 and 12.

Secured to the leg 11, at a point below the loop 14 therein, is a cross member 21. The cross member may be provided with eyes or loops 22 and 22 in its ends. A tension member such as a spring or rubber band 23 has one end connected to the loop 19 and is disposed for selective connection to the loops 22 or 22 In use and for holding a ball for kicking by a right footed kicker, the device is set up as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. Thus, the kicker approaches the ball, for right hand kicking, in the direction of the arrow 26, FIG. 2. Therefore, with the ball in position on the ground and the end 18 of arm 16 resting on the upper end of the ball, it will be apparent that spring 23 biases the arm downwardly, whereby the ball is held in proper kicking position. As the kicker strikes the ball with his foot, approaching it from the direction 26, the arm 16 is free to pivot in the kicking direction due to the loose connection afforded by the loops 14 and 17. Thus, the kicking arm is fully effective to hold the ball, but in no way impedes the passage of the kickers foot and leg in the place in which the ball is held, thus effectively simulating the holding of the ball by the finger of another player.

As shown in FIG. 4 the device is easily and quickly converted to left foot kicking. This is done simply by moving the arm 16 to the opposite side of leg 12 by pivoting the arm downwardly to pass under the pointed end of leg 12 and by setting the device up as shown in FIG. 5. Of course, a left footed kicker approaches the ball as shown in FIG. 5 from the direction 26.

It will be noted that when the device is converted from the right position to the left position, the end of the spring 23 is removed from the loop 22 and placed in the loop 22 Further, in either position it will be noted that the spring 23 holds the arm 16 in contact with the side of the leg 12, the leg in either position thus acting as a stop to prevent the spring from pivoting the arm toward the direction from which the kicker approaches the ball.

In view of the foregoing it will be apparent that we have devised an improved, simple and fully effective holder for positioning and holding a footbally for kicking While we have shown the football as being positioned essentially upright or vertical, nevertheless it Will be apparent that the ball may be tilted to precisely the angle desired by the individual kicker. Our device is as fully effective to hold the ball in tilted position as to hold it in upright position. Further, the device is extremely economical to manufacture since it may be made essentially of three pieces of sturdy wire, namely, frame 10, arm 16 and cross member 21. The cross member 21 may be secured to the leg 11 in any desired manner as by spot welding.

While we have shown our invention in but one form it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit thereof.

What we claim is:

1. In a football kicking holder,

(a) a stable-like frame having legs adapted to be stuck into the ground,

(b) an elongated football holding arm loosely pivotally connected at one end to one of said legs and disposed for its outer end to rest on the upper end of an upright football placed on the ground, the holding arm extending outwardly generally in the plane in which the legs of the frame lie and being disposed to lie alongside of and in contact with the leg nearest the football being held,

(0) a cross member secured to the frame leg to which the holding arm is pivoted and located beneath the pivot point thereof,

((1) a tension member having one end secured to the holding arm intermediate its ends and the other end selectively connectible to the cross member, whereby the arm is biased downwardly onto the ball, thus to hold it in said upright kicking position, and

(e) said cross member extending normally of the plane in which the legs lie and having means adjacent its ends for anchoring one end of said spring, whereby 2 the arm may be positioned on either side of the leg alongside which it lies and the spring may be selectively anchored to either end of the cross member,

thus permitting the device to hold a football for left or right footed kickers.

2. A football kicking holder as defined in claim 1 in which the stable-like frame consists of a single length of wire, .in which said holding arm consists of a length of wire, there being loops formed in one leg of said frame and in one end of said arm, which loops are interconnected thus to form the pivot point for the arm relative to said leg, said arm having a loop intermediate its ends for anchoring an end of said spring, said cross member being in the form of a length of wire having a loop in each end for selectively anchoring the opposite end of said spring, said pivotal connection formed by the loops in the end of said arm and the loop in said leg permitting the arm to pivot downwardly to pass beneath the lower end of the leg of the frame opposite the one to which it is pivoted, whereby the device may be use-d selectively for right and left footed kicking of the ball being held by it.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 834,211 10/1906 Linderman l2443 852,123 4/1907 Leggett l2443 3,105,686 10/1963 Elsea.

RICHARD C. PINKHAM, Primary Examiner THEATRICE BROWN, Assistant Examiner

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