WO1996000600A1

WO1996000600A1 - Apparatus for retrieving lawn bowls and the like

Info

Publication number: WO1996000600A1
Application number: PCT/AU1995/000388
Authority: WO
Inventors: Patrick Yelverton Williams
Original assignee: Yelverton Holdings Pty. Limited
Priority date: 1994-06-29
Filing date: 1995-06-28
Publication date: 1996-01-11
Also published as: AU654934B3

Abstract

Apparatus for retrieving lawn bowls comprises a tray-like support (10) with zones or compartments (12) for two, three or four bowls (23) arranged around an upwardly extending handle (11) with respective openings (16) each having resilient retaining means (13) each of which is displaceable when the support (10) is pushed down over a bowl (23) which is inserted throught the opening (16), displacing the retaining means (13) then moves resiliently back to a supporting position whereby the retrieval apparatus can be lifted by its handle (11) thereby permitting the bowl (23) to be moved and picked up.

Description

Apparatus for Retrieving Lawn Bowls and the Like The present invention relates to apparatus for retrieving lawn bowls or the like but the apparatus may also be suitable for retrieving similar objects. A game of lawn bowls is played between two, three or four players each in turn rolling two, three or four bowls from one end of a bowling green to a target ball or jack which is near the other end of the green, the object being for each player to have a cluster of his or her bowls around the jack and closer than any other opponent's bowl. Lawn bowls are of the order of 100 mm across and are made of a dense material and have significant weight . The bowl is round but not spherical as it is manufactured with a bias so that the bowl may be rolled along curved paths. Most commonly lawn bowls is played according to internationally agreed rules which have specifications for the bowls. However, apparatus according to the invention may also be useful for retrieving bowls or other similar objects used for games having different rules.

When all the players have rolled their bowls towards the jack, there are a large group of bowls usually in a limited area on a substantially flat lawn or bowling green and each player needs to retrieve his or her bowls from the bowling green surface in order to bowl them again (in the opposite direction down the green) or to pack them away at the end of a game. Each bowl has a distinctive corresponding marking. A conventional practice is for players to kick the bowls along the bowling green to a location adjacent the end and as they are doing this to sort the bowls out for each player. The alternative is for the players to stoop down and pick up bowls but many players find this arduous.

The majority of recreational bowlers are of senior years and frequently will have significant joint and/or muscle problem which may restrict their movements quite severely. Bending down to pick up a lawn bowl or similar object would be a problem for many older players and indeed this is an unwanted strain or arduous activity for players generally. The inventor is not aware of any suitable products to aid bowlers in moving and lifting two or more of their bowls and the present invention has been conceived with the aim of providing a practical, reliable and cost effective apparatus.

According to the present invention there is provided an apparatus for retrieving lawn bowls from a bowling green to permit the bowls to be moved and lifted, the apparatus comprising: a support shaped and dimensional to receive and support at least two lawn bowls, a handle extending from the support to a convenient elevated position to permit a user to lift and move the apparatus, the support providing free access from above to permit removal of each bowl, an entry port accessible from below for each bowl such that the support can be placed and pushed down over a bowl whereby the bowl passes through the entry port with which it is aligned, each entry port having a displaceable retaining means which is displaced when a bowl is admitted through the entry port and which moves after admission of the bowl to retain it supported on the support. Preferably each retaining means is in the form of a hinged flap preferably biased to a bowl-retaining position so as to extend substantially horizontally on the interior of the support and reduce the open region of the entry port to prevent a bowl, no matter how orientated, falling down and the flap is displaceable against its biasing to an upwardly extending angle to permit a bowl to be pushed through the entry port as the support is pressed down over and around the bowl .

Preferably the support is of a tray-like form and has respective compartments for each bowl, the compartments being spaced around a central region from which the handle extends from the support.

In a preferred embodiment each hinged flap is crescent-shaped, the interior free edge for engaging the bowl on insertion of the bowl having a relatively straight form and any curvature being on a large radius compared with the diameter of a bowl and at each end the free edge has portions which extend at an acute angle of around 30° to the central edge portion. Although a very important embodiment of the invention uses a single spring-biased flap for the retaining means, other embodiments are possible for example having two spring flaps on opposed sides of the entry port each being arcuate. Although hinged flaps are preferred, embodiments of the invention could be implemented in other ways to suit selected materials.

An important embodiment of the invention is one configured to support four bowls side by side in a generally square array. However, some players may prefer to have an apparatus for just two bowls or even three but the same principles may be applied in various embodiments. The handle should have a suitable length for user convenience to permit the apparatus to be positioned over a bowl and to be pushed down so that the bowl snaps through the entry port and is retained by the retaining means. The handle can then be used to lift the entire apparatus with the bowls. Of practical importance to many bowlers is an apparatus which is convenient and compact for transportation and storage. Therefore preferably the handle is of telescopic form and may have adjustable locking points to suit bowlers requiring different length handles. Furthermore the handle is preferably arranged to be detachably secured to a central region of the support.

Some bowlers may wish to be able to store the apparatus in the same case as a pair fo lawn bowls and for this purpose (particularly where the apparatus is designed to receive four bowls) it may be constructed so that the support is centrally hinged so it can be folded back on itself to have half its normal width and to have fixing elements to fix the support in its working position when opened.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings of which: -

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the first embodiment when assembled and ready for use;

Figure 2 is a plan view of the embodiment of Figure 1 with the handle removed;

Figure 3 is a sectional elevation taken on the line III-III of Figure 2; Figure 4 is a perspective view on an enlarged scale of the telescopic joint of the handle of Figure 1 in a locking position;

Figure 5 is a plan view illustrating the joint of Figure 4 in a locked position; Figure 6 is a view of the joint of Figure 5 with a retaining clip retracted to permit telescopic collapsing of the handle;

Figure 7 is an enlarged perspective view illustrating the connection of the handle with the support of Figure 1 in a locking position;

Figure 8 is a plan view of the arrangement of Figure 7 in the locking position;

Figure 9 is a plan view corresponding to Figure 8 but showing a retaining means retracted to permit removal of the handle;

Figure 10 illustrates retrieval of a lawn bowl as the retrieval apparatus is snapped over the bowl,*

Figure 11 shows a bowl retained on the retrieval apparatus and the apparatus being lifted; and Figure 12 is a schematic plan view on an alternative embodiment for three lawn bowls.

Referring now to Figures 1 to 11, the retrieval apparatus comprises a support tray 10 and upwardly extending telescopic handle 11 extending from a central location and around which four similar zones 12 are provided for receiving lawn bowls. The support tray in this preferred embodiment is moulded as a single major plastic moulding with a spring biased flap 13 provided for each zone 12. The support tray is generally of a square configuration with curved corners and an upstanding peripheral lip 14 extending from a flat base 15 in which four circular openings 16 are provided as entry ports for respective bowls. The support tray has integral vertical ribs 17 defining with the lip 14 respective compartments for bowls with a cylindrical boss 18 for accommodating the handle.

The support tray further includes integral blocks 19 having lateral cylindrical bores respectively for accommodating moulded hinge pins of the respective flap 13. Each moulded flap is of thin resilient plastic material and can be flexed to insert the pins into their respective bores, the pins accommodating stainless steel springs 20 which bias the flaps to the lower position as shown in Figure 1.

As best seen from Figure 2, each flap is generally crescent-shaped and partly blocks off the circular opening 12 so that when a bowl has been retained, and as shown in Figure 11, the bowl no matter what its orientation with respect to its bias cannot fall back through the opening 12. For this purpose the flap has a relatively straight central edge portion 21 leading to wing portions 22 which extend at, generally, an angle of 30° or more to the general line of the central portion 21. Figure 10 illustrates how the flap 13 is displaced upwardly on inter-engagement with a bowl 23. When the majority of the ball has passed through the opening 12 as the tray is pressed downwardly, the flap 13 snaps back under its spring biasing to the position shown in Figure 11.

The handle 11 comprises upper tube 24 telescopically engaged in lower tube 25 with a T-shaped moulded hand piece 26 fixed to the upper tube. The upper tube 24 has at least one hole and the outer tube 25 has a series of holes 27 so that a spring plastic clip 28 can secure the telescopic engagement of the tubes of the desired point .

As best shown in Figure 6 the clip 28 can be resiliently retracted so that it is retained on the outer tube 25 by engagement with its outer part-circular walls 29 being in resilient contact. An inner part-circular zone 30 of the clip 28 has an integral moulded locking pin 31 extending radially inwardly. When a hole 27 in the outer tube is aligned the corresponding hole 32 in the inner tube, the spring clip may be displaced manually laterally to engage the pin 31 into the holes to retain the telescopic inter-engagement. As best shown in Figures 7 to 9, the outer tube 25 is inserted into a collar 18 which is moulded into the tray 10, the collar being supported by the rib 17. A generally C-shaped retaining clip 32 having a radially inwardly directed locking pin 33 is normally resiliently retained on the collar 18 in the position shown in Figure 9 with the pin 33 aligned with but retracted from a radial bore 34 through the wall of the collar 18. The clip also is in abutment with shoulders 35 on two of the cross ribs 17 with the edges of the clip 36 retained in respective grooves 37 formed on the outside of the collar 18. In this way the spring clip 32 is normally retained. When the handle 25 has been correctly inserted, the spring clip 32 is displaced to the position shown in Figure 8. Referring now to Figure 12, there is schematically illustrated an alternative embodiment 40 having a tray 41 and a series of three circular openings extending around a central location for a handle and pairs of resilient flaps 43 on generally opposite sides of the circular opening 42.

Claims

Claims :

1. Apparatus for retrieving lawn bowls from a bowling green to permit the bowls to be moved and lifted, the apparatus comprising: a support shaped and dimensional to receive and support at least two lawn bowls, a handle extending from the support to a convenient elevated position to permit a user to lift and move the apparatus, the support providing free access from above to permit removal of each bowl, an entry port accessible from below for each bowl such that the support can be placed and pushed down over a bowl whereby the bowl passes through the entry port with which it is aligned, each entry port having a displaceable retaining means which is displaced when a bowl is admitted through the entry port and which moves after admission of the bowl to retain it supported on the support.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, and wherein the support is of a tray-like form and has respective compartments for each bowl, the compartments being spaced around a central region from which the handle extends from the support.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 of claim 2, and wherein each retaining means is in the form of a hinged flap biased to a bowl-retaining position so as to extend substantially horizontally on the interior of the support and reduce the open region of the entry port to prevent a bowl, no matter how orientated, falling down and the flap is displaceable against its biasing to an upwardly extending angle to permit a bowl to be pushed through the entry port as the support is pressed down over and around the bowl .

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein each hinged flap is crescent-shaped, the interior free edge for engaging the bowl on insertion of the bowl having a relatively straight form and any curvature being on a large radius compared with the diameter of a bowl and at each end the free edge has portions which extend at an acute angle of around 30° to the central edge portion.

5. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims and configured to support four bowls side by side in a generally square array.

6. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the handle is telescopic and detachable for storage.

7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, and wherein the support is tray-like, generally triangular, has three compartments for three lawn bowls and has a central handle.

8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, and wherein the support is rectangular and tray-like, having compartments for two lawn bowls with a handle generally between the compartments.