Football Catapult

Abstract

A catapult for propelling a toy football includes a pair of parallel upright panels forming a forwardly facing ramp for supporting the ball, and a lever arm pivotally mounted between the panels. The lever arm includes a kicking leg integrally supporting a kicking foot in position to be in contact with the ball when it is on the ramp and an impact arm integral with and extending outwardly from the leg adjacent the point of pivotal mounting and rearwardly from the ramp in position to impart a kicking action to the ball when the arm receives a manual impact. The kicking foot, when in a rest position, will be positioned above the football supporting ramp. When a football is positioned on the ramp the lever arm will be caused to be pivoted. The kicking foot will thus remain in engagement with the football until which time the football is forced off the ramp by the action of the kicking foot.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention has relation to miniature football games and more particularly to such games where a football is propelled into the air by the use of some mechanical entity.

Football catapults formerly of commerce included those of the spring loaded type in which the amount of power imparted to the ball was predetermined by the loading of a spring. In many of these devices, the positioning of the ball with respect to the catapult is predetermined and hence the accuracy and distance which the ball is propelled is a function of the mechanical biasing device and predetermined positioning and not fully subject to the skill and judgment of the player. In some of these devices, it is not even possible to position the catapult with respect to the area where it is desired to project the ball, so very little element of skill enters into the use of such devices.

Furthermore, these devices, being powered by mechanical entities and/or using biasing means such as springs and the like, are subject to wear and breakdown after extensive use. Almost invariably such devices are made of metal parts and as such as subject to damage due to neglect and abuse.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In a football catapult, made according to the present invention, a forwardly facing ramp is defined by the upper parallel edges of two parallel supporting panels. These ramp-defining edges terminate in an imaginary curved surface normal to the panels and roughly approximating the profile of the toy football to be propelled over a central half of the length of the ball. The ramp extends from the horizontal toward the vertical and will support a football from a position with its major axis in a horizontal plane to a position with its major axis within approximately fifteen degrees of the vertical.

A lever arm is pivotally supported between the two panels and includes a kicking leg integrally supporting a kicking foot at and end thereof opposite said point of pivotal support. An impact arm extends integrally outwardly from the kicking leg at an end thereof adjacent the pivotal support, and extends rearwardly away from the ramp. The construction is such that the lever arm pivots freely and hangs with the kicking foot extending well up through the imaginary curved surface defining the upper edges of the ramp when the ball is not on the ramp. When the ball is on the ramp, the foot contacts the ball at a middle portion of the ramp. This forcing of the kicking foot backward by the weight of the ball as it is placed on the ramp brings the impact arm to a position slightly below the horizontal. Then when a fist or edge of a hand is brought down sharply on the impact arm, it will impart a kicking action to the ball and will propel it from the ramp.

With some exercise of skill and judgment in placing the ball on the ramp, the ball can be made to leave the ramp at an angle anywhere from slightly forward from the vertical to about 25.degree. above the horizontal. By positioning the major axis of the ball parallel to or in angular relationship to the plane of movement of the foot, simulations of end-over-end place kicks or drop kicks and of spiral or wobble punts can be obtained.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the catapult of the invention at rest and without a football thereon;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the catapult of FIG. 1 with the nearest panel and a portion of the base removed;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view at a reduced scale of the catapult, but with a football positioned thereon to be catapulted at a relatively low angle therefrom; and

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view as in FIG. 3, but with a football positioned so as to be kicked end-over-end at a relatively high angle.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

In the drawings, a football catapult 10 includes a pair of spaced apart parallel panels 11 and 12 mounted on a base 13 to which a base block 14 has been added to give additional stability to the base and to the panels. This base block also has the function of absorbing any energy from the hand which imparts the impact to the impact arm as will be explained later.

A lever arm 15 is pivotally mounted on an axle 16 to freely swing from position between the two panels 11 and 12. This lever arm includes a kicking leg 17 and an integral kicking foot 18 extending outwardly therefrom at an end thereof opposite the axle 16. An impact arm 19 also extends integrally outwardly from the kicking leg 17 to form a part of the lever arm 15, and an upward portion of that impact arm is constituted as an impact block 20.

As best seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, when there is no toy football positioned on the top edges of the panels, the lever arm will lie under the force of gravity in position with the kicking foot 18 extending outwardly between the panels. When a football 24 is placed on the top edges of the panels, as seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, the weight of the football will be such that it will cause the kicking foot 18 to be depressed to bring the impact arm 19 and its impact block up to a position approaching the horizontal.

The top edges of the panels 11 and 12 define a football positioning ramp, indicated generally at 25. These edges terminate and this ramp is defined by an imaginary curved surface normal to the panels and roughly approximating the profile of the toy football over a central half of the length of the ball. This is best seen in FIG. 4. In that figure, note that the ramp extends from horizontal, as at 26, to a line approaching the vertical, as at 27, and notice that this ramp surface thus defined does approximate the shape of the football along that portion thereof.

For clarity of explanation, the center of gravity of the football has been designated 28. As will be understood from a consideration of FIG. 3, with the football positioned as shown, and when the impact arm and block 19 are struck soundly with the side of the hand of the player, the kicking foot 18 will impart a component of force to the football, the resultant of which will be at least slightly above the center of gravity of the ball, and so the resultant flight of the ball through the air will be at a low angle, as indicated in dotted lines.

Similarly, with the football positioned as seen in FIG. 4, the kicking foot 18 will impart a component of force which will be below the center of gravity 28 and the motion of the ball will be end-over-end, simulating a drop kick or place kick, but the trajectory of the ball will be at a sharp upward angle, as indicated in dotted lines and the arrows in that figure.

In playing a football game in accordance with the present invention, toy goal posts can be set up across the yard or across the living room as desired, and the "kicker" can position the football on the catapult as he chooses and can strike the impact block at 20 with his fist or hand to send the football in the direction toward the goal posts. The force of the impact on the impact arm, together with the positioning of the football on the ramp, will determine the accuracy with which the player is able to approach or "kick" the ball through the goal posts.

As a refinement, it has been discovered that when the ball is positioned on the horizontal portion of the ramp, with its major axis in nonparallel relationship to the plane of the panels and to the axle 16 of the lever arm, either a spiral kick or a wobbly kick simulating a punt can be obtained.

In one form of the invention, the entire catapult, except the axle, is made of wood and in another form of the invention, the base 13 and the panels 11 and 12 are made of fiberboard with the remainder, except the axle, being made of wood. It is to be understood that the entire device could be made out of plastic or even metal. It is preferable, however, to provide something no harder than wood as the impact block to take the striking force of the hand. Further, a covering or cushioning can be placed over the base block 14 at a position immediately below the impact block to protect the hand should the force employed be so great as to crash down painfully on this base block.

While reference has been made herein to a toy football, nothing limits the catapult of the invention from being used on larger footballs.

Claims

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A football catapult includes upright members supported on a base and defining a forwardly facing ramp capable of supporting a football in one of a plurality of positions, a means freely and unrestrainably pivotally mounted with respect to said upright members for projecting a football, said means comprising a lever arm with a kicking foot integrally supported as part of said lever arm in spaced relationship to said pivotal mounting and having an integral impact arm extending away from said pivotal mounting to position clear of said members and of said ramp, said means being adapted to, when in a rest condition, position the foot so as to be above the ramp, and to also be continuously in engagement with a football prior to the latter's projection from a catapult.

2. The combination as specified in claim 1 wherein said upright members are constituted as spaced apart parallel panels, said ramp is defined by upper edges of said panels lying in an imaginary curved plane normal to said panels, and said lever arm is pivoted on an axis normal to said panels.

3. The combination as specified in claim 2 wherein said ramp extends from the horizontal upwardly in a curve roughly approximating the profile of a football it is to catapult.

4. The combination as specified in claim 3 wherein said ramp defines a curve roughly coextensive with the profile of a football over a central portion of a football.

5. The combination as specified in claim 4 wherein said kicking foot, when said arm is impacted, imparts force and motion to that portion of a ball lying on a central portion of said ramp.