Pocketed Target And Net Arrangement

Abstract

A ball is provided with the toy which may be bounced against the floor or table on which the toy is located and into the cup. The net provides a backstop for poorly bounced balls. The net is attached to the base by means of supporting wires having pegs at their outermost ends. The pegs are inserted into holes in the base.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a new game apparatus and a game which may be played therewith. In particular, the invention is concerned with a game apparatus having a base with a cup mounted therein for receipt of a bouncing ball.

Games employing bouncing balls are well-known in the art. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,580,578, 3,398,955, 2,247,852, 2,672,345, 2,301,265, 2,126,873, 1,258,931, and 719,456. However, the game apparatus disclosed in the prior art fail to contain the novel features and advantages of the apparatus of the present invention.

THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a toy which can be used in a game played by one or more people. A ball is provided with the toy which may be bounced against the floor or table on which the toy is located and into a cup which is an integral part of the apparatus of the present invention.

The apparatus of the present invention will be more fully understood by reference to the following drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective partly sectional view of the apparatus of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a ball used with the apparatus of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a detailed exploded view of the net of the apparatus of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a detailed, exploded view of a portion of the net of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the net framework of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the manner in which the apparatus of the present invention is used to play a game;

FIG. 7 is a partly sectional view taken along lines 7--7 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 8 is a partly sectional front-plan view of the apparatus of the present invention.

Referring now to the drawings, in FIG. 1 is shown the apparatus of the present invention. The apparatus includes a base generally indicated by the numeral 10 as shown in FIGS. 1, 7 and 8. The base 10 has a generally circular bottom 12 having connected thereto an upraised curved top 11. Top 11 has mounted in the center thereof a cup 13 which preferably is a hollow cylinder having a closed bottom as can be seen in FIGS. 1, 7 and 8.

Top 11 has three holes 14 located around the periphery thereof for receipt of pegs 16 and 16a. Pegs 16 and 16a are identical in size and shape and are generally cylindrical in shape having tapered end portions for ease of insertion into holes 14. Pegs 16 may be made of any suitable resilient or non-resilient material although it is preferred that resilient material be used such as rubber, or the like.

Pegs 16--16 are connected to front frame 19 which partly supports net 32. Front frame 19 is preferably a continuous wire or other rigid material which has two loops 23 located near the ends thereof and closely adjacent to pegs 16. Loops 23 are simply bent portions of front frame 19 in the shape of a loop. Front frame 19 also has a loop 24 located in the approximate middle thereof.

Attached to loops 23 are eyes 28 located on the ends of bottom frame 20. Bottom frame 20 is preferably a continuous piece of wire or other rigid material bent in the form of a semi-circle over which net 32 is stretched.

Connected to loop 24 is support frame 21 which has connected at one end thereof peg 16a. Support frame 21 supports the middle portion of net 32. Clip 30 is also connected to frame 21 adjacent to peg 16a. Clip 30 allows bottom frame 20 to be connected rigidly to support frame 21 when bottom frame 20 is forced between clip 30 and frame 21. It is greatly preferred that clip 30 be employed rather than rigidly welding or integrally connecting support frame 21 to bottom frame 20 because clip 30 allows the net and frames 19, 20 and 21 to be folded and stored compactly with base 10 when the game is not in use.

Net 32 is attached to frames 19 and 20 by means of sheaths 33 which fit around the frames. Frames 19 and 20 are slideably received in sheaths 33.

One possible game that can be played with the apparatus of the present invention would include one or more players which are at any desired distance from the apparatus of the present invention as shown in FIG. 1. The apparatus is placed on the floor, the edge of bottom 12 or base 10 is considered the foul line. The object of the game is to bounce the rubber ball at least one time in such a manner that the ball falls into the cup 13 without falling within the foul line prior to entering the cup. When one player bounces the ball into the cup that player gets another turn and continues until he misses. Once the player misses, the ball goes to the next player who then shoots until he misses, and so on. When every player has had a turn, a round has been completed.

When one player properly bounces a certain number of balls, for example 11 or 21, into the cup, the game may be ended and that player be declared the winner. A tie game may be declared when two or more players have a final game score such as 11 or 21. Elimination of the tie game can be had by each tie player having one shot each until one player obtains a higher score.

A further rule which may be followed is that when one player has attained a score of 7 before the other player or players have attained any score, the player with 7 is the winner of the game and the game is counted as two games rather than one. This rule would apply to the game in which 11 balls in the cup is a winning game. In a game in which 21 balls in the cup is a winning game, a score of 11 for one player and zero for another player would have the same effect of making the game worth two games to the player scoring 11.

Any method may be used to decide who shoots first, second, and so on in the first game. Thereafter, and in following games, the person scoring 0 when another person has scored 7 or 11 shoots first and in reverse order of the shooting of the previous game. If no person has scored 0 the lowest scorer shoots first, next lowest scorer shoots second, and so on, with the winner of the previous game being last. Elimination tournaments can be set up where groups of players eliminate each other and the winners of one group play the winners of the other groups to determine the over-all winner.

Although the game has been described with reference to preferred embodiment, various constructions will become apparent to those skilled in the art and such equivalent constructions are intended to be included within the scope of this invention.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A game apparatus comprising base means including a bottom portion means and a curved, upraised top portion means having a plurality of hole means therein for receipt of a plurality of peg means, said hole means being equal in number to the total number of peg means, said top portion having cup means therein for receipt of a bouncing ball, net means connected to said top portion means of said base means, said net means including frame means for holding a net, said frame means including bottom frame means, front frame means, support frame means, said support frame means having peg means connected at one end thereof, said front frame means having peg means connected at both ends thereof.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said support frame means is connected to said front frame means and has clip means connected to one end thereof.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said support frame means is connected to said front frame means by loop means.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said bottom frame means is connected by loop means to said front frame means.

5. A game apparatus comprising in combination;

a. base means including a top portion and a bottom portion, said top portion having;

i. a plurality of holes therein for receipt of net means, said holes being equal in number to the total number of peg means, and

ii. hole means in the center thereof in which is located cup means for receipt of a bouncing ball;

b. net means connected to said base means by peg means, said net means including front frame means, bottom frame means and support frame means;

i. said front frame means having peg means located thereon which connects said front frame means to said top portion of said base means;

ii. said bottom frame means being connected to said front frame means by loop means;

iii. said support frame means having peg means connected at one end thereof for connecting said support frame means to said top portion of said base means, and clip means located at one end thereof, said support frame means being connected to said front frame means by loop means; and

c. a net connected to said front frame means, said bottom frame means and said support frame means by sheath means.