Patent ID: 7806259
Filing Date: 2010-10-05
Classification: A63B,Y10S

Abstract:
1. A wall-mountable sports ball container for storing sports balls, the sports ball container comprising: a base comprising an outer ring; a plurality of support members extending toward a center portion of the base; a top comprising an outer ring, the top having an opening sized to permit a sports ball to pass through the opening; a hook mounted adjacent a side portion of the outer ring of the top; a plurality of parallel rigid uprights extending between the outer ring of the base and the outer ring of the top to maintain the base and the top in spaced apart relation; a cross bar extending between at least two of the rigid uprights and comprising a mounting bracket; a plurality of elastic cords extending between the outer ring of the base and the outer ring of the top, each of the elastic cords shiftable between an undeformed position in which the elastic cords are parallel to one another and a deformed position; the base, the top, the rigid uprights and the elastic cords cooperating to form a storage cavity sized to store a sports ball, with the rigid uprights and the elastic cords cooperating to form a plurality of gaps; the gaps sized to prevent passage of the sports ball through any one of the gaps when the elastic cords arc in the undeformed position, at least some of the gaps being expandable when a selected elastic cord is shifted to the deformed position to permit the sports ball to pass through the expanded gap; wherein the mounting bracket and the hook are arranged to permit the container to be mounted directly to a vertical support surface; and including a pair of prongs extending vertically from the outer ring of the top, each of the prongs including a notch, the notches arranged to connect the hook to the outer ring of the top.