Abstract:
Agility contests, with humans and with animals, have been carried out down through history all around the world. Jump cups, made of wire and ganged into sets to be mounted to standards make changing jump heights quick and easy. Because only the cup assemblies have to be replaced when regulations change, the present invention is economical as well.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   Not applicable. 
   STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
   Not applicable. 
   REFERENCE TO MICROFICHE APPENDIX 
   Not applicable. 
   AUTHORIZATION PURSUANT TO 37 C.F.R. § 1.71(d)(e) 
   A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention relates generally to an animal agility jump device. More particularly the present invention relates to jump cups for dog agility jumps, equine jumping competition, human high-jump stands and the like. 
   2. Background Art 
   Agility contests, with humans and with animals, have been carried out down through history all around the world. Jumping is a natural part of such contests. Humans race, jumping hurdles, horses are raced and shown in jumping competition, and dogs are also tested on their agility using a variety of jumps. 
   Jumps always comprise some kind of a standard. Necessarily, most standards are portable. To each standard is affixed a bar over which a person or animal jumps. On present day jumps, the bars are often placed on pins passed through holes in the standards, or in jump cups made of plastic. In either case, the standard must be fitted with a plurality of holes at an appropriate spacing for the pins or cups to be affixed at various heights. Multiple pins may be used in each standard, each affixed rigidly to the standard. Only one cup is used for each bar held by a standard. 
   The pin-method of supporting the jump bar can provide less than adequate stability if the ground conditions are not perfect. Height changes using cups tend to be tedious. 
   A difficulty arises when the rules to which the standards were constructed change. This may require new standards, irrespective of whether pins or cups are used to support the jump bars. 
   Prior designs have been made from other solid metals or solid plastics and do not use wire. On previous designs individual jump cups were attached to the jump uprights permanently, or by using hardware, or were made from solid cast aluminum. 
   There is a need for apparatus which can be attached to nearly any material/surface or be fabricated into a complete hinged wire jump frame. 
   There is a need for apparatus which can readily be adjusted in manufacturing to meet specific height requirements or spacing of different sanctioning bodies. 
   There is a need for apparatus which can readily be adjusted in manufacturing for use in other jumping sports from human to equestrian; differing heights, widths, and bar sizes can easily be accommodated. 
   There is a need for apparatus which can also be used for solid type jumps when the “boards” are made with round hanging pins on each end. 
   There is a need for apparatus which can be manufactured using stainless tell wire eliminating need for painting or powder-coating. 
   There is therefore a need for a bar support system providing appropriately spaced locations for the bar, rapid, simple changes of heights, while not requiring the replacement of the standards when rules change. 
   BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention discloses a jump cup, formed from wire and ganged into sets for mounting on standards. 
   An advantage of the present invention is a plurality of pre-spaced jump cups on which a jump bar may rest. 
   Another advantage is these jump cups are fabricated from metallic round stock such as wire or rod stock and are mounted to the standards using standardized mounting holes. If regulations or requirements change, only the wire jump cups need be altered. The standards are reusable. 
   Each cup is made of a wire or rod stock bent in an arcuate shape, the arc being held in a substantially vertical plane when mounted on the standard. A tangent line to the center of the arc is substantially horizontal. The concave side of the cup holds the jump bar, but permits the bar to be knocked off the cup when hit with adequate force. At each end of the arc, the wire or rod stock is bent so that each wire lies in a second plane perpendicular with the plane in which the arc lies, which second plane is held substantially horizontal when the cup is mounted on a standard. This provides clearance from the standard. A plurality of these wire cups are attached to parallel wires or rod stock of appropriate length. Some methods of attaching the cups to the parallel wires or rod stock include welding, spot welding and brazing. Extra lengths of wire or rod stock, bent parallel to the parallel wires may be included for secure attaching. Affixing straps are also attached to the assembly, providing a way to fasten the assembly to a standard. 
   A plurality of these assemblies may be assembled using wire or rod stock for structure and attachment methods as above. An advantage can be realized by configuring the multiple assemblies in predetermined patterns and angles, alleviating the need to construct complicated jumps from multiple separate standards in the field. 
   Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1   a  is a front elevation view of a jump cup assembly of the present invention; 
       FIG. 1   b  is a side elevation view of the jump cup assembly; 
       FIG. 1   c  is a side elevation view of a single jump cup; 
       FIG. 1   d  is a front elevation view of the jump cup with a jump bar shown in dashed lines; 
       FIG. 2   a  is a perspective view of the jump cup assembly; 
       FIG. 2   b  is a perspective view of a single jump cup; 
       FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the jump cup assemblies, jump standards, and jump bars arranged as in a competition; 
       FIG. 4  is a front elevation view of a set of three jump cup assemblies arranged in a first jump cup frame; 
       FIG. 5  is a perspective view of a set of three jump cup assemblies arranged in the first jump cup frame; and 
       FIG. 6  is a front elevation view of a set of three jump cup assemblies arranged in a second jump cup frame. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   An assembly  100  of jump cups  110  of the present invention is illustrated in  FIGS. 1   a ,  1   b , and  2   a . In the preferred embodiment, metallic round stock, such as wire or rod stock, is used to construct the jump cups  110  as well as the parallel members  120  used to mount the jump cups  110  at predetermined intervals, h  130 . The metallic material may be mild steel, aluminum, or stainless steel. It may be painted or powder coated as desired. The jump cup assembly  100  is mounted by fasteners passed through a hole in each of the mounting straps  140 . Appropriate fasteners include screws, bolts, nails, and rivets. 
   A single jump cup  110  is shown from the side in  FIG. 1   c , from the front in  FIG. 1   d , and in profile in  FIG. 2   b . A jump bar  150  is indicated by dashed lines in  FIG. 1   d . The arcuate shape in the front of the jump cup is made to hold the jump bar  150  securely, yet to permit it to be knocked off with an appropriate force. Therefore, the depth, e  160 , can be a critical parameter. For AKC competitions, as an example, an appropriate depth, e  160 , is one seventh of the jump bar diameter, d  170 . 
   Some jump assemblies  300 – 302  are shown in  FIG. 3 . A single-bar jump assembly  300  comprises two simple jump cup assemblies  100 , one on each standard  310 . 
   Four jump bars  150  are shown in use in the second jump assembly  301 . A first jump cup frame  330  is mounted on each of two standards  340 . Details of this first jump cup frame  330  are shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5 . A structural frame  410 , in this case substantially rectangular in shape, is used to mount three jump cup assemblies,  100 ,  400 ,  401 . As is clearly evident from the illustration, two jump cup assemblies  400 ,  401  are canted at an angle relative to a substantially vertical jump cup assembly  100 . As a consequence of the angle, the jump cups  430 ,  440  of the canted jump cup assemblies  400 ,  401  are constructed such that the ends of the arcuate portion of the jump cups  430 ,  440  remain on a substantially horizontal line. 
   The configuration shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5  is useful for common canine competitions, but the present invention is not limited to this or any other specific configuration of jump cup assemblies. Each jump cup frame  330  is mounted to a standard  340  via the mounting straps  140  on the vertical jump cup assembly  100  and mounting tabs  420  affixed to the structural frame  410 . 
   A second style of jump cup frame  350  is shown attached to its standard  360  in  FIG. 3 ; wherein three jump bars  150  are being utilized. It is also shown in elevation in  FIG. 6 . Again, this invention is not limited to this configuration. 
   In  FIG. 6 , a substantially vertical jump cup assembly  100  is one of three jump cup assemblies shown. The two other jump cup assemblies  600 ,  601  are angled relative to the vertical jump cup assembly  100 . As a consequence of the angle, the jump cups  630 ,  640  of the canted jump cup assemblies  600 ,  601  are constructed such that the ends of the arcuate portion of the jump cups  630 ,  640  remain on a substantially horizontal line. The structure and shape of the jump cup frame  350  is made by a structural frame  610 . Attachment to the jump standards  360  is made via mounting straps  140  on the vertical jump cup assembly  100  and mounting tabs  620  affixed to the structural frame  610 . 
   The industrial applicability of the jump cup invention is believed to be apparent from the foregoing description. More specifically, the jump cup can be attached to nearly any material/surface or be fabricated into a complete hinged wire jump frame. The jump cup also can readily be adjusted in manufacturing to meet specific height requirements or spacing of different sanctioning bodies. The jump cup further can readily be adjusted in manufacturing for use in other jumping sports from human to equestrian; differing heights, widths, and bar sizes can easily be accommodated. The jump cup can also be used for solid type jumps when the “boards” are made with round hanging pins on each end. The jump cup can be manufactured using stainless steel wire eliminating any need for painting or powder-coating. 
   Prior designs have been made from other solid metals or solid plastics and do not use wire. On previous designs individual jump cups were attached to the jump uprights permanently, or by using hardware, or were made from solid cast aluminum. The jump cup invention greatly improves on all prior designs and materials. Instead of attaching each cup individually to the jump, the jump cup assemblies already contain all necessary jump cups for an entire single, double or triple jump. 
   The above embodiment is the preferred embodiment, but this invention is not limited thereto. It is, therefore, apparent that many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is, therefore, to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.