Abstract:
A holder for a plurality of baseballs, softballs, or other types of balls. The holder is preferably comprised of three generally tubular support members that are joined together at their midsections, diverge outwardly and downwardly at their lower sections to form legs, and diverge outwardly and upwardly at their upper sections to form support arms. A cord is attached to the outer or upper ends of the support arms to form a cord hoop, and a net is suspended at its upper edges from the cord hoop. The net extends downwardly and is substantially closed at its bottom, thereby forming a ball receptacle.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/161,888, filed Oct. 27, 1999. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to a holder for various types of balls, such as baseballs, softballs, basketballs, volleyballs, soccer balls, tennis balls, golf balls, etc. 
     During practice for various athletic endeavors it is common for coaches to require repetitive interaction between the athletes and the ball used in their sport. For example, during baseball or softball practice coaches are called upon to throw a number of consecutive balls for batting or fielding practice. Typically a number Of balls are placed into a container and carried to the place where the coach will be doing his throwing. The container is placed on the ground, or the balls dumped on the ground, and the coach must reach down to ground level each time he needs a fresh ball. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is an object of this invention to provide a portable holder for a group of balls that presents the balls at an elevated height so that the balls are easily accessible to the user. 
     The holder of this invention is comprised of at least three support members that are joined together at their midsections, diverge outwardly and downwardly at their lower sections to form legs, and diverge outwardly and upwardly at their upper sections to form support arms. A cord is attached to the outer ends or the upper sides of the support arms to form a hoop and a net is suspended at its upper edges from the cord hoop, the mid-portion of the net extending downwardly to form an open mesh receptacle for balls. 
     In a preferred embodiment all of the support arms have identical lengths, and the cord hoop supporting the net can be attached to one of a plurality of attachment points located either at the end of the arm or along its upper side to allow the cord to be attached to all of the support arms at the same elevation or at different elevations. 
     In an alternative embodiment, one of the support arms is longer than the other support arms so that the net attached thereto forms an elongated ball receptacle. 
     In a still further embodiment, a longer support arm is provided that has an upper end that is higher than the upper ends of the shorter support arms so that the floor of the net slopes downwardly toward the shorter support arms. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the ball holder of this invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a partial side view, partially in cross-section, showing the relationship of the upper end of a support arm, cord hoop and cord hoop attachment hook of a preferred embodiment of the ball holder of this invention; and 
     FIG. 3 is a side view of a second embodiment of the ball holder of this invention. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     With reference to FIG. 1, the ball holder  10  of the invention is comprised of three support members  12 ,  14 , and  16 . Support members  12 ,  14 , and  16  are attached together at their mid-sections, as shown. Support members  12 ,  14 , and  16  are preferably tubular (preferably having a circular cross-section), and preferably formed of galvanized pipe. 
     Support members  12 ,  14 , and  16  are preferably attached together by use of nuts and bolts wherein each support member is attached to each adjacent support member by a nut and bolt. However, the support members could be attached by welding or any other suitable attachment means. 
     Support members  12 ,  14 , and  16  diverge outwardly and downwardly to form three leg members  112 ,  114 , and  116 , respectively. Leg members  112 ,  114 , and  116  are identical in configuration and length. 
     Support members  12 ,  14 , and  16  diverge outwardly and upwardly to form three support arms  212 ,  214 , and  216 , respectively. Support arms  212 ,  214  and  216  are preferably identical in configuration and length. 
     Foot caps  22 ,  24 , and  26  are attached to the outer ends of legs  112 ,  114 , and  116 , respectively. Foot caps  22 ,  24 ,and  26  are, preferably, made of a smooth plastic such as polyvinyl chloride (“PVC”). Alternatively, casters or wheels may be attached to the outer ends of legs  112 ,  114 , and  116  to allow ball holder  10  to be rolled about. 
     Upper end caps  32 ,  34 , and  36  are attached to the outer ends of arms  212 ,  214 , and  216 , respectively. End caps  32 ,  34 , and  36  are, preferably, made of PVC. 
     A cord, preferably an elastic bungee cord, has its ends fastened together to form a cord hoop  50 . Cord hoop  50  is, substantially, an equilateral triangle, the length of each leg of the triangle being substantially the distance between adjacent upper ends of support arms  212 ,  214 , and  216 . 
     Cord hoop  50  has modified “S” hooks  42 ,  44 , and  46  attached thereto at three substantially equidistant locations. Hooks  42 ,  44 , and  46  are adapted to be attached to the upper ends of support arms  212 ,  214 , and  216  as shown in FIG. 2 relative to “S” hook  46  and support arm  216 . 
     The “S” hooks  42 ,  44 , and  46  are commercially available “S” hooks that have been modified by crimping one end of the hook around cord hoop  50  (the “closed” end) and pulling the other end of the hook away from the main hook body (the “open” end). Hooks  42 ,  44 , and  46  are identical in construction. 
     The open ends of hooks  42 ,  44 , and  46  can be inserted into openings  30  located in the tops of end caps  32 ,  34 , and  36 , or into openings  200  located in the upper ends of support arms  212 ,  214 , and  216 . Such openings are shown relative to support arm  216  in FIG. 2 wherein opening  30  passes through the top of cap  36  and openings  200  pass through the upper end of support arm  216 . Identical openings, both as to size and spacing, pass through caps  32  and  34  and the upper ends of support arms  212  and  214 . 
     The perimeter of hoop  50  is such that when hooks  42 ,  44 , and  46  are attached to the tops or adjacent the tops of support arms  212 ,  214 , and  216 , the bungee cord forming cord hoop  50  is under tension. 
     A net  60  is suspended from cord hoop  50  to form a receptacle  70  for balls. Net  60  is preferably attached to cord hoop  50  by passing it through the upper row of meshes before attaching the ends of the cord together. However, net  60  can be attached to cord hoop  50  in any other suitable manner, such as by use of string, wire, clips, etc. 
     Receptacle  70  is open at the top and totally, or substantially totally, closed at the bottom. Receptacle  70  can be formed from net material  60  in any manner known in the art. For example, receptacle  70  can be formed by bringing together the two ends of a rectangular piece of netting, fastening them together to form a cylinder, and closing off the bottom end of the thus formed cylinder by sewing the netting together. 
     Net  60  can be formed of any netting material, such as nylon. A preferred netting material for baseballs or larger diameter balls is called “golf web”, and is a “number  24 ” web having 1.75 inch openings. 
     The height of support members  12 ,  14 , and  16 , the height of legs  112 ,  114 , and  116 , and the height of arms  212 ,  214 , and  215  are selected so that receptacle  70  is approximately at waist height for an adult. The spacing and height of support arms  212 ,  214 , and  216 , and the depth of receptacle  70 , are selected to optimize the number of balls to be held in receptacle  70 , taking into account the weight and volume of the balls, and the practice regimen in which they are to be used. 
     FIG. 3 illustrates another embodiment of the invention. Parts common to the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 have the same reference numerals. The primary difference between ball holder  10 ′ illustrated in FIG. 3 over ball holder illustrated in FIG. 1 is that arm  216 ′ of FIG. 3 is longer than support arms  212  and  214 , and the outer end of support arm  216 ′ is higher above ground level than the outer ends of support arms  212  and  214 . Cord hoop  50 ′ is shown in FIG. 3 as being attached to endcaps  32 ,  34 , and  36 ′ by means of eyebolts  142 ,  144 , and  146  mounted therein; however, cord hoop  50 ′ can be attached to endcaps  32 ,  34 , and  36 ′ by means of “S” hooks as described above. 
     Receptacle  170  in the embodiment of FIG. 3 has an elongated shape. In addition, the floor of receptacle  170  of the FIG. 3 embodiment slopes downwardly from arm  216 ′ towards arms  212  and  214  so that balls placed into receptacle  70  roll down towards arms  212  and  214 . The same effect could be achieved in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1 by attaching “S” hook  46  to endcap  36  and “S” hooks  42  and  44  to one of the lower holes  200  located in upper support arms  212  and  214 , respectively. 
     It will be obvious to those having skill in the art that many changes may be made to the details of the above-described embodiments of this invention without departing from the underlying principles thereof. The scope of the present invention should, therefore, be determined only by the following claims.