Abstract:
A trampoline and enclosure with an improved ingress and egress is provided. The enclosure is made from a flexible material with an arched entry way. The entry way is arched, or some other shape (symmetrical or asymmetrical), so that when it is in the open position, the material closing the arch falls out of the way facilitating ingress and egress to the jumping chamber.

Description:
CLAIM OF PRIORITY UNDER 35 U.S.C. §119 
     This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/913,991, title TRAMPOLINE ENCLOSURE WITH ARCHED ACCESS DOOR, incorporated herein by reference as if set out in full. 
    
    
     CLAIM OF PRIORITY UNDER 35 U.S.C. §120 
     None. 
     REFERENCE TO CO-PENDING APPLICATIONS FOR PATENT 
     None. 
     BACKGROUND 
     1. Field 
     The technology of the present application relates generally to safety enclosures for trampolines, and more specifically to an arched access door for a safety enclosure to facilitate ingress and egress. 
     2. Background 
     A trampoline provides a frame having a taut mat coupled to the frame using elastically biased members. A user can stand on the mat and perform various solo or group jumping maneuvers. Trampolines may be used for fun and recreation as well as for training, such as, for extreme skiing. 
     Trampolines, however, come with many unique safety issues. One issue is falling off of the trampoline. Moreover, the younger the user the more likely the user is to be injured by failing off of the trampoline. Therefore, many owners of trampolines feel it is necessary to provide a safety enclosure to inhibit falling from the trampoline. 
     Many styles of safety enclosures exist. One such enclosure is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,607,468, issued to Nichols, Jr. et al. In particular, Nichols shows a trampoline having a frame and a jumping mat connected to the frame via a plurality of sprints. The frame has a plurality of poles extending above the frame to which a flexible member, typically a mesh fabric or plastic, is attached using ties, springs, clips or the like. The poles may be wrapped with a foam sleeve for safety. The enclosure facilitates stopping a user from unintentionally falling off of the jumping surface. Some enclosures function to positively move the user (or jumper) from the edge. Other enclosures function to stop the movement of the user. 
     The enclosure needs to have an access point to allow ingress and egress from the jumping surface. Some enclosures, such as Nichols, Jr. above, provide a vertical slit at a point in the enclosure. Generally, the vertical slit is formed at a leading and trailing edge of the enclosure to form a single entry, exit point. In some cases, the leading and trailing edges may overlap to inhibit unintentional exiting from the jumping area. To meet ASTM standards, the leading and trailing edges may be connected via a coupling device, such as, for example, corresponding hook-and-loop material, zippers, snaps, ties, or the like. Some enclosures include both a vertical slit and a horizontal slit. In these cases, a flap opens in the enclosure wall. 
     In both cases, ingress and egress are difficult as the material associated with the entrance remains essentially in the way of the user and must be moved to provide entry. While ingress is not overly difficult even with the fabric in the way as one is stabile on a stationary platform. Egress through the conventional access ports is relatively difficult as the user is trying to exit from an unstable surface. Thus, the possibility of tripping and falling out of the entry/exit point may be increased. 
     Thus, it would be desirable to provide a trampoline enclosure with an improved entry/exit point to address these and other deficiencies in the art. 
     SUMMARY 
     The foregoing and other features, utilities and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following more particular description of a preferred embodiment of the invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a top perspective view of one embodiment of a trampoline with an enclosure using technology of the present application; 
         FIG. 2  is a front perspective view of the embodiment of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a front perspective view of the embodiment of  FIG. 1  with the entry/exit open; 
         FIG. 4  is a plan view of a portion of the closure device; 
         FIG. 5  is a view of an alternative closure device; 
         FIG. 6  is a view of an alternative closure device; and 
         FIG. 7  is a view of a reinforced connection to the inhibit mesh tearing. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The technology of the present application will be described with reference to an enclosure for a recreational trampoline. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that the enclosure could be used in other situations. Moreover, the technology of the present application will be described with reference to certain exemplary embodiments. The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any embodiment described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments. Moreover, unless specifically so stated, all embodiments discussed and disclosed herein should be considered exemplary. 
     Referring first to  FIG. 1 , a top perspective view of a trampoline  100  having an enclosure  140  with an entry/exit  180  using technology of the present application is provided. As shown, trampoline  100  includes a round jumping surface or mat  102  on which a jumper or user  104  is jumping. Mat  102  is connected to a frame  106  using a plurality of elastic member  108 , such as, for example, springs or elastic bands. Generally, to avoid inadvertent pinching, elastic members  108  are covered by a fabric or foam covering  110 . Mat  102  and frame  106  are shown as having a circular shape  112  which is currently the most commonly available shape. Frame  106  is supported by a plurality of legs  114 . Legs  114  may be singular legs or U-shaped legs  114  as shown, which includes at least two vertical components  116  extending from the frame  106  to the ground and at least one horizontal component  118  connecting the two vertical components  116 . Single legs  114  would have a single vertical component  116  and potentially a flared base. 
     Enclosure  140  includes a plurality of poles  142  extending above mat  102 . Above is used as a term of orientation for the poles  142  and should not be considered limiting. Poles  142  may be coupled to every or every other vertical component  116  of legs  114  as shown. Poles  142  also may be coupled to frame  106  directly. Poles  142  are encased in a foam sleeve  144  that has an end cap  146  at the end of the tubular pole  142 . 
     Flexible member  148  is coupled poles  142  to surround at least mat  102 , but as shown may surround the entire frame  106 . Flexible member  148  may be any conventional material, but is typically a nylon mesh or the like. There are a number of conventional ways to attach flexible member  148  to enclosure  140  known in the art that will not be explained herein except to the extent necessary to understand the technology of the present application. As shown, however, flexible member  148  is coupled to poles  142  using ties  150  as shown. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 2 , entry/exit  180  is shown in more detail. Entry/exit  180  is formed by a flexible member  182 , that is conventionally the same material as flexible member  148 , but may be different. Typically, flexible member  182  is formed of a mesh material. Flexible member  182  has a horizontal bottom edge  184  having a first end  186  and a second end  188 . Horizontal bottom edge  184  and first and second ends  186 ,  188  may connect to a bottom hem  190  attached to flexible member  148 . Flexible member  182  also has a arched edge  192  extending from first end  184  to second end  188 . Arched edge  192  terminates in a hem  194 . Similarly, flexible member  148  has an arched edge  196  corresponding to arched edge  192  terminating in a hem  198 . Hems  194  and  198  would have corresponding fasteners  400  (see  FIGS. 4 ,  5 , and  6 ) to close the opening. As shown in  FIG. 2 , entry/exit  180  is in the closed position  200 . Referring to  FIG. 3 , entry/exit  180  is shown in the open position  300 . In this case, fasteners  400  are decoupled to allow flexible member  182  to be bundled at horizontal bottom edge  184  or to hang freely out of the entry way as shown in the alternative in  FIG. 3 . Notice, while described as arched, the entry/exit  180  could be any asymmetrical or symmetrical shape to hang vertically and out of the way from the enclosure to facilitate ingress and egress. 
     Referring to  FIG. 6 , entry/exit  180  having a reinforced connection to inhibit tearing is shown in more detail. As described above, entry/exit  180  is formed by flexible member  182  having a bottom edge  184  connected to bottom hem  190  of flexible member  148 . A rope  702  to tighten the enclosure  140  about the trampoline may be provided. The rope  702  is generally known in the industry as a cinch rope because it is used to cinch the enclosure up against the trampoline mat and/or frame. To inhibit the flexible member  182  from tearing, one or two reinforced connections  704  may be provided at a base  706  of entry/exit  180 . Reinforced connection  704  may be a length of heavy duty material with a first portion  708  connected to the first end  186  on a first side  710  external to the enclosed area. A body  712  of the reinforced connection extends from the first end  186  and wraps around rope  702  (or the connection of the various hems) and extends second a second portion  714  connected to first end  186  on a second side  720  internal to the enclosure at a point generally opposite where first portion  708  is connected to first end  186 . First portion  708  and second portion  714  may be connected together through first end  186  via a stitch  716 . Also, first portion  708  and/or second portion  716  may have an extended portion  718  that extends along hems  194  and  198 . 
     Referring now to  FIG. 4 , one possible fastener  400  is shown in more detail. Fastener  400  is shown between hem  194  of flexible member  182  and hem  198  of flexible member  148 . As shown, fastener  400  is a conventional zipper  402 . Zipper  402  could be replaced by numerous conventional devices, such as, for example, a plurality of ties  150 , a male and female snap  500  (see  FIG. 5 ), or strips of hook-and-loop material  600  comprising corresponding hook material  602  and loop material  604  (see  FIG. 6 ). 
     The previous description of the disclosed embodiments is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the present invention. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.