Ball game goal

A portable, elevated, ball receiving game apparatus including an open topped, closed bottom lightweight plastic basket supported upon a single, central, elongated stem. The end of the stem opposite the basket is securable in a base having radially extending feet sufficient to support the apparatus upon a generally planar surface. Pegs are provided to further secure the base into a relatively soft ground surface. The stem is made of a tubular plastic material of a diameter of approximately one inch so as to permit a player to grasp the stem at a point intermediate the basket and the base and by exerting a force in a plane generally transverse to the generally vertically oriented axis of the stem effect sufficient, repeated, displacement of the basket from its initial orientation to cause the ball to be ejected out of the basket. To enhance portability and storage as well as to provide for varying heights of the elevated basket, the stem is preferably made of connectable sections.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention relates generally to a ball game goal and more particularly 
to a game apparatus providing a portable, elevated, closed bottom, ball 
receiving goal with simplified means for ejecting the received ball. 
2. Background Art 
Games, such as basketball, in which a ball is tossed at, or into, a goal, 
are popular pastimes. One method of effecting the return of a successfully 
aimed ball is to provide a pass-through goal, such as the open bottom net 
used in basketball. There is, however, some satisfaction to be obtained 
from seeing the ball reside within the goal rather than momentarily 
passing through it. Moreover, with a pass-through goal there may at times 
be a dispute whether the ball actually went through the goal. A 
pass-through goal, such as that used in basketball, also may present some 
difficulties in portably mounting the goal at an elevated position. 
Versions of a single, central, standard mount for a pass-through goal are 
shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. Des110,225 and 2,194,779. Attempts to provide a 
central support for a closed bottom goal and a means for ejecting the 
received ball are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,278,616 and 3,602,505. There 
remains a need, however, for a simplified, portable, elevated, closed 
bottom ball receiving goal from which the ball can be ejected without any 
complicated mechanism. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention is concerned with providing a portable, elevated, 
closed bottom ball game goal apparatus with a simple means for ejecting 
the received ball. These and other objects and advantages of the invention 
are achieved by providing a ball receiving goal that is elevated upon an 
elongated stem with a normally, generally vertically oriented axis. One 
end of the stem is securable to a ground supported base and the other is 
attached to the closed bottom ball receiving basket. The flexibility of 
the stem relative to its height permits sufficient bending of the stem to 
eject the ball from the basket when the stem is grasped at a point 
intermediate the ends by a player and flexed by a force exerted in a plane 
generally transverse to the axis of the stem.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring now to the drawing in which like parts are designated by like 
reference numerals throughout the several views, there is shown in FIG. 1 
a ball goal receiving game including a portable, elevated, closed bottom, 
ball receiving goal 10. The goal includes a base 12, central tubular 
supporting stem 14 and an open top ball receiving basket 16. Base 12 has 
four radially extending feet 18 each having a substantially flat underside 
20 and an aperture 22 adjacent the outer end. As shown in FIG. 1, the base 
is secured on a lawn or other irregular soft ground surface by means of 
L-shaped pegs 24 which pass through the aperture 22 into the ground. Goal 
10 may also be used on any substantially planar hard surface such as 
concrete or an indoor floor. 
Extending upwardly from the central hub 26 of the base is a cylindrical 
socket 28. Tubular stem 14 fits into socket 28 with the axis of the stem 
being generally vertically oriented. For enhanced portability, and to 
facilitate storage of the apparatus when it is not in use, stem 14 is a 
combination of three tubular sections 30, 32 and 34. An overall height of 
the central supporting stem of about seven feet provides sufficient 
challenge and entertainment for adults and still permits play of the game 
by older children. For play by younger, shorter children, one of the 
sections of stem 14 may be removed to provide an overall stem height of 
about four or five feet. As shown in FIG. 1, the three sections 30, 32 and 
34 are approximately of equal height. However, it may be desirable to make 
the sections of dissimilar heights to permit selective combination of two 
sections to obtain one of three different heights. 
Adjacent ones of the tubular sections 30, 32 and 34 are connected together 
by means of a connector plug 36 which has a cylindrical body 38 of a 
diameter to fit snugly within the inside of the tubular section. 
Approximately at the midpoint of the cylindrical body, the connector body 
has an enlarged flange 40, the outside diameter of which is conveniently 
the same as the outside diameter of the tubular sections. Inserted into 
the open top of the uppermost tubular section 34 is a basket mounting plug 
42 having a downwardly depending cylindrical body 44 of the same diameter 
as the cylindrical body 38 of the connector plug 36. At the top, basket 
mounting plug 42 has an enlarged head 46 of a diameter significantly 
greater than the outside diameter of tubular section 34. Head 46 has an 
annular groove 48 at approximately the midpoint of the height of the head. 
Ball receiving basket 16, which is generally in the form of an inverted 
truncated cone, is formed of two mating halves 50 and 52. The basket 
conveniently has about a twelve inch diameter open top, about an eight 
inch diameter closed bottom and is about eight inches high. Each of the 
halves has a semitoroidal bottom wall 54. When the two halves are secured 
together the mating bottom walls 54 define a cylindrical opening 56 having 
a diameter less than the outer diameter of head 46 and approximately equal 
to the diameter of the inside of annular groove 48. Accordingly, as is 
best illustrated in FIG. 3, the two basket halves are secured about 
mounting plug 42 and in combination with the mounting plug form a closed 
bottom ball receiving goal. 
To secure halves 50 and 52 together, half 50 is provided with a pair of 
upper and lower barbs 58 which are secured in mating C-shaped staples 60 
on basket half 52. Basket halves are conveniently molded of a plastic 
material and the barbs and staples are integrally formed. The plastic is 
sufficiently resilient to permit flexing of the barb and staple latches to 
permit assembly and disassembly. Both to reduce the weight of the basket 
and to provide visibility of the ball when it is in the goal, the sidewall 
is provided with openings 62. 
A ball 64 of a diameter that may be as large as the diameter of the bottom 
of the basket 16, but is conveniently of a diameter of approximately seven 
and one-half inches, is provided as part of the game apparatus. Ball 64 
should be made of a soft expanded foam material or be hollow so as to 
provide a relatively lightweight ball. Play of the game with the apparatus 
10 may follow a variety of rules. In one form, the game may be played like 
basketball. As an alternative, players may form teams on different sides 
of the apparatus and hit the ball in volleyball fashion to put the ball in 
the goal. 
After the ball is in the goal, it may be ejected by a player grasping stem 
14 at any convenient point intermediate the base and the basket and then 
exerting a force in a plane generally transverse to the axis of the 
elongated stem. Preferably the force is exerted in a circular motion 
causing the basket to whip around in a cyclonic-like manner which forces 
the ball by centrifugal force to roll around and up the sides of the 
truncated conical basket and then out the open top. A reciprocating force 
exerted directly transverse to the axis of the stem to whip the stem back 
and forth will also eject the ball although a more violent force is 
required. 
In order to permit this simplified means of ejecting the ball from the 
elevated goal, it is necessary that the tubular stem be relatively thin as 
compared to the prior art devices. Stems made of PVC material with an 
outer diameter of approximately seven-eighths of an inch and an inside 
diameter of about five-eighths of an inch resulting in a one-eighth inch 
wall thickness work well in accordance with this invention with stems 
having an overall height of about seven feet. Similarly, stems formed of 
plastic such as polypropylene having an outside diameter of about one and 
one-sixteenth inch, an inside diameter of approximately fifteen-sixteenths 
of an inch and a wall thickness of one-sixteenth of an inch also work 
well. Both of these stems also function in accordance with the invention 
even when the height of the stem is reduced down to a single section as 
long as the outer diameter of the tubular stem is no more than about 1/20 
the height. These materials and the relatively thin, tubular stems are 
sufficiently rigid to support the lightweight basket 16 with the axis of 
the stem in a generally vertical orientation while being sufficiently 
flexible to permit flexing of the stem at an angle to the normally 
vertically oriented axis to provide sufficient lateral movement to eject 
ball 64. 
While a particular embodiment of the invention has been shown and 
described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that changes 
and modifications may be made without departing from the invention. It is 
intended in the appended claims to cover all such changes and 
modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.