Portable basketball set

A preschool knock-down portable indoor basketball set comprising a sponge-rubber ball and a weighted vertically adjustable stand for a basket with a removable bounce-board.The weighted base of the stand has an annular socket for one end of a pair of telescopic tubes, adjustable in length by a pin through diametric holes in the tubes. The upper end of the inner telescopic tube has a cap and net ring member, which cap has an annular reinforced socket for the upper tube end, which ring has hidden hooks for suspending a frusto-conical string basket, and intermediate of the cap and ring, has a wedging slot in a vertical plane into which a trapezoidal notch on the lower edge of a bounce-board removably fits.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Previous knock-down portable basketball basket stands were complicated, 
made out of metal parts, heavy, required tools for assembly, and were not 
adapted to be played by preschool tots in the living room or the like of a 
home. Furthermore, prior art basketball stands were of relatively rugged 
construction and required anchoring and/or rigid assembly, and if they did 
get knocked over, they could easily damage or injure property and/or 
persons. Therefore, they were never suitable for portability and play by 
children in a parlor or a furnished room of a home. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present portable knock-down preschool basketball set for use in the 
home comprises primarily a sponge rubber or soft resilient plastic 
basketball and a plastic and/or fiberboard relatively light bottom 
weighted stand for holding the frusto-conical string basket for the ball. 
In this combination are included several unique features of assembly of 
the stand which make it both sufficiently rigid for the ball to be bounced 
against it, but also sufficiently flexible to prevent damage or injury in 
the event it gets knocked over accidentally. These features include the 
manufacture of the stand out of plastic and fiberboard tubing and a 
fiberboard bounce or backboard. 
The base of the stand comprises a two-piece hollow spherical-shaped segment 
with an annular socket in its center, the plug of which socket is molded 
into a flat disc bottom piece and the periphery of which socket is formed 
in a cylindrical hole in a dome-shaped reinforced cover piece for the 
bottom disc piece. This dome preferably is filled with a weighted material 
such as clean sand or small gravel for stabilizing the pole and basket 
supported by this base. 
The pole for supporting the basket and its bounceboard may comprise a pair 
of telescoping fiberboard or plastic tubes, an outer longer one of which 
has its lower end snugly fit into the annular socket in the base, and at 
its upper end a stepped plastic sleeve or collar for guiding the inner 
telescoping tube and providing a seat for a diametric hole across the 
upper end of the outer tube. A resilient plastic cotter-type pin removably 
fits through the diametrical hole for adjusting the height or extension of 
the inner tube above the collar by fitting also through one of a plurality 
of diametric holes spaced longitudinally along the inner tube. 
An integral molded plastic cap and ring member have an intermediate neck 
portion with a transverse trapezoidal wedge-shaped slot or pair of 
diverging slots on opposite sides of the neck for supporting the bounce or 
backboard. The cap portion of this member is provided with a reinforced 
annular socket for the upper end of the smaller inner and/or shorter 
telescopic tube. The adjacent ring for the basket or net has an inverted 
U-shaped radial cross-section with equally angular spaced plurality of 
ribs having hooks formed therein against the outer rim or leg of the 
cross-section, into which hooks are fastened the upper loops of a 
frusto-conical string net or basket which depends from the ring for 
retarding the descent of the ball once it is thrown or dropped into the 
ring. The bottom of the "U" of the U-shaped cross-section of the ring is 
also preferably reinforced by a plurality of angular chord-type ribs 
molded therein, as is the neck portion of this member which contains the 
slots for supporting the backboard. Above and adjacent the cap there are 
also provided a pair or more of upstanding flanges or brackets for further 
guiding, supporting, and maintaining the backboard in a vertical position 
once it is placed in the wedge slots provided therefor in the neck 
portion. 
The bounce or backboard preferably comprises an oblong piece of fiberboard 
with an arcuate top and tapered bottom with a centrally located 
trapezoidal notch to fit into the notch in the neck portion of the cap and 
ring member. The wedging or converging taper of the slots grip the outer 
edges of the trapezoidal notch in the board while the divergent taper of 
the sides of the notch in the neck portion permit the board to be easily 
knocked out of its slot in the event the stand tips over in the plane of 
the backboard so that the edge of the backboard will break away from its 
seat and also break the fall of the stand. 
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to produce an efficient, 
simple, effective, economical, lightweight, safe, knock-down and portable 
basketball set for preschool children which can be played indoors in a 
furnished home without damage either to the furniture in the home or 
injury to the children playing with the set.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring first generally to FIG. I, there is shown the spongerubber 
basketball 10 which may have grooves or a pattern thereon to resemble the 
seams of a real basketball, and a basket stand 12 having a base portion 
20, a pole portion 40, a basket portion 60 and a bounce or backboard 
portion 90. All of these portions are easily assembled and disassembled 
and may be packaged in a single carton whose length is slightly greater 
than the longest section of the pole portion, whose width is slightly 
greater than the diameter of the base portion 20, and whose thickness is 
slightly greater than the diameter of the ball 10. 
1. The Base 
Referring now specifically to FIG. II, the base portion 20 herein comprises 
a circular disc portion 22 having a central integral cylindrical plug 
portion 23 around which plug 23 are expanding concentric circular ribs 24, 
25 and 26, providing seats including an annular groove 27, and an outer 
peripheral annular ring flange 28 having an annular groove 29 around its 
inner periphery. The annular spherical segment or dome-shaped portion 30 
of the base 20 is provided with a cylindrical central wall portion 31 for 
fitting or seating inside the rib 24, and an intermediate cylindrical wall 
32 for fitting or seating into the annular groove 27. This cylindrical 
wall 32 may be equally angularly reinforced by webs 33 molded integrally 
with the dome portion 30. The outer peripheral edge of the dome portion 30 
is provided with a downwardly projecting annular flange 34 which fits into 
the groove 29. In the space between the webs 33 and the cylindrical walls 
31 and 32, there is provided a material for weighting the base 20, such as 
washed sand or gravel 35. When this weighting material is placed in the 
dome portion 30, the two portions 22 and 30 are fastened together such as 
by an adhesive or a solvent for fusing the lower annular ends of the walls 
31, 32 and 34 into their seats provided by the annular grooves 27 and 29 
and ribs 24, 25 and 26. This assembly then provides an annular socket 36 
between the concentric cylindrical walls of the plug 23 and wall 31 into 
which the lower end of the larger tubular pole portion 42 snugly fits. If 
desired, this annular socket 36 may be slightly tapered inwardly toward 
its lower end for better anchoring the pole portion 42. 
2. The Pole 
Referring to FIGS. I and III, the pole portion herein is shown to comprise 
a pair of telescopic tubes 42 and 44 surrounded at the upper end of the 
lower longer and larger tube 42 with a stepped collar 50 having a larger 
cylindrical portion 51 with diametrically aligned apertures 52 therein, 
and a smaller cylindrical portion 53 for guiding the smaller telescoping 
tube 44. Aligned with the apertures 52 in the collar 50 are diametrically 
aligned apertures 43 near the upper end of the larger tube 42, and also a 
plurality of diametrically aligned apertures 45, 46, 47 and 48 at axially 
spaced intervals along the smaller telescoping tube 44. For anchoring the 
telescopic tubes 42 and 44 in different extended positions, there is 
provided a plastic cotter-type pin 55 which extends diametrically through 
the holes 52 in the stepped sleeve 50 and aligned holes 43 of the lower 
tube 42 and one of the selected diametrically opposite aligned holes 45 
through 48 in the smaller telescoping tube 44. The plastic cotter pin 55 
preferably is reinforced by having a cross-shaped cross-section with a 
finger gripping ring 56 at its one end and resilient parallel tines 57 at 
its other end, which tines may be provided with outwardly extending knobs 
or steps at their outer ends to prevent the pin 50 from sliding out of its 
locking position shown in FIG. III, but still due to the resiliency of the 
plastic, the pin 55 may be pulled out of the diametrical holes therefor by 
camming together of the knob ends by the tines 57 against the edge of the 
aperture 52 in the sleeve 50. 
These tubular sections 42 and 44 may be made of plastic or of cardboard 
mailing-type tubing, and may be decorated on the outside as desired, as 
can the upper outer side of the dome portion 30 of the base 20. 
3. The Cap and Ring 
Referring now to FIGS. IV, V and VI, there is disclosed the cap and ring 
member 60 comprising a ring portion 62 and a cap portion 63 for fitting 
over the upper end of the smaller telescoping tube 44 and an intermediate 
neck portion 80. 
The cap portion 63 as shown in FIGS. IV and VI comprises a closed 
hemicircular dome 64 and inside thereof a concentric cylindrical portion 
65 which fits inside of the upper end of the tubular section 44 and 
provides a semi-annular slot portion 66 between the cylindrical portion 65 
and the inside of the adjacent end of the unit 62. Opposite this 
semiannular slot 66 are provided a plurality of ribs 67 and 68, the outer 
ends of which form guides for the outside of the upper end of the tubular 
section 44. 
The ring portion 62 comprises an inverted annular channel 70 of a U-shaped 
radial cross-section, bridged by integral radial webs 71 which depend 
below the shorter leg of the U-shaped cross-section to expose hook slots 
72 for attachment of the upper ring of loops 76 of the frusto-conical 
string basket or net 75. In order to prevent too much flexing of the ring 
70, it may be further reinforced by the angular chord-type webs 73 as 
shown in FIG. VI between each of the radial ribs 71 and between the two 
legs or in the base of the "U" of the inverted U-section of this ring 
channel 70. 
The neck portion 80 between the ring 70 and cap 63 is provided with a pair 
of diverging slots 81 and 82 as shown in FIG. V, the apex angle .alpha. of 
which may vary between 30 and 60 degrees and preferably closer to 30 
degrees to increase the stability of the board 90 fitted therein. However, 
the greater this angle .alpha., the easier the board 90 will be knocked 
out of its position to prevent damage in case the stand tips over and the 
outer edge of the board 90 hits against an object. These slots are also 
downwardly converging or wedge-shaped as shown at 82 in FIG. IV. Further 
in support of the board 90, there is provided in the neck portion 80 a 
pair of upstanding parallel flange portions 83 and 84 for further defining 
the horizontal portion of a slot 85 bridging the upper ends of the two 
diverging tapered or wedge-shaped slots 81 and 82 to form a sort of 
trapezoidal-shaped slot around the neck portion 80. Further, for 
reinforcing and supporting the backboard 90, there also may be provided a 
pair of parallel brackets 86 projecting upwardly from the flange portion 
84 and integrally formed with this neck portion 80 and braced by webs 
bridging from the top 64 of the cap portion 63. 
4. The Bounceboard 
The bounce or backboard portion 90 is preferably made out of a fiberboard 
which may be impregnated with a plastic, or it may be made out of plastic, 
and is substantially oblong in shape, having rounded corners and a convex 
upper edge 91, parallel vertical sides 92, and converging bottom edges 93 
centrally and between which is provided a trapezoidal-shaped notch 95 as 
shown in FIGS. I and V for fitting into the trapezoidal-shaped slot in 
FIG. V with wedging side notches 81 and 82. The large front and back 
surfaces of the backboard 90 also may be decorated, if desired. 
In the knocked-down position, the post portion 40 is removed from the 
socket 36 in the base portion 20. The post portion 40 may then be 
disassembled by removing the pin 55 and slipping the tube 44 inside or 
completely outside of the tube 42, and also removing the collar or sleeve 
50. The ring and cap member 60 may have its cap portion 63 removed from 
the upper end of the tube 44, the back plate 90 may be removed out of its 
trapezoidal-shaped slot 81, 82 and 85, and if desired, loops 76 of the net 
75 may be removed from the hooks 72. All of this disassembly and assembly 
may be performed according to easy instructions and without the addition 
of tools. Thus, since all of the parts of the basketball set and 
particularly the stand portion 12 thereof are easily slipped together by 
means of friction, it can be easily knocked down and if knocked over, can 
readily fall apart to break its fall rather than damaging any of the 
furniture or objects it may hit, as well as avoid injuring any children 
that may be in its way. Furthermore, since it is very light, except for 
the weighted base, there is substantially no danger of any injury occuring 
with the normal playing with this set. 
While there is described above the principles of this invention in 
connection with specific apparatus, it is to be clearly understood that 
this description is made only by way of example and not as a limitation to 
the scope of this invention, in that other materials may be used than 
those specifically disclosed, provided they have the desirable properties. 
Also different reinforcements can be employed in the parts depending upon 
the type of materials used. Furthermore, some of the parts which are 
integral can be made separate, and vice versa, without departing from the 
scope of this invention.