Abstract:
The inflatable basketball structure includes an inflatable basketball backboard, an inflatable basketball rim, a basketball net, an inflatable supporting pole, and an inflatable safety enclosure. The inflatable basketball structure on a trampoline allows height challenged users the opportunity to slam-dunk and otherwise fulfill athletic basketball fantasies in a safe environment.

Description:
This application is a division of 10/651,897, filed Aug. 29, 2003 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,918,846. 

   DISCUSSION OF RELATED ART 
   Since the beginning of basketball, the slam dunk has been a popular athletic aspiration. Unfortunately, many people are unable to reach the rim. Although basketball is athletically demanding, some skills can be enhanced through a variety of devices. 
   Basketball assistance devices have been invented to make basketball easier and more fun. U.S. Pat. No. 5,833,557 to inventor Edward W. Cole discloses a two player trampoline basketball game structure with trampoline surfaces for basketballs to bounce within its framework. The structure provides trampolines for the basketballs assisting shots made by players. U.S. Pat. No. 5,967,911 to Oliver D. McAvoy shows a basket ball return used on a regular basketball court and placed under the basketball pole and net. This wedge shaped ramp allows a basketball to bounce back to the player after the ball goes through the net. 
   Trampolines have also assisted basketball players in reaching the rim. Unfortunately, trampoline injuries are very common and risk of injury increases when the game is played on a trampoline. A variety of devices have been invented to make trampolines and jumping safer. U.S. Pat. No. 4,875,548 to Peter Lorsbach shows jump rescue apparatus having a rebound surface made of tensioned fabric held in an inflatable tube framework. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,053,845, 6,261,207 to Publicover shows an enclosure net and frame for a trampoline having eight steel poles. Unfortunately, a user may be injured when accidentally jumping into a pole. A variety of other similar net and webbing structures have been used to make trampolines safer. 
   OBJECT OF THE INVENTION 
   An inflatable basketball structure on a trampoline allows height challenged users the opportunity to slam-dunk and otherwise fulfill athletic basketball fantasies in a safe environment. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a top view of the basketball structure. 
       FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the basketball structure. 
       FIG. 3  is a rear view of the basketball structure. 
       FIG. 4  is a side view of the basketball structure showing inflation chambers. 
       FIG. 5  is a side view of the basketball structure showing crumple zones. 
       FIG. 6  is a perspective view of the basketball structure attached to a trampoline enclosure. 
       FIG. 7  is a perspective view of the basketball structure attached to a circular inflatable enclosure. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
   The inflatable basketball structure resembles an ordinary basketball apparatus and includes an inflatable basketball backboard  150 , an inflatable basketball rim  160 , a basketball net  162 , an inflatable supporting pole  170 , and an inflatable safety enclosure  180 .  FIG. 2 . The members are made of one or more inflatable cells. Several members can be made of a single cell. Each individual inflatable cell has an airtight inflatable chamber having an inflation valve  230 . The inflation valve  230  permits air to be introduced and removed from the chamber. Alternately, the airtight inflatable chamber can be outfitted with more than one valve  230 , an inflation valve and a separate deflation valve where the inflation valve only inflates the chamber and the deflation valve only deflates the chamber.  FIG. 1 . 
   Members may be formed of an outside jacket layer providing additional structural support as an exoskeleton for an inside inflatable member inflated against the outside jacket layer to prevent buckling of the outside jacket layer. 840D Nylon with PU coating or a 1100D PVC Tarpaulin with Polyester Substrate are typical semi rigid fabric materials. The inside inflatable member can be made of 0.35 mm PVC with plasticizer and can be regulated by a supplied air pressure regulating device and air pump.  FIG. 3  The inflatable basketball backboard  150 , inflatable basketball rim  160 , basketball net  162 , inflatable supporting pole  170 , and inflatable safety enclosure  180  are formed of an outside jacket layer providing additional structural support as an exoskeleton for an inside inflatable member inflated against the outside jacket layer to prevent buckling of the outside jacket layer. 
   Basketball Basket 
   The basketball rim  160  is made of a hoop of inflatable or padded material. A standard basketball net  162  can be used on the inflatable basketball hoop  160  by attaching the net  162  to the hoop  160  by means of detachable hook and loop tape. The hoop  160  holds the net via the hook and loop tape where a hook side is disposed on either the net or hoop and the loop side is disposed on the other side. The net detaches if a user&#39;s fingers are caught in the net. 
   The rim is attached to the backboard. The junction between the hoop and the backboard is reinforced by elastic cord that restores the hoop  160  to neutral position after a user dunks on the hoop. Elastic cord  161  connects the backboard to the hoop. The rim is flexible in relationship to the backboard and can flex when a user slam dunks. The backboard is in turn attached to the backboard pole. The backboard  150  can be made of a single planar rectangular inflatable member. 
   The backboard  150  has an outside jacket layer restraining an inflated inside inflatable member. The outside jacket layer is a tough and more rigid fabric providing additional structural support as an exoskeleton. The inside inflatable backboard member is inflated against the outside jacket layer to prevent buckling of the outside jacket layer. The outside jacket layer restrains the inside inflatable member from expansion beyond the size of the outside jacket layer. Alternatively, the backboard can also be made of a planar rectangular rigid core enveloped on the rear side by an inflatable member. 
   Supporting Pole 
   The inflatable basketball pole  170  is hollow and inflatable. Optionally, the pole has an outside jacket layer restraining an inflated inside inflatable member. The outside jacket layer is a tough and more rigid fabric providing additional structural support as an exoskeleton. Again, 840D Nyon with PU coating or a 1100D PVC Tarpaulin with Polyester Substrate are typical semi rigid fabric materials. The inside inflatable member is inflated against the outside jacket layer to prevent buckling of the outside jacket layer. The inside inflatable member can be made of 0.35 mm PVC with plasticizer and can be regulated to 2 psi tolerance by a supplied air pressure regulating device and air pump. The outside jacket layer restrains the inside inflatable member from expansion beyond the size of the outside jacket layer. The inside inflatable member is an inflatable airtight member having an inflation valve. The member has a single inflation valve. 
   The height adjustable pole can height adjust by either forming intermediate inflation chambers  FIG. 4 ,  174  and  FIG. 3 ,  174  or crumple zone  FIG. 5 ,  176 . In the first inflation chamber embodiment  FIG. 4 ,  174 , a number of intermediate independent chambers  174  have individual air inflation valves and form preferably a pair of independent inflation chambers. In the inflation chamber embodiment, the base portion of the inflatable basketball pole supports a number of independent chambers. The independent chambers in turn support the upper portion of the inflatable basketball pole. A user may inflate or deflate one or more of the chambers to raise or lower the height of the basketball hoop, rim, and backboard. Upon deflation of the independent chambers, the upper portion of the basketball pole decreases to a lower height, without affecting the air pressure of the base portion of the inflatable basketball pole or the upper portion of the inflatable basketball pole. 
   A user then secures the upper, lower and intermediate portions by pairs of upper and lower straps  178  of hook and loop tape. The upper and lower strap  178  maintains the relative position of the members in the inflation chamber  174  embodiment. The upper straps begin at a location above the upper intermediate inflation chamber  174  and secures to a corresponding lower strap  178  below the lowest intermediate inflation chamber  174 . Buttons or other hardware attachment means may connect the straps  178  to each other. The preferred means for securing the opposing pair of straps  178  is hook and loop tape. Similarly, a user can increase the height of the basket by detaching the straps and inflating the intermediate chambers  174 . 
   In the second basketball pole embodiment,  FIG. 5  a crumble zone  176  is a user height adjustable section  176  of the basketball pole that allows a user to adjust the height of the basket. Unlike the inflation chamber embodiment, the crumble zone embodiment  176  has a single cell representing the basketball pole. The crumble zone  176  is a location on the basketball pole that can be deflated and restricted in height by a plurality of straps  178 , or other restriction means, so that the zone does not inflate to full height when restricted by a height restriction means. 
   The crumble zone  176  is defined by height restriction means such as upper straps  178  that connect to lower straps  178 . Upper straps connecting to lower straps allow partial inflation of the crumble zone  176 . When the air pressure is at full inflation air pressure, the crumble zone  176  is also at full pressure. The crumble zone  176  deflates upon deflation of the entire enclosure. 
   Instead of straps  178 , the sleeve representing the outside shell of the basketball pole can be modified to have height adjustable means. Common size adjustment means commonly used in shells of luggage applications include zippers closing a cascade of flaps to allow a user to zip up and contract selected portions of sleeves thus setting the full inflation height of the crumble zone. Here, a similar flap system can be used. 
   A user determines the desired height of the basket rim and can adjust straps and set the straps to the proper height. The proper height is marked on the straps. Once the straps are in place, the user inflates the device. The crumple zone straps  178  limit the total height of the basket rim while maintaining rigid inflation. The crumple zone  176  can be scored or prefolded to create a standard folding pattern that allows the zone  176  a specific repetitively formed shape instead of a random crumpled shape. 
   The net has hook and loop tape connecting the net  162  to the rim  160 . The loop side is attached to the net  162  while the hook side is attached to the rim  160 . If a user has a finger caught in the net, the net detaches to prevent injury to the user. The present embodiment further includes and an elastic cord  172  attaching the back of the backboard to the spine of the basketball pole. The spine is the rearward portion facing away from the face of the backboard. The elastic cord  172  restores the position of the backboard after a user dunks. The elastic cord  172  can be threaded through loops or a continuous sleeve stitched into the spine of the basketball pole. A plurality of elastic cords  172  may be used depending upon the restoring force desired. An elastic cord  172  connects the upper and lower portion in a similar manner and reinforces the hook and loop tape. The basketball pole has an outside covering that can be enveloped around the pole. 
   Enclosure 
   The crumple zone shares air pressure with the basketball pole and main wall members  182 ,  184 ,  186 . An air pump  122  can assist in maintaining air pressure by providing air to the enclosure and the basketball pole. The air pump  122  is preferably attached to the base of the enclosure, constantly providing air input. The inflatable structure enclosure  180  retains a basketball inside the enclosure by mesh netting  190 . Retaining the basketball enhances users safety and fun. 
   The three main wall members forming the enclosure includes the left wall  182 , the right wall  184  and the rear wall  186 . The standard wall consists of a top tubular member attached to a pair of side tubular members attached to a bottom tubular member. The four tubular members form a frame defining an aperture that is enclosed by netting stretched to span across the aperture. The inflatable basketball structure can be mounted on a trampoline with the left wall, right wall, and rear wall resting on the periphery of the rectangular trampoline. A rope or strap retains the enclosure to the trampoline frame and can attach the left wall  182 , right wall  184  and rear wall  186  to the frame. 
   The preferred embodiment has a rectangular enclosure with three main walls. Alternate embodiments may use circular or semicircular wall configurations as shown in  FIG. 6 . A wall includes a structure of inflatable frame members with netting spanning between inflatable frame members. 
   In an alternate freestanding embodiment  FIG. 5 ,  FIG. 6 , the basketball pole  170 , basket and rim  160  are separately inflated from the enclosure  180 . The assembly of the basketball pole, basket and rim forms a freestanding unit resting on the basketball pole base having no air communication with the protective enclosure  180 . The freestanding inflatable pole  170  is attached to the protective enclosure  180  by mounting straps  188  or mounting cord  188  and can be reconfigured to attach to other structures by mounting straps  188  or a mounting cord  188 . 
   The freestanding embodiment maximizes user configuration options and allows the basketball pole member  170  to be separated from the protective enclosure and attached to other non-inflated or inflated protective trampoline enclosures as shown in  FIG. 5 . Non-inflated protective trampoline enclosures having solid steel frames and retaining mesh netting are widely used. Some are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,053,845, and 6,261,207 to Publicover. The freestanding inflatable pole can be attached to a wide variety of non-inflated structures by means of straps or cord. 
   The inflatable basketball structure may comprise an inflatable safety enclosure having three walls defining a semicircular instead of rectangular enclosure, and here the trampoline provided is a circular trampoline. The rear wall can be made of a frame formed by tube members or left without a mesh netting for an open appearance. 
     FIG. 6  is a perspective view of the basketball structure attached to a trampoline enclosure. 
     FIG. 7  is a perspective view of the basketball structure attached to a circular inflatable enclosure.