Abstract:
A soft football adapted for play with or among children has a built-in tee which is rotatable about a pivot axis between an inoperative position where it is recessed along the surface of the football and an operative position where it is capable of supporting the football on its end so that it can be kicked without being held by a separate tee or a person.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The present invention relates to a football with a built-in tee, and more particularly to a soft football with a built-in tee adapted for play with or among children.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    Insofar as is known, no football of any type has ever been provided having a built-in tee so as to enable the ball to stand in position on the ground or a flat surface adapted for kicking, without a separate holder commonly known as a football “tee”. Consequently, when kicking a football during “kicking-off”, the ball must either be held in place by a second player while the kicker kicks the ball, or it must be placed in or on a separate tee.  
           [0003]    Eliminating the necessity for a second player to hold the ball or for a separate tee would be desirable, especially for play among children, and most especially for play among small children.  
         SUMMARY OF INVENTION  
         [0004]    The present invention relates to a football having a built-in tee, such football being adapted to be placed on the ground or on the floor with the built-in tee in an operative position, so that the ball will stand by itself without the need of a separate tee or without the need of a person holding the ball in place for the kicker.  
           [0005]    The invention will be better understood from the following detailed description and accompanying drawings of certain preferred embodiments. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING  
       [0006]    [0006]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a football in accordance with the present invention having a built-in tee in a recessed position;  
         [0007]    [0007]FIG. 2 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 1, but with the tee in an operative position;  
         [0008]    [0008]FIG. 3 is an elevational view showing a football in accordance with the present invention with the tee in its operative position on a flat surface ready for being kicked;  
         [0009]    [0009]FIG. 4 is an elevational view partly in section with the tee in recessed position; and  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 5 is a view similar FIG. 4, partly in section, showing the tee in operative position. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS  
       [0011]    A preferred embodiment of a child&#39;s play football  10  in accordance with the present invention is shown in the figures. The football  10  may be of conventional construction except for the presence of a built-in tee  14  which, in the illustrated embodiments described below in more detail, is generally of an inverted Y-shape with a leg  141  and two arms  140 , the bottom edges of which provide a support surface. The body  12  of the football  10  may be formed of foam rubber or foam plastic, preferably with a surface skin  16 . The foam rubber or plastic from which the body  12 , preferably having a typical elongated “football-shape”, is desirably soft and compressable so as to prevent hard impacts when the ball strikes a child, as is conventional.  
         [0012]    The tee  14  is hinged near or adjacent its upper end  142  within the body  12  of the football  10 , and in its inoperative position sits within a recess  18  which is desirably complementary in shape to the tee  14 , the depth of the recess  18  being approximately the same as the thickness of the tee  14  so that, in its inoperative position as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the outside surface of the tee  14  aligns approximately with the outside surface  16  of the body  12 .  
         [0013]    An important feature of the present invention is the provision of a suitable mechanism to maintain the tee  14  in its recessed position as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4. This may be done in a number of ways, including the provision of a tight friction fit. However, a preferred mechanism is shown in section in FIGS. 4 and 5. In this preferred construction a biasing spring  144 , for example a coil spring confined within a tube  146 , acts on a projection  148  at the upper end  142  of the tee  14  to bias the tee  14  into the closed or recessed position as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4. In order to better retain the coil spring  144  and improve its functioning, a supporting plate  143  is located at the distal end of the coil spring  144 , and a slidable cup shaped element  145  retains therewithin the proximal end of the spring  144 . The plate  143 , integral or unitary with the tube  146 , also serves to help retain the entire structure within the body  12  of the football  10 .  
         [0014]    Alternatively, the plate  143  may be dispensed with, and the tube  146  may simply be provided with a closed distal end. In such a case, the tube  146 , which may have a circular, square or other cross-sectional configuration, should be adhesively retained within the body  12  of the football  10 . By “adhesively retained”, what is meant is that a separate adhesive may be used or that the body  12  by its nature itself may adhere to the tube  146 . This latter effect results from a preferred method of manufacture, as briefly explained below.  
         [0015]    Completing the structure of the tee  14  is a pivot pin  149  about which the tee  14  rotates. While most of the aforementioned parts of the tee  14  are preferably formed of hard plastic, the pivot pin is preferably metal, with its ends retained and held in place by walls of the tube  146 .  
         [0016]    The preferred construction as illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 has another advantage over the simple provision of a friction fit. Thus, as can be seen in FIG. 5, the biasing spring  144  also serves to maintain the tee  14  in its operative position in the illustrated construction, as well as in its recessed position as shown in FIG. 4.  
         [0017]    The football  10  of the present invention may be molded in a conventional way as is known in the prior art, except that the entire structure of the tee including its supporting structure, e.g. the tube  146 , etc., is first supported in an appropriate location within the interior of the mold adjacent an interior surface of the mold. In such a case, the mold should be so constructed so that the tee itself, namely the arms  140  and the leg  141 , do not become adhered to the foam rubber or foam plastic composition during molding.  
         [0018]    The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fully reveal the general nature of the invention that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such specific embodiments without undue experimentation and without departing from the generic concept, and, therefore, such adaptations and modifications should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments. For example, while the tee  14  in the illustrated embodiments is shown as having an inverted Y-shape, other shapes will be possible, e.g. the gap between the two arms of the Y can be closed in so as to make a single support, or the tee can have a generally delta-shape.  
         [0019]    It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. The means, materials, and steps for carrying out various disclosed functions may take a variety of alternative forms without departing from the invention.  
         [0020]    Thus the expressions “means to . . . ” and “means for . . . ”, or any method step language, as may be found in the specification above and/or in the claims below, followed by a functional statement, are intended to define and cover whatever structural, physical, chemical or electrical element or structure, or whatever method step, which may now or in the future exist which carries out the recited function, whether or not precisely equivalent to the embodiment or embodiments disclosed in the specification above, i.e., other means or steps for carrying out the same functions can be used; and it is intended that such expressions be given their broadest interpretation.