Patent Publication Number: US-2007117659-A1

Title: Self-righting sports pole

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
      There are no related applications.  
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT  
      The inventions described and claimed in this application were not made under federally sponsored research and development.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      This invention relates to a self-righting pole. More specifically, this invention relates to a vertically oriented, freestanding sports pole which upon impact will automatically return to its original upright orientation.  
      In various sports and games the need frequently arises to have one or more vertically oriented standards or poles to hold a variety of suspended items such as flags, nets, or fabric panels. For example, in the game “capture the flag”, the object is for one team to retrieve the opposing team&#39;s flag suspended from a pole. The sports of badminton and volleyball utilize a pair of standards between which a net is suspended. Most often, sports poles of this genre are unyieldably anchored in the ground or supported by guy wires or ropes staked in the ground. Such poles or their anchor means can be the source of physical injury to players as a result of accidental impact or tripping.  
      Therefore, a need exists in the sports industry to provide a safe and self-righting sports pole which is freestanding without the aid of tiedown ropes or ground stakes and which is yielding upon impact. The primary objective of this invention is to meet this need.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      More specifically, an object of the invention is to provide a yieldable sports pole which may be vertically oriented and safely supported above ground level without the use of tiedowns or ground stakes.  
      Another object of the invention is to provide a sports pole of the character described which may be supported vertically by a flexible weighting base which is yielding upon contact in order to reduce risk of injury.  
      An additional object of the invention is to provide a sports pole adapted to yieldingly tilt upon contact by a player in order to reduce risk of injury.  
      Yet another object of the invention is to provide a sports pole of the character described which causes the sports pole to automatically return to its intended upright position after being tilted to the side upon impact.  
      A further object of the invention is to provide a sports pole of the character described which is compact in storage and easily transportable.  
      In summary, a yieldable sports pole supported entirely above ground in a vertical orientation by a flexible bladder filled with a weighting fluid. A central opening through the bladder receives the pole. Underlying the bladder and connected to the pole is a ground engaging disc fabricated of a semi-rigid, resiliently springy material. When the pole is tilted to one side, as when experiencing an impact, the disc member and flexible bladder act in combination to cause the pole to return to an upright orientation.  
      Other and further objects of the invention, together with the features of novelty appurtenant thereto, will appear in the course of the detailed description of the drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      In the following description of the drawings, in which like reference numerals are employed to indicate like parts in the various views:  
       FIG. 1  is a top perspective view of a self-righting and freestanding sports pole constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention;  
       FIG. 2  is an exploded perspective of the sports pole illustrated in  FIG. 1 ;  
       FIG. 3  is an enlarged side elevational view of the sports pole in its vertically upright orientation; and  
       FIG. 4  is an enlarged side elevational view similar to that of  FIG. 3  but illustrating the pole tilted to one side. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      Referring to the drawings in greater detail there is illustrated a pole member  10  of any convenient length fabricated from a solid or tubular pipe in one or more sections. If the pole member  10  is fabricated from multiple sections, they may be interlocking or telescoping to facilitate assembly into a preselected length. The pole member  10  illustrated in the drawings is tubular in form.  
      In order to properly function as a sports pole, the pole member is intended to be oriented in a substantially vertical, upright position with respect to its central, longitudinal axis  12 . Accordingly, one end of the pole is connected to a ground engaging, planar support  14  having a central hole  16  therethrough to receive a connection plug  20  inserted into the end of the pole member  10 . Although illustrated in a circular shape, the planar support  14  may be of any convenient circular, square or triangular form so long as the area of the support  14  is substantially uniformly distributed around the longitudinal vertical axis of the pole member  10 . For reasons which will be subsequently explained, the planar support  14  is preferably fabricated from a semi-rigid but resiliently springy material so as to be flexibly bent a limited amount and then return to its flat, planar configuration.  
      Surrounding the pole member  10  is collapsible bladder  22  equipped with a fill valve  24  for filling the bladder  22  with an appropriate weighting fluid such as water. The bladder  22  has a central hole  26  therethrough which is substantially the same diameter as the outside diameter of the pole member  10  so that the pole member  10  may be received through the central hole  26  of the bladder. It will be understood that the bladder  22  is preferably fabricated of durable, water impermeable fabric material for containing a volume water as appropriate. Although illustrated in a toroid or doughnut shape, the flexible bladder  22  may be of any convenient volumetric form such as a toroid, pyramid, cube, cylinder, cone, or some amorphous structure so long as the bladder  22  defines and contains a volume uniformly distributed around the central axis of the pole member  10 . In size, water bladder  22  must be of sufficient capacity or volume, based on water weighing approximately 8 pounds per gallon, so as to hold the pole member  10  in a substantially upright orientation when any accessories such as a flag, net or fabric panel is connected to the pole member  10 . By way of example, a sports pole intended for use in the game “capture the flag” will require a bladder  22  having a capacity to contain about a gallon of water. This is sufficient to hold the pole member  10  with a flag (not shown) connected to the upper end in a vertical, upright position when the bladder  22  is disposed around the pole  10  and supported on the planar disc  14 .  
      In operation, and assuming the sports pole is in its collapsed condition for the purposes of storage and transport, the sections of the pole member  10  may be assembled and locked together in end-to-end fashion. Inserted through the opening  26  in the bladder  22 , the pole member  10  may be connected to the support disc  14  with the plug  20 . When placed on the ground  28 , the bladder  22  may then be filled with water to support the pole member  10  in a vertical, upright position as illustrated in  FIG. 3 . One such sports pole may be sufficient for a game such as “capture the flag” while two or more such sports poles will be necessary to hold a net or fabric panel for various other games. The support base provided by the planar disc  14  in combination with the bladder  22  provides a means for a non-rigid support structure which upon contact will merely flex and provide a cushioned impact to minimize the possibility of injury.  
      In the event the pole member  10  is contacted during play, it-merely bends or tilts with the impact as illustrated in  FIG. 4 . This causes the planar disc  14  to slightly flex but continue to support the bulk of the bladder  22  which influences the bladder and support disc  14  to return to rest on the ground  28  as indicated by the arrow. This feature also helps minimize the possibility of injury by a sports pole rigidly connected to the ground.  
      From the foregoing it will be seen that this invention is one well adapted to attain all the ends and objects hereinabove set forth, together with the other advantages which are obvious and which are inherent to the invention.  
      It will be understood that certain features and subcombinations are of utility and may be employed without reference to other features and subcombinations. This is contemplated by and is within the scope of the claims.  
      Since many possible embodiments may be made of the invention without departing from the scope thereof, it is understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.