Patent Publication Number: US-8540592-B1

Title: Ball target assembly

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE 
     Field of the Disclosure 
     The disclosure relates to ball target devices and more particularly pertains to a new ball target device for providing an area to aim at while throwing a ball and which will catch and retain the ball. 
     SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE 
     An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a support that includes a front wall having a front side, a back side and a perimeter edge extending between the front and back sides. The front wall has an opening therein extending into the front side and outwardly of the back side. A rear wall is hingedly coupled to the front wall along an upper edge of the front wall and an upper edge of the rear wall. A ball catch is mounted to the back side and covers the opening. The ball catch is formed of a loose material configured to catch and retain a ball thrown through the opening. 
     There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto. 
     The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a front perspective view of a ball target assembly according to an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is a rear view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 3  is a side view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 4  is a front view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 5  is a side view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 6  is a front view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to  FIGS. 1 through 6  thereof, a new ball target device embodying the principles and concepts of an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated by the reference numeral  10  will be described. 
     As best illustrated in  FIGS. 1 through 6 , the ball target assembly  10  generally comprises a support  12  that includes a front wall  14  having a front side  16 , a back side  18  and a perimeter edge  20  extending between the front  16  and back  18  sides. The front wall  14  has an opening  22  therein extending into the front side  16  and outwardly of the back side  18 . The opening  22  has a rectangular shape. The opening  22  may have a height between 26 inches and 30 inches and a width between 14 inches and 18 inches. This size generally relates to the size of a strike zone in baseball to help indicate a person&#39;s throwing accuracy. The support  12  further includes a rear wall  24  that is hingedly coupled to the front wall  14  along an upper edge  26  of the front wall  14  and an upper edge  28  of the rear wall  16 . The rear wall  16  has a first side  30  and a second side  32 . The rear wall  30  may have an aperture  34  extending through the first  30  and second  32  sides. 
     A ball catch  36  is mounted to the back side  18  and covers the opening  22 . The ball catch  36  is formed of a loose material configured to catch and retain a ball thrown through the opening  22 . The ball catch  36  may be comprised of a loose netting material that hangs downwardly and rearwardly of the front wall  14 . 
     A panel  38  is provided which is comprised of a resilient stretchable material. The panel  38  is attached to the rear wall  24  and coves the aperture  34 . The panel  38  may be secured to the rear wall  24  with a series of bands  40 . The panel  38  is stretched taut over the aperture  34  and is configured to bounce a ball away from the rear wall  24  when the ball strikes the panel  38 . The panel  38  allows a person to throw a ball at the assembly  10  so that the ball bounces back to the person throwing the ball. 
     A guide  42  may be attached to the front side  16  of the front wall  14 . A target  44  is removably mounted in the guide. The target  44  partially covers the opening  22 . As can be seen in  FIG. 6 , different targets may be provided, each with varying sized holes  46  therein to provide targets for a person to aim for. Aside from baseballs and Wiffle balls, the targets  44  may be used for golfing, footballs, hockey pucks and the like. The ball catch  36  may include a flap  60  which is selectively positioned in an open or closed position. The flap  60  may simply comprise a portion of the ball catch  36  cut away which can be closed with conventional fasteners  62  such as hook and loop fasteners, snaps or the like. By opening the flap  60 , a user can access objects thrown through the target  44  without having to remove the target to access the ball catch  36 . 
     A plurality legs  48  is attached to the support  12  and extends downwardly therefrom. The legs  48  may be slidably coupled to the support  12  to allow a height of the legs  48  to be adjusted. Locking members  50  lock the legs  48  at a desired height. A latch  52  is attached to the support  12  and releasably secures front  14  and rear  24  walls in a folded position defined by the front  14  and rear  24  walls is orientated parallel to each other as shown in  FIG. 3 . A brace  54  may be attached to and extended between the front  14  and rear  24  walls. The brace  54  retains the front  14  and rear  24  walls in a deployed position wherein the front  14  and rear  24  walls form an angle between 15° and 50°. A handle  56  is attached to the support  12 , and may be mounted on the perimeter edge  20  of the front wall  14 , to allow for easy transportation of the assembly  10 . 
     In use, the assembly  10  is set up so that a person can thrown a ball at either the front wall  14  or the rear wall  24 . If the person wishes to simply throw the ball at a target  44 , they may throw the ball into the catch  36 . Alternatively, person may throw a ball at the rear wall  24  so that the panel  36  bounces the ball back to the person. To increase the difficulty of throwing a ball into the catch  36 , the target  44  may be positioned over the opening  22 . 
     With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure. 
     Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure.