Patent Publication Number: US-6209876-B1

Title: Football target game

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application is based on Provisional Application No. 60/069,076 entitled FOOTBALL TARGET GAME, filed Dec. 9, 1997. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention is directed to a football target game having a surrounding target and a center target which simulate the look of a football goal post. In particular, the present invention is directed to a football target game that may be set up and played indoors to provide a game of amusement in a relatively restricted place. 
     2. Prior Art 
     The game of football, while extremely popular, can normally not be played inside because of the 100 yard field and the football used. Various derivatives of a tabletop simulated football game have been known. By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,570,888, Robinson et al., provides a thumb football game and apparatus which pertains to a table top football game in which a simulated football is thumped by the finger of a player on a table top simulated football field. Countless variations of this type of game are known. 
     Holmes (U.S. Pat. No. 5,323,865) provides an amusement game with a simulated playing field and a toy football made of soft material. 
     In a regular football game, a one hundred yard field is used marked in 5 yard increments. Three points are awarded for a football kicked through the uprights and 1 point is awarded for a football kicked through the uprights after a touchdown. 
     Nevertheless, there remains a need for a game which may be played in a restricted space and simulates football field goal and extra point kicking. 
     It is, therefore, a principle object and purpose of the present invention to provide a football target game to be used to simulate field goal and extra point field goal kicking. 
     It is a further object and purpose of the present invention to provide a football target game having a surrounding target including a goal post, a crossbar perpendicular to the goal post, and a pair of uprights extending from the crossbar, a center target within the surrounding target including a top rail extending between the pair of uprights and a U-frame extending from the top rail; a plurality of footballs to be flicked toward the target; and a tee for holding one of the footballs. 
     It is a further object and purpose of the present invention to provide a football target game having a net for the surrounding target connected to the crossbar, the uprights, and the top rail and a net for the center target connected to the top rail and the U-frame members, the nets being of different colors. 
     It is a further object and purpose of the present invention to provide a football target game including a pair of dice to select a horizontal distance and a position for the football spaced from the targets. 
     It is a further object and purpose of the present invention to provide a football target game having a door hanger to suspend the target from the door, and thereby saving floor space in a room where the football target game is used. 
     It is a further object and purpose of the present invention to provide a football target game having a wristband to support the tee on players&#39; arms. 
     It is a further object and purpose of the present invention to provide a method to play a football target game including: rolling a pair of dice by a first player, one of the dice indicating a horizontal distance from a target area and another of the dice indicating a position with respect to the target area; placing a football a horizontal distance spaced from the target and in a position as indicated by the dice; flicking a football towards the target area; scoring points for each football in a center target and a surrounding target in the target area; flicking each football and scoring points for each of a plurality of footballs; and repeating the process for each player. 
     It is a further object and purpose of the present invention to provide a method to play a football target game including retaining footballs received in the surrounding target with a surrounding net and retaining footballs received in the center target with a center net. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is directed to a football target game. A target structure includes a surrounding target. The surrounding target includes a upstanding goal post which extends from a base to support the goal post. The surrounding target also includes a crossbar extending from and perpendicular to the goal post. A pair of uprights extends upward from the crossbar. The goal post, the crossbar and the uprights together form a simulated goal post. 
     A center target lies within the surrounding target. The center target includes a top rail spaced back from and out of alignment with the uprights, the crossbar and the goal post. The top rail is spaced from the uprights by a pair of rail spacers. Extending outward from the top rail is a pair of center target spacers which connect with three U-shaped members. The three U-shaped members form the periphery of the center target. 
     A net for the surrounding target is connected to the crossbar, the pair of uprights, and the top rail. A net for the center target is connected to the top rail, the center target spacers, and the U-shaped members. The surrounding target net differs in color from the center target net. The nets are each loosely arranged on the surrounding target and the center target so that each forms a receptacle for receipt of a football received in it. 
     In order to play the game, one player will initially roll both dice. One of the dice will have yard line indicators such as 10 yard, 20 yard, 30 yard, 40 yard and 50 yard. The other dice of the pair will indicate the has mark or horizontal position from which the footballs will be shot toward the target structure. 
     Once the yard line and position is indicated by the throw of the dice, all of the game balls will be shot or flicked and directed toward the target. If six footballs are utilized, each one will be sequentially flicked with a finger of the player toward the target areas of the target structure. Three points are awarded for a football which goes into the center target while a single point is awarded for a football in the surrounding area. The score is then entered for that player and recorded on the score card. The game will continue with the next player repeating the same process. The second and subsequent players will shoot from the same location. 
     The same procedure may be repeated four times to simulate four quarters of a regular football game. The player with the most points is declared the winner. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a front view of a target structure for a football target game constructed in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a side view of the football target structure shown in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a top view of the football target structure shown in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 4 is a front view of the target structure with nets attached; 
     FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along section  5 — 5  of FIG. 4; 
     FIG. 6 is an example of a scorecard to be used as a part of the football target game of the present invention; 
     FIG. 7 is a top view of the football target game including a cloth or tape for yard line markers and a tee; 
     FIG. 8 is a side view of the tee with a football thereon used in connection with the football target game of the present invention; 
     FIG. 9 is a top view of a tee used as a part of the football target game; 
     FIG. 10 is an example of a football which is a part of the football target game; 
     FIG. 11 shows a cloth or tape used as a yard indicator with the present invention; 
     FIG. 12 shows a side view illustrating a shot of one of the footballs from the tee into the surrounding target with the trajectory of the football shown in dashed lines; 
     FIG. 13 shows a perspective view of a football target game of the present invention suspended from a door hanger; 
     FIG. 14 shows a perspective view of a handheld tee used to support a tee on a player&#39;s arm; 
     FIG. 15 shows a perspective view of a bash mark dice of the present invention; and 
     FIG. 16 shows a perspective view of a yard indicator dice of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring to the drawings in detail, FIGS. 1 through 4 illustrate a target structure  12  for a football target game constructed in accordance with the present invention. The target structure  12  is shown in FIGS. 1,  2  and  3  with the nets (to be described in detail) removed for clarity. 
     With reference to FIGS. 1,  2  and  3 , the target structure  12  includes a surrounding target  14 . The surrounding target  14  includes an upstanding goal post  16  which extends from a base  18 , having a cross member  17  and feet  19 , to support the goal post  16 , on a surface such as a floor (not shown). 
     The surrounding target  14  also includes a crossbar  20  extending from and perpendicular to the goal post  16 . The crossbar  20  is thus parallel to the base cross member  17 . A pair of uprights  22  and  24  extends upward from the crossbar. The goal post  16 , the crossbar  20 , and the uprights  22  and  24  are all in a substantially co-planar assignment as shown in FIG.  2 . The goal post  16 , the crossbar  20 , and the uprights  22  and  24  together form a simulated football goal post. 
     A center target  26  lies within the surrounding target  14 . The center target  26  includes a top rail  28 . The top rail  28  is spaced back from and out of alignment with the uprights  22  and  24 , the crossbar  20  and the goal post  16 . This arrangement can be best seen in FIGS. 2 and 3. The top rail  28  is spaced from the uprights  22  and  24  by a pair of rail spacers  30  and  32 . Extending from the top rail  28  is a pair of center target spacers  34  and  36  which connect with U-shaped members  38 ,  40  and  42 . The U-shaped members  38 ,  40  and  42  form a periphery of the center target  26 . 
     In the present embodiment, the target structure  12  is constructed of lightweight plastic, such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC). PVC tubes used in target structure  12  are attached together by elbows or connectors. It will be understood that the target structure  12  may be fabricated from other materials within the teachings of the invention. 
     With reference to FIG. 4, a net  44  for the surrounding target  14  is connected to the crossbar  20 , the pair of uprights  22  and  24  and the top rail  28 . A net  46  for the center target  26  is connected to the top rail  28 , the center target spacers  34  and  36 , and the U-shaped members  38 ,  40  and  42 . In one embodiment, the surrounding target net  44  is a white color while the center target net  46  is a red color. The nets  44  and  46  are loosely arranged on both the surrounding target  14  and the center target  26  so that each of the nets  44  and  46  forms a receptacle for receipt of a football  56  directed toward it. 
     FIGS. 6,  7 ,  8 ,  9 ,  10  and  11  illustrate the various elements of the football target game. FIG. 6 illustrates a prototypical scorecard wherein a plurality of players will keep score of their various points obtained by “kicking” footballs in the target areas. Each player is listed in the left hand column while the score is recorded for each quarter. 
     FIG. 7 is a top view of the structure  12  with a tape or cloth yard indicator  50  extended from the structure. A tee  52  (also shown in FIGS. 8 and 9) is used to position the football  56  prior to the shot. Position indicator  54  is also provided to establish the positions for right and left hash marks. The yard indicator  50  is shown in perspective in FIG.  11 . 
     In FIG. 8, a football  56  is shown mounted on the tee  52 . In the present embodiment, a foam football is utilized although other types such as a hollow plastic football might be employed. In FIG. 10, a football  56  is shown without a tee. 
     In FIG. 12, a football  56  is shown mounted on the tee  52 . The dashed trajectory line indicates a typical trajectory which a football  56  may take in traveling from tee  52  to net  46 . Three footballs  56  have already been flicked through the surrounding target  14  and have formed a pile in the bottom of net  46 . 
     In an alternative embodiment shown in FIG. 13, the top rail  28  is balanced on a front hook portion  62  of door hanger  58 . Door hanger  58  rests on top of door  60 . In this embodiment, there is no need for a base  18  or a goal post  16 , because the crossbar  20  and the uprights  22  and  24  are supported by the door hanger  58 . 
     In another embodiment shown in FIG. 14, tee  52  is attached to wristband  64 . The wristband  64  has a first end  66  and a second end  68 . A loop portion  70  of a hook-and-loop type fastener, such as Velcro, is located at the first end  66 . A hook portion  72  of the hook-and-loop type fastener is located at the second end  68 . A player fastens the handheld tee  64  by pressing the loop portion  70  against hook portion  72 . With the tee  52  resting on a player&#39;s hand, that player may position a finger to flick the football  56  more directly underneath the football  56 . 
     A pair of dice, shown in FIGS. 15 and 16, is used in one present embodiment of the game. It will be understood that other determiners such as a spinning dial might alternately be used to achieve the same results. In the present embodiment of the game which uses two dice, one player begins the game by rolling a hash mark dice  80  and a yard indicator dice  90 . The yard indicator dice  90  has yard line indicators: ten yards, twenty yards, thirty yards, forty yards, fifty yards, and sixty yards. The hash mark dice  80  indicates a hash mark or horizontal position from which the footballs  56  will be shot toward the target structure  12 . 
     For the yard indicator dice  90  shown in FIG. 15, the numbers on opposite faces of the yard indicator dice  90  add to seventy yards. For the hash mark dice shown in FIG. 16, markings on faces of a hash mark dice  80  indicate the hash marks, such that two opposing faces indicate the right hash mark (R), two opposing faces indicate the left hash mark (L) and two opposing faces indicate the center hash mark (C). 
     Once the yard line and hash mark position is indicates, the first player sets the tee  52  on the appropriate yard line and the indicated hash mark. The first football  56  is placed on the tee  52  as shown in FIG.  7  and the player uses his or her index or middle finger to flick the football  56 . 
     All of the footballs  56  are flicked from tee  52  toward the target structure  12 . Three points will be awarded for a football  56  which goes into the center target  26  while a single point will be awarded for a football in the surrounding target  14 . The score will then be entered and recorded on a score card. 
     The game will continue with the next player in the same fashion. The next player will shoot each of his footballs  56  from the first player&#39;s location. When all the players have completed their turn, the score will be entered for the first quarter. 
     To begin the second quarter, the second player will roll the dice. The same procedure may be repeated four times to simulate four quarters of a regular football game. At the end, the player with the most points is declared the winner. In the event of a tie, an extra quarter is played. 
     The target structure  12  is lightweight and the target structure  12 , the cloth tape and position indicator, as well as the tee  52  and football  56  can be easily moved. 
     Whereas, the present invention has been described in relation to the drawings attached hereto, it should be understood that other and further modifications, apart from those shown or suggested herein, may be made within the spirit and scope of this invention.