Improvements in or appertaining to Lawn Tennis Poles or other Posts to be Temporarily Fixed on Lawns or Soft Ground.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 8th Aug., 1890
Complete Specification Left, 8th May, 1891-Accepted, 13th June, 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or appertaining to Lawn Tennis Poles or other
Posts to be Temporarily Fixed on Lawns or Soft Ground.
I, JOHN SHETTLE of The Bank, Haverfordwest, in the County of Pembroke
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows
This invention has for its object a simple form of tennis net fixture or lawn
tennis pole and foundation which shall be easy of application quickly put down
and removed, and which while being very rigid will injure the grass as little as
possible.
In carrying out my invention I form a tripod lying as flat as possible on the
grass but having pointed blades at the ends pressed down perpendicularly into the
grass. The centre of the tripod consists of a socket preferably square into which
the iron pin of the pole passes. The three arms of the tripod consist preferably as
regards their horizontal portion of a thin deep bar sunk into the ground or a flat
bar lying as near as possible level with the ground so as to avoid any chance of
people being tripped up by it. The arm running parallel with the net and
immediately below it is preferably made very wide or has a cap piece fixed to its
lower side resting on the ground whereby the strain of the nut is carried without
injuring the grass. Each of the vertical blades of the tripod have a hole in them
and through this a strong pin is driven into the ground like a tent-pin only at an
angle, this prevents any chance of the tripod being withdrawn until these pins,
(which are supplied with rings for the purpose,) are pulled out.
The pole consists of any ordinary pole having a projecting metallic pin at the
bottom fitting the socket with reasonable accuracy so as to avoid sagging.
On this pole I fix a rack and on this rack a small carriage with a hook or eye to
which the tension string of the net is attached. The carriage can have a spring
pawl or can itself be a pawl so that when pulled to a slanting direction by the
string it shall catch on the rack but when held horizontal it shall be free to travel
up and down the rack.
In order to still further strengthen the apparatus and avoid the entire strain
coming on the pin 1 sometimes arrange the pawl with a strut between the pole
itself and the horizontal arm of the tripod which is immediately below the net.
This strut can be fixed to either the tripod or the pole by n swivel joint and can
be hooked or socketted into the other in any convenient manner.
"The tripod I
prefer to make of malleable cast iron or wrought iron. The pole can be of any
desired material but if of metal the rack instead of being screwed to it can form an
integral part of it.
Dated this 1st day of August. 1890.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, Patent Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or appertaining to Lawn Tennis Poles or other
Posts to be Temporarily Fixed on Lawns or Soft Ground.
I, JOHN SHETTLE, of The Bank, Haverfordwest, in the County of Pembroke,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement :-
This invention has for its object a simple form of tennis net fixture or lawn
tennis pole and foundation which shall be casy of application, quickly put down and

page_text: removed, and which, while being very rigid, will injure the grass as little as
possible.
The invention is best described by aid of the accompanying drawings, in
which,
Figure 1 is a front view of the lawn tennis pole, a portion of the net, and the
tripod in which the pole is fixed.
Figure 2 a plan of the tripod or ground frame.
Figure 3 an elevation of the pole.
Figure an enlarged view of the device by which the tension of the net is
adjusted.
In these figures, A, is the tripod or ground frame lying as flat as possible on the
grass, but having pointed blades a at the ends pressed down into the grass. The
centre of the tripod consists of a socket a', preferably round, into which the iron
pin of the pole B passes. The three arms of the tripod A consist preferably as
regards their horizontal portion of a thin but rather deep bar sunk into the ground,
or a flat bar lying as near as possible level with the ground so as to avoid any
chance of people being tripped up by it. The arm running parallel with the net
and immediately below it has a cap piece or pressure plate a fixed to its lower side
resting on the ground, whereby the strain of the net is carried without injuring the
grass. Each of the vertical blades a of the tripod has a hole in it, and through this
a strong pin is driven into the ground like a tent pin only at an angle, this
prevents any chance of the tripod being withdrawn until these pins c, (which are
supplied with rings for the purpose) are pulled out.
The pole B consists of any ordinary pole having a projecting metallic pin bat
the bottom fitting the socket al with reasonable accuracy so as to avoid sagging.
On this pole B, I fix a rack D and on this rack a small carriage d with a hook d
or eye to which the tension string E of the net is attached. The carriage d is itself
a pawl, so that when pulled to a slanting direction by the string E, it catches on
the toothed rack D, but when held horizontal it is free to travel up and down the
rack. If desired the carriage & may have a spring pawl to engage the teeth
instead of being constructed as above described.
In order to still further strengthen the apparatus and avoid the entire strain
coming on the pin b, I sometimes arrange the pole with a strut F between the pole
itself and the horizontal arm of the tripod, which is immediately below the net.
This strut can be fixed to either the tripod or the pole B by a swivel joint and
can be hooked or socketted into the other in any convenient manner. The tripod I
prefer to make of malleable cast iron or wrought iron. The pole can be of any
desired material but if of metal the rack D instead of being screwed to it can
form an integral part of it.
I wish it to be distinctly understood that various slight modifications may be
made in the apparatus without departing from the nature of the invention-for
example any suitable number of arms for the tripod or ground frame A may be
used, the pole B and tripod A may be made in one piece, instead of being made in
two parts as shown, or the tripod may be screwed to the pole or fixed to it by a
screw or otherwise. Any form of ground frame other than the tripod may be
employed even a circular and solid frame being applicable to this invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is
1. The improved supporting device for lawn tennis poles or other posts intended
to be temporarily fixed on lawns or soft ground, said device consisting of a ground
frame or tripod such as A. adapted to receive the post and to sink into or lie
approximately flush with the surface of the ground and having auxiliary blades at
the ends of its arms capable of being pressed down into the ground and secured
therein by means of strong pins driven through said blades at an angle into the
ground substantially as described.

page_text: 2. The herein described improved foundation for lawn tennis poles, or other posts
to be temporarily fixed on lawns or soft ground taken as a whole substantially as
set forth.
3. In a supporting device for lawn tennis and other poles the combination with
the ground-frame-claws or feet such as a of pegs such as c passing through the said
claws into the ground substantially as described and illustrated in the accompanying
drawings.
1
1
.
1001
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of Liverpool, Manchester, Nottingham, and London, Patent Agents.