LAWN TENNIS PICKETS
Year: 1886

page_text: I LOTHIAN KERR SCOTT Major in Her Majesty's Royal Engineers of the Junior
United Service Club Charles Street Saint James London in the county of Middlesex
do hereby declare the nature of my invention for LAWN TENNIS PICKETS to be as
follows
Various methods have been designed for (1.) Preserving the correct figure and
dimensions of Lawn Tennis Courts which have been once marked out and (2) Setting
up Poles of Lawn Tennis Nets.
To preserve the shape of the court, solid (iron or wooden) Pickets, or Flat
Rectangular Markers have hitherto been used--The objection to the use of solid
Pickets is that they get lost when driven below the surface of the ground, and that
they would injure the knives of the Mowing Machine and the Feet of the Players, if
left above ground, and to the Flat Rectangular Markers that they are easily removed
and may trip the Players.
To set up the Poles of Lawn Tennis Nets, guy ropes attached to the Head of the
Poles and to the Pickets driven into the ground, have hitherto been used, or the Poles
have been made permanent fixtures in the ground.-The objection to the method of
setting up the poles by guy ropes and Pickets is that (1) if the Pickets are left in the
ground they, by their projecting above the surface, prevent the Lawn being mown
around them, (2) if the Pickets are being constantly pulled up, they lose their hold on
the ground unless they are driven into a fresh place and (3) if the Pickets are put
into fresh places they cut up the turf.
The Objection to having net poles permanent fixtures is (1) that they require solid
foundations for withstanding the strain of the Net, and (2) that they must always
remain up when the court is not being used.
The following is a description of my method for Preserving the figure and dimen
sions of Lawn Tennis Courts which obviates all the inconveniences of the existing

page_text: modes Instead of using solid Pickets I use Hollow Tubes of various sizes—These
tubes when employed for preserving the Figure and dimensions of Lawn Tennis
Courts, are driven vertically into the ground at all the angles of the Court (or any
other part where necessary) just sufficiently below the surface to admit of the knives
of the mowing machines cutting the grass over the tubes without coming into contact
with them. The advantage of this arrangement is that the tubes do not disappear,
but afford fixed points for marking out the courts with perfect accuracy.
These tubes when they are intended to support the Net Poles by guy ropes are
driven at an angle into the ground just below the surface. An iron picket is dropped
into each of these tubes with its head sticking out sufficiently high to admit of the guy
rope being put over it.

page_text: Lawn Tennis Pickets.
I LOTHIAN KERR SCOTT Major in Her Majesty's Royal Engineers of the Junior
United Service Club Charles Street Saint James London in the county of Middlesex
do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to
he performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
Various Inventions have been made.
1. For the purpose of retaining the correct figure and dimensions of Lawn Tennis
Courts which have been once marked out.
2. For setting up the Poles of Lawn Tennis Nets.
5. For reducing by mechanical means the power required to raise the net to its
proper level by pulling merely on the guy ropes which support the Poles.
(1) For the purpose of retaining the correct figure of the court solid iron or
wooden Pickets, or flat rectangular metal markers have hitherto been used.
The objection to the use of, solid Pickets, and flat Rectangular markers, is that the
former get lost when driven below the surface of the ground, and that they injure the
knives of the Mowing Machine, and the feet of the Players if left above ground; and
that the latter are easily removed and apt to trip the Players.
II. For setting up the Poles of Lawn Tennis Nets, (a) Guy ropes attached to the
head of the Pole and to solid iron or wooden Pickets, driven partially into the ground
to the right and left of the Pole, are used. (4) The Poles are sometimes made fixtures
in the ground with or without the assistance of Guy ropes.
The objections to having Pickets, as points of attachment for the guy ropes, which
project above the ground are
(1) that they require extraction before the Lawn around them can be properly
mown.
(2) that if the pickets are pulled up and returned to the same holes, they will not
hold.
(3) that, if the pickets are put into fresh ground they cut up the ground afresh.
(4) that the pickets of the usual size have not sufficient holding power to withstand
the stretching of a heavy wire rope and Net.
The objection to Net Poles without guy ropes for support are, (1) that they do not
remain long vertical from the great strain of the rope and Net upon them and (2) that
they require special foundations and other more or less complicated mechanical
arrangements to take the place of guy ropes.
III. The objections to the present methods for reducing the power required to
tighten the Net are that the mechanical contrivances used are attached to the pole and
are costly and liable to get out of order.
The following is a Description of my Method for Preserving the Figure and Dimen-
sions of Lawn Tennis Courts which is supposed to obviate in a very simple manner
all the defects of the existing methods.

page_text: Instead of using solid Pickets I use hollow Tubes of various lengths.
Fig. 1. represents the plan of a Lawn Tennis Court marked out with tubes (, )
about 7 inches long driven down just sufficiently below the surface of the ground to
admit of the knives of the Mowing Machine cutting the grass around them without
coming into contact with them.
These tubes (,) are placed at the angles of the Court, and also in the proper
positions for the end of the Net Poles to rest in them.
When these tubes are to take the place of the ordinary pickets in use to form the
points of attachment for the guy ropes supporting the net Poles, it is necessary, in
order to give increased holding power, to drive longer tubes (d, d) Figs. 2 & 3. at an
angle into the ground and to supply some kind of loose picket (c) to drop partially
into the tube (, d) over which picket (c) the end (e) of the guy rope is to pass,
whilst the other end (f) of the guy rope is attached to the Net Pole, or to one end (b)
of the Regulator Fig. 4. whilst the other end of the Regulator is attached to a loop
on the Net Pole, as shewn on the left of Fig. 2.
The Regulator Fig. 4 is intended to reduce the power required to tighten the Net
when guy ropes alone are used.
It consists of a hook (b) screwed into the closed end of a tube, and a second
hook (a) secured and turning in the other closed end of the same tube-When the
hook () is half unscrewed, the Net can be tightened or loosened by turning the closed
tube.
Fig. 3 shews a hooked picket (c) dropped into the tube (dd) and prevented from
coming out when the strain of the guy rope is given in the direction of the arrow by
the point at right angles to the picket fitting into a slot in the tube, in addition to the
effect of Jamming which would suffice, if the tube be not too large for the thickness
of picket.
In the drawing like letters represent like parts..
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said Invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is,
1. The method of using tubes driven into, and on a level with, the surface of the
ground at the angles of Lawn Tennis Courts, in order to preserve their figure and
dimensions and also to act as sockets for the bottom of the Net Poles to fit into.
2. The method of using tubes driven level with the ground with loose pickets
dropped into them instead of solid pickets driven into and projecting above the ground
as points of attachment for the guy ropes of the net Poles.
3. The method of preventing the loose picket in the head of the tube when taking
the strain of the guy attached to the net pole from coming out of the tube, by the
tube having been driven into the ground at right angles to the direction of the guy
rope.
L. K. SCOTT, Major R.E.