IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR MARKING AND PEGGING OUT COURTS FOR PLAYING THE GAMES OF TENNIS, BADMINTON, AND THE LIKE
Year: 1884

page_text: I, FRANK PROCTOR, of Stevenage, in the County of Herts, Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of my invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR
MARKING AND PEGGING OUT COURTS FOR PLAYING THE GAMES OF TENNIS,
BADMINTON, AND THE LIKE" to be as follows :-
-
My invention has for its object a novel method of. making and using apparatus
for marking and pegging out.the boundaries and divisions of courts or ground used
for playing the games of Lawn tennis, Badminton, and the like.
Supposing my invention to be applied to courts as ordinarily used for the game
of lawn tennis I take a chain or cord equal in length to half the extreme transverse
boundaries of the court, a second chain or cord equal to half the extreme length of
the court, and a third chain or cord equal to the diagonal of a rectangle of which
the first and second chains form the two sides. I make a ring or link at the
extreme end of each chain, and I provide a sufficient number of pegs preferably
metal which are driven into the ground to mark the required points of intersection
of the boundaries of the Courts. These pegs are straight, or preferably provided
with a hook at their upper ends.
In order to use the apparatus, I drive one of the pegs into the spot determined
for the centre of the courts, and upon this peg I place the rings or links at one end
of the first and third chains or cords, and I stretch the first chain so that its outer
end is upon the transverse (or net) line dividing the courts, and at this outer end
I insert a second peg, upon which I place the ring or link at one end of the second
chain the other end of which is stretched to meet the outer end of the third chain,
the point of meeting forming one of the extreme outer corners of the entire court.
At the proper part of the length of the first and second chains or cords I make a
ring or link marking the point through which the parallel boundaries of the inner
courts pass, and at each of these points I also insert a peg.
I then remove the outer ends of the second and third chains or cords from the
peg at the point where they meet and, leaving their other ends upon their pega,
I transfer them to the other ends of the court where their meeting point marks
the corresponding boundary of the opposite end of the courts, where I also insert

page_text: pegs, and I then transfer them together with the second chain or cord in the same
way to the other side of the court the boundaries of which are defined and pegged
in the same way.
Lines parallel to the sides and ends of the court and passing through the several
pegs described will then define and mark the boundaries of the outer and inner
courts of the ground, the chains and pegs being then removed.
In this way the pegging out of the tennis court is accomplished with great ease
and in very much less time than has ordinarily heretofore been the case.
It is obvious that instead of three chains or cords, one marked at the proper
points may be used. Or more than three may be used so that the different points
required may be defined and pegged simultaneously.
The length of the chains and position of the rings or links are made to suit the
particular game which is to be played.

page_text: I, FRANK PROCTOR, of Stevenage, in the County of Herts, Engineer do hereby
declare the nature of my invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR
MARKING AND PEGGING OUT COURTS FOR PLAYING THE GAMES OF TENNIS,
BADMINTON AND THE LIKE " and in what manner the same is to be performed, to
be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement and
accompanying Drawing (that is to say) :—
My invention has for its object an improved method of making and using
apparatus for measuring, pegging out, and marking the boundaries and divisions of
courts used for playing the game of Lawn tennis, Badminton, and the like.
Supposing my invention to be applied to courts as ordinarily used for the game
of Lawn tennis, I take a chain, cord, or tape, equal in length to half the extreme
transverse width between the boundaries of the court, a second chain, cord, or tape,
equal to half the extreme length between the boundaries of the court, and a third
chain, cord, or tape, equal to the diagonal of a rectangular parallelogram of which
the first and second form the two sides.
I make a ring or link at the extreme end of each chain, and I provide a sufficient
number of pegs, preferably of metal, which are driven into the ground to mark the
required points of intersection of the boundaries of the court. These pegs are
straight, or they may be provided with a hook at their upper end for convenience
in handling.
The accompanying drawing is in illustration of my invention and of the manner
in which it is to be used, figure 1 being a plan of a lawn tennis court set out and
divided in the required way.
At the lower part of the drawing are shewn separately the three chains or cords,
c, a, a, b,-and a, b.
a, figure 1 is the spot fixed upon for the centre of the court, at the middle of the
net line b, f. One of the pegs is driven into the ground at a, and upon the peg
is placed the rings or links at one end of the first and third chains, c, a, and a, b,
the chain a, b, being stretched and the ring or link at its other end b being pegged
down upon the net line f, b.
The ring at b upon the chain c, b, is then placed upon the peg b and the chain is
stretched until its outer end meets the outer end of the stretched chain a, c, and a
peg is fixed down through the rings at these two outer ends at c, which forms one
of the extreme outer corners of the entire court.
At proper points 8, 8, in the chains c, a,c, b, rings or links are inserted marking
the points through which the parallel boundaries of the inner courts pass, and at
each of these points a peg is also inserted.
The pegs being left in the ground, the rings or links are removed from the peg
at c, and are transferred to the other end of the court where they meet at d, as
shewn in light dotted lines, which marks the corresponding boundary at the
opposite end of the court, pegs being again inserted. The three chains are then

page_text: transferred to the opposite side of the court, the rings still remaining upon the
centre peg a, the outer ring upon the chain a, b, being pegged upon the net line
at f, and those upon the chains c, a,c, b, meeting at e, and pegs being again
inserted at e, and 8;-and finally the chains are again shifted until the outer ends
of c, a,c, b, meet g where and at 8 the last pegs are inserted, the pegging of the
court being then completed.
The chains being then removed from the pegs, lines are drawn parallel to the
sides and ends of the court and passing through the several pegs described, and
these lines are then marked in the usual way, the pegs being removed.
Where it is desired to mark out single courts only, the chain a, b, is reversed,
the ring s being placed at the centre of the net line a, its end a upon the end of
the net line b, and its other end 6 marking the point from which the end of the
chain a, c, starts to meet the outer end of the chain c, b, as shewn in broken lines
in the lower part of figure 1.
I am aware that it has been proposed to mark out tennis courts by means of a
flexible tape of suitable length, but by the novel arrangement of the several chains,
cords, or tapes, and the method of using them as described and shewn in the
drawing the pegging out of tennis courts is accomplished with great ease and in
very much less time than by any method heretofore adopted, whilst absolute
accuracy is ensured.
I prefer to use three separate chains, cords, or tapes, as described and shewn,
but it is evident that they may be joined so as to form a single one, and instead of
rings or links indicating marks may be used upon them. Their lengths, and the
position of the several rings, links, or marks, are made to suit the particular game
which is to be played. .
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
The method of measuring, pegging out, and marking, lawn tennis or other
courts, by means of three chains, cords, or tapes, equal respectively to half the
width of the court, half the length of the court, and the diagonal of the rectangle
formed by the other two, such chains, cords, or tapes, having rings, links, or marks,
to determine by means of pegs, the position of the boundary lines of the court,
substantially as described and shewn in the drawing.
Dated this 30th day of January 1885