Source: {"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"}

The invention relates to an improvement of an adjustable height basketball backboard support system through the disclosure of a unique and novel retainer which prevents an adjustment link from swinging away from the support member during the adjustment process. One form of an adjustable basketball backboard support system includes a basketball backboard which is mounted to a support member through a parallelogram linkage and wherein a counter-weight is utilized to allow for easy adjustment of the height of the basketball backboard. The adjustment mechanism includes an adjustment link which adjustably connects one of the parallelogram links to the support member to determine the height of the basketball backboard. A pin secures the adjustment link to the support member at the desired height.
In addition, the adjustable basketball backboard support system can include a handle which is placed on the adjustment link. This handle facilitates the holding of the basketball backboard while its height is adjusted. Moreover, the handle provides an additional safety feature to the basketball backboard support system. Specifically, the handle protects the user's hand during the adjustment process by permitting the user to grasp the adjustment link on the side of the adjustment link farthest from the support member. Prior art systems do not generally include this feature and require the user to grasp the bottom of the adjustment link or the side of the adjustment link closest to the support member. Therefore, a feature of this handle is that it prevents the adjustment link from striking the user's hand. Users of prior art systems also find it difficult to laterally align the adjustment link with the support member.
Because the adjustment link is pivotally connected to the parallelogram, it will swing away from the support member when the user adjusts the height of the backboard. This is a significant problem in the adjustable basketball backboard support system field because some of the force applied during the adjustment process is converted to angular motion which makes the alignment of the holes in the adjustment link and the support member more difficult. In addition, the problem of the adjustment link swinging away from the support member can also create an unsafe situation. For instance, the angular motion could cause the adjustment link to strike the user.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to limit the angular motion of the adjustment link during the adjustment process.
Another object of the present invention is to assist the user in the alignment of the adjustment link with the support member during the adjustment process.
A further object of this invention is to ensure the safety of the user during the adjustment process.
A further object of this invention is to eliminate the difficulty a user encounters in trying to laterally align the adjustment link and support member.
These and other objects are achieved by modifying and improving the basic adjustable height basketball backboard support system by adding a retainer to maintain the adjustment link adjacent to the support member during the adjustment process. This inventive retainer can be generally described as consisting of a slide which rides on a guide or a rail. As will subsequently be discussed in greater detail, the guide or rail is positioned on the support member. In fact, the guide or rail can even be the support member. However, the guide or rail will generally be a bracket. In this type of configuration, the slide's legs will curve around the guide or bracket and limit the amount of rotation of the adjustment link by interacting with the bracket if the adjustment link begins to rotate away from the support member. The slide should have at least two legs to ensure the stability of the retainer, but one leg could be used. Hence, the retainer is positioned at the side of the adjustment link adjacent to the support member and is configured in such a way that it prevents the adjustment link from swinging away from the support member during the adjustment process.
The retainer can be made from a variety of materials such as plastic or aluminum. The retainer can also take on a variety of configurations. For example, in the preferred embodiment, the retainer consists of a slide attached to the side of the adjustment link closest to the support member. The slide consists of two parallel legs which extend to a U-shaped terminal end. In this embodiment, the guide is attached to the support member. The U-shaped configuration permits the slide to ride on the guide which consists of a bracket which is mounted to the support member by a pair of C-clamps.
This configuration achieves the objective of preventing the adjustment link from swinging away from the support member during adjustment. This is accomplished by the fact that the slide curves around the guide, bracket. As the adjustment link swings away from the support member, the U-shaped terminal ends contact the bracket which prevents any further angular motion of the adjustment link. In this embodiment, the handle and the retainer are separate units secured to the adjustment link by different bolts.
An alternative embodiment may include the feature of combining the handle and retainer into one unit. This configuration would consist of a slide made up of two parallel leg extensions of a handle that extend to and form two U-shaped terminal ends. This configuration would also consist of a guide that is attached to the support member. The retainer would still be configured so that the U-shaped terminal ends would contact or engage the guide during the adjustment process thereby preventing additional angular motion of the adjustment link. A feature of this embodiment is that the handle and retainer are combined into one piece which will reduce the amount of time required to manufacture the invention as well as reduce the cost of manufacturing.
This invention also contemplates a configuration whereby the slide is configured as a loop which curves around the support member. Specifically, the loop can consist of two parallel legs which extend to and join to form a single U-shaped terminal end. However, in order to maintain the loop configuration, the U-shaped terminal end should have more curvature than the U-shaped terminal ends in the preferred embodiment due to the fact that in this embodiment, the support member serves as the guide while a bracket served as the guide in the first embodiment. The slide loop may be secured to the adjustment link and support member by a bolt and simultaneously lock the height adjustment. It should be noted that in the loop configuration, the slide can be both the retaining mechanism and the mechanism which locks the adjustment link to the support member or it can be a separate element which only serves as the retaining mechanism. In the configuration where the slide only serves as the retaining mechanism, a bracket attached at the end of the adjustment link can be used to lock the adjustment link to the support member.
These retainer configurations ensure that the adjustment link will not swing away from the support member during the height adjustment process. Furthermore, these configurations ensure that the adjustable basketball backboard support system is easy-to-use and safe.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.