Collapsible/portable soccer goal

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6432002
  • Patent Number
    6,432,002
  • Date Filed
    Monday, May 10, 1999
    25 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, August 13, 2002
    22 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Examiners
    • Graham; Mark S.
    Agents
    • Lackenbach Siegel Marzullo Aronson & Greenspan
Abstract
A collapsible soccer goal, comprising vertical side frame supports, each having a pair of adjacently disposed vertical section. An elongated top beam having a plurality of adjacently disposed horizontal sections including opposite end sections resting atop the pair of vertical sections; and the vertical and horizontal sections are formed as hollow tubular elements with joints, including corner joints formed by the elongated top beam with the pair of vertical sections, and the adjacently disposed sections are all joined together by a plurality of bar means. Each vertical side frame support further includes at least a plurality of adjustable/extendible or telescoping struts; and the plurality of adjustable/extendible or telescoping struts forms a truss-like structure connectable to a vertical section for supporting the vertical and horizontal sections as a unitary soccer goal in a vertical upright position orthogonal to ground.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




FIELD OF THE INVENTION




The invention relates to an improved collapsible or portable soccer goal that can be assembled and disassembled quickly on the field, and which is readily transportable by a person in a car or vehicle as the various components of such soccer goal “break down” into a plurality of smaller elements that can be packaged simply and/or easily handled, stored and transported or shipped.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




The invention is achieved by a collapsible/portable soccer goal, comprising vertical side frame supports, each having a pair of adjacently disposed vertical sections, with an elongated top beam having a plurality of adjacently disposed horizontal sections including opposite end sections resting atop the pair of vertical sections. The vertical and horizontal sections are formed as hollow tubular elements with joints, including corner joints formed by said elongated top beam with said pair of vertical sections, and said adjacently disposed sections joined together by a plurality of bar means. Each vertical side frame support further includes at least a plurality of adjustable/extendible or telescoping struts, and the said plurality of adjustable/extendible or telescoping struts form a truss-like structure connectable to a vertical section for supporting said vertical and horizontal sections as a unitary soccer goal in a vertical upright position orthogonal to the ground.




The invention is also further achieved by a collapsible/portable soccer goal comprising vertical side frame supports, each having a pair of adjacently disposed vertical sections with an elongated top beam having a plurality of horizontal sections including opposite end sections resting atop said pair of vertical sections. The vertical and horizontal sections are formed as hollow tubular elements with joints, including corner joints formed by said elongated top beam with said pair of vertical sections, and said joints adjacently disposed sections joined together by a plurality of bar means. Each vertical side frame support further includes a plurality of fixed length struts and adjustable/extendible or telescoping struts, and each of said plurality of fixed length struts and adjustable/extendible or telescoping struts forms a truss-like structure connectable to a vertical section for supporting said vertical and horizontal sections as a unitary soccer goal in a vertical upright position orthogonal to the ground.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS




These and other objects, features and characteristics of the present invention will be more fully apparent, understood and appreciated from the ensuing detailed description, when read with reference to the various figures of the accompanying drawings, wherein:





FIG. 1

is a front perspective view of my new and improved collapsible/portable soccer goal in a set-up condition;





FIG. 2

is a top plan view thereof;





FIG. 3

is a right side supporting structure, in perspective, with the top horizontal beam shown “broken away”;





FIG. 4

is an enlarged partial view of the right side-rear bottom corner connection of the rear telescoping strut to the collapsible (folded) channel-shape bottom support member;





FIG. 5

is an enlarged partial view of the right side—front corner connection;





FIG. 6

is an enlarged partial view of the right side—rear center connection of the rear telescoping strut to the three reinforcing struts connected to the right vertical goal post;





FIG. 7

is an enlarged partial view of the right side—rear top corner connection of the rear telescoping strut to the top right corner struts which form a right triangle with the top horizontal beam;





FIG. 8

is an enlarged partial view of the right side—front top cover connection of the right vertical goal post to the rearwardly extending top side struts;





FIG. 9A

is an enlarged partial view of the connection of the top side (bracing) strut to the top horizontal beam;





FIG. 9B

is an enlarged partial view of the connection of the middle reinforcing strut to the right vertical goal post;





FIG. 10

is an enlarged partial view of the connection at the point where the three reinforcing struts are connected together;





FIG. 11

is an enlarged partial view of the rear connection between the two rearwardly extending top side struts (without the rear telescoping strut);





FIG. 12A

to


12


E are perspective views of the various brackets used to make the connections described and shown in the various figures dealing with “connections”;





FIG. 13

is an enlarged fragmentary view of the corner connection between the top horizontal beam and the right side vertical goal post;





FIG. 14

is another enlarged fragmentary view of a typical connection between other mating parts of either the vertical goal post or the top horizontal beam; and





FIGS. 15A

,


15


B and


16


show typical goal post and beam profiles (round, oval and square, respectively), with

FIG. 16

also showing one of many clips used to secure either a soccer net or kickback-screen to the two vertical goal posts and the horizontal beam forming the soccer goal.











DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS




Referring to the attached drawings, wherein like numerals are employed for like elements, and more particularly to

FIGS. 1-16

, there is shown an improved collapsible/portable soccer goal


20


of the present invention. As shown therein, it comprises a pair of vertical side frame supports


22


,


23


, each having adjacently disposed vertical sections


24


,


24


′,


24


″, (for example, 4′, 3′ and 1′ long each) which together with an elongated top beam


26


having a plurality of or six (4 feet long) adjacently disposed horizontal sections


28


,


28


′, form a regulation 24 foot width soccer goal or a reduced, practice size goal post which has a smaller goal opening of 16 or 20 feet by the removal of one or two of the four foot horizontal sections, respectively.




As best shown in

FIGS. 1-12

, each of the vertical side frame supports


22


,


23


include a plurality of adjustable/extendible or telescoping struts


30


,


32


,


34


and


36


and suitably a plurality of fixed length struts


38


,


40


and


42


(which may, if desired, also be adjustable/extendible or telescoping if one also prefers that the soccer goal be less than eight feet high, such as in a seven foot high goal used in practice by schools, colleges and/or other organizations). All of the horizontal and vertical sections have a 4 inch “face” (regulation width) whether the tubular form thereof is round, oval or square, as shown in

FIGS. 15A

,


15


B and


16


. Note also that while struts


32


,


34


generally stay together when the goal post is disassembled, they may also be separated by removal of fastener


33


.




In

FIGS. 13 and 14

, typical joints are illustrated. For example, the two top corner angular joints


39


and


41


(as shown in

FIGS. 1

,


3


,


8


and


13


) form 45° angles and the mating vertical section


24


″ and horizontal section


28


′ preferably have a plurality of right angle flat bars


44


mounted in slots


46


formed internally in both the tubular formed horizontal and vertical sections. Two flat bars


44


are shown secured in place by suitable fasteners (not shown) passing through apertures


48


in the sections and engaging with mating threaded holes, shown as apertures


50


, in the right angle bars


44


. Four round bars may be employed together with flat bars


44


or in place thereof, as shown in FIG.


14


. The uppermost vertical end section


24


″ is suitably shorter than the remaining vertical sections


24


and


24


′. The two vertical goal posts may be provided with at least a single one-foot section below section


24


″ (not shown) for enabling the goal post height to be adjustable, for example, from 8 feet to 7 feet (as is generally utilized for practice).





FIG. 14

,


15


A,


15


B, and


16


suitably illustrate the employment of the four round apertures


52


used with four pins/bars


54


for aligning and maintaining “flush” joints between various sections of the goal post. The four pins/bars


54


with suitable tapered ends are fitted in the mating apertures


52


of both mating sections and are provided with a “snugtight” fit. Such pin/bar connectors


54


aid in holding the two mating sections together, and keep all of the vertical and horizontal sections straight “as an arrow”, while preventing any bending of the posts and beam, particularly when under sudden impact by a ball or player. A greater or lesser number of pins/bars may be utilized as may be desired for the various joints. Also, suitable fasteners, such as set screws/mat (not shown), may be used to further secure in place said pins/bars


54


, if desired.




All sections, vertical or horizontal, are further provided with groove means


56


at the back or rear surfaces


58


which extend inwardly toward the center axis of the tubular sections in such grooves


56


serve for holding latches as will be explained hereinafter, and are used for mounting the net and/or kick back screen by means of a plurality of J-shaped clips


60


(while both net and kick back are shown, only one is used at any one time). The groove means


56


are also further employed to mount the bracket


62


shown in

FIG. 12E

which is used to secure the front ends of the struts


34


,


36


to both the vertical and horizontal sections


24


′,


28


′, respectively. Suitable fasteners


64


and


66


secure the brackets


62


to the vertical and horizontal sections, respectively (as best shown in FIGS.


2


and


3


). Other suitable fasteners


68


and


70


provide the bracket to strut connection.




The bracket


62


is also used to mount the strut


40


to about the midpoint of the vertical (goal posts) sections


24


,


24


′. The bracket


68


is mounted to the extendible strut


30


, and the telescoping strut


32


is connected at its lower end to such bracket


68


. At the upper rear end of the strut


32


, inserubrackets


70


,


72


are used to mount the three adjustable/extendible or telescoping struts


32


,


34


and


36


, which all come together at such upper rear end of the collapsible/portable soccer goal. An enlarged detail of this upper rear end connection is clearly shown in

FIGS. 7 and 11

, as are all other connections and brackets or insert/brackets in

FIGS. 4-6

,


8


-


10


,


12


and


13


. The remaining insert/bracket


74


connects the strut


34


to the bracket


62


in the top front (right hand) corner of the soccer goal. The bracket


70


is also used to secure the lower rear end of strut


32


to the bracket


68


located on the extendible strut


30


, as best shown in FIG.


4


. Adjustable strut


34


is provided with a plurality of apertures


69


at both ends thereof for the adjustment of its overall length including that of its insert brackets


72


,


74


, and strut


30


is comprised of two equally long elements hinged together at joint


86


by means of a suitable hinge (not shown) mounted inside the U-shaped channel forming such strut


30


.




In

FIG. 6

, the three fixed struts


38


,


40


and


42


(which could also be adjustable/extendible or telescopic, as noted, should one desire to shorten the goalpost height by one foot to seven feet in lieu of a regulation eight foot height) are all simply mounted by a fastener


80


secured to a rear strut


32


. With such a shorter goalpost, another vertical section of, say, one foot would need to be provided in order to readily lower the beam from eight feet to seven feet. The adjustable/extendible or telescoping struts would be of variable lengths enabling their reaching all brackets dependent upon the different goal post heights desired for practice and tournament play.





FIG. 5

shows one of the front vertical sections


24


suitably connected to extendible strut


30


by hinge means


82


with the strut


38


secured by fastener


84


to base strut


30


. In this connection, it will be appreciated that the base strut is thus suitably made to hingedly fold about itself, as shown by the joint line


86


, and suitable against the lower vertical section


24


for ease of storage/packaging and compactness.




The adjustable/extendible or telescopic struts may be of convention construction, such as square, round or other shaped profile with the “overall length” all of the various struts enabling all elements and parts and/or sub-assemblies of the goalpost to fit into a vehicle trunk or into a rear baggage area where the rear seat is removable or folds down. This will enable no one part of the portable goal to be longer than the depth or width of a large car trunk or hatchback area of a sedan or coupe where the rear seats project forward to enable long items, such as skis or fishing poles, to be placed or stored.




Also, it will be appreciated that anchoring stakes or auger mounts (not shown) may be employed with the present invention in order to securely hold the soccer goal to the ground. In a like manner, latch means, such as the Southern latch, which has a keeper, is available from the Reid Tool Supply Company and may be employed in the groove means


56


about the joints between the sections to hold same tightly together. This is particularly desirable in the vertical sections wherein one can conceivable be pinched in a minute gap that may open up ever so slightly at a joint in the event of a hard kicked soccer ball or player impacting directly against or at an angle to the goal posts. Of course, while latches are also employed at all of the joints in the horizontal beam, any such “pinching” is clearly out of reach as said beam is normally eight feet above ground. In addition, the groove means


56


may be provided deeply within the tubular sections so that clamping of the latches at each joint is closer to the axis of the tubular sections. Such arrangement provides for a better joint as locking of the two adjacently disposed sections is near the axis of the sections and not near the outer peripheral wall surfaces. Also, insert bracket


70


,


72


and


74


all enable their mating strut adjustable/extendible and is analogous to the telescoping strut


32


insofar as my invention is concerned. Moreover, while I show alternate tubular sizes (small and large) for each insert bracket, one size may be employed so that all of the apertures illustrated (four shown) may be used to provide an even greater length for the adjustment feature, in lieu of telescoping tubes. Furthermore, the angles adjustable/extendible or telescoping strut


36


, as shown in

FIGS. 3 and 11

, pivots about fastener


100


as shown by arrow


102


when fastener


104


is removed for storage or transporting same to a site for assembly with strut


34


being maintained held to strut


32


by the fastener


33


.




While a tubular square form of section, such as shown in

FIG. 16

, is shown in

FIGS. 1-14

, both the round (

FIG. 15A

) and the oval (

FIG. 15B

) are alternative forms for use as vertical and horizontal sections as long as they meet the NCAA regulation, which specifies that all goal posts must have four 4 inch face widths.




It will also be appreciated in the practice of the invention that the corner joints (


24


″ and


28


″), may if desired, be welded together so as to greatly reduce assembly time, and also to aid in packaging and/or storage as a few of the remaining vertical and horizontal sections may be “tied” along side with each other to minimize the size of a packed bundle of parts.




Although the present invention has been described in some detail by way of illustration and example for purposes of clarity and understanding, it will, of course, be understood that various charges and modifications may be made with the form, details and arrangements of the parts without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.



Claims
  • 1. A collapsible soccer goal, comprising:vertical side frame supports each having a pair of adjacently disposed vertical sections; an elongated top beam having a plurality of adjacently disposed horizontal sections including opposite end sections resting atop said pair of vertical sections; said vertical and horizontal sections formed as hollow tubular elements with joints, including corner joints formed by said elongated top beam with said pair of vertical sections, and said adjacently disposed sections joined together by a plurality of bar means; each said vertical side frame support further including at least a plurality of adjustable/extendible or telescoping struts; and said plurality of adjustable/extendible or telescoping struts forming a truss-like structure connectable to a vertical section for supporting, said vertical and horizontal sections as a unitary soccer goal in a vertical upright position orthogonal to ground, wherein said adjustable/extendible or telescoping struts have opposite ends, and comprise top and rear struts fastened together at a common top end connection, and at their opposite ends to a vertical section, and to an adjustable/extendible or telescoping base strut connected to said vertical section, and including a plurality of fixed length struts connected together at one end, and to about mid-point of said rear adjustable/extendible or telescoping strut, so as to generally form a pair of right triangular frames with a common side strut extending about perpendicular to said vertical section.
  • 2. The collapsible soccer goal of claim 1, further including corner struts connecting said corner joints with said elongated top beam.
  • 3. The collapsible soccer goal of claim 2, wherein said corner struts are collapsible for storage.
  • 4. The collapsible soccer goal of claim 1, wherein said plurality of fixed length struts are three, and pivot generally together about said one end so as to minimize storage space when said fixed length struts are stored together as a unit apart from the adjustable/extendible or telescoping struts and said sections.
  • 5. The collapsible soccer goal of claim 1, wherein said plurality of fixed length struts are angular in form.
  • 6. The collapsible soccer goal of claim 2, wherein said vertical and horizontal sections have generally continuous groove means.
  • 7. The collapsible soccer goal of claim 6, further including a plurality of brackets mounted to said groove means for connection with said top and corner struts, and to a plurality of said fixed struts.
  • 8. The collapsible soccer goal of claim 7, wherein one of said fixed length struts is attached to said base strut.
  • 9. The collapsible soccer goal of claim 6, including a net having edges secured to said groove means in said horizontal and vertical sections for capturing a soccer ball passing within said soccer goal.
  • 10. The collapsible soccer goal of claim 9, further including a plurality of clips for holding the edges of said net in said groove means.
  • 11. The collapsible soccer goal of claim 6, further including latch means mounted to said groove means for maintaining improved joint connections between said sections.
  • 12. A collapsible soccer goal, comprising:vertical side frame supports each having a pair of adjacently disposed vertical sections; an elongated top beam having a plurality of adjacently disposed horizontal sections including opposite end sections resting atop said pair of vertical sections; said vertical and horizontal sections formed as hollow tubular elements with joints, including corner joints formed by said elongated top beam with said pair of vertical sections, and said adjacently disposed sections joined together by a plurality of bar means; each said vertical side frame support further including at least a plurality of adjustable/extendible or telescoping struts; and said plurality of adjustable/extendible or telescoping struts forming a truss-like structure connectable to a vertical section for supporting said vertical and horizontal sections as a unitary soccer goal in a vertical upright position orthogonal to ground, wherein said adjustable/extendible or telescoping struts have opposite ends, and comprise top and rear struts fastened together at a common top end connection, and at their opposite ends to a vertical section, and to an adjustable/extendible or telescoping base strut connected to said vertical section, and wherein each of said base struts is made of two base members hinged together, and at one end thereof to a bottom end of said vertical sections which contact the ground.
  • 13. The collapsible soccer goal of claim 12, wherein said base members are formed of channel-shaped elements.
  • 14. The collapsible soccer goal of claim 12, including means for securing said base struts to ground.
  • 15. A collapsible soccer goal, comprising:vertical side frame supports each having a pair of adjacently disposed vertical sections; an elongated top beam having a plurality of adjacently disposed horizontal sections including opposite end sections resting atop said pair of vertical sections; said vertical and horizontal sections formed as hollow tubular elements with joints, including corner joints formed by said elongated top beam with said pair of vertical sections, and said adjacently disposed sections joined together by a plurality of bar means; each said vertical side frame support further including at least a plurality of adjustable/extendible or telescoping struts; and said plurality of adjustable/extendible or telescoping struts forming a truss-like structure connectable to a vertical section for supporting said vertical and horizontal sections as a unitary soccer goal in a vertical upright position orthogonal to ground, wherein said vertical and horizontal sections are tubular in form wherein said sections having internally formed passageways for mounting said plurality of bar means which secure said vertical and horizontal sections together, wherein said bar means for the corner joints are flat bars, and wherein said bar means for all other joints between said vertical and horizontal sections are a plurality of round bars.
  • 16. The collapsible soccer goal of claim 15, wherein said plurality of round bars have tapered ends.
RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation-in-Part of my earlier U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/770,551, filed Dec. 23, 1996, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,902,195, granted May. 11, 1999, which in turn is a Continuation-in-Part of my U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/354,477, filed Dec. 12, 1994, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,586,768, granted Dec. 24, 1996; which in turn is related to my U.S. patent application Ser. No. 180,282, filed Jan. 12, 1994, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,372,368, granted Dec. 13, 1994, all of which are incorporated herein by reference.

US Referenced Citations (6)
Number Name Date Kind
4368891 Neisius Jan 1983 A
4407507 Caruso et al. Oct 1983 A
5186469 Terris Feb 1993 A
5372368 Pavonetti Dec 1994 A
5586768 Pavonetti Dec 1996 A
5902195 Pavonetti May 1999 A
Foreign Referenced Citations (2)
Number Date Country
2122323 Nov 1972 DE
2636659 Sep 1988 FR
Continuation in Parts (2)
Number Date Country
Parent 08/770551 Dec 1996 US
Child 09/307884 US
Parent 08/354477 Dec 1994 US
Child 08/770551 US