Patent Application
20210031090
The following is a tabulation of some prior art that presently appears relevant:
U.S. Patents
U.S. Patent Application Publication
Many training devices exist to build arm strength and improve technique in the skill of passing a football. Of the techniques for building arm strength that use a football, most involve either a net or a throwing partner. An apparatus that could be used by a single player to throw continuously would be of great value to many players who seek to improve their throwing strength and technique while also practicing the skills of catching and handling the ball.
There are many types of tethered ball arrangements and several that involve a football, but to date there is no apparatus that will allow a player, using a regulation style football, to throw and then consistently catch his own pass. The main reason for the inconsistency of tethered football arrangements is the shape of the football. In a tethered football apparatus used for passing the ball, the method must involve the ball striking the ground and rebounding to the player. An unmodified football's shape does not allow for a consistent bounce, and so a passer must spend a great deal of time and effort retrieving passes that are returned either skidding along the ground or veering sharply off to either side. My invention allows a player to throw a regulation style football while consistently catching his own passes.
Various tethered ball arrangements are known in the art. Such tethered ball arrangements are commonly used for many types of balls, including toy balls, soccer balls, volleyballs, tether balls and the like, and for other projectiles such as shuttlecocks. Examples of such tethered ball and object arrangements are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 289,221; 3,790,171; 3,709,491; 4,235,042; 4,240,592; 4,352,497 and 5,058,883.
Tethered footballs are also known which enable a person to practice various football skills, such as kicking, punting, passing and field goal kicking in which the ball is automatically returned to the person engaging in the practice. Examples of such systems are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,227,450; 4,991,840; 3,525,523; 3,804,409; 4,350,338; and 5,031,910.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,227,450, 4,991,840 and 3,525,523 relate to a tethered football for practicing kicking. The footballs disclosed in these patents are secured to shock cords, which, in turn, are anchored to the ground with two stakes. These balls allow the user to practice kicking but not throwing or catching.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,804,409; 4,350,338 and 4,350,338 disclose tethered footballs anchored to the ground with shock cord and one stake. These balls are suitable for practicing various football skills including kicking and passing, but because the ball will be returned in a series of hops or skips these devices do not allow the user to catch the ball in the air on its return.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,031,910 is a device that allows for the catching of the ball, but the ball must be released by another person and is not thrown.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,772,542 and U.S. Pat. application US 2004/0204299 A1 disclose tethered footballs (in one embodiment of US 2004/0204299 A1) that do not use a stake but attach to the thrower's wrist or other part of the body. These balls do not contain a modified bladder and so will not have a consistent bounce back to the thrower; rather the ball will bounce erratically when it strikes the ground on one of the ends rather than toward the ball's center. While the thrower may be able to catch some passes on the ball's return, many passes will be returned either skipping along the ground or bouncing drastically off to one side or another and not allowing for a catch.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,853,339 and 3,940,133 disclose a ball retrieving apparatus that attaches a ball to a person's wrist using an elastic rubber band. The apparatus disclosed in 3,940,133 includes a football that is not a regulation football but a ball constructed of lightweight thermoplastic foam having a plurality of apertures within the surface of the football. Since the ball is made of lightweight foam and contains apertures it does not resemble a regulation football and so would not be suitable for practicing competitive football skills. The apparatus disclosed in 3,940,133 also includes a football that is not a regulation football but one constructed of foam and thus is not suitable for simulating the use of a standard competitive football.
A need has thus arisen for a regulation style football apparatus that returns the ball to the passer in a catchable fashion. The football practice apparatus allows a player to throw a forward pass and then catch the returned ball in the air. The return of the ball is achieved on one “hop,” and the player is able to throw and catch the ball numerous times in rapid succession without interruption.
In footballs containing a bladder, the bladder typically inflates to the size and shape of the football. In the football practice apparatus, the ball has a modified rubber bladder of reduced size so that when it is filled with air the bladder does not extend all the way to the ends of football, resulting in a football with softer ends that provides for a consistent bounce no matter which part of the ball strikes the ground. The user is able to practice throwing a regulation style football in order to build arm strength and improve throwing motion and technique. The user is consistently able to catch the pass that he has thrown and then throw the ball again in a way that is very similar to “playing catch” or throwing with a partner.
A football practice apparatus used by a player for independently practicing the skills of throwing and catching an American style football. The football practice apparatus comprises a regulation style football pivotally and detachably communing with segments of elastic shock cord. The regulation style football has a modified rubber bladder of reduced size that allows both ends of the ball to be far more flexible, enabling the ball to achieve a proper and consistent bounce when returning to the player.
The elastic shock cord is anchored to an adjustable wrist support band worn on the player's wrist. When the ball is tossed in a forward direction, the elastic shock cord is stretched in a forward direction. When the elastic shock cord has reached its maximum forward displacement, the ball snaps back toward the player, and after bouncing off the ground one time the ball flies toward the player in the air. Because of the modified bladder and the resulting softer, more flexible ends of the football, the ball bounces back to the player in a consistently catchable fashion. The consistent bounce allows the player to independently throw and catch the ball numerous times in rapid succession. Practicing with the football practice apparatus is much like “playing catch” or throwing and catching with a partner, allowing the user to build arm strength and improve throwing mechanics while also practicing catching and ball handling.
The invention will now further be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying diagrams wherein:
Turning now descriptively to the drawings, in which similar reference characters denote similar elements throughout the several views.
Since obvious changes may be made in the specific embodiment of the invention described herein, such modifications being within the spirit and scope of the invention claimed, it is indicated that all matter contained herein is intended as illustrative and not as limiting in scope.
This application claims the benefit of provisional patent application Ser. No. 62/037,358 filed 2014 Aug. 14 by the present inventor.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62037358 | Aug 2014 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 14824343 | Aug 2015 | US |
| Child | 17074141 | US |
