Patent Application
20230036541
The present invention generally relates to racket sports such as tennis, pickle ball, padel, squash, racquet ball and table tennis. More specifically, it relates to an apparatus for allowing a racket sports athlete to practice alone.
A racket sports rebounder can be an invaluable training tool when a player of tennis, pickle ball, padel, squash, racquet ball and table tennis etc. cannot find a partner. A rebounder can also provide a means of exercise for players who travel. Rebounders continue to evolve and many in the sporting industry have developed portable backboard. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,993,334A, 4,373,720A, 5,664,784A and 20080227571 A1 granted to Schmutte, Lombardi et. al., Redlich and McTavish et. al. respectively disclosed a flat tennis practice backboard that can be hung on a vertical surface. United States Patent No. 20120283046A1 granted to Yamanashi teaches of a mobile backboard stretched between an adjustable frame. U.S. Pat. No. 7,249,767B1 granted to Gorton disclose an A-frame setup ball return system. U.S. Pat. No. 5,116,056 granted to Schmutte disclosed an accordion-shaped backboard ball return system. U.S. Pat. No. 9,155,952B2 granted to Tatsuya Yamanashi disclosed a tennis training apparatus; however, it does not include a swivel bounce board or side guides. U.S. Pat. No. D789,466S1 granted to Sung-Jin Cho, Floyd Tom Smith, and Benjamin Chung disclosed a ball return system; however, it does not include a swivel bounce board or side guides. U.S. Pat. No. 9,950,235B1 granted to Albert Williams disclosed a Portable tennis playing apparatus; however, it does not include a swivel bounce board or side guides. While many of these systems represent an improvement in backboard systems, they do not incorporate sidewalls to accommodate new sports such as pickle ball.
The device herein disclosed and described provides a solution to the shortcomings in the prior art through the disclosure of a practice rebounder. The rebounder is comprised of a metallic frame body, wherein U-shaped legs are fixed on the two sides of the bottom of the frame, a transverse supporting rod is connected between the U-shaped legs, two vertical supporting poles are connected at the top center position of each U-shaped leg, two side bars, the upper of which have arcs which are terminated with L shaped corner units interconnected by a top bar, a swivel bounce board at the bottom and a rebound sheet mounted obliquely and strapped to the frame with bungee cords. The lower portion of the side bars are connected by the swivel bounce board. The upper portion of the side bars provide for a semi-circular fold at the top of the rebound sheet so a ball struck at the middle of the sheet will travel upwards, decelerate, stop and change direction to travel back towards the striker. The upper portion of the side bars also contain side shields that prevent a ball from straying off the side of the apparatus. The various strapping positions between side bars and the sheet (together with the adjustments on the swivel bounce board) determine the duration between shots and the height of the returned ball towards the player. This adjustability allows users to practice many racket sports with a single rebounder. All connections are secured via spring-loaded detents and the product assembly does not require any tools and takes only minutes to assemble. The size and weight of each component allows it to be portable.
An object of the invention is to allow a player to practice racket sports without a partner. A player can setup the rebounder without any tools, apply tension to the return surface by means of bungee cord that allow it to be taut enough to return a ball served at high speeds to the player standing at a distance. When a user delivers a ball to the apparatus, it encounters the flexible rebounder at an angle. Much of the speed of the ball is dissipated and absorbed by the rebounder. The ball then rolls up and contacts a curved, return portion of the rebounder and is redirected back down until it reaches the bottom plate and is ricocheted back the player once again.
Another object of this rebounder is to allow users to practice curve ball shots—such as those routinely performed in rackets sports of tennis, pickle ball, padel, squash, racquet ball and table tennis. When a user performs a slice on the ball with a racquet, the ball spins and can curve to the side of the rebounder. Once the ball arrives at a conventional rebounder, it can bounce off the side and may not return to the player. The current rebounder disclosure has side shields along the upper-curved portion that prevents the ball from leaving the apparatus by dampening the ball's spin and redirecting it back to the sheet towards the user.
Another object of the aforementioned invention is to provide a means to change the height of ball return by a adjusting the angle of the swivel bounce board. For example, if the swivel bounce board is positioned at a lower angle, a ball will be returned at a lower elevation to the player. If the bottom plate is positioned at a higher angle, the ball will be returned at a higher elevation.
Another object of the invention is to provide a means to allow the rebounder to be extremely portable. The rebounder itself is created of tubular steel that can be disassembled and has flexible fabric than can be rolled or folded up. When the frame has been disassembled and the rebound sheet rolled up, it can be carried by a single person and stored in a conventional closet.
As a preferred scheme of the apparatus, several fixing holes to receive bungees are arranged in the side bars. The surface of the intercepting rebound sheet is connected to said side bars by bungees which are in-turn connected to attachment pins on the frame.
As a preferred scheme of the present apparatus, the rebound sheet is made of but not limited to polyester coated PVC fabric with a weave of 1000 D, and the U-shaped legs, the transverse supporting rod, the vertical supporting rods, the first connecting rods, and the second connecting rod are made of a rigid metal such as stainless steel etc. Compared with the prior art, the present apparatus has the following beneficial effects:
1. In the present apparatus, bungees, fixing holes and fixing ropes are provided to facilitate the removal of the rebound sheet so that the apparatus can be used more conveniently.
2. In the present apparatus, the duration between ball returns can be adjusted manually based on how the bungee cords are affixed to the frame. Each of the attachment points on the frame are identified and the upper attachment points determine the durations between rebounds for each of the various racket sports. This duration adjustment is achieved by the slope between the two penultimate highest attachment points and how bungees are secured either below or above the frame rod. The greater the slope, the shorter the duration between shots due to the increase in the speed of the ball and vice versa. A variation including but not limited to between 1.5 and 2.5 seconds between shots can be achieved in this way (a more detailed discussion is included in the detailed description section).
3. In the present apparatus, the height of the returning ball can be also adjusted manually with the angle of the swivel board—thus achieving the versatility of practice for racket sports such as tennis, pickle ball, padel, racquet ball, squash and table tennis etc.
3. In the present apparatus, anti-skid disks and U-shaped legs are provided and employed thereby the stability is improved, and the apparatus can be used more safely.
It is briefly noted that upon a reading this disclosure, those skilled in the art will recognize various means for carrying out these intended features of the invention. As such it is to be understood that other methods, applications and systems adapted to the task may be configured to carry out these features and are therefore considered to be within the scope and intent of the present invention, and are anticipated. With respect to the above description, before explaining at least one preferred embodiment of the herein disclosed invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangement of the components in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention herein described is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways which will be obvious to those skilled in the art. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception upon which this disclosure is based may readily be utilized as a basis for designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present disclosed device. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent construction and methodology insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention. As used in the claims to describe the various inventive aspects and embodiments, “comprising” means including, but not limited to, whatever follows the word “comprising”. Thus, use of the term “comprising” indicates that the listed elements are required or mandatory, but that other elements are optional and may or may not be present. By “consisting of” is meant including, and limited to, whatever follows the phrase “consisting of”. Thus, the phrase “consisting of” indicates that the listed elements are required or mandatory, and that no other elements may be present. By “consisting essentially of” is meant including any elements listed after the phrase, and limited to other elements that do not interfere with or contribute to the activity or action specified in the disclosure for the listed elements. Thus, the phrase “consisting essentially of” indicates that the listed elements are required or mandatory, but that other elements are optional and may or may not be present depending upon whether or not they affect the activity or action of the listed elements.
The objects features, and advantages of the present invention, as well as the advantages thereof over existing prior art, which will become apparent from the description to follow, are accomplished by the improvements described in this specification and hereinafter described in the following detailed description which fully discloses the invention, but should not be considered as placing limitations thereon.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and form a part of the specification, illustrate some, but not the only or exclusive, examples of embodiments and/or features.
Other aspects of the present invention shall be more readily understood when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, and the following detailed description, neither of which should be considered limiting.
In this description, the directional prepositions of up, upwardly, down, downwardly, front, back, top, upper, bottom, lower, left, right and other such terms refer to the device as it is oriented and appears in the drawings and are used for convenience only; they are not intended to be limiting or to imply that the device has to be used or positioned in any particular orientation.
It is additionally noted and anticipated that although the device is shown in its most simple form, various components and aspects of the device may be differently shaped or slightly modified when forming the invention herein. As such those skilled in the art will appreciate the descriptions and depictions set forth in this disclosure or merely meant to portray examples of preferred modes within the overall scope and intent of the invention, and are not to be considered limiting in any manner. While all of the fundamental characteristics and features of the invention have been shown and described herein, with reference to particular embodiments thereof, a latitude of modification, various changes and substitutions are intended in the foregoing disclosure and it will be apparent that in some instances, some features of the invention may be employed without a corresponding use of other features without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth. It should also be understood that various substitutions, modifications, and variations may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.
