Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6464220
-
Patent Number
6,464,220
-
Date Filed
Friday, May 11, 200123 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, October 15, 200221 years ago
-
Inventors
-
-
Examiners
Agents
-
CPC
-
US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 273 10851
- 273 10852
- 273 10854
- 273 10855
- 273 10856
- 273 1081
- 273 10821
- 273 10831
- 273 10832
- 273 119 R
- 273 129 W
- 273 129 V
-
International Classifications
-
Abstract
A retractable rotating rod for football table wherein a plurality of rotating rods connected between two long sides of the football table. Each rotating rod comprises a circular inner tube and a polygonal outer tube in which the inner tube is rotatably and movably received in the outer tube. Two blocks are connected between the outer periphery of the inner tube and the inner periphery of the outer tube. The rear end of the inner tube is fixed to the long side of the table and the front end of the outer tube extends through the other long side of the table so as to be held. A plurality of players each have an engaging hole for the outer tube passing therethrough. A plurality of bolts respectively extend through the players and connected to a angle of the outer tube.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a football table and the rotating rods of the football table include an outer tube and an inner tube retractably received in the outer tube so that the rotating rods are operated smoothly.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A conventional football table
10
is shown in
FIG. 1
, the two long sides
12
of the table
10
have a plurality of parallel rotatable rods
14
and each rod
14
has players
16
connected thereto. A ball on the table
10
is kicked by the players
16
when rotating the rods
14
.
The conventional rods
14
have a fixed length and are wider than the table
10
so that they are able to be moved in a direction of the short sides of the table
10
and move the positions of the players
16
. However, when moving the rods
14
by pushing the handles
141
of the rods
14
, the rear ends
142
of the rods
14
are pushed away from the table
10
and could hit the controllers or persons who stand beside the table
10
.
To improve the shortcoming, another conventional structure is shown in
FIGS. 2 and 3
and includes an inner tube
22
and an outer tube
24
in which the inner tube
22
is received. The rear end of the inner tube
22
is fixedly connected to a long side
26
of the table and the front end of the outer tube
24
extends through the other long side
26
of the table so that the controllers may hold the outer tubes
24
. A plurality of players
27
are connected to the outer tubes
24
and the top of each player
27
is screwed a long bolt
28
downward for being connected to the outer tube
24
. When the controllers push or pull the outer tubes
24
along the inner tubes
22
, the players
27
are moved and the players
27
kick the ball when rotating the outer tubes
24
. By this assembly, the inner tubes
22
will not protrude from the table and hit the controllers.
However, the inner tubes
22
and the outer tubes
24
are thin and circular shaped and there is a tiny gap between the inner tube
22
and the outer tube
24
, so that the long bolts
28
often extend into the inner tubes
22
when connecting the players
27
to the outer tubes
24
. This will affect the smoothness of the operation of the outer tube
24
movable on the inner tube
22
.
Besides, the circular shaped tubes have less structural strength so that the outer tubes tend to be deformed when impacting with objects.
Furthermore, the players are mounted to the outer tubes by a circular hole in the players so that the players have to be fixed with the outer tubes by bolts. However, only one bolt provides a small contact area and the players are easily loosened.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the present invention is to provide a retractable rotating rod and a larger gap is defined between the outer tube and the inner tube so as to prevent the bolt from contacting the inner tubes when connecting the players on the outer tubes.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a retractable rotating rod for a football table wherein the rotating rod has better structural strength.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a retractable rotating rod for a football table wherein the players and the rotating rods are firmly connected with each other so that the players will not loose.
The present invention will be best understood from the following description and accompanying drawings which show, for purposes of illustration only, two preferred embodiments in accordance with the present invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1
is a perspective view to show a conventional football table;
FIG. 2
is a side cross sectional view to show another conventional football table;
FIG. 3
is a sectional view taken along line
3
—
3
of
FIG. 2
;
FIG. 4
is an exploded view to show the football table of the present invention;
FIG. 5
is an exploded view to show the player and the rotating rod of the present invention;
FIG. 6
is a sectional view taken along the axis direction of a rotating rod of
FIG. 4
;
FIG. 7
is a sectional view taken along line
7
—
7
of
FIG. 6
;
FIG. 8
is an exploded view to show a support assembly of the rotating rod of another embodiment of the football table of the present invention, and
FIG. 9
is a cross sectional view to show the connection of the assembly as shown in FIG.
8
.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring to
FIGS. 4
to
7
, a first preferred embodiment of the rotating rod of the present invention is connected to a football table wherein a recessed play area
32
is defined in a top of the table
30
.
A plurality of rotating rods
40
are connected between holes
36
defined in two long sides
34
,
35
of the table in parallel with each other. Each rotating rod
40
includes:
A circular shaped inner tube
42
has a threaded section
43
on the rear end thereof. A fixing member
45
is used to fix the threaded section
43
to the table and includes a sleeve
46
and a nut. The sleeve
46
has a threaded passage
47
so as to be connected to the threaded section
43
, and the sleeve
46
together with the threaded end of the inner tube
42
are inserted in a hole
36
in one of the long sides
34
as shown in FIG.
6
. The rear end of the inner tube
42
protrudes from the long side and the flange
461
of the sleeve
46
contacts an inside of the long side
34
. The nut
48
is connected to the rear end of the inner tube and contacts an outside of the long side
34
so as to fix the rear end of the inner tube
42
to the long side
34
.
An outer tube
50
has a quadrate cross section and the inner tube
42
is received in the outer tube
50
so that the outer tube
50
is able to rotate and move about the inner tube
42
. The front end of the outer tube
50
and the inner tube
42
extend through the other long side
35
of the table and the front end of the outer tube
50
extends out from the inner tube
42
so that the controllers may hold the front end of the outer tube
50
.
Two quadrate blocks
60
and
62
each have a circular hole, the block
60
is located in the inner surface of the rear end of the outer tube
50
and the block
62
is located in the outer surface of the front end of the inner tube
42
so that the inner tube
42
and the outer tube
50
are positioned with each other.
A ring-shaped bearing
65
having a quadrate hole
66
is received in the hole
36
in the long side
35
. A plurality of rollers
68
are embedded in the outer periphery of the bearing
65
so as to reduce rolling friction. Each of the holes
36
in the long side
35
has two rings
69
respectively connected to an inner side and an outer side of the long side
35
as shown in
FIG. 6
so as to retain the bearing
65
. The outer tube extends through the quadrate hole
66
in the bearing
65
.
A plurality of players
70
each has a quadrate engaging hole
72
defined in a mediate section thereof for the outer tube
50
passing therethrough.
A plurality of bolts
75
respectively extend through holes
73
in the players
70
and are connected at a corner of the outer tubes
50
so as to fix the players
70
on the outer tube
50
. As shown in
FIG. 7
, there is enough space between the inner tube
42
and the corner of the outer tube
50
so that the bolts
75
will not contact the inner tubes
42
.
When in use, the controllers hold the handle
52
on the front end of the outer tube
50
and move the outer tube
50
along the inner tube
42
to adjust the positions of the players
70
. The outer tube
50
may rotate about the inner tube
42
to kick a ball in the play area
32
. The bearing
65
is rotated with the outer tube
50
so as to reduce friction between the outer tube
50
and the table.
FIGS. 8 and 9
show another embodiment of the invention wherein the rotating rod
110
further includes a support assembly
120
having a tubular male member
121
and a tubular female member
126
. The male member
121
has a plurality of toothed rings
122
defined in an outer periphery thereof and a recess
123
is defined in an end of the male member
121
. The female member
126
has an engaging ring
127
defined in an inner periphery thereof. A ring-shaped cap
129
is engaged with the recess
123
and the groove
124
of the inner periphery of the male member
121
.
When assembling, a bearing
135
is received in the recess
123
and the ring-shaped cap
129
is then engaged with the recess
123
to retain the bearing
135
. The male member
121
and the female member
126
are respectively inserted in the hole
312
from two sides of the long side
130
. The engaging ring
127
is engaged with a toothed ring
122
to connect the male member
121
and the female member
126
, and the two flanges
125
,
128
of the male member
121
and the female member
126
respectively contact the two sides of the long side
130
. By this assembly, the bearing is fixed in the long side and the rotating rod
110
then pass through the bearing. In this embodiment, no threaded member is required to connect the bearing in the long side of the table.
The features of the present invention are that there is enough space between the inner tube and the outer tube so as to prevent bolts from contacting the inner tube. Therefore, the outer tube is smoothly moved on the inner tube.
The shape of the outer tube is polygonal and has better structural strength which effectively avoids from deformation of the outer tube.
There are multiple contact points between the engaging hole of the player and the outer tube and these contact points are able to bear large torque so that the player will not be loosened.
Claims
- 1. A retractable rotating rod for a football table wherein a plurality of rotating rods are connected between two long sides of a football table, each rotating rod comprising:a circular inner tube; an outer tube having a polygonal cross section with said inner tube rotatably and movably received in said outer tube, there being space between said inner tube and a maximum outer diameter of said outer tube; at least two blocks each having a polygonal outer periphery and a circular hole defined therethrough, said blocks received between an outer periphery of said inner tube and an inner periphery of said outer tube, so that the inner tube and outer tube are positioned with respect to each other; a bearing having a hole matched with said outer periphery of said outer tube and engaged with a first long side of said table; a rear end of said inner tube extending out from a rear end of said outer tube and connected to a second long side of said table; a front end of said outer tube extending out from a front end of said inner tube and engaging with the hole of said bearing and extending through the first long side of said table for holding; a plurality of players each have an engaging hole for said outer tube passing therethrough, said engaging hole being shaped to match with said outer periphery of said outer tube, and a plurality of bolts respectively extending through said players and threadedly connected to engage the maximum outer diameter of said outer tube.
- 2. The rotating rod as claimed in claim 1 wherein said bolt is threadedly connected to a corner of said outer tube.
- 3. The rotating rod as claimed in claim 1 wherein each of said rotating rods comprises a support assembly having a tubular male member and a tubular female member, said male member having a plurality of toothed rings defined in an outer periphery thereof and a recess defined in an end of said male member, a flange extending outwardly from said end of said male member; said female member having an engaging ring defined in an inner periphery thereof; a flange extending outwardly from one end of said female member; a ring-shaped cap engaged with said recess, said male member and said female member respectively inserted in said first long side of said table and said engaging ring engaged with said toothed ring, said two flanges respectively contacting two sides of said long side, said bearing received in said recess.
- 4. The rotating rod as claimed in claim 1 wherein one of said at least two support members is connected to the rear end of said outer tube and the other one of said at least two support members is connected to the front end of said inner tube.
US Referenced Citations (8)
Foreign Referenced Citations (3)
Number |
Date |
Country |
499374 |
Mar 1950 |
BE |
334675 |
Jan 1959 |
CH |
1333073 |
Oct 1973 |
GB |