Patent Application
20120196725
The field of the disclosure is athletic training devices.
This application does not claim the benefit of any prior applications.
(1) Field of the Invention
Athletes that participate in soccer, football, tennis, basketball, and other sports frequently train to enhance and develop their speed, agility, and power. These athletes often use obstacle devices such as hurdles to train at the amateur and professional levels. Many individuals who are not competitive athletes also use hurdles to maintain physical fitness.
(2) Description of Related Art
Prior art hurdles currently used by athletes include assemblies of multiple parts that are expensive to manufacture and purchase. These hurdles are difficult to store and transport, and if any part of the hurdle is lost the device becomes inoperable. Other prior art hurdles are composed of a single part and have a rigid structure that can result in injury when an athlete hits or trips over the hurdle. These rigid hurdles are expensive to manufacture and purchase and are also difficult for users to store and transport.
The universal cone hurdle solves many of the problems associated with prior art hurdles. The universal cone hurdle provides a multiple-use stackable hurdle designed to be compatible with standard traffic-type athletic cones and standard disc-shaped athletic cones. The universal cone hurdle is inexpensive to manufacture and purchase and is easily transported. The universal cone hurdle also lessens the likelihood of injury because it is not rigid when assembled with standard athletic cones.
The Universal Cone Hurdle is an exercise hurdle apparatus that may be adapted for use with standard traffic-type or disc-shaped athletic cones. Athletic cones often take two shapes. The first type is conical and is referred to as a “traffic-style cone.” A traffic-style cone is depicted as item 6 in
An embodiment of the invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings. Elements in the drawings are not to scale, and like reference numbers indicate like elements throughout the drawings.
The upper tips 7 of each end member 2, 3 are adapted for mounting upside-down on top of two spaced disc-shaped athletic cones 8, so that the upper tip 7 of each end member 2, 3 rests within the aperture 9 found in the upper tip 10 of each of the spaced disc-shaped athletic cones 8, as depicted in
In this embodiment, the end members 2, 3 contain a hollow recess 5. The end members 2, 3 are connected by a central longitudinal bar member 4 that contains a hollow recess 13. Because this embodiment of the apparatus 1 is substantially hollow, the apparatus 1 may be stacked for storage and transport,
The foregoing description of preferred embodiments for this invention is presented for purposes of illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. Obvious modifications or variations are possible in light of the above teachings. The embodiments are chosen and described in an effort to provide the best illustrations of the principles of the invention and its practical applications, and to thereby enable one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. All such modifications and variations are within the scope of the invention as determined by the appended claims when interpreted in accordance with the breadth to which they are fairly, legally, and equitably entitled.
