Travel Hoop

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field Of The Invention

In general, the present invention relates to portable basketball goal assemblies of the type that utilize a blow-molded hollow base that is weighted with water or sand for stability. More particularly, the present invention relates to how the portable basketball goal assemblies are designed and packaged for shipping to a customer.

2. Prior Art Description

Many people own portable basketball goal assemblies. These types of assemblies have a basketball rim and a backboard mounted atop a pole. The pole is attached to a portable base. In order for a portable basketball goal assembly to be safe, it must be stable so it will not tip during play or during high winds. The best way to make a portable basketball goal assembly stable is to provide the assembly with a base that is both wide and heavy. The wider and heavier the base, the more stable the basketball goal assembly becomes. The obvious problem is that wide and heavy bases are expensive to package and ship. A large and heavy base may also prevent a customer from being able to transport the product from a retailer.

It is for these reasons that most portable basketball goal assemblies are provided with a hollow blow-molded base. Although the blow-molded base is large and bulky, the blow-molded base is very lightweight. To provide the weight needed for stability, the blow-molded base is filled with water, sand or gel when the portable basketball goal assembly is assembled by the consumer.

When a consumer purchases the portable basketball goal assembly, the blow-molded base is packaged with a backboard, a rim, pole segments, various brackets, and the hardware needed to assemble all the parts. This requires a large box. The use of large boxes limits the number of products that can be packed in a shipping container or truck. The use of large boxes also makes it difficult to inventory the assemblies in a store or warehouse. The use of large boxes also makes it expensive to ship products to consumers who order the product on-line. Lastly, the use of large boxes makes it difficult for consumers to transport the product from a retail store. Since there are so many disadvantages to using a large box, there is great incentive to reduce the size of the box. In the prior art, the one way to reduce the size of the box is to reduce the size of the blow-molded base. However, since the size of the blow-molded base is proportional to the stability of the base, a small base has less stability. Consequently, a small base often requires that the base be staked or bolted to the ground to increase stability. Such prior art bases are exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 6,776,734 to Van Nimwegen.

Another technique to make the packaging box smaller is to form the blow-molded base with surface reliefs that are sized to receive other parts of the basketball goal assembly. For example, the blow-molded base can have external depressions for holding the rim or segments of the pole. Such prior art systems are exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 7,691,015 to Nye. This system reduces the space needed to package but also reduces the internal volume of the blow-molded base. Accordingly, a larger blow-molded base must be used for stability and the net reduction in packaging size is limited.

A need therefore exists for a portable basketball goal assembly that has a stable base that can be filled with ballast, but requires packaging that is significantly smaller than that used in the prior art. This need is met by the present invention as described and claimed below.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a travel basketball hoop assembly that can be packaged in a space efficient manner. The travel basketball hoop assembly has a backboard and a rim. The backboard can be a subassembly of interconnected backboard sections. A rim mounts to the backboard.

Pole segments are provided that can be assembled into a pole for elevating the backboard and the rim. A base is provided that has a first shell section and a second shell section that can be selectively joined and separated. When joined, the first shell section and the second shell section create a base that defines an internal compartment. The internal compartment is sized to receive and retain the pole sections, the backboard and/or the rim prior to assembly. Thus, the base can act as the packaging of the unassembled basketball goal assembly.

Once the components of the basketball goal assembly are removed from the base and are assembled, a bladder can be filled with ballast within the base. This weights the base and provides stability to the assembled basketball goal assembly.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the present invention, reference is made to the following description of an exemplary embodiment thereof, considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary embodiment of a travel basketball hoop assembly packaged in the base of the assembly;

FIG. 2 shows the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 1 in an unpackaged and assembled condition;

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the embodiment of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 shows an exploded view of the embodiment of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 shows the base of the exemplary embodiment containing a filled bladder.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Although the present invention travel basketball hoop assembly can be embodied in many ways, only one exemplary embodiment is illustrated. The exemplary embodiment is being shown for the purposes of explanation and description. The exemplary embodiment is selected in order to set forth one of the best modes contemplated for the invention. The illustrated embodiment, however, is merely exemplary and should not be considered a limitation when interpreting the scope of the appended claims.

Referring to FIG. 1, FIG. 2, and FIG. 3, a travel basketball hoop assembly 10 is shown. The travel basketball hoop assembly 10 has a backboard 12, a rim 14, a pole 16, pole brackets 18, and a base 20. As will be explained, all the components that form the basketball goal assembly 10 fit inside the base 20. Accordingly, the base 20 itself can serve as the packaging for the entirety of the portable goal assembly 10. In this manner, the base 20 can remain large while the overall volume required by packaging becomes greatly reduced. The travel basketball hoop assembly also contains the hardware and simple tools needed to assemble the system. As such, the travel basketball hoop assembly 10 is self-contained and no outside tools are required for assembly.

In the basketball goal assembly 10, the backboard 12 is modular in construction and contains at least two backboard sections that are joined during assembly. In the shown embodiment, the backboard 12 has three backboard sections 21, 22, 23 that are assembled. All of the backboard sections 21, 22, 23 are sized so that the backboard sections 21, 22, 23 are capable of fitting inside the base 20. Once the backboard 12 is assembled, the rim 14 is attached to the backboard 12.

The pole 16 contains a plurality of segments that interconnect. In the shown embodiment there are five pole segments 24, 25, 26, 27, 28. It should be understood that more or fewer pole segments can be used. What is of importance is that none of the pole segments 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 are longer than can be accommodated inside the base 20. Once the pole segments 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 are assembled into the full pole 16, the backboard 12 is attached to the top segment 24 of the pole 16. The opposite bottom segment 28 of the pole 16 is connected to the base 20. The pole backets 18 are used to reinforce the connection between the pole 16 and the base 20.

The base 20 contains a bladder 30 that can be selectively filled with a ballast such as water, sand or gel. The bladder 30 provides weight to the base 20 needed to stabilize the pole 16, backboard 12 and rim 14.

Referring to FIG. 3 and FIG. 1, it can be seen that the base 20 has a clamshell design. The base 20 has an upper shell section 32 and a lower shell section 34 that are connected at one side with hinges 36. This enables the upper shell section 32 to open and close relative to the lower shell section 34 in the manner of a suitcase. Furthermore, the lower shell section 34 has wheels 38 at one end and a handle 40 at the opposite end. As a result, when the base 20 is closed, the base 20 can be lifted, pulled, and rolled in the same manner as a suit case. A pole anchor 42 is either mounted or molded into the lower shell section 34. The pole anchor 42 is a short section of pole that can pass into the bottom pole segment 28 during assembly, therein anchoring the position of the pole 16 relative to the base 20. A slide panel 44 is provided on the upper shell section 32. The slide panel 44 can be selectively opened and closed and provides access to the pole anchor 42 through the upper shell section 32.

The upper shell section 32 and the lower shell section 34 of the base 20 define an internal compartment 46 when closed. The volume of the internal compartment 46 is large enough to hold the backboard sections 21, 22, 23, the rim 14, the pole segments 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, the pole brackets 18, the hardware 48 and the uninflated bladder 30. The hardware 38 includes nuts, bolts, washers, pins, and the tools needed for assembly. Reliefs 50 are molded into the surface of the upper shell section 32 that face the internal compartment 46. The reliefs 50 are shaped to receive the pole segments 24, 25, 26, 27, 28. The rim 14 and the backboard sections 21, 22, 23 rest atop the pole segments 24, 25, 26, 27, 28. There is room on the sides of the backboard sections 21, 22, 23 to receive the pole brackets 18 and the hardware 48. The bladder 30 rests atop the backboard sections 21, 22, 23. An opposing relief 52 is molded into the surface of the lower shell section 34 that faces the internal compartment 46. The opposing relief 52 accommodates the components that extend beyond the upper shell section 32 within the internal compartment 46. The result is a close fit between the dimensions of the internal compartment 46 and the components that are stored within the internal compartment 46. The close fit prevents the components from moving out of place when packaged within the closed base 20.

The base 20 of the basketball goal assembly 10 can serve as its own packaging. As is shown in FIG. 1, all the components of the basketball goal assembly 10 fit within the internal compartment 46 between the upper shell section 32 and the lower shell section 34. The base 20 can be secured for retail sale with only some tape and/or labels. The base 20 contains both wheels 38 and a handle 40 that make the overall package easy to maneuver and transport.

Referring to FIG. 4 in conjunction with FIG. 5 and FIG. 3, it will be understood that when taken to a location by a consumer, the base 20 is opened. The contents of the internal compartment 46 are removed. The bladder 30 is returned to the internal compartment 46 and filled. The bladder 30, when full, has a shape that can be snuggly contained within the internal compartment 46 of the closed base 20. The bladder 30 has one or more openings to fill and/or drain the bladder 30 with ballast material.

Once the bladder 30 is full, the upper shell section 32 of the base 20 is closed over the lower shell section 34. The two shell sections 32, 34 are locked using a locking mechanism 54 provided on the base 20. This provides a completed, heavy, and stable support for the overall basketball goal assembly 10. The backboard 12 is assembled and the rim 14 is attached to the backboard 12. The pole 16 is assembled and the backboard 12 is attached to the pole 16. The slide panel 44 on the base 20 is opened and the bottom segment 28 of the pole 16 is inserted into the base, wherein the pole 16 is received by the pole anchor 42 inside the base 20. The pole brackets 18 are then used to attach the pole 16 to the exterior of the base 20 using the hardware 48 provided.

It will be understood that the embodiment of the present invention that is illustrated and described is merely exemplary and that a person skilled in the art can make many variations to that embodiment. For instance, the size and shape of the backboard 12 can be varied. The number of sections used to construct the backboard 12 can be varied. The number of pole segments can be varied. Furthermore, the backboard 12 can be provided with a height adjustment system. All such embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the present invention as defined by the claims.