US3561762A - Portable basketball apparatus with ball return - Google Patents

Abstract

A portable amusement device having a small basket mounted on the underside of the lid of a box so that when the lid is secured in a vertical position a ball can be thrown toward the lid with the object being for the ball to go through the basket. An inclined member is releasably connected with the lid and box in the assembled position to hold the lid in position and to provide a ball return.

Description

United States Patent Merle P. Russell Rte. 3, Rensselaer, Ind. 47978 839,176

July 7. 1969 Feb. 9, 1971 lnventor Appl No Filed Patented PORTABLE BASKETBALL APPARATUS WITHBALL RETURN 10 Claims, 6 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl 273/103, 206/453; 229/23 Int. Cl A63b 63/04 Field of Search 273/103,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 921.366 5/1909 Conolly .7 273/105 922,717 5/1909 Parker 273/105 Primary Examiner-Anton O. Oechsle Assistant ExaminerMarvin S. Siskind Attorney-John R. Nesbitt ABSTRACT: A portable amusement device having a small basket mounted on the underside of the lid of a box so that when the lid is secured in a vertical position a ball can be thrown toward the lid with the object being for the ball to go through the basket. An inclined member is releasably connected with the lid and box in the assembled position to hold the lid in position and to provide a ball return.

PATENTEU FEB 9 WI 7 INVENTOR.

MERLEP. RUSSELL ATTORNEY PORTABLE BASKETBALL APPARATUS WITH BALL RETURN BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to an amusement device and, more particularly, to a portable amusement device that can be easily assembled and disassembled.

2. Description of the Prior Art It is oftentimes desirable, particularly in the use by children, to provide a number of amusements that can be quickly as sembled and utilized, often for short periods of time, and then quickly disassembled and perhaps used in another location, or stored until again used at a later date. If such an amusement device is not portable, is difficult to assemble or disassemble, or requires appreciable time for assembly or disassembly, the device may not be utilized at all, or may be utilized so infrequently as to render it virtually useless for its intended purpose.

However, such amusement devices must not be so flimsy so as to defeat the intended use, and must involve some form of entertainment that can be pleasing to the user and in which he can find enjoyment.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention provides a portable amusement device that can be quickly and easily assembled and disassembled and is sufficiently rugged to be utilized as intended.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a portable amusement device that can be quickly and easily assembled and disassembled.

It is another object of this invention to provide a portable amusement device that is sufficiently rugged to be utilized for its intended purpose.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a portable amusement device which includes a box member having a lid with a basket thereon, which lid can be quickly secured in a vertical position by an inclined return member.

With these and other objects which will become apparent to one skilled in the art as the description proceeds, this invention resides in the novel method and apparatus substantially as hereinafter described, and more particularly defined by the appended claims, it being understood that such changes in the precise embodiment herein disclosed are meant to be included as come within the scope of the claims.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings illustrate a complete example of the embodiment of the invention constructed according to the best mode so far devised for the practical application of the principles thereof, and in which:

FIG. I is a perspective view of the portable amusement device of this invention shown in assembled position;

FIG. 2 is a front view of the device shown in FIG. I with the return member partially cutaway for illustrative purposes;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the device shown in FIG. 2 taken through the lines 3-3;

FIG. 4 is a top view of the return member shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the portable amusement device of this invention shown in closed position; and

FIG. 6 is an illustration of the blank utilized to make the box and lid of the portable amusement device of this invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings, the numeral 7 refers generally to the amusement device of this invention. As shown best in FIG. 1, amusement device 7 includes abox member 8 having alid 9 which is held in a vertical position, when the device is assembled, byreturn member 10.

Box member 8 has abottom 12,sides 13 and 14, and ends 15 and I6, in addition tolid 9. As shown in FIG. 6,box member 8 is preferably formed from a single blank of light material, such as, for example, heavy cardboard, with tabs l8, I9, 20 and 21 being utilized to hold the sides and ends in position as is common in the art. As shown best in FIG. 2,end 15 has a pair ofshoulders 22 and 23 extending upwardly a short distance.

Lid 9 consists of twoportions 24 and 25.Portion 24 is preferably fixed to the sides ofbox member 8, whileportion 25 pivots aboutpivot line 26 to thus open and close thebox Portion 25 oflid 9 has abasket 27 fastened in conventional fashion to the underside of the lid, that is, fastened to the side of the lid within the box when the box is closed, so that therim 28 is in a horizontal plane when the lid is in a vertical position.Basket 27 is preferably formed of fairly sturdy material, such as plastic, for example.

Lid 9 also has a plurality ofopenings 30 therein between thebasket 27 andpivot line 26. As shown best in FIG. 2, each of the openings (three are shown) have a small lower portion 3] and an enlarged upper portion 32. In addition,lid 9 also has alip 33 around the edge which slightly overlaps the sides and ends ofbox member 8 when the device is in the closed position.

Return member I0 is preferably of a flat sheet of light material, such as heavy cardboard, for example, and has a pair ofnotches 36 and 37 in oneend 38 thereof, which notches are of a size to receiveshoulders 22 and 23 ofend box 15 ofbox member 8 when the amusement device is in the assembled position. In addition, and as shown best in FIG. 4,end 40 ofsheet 10 has a plurality of protruding members, or projections, 41 extending therefrom. Projections 4] each have a smaller portion 42 terminating in alarger portion 43.Portion 43 is of a size to pass through a large portion 32 of opening 30 inlid 9 but not throughsmaller portion 3! of opening 30 inlid 9. Thusprojections 41 cooperate with the openings inlid 9 to secure the lid in vertical, or assembled, position (along with the cooperable securing members formed byshoulders 22 and 23 ofbox member 8 andnotches 36 and 37 of return member 10). As shown best in FIG 3, return member I0 when in the assembled positionis inclined to provide a downward slope away fromlid 9.

While not shown,box member 8 could be provided with a handle and/or a lid-securing clasp, if desired.

It has been found desirable that thebox member 8 be deep enough to permit the lid to close without removingbasket 27, and the diameter ofbasket 27 dictates, of course, the size of ball that can be utilized effectively with the amusement device. While not mandatory, and for purposes of illustration only, it has been found that:box member 8 can be 21% X 21%"X 5% withshoulders 22 and 23 being 2% X W;portion 25 oflid 9 can be l5%" X 21%" with a lip of 34";openings 30 inlid 9 can be X 1%" (enlarged portion) and X A (small portion);bracket 27 andrim 28 can be 3%" in diameter and be mounted 8%! above thepivot line 26; andreturn member 10 can be 20" X l9" withprojections 41 being 9/16" X taper of A to l" (in large ponion) and 3/l6 X (small portion) and withnotches 36 and 37 being 3" fromend 38 and 2% deep.

In operation, it is only necessary to open box member 8 (which box is shown in closed position in FIG. 5) by liftinglid 9 and removingreturn member 10. Theprojections 41 inretum member 10 are then placed through the enlarged portions ofopenings 30 inlid 9 and secured in position by lowering themember 10 to engage the small portions of the projections and openings. Theshoulders 22 and 23 are then pressed intonotches 36 and 37 ofreturn member 10 and the device is assembled withreturn member 10 being belowbasket 27 and sloping downwardly fromlid 9 to the termination ofreturn member 10 beyond the end ofbox member 8. A user then throws a ball, or the like, toward the device and attempts to make the ball go through thebasket 27. Provided the basket is made, or the lid at least hit by the ball, the ball should normally drop to the return member and since it is sloping downwardly, the ball should normally roll back toward the thrower. When the device is no longer to be utilized, disassembly merely requires that the return member be disengaged fromshoulders 22 and 23 and lifted so that the enlargedportions 43 of theprojections 41 can be removed from the opening inlid 9 through the enlarged portions 32 in the lid, after which thereturn member 10 is placed inbox member 8 and the lid closed.

As can be seen from the foregoing, this amusement device is portable. is quickly and easily assembled and disassembled, and is well suited for its purpose.

lclaim:

l. A portable amusement device, comprising: a box member having a lid pivotable to a substantially vertical position, said lid having first securing means and said box member having second securing means; a basket connected to the underside of said lid so that the rim of said basket is in a substantially horizontal plane when said lid is in said substantially vertical position; and a return member having third and fourth securing means eooperable with said first securing means on said lid and said second securing means on said box member to releasably secure the lid in said substantially vertical position and said return member on an incline whereby a ball thrown towards said basket will normally be automatically returned to the thrower by contact with said return member.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein said return member is of a size to fit into said box member when disassembled, and wherein said basket is sufficiently small to allow said lid to be closed with said return member inside of said box member.

3. The device of claim 1 wherein said first securing means in said lid are a plurality of openings'in said lid with each of said openings being enlarged in one portion, and wherein said third securing means on said return member are projections equal in number to said plurality of openings in said lid with said projections terminating in an enlarged portion of a size to pass only through the enlarged portion of said openings in said lid so that when said return member is in an assembled position each of said projections is received in a different one of said openings in said lid.

4. The device of claim I wherein said second securing means in said box member are upstanding shoulders near the opposite sides of said box member and said fourth securing means in said return member are walls defining notches at the sides of said return member. said notches being positioned to receive said shoulders in said box member when said return member is in assembled position.

5. The device of claim 1 wherein said lid has first and second portions connected by pivot means with said first por tion connected with said box member and said second portion being pivotable to said substantially vertical position.

6. The deviceof claim 5 wherein said return member is slightly smaller than said lid and wherein when assembled extends beyond said box member a predetermined distance less than the width of said first portion of said lid.

7. The device of claim 1 wherein said basket is mounted on said lid so as to be above said return member so that a ball passing there through will contact said return member and normally be returned to the thrower.

8. The device of claim 1 wherein said box member, lid. basket, and return member are of light material for ease of portability.

9. The device of claim 1 wherein said lid has a lip extending around at least a portion of the periphery, said lip extending inwardly so as to be contiguous to the sides of said box member when in the closed position.

10. The device of claim 1 wherein said box member and said lid are formed from a single blank having a central body section from which the bottom, lid and ends of said box member are formed, and side projections from the central body section from which the sides of said box member are formed and from which the lip of said lid is formed.

Claims (10)

1. A portable amusement device, comprising: a box member having a lid pivotable to a substantially vertical position, said lid having first securing means and said box member having second securing means; a basket connected to the underside of said lid so that the rim of said basket is in a substantially horizontal plane when said lid is in said substantially vertical position; and a return member having third and fourth securing means cooperable with said first securing means on said lid and said second securing means on said box member to releasably secure the lid in said substantially vertical position and said return member on an incline whereby a ball thrown towards said basket will normally be automatically returned to the thrower by contact with said return member.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein said return member is of a size to fit into said box member when disassembled, and wherein said basket is sufficiently small to allow said lid to be closed with said return member inside of said box member.

3. The device of claim 1 wherein said first securing means in said lid are a plurality of openings in said lid with each of said openings being enlarged in one portion, and wherein said third securing means on said return member are projections equal in number to said plurality of openings in said lid with said projections terminating in an enlarged portion of a size to pass only through the enlarged portion of said openings in said lid so that when said return member is in an assembled position each of said projections is received in a different one of said openings in said lid.

4. The device of claim 1 wherein said second securing means in said box member are upstanding shoulders near the opposite sides of said box member and said fourth securing means in said return member are walls defining notches at the sides of said return member, said notches being positioned to receive said shoulders in said box member when said return member is in assembled position.

5. The device of claim 1 wherein said lid has first and second portions connected by pivot means with said first portion connected with said box member and said second portion being pivotable to said substantially vertical position.

6. The device of claim 5 wherein said return member is slightly smaller than said lid and wherein when assembled extends beyond said box member a predetermined distance less than the width of said first portion of said lid.

7. The device of claim 1 wherein said basket is mounted on said lid so as to be above said return member so that a ball passing there through will coNtact said return member and normally be returned to the thrower.

8. The device of claim 1 wherein said box member, lid, basket, and return member are of light material for ease of portability.

9. The device of claim 1 wherein said lid has a lip extending around at least a portion of the periphery, said lip extending inwardly so as to be contiguous to the sides of said box member when in the closed position.

10. The device of claim 1 wherein said box member and said lid are formed from a single blank having a central body section from which the bottom, lid and ends of said box member are formed, and side projections from the central body section from which the sides of said box member are formed and from which the lip of said lid is formed.

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