US3035838A - Pocketed target - Google Patents

Description

May 22, 1962 T. O. JOHNSTON POCKETED TARGET Filed May 29, 1959 United States Patent 3,035,838 POCKETED TARGET Timoleon 0. Johnston, 305 S. Summit Ave., Villa Park, 1]]. Filed May 29, 1959, Ser. No. 816,891 2 Claims. (Cl. 273-105) This invention relates to a game or toy played with a ball.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a game or toy in which a ball receiving basket is positioned on the floor or ground in spaced relation to a vertical wall surface and in which the player aims and throws the ball on the floor or ground so that it strikes the vertical wall surface and rebounds into the basket.

Another object of this invention is to provide a game or toy which tends to incorporate some of the features of the game of basket-ball, which requires skill in the playing of same and which is highly recreational.

Another object of this invention is to provide a toy or game which utilizes a basket and a ball and which is played by throwing the ball so that the ball strikes horizontal and vertical surfaces before it rebounds into the basket.

Another object of this invention is to provide a toy or game which may be played indoors or outdoors and which may be played competitively with any number of players.

Other objects will become apparent as this description progresses.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a view showing the manner in which the game or toy is played.

FIGURE 2 is a view of the toy in upright position.

FIGURE 3 is a front view of the basket supporting member with the basket removed.

FIGURE 4 is a view of the hoop of the basket, and

FIGURE 5 is a view of the toy in collapsed position with the basket removed.

The physical structure of the toy or game includes a basket unit generally indicated at and a rubber ball generally indicated at 12. The basket unit is constructed so that it is readily collapsible for packaging and for storage and comprises a basket supporting plate 14 having spaced hinge ears 16 formed at the lower end thereof. Another plate 18 forming the base has a 'hinge ear 20 formed at the front end thereof adapted to be alined with and positioned between the ears 16 so that a rod 22 hingedly connects the ears 16 and 20 and provides a hinging action for the plates 14 and 18.

Detachably secured to the front of the basket supporting plate 14 is a basket generally indicated at 24 which includes a netting material 26, secured at the top to a wire hoop 28 which is shaped in the form of a half circle. The netting 26 of the basket is closed at the bottom to retain the ball within the basket. The rear portions of the wire hoop 28 are entwined and extend downwardly at right angles to the top of the hoop to form a stem 30. The plate 14 is provided with two forwardly extending struck-out lugs or lips 32 and 34 positioned above each other in vertical alinement, each having an opening to receive the stem 30 so that the basket may 'be detachably secured to the plate 14.

The plate 14 is provided with two horizontally alined forwardly extending lips 36 on which the wire frame 28 rests. The plate 14 is also provided with two rearwardly extending struck-out cars 38 having openings for receiving the opposite ends of a wire member to be described.

The base plate 18 is provided with a pair of spaced struck-out ears 40, each provided with a suitable opening Patented May 22, 1962 to receive a generally rectangular shaped wire member 42 which is open at its opposite end and has inwardly extending ends 44 to be received in the openings of the ears 38 of plate 14. As shown in FIGURE 2, the plate 14 is positioned at an angle of approximately with respect to the base plate and consequently supports the basket 24 in the best manner to receive the ball, as will be presently described.

To collapse the basket unit, the free ends 44 of the wire member 42 are pulled out of the ears 38 so that the plate 14 may be pivoted to a position adjacent the plate 18, as best shown in FIGURE 5. The basket 24 may be removed from the plate 14 so that when the netting is collapsed the basket takes up very little space and may be packed in a small cardboard container with the rest of the structure.

In playing the game, the basket structure is set up, as shown in FIGURE 1, and is set on the floor or ground with the basket facing a vertical surface, such as a wall, door or the like, in spaced relation to same. I have found that the basket should be positioned not less than four feet away from the vertical surface. The player stands directly behind the basket unit with the basket unit centered between the pl-ayers feet. The player throws the ball on the ground or floor so that it bounces against the vertical wall and then rebounds into the basket. The scoring is determined by the ball bouncing into the basket 24.

The game requires a great deal of skill in getting the ball to rebound into the basket, thus, it will provide a challenge to the child and at the same time provide recreation for him. It may be played inside the home or on the outside with equal facility. The toy is comparatively inexpensive to manufacture and may be collapsed so as to require a minimum of packaging or storage space.

It will be understood that various changes and modifications may be made from the foregoing without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A toy comprising a base member adapted to rest on a floor or ground surface, an upright member hingedly secured to said base member with the front of said upright member facing forwardly in spaced relation to a vertical wall surface with the player positioned rearwardly of the upright member, said upright member when supported in upright position having a height less than the waist height of the player, a ball receiving basket secured to the front of said upright member, said ball receiving basket when said upright member is in upright position being supported on said upright member in close proximity to the floor or ground surface and below the waistline of a player to receive a ball rebounding from the vertical wall surface, means extending between said upright member and said base member for supporting said upright member in upright position, said means adapted to be collapsed and when collapsed positioned between said upright member and base member.

2. The structure defined in claim 1 in which the means extending between the upright member and base member comprises a U-shaped wire member pivotally supported on one of said members and having ends detachably engaging ears on the other member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,292,011 Monroe Ian. 21, 1919 2,247,852 Saunders July 1, 1941 2,818,254 Dunn Dec. 31, 1957 2,873,969 Ziel Feb. 17, 1959 2,889,149 Williams June 2, 1959

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