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US 4,792,144 AGranted
Method of playing a sport
AssigneeNone recorded
InventorEdward LaDue
Life of this patent
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AssigneeNone recorded
InventorEdward LaDue
Estimating the term…
A field sport providing an outer boundary defining the playing area and consisting of a wall, fixed or portable, and an inner boundary defining an inner playing field in predetermined space relation from the outer boundary and in which the field the players must remain during play, the distance between the outer and inner boundaries being sufficient to prevent the possibility of contact between the wall and the players. A player passes a playing object (e.g. ball, puck, etc.) by projecting it against the wall to rebound back onto the playing field while the player remains in the field. Goals at either end of the playing area are provided. Goal keepers must remain between the inner and outer boundaries at either end of the playing area.
In a field sport played on a field with a playing object and in which opposing teams comprise a plurality of field players and in which the playing field is rectangular and is surrounded by a vertical wall spaced from the rectangular playing field thereby providing out-of-bounds areas between the field and the vertical wall, the method of playing comprising the players or any one of them moving the playing object within the playing field, said one player passing the playing object by projecting the playing object to the surface of the vertical wall outside the playing field to bounce the playing object off the vertical surface back onto the playing field while remaining within the playing field, the players continuing in play and they or any of the players moving while the playing object is outside the playing field to intercept the playing object when it re-enters the playing field, said players continuing play with the playing object without interruption after its re-entry onto the playing field from the surface of the upstanding wall, the players restricting themselves within the playing field while the playing object is projected to the surface face of the vertical wall, bounces off the wall and re-enters the playing field to avoid injury within the areas between the playing field and the vertical wall and to avoid penalties for being out-of-bounds.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
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From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.
No references of this kind are recorded.
Sporting games or accessories therefor, not provided for in groups a63b1/00 -
Mechanical means for marking-out: fences; Nets; Barriers
Apparatus for physical training, gymnastics, swimming, climbing, or fencing
Skates
Term ended 20 Dec 2005 (estimated)
USPTO file history isn’t available for this patent, so only indexed dates are shown.
The existing requirements of a field area for soccer, hockey, and other team sports limit the number of facilities available for playing these sports and therefore the number of participants in team sports. The invention permits the playing of team sports where the skills involved in these sports may be enjoyed and developed with rules for team sports compatible with the invention in a much smaller field area. Furthermore, the invention contemplates a sport played within the confines to be described in which physical contact and injuries resulting therefrom are eliminated or at least minimized.
One of the problems of providing a field game for mass participation as opposed to participation only by those who have and have acquired and developed skills, is the problem encountered in playing ball type field games in an open area. The playing ball is not contained and many delays of the game occur to retrieve the ball. In attempting to surround the playing areas with walls as a solution to this problem, the expenses involved providing such a wall presents another and sometime unsurmountable problem. Furthermore, the provision of walls which may be assembled and disassembled readily and stored also presents problems.
Typical prior art attempts are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,883,120 3,986,342 and 4,068,840. A particularly complicated structure for an off the wall game is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,070,805. Note is also made of the enclosed game disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,758,106 and further wall or panel type structures may be reviewed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,873,094 and 3,358,969.
FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic top plan view of the playing area and field of the invention; and
FIG. 2 is a perspective view at the corner of the playing area looking at the outside boundary wall from the outside.
In FIG. 1, the outer boundary 10 which comprises an upstanding wall (see FIG. 2) is rectangular and in a preferred embodiment of the invention encloses a playing area of 96 feet by 52 feet sufficient to enclose a basketball court, for instance, which nominally measures 84 feet by 45 feet 9 inches. Thus, the inner boundary 11 may take the form of indicia painted or otherwise inscribed on the floor of a gymnasium or other playing surface as an existing basketball court boundary.
The ends 10' of the outer boundary wall are interrupted intermediate their ends to provide a goal area 12 through which the playing ball 13 must pass for a team to score. A goal net may be provided and is depicted in FIG. 1 in dash lines externally of the goal opening 12.
Knee braces 15 provide support and stability to the boundary wall which comprises the plurality of separable panels, each of which is retained by a brace, as shall be discussed.