US 5,333,854 AGranted

Tennis ball retriever and racquet

AssigneeHoward W. Woollard

InventorsHoward W. Woollard, David C. Hart

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Abstract

A tennis ball retriever device for use at the handle end of a tennis racquet to retrieve tennis balls. The tennis ball retriever device including a cap having an open end with a recess and a plurality of teeth or pins extending inwardly from a peripheral wall inside the recess, the teeth or pins adapted to grasp the nap surface of the tennis ball. The tennis ball retriever device includes within the recess of the cap a compressible material such as a lightweight, flexible, foam material extending to the teeth or pins and adapted to move between a screening position wherein the pins or teeth are screened from catching on objects, and a retracted position wherein the tennis ball is inserted into the open end of the retriever, which compresses the material and exposes the teeth or pins for use in grasping the nap of the tennis ball.

Claims11

Dependent claims

A tennis ball retriever device, for use at the handle end of a tennis racquet, for retrieval of tennis balls having a nap surface, which device removably grasps a tennis ball by contacting a tennis ball with the tennis ball retriever device, and which device comprises:

a) a cap, adapted to be secured to the handle end of a tennis racquet, and having an axis and having an open end with a recess defined by a peripheral wall of the cap;
b) teeth means to grasp removably the surface nap of a tennis ball, and which teeth means comprises a plurality of teeth elements, extending inwardly a short distance toward the axis of the cap from the peripheral wall of the cap and generally positioned perpendicular to the axis of the cap to grasp or catch the nap of a tennis ball in use;
and
c) a compressible means within the recess of the cap and extending generally to the teeth means, the compressible means adapted to move between an extended screening position which prevents casual contact of the teeth means with objects, and an inwardly compressed position created by a tennis ball to expose the teeth means and to permit the teeth means to grasp the nap of a tennis ball.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.