Portable pitching mound

Abstract

A lightweight portable pitching mound for indoor and outdoor use. The mound comprises an expanded plastic core, all exposed surfaces of which are covered with a flexible, sheet-like artificial turf material. The bottom of the mound is planar and preferably covered with an anti-slip material when the mound is used indoors. In a first embodiment, the mound comprises a single, unitary, one-piece, ramp-like structure having a top surface with a planar horizontal part and a planar part extending forwardly and downwardly therefrom. The mound has vertical front, rear and side peripheral surfaces. The top surface parts and the peripheral surfaces are covered with the artificial turf material. The top surface horizontal part supports a conventional rubber. In a second embodiment, the mound comprises three pieces, a central and two side sections which, when assembled in side-by-side abutting relationship, form a rectangular mound having narrow, vertical, rectilinear side, front and rear peripheral edges. The central section has a planar, horizontal, rectilinear, top surface part supporting a conventional rubber and having front, rear and side edges parallel to the corresponding front, rear and side peripheral mound edges. The central and side sections, when assembled, having top surface parts forming four planar trapezoidal surfaces, each sloping downwardly and outwardly from an edge of the horizontal top surface part to the corresponding peripheral edge of the mound. The top surface parts and the peripheral edges of the mound are covered with the artificial turf material.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.