Mounting structure for supporting a basketball pole
First Claim
1. An in-ground basketball system comprising:
- a basketball support pole having spaced-apart ends;
a basketball backboard attached at or near to one of the ends of said basketball support pole;
a basketball rim attached to said backboard; and
a mounting structure to support said basketball support pole by inserting the other end of said basketball support pole into said mounting structure, wherein said mounting structure comprises;
a sleeve having a first opening of a first predetermined size for receiving said basketball pole;
a cap having a second opening of a second predetermined size for receiving said basketball support pole, said cap being engageable substantially about said sleeve; and
at least one relief structure disposed in one of said sleeve and said cap, said relief structure providing flexibility permitting deformation to adjust one of said first and said second predetermined sizes.
7 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A mounting structure for supporting a removable basketball support pole in the ground. In a first embodiment, the mounting structure may include a sleeve body, a clamping mechanism and a cap. The sleeve body has an open end of a predetermined size for receiving the basketball pole. The open end of the sleeve has relief portions, such as grooves, for providing flexibility to permit deformation of the open end of the sleeve to adjust to the size of the basketball pole. The clamping mechanism then may be used to engage the sleeve with the pole and securely support the basketball pole in position. In another embodiment, the clamping mechanism is unnecessary as a portion of the cap forms a wedge. In particular, the cap may include the relief portions and the sleeve has a camming surface whereby a portion of the cap wedges between the camming surface and the pole when the cap is tightened onto the sleeve. In yet another embodiment of the invention, the ground sleeve may include a four-piece construction that is capable of assembly in either a compact arrangement or an assembled arrangement. This four-piece construction may also include relief portions, a clamping mechanism and a cap similar to the first embodiment.
98 Citations
33 Claims
-
1. An in-ground basketball system comprising:
-
a basketball support pole having spaced-apart ends; a basketball backboard attached at or near to one of the ends of said basketball support pole; a basketball rim attached to said backboard; and a mounting structure to support said basketball support pole by inserting the other end of said basketball support pole into said mounting structure, wherein said mounting structure comprises; a sleeve having a first opening of a first predetermined size for receiving said basketball pole; a cap having a second opening of a second predetermined size for receiving said basketball support pole, said cap being engageable substantially about said sleeve; and at least one relief structure disposed in one of said sleeve and said cap, said relief structure providing flexibility permitting deformation to adjust one of said first and said second predetermined sizes. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
-
-
19. A ground sleeve for supporting a basketball pole of an in-ground basketball system, said ground sleeve comprising:
-
a hollow body with spaced-apart ends including a longitudinal axis and sidewalls, wherein said sidewalls define a cross-section in a plane transverse to the longitudinal axis, and wherein said sidewalls are of variable thickness permitting deformation; an opening of predetermined size in one of the ends, wherein said opening is configured to receive a basketball support pole and a clamping mechanism engageable with the ground sleeve to adjust the size of the predetermined opening. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
-
Specification