Miniature Adjustable Basketball Goal With Apertured Support Bars

Miniature basketball goals for mounting on doors or for attachment to full size goals are known in the prior art, and some examples of the patented prior art are contained in the following U.S. patents:

U.S. Pat. No. Re-20,898

U.S. Pat. No. 2,517,463

U.S. Pat. No. 2,707,104

U.S. Pat. No. 2,889,149.

The prior art miniature goals have tended to be lacking in stability and in durability particularly the types of goals which are hung from the top edge of a door by a suspension bracket and rest against a vertical face of the door. These structures will not remain fixed during use and they are fragile and their continued movement during usage has a tendency to scratch the door on which they are mounted. Other known types of miniature goals are unduly complex and costly and therefore are not entirely practical in meeting the needs of a miniature goal which is both sturdy and economical, easily adjustable without relying on friction to hold the device in selected adjusted positions, stable during use, and clean and attractive in appearance.

The simple objective of this invention is to completely satisfy all of these requirements or needs in an indoor miniature basketball goal which is completely practical and convenient to install and adjust and which will be stable after adjustment at the desired height. The goal according to the invention can be easily mounted on a wall surface or on a door, requiring only four mounting screw openings which can be filled after dismounting the invention. There is no movement of the goal structure to scratch the door or wall while it is being used.

The backboard of the goal is a scaled-down version of one that is utilized in official adult competition. The remaining components of the goal, namely the hoop and net, may conform in size to those used in an official competitive goal or may be scaled down like the backboard. The miniature basketball goal of the present invention is not only beneficial for use by young people but may be used by adults for an amusing diversity from everyday business details encountered in their occupations or as a game of challenge in places of social leisure such as clubs, taverns, game rooms and the like.

Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent during the course of the following detailed description.

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the invention.

FIG. 2A is a fragmentary vertical section taken in the plane of one upper support bracket and associated elements.

FIG. 2B is a similar cross sectional view taken in the plane of one lower support bracket, partly in elevation.

Referring to the drawings in detail, wherein like numerals designate like parts, the numeral 10 designates a miniature backboard of a realistic basketball goal according to the invention. Near its upper corners, the backboard 10 has pairs of vertically spaced apertures 11 for a purpose to be fully described. The backboard 10 is preferably formed from plexiglas. A substantially conventional miniature goal or hoop 12 having an integral right angular hoop mounting bracket 13 has its vertical leg 14 apertured at four points to register with like apertures 15 provided in the backboard 10 near and above its bottom edge and at its transverse center. Bolts 16 are utilized to rigidly attach the bracket 13 to the backboard so that the hoop 12 will be firmly supported and braced in a plane perpendicular to the backboard 10. The backboard has marginal edge channel-like plastic molding strips 17 applied thereto at all four marginal edges to give the transparent backboard a framed appearance.

A pair of vertical laterally spaced channel mounting bars 18 is provided in lengths suitable to allow a desired range of vertical adjustment for the miniature goal. The mounting bars 18 are conveniently made from commercial shelf support channel members or standards, each member 18 having a multiplicity of equidistantly vertically spaced and vertically elongated apertures 19 formed therein, as illustrated in the drawings. The mounting bars 18 are rigidly attached to any vertical wall 20, door or the like by pairs of screws 21 and 22 near the top and bottom ends of the bars 18, in parallel spaced relationship.

A lower pair of shelf-type mounting brackets 23 are interconnected in a rigid unitized subassembly by a transverse horizontal upwardly opening channel bar 24 whose opposite ends are seated in notches formed in the tops of the brackets 23 near their forward ends, and permanently welded in said notches as indicated at 25, FIG. 2B. Preferably, the end faces of the bar 24 are flush with the outer side faces of the plate-like vertical brackets 23. The brackets 23 have rear end vertically spaced suspension hooks 26 and coacting vertical abutment plates 27 fixed thereon as is customary in shelf-type commercial adjustable support brackets. The hooks 26 are engageable releasably in selected pairs of the apertures 19 in vertical mounting bars 18. The lower transverse edge of backboard 10 with its attached molding 17, FIG. 2B, has socketed engagement in the supporting channel bar 24 throughout the entire length thereof for maximum stability in the support of the backboard and its attached hoop 12. The lower edge of the backboard is readily removable from the channel bar 24, when desired.

An independent upper pair of support brackets 28 for the goal is provided, the brackets 28 also having suspension hooks 29 identical to the hooks 26 and coacting with the apertures 19 of bars 18 in the same manner already described for the hooks 26. The upper support brackets 28 have forward vertical backboard support plates 30 welded thereto in parallel relationship to the bars 18 and backboard 10, and these plates are apertured at 31 to receive attaching bolts 32, FIG. 2A, which also engage through the upper backboard apertures 11 located to register with the apertures 31. It can be seen that the vertical backboard 10 is firmly supported continuously along its lower edge by the channel bar 24 and rigidly attached lower brackets 23 and near its two upper corners by the independent or unconnected brackets 28.

Adjustment of the goal vertically on the fixed apertured mounting bars 18 through a wide range is very simple. With the upper bolts 32 removed, the unitized lower brackets 23 may be raised or lowered to any desired new level on the bars 18 in the usual well-known manner by first elevating the hooks 29 and withdrawing them from the coacting apertures 19 and then re-inserting the hooks in a new set of apertures at a new elevation and lowering them into locking engagement with the bars 18, as shown in FIG. 2A. This mode of operation is conventional in commercial shelf brackets, as stated. After relocating the lower brackets 23 in this manner, the upper brackets 28 are similarly raised and lowered on the bars 18 and the top corners of the backboard 10 are rebolted to the brackets 28. This is the most convenient way to adjust the goal vertically.

It should now be apparent that an extremely stable and sturdy miniature basketball goal is provided by the invention which is readily adjustable. The entire structure is mountable on a door or wall by four screws and the invention makes use of the highly convenient and very secure shelf-type support brackets and coacting apertured mounting bars or channels 18. The structure is neat and has the required eye appeal for saleability and is entirely practical in all respects. The structure can be knocked down easily for compact storage and/or packaging.

It is to be understood that the form of the invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same, and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to, without departing from the spirit of the invention or scope of the subjoined claims.