TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION AND PRIOR ART The present invention relates to a paddle tennis court which com prises an upper water-permeable playing surface, such as artificial grass, for paddle tennis, and a support structure configured to rest on a ground surface to form a carrier for supporting said playing surface while creating a horizontally extending paddle tennis court.

The support structure of paddle tennis courts already known is usually a molded concrete slab on which a playing surface, such as artificial grass, is laid . Often, sand has also been scattered on the artificial grass to make it easier for players to slide on the grass in an attempt to catch up a ball hit by an opponent. Even with a little rain on such a paddle tennis court, disturbing water puddles are formed on the playing court, and after a while or basically im mediately during heavy rain, water puddles are formed which must be removed before the paddle tennis court may be used for play again. Such removal is then normally done by sweeping the court, which, in addition to the time required for this action, results in that, in the case of sand on the court, this is swept away. US 3,904, 193 proposes a paddle tennis court which, in an attempt to solve the above-said problems, has been provided with a thermoplastic mat provided with holes as playing surface instead of artificial grass on top of a concrete slab as support structure. As a result, rainwater may be drained from the upper surface of the mat by running into the holes of the mat, but during heavy rainfall, water puddles will nevertheless be formed when the holes are overfilled. In addition thereto, this design makes it impossible to use sand on the playing surface for sliding as the sand will settle on the concrete slab at the bottom of said holes. Another disadvantage common to paddle tennis courts already known is that the concrete slab used as a support structure is re latively expensive to make. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to provide a paddle tennis court of the type defined in the introduction which solves the above-said problems of such paddle tennis courts already known.

This object is according to the invention obtained by that the car rier of the support structure of such a paddle tennis court compri ses a grid structure which allows rainwater running through the playing surface to pass therethrough, and the support structure further comprises spacer elements configured to lift the grid structure and thereby the playing surface from a ground surface on which the support structure rests while creating a space between the ground surface and the grid structure with at least one opening configured to allow rainwater in the space to be drained away therefrom.

By providing a said space between the ground surface and the part of the support structure carrying the playing surface and forming that part of the support structure of a grid structure, rainwater may effectively run into the space and then away from the paddle tennis court through said at least one opening , so that even in a persi stent rain, water puddles will not be able to form on the paddle tennis court. This means that it does not have to be swept to re move water therefrom with the aforesaid disadvantages such sweeping may cause.

Another advantage of the paddle tennis court according to the in vention is that a said support structure with spacer elements and an upper grid structure may be made much cheaper than a concrete slab.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the paddle tennis court comprises a water-permeable filter cloth arranged between the playing surface and the grid structure for retaining solid par ticles, such as sand. As a result, in the case of e.g. artificial grass sprinkled with sand this will not be able to go with the rainwater through the grid structure and into said space, but the sand will effectively be retained on the playing court through the filter cloth.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the spacer ele ment is configured to create a said space having a height greater than three centimeters or greater than five centimeters. Such a significant height of said space effectively ensures that the playing court may quickly be drained on rainwater falling thereon.

According to another embodiment of the invention , said spacer elements are formed by beams configured to be arranged exten- ding horizontally with an upper support surface for supporting the grid structure. A paddle tennis court with a grid structure resting on beams may easily be built at an attractive low cost while offe ring a steady playing court for the players. According to another embodiment of the invention, said beams are of metal , preferably steel beams which form "floor joists" for sup porting said grid structure, which is preferably also of metal, such as a steel grid. According to another embodiment of the invention, the spacer ele ments are formed by I-beams configured to rest with a lower flange on the ground surface and with an upper flange carry the grid structure. By this, a very sturdy support structure for the paddle tennis court is achieved with simple means.

According to another embodiment of the invention , the paddle ten nis court comprises first said beams configured to extend from a first end of the paddle tennis court to an opposite second end the reof, and advantageously also comprises second said beams con- figured to extend from a third end of the paddle tennis court to an opposite fourth end thereof orthogonally to the first beams. Through such a cross structure, a good statute is obtained for the playing court.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the support structure comprises spacer elements in the form of beams exten ding in parallel to each other. Thereby, such adjacent beams ex tending in parallel to each other have a mutual spacing of 0.5-4 m or 1 -2.5 m. Further advantages as well as advantageous features of the in vention will be clear from the following description of an embodi ment thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Below is described a paddle tennis court according to an embodi ment of the invention cited by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a simplified perspective view of a paddle tennis facility with a paddle tennis court according to an embodiment of the in vention,

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of a portion of the paddle tennis court shown in Fig . 1 with a portion of the playing surface removed, and

Fig. 3 is a sectional view through a portion of the paddle tennis court shown in Fig . 1 and Fig . 2. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF AN EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

A paddle tennis court according to an embodiment of the invention will now be described while at the same time referring to Fig. 1 -3. The paddle tennis court 1 is included in a paddle tennis facility with a fence 2 arranged around the paddle tennis court to keep balls on the court. The paddle tennis court comprises a support structure 3 with first steel beams 4 extending in parallel to each other from a short side 5 to a second short side 6 of the paddle tennis court and second steel beams 7 extending in parallel to each other from one long side 8 to the other long side 9 of the paddle tennis court and thus form a framework carrying a grid structure 10. The distance between adjacent beams of the support structure is thus in the order of two meters. The beams form spacer elements configured to lift the grid structure 10 and thereby a play ing surface 1 1 resting thereon in the form of artificial grass from a ground surface 12 on which the support structure rests while cre ating a space 13 between the ground surface and the grid structure. In this case, the spacer elements are formed by I-beams which are configured to rest with a lower flange 14 on the ground surface and with an upper flange 15 supporting the grid structure 10. On top of the upper flange a rubber element 20 may be ar ranged for sound attenuation by movements on the playing court.

It is seen how said beams are extended by a portion 16 past the playing court so as to be used as support for carrying said fence 2.

A water-permeable filter cloth 17 is arranged on top of the grid structure 10 underneath the artificial grass 1 1 for retaining solid particles, such as sand. The space 13 between the ground surface 12 and the grid structure 10 has a height in the order of 10 centi meters. However, both lower and higher heights are conceivable.

Fig . 3 illustrates what happens when it rains on the paddle tennis court according to the invention . Rain 18 falling on the artificial grass 1 1 passes through openings thereof and through the filter cloth 17 and the holes or meshes of the grid structure 10 into the space 13, from which it may then be drained through one or more openings 19 thereof. In the event that sand has been sprinkled on the artificial grass, this will be retained thereon thanks to the filter cloth 17 on which the artificial grass rests. Another advantage of a paddle tennis court according to the in vention is that it is demountable and thereby movable for the practice of paddle tennis using the same paddle tennis court at different locations.

The invention is of course not in any way restricted to the embodi ment described above, but a variety of modifications thereof will be apparent to a person skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

"Grate structure" as used in this disclosure shall be interpreted broadly and cover all types of elements with an areal extension under the playing surface and provided with tightly arranged through openings. Thus, an apertured plate also falls under this designation.

The at least one opening of the space does not have to be lateral relative to the support structure, but it may also be formed by the space being open at the bottom to the ground surface or drainage means arranged therein, such as a well.