UNDERGROUND APPARATUS FOR BASEBALL FIELD LINER

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention generally relates to providing accurate measurement and placement of field lines for sports games such as baseball and softball in particular.

BACKGROUND ART

Central to any sports game are the rules setting out the allowed boundaries, behaviors and methodologies for playing a particular game. Among the most important rules of many sports games are those related to the physical boundaries that identify the legal area of play or identify different areas of play which operate under different sets of rules from one another.

Therefore it is of prime importance that the boundaries of play be marked accurately and precisely in order that the game can be played orderly, fairly and as it is intended to be played. A major sport where such boundaries play a crucial role is in the game of baseball. Baseball is often played on a wide open field having an infield and an outfield, where the infield has three bases and a home plate, all arranged in the shape of a diamond. During play, there is a pitcher and eight others on the field, where the pitcher pitches to a batter at home plate. The boundaries play a significant role in that the rules of the game specify different outcomes depending on whether the ball passes over the boundaries, and also where and how it does so.

The major boundaries of baseball are the foul lines, which extend from home plate in a straight line outward, one through first base and another through third base and extend to the end of the field. The accuracy of the lines is of great importance because during the game they can be the difference between a "hit" and a "foul". Such lines are marked by a white line usually made up of paint or powder. Such lines are needed in a wide variety of sports besides baseball, such as soccer, football and many others.

The difficulty is in quickly and precisely aligning the boundary. In the past lines were applied by pure estimation as the white lines were marked. Lines have also been marked by portable wheeled devices. Other methods that have been used involve applying anchors or stakes into the ground and tying strings to the stakes in order to mark the lines. The difficulty with such methods however is that the stakes are portable and

must be taken out and reentered whenever boundaries are to be marked. What is needed therefore is an easily accessible, permanent, efficient and accurate means of marking the lines of play.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

One or more embodiments of an arrangement for marking an athletic field comprise an amount of twine or cord wound around or inside a retracting spool. The cord has an extendible end located at one end to facilitate anchoring that end into the ground. In some embodiments the extendible end may be a clasp configured to be releasably attached to a ground staking stab. The retracting spool is arranged such that the cord can be unwound from the retracting spool and rewound. In some embodiments the cord can be rewound automatically or by hand. In other embodiments, the retracting spool may also include a guide line mechanism that balances the unwound cord on the retracting spool. Here, the guide line mechanism may include a reciprocating member with an eye through which the cord is fed. Another guide line mechanism may also include a worm gear to which the reciprocating member is placed and which is synchronously wound with the retracting spool. The cord and retracting spool are contained within a housing, where the housing is positioned in the ground such that no portion is substantially above the surface of the ground. The housing may be made of material that is resistant to environmental effects, such as material impermeable to moisture or rigid plastic. The housing may also be shaped such that it is resistant to being pulled out of the ground. The housing has an access aperture or an opening on the upper portion such that the cord can be accessed. The housing has a cover which can be removed to allow access to the cord. In some embodiments, the arrangement for marking an athletic field is used to mark the foul lines of a baseball field. The foul lines extend from home plate into the outfield according to the standard rules of baseball. One such embodiment may have the access aperture of the housing positioned such that it is located along the foul line so that the cord can be pulled out in the longitudinal direction of the line to mark a foul boundary. In another embodiment, the access aperture of the housing may be positioned behind home plate such that it is located along the foul line and such that the cord can be pulled out in a longitudinal direction to either foul line boundary.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the arrangement for marking an athletic field.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the embodiment of the arrangement for marking an athletic field as illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the retracting spool of the arrangement for marking an athletic field.

FIG. 4 is perspective view of a portion of the retracting spool including a spool brake mechanism of the arrangement for marking an athletic field.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an embodiment of an arrangement for marking an athletic field having an alternative cover configuration.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a clasp used in one embodiment of an arrangement for marking an athletic field.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a ground stabbing stake according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 is an illustration of how an arrangement for marking an athletic field is used to mark lines of demarcation on an athletic playing field.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

One embodiment of the arrangement for marking an athletic field 1 can be seen in FIG. 1. As can be seen in the figure, the cord 3 or twine is wound around or inside a retracting spool 2. In the preferred embodiment, the retracting spool 2 is circular, and contains a mechanism that allows the cord 3 to be pulled from inside the retracting spool

2. However, any retracting spool that enables winding and unwinding of cord is sufficient. When pulled, it is advantageous for the retracting spool 2 to have a stopping means which prevents the cord 3 from being immediately retracted when pulling stops. The retracting spool 2 can have a spring or similar mechanism 5 that when activated pulls the cord back inside the component thereby rewinding it.

There are various other embodiments which can produce the same end. Other embodiments may be such that the retracting spool 2 always has a bias for retracting the cord; however, the cord 3 can still be pulled out by applying a greater force to extract it. Such biasing mechanism 5 may be a coiled spring, such as a power spring, motor spring, mainspring, or clock spring, as seen in FIG. 3. In such an embodiment, the spring may be made of steel including stainless steel. Another embodiment may be such that there is no spring or biasing mechanism, but instead a gear mechanism which would have to be rotated by hand to rewind the cord 3 into or around the component. In another embodiment, the retracting spool 2 may also incorporate with the spring, biasing, or gear mechanism, a spool brake mechanism 9 as seen in FIGS. 3 and 4 to control the speed of the retracting spool 2 as it retracts the cord 3.

In alternative embodiments, the retracting spool 2 may also incorporate a line guide mechanism 10 that balances returned cord on the retracting spool 2. With such a mechanism 10 as seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, the line guide mechanism 10 prevents the cord 3 from becoming tangled on itself as it is unwound and rewound. One type of line guide mechanism 10 may include a reciprocating member 11 that is mounted onto a worm gear 12 that is synchronously wound with the retracting spool 2, as seen in FIGS. 1 and 3. With this type of line guide mechanism 10, the cord 3 is fed through the reciprocating member 11, and as the cord 3 unwinds and rewinds, the reciprocating member 11 travels across the retracting spool 2 guiding the cord 3 in a substantially straight line to maintain a tangle-free line. Another type of line guide mechanism 10 may include a reciprocating member 11 that is positioned on a housing 6, as seen in FIG. 2. With this type of mechanism 10, the reciprocating member 11 remains on the housing 6 and the cord 3 is fed through an eye of the reciprocating member 11. As the cord 3 is unwound or rewound, it remains threaded and guided by the reciprocating member in an untangled manner.

The retracting spool 2 would be contained within a housing 6. The housing 6 will be positioned beneath the surface of the ground, and therefore should be made of a

material that is resistant to environmental elements. For example, the housing 6 may be made of material that is impermeable to moisture or material such as rigid plastic. Because the housing 6 will be positioned beneath the surface of the ground, it may be desirable to have the housing 6 shaped such that it resists being pulled out of the ground. In such embodiments, as can be seen in FIG. 2, the housing 6 may have tapered sides that define a bottom portion 12 that is larger than the top portion 13. In another embodiment, the housing 6 may have lip 14 located below the intended ground level portion of the housing 6, as seen in Figs. 1 and 2. As the housing 6 is being pulled out of the ground, the lip 14 provides resistance against the pulling and maintains the position of the housing 6 underground.

The retracting spool 2 can be fixed in the housing 6 such that it will not come out when the cord 3 is pulled. In the preferred embodiment, the housing 6 has an access aperture or an opening 8 on the upper portion of the housing 6 to allow access to the cord 3. The access aperture 8 may be the size of the entire upper portion of the housing 6 or may only be a fraction of it. Therefore, the housing 6 can be positioned in the ground and have an access aperture 8 on the upper portion allowing a user to reach into the access aperture 8 and pull the cord 3.In at least one embodiment, the housing 6 is located such that the entire housing 6 is parallel or substantially below the surface of the playing field. In another embodiment, portion of the housing 6 may be located above the surface of the playing field.

In some embodiments a cover 15 can be placed over the access aperture 8 when not in use and which can be removed to allow access to the cord. The cover 15 may be completely removable as seen in FIG. 2 or may be partially removable as seen as a hinged cover in FIG. 5. Additionally, the cover 15 may also have a handle, such as a U- bar, a recessed handle, or other similar handle. In some embodiments, the surface of the cover 15 may also have a surface treatment that simulates the playing surface of the incorporating athletic playing field. For example, if the arrangement for marking an athletic field 1 is being used on a baseball field covered with artificial covering simulating grass, the cover 15 may also have a surface of artificial covering simulating grass to blend in with the baseball field. Furthermore, on some fields, the field maybe a grass field, but the cover may have an artificial covering simulating grass.

In some embodiments, the cord 3 can be positioned so that a portion of it is extended out of the access aperture 8 to facilitate access. The cord 3 can have an extendible end 4 to facilitate anchoring the cord 3 into the ground. In one embodiment, the extendible end 4 may be a hardened end portion such as a stake. In other embodiments, the extendible end 4 may be a clasp 16, as seen in FIGS. 1 and 6. The clasp may be a dog leash clip (shown in FIG. 6), a carabineer, or other similar clasp and is configured to be releasably attached to a ground-stabbing stake 17 (shown in FIG. 7). The ground-stabbing stake 17 can include a clasp receiving portion 18 to which the clasp 16 attaches. The ground-stabbing stake 17 may be of various shapes and sizes. Some ground-stabbing stakes 17 may have one, two, or three stakes. Others may have platforms on which a person could step on to firmly plant the ground-stabbing stake 17 in the ground. Similarly, in embodiments of ground-stabbing stakes 17 having platforms, the platform may be circular, rectangular, triangular, or any other similar shape.

In another alternative embodiment, the arrangement for marking an athletic field 1 may include a locking mechanism 19, as shown in FIG. 2. The locking mechanism 19 may be a threaded bolt having a hole through which a lock may pass. It may also be a U-bolt through which a lock may pass.

The arrangement for marking an athletic field 1 can be used to mark the lines in many sports such as soccer or football for non-limiting examples. However, in the preferred embodiment the marking apparatus is used for marking lines of a baseball field. One such embodiment is depicted in FIG.8, which depicts a baseball field. Foul lines 20 are ordinarily marked for game play. The foul lines 20 extend from home plate through and beyond the infield and outfield; however they are usually marked to the extent of the outfield. The marking apparatus 1 can be placed anywhere along the foul line, positioned such that the cord can be pulled from the access aperture 8 along the longitudinal direction of the foul lines 20. In one embodiment, the arrangement for marking an athletic field 1 is placed along the foul line 20 at the edge of the infield at the infield edge foul line position 21. At this position, the cord can easily be pulled and drawn to home plate. The hardened end 4 can be then pushed into the ground leaving a straight line marked by the cord from the infield edge foul line position 21 to home plate. The cord can also be pulled and drawn in the opposite direction to the outer edge of the outfield where the hardened end can be pushed into the ground thereby marking the foul line from the infield edge foul line

position 21 through the outfield. In another embodiment, the arrangement for marking an athletic field 1 is placed behind home plate 22. From there, the cord 3 can easily be pulled and drawn out from the access aperture 8 along the foul line and to either first base of third base or all the way to the edge of outfield. In an embodiment utilizing a clasp 16 and ground-stabbing stake 17, the ground-stabbing stake 17 is pushed into the ground at the edge of outfield. Once the ground-stabbing stake 17 is in the ground, the cord 3 can be attached to the ground-stabbing stake 17 by attaching the clasp 16 to the clasp receiving portion 18 of the ground- stabbing stake 17.

It may be desirable to know how much cord 3 has been unwound from the arrangement for marking an athletic field 1. In an alternative embodiment, the arrangement for marking an athletic field 1 may include a measurement device that is incorporated with the retracting spool 2. The measurement device may measure the length of the unwound cord 3, which in turn can be used to measure distance from where the arrangement for marking an athletic field 1 is to a point of interest, such as the length of a foul line, the length from home plate to third base, or any other such distance.

It may also be desirable to remove any dirt or debris that the cord 3 may carry as the cord 3 is retracted back into the housing 6. In an alternative embodiment, the arrangement for marking an athletic field 1 may have a cord brush incorporated into the retracting spool 2 to accomplish this cord debris removal. As the cord 3 is retracted back into the housing 6 and onto the retracting spool 2 the cord brush sweeps off any debris that the cord 3 picked up as it was unwound.

As previously mentioned, the arrangement for marking an athletic field can be used in other sports as well. For example, to mark the lines for a soccer or football playing field, the arrangement for marking an athletic field could be positioned in the ground at two opposite corners of the playing field allowing the cord to be pulled for marking the length and width of the field. With proper positioning only a small number of line apparatuses need be used to aid in marking an entire field.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY This invention has industrial applicability in the area of sports equipment and specifically to mark fields for sports activities.