Basketball backboard
US5507484A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 15, 1994 |
| Grant date | Apr 16, 1996 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jul 15, 2014 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC A)Human Necessities
- CPC primaryA63B2208/12
- WIPO fieldFurniture, games
- WIPO sectorOther fields
Abstract
A preferred embodiment of a basketball backboard is blow-molded from polyethylene. The backboard includes a front layer, a back layer, a plurality of offsets, and an edge wall which are homogeneously secured to one another during the blow-molding process and which together define an interior volume that is substantially filled with air, polyurethane foam, or another fill material. The front layer has a medium-to-large sized flat face for receiving basketball impacts. The back layer is spaced apart from the front layer by the offsets. A variety of differently shaped and positioned offsets are employed. Two T-shaped offsets are positioned alongside a location at which a hoop may be mounted to the backboard. Quadrilateral-shaped and other offsets are positioned relative to mounting sites for mounting the backboard to a backboard support such as a pole or wall. The mounting sites define a triangle whose sides correspond to lines of high stress within the backboard. The offsets are positioned such that each side of the triangle is perpendicular to at least one offset. Offsets are also positioned parallel to one another, and in perpendicular or transverse groups. To assist in stacking su…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.