US3549151A - Target cup for surface projectiles - Google Patents

Description

0 United States Patent l1113,549,151

[72] Inventor Harold W. Long FOREIGN PATENTS Mwmvi" Road, Columbus, Ohio 220,377 8/1924 Great Britain 273/179 43221 [21 1 APPL 812,809 Pnmary Exammer-George J. Marlo [22] Filed Apt 2, 1969 Attorney-Howson and Howson [45] Patented Dec. 22, 1970 [54] TARGET CUP FOR SURFACE PROJECTILES ABSTRACT; An amusement device for use with one or more 9 CW 6 Dnwing 513$ balls consisting of a target cup which IS mounted on a playing surface. The target cup comprises an element having an [52] US. CL 273/178, inclined skirt for directing a ball into an elevated receptacle in 273,127 the form of a depression which is adapted to receive the ball. [51] m A63) 57/00 In use, the ball is projected across the playing surface and rolls [50] Field ofSearch 273/177, up the inclined skin at a sufficient velocity m come to rest 34, 95(4)- 105, 176 within the receptacle. A variable degree of difficulty is embodied in the device b rovidin a variable slo in the skirt [56] Rdemm CM about the circumfereni: of the iup and by hayiiig means to UNITED STATES PATENTS vary the effective depth of the depression, namely a series of 2,933,318 4/1960 Boynton 273/178 annular rings which are removably mounted in the receptacle 3,490,769 I] l 970 Torbett 273/178X to form its bottom wall.

PATENTED 0mm 3.649.151

INVENTORI HAROLD W. L ONG TARGET CUP FOR SURFACE PROJECTILES amusement device which may be adapted to provide a degree of difficulty commensurate with the skill of the players. When the target cup is used with a series of similar cups, the various cups in the series may be modified individually to provide a varying degree of difficulty as the player plays the ball through the series of cups.

More specifically, the present invention provides a target cup of generally dome-shaped configuration having at the top of the dome a receptacle in the form of a depression formed bya series of annular members having a slope opposite to the slope of the body of the cup.

The present invention also insures against inadvertent disassembly of the annular members forming the receptacle by providing an interlock between the members which thereby enables the assembled cup to be handled and stored without fear of disassembly and lom of the elements which are assembled to form the cup.

The particular form of the cup enables it to be stacked with similar cups so as to occupy a minimum of space when not in use.

All of the objects of the invention are more fully set forth hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a game cup embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a view in side elevation of the cup shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary inverted plan view illustrating the interlocking between the annular elements of the FIG. 4 is a greatly enlarged sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of FIG. 1 showing schematically the use of the cup with balls of varying size;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view of the cup with its central annulus removed, illustrating the reception of a ball therein; and

FIG. 6 is a detached perspective view of an element of the cup shown in FIGS; 1 through 4.

Referring now to the drawing, the illustrated embodiment of the cup of the present invention is designed to be mounted on a playing surface 10 and comprises a generally dome-shaped body portion 11 which is generally egg-shaped in outline, having a rim providing a circular aperture 12 disposed within the central area of the body portion. The body portion has a continuous thin wall section which slopes upwardly from its outer periphery to the central aperture or rim 12 to provide a continuous skirt surrounding the aperture. As shown in FIG. 2, the slope of the skirt 14 is relatively gradual at the large end of the egg-shaped outline of the body portion and is relatively steep at the narrower end of the body portion, in the present instance the slope varying continuously about the periphery of the body portion. Annular members 15 are mounted in the aperture 12 to provide a receptacle, in the present case a shallow depression depending downwardly'into the interior of the dome formed by the skirt 14. In the present instance, the annular members 15 have circular inner and outer peripheries so as to form a series of concentric rings within the aperture 12. The upwardly-facing surfaces 16 of the members 15 are inclined oppositely to the skirt 14 so as to form a dished bottom for the depression within the aperture 12, each surface defining a zone of the bottom wall. In the present instance, there are 4 annular members 15, designated 15-1, 15-2, 15-3 and 15-4 which are-releasably interlocked as shown in FIG. 4

to form a four-zoned bottom wall for the depression having a central passageway 17 therein. The passageway is effective to drain the receptacle when the target cup is used out-of-doors and is exposed to the weather.

When the cup is assembled as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4, the

target cup of the present invention may be used with balls of widely varying diameter, as indicated by the broken lines in FIG. 4. The body portion 11 is adapted to rest on the playing surface 10 (FIG. 2) and the player projects the ball with a ma!- let or club, or manually so that it rolls along the playing surface 10 and up the skirt 14 to rest in the receptacle within the aperture 12. The ball must be impelled toward the target cup 1 1 with sufficient force to enable it to roll up the surface of the skirt 14, and yet must not have sufficient momentum to roll over the aperture 12 without entering the depression. Furthermore, the propulsion applied to the ball must not be sufficient to carry the ball out of the dished depression after it enters over the lip surrounding the aperture 12. It is apparent that if a ball of large diameter is used, the propulsion of the ball must be accurately controlled to enable the ball to stop within the receptacle of the target cup. By the same token, as the diameter of the ball decreases, the player has more leeway in propelling the ball up the skirt 14 and into the depression, since the smaller diameter of the ball will produce a lesser tendency for the ball to continue rolling out of the depression. In addition to the diameter of the ball, the resiliency of the material composing the ball, and the weight of the ball contribute to the degree of difficulty in. causing the ball to come to rest within the receptacle of the target cup. A hard heavy ball obviously will act quite differently from a bouncy light ball. It is contemplated that the standard ball will be in the nature of a standard tennis ball. However, the players, by proper selection of balls, may accommodate the game to the particular skills of the players. For example, when an adult is playing the game with a young child, the difference in skill and coordination between the adult and the child may be compensated for by the players use of different balls. In this way, the interest in the game may be enhanced by accommodating the difficulty of play with the skill and coordination of the player.

The variable slope of the skirt 14 also contributes to the interest in playing the game. The steeper slope at the small end of the cup creates a greater difficulty in getting the ball to come to rest within the depression and requires the player to exercise sound judgment in selecting the best approach to the cup. This requirement for exercise of judgment further enhances the interest in the game.

It is contemplated that the game will be played with a series of target cups and that each player must propel his ball into the target receptacle of all of the cups in the series in a particular sequence. The present invention provides means for increasing the degree of difficulty as the player progresses through the series of cups. As pointed out above, the dished bottom 16 of the target depression is formed by the series of annular elements 15 and these elements are selectively removable. When assembled as shown in FIG. 4, the central passageway 17 formed by the inner periphery of the central annular member 15-4 provides substantially no impedance to the rolling of the ball through the depression. When the central annular member 154 is removed as shown in FIG. 5, however, the inner periphery of the remaining annular member 15-3 provides an enlarged passageway 17-3 in which the ball may have a tendency to nest. Thus, if in its passage into the receptacle, the ball engages in the passageway 17-3, the passageway will tend to impede its progress and assist in retaining the ball within the receptacle. In similar manner, if the next annular member 15-3 is removed, a further enlarged passageway will be provided by the inner periphery of the next member 15-2, and so forth. When the diameter of the passageway exceeds that of the ball being used by a particular player, it will be relatively easy to cause the ball to come to rest within the receptacle target cup, since the ball will be free to fall through the passageway into the hollow interior of the skirt 14. When all of the annular members 15 are removed,

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