Polymer Basketball Backboard with Voids for Reduced Bounce
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Solution Overview
Problem
Outdoor metal basketball backboards are susceptible to movement due to wind, making it difficult to score baskets, as players lack the 'touch' to effectively use the backboard, leading to decreased shooting accuracy and overall scoring in games.
Innovation Solution
A polymer backboard with strategically placed voids, such as perforations, is designed to reduce the bounce characteristic of the backboard, allowing for easier scoring by absorbing more of the ball's energy upon impact, thereby increasing the likelihood of the ball passing through the rim.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If outdoor metal backboards are made thin to save cost, then manufacturing cost is reduced, but wind resistance deteriorates causing backboard movement
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies porous materials by incorporating voids within the polymer backboard structure. These voids allow wind to pass through the backboard, significantly reducing wind resistance and backboard movement while maintaining a thin profile. The voids create a porous structure that interacts with wind flow, converting the solid backboard into a semi-permeable structure that dissipates wind energy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses composite materials by combining polymer material with void structures to create a backboard that achieves both cost-effectiveness and wind resistance. The composite structure integrates the polymer matrix with strategically placed voids, creating a material that has both the durability of polymer and the wind-resistance properties of a perforated structure.
2Strength
If traditional solid backboards are used, then structural integrity is maintained, but bounce characteristic increases making it difficult to score
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by creating regions with different void concentrations at different locations on the backboard. Areas closer to the rim have different void densities compared to areas farther away, allowing each region to have optimized bounce characteristics. This local variation in structure enables players to use different parts of the backboard for different shooting scenarios while maintaining overall structural integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes physical parameters by modifying the void ratio, void size, and void distribution within the polymer backboard. By adjusting these parameters, the bounce characteristic is reduced while maintaining structural integrity. The specific parameters include void volume fraction, void diameter, and spatial arrangement, which are optimized to achieve the desired ball-deflection properties.
3Stability of the object's composition
If perforations are added to reduce wind effect, then wind resistance is improved, but structural strength may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses porous materials to create a backboard structure that resists wind while maintaining strength. The porous structure with controlled void distribution allows wind passage to reduce wind resistance, while the polymer matrix surrounding the voids maintains structural integrity. The interplay between the solid polymer and void spaces creates a structure that is both wind-resistant and strong.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite materials by integrating the polymer matrix with a void network to create a structure that simultaneously achieves wind resistance and structural strength. The composite design ensures that the voids are strategically placed and sized to minimize wind impact while the surrounding polymer material provides the necessary structural support.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The polymer backboard with voids enhances scoring by reducing the bounce characteristic, making it easier for players to use the backboard effectively, leading to improved shooting and increased game enjoyment for both players and spectators.
Implementation Method 1
the voids reduce a bounce characteristic of a region of the polymer sheet as compared to a bounce characteristic of an otherwise identical region of a polymer sheet having no voids
Data Source
AI summary
An indoor basketball backboard is provided lhat makes it easier for players to use the backboard to score baskets. The indoor backboard includes a plurality of voids to adjust a bounce characteristic of the backboard. A basketball backboard having a plurality of voids has bounce characteristics less than that of existing solid backboards. Such backboard may be a polymer backboard or a backboard made from one or more other materials.