Telescopic ball retrieval device

Abstract

A ball retrieval device, comprises: a) a telescopic tubing assembly suitable to house a plurality of balls; b) a retrieval mechanism suitable to allow the passage of a ball into said tubing assembly and to prevent its discharge therefrom; c) a positioning element suitable to cooperate with slotted connecting elements and to prevent the undesired rotation of parts of said telescopic tubing assembly relatively to one another; and d) capping element provided with stopping elements, suitable to release balls from the device when said stopping elements are in an open position.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A ball retrieval device, comprising:
 a) a telescopic tubing assembly suitable to house a plurality of balls, wherein at least one tube of said tubing assembly is formed with one or more longitudinally extending rails;   d) a plurality of tubular elements each of which fitted at a terminal end of a tube of said tubing assembly, wherein at least one of said tubular elements is configured with a slot aligned with at least one of said rails and having a portion that is non-longitudinally extending to define a locked position;   c) a retrieval mechanism suitable to allow the passage of a ball into said tubing assembly and to prevent its discharge therefrom;   d) a positioning element suitable to cooperate with one of said rails in order to customize a length of said tubing assembly and with the non-longitudinally extending portion of the slot of one of said tubular elements in order to prevent undesired rotation of tubes of said telescopic tubing assembly relative to one another; and   e) a capping element provided with stopping elements, suitable to release balls from the device when said stopping elements are in an open position.   
     
     
         2 . The device according to  claim 1 , wherein the positioning element comprises a pin. 
     
     
         3 . The device according to  claim 1 , wherein two of the tubular elements are intermediate connecting elements suitable to connect two tubes of the tubing assembly having different diameters, respectively. 
     
     
         4 . The device according to  claim 1 , wherein the stopping elements provided in the capping elements comprise elastic snapping strips. 
     
     
         5 . The device according to  claim 1 , wherein the retrieval mechanism comprises inner retrieval components suitable to allow the entrance of balls through one of the openings of the device, and prevent them from passing the other way around. 
     
     
         6 . The device according to  claim 5 , wherein the inner retrieval components are teeth-shaped components. 
     
     
         7 . The device according to  claim 6 , wherein the teeth-shaped components are coupled to springs and are also provided with an axis at one end, suitable to allow said teeth to rotate. 
     
     
         8 . The device according to  claim 5 , wherein the inner retrieval components are elastic, suitable to be displaced upon pressure. 
     
     
         9 . The device according to  claim 3 , wherein at least one of the intermediate connecting elements is a slotted element that is configured with the aligned slot and having the non-longitudinally extending portion. 
     
     
         10 . The device according to  claim 1 , wherein the slot aligned with at least one of said rails that includes the non-longitudinally extending portion is configured as a corner. 
     
     
         11 . The device according to  claim 1 , wherein the at least one tube of said tubing assembly that is formed with one or more longitudinally extending rails is formed with at least one additional slot aligned with the rail and configured with the non-longitudinally extending portion. 
     
     
         12 . The device according to  claim 1 , wherein the telescopic tubing assembly comprises at least first and second tubes each of which having different diameters. 
     
     
         13 . The device according to  claim 12 , wherein rotation of the first tube relative to the second tube is prevented when the positioning element is displaced to the non-longitudinally extending portion of the slot of one of said tubular elements and is locked. 
     
     
         14 . The device according to  claim 12 , wherein a first of the tubular elements is fitted at a first terminal end of the first tube, a second of the tubular elements is fitted at a second terminal end of the first tube, and a third of the tubular elements is fitted at a first terminal end of the second tube and is suitable to be connected to the second of the tubular elements,
 wherein the first tube that is formed with the one or more longitudinally extending rails is also formed with at least one additional slot between the first and second tubular elements which is aligned with the one of the rails and configured with the non-longitudinally extending portion, to provide an additional locked position when the first and second tubes are partially overlapping.