Playground Structure

The present disclosure relates in general to the field of recreational equipment, and more specifically, to an improved playground structure.

Jungle gyms emerged in the early 20th century as a means to encourage physical activity, imaginative play, and outdoor interactive play. Over the years, jungle gyms and other playground equipment have evolved in design and materials, from utilitarian metal structures to more complex and colorful configurations made of wood, plastic, and other materials. While a wide variety of jungle gyms and playground equipment have been built and imagined over the past century, the basic concept remains generally the same: to provide children with a fun, safe, yet challenging environment where they can climb, swing, and explore, all while developing their physical strength, coordination, and social skills.

Like reference numbers and designations in the various drawings indicate like elements.

Playground equipment, including jungle gyms, swing sets, playhouse sets, and other apparatus have played an important role in the recreation and development of children for over 100 years. While beginning as a fixture in parks, playgrounds, and schoolyards, playground equipment have also become a popular addition to private backyards, homes, and businesses, with playgrounds even being added to indoor play environments. In many instances, high quality jungle gyms and playground equipment have required specialized installers to install the playground equipment at a site. While simplified playground equipment has also been developed for assembly by laypersons, such playground structures are often simplified and offered in standardized “out-of-the-box” designs, which limit customizations including the footprint of the equipment, features of the equipment, and aesthetics of the equipment, among other example issues.

In an improved implementation, a modular playground system is provided, which is configured for ease of shipping, warehousing, and assembly, while enabling wide-ranging customization of the overall playground design. The modular playground system may be based on a playground base structure, such as illustrated in the example of. The base structuremay include an assembly of upright poles, or upright supports, interconnected by various horizontal bars or crossbars. The upright poles may be anchored to the ground via in-ground concrete bases, bolts, or other mechanisms and may be fixedly assembled in either outdoor or indoor environments. The crossbars may be adapted to bear the weight of multiple human users when coupled to the upright supports and may serve as “monkey bars” or ladder rungs, allowing users to climb, hang, and swing from the upright supports, among other example uses.

The playground base structureis assembled through a number of crossbar-to-upright support connections. For instance, as illustrated in, a portionof an example playground base structureis shown, which includes a first pass-through crossbar, which is to pass through an opening provided in an upright supportat a joint regionto connect to the upright support. The pass-through crossbaris oriented in a first axis parallel to the ground. Additional crossbar elements may be provided at the joint. For instance, a second crossbar elementand a third crossbar elementmay also be attached at the joint to form orthogonally oriented crossbar elements, which are perpendicular to the first axis and parallel to the ground.

In some implementations, the axis formed by the second crossbar elementand the third crossbar elementis coplanar with and perpendicular to the first axis of the pass-through crossbar element. Rather than connecting to the upright supportvia a pass-through hole, the second and third crossbar elements (e.g.,,) are connected at the upright support using screws and/or a receptacle or recess (e.g.,) provided on the upright supportand do not pass completely through the upright support. Other connection points (e.g.,) may be provided to couple playground modules (such as discussed below) to the upright support and/or crossbar members.

Multiple horizontal layers or rungs of crossbar elements may be included in the playground base structure. In some implementations, consecutive (descending from top to bottom) horizontal layers of crossbars may connect to a given upright support in alternating orientations and the upright support (e.g.,) may be configured for such connections. For instance, as shown in, a top layer (e.g., including pass-through crossbar element, second crossbar element, and third crossbar element) may be oriented such that a pass-through crossbar element (e.g.,) connects to the upright support (e.g.,) via a through-hole that allows the pass-through crossbarto pass completely through the upright support and be oriented along a first horizontal axis (or an axis parallel with a level ground). One or two other crossbar elements (e.g.,,) connect at the same joint to form crossbars perpendicular to the pass-through crossbar element. In some implementations, a pass-through crossbar is to connect to multiple vertically parallel upright supports along the first axis via respective through-holes and thereby forms a unitary crossbar spanning three or more upright supports. A next (e.g., lower) layer of rungs may connect in an orthogonal manner. For instance, another pass-through crossbar element (not shown in) may be received through through-holeto connect the other pass-through cross-bar element to the upright support. However, given the orientation of through-hole, the other pass-through crossbar would be oriented along a horizontal axis perpendicular to the first axis (and passthrough crossbar). Other crossbar elements may also be joined to the upright supportcorresponding to through-hole, but connecting to the upright supportwithout passing through the upright support and oriented parallel to the first axis (and passthrough crossbar). In this manner, layers of crossbars are connected to an upright support in alternating orientations, such that each passthrough crossbar is connected to the upright support in orthogonally alternating directions or orientations.

While some of the examples shown herein show passthrough crossbars that alternate between two orthogonal axes, it should be appreciated that the principles discussed and described herein may apply equally to other implementations, such as implementations with upright support through-holes that are oriented so that consecutive descending through-holes orient corresponding passthrough crossbars along different non-orthogonal axes (e.g., three different axes that diverge 60 degrees from the others to allow a triangular support structure to be formed), among other example alternatives.

Turning to, a cross-sectional viewis provided showing the connection of an example pass-through crossbar elementand second and third orthogonal crossbar elements (e.g.,,) at a jointof an upright support pole. In some implementations, horizontal support sleeve members (e.g.,,) may be provided on (e.g., welded to or integrally formed with) an upright supportto couple to the non-passthrough crossbar members at a join. In the case of orthogonally oriented crossbars at a joint (e.g., as in the examples of), a single through-holeis provided to accept and support the passthrough crossbar, with two support sleeves,oriented perpendicular to the orientation of the through-hole. In one example, crossbar elements,may be configured to be inserted into respective support sleeves,. In one example, as shown in, the ends of the crossbar elements,may have narrower diameters to correspond to the diameters of the openings of the support sleeves and allow the ends of the crossbar elements,to be inserted into the support sleeves,up to a defined length (e.g., where the diameter of the crossbar elements,increases beyond what can be accepted by the opening of the corresponding support sleeve.

In some instances, to further support the connection of a crossbar element (e.g.,,) to a support sleeve (e.g.,,) of an upright support (e.g.,), screws, bolts, pins, welds, adhesives, or other connectors may be used to fix the end of the crossbar element within the support sleeve. In some implementations, such as illustrated in, collar elements (e.g.,-) may be provided at each connection between a crossbar element (e.g.,-,, etc.) and an upright support (e.g.,). The collar elements may provide various functions and benefits, such as enclosing open ends of the sleeve supports and/or crossbar elements (e.g., in order to protect the elements from weather exposure, etc.), provide additional support to the connection, covering potential sharp corners or edges from contact by playground users, and aesthetic purposes. In one example, screws or other connectors may be used to fasten the collar to the upright support. Connectors (e.g., screws) may be used to couple the collar to the corresponding crossmember and further reinforce the coupling of the collar to the playground support base as well as the crossbars to the upright support. For instance, screws may be used to attach a collar (e.g.,,) to a passthrough crossbar and additional screws may be used to couple the collar to the upright support to further reinforce the connection of the passthrough crossbar to the upright support and so on.

Turning to, a side viewis shown of a portion of an upright supportwith support sleeves,configured to accept the ends,of non-passthrough crossbar elements,. A through-holeis also shown, through which a passthrough crossbar may be fed to couple the passthrough crossbar to the upright support. The end of a crossbar member (e.g., both passthrough crossmembers and non-passthrough crossbars) that are to terminate the length of the crossbar member may be provided with end sections (e.g.,,,,, etc.) with narrower diameters to enable the end section to be inserted into upright support sleeves (e.g.,,) and then fastened within the support sleeves to couple the crossmember ends to an upright support pole.

, shows a partial assembly of an example playground support base. In this example, four parallel upright supports (e.g.,,-) are shown. A single passthrough crossbaris coupled to the parallel upright supports,-by passing the passthrough crossbarthrough respective through-holes in upright supportsandand couple the ends of the passthrough crossbarto upright supports,using support sleeves,. Non-passthrough crossbar elements,-,,-may also be coupled at or near the same elevation as the passthrough crossbaron upright supports,-using respective support sleeves, with the crossbar elements connected at a different (e.g., perpendicular) orientation to that of the passthrough crossbar.

additionally shows the connection of extension uprights (e.g.,,) to the tops of some of the upright supports (e.g.,,), which may serve to extend the height of a corresponding upright support (e.g.,,) in accordance with the custom design objectives of an owner/assembler of the corresponding modular playground system. In some implementations, additional crossbar members may be connected to the extension uprights. In one example, the bottom portion of the extension upright pieces (e.g.,,) may have narrower cross-sections (e.g., outer diameters) allowing the bottom portions to be inserted into the top of the upright supports and then fastened to the upright supports. In cases where no upright support (or playground module) is to be connected to the top of an upright support (e.g.,,), an end cap (e.g.,,) may be attached to the top of the upright support, among other example features.

Assembly of an example playground support base may continue on a piece-wise or modular basis and involve securing additional upright supports to the ground (e.g., through below ground or ground level anchoring) and positioning these upright supports such that additional passthrough crossbars pass through through-holes,-and connect to these additional upright supports.is a viewshowing the example progression of the assembly of the playground support base shown in. Here, additional upright supports (e.g.,-) have been provided, as well as additional passthrough crossbars-,,,,, In this example, passthrough crossbars,-are connected to the additional upright supports through corresponding through-holes located at substantially the same elevation on the upright supports corresponding to a first, or highest, layerof crossbars within the playground support structure. Additional passthrough crossbars,,,provided for in the second, or immediately lower layerof crossbars in the playground support base may pass through the upright supports,-in an orientation (e.g., an axis parallel with a first horizontal axis) perpendicular to the orientation (e.g., an axis parallel with a second horizontal axis) of passthrough crossbars in the first layerof crossbars (e.g., which includes passthrough crossbars,-). The additional passthrough crossbars,,,also pass through at least some of the additional upright supports (e.g., passthrough crossbarpassing through upright supportsand, etc.), with the ends of the passthrough crossbar terminating at upright supports (e.g., using corresponding support sleeves) positioned a distance substantially equal to the length of the passthrough crossbar (which may vary) (e.g., passthrough crossbar terminating at support sleeves at upright supportsand, etc.).

Continuing with the example of, a third or more layers of crossbars may be available to a designer/assembler/owner of the playground system. In some implementations, one or more of the layers of crossbars may omit the use of any passthrough crossbars. This may be at the discretion of the designer/assembler/owner to customize the playground design and may be done without jeopardizing the overall structural stability of the playground system, given the use of passthrough crossbars in one or more of the other layers (e.g.,,) of the playground support structure. Non-passthrough crossbar elements may be positioned in accordance with the wishes of the designer between potentially any two adjacent upright supports, for instance, to facilitate the attachment of various playground modules, to provide ladder rungs or monkey bars for users, among other considerations and features. The viewinis shown without any non-passthrough crossbar elements to illustrate the flexibility with which these crossbar elements may be added and positioned within the playground support structure. For instance, collared support sleeves (e.g.,,,) are shown representing potential connection points for non-passthrough crossbar elements. In cases where a support sleeve on an upright support is not used a collar or cap may be provided over the support sleeve to enhance the safety and weather resistant attributes of the playground system (and secondarily provide toe holds for users climbing on the playground structure).

Turning to, an example playground support structure baseis shown, which has been assembled to include four layers of crossbars (e.g.,,,,), two or more of which include passthrough cross bars which are oriented in alternating directions by layer. The playground support structure base, while at least partially customizable based on the non-passthrough crossbars provided on the playground support structure base, may be further customizable through the addition of various playground modules adapted to fixedly connect to the playground support structure. For instance,shows a bridge module, which may attach to the playground support structureto enhance the form and function of the overall playground apparatus. For instance, the bridge modulemay include connectors sleeves (e.g.,) adapted to fit over or within the top openings or ends (e.g.,,) of two upright supports of the playground support structure. The sleeves of the bridge module may be fixed to the tops of the upright supports using a bolt, a weld, or other connection mechanisms.

A variety of other playground modules may be connected to a playground support structure baseand may connect at crossmember elements of the playground support structure, at the sides of upright supports of the playground support structure, at support sleeves on the upright supports, or at the top ends or opening of the upright supports of the playground support structure, among other examples. A wide variety of playground modules may be developed and adapted for use with the playground support structureto customize a playground build to the space available and the activities desired by the owner, designer, and/or users. For instance,show sideand perspectiveviews of an example playground build based upon and using a playground support structureas a base. For instance, the playground build may be constructed first, through the assembly of a desired playground support structure base(e.g., as discussed above) and the attachment of various playground modules (e.g.,,,,,, etc.). For instance, in the example of, the top ends of multiple upright supports of the playground support structureare used to couple larger playground modules, such as a slide module, a swing set module, bridge module, monkey rings module, and monkey bars module. Various playground modules (e.g.,,,,,, etc.) may be additionally secured to the ground at respective footings (e.g.,-) to further secure the playground build within its environment.

A number of platform module elements (e.g.,) may also be coupled to the playground support structureat two or more crossbar elements. For instance, where crossbars form a square or rectangular frame, a platform module element (e.g.,) may be secured to the frame to form a raised floor or platform elements in the playground support structure. For instance, as shown in the views-of, a frame of crossbars (e.g., including crossbars,) is shown connected to upright supports (e.g.,,,), which may include passthrough crossbars and/or non-passthrough crossbars. A platform modulemay be provided which is configured to mate with crossbars of the frame and connect to the playground support structure. For instance, concavities, recesses, or other depressions (e.g.,,,) may be provided on an underside of a platform module, which are adapted to accept and mate with at least a portion of the outer surface of a crossbar (e.g.,,) to allow the platform moduleto securely rest on the frame (e.g., as shown in). Bolts, fasteners, adhesives, or other connector may be utilized to fixedly connect the platform moduleto the crossbars and fasten the platform module to the playground support structure.

In some implementations, multiple crossbar frames may be included in the playground support structure assembly allowing for multiple platform modules to be connected to the playground support structure. In some cases, multiple adjacent crossbar frames may be provided in the same plane (or crossbar layer), which may allow for multiple adjacent platform modules to be connected to form a contiguous platform surface for the playground. In some implementations, the geometry of each platform module may be configured to mate with adjacent platform modules to form a contiguous platform surface as defined by the top surface area of each platform module. For instance, turning to the example shown by the views-in, teeth or tongue and groove members (e.g.,,,,) may be provided on platform modules (e.g.,,), which are adapted to fit, mate, or interlock with corresponding members of a neighboring platform module. Various geometries may be adopted in the interlocking members (e.g.,,,,) such square tooth members, trapezoidal members (e.g., as in the examples of), half circle or round members, etc. As shown in, when two opposing and corresponding sides of two platform members (e.g.,,) are brought into contact or in adjacent proximity to each other, a substantially contiguous platform surface is created for user to stand and play upon within an example playground assembly.

The principles and features of platform modules may be applied to other modular elements of the modular playground system utilizing the playground support structure base discussed herein. For instance, turning to the examples shown in views-of, wall modules (e.g.,) may be provided with concavities or clips (e.g.,-) sized to correspond to and enable the connection of a wall module to upright support poles and/or crossmembers of a modular playground support structure. Screws or other fasteners may be used to secure or fix the connection points (e.g.,-) of the wall moduleto the upright supports and/or crossbars of the playground support structure. In some assemblies, multiple wall modules may be connected to the playground support structureto form one or more contiguous walls formed by connecting multiple adjacent wall modules to the playground support structure. Such walls may be used to construct fort-like or treehouse-like play environments on the playground support structure, among other examples, to further customize the playground assembly.shows an example where multiple wall modules (e.g.,-) are connected to upright supports of an example playground support structure.

The customizability enabled by the playground support structure and playground system may allow for a variety of different configurations of platform and wall modules, among other playground modules (such as discussed herein). In some implementations, a wall module may include transparent window elements or door elements (e.g., with a frame that snaps or is otherwise attached to the playground support structure and pivoting surface within the frame that can be opened and closed (e.g., using a latch or locking mechanism)). In some implementations, themed module kits with stylized wall modules with patterns, surface treatments, windows, doors, etc. that, when assembled, result in a fort or playhouse assembly based on the theme (e . . . , pirate ship, spaceship, princess castle, etc.). Additional themed snap-on accessories (e.g., a turret for a castle, a canon for pirate ship, steering wheel for spaceship, etc.) may be provided in such kits, which are adapted to attach to upright supports and/or crossbars of the playground support structure and/or wall modules to enhance the design of the playground system, among other examples.

Turning to, principles other panel-type elements (e.g., similar to platform modules and wall modules) may be provided and configured to connect to and enhance an example playground support structure. For instance, a partial viewof an example playground assembly is shown including a ramp module (e.g.,) configured to attach to crossbars of an example playground support structureto form a ramp. The ramp may allow users of the playground to climb from one layer of crossbars to another. Other playground modules may also enhance the playground modules, such as a climbing moduleshown in the example playground assemblyof. In this example a large plastic or metal climbing surface may be implemented using the climbing modulethat attaches to a corner of the playground support structure base (e.g., at two cross bar members and/or an upright support). Other climbing modules may be provided, such a rock climbing wall module, rope wall module, among other examples.

a portion (e.g.,-) of an example playground assembly is shown including various playground module attachments (e.g.,,,,, etc.) connected to upright supports (e.g.,) and/or crossbars of the playground support structurethrough clamp elements (e.g.,,). In this example, a snap-on track system includes multiple track modules, which may be easily attached and detached allowing designers or users to assemble custom courses for balls, water, sand, etc. Other attachments may be provided, which may be connectable to the playground support structure, for instance, to construct Rube Goldberg-like contraptions, among other examples. Other playground modules may include toys and contraptions, such as a play table (e.g., that attached to the outside of the playground support structure for playing kitchen, games, drawings, etc.), a sand pit enclosure (e.g., to implement a sand box), and a canopy or sunshade (e.g., supported by flex tubes that extend from the top ends of one or more upright supports of the playground support structure to shade all or a portion of the play areas corresponding to the playground assembly). Other snap-on accessory modules may include such examples as telescopes, steering wheels, flower boxes, among other examples. For instance,a water table moduleis shown, configured to attach to crossbars and/or upright supports of an example playground support structure. The water table may be outside or within the frame of the playground supports structure and may hold an amount of water for use by a user to play with water-themed games and water toys, among other examples.

Turning to, an example swing set moduleis shown (e.g., similar to that shown in the example of), configured to attach to an example playground support structure. Attachment members (e.g.,,) may be provided to connect the swing set moduleto the tops of two upright supports of the playground support structure. The swing set module, in one example, may be configured to be expandable so as to allow one or more additional swing set frame elements (e.g.,,) to be appended or stacked laterally to extend the length of the swing set frame. For instance, an openingmay be provided at an end of the swing set moduleconfigured to accept and fasten to an endof a swing set extended module. Similarly, the swing set extender modulemay include a similar openingconfigured to accept additional attachments, such as attachmentor another instance of the swing set extender modules. For instance, an endof swing modulemay be inserted into the openingand fastened within the openingto secure the swing moduleto the swing set module, which fixedly connected to upright supports of the playground support structure, among other examples.

Turning to the diagrams-of, an example assembly of an example playground support structure is illustrated. In this example, four upright supports (e.g.,,,,) are provided to construct a center portion of the playground support structure. The upright supports may be provided with respective through-holes (e.g.,,,, etc.) and support sleeves (e.g.,,,,,, etc.), which project radially from the upright supports,,,. In this particular example, as illustrated in, passthrough crossbars (e.g.,,) may be first attached to the upright supports, by first passing the passthrough crossbar (e.g.,) through one of the upright supports' (e.g.,) through-holes (e.g.,) and then connecting an end of the crossbar (e.g.,) to another one of the upright supports (e.g.,) at a support sleeve (e.g.,) of the upright supports. In some implementations, a number of collar elements (e.g.,,) may be used and a crossbar (e.g.,) may be passed through the collar elements (e.g.,,) as well, with the collar elements used to accept connectors (e.g., screws or bolts (e.g.,,) to assist in facilitating connections of the crossbars to the upright supports.

shows the center portion of the playground support structure with passthrough crossbars,connected to upright supports used to form the center portion. Additionally passthrough crossbars (e.g.,,) may be similarly coupled to the upright supports (e.g., crossbarto upright supportsandand crossbarto upright supportsand) to interconnect and provide stability between the four central upright supports,,,. For instance, passthrough crossbarmay be passed through the through-holeof upright supportsand terminate at upright supportby coupling the end of the crossbarto a sleeve supporton the upright support. Collar devices (e.g.,,) may be used in concert with fasteners or connectors (e.g.,,) to fasten the crossbarto the upright supports,.

As introduced above, layers of crossbar members may be provided in the playground support structure. Crossbars may alternatively passthrough a through-hole of an upright support (e.g., in one layer) in one axis or orientation in one crossbar layer and connect at support sleeves in this axis or orientation in a next (e.g., lower) crossbar layer. Accordingly, in this example, four additional passthrough crossbars (e.g.,,,,) may be coupled to the upright supports (e.g.,,,,) in a manner similar to the passthrough crossbars,,,to form at least a portion of a second crossbar layer in the playground support structure. However, where a passthrough crossbar (e.g.,) in the first layer passes through a given upright support (e.g.,) in a first orientation, a passthrough crossbar (e.g.,) passes through the same upright support (e.g.,) in a different orientation (in a plane parallel to a plane in which an axis parallel to the first orientation lies), such as in an orientation orthogonal or perpendicular to the first orientation.

Turning to, in some example implementations, a top portionmay be assembled and added to the top of upright supports,,,(e.g., once there positioning has been arranged and set through the connection of crossbar elements interconnecting the upright supports (e.g., as shown in)). For instance, the top portionmay include upright extension supports (e.g.,,,,) to raise the overall height of the playground support structure and allow various playground modules to connect to the playground support structure at this higher point. Close-up viewshows the manner in which the upright extension supports (e.g.,) may be attached to an openingat the top of a upright support. Fasteners (e.g.,,,, etc.) may be utilized to fasten the bottoms of the upright extension supports to the upright supports (e.g.,,,,) when the bottoms of the upright extension supports to the upright supports are inserted into the openings (e.g.,) at the top of the upright supports.

Additional sections of the playground support structure may be added to the central portion of the playground support structure to build out and customize the dimensions of the overall playground support structure. In, the assembly of an example portion of the playground support structure is shown. For instance, additional upright supports (e.g.,,) may be used to form the basis of this section and passthrough crossbars (e.g.,,) may be inserted through through-holes provided on the upright supports,. Fasteners (e.g.,,,,,,,,) and collar elements (e.g.,,,,,,,,) may be used to fasten these passthrough crossbars,to the upright supports,. This section is attached to the central support section, as shown in. For instance, support sleeves on upright supports,may couple to the ends of a portion of the crossbars (e.g.,,,, etc.) on the central support section (or added (e.g., as non-passthrough crossbars) to the central support section).shows a final section (e.g., including additional upright supports,,,) being added to other sections to complete the assembly of an example playground support structure (e.g., similar to that shown in other examples shown and discussed herein).

Turning to the examples shown in the diagrams-of, additional playground module examples are shown which a user or designed may include to introduce waterplay options in an example playground. For instance, an example waterfall panelsis shown which includes with concavities or clips (e.g.,,) sized to correspond to and enable the connection of the waterfall panel to a frame of crossmembers of a modular playground support structure. The waterfall panelmay be attached to the modular playground support structure to form a ceiling member in a fort or playspace formed (e.g., using wall and/or platform modules) in the playground support structure. A hosemay be provided through a flexible tube coupled to the waterfall panelto allow water to be fed into a hollow chamber within the waterfall panel. A ferrule or other hose coupling (e.g.,) may be provided at the end of the hoseto couple a garden hose or other water source to the waterfall panelto feed water through the hoseinto the hollow chamber of the waterfall panel.

Turning to, an underside viewof the waterfall panelis shown. A number of holes or openings (e.g.,-) may be provided on the underside of the waterfall panel through which water contained within or fed into the hollow chamber of the waterfall panelmay exit the waterfall panel (e.g., as drips and/or streams of water) and create a rainfall or waterfall effect beneath the waterfall panel.

Turning to, in some implementations, a waterfall panel may be configured to enable the waterfall panel to be connected to or interconnected with one or more other (e.g., adjacent or nearby) waterfall panels (e.g., couple to a playground support structure or other support structure) to form a customizable area of waterfall features. For instance, an example waterfall panel may include multiple tap openings to (e.g.,,) to which a hose or other water feedline (e.g.,) may be coupled. For instance, a hose (e.g.,) may be coupled to one of the tap openings (e.g.,) to receive water from a water source (e.g., a garden hose attached to a faucet). As shown in, other hoses (e.g.,) may fluidically couple two waterfall panels (e.g.,,via respective tap openings,) to allow water fed into one waterfall panel(e.g., through hose) to flow into the other waterfall panels (e.g.,) coupled to it. These additional waterfall panels (e.g.,) may be, in some implementations, coupled to other waterfall panels (e.g., via another hose attached to tap opening) to extend the flow of water from the water source into the respective hollow cavities of the each interconnected waterfall panel to allow water to drop, spray, or flow down from the respective arrays of holes or apertures (e.g.,-) provided on the underside of each of the coupled waterfall panels (e.g.,,). Tap openings (e.g.,) that are not to be used to introduce water or share water between waterfall panels may be capped or otherwise sealed. In some implementations, waterfall panels (e.g.,,) may be structurally reinforced to allow the waterfall panels to both hold water (within their hollows) and serve as platform elements (e.g., similar to those shown and described in the examples of), allowing the module to serve both as a waterfall panel and platform panel, among other example features and implementations.

It should be appreciated that the particular examples illustrated and discussed above are provided merely to illustrate more general principles of this disclosure. Indeed, it should be appreciated that other features, changes, and alternative embodiments may be implemented without departing from the more general features proposed herein. Reference throughout this specification to “one implementation” or “an implementation” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the implementation is included in at least one implementation of the present disclosure. Thus, the appearances of the phrases “in one implementation,” “in an implementation,” “in one example,” “in some examples,” “in some instances,” etc. in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same implementation. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more implementations.

The following examples pertain to embodiments in accordance with this disclosure. For instance, example 1 is an apparatus including: a playground frame including: a plurality of upright support posts, where at least a subset of the plurality of upright support posts include a respective plurality of through-holes configured to accept crossbar elements; a plurality of passthrough crossbars to be passed through the through-holes of the subset of upright support posts to couple the plurality of passthrough crossbars to the subset of upright support posts; and a plurality of non-passthrough crossbars to connect to the subset of plurality of upright support posts at an elevation corresponding to the through-holes, where a first subset of the plurality of passthrough crossbars are oriented parallel to a first horizontal axis when passed through through-holes of the subset of upright support posts, a second subset of the plurality of passthrough crossbars are oriented parallel to a second horizontal axis when passed through through-holes of the subset of upright support posts, and the first horizontal axis is not parallel with the second horizontal axis.

Example 2 includes the subject matter of example 1, where the plurality of passthrough crossbars includes a first set of passthrough crossbars and a second set of passthrough crossbars, the plurality of non-passthrough crossbars include a first set of non-passthrough crossbars and a second set of non-passthrough crossbars, where the first set of passthrough crossbars and the first set of non-passthrough crossbars are connected in a first layer of crossbars within the playground frame, and the second set of passthrough crossbars and the second set of non-passthrough crossbars are connected in a second layer of crossbars below the first layer of crossbars within the playground frame.

Example 3 includes the subject matter of example 2, where the playground frame includes at least three layers of crossbars.

Example 4 includes the subject matter of any one of examples 2-3, where the first horizontal axis is orthogonal to the second horizontal axis.

Example 5 includes the subject matter of any one of examples 2-3, where the first horizontal axis is less than 90 degrees askew from the second horizontal axis.

Example 6 includes the subject matter of any one of examples 1-5, where each upright support post in the subset of the plurality of upright support posts includes at least one support sleeve extending outward from the upright support post to connect to an end of a respective one of the plurality of non-passthrough crossbars or an end of a respective one of the plurality of passthrough crossbars.

Example 7 includes the subject matter of example 6, where the end of one of the non-passthrough crossbars is to fit within an opening of one of the support sleeves.

Example 8 includes the subject matter of example 6, where the end of one of the support sleeves is to fit within an opening at the end of one of the non-passthrough crossbars.

Example 9 includes the subject matter of any one of examples 1-8, where two of the plurality of non-passthrough crossbars and two of the plurality of passthrough crossbars form a rectangular crossbar frame within the playground frame, and the apparatus further includes a platform module to connect to the rectangular crossbar frame to form a platform within the playground frame.

Example 10 includes the subject matter of example 9, where at least one of the two of the plurality of non-passthrough crossbars and two of the plurality of passthrough crossbars is included in another rectangular crossbar from adjacent to the crossbar frame, and the apparatus further includes a second platform module to connect to the other rectangular crossbar frame to form a contiguous platform section with the platform module.

Example 11 includes the subject matter of example 10, where an edge of the platform module mates with an edge of the second platform module to form the contiguous platform section.

Example 12 includes the subject matter of any one of examples 1-11, where a top end of at least one of the plurality of upright support posts is to couple to a playground module and support the playground module.

Example 13 includes the subject matter of example 12, further including the playground module.

Example 14 includes the subject matter of example 13, further including a plurality of playground modules and the plurality of playground modules includes the playground module, where the plurality of playground modules are to connect to the playground frame.

Example 15 includes the subject matter of example 12, where the playground module includes a swing set module.

Example 16 includes the subject matter of any one of examples 12-15, where the playground module includes a slide module.