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US 12,605,607 B1Granted
Pitching practice machine and method
OwnerLucas E. Gardner, Charles R. Gardnerinventors
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A machine catches a pitched baseball or softball, and pneumatically returns the ball to the pitcher without damage to the ball. The pitcher throws the ball into a mat hung inside a housing, which absorbs the ball impact, such that the ball drops onto a sloped floor and roles into a ball return tube. A pressurized air tank delivers air on demand by the pitcher to the tube to project the ball back to the pitcher. The machine is self-contained on wheels for portability.
Claims20
A pitched ball catch and return machine, comprising:
- a housing having an open front, a back wall, opposite sidewalls, a floor, and a top;
- a mat hanging downwardly in front of the back wall to absorb impact from a ball thrown by a pitcher and then drop the ball onto the floor;
- the floor being sloped downwardly and rearwardly;
- a tube having an inlet adjacent the floor to receive the ball from the floor and to eject the ball out of;
- and
- a pressurized air tank operatively connected to the tube to project the ball out of the inlet of the tube and back to the pitcher;
- wherein the ball is ejected from the tube solely via a blast of air from the pressurized air tank.
4 more elements
A pitching practice method for pitching a ball by a pitcher, comprising:
- throwing the ball against a mat hung in a housing so that the ball drops to a sloped floor and rolls into an open end of a tube connected to a pressurized air tank;
- and
- the pitcher stepping on a switch to actuate the air tank whereby the ball is pneumatically projected out of the open end of the tube and back to the pitcher,
- wherein the ball both enters the tube and exits the tube from the open end of the tube.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.