Identifying the location of contact between a ball and a bat
OwnerBrian Carr, Hong Aninventors
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An impact label for use as a baseball training aid includes a deformable layer and an incompressible layer which may include aluminum foil and paper, respectively. The incompressible layer includes voids distributed in a regular pattern. A first side of the incompressible layer is adhered to the deformable layer. A second side of the incompressible layer is formed around the barrel of a baseball bat, e.g., via an adhesive on a base layer. Areas of the deformable layer proximate to the voids and within an area of contact with a baseball during a swing of the bat are adapted to deform in response to contact with the baseball, thereby creating dimples that are indicative of the area of contact and force of contact.
Claims6
An apparatus comprising:
- a two-layer lamination adapted to flex to conform to a variety of bat diameters and be temporarily affixed to a bat for use as a sports training aid that indicates an area of contact between a bat and a ball that is struck with the bat, the two-layer lamination comprising:
- a solid flexible first layer characterized by non-resiliency;
- and
- a perforated flexible incompressible second layer characterized by a first outer surface against which the first layer is adapted to be affixed and a second outer surface adapted to be temporarily affixed directly to the bat, the first outer surface and second outer surface characterized by being parallel and between which a maximum thickness dimension of the second layer is defined and through which cylindrical air-filled voids are distributed in a regular pattern, the cylindrical voids formed entirely through the maximum thickness dimension of the second layer and having a cross-sectional dimension that defines a circle characterized by a diameter in a range of 1.0 mm to 10 mm inclusive, the first outer surface of the second layer disposed against the first layer such that the voids are adjacent to the first layer along the cross-sectional dimension, adjacent pairs of voids being spaced apart by at least a distance equivalent to the diameter of the voids;
- wherein material and thickness characteristics of the first layer relative to the cross-sectional dimension of the voids and the distance between adjacent voids are selected such that areas of the first layer adjacent to the voids and within the area of contact with the ball are adapted to plastically deform at least partly into the voids in response to force associated with striking of the ball with the bat, thereby creating permanent deformations that are indicative of the area of contact and visible to a naked eye, and wherein portions of the first layer at the area of contact that are not adjacent to the voids are not visibly deformed.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.