Back to results
US 2003/0116151 A1Published application
Ball launching apparatus
AssigneeMattel, Inc.
InventorsMark Wojtkiewicz, Ross Rumfola III, Kevin R. Shinn, Dave Moomaw
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A ball launching apparatus configured to launch balls to a user. The ball launching apparatus is configured such that a user may change an angle of trajectory T of launched balls by simply resting the ball launching apparatus on one of two different base portions. The ball launching apparatus is configured to receive, feed, and launch balls having different shapes, such as baseballs and footballs. A ball feed mechanism of the ball launching apparatus is driven by ball propulsion mechanism of the ball launching apparatus.
Claims41
A ball launching apparatus comprising:
- a ball propulsion mechanism at least partially housed in a housing, said ball propulsion mechanism being configured and located to propel a ball from said housing along a propulsion axis that is at a fixed location with respect to said housing, said housing having a first base portion and a second base portion, said first base portion being inclined with respect to said second base portion, said ball launching apparatus being self-supported when said first base portion rests upon a planar support surface and when said second base portion rests upon the planar support surface, said propulsion axis being at a first position when said first base portion rests upon the planar support surface, said propulsion axis being at a second position when said second base portion rests upon the planar support surface, said propulsion axis when at said second position being obliquely angled with respect to said propulsion axis when at said first position.
A method comprising:
- placing a ball launching apparatus at a first self-supported position where a first base portion of a housing of the ball launching apparatus rests on a planar support surface and where a propulsion axis of a ball propelled from the ball launching apparatus is at a first location, the housing having a second base portion that is inclined with respect to the first base portion;
- and
- placing the ball launching apparatus at a second self-supported position where the second base portion rests on the planar support surface and where the propulsion axis is at a second location, the propulsion axis when at the second location being obliquely angled with respect to the propulsion axis when at the first location.
A ball launching apparatus comprising:
- a ball propulsion mechanism for propelling a ball;
- and
- a ball feed mechanism for intermittently feeding balls to said ball propulsion mechanism, said ball feed mechanism having a rotatable wheel defined by at least a first member and a second member, said wheel having a recess therein for receiving a ball and that is located between a surface of said first member and a surface of said second member, said second member being moveable with respect to said first member in a direction opposite to a direction of rotation of said wheel so as to increase a size of said recess.
A ball feed mechanism for intermittently feeding balls to a ball propulsion mechanism, said ball feed mechanism comprising:
- a rotatable wheel defined by at least a first member and a second member, said wheel having a recess therein for receiving a ball and that is located between a surface of said first member and a surface of said second member, said second member being moveable with respect to said first member so as to increase a size of said recess.
A ball launching apparatus comprising:
- a ball propulsion mechanism for propelling differently shaped balls;
- a channel for receiving the differently shaped balls, said channel being oriented such that differently shaped balls are fed by gravity to a ball feed mechanism, said ball feed mechanism including a wheel having a recess therein that is configured and located to receive a spherical shaped ball, rotate with said wheel to feed the received spherical shaped ball to the ball propulsion mechanism, and thereafter change size to receive an oval shaped ball from the channel.
A ball launching apparatus comprising:
- a ball propulsion mechanism for propelling differently shaped balls;
- and
- a ball feed mechanism that is configured and located to receive one of the differently shaped balls in a recess of a member and to feed the one received ball to said ball propulsion mechanism, said ball feed mechanism including means for changing a size of said recess to accommodate the differently shaped balls.
A method comprising:
- changing the size of a recess in a wheel of a ball feed mechanism to accommodate differently shaped balls for feeding to a ball propulsion mechanism of a ball launching apparatus.
A method comprising:
- receiving in a recess of a wheel a first ball having a first shape;
- rotating the wheel to deliver the first ball to a ball propulsion mechanism;
- changing a size of the recess to a accommodate a second ball having a second shape, the second shape being different than the first shape;
- receiving the second ball in the recess;
- and
- rotating the wheel to deliver the second ball to the ball propulsion mechanism.
3 more elements
A ball launching apparatus comprising:
- a ball propulsion mechanism having a roller for propelling balls from said ball launching apparatus, said ball propulsion mechanism including a motor coupled to drive rotation of said roller;
- and
- a ball feed mechanism having a rotatable wheel, said wheel having a recess that is configured and located to receive one of the balls during rotation of said wheel and to feed the received ball to said ball propulsion mechanism during rotation of said wheel;
- and
- a drive train rotatably connecting said motor and said wheel.
2 more elements
A ball launching apparatus, comprising:
- a ball propulsion mechanism having a motor;
- a ball feed mechanism for feeding balls to said ball propulsion mechanism, said ball feed mechanism including a rotatable wheel having a recess therein;
- and
- means for rotatably connecting said motor and said wheel such that said motor drives rotation of said wheel.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.