Hitting practice training equipment

Abstract

Hitting practice training equipment is disclosed having an hitting instrument such as a bat paddle or racket, an apparatus for propelling a game piece such as a ball or puck in front of an individual holding the hitting instrument, and a transmitter remote from the hitting instrument for initiating the propelling apparatus to propel a game piece in front of the individual. The propelling apparatus includes a receiver for receiving signals transmitted by the transmitter to initiate a game piece being propelled in front of the individual. The individual actuates the transmitter when they wish to initiate the operation of the game piece propelling apparatus, and may send different signals from the transmitter to propel a game piece in a different manner for each of the different signals. The individual may also activate the transmitter using voice commands. When the receiver in the propelling apparatus receives a signal from the transmitter an adjustable timer is started and a few seconds later a mechanism is actuated that forwards a game piece from a replaceable magazine containing a plurality of game pieces into a propulsion mechanism to propel the piece toward the individual. The propulsion mechanism contains a pair of rollers for contacting opposite sides of a game piece. The rollers are actuated by motors connected in a circuit with a transportable energy source (e.g. battery) and the motors are energized only after the timer is started, thereby prolonging battery life, and are de-energized after a game piece is propelled in front of the individual. Other idler rollers are allowed to selectively contact the game piece to control same as it is propelled. When the game piece is propelled by the rollers of the propulsion mechanism the individual attempts to hit the piece.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.