Laser bat

#The present invention relates to a training device for hitting a ball and in particular, to a device for improving the hitting of a baseball and softball and its method of use.

#Baseball is the prime example of hitting a ball with a bat. It is also known as the national pastime of the United Sates and other countries such as Cuba and Venezuela. To the random player or observer, it seems elusively easy to play. It employs nine positioned men who bat in sequence; a batter whose function is to hit the ball; an approximate 2½ inch ball or 3-6 inch softball is thrown to the batter with an art preventing the batter from successfully hitting the ball. While a certain degree of innate skill is required for each of the players at their respective positions, the great attribute to fine playing is a learned skill, namely how best to hit the baseball or softball. As the ball must travel more or less accurately within the bounds of the playing field while avoiding being caught, this skill is most difficult.

#It has been found that great accuracy and power results when the bat strikes the ball at the thickest part of the bat, commonly called the “sweet spot” and along the longitudinal axis of the bat. Should the bat knob be improperly aligned or should the bat axis be angled or inclined away from the optimum position, the ball slices, curves and takes an errant trajectory in its course. During play, no extraneous device, helper or aid may be used and all skills must be learned before the player gets on the field. Thus, the skills the player must use to hit a safe ball must be learned and must become second nature to him in order for him to be a good player.

#In the attached drawings:

#FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the bat according to the present invention;

#FIG. 2 is a vertical plan view of the bat of FIG. 1 partially broken away showing the application of the present invention to the interior of the bat;

#Turning first to FIG. 1 is seen that the bat 10 comprises a body 12, shaped so as to provide a curved outer surface 14 on which the ball is struck. The body 12 is shaped so as to provide an optimal position 16, euphemistically called the “sweet spot”, where the bat and ball produce the greatest transfer of force. The lower end of the bat 10 is shaped as a handle 18, allowing the user to comfortably hold the bat and terminates in this end with a knob 20 preventing undesirable slippage of the bat during the user's swing. The opposite end 22 (adjacent to the “sweet spot”) is generally called the head.

#The body 12 and the handle 18 are separate elements removably joined for use. The head end is formed with an internally threaded fitting 24 at its lower end and the handle is formed at its forward end with an externally threaded fitting 26. The fitting 24 and 26 cooperatively screw the bat together to form one piece. Extending from one end to the other, the bat 10 is formed with a bore 28 substantially along its center longitudinal axis.

#In the embodiment of FIG. 2, the bore 28 houses a thin electrical wire 30 terminating at each end, in a socket 32 in which a small bulb is placed. At the position where the head and handle are joined together, the wire 30 is conventionally connected to a series of small batteries 34, LED or other source of energy. Suitable supports for fitting the batteries within the bat 10 is a bracket 36. The arrangement of batteries and lights is completed by a small switch 38 operable from the bat handle exterior surface. Since the bore 28 terminates at each end at the axial center, activation of the bulbs within each socket 32 propels light outwardly of each end, in the direction of arrow A and B as seen in FIG. 2. The bulb may be covered by suitable lens means, as at 40, to increase the illumination.