Batting practice apparatus
AssigneeMarvin Glass & Associates
InventorsRalph J. Kulesza, Burton C. Meyer, Donald F. Nix
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Batting practice apparatus for projecting balls upwardly into the air to be hit by a bat comprises trough for holding a plurality of balls to move in a sequence toward a feed position adjacent a stop at a lower end. A holding ring is mounted adjacent the stop for supporting a single ball in a ready position to be projected upwardly into the air. A feeder is provided for sequentially moving the balls from a feed position in the trough adjacent the stop into a ready position in the holding ring and a motor in the form of a foot operated lever and a time delay mechanism is operable for forcefully propelling the balls upwardly out of the holding ring so that a batter may step into position and swing at the balls as they pop-up into the air.
Claims17
Batting practice apparatus for projecting a ball upwardly into the air to be hit by a bat, comprising:
- trough means for holding a plurality of balls to move in sequence toward a feed position against a stop at a lower end;
- holding means adjacent said stop for supporting a single ball in a ready position to be projected upwardly into the air;
- feed means for sequentially moving a ball in said feed position adjacent said stop from said trough means into said ready position in said holding means,
- motor means for forcefully propelling said ball in said ready position upwardly of said holding means into the air;
- and
- an arm pivotal upwardly from a first position spaced below said ball in said ready position toward a second position for striking said ball in said ready position to propel the same upwardly, said arm pivotal about an axis and including a feed portion to one side of said axis moveable from said second position spaced below the ball in said feed position towards said first position engaging said ball in said feed position to lift the same over said stop into said ready position, said arm also including a striker portion on the other side of said axis for striking said ball in said ready position to propel the same upwardly.
Batting practice apparatus for projecting a ball upwardly into the air to be hit by a bat, comprising:
- trough means for holding a plurality of balls to move in sequence toward a feed position against a stop at a lower end;
- holding means adjacent said stop for supporting a single ball in a ready position to be projected upwardly into the air;
- feed means for sequentially moving the ball in said feed position adjacent said stop from said trough means into said ready position in said holding means;
- motor means for forcibly propelling said ball in said ready position upwardly of said holding means into the air, said motor means including an arm moveable upwardly from a first position spaced below said ball in said ready position toward a second position for striking said ball in said ready position to propel the same upwardly;
- foot pedal means on said arm for moving said arm from said second position toward said first position to feed a ball from said trough means into said holding means and releasable to move in an opposite direction to propel said ball upwardly from said ready position in said holding means;
- time delay means for providing a time delay interval between the time said foot pedal means is releasable and the time said ball is engaged by said arm and propelled upwardly;
- and
- said time delay means being positioned to engage said arm during only a portion of travel of said arm from said first position towards the second position upon release of said foot pedal means.
Batting practice apparatus for projecting a ball upwardly into the air to be hit by a bat, comprising:
- trough means for holding a plurality of balls to move in sequence toward a feed position against a stop at a lower end;
- holding means adjacent said stop for supporting a single ball in a ready position to be projected upwardly into the air;
- feed means for sequentially moving a ball in said feed position adjacent said stop from said trough means into said ready position in said holding means;
- motor means for forcibly propelling said ball in said ready position upwardly of said holding means into the air, said motor means including an arm movable upwardly from a first position spaced below said ball in said ready position toward a second position for striking said ball in said ready position to propel the same upwardly;
- foot pedal means on said arm for moving said arm from said second position toward said first position to feed a ball from said trough means into said holding means and releasable to move in an opposite direction to propel said ball upwardly from said ready position in said holding means;
- time delay means for providing a time delay interval between the time said foot pedal means is releasable and the time said ball is engaged by said arm and propelled upwardly;
- and
- said time delay means being movable out of engagement with said arm during movement of said arm from said second position toward said first position as said foot pedal means is depressed.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.