Umpire's strike zone mask
OwnerDavid G. Rodriguezinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A strike zone mask provides an image of a batter's strike zone for increasing the precision with which an umpire may judge whether or not a pitched ball was a strike. A lens carriage is provided within the viewing opening of the mask, the carriage and lens intercepting the umpire's field of vision in one eye. Lenses within the carriage have vertical scored lines defining the horizontal width of home plate, and a horizontal bar adjustably affixed to the front of the carriage across the lower portion of the lens permits adjusting the height of the strike zone to different players by aligning the top of the lens with the batter's shoulders and the horizontal bar with his knees.
Claims14
A strike zone umpire's mask comprising
- a generally ovate face shield symmetric about a vertical axis and adapted to be attached to the umpire's head and to cover his face;
- a horizontal opening in front of the umpire's eyes, the opening having a longitudinal length transverse the shield axis, a lower deck and an upper ceiling, the deck and ceiling each having horizontal top and bottom surfaces and front and back edges;
- a carriage coupled to the mask within the opening, the carriage having a front, a longitudinal axis normal to the front, exterior and interior top, bottom and side walls surrounding the axis and defining a cavity open opposite the front, and a window at the front communicating between the cavity and the exterior of the carriage;
- fixing means for adjustably fixing the carriage along the length of the opening in front of at least one of the umpire's eyes, said eye serving as a gauging eye;
- and
- image means carried within the carriage for creating an image of a strike zone within the field of vision of the umpire's gauging eye.
An improved umpire's mask, the mask comprising a generally ovate shield symmetric about a vertical axis and adapted to attach to and substantially to cover the umpire's face, the shield having a generally rectangular viewing port transverse the axis and in front of the umpire's eyes when the shield is attached to the umpire's face, the viewing port being defined by vertical braces and horizontal crosspieces of the mask, the improvement comprising
- a viewing transom adapted to fit within the viewing port, the transom having a lower deck and an upper ceiling, the deck and ceiling each having horizontal top and bottom surfaces and front and back edges, the transom further having vertical side posts separating the deck and ceiling, the side posts, ceiling and deck defining an opening;
- securing means for securing the transom to the mask;
- and
- projection means coupled to the transom within the opening and adapted to intercept the umpire's field of vision in one eye for projecting an image of a strike zone within said field of vision.
A method by which an umpire may project a strike zone within his field of vision to aid him in visualizing a batter's strike zone, the method comprising
- providing an umpire's mask adapted to substantially shield the umpire's face, the mask having a viewing port transverse its vertical axis in front of the umpire's eyes;
- providing a carriage adapted to translate across the umpire's field of vision within the viewing port and to be adjustably fixed in front of one of the umpire's eyes, the carriage comprising
- lens means adapted to intercept the field of vision of the umpire's eye;
- focus means for focusing the lens;
- and
- image means for projecting an image of a strike zone within the umpire's vision, the image means comprising
- vertical lines superimposed onto a surface of the lens;
- and
- a horizontal bar coupled to the carriage in front of the lens;
- then
- donning the mask and adjusting the carriage to a position directly in front of one of the umpire's eyes;
- then
- focusing the lens;
- then
- aligning the vertical lines on the lens with the sides of the home plate;
- then
- tilting the umpire's head until the top of the lens aligns with the batter's shoulders and moving the horizontal bar vertically to align it with the batter's knees;
- then
- observing the location of a pitched ball in relation to the vertical lines, top of the lens and the bar as it crosses the strike zone plane for deciding whether or not the ball was within the strike zone as it crossed home plate.
A strike zone umpire's mask comprising
- a face shield symmetric about a vertical axis and adapted to be attached to the umpire's head;
- a horizontal opening through the shield transverse the vertical axis;
- a carriage coupled within the opening and having a cavity through which an image is viewed;
- and
- fixing means for adjustably fixing the carriage along the length of the opening in front of at least one of the umpire's eyes.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.