Programmable baseball pitching apparatus

In a ball pitching machine comprising:

• (a) a ball feed means for feeding balls to a feeding point where they will be acted upon by rotating drive wheels;
• (b) two drive wheels having identical planes and axes of rotation, said wheels being disposed about said feeding point so as to simultaneously act on a fed ball imparting to the fed ball spin and a forward velocity and trajectory, outwardly away from the feeding point in a direction initially perpendicular to the axes of rotation and in the plane of the wheels;
• (c) rotating means for rotating each drive wheel independent of other drive wheels at a plurality of preselected rotational speeds thereby effecting a type of pitched ball having a predetermined trajectory;
• the improvement which comprises
• a journaled horizontal cross-member to allow movement of the wheel from a vertical alignment to a horizontal alignment;
• a separate motor associated with each drive wheel;
• said motors rigidly affixed to said horizontal cross-member;
• tilting means for altering the trajectory, upwardly or downwardly, in a vertical plane, coplaner with the plane of the drive wheel;
• speed measuring means for determining the speed of the moving ball;
• a computer means for inputting at least one set of variables that determine the trajectory based on the speed of the ball and at least one set of variables for effecting the spin applied to the ball by the drive wheel, thereby effecting the type of pitched ball delivered by the machine;
• said computer means interpreting said input and converting the input to commands by which a servo system controls the direction of the flight path and spin placed on the ball by the drive wheels, thereby causing the ball to be delivered to a specific location in a target area in a predetermined manner;
• and
• a monitor for selecting the area of impact of the ball, wherein a target screen is provided to predetermine the pitches to be utilize, wherein the target screen is a series of uniformly placed contact switches that will indicate contact when a ball impinges on the switch and wherein recording means are provided for recording the settings of speeds of the motors causing the ball to impact on the particular switch.