Powered movable hitting tee

Abstract

The powered, moveable hitting tee of the instant invention is basically made up of a vertical tee, a reciprocating, horizontally disposed rod supporting the vertical tee, and a drive assembly or mechanism that is coupled to horizontally disposed rod to move the vertical tee towards the player. A moveable sled or carriage assembly movably supports the horizontally disposed rod. In one embodiment, a motor and pulley assembly is used for rotating a drive belt, which in turn moves the sled, the rod and the vertical tee. In another embodiment, a chain drive is used for moving the sled, the rod and the vertical tee. In another embodiment, a lead screw is used for moving the sled, the rod and the vertical tee. The particular structure that moves the vertical tee is not critical to the basic concept of the present invention. Rather, it will be apparent from this disclosure that various drive mechanisms can be made used to move the vertical tee towards the player. The vertical tee may include a rather rigid lower segment and a somewhat flexible upper segment made of memory-retentive material, which will bend but not be damaged when struck accidentally by a bat. The upper end of vertical tee upper segment may be flared to support a baseball or softball. In one embodiment, the tee support includes a coil spring as a shock absorber. A removable motor assembly and remote control devices may also be included.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.