Games using tangible projectile – Playing field or court game; game element or accessory... – Practice or training device
Reexamination Certificate
1995-02-01
2001-10-02
Chapman, Jeanette (Department: 3711)
Games using tangible projectile
Playing field or court game; game element or accessory...
Practice or training device
C473S415000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06296581
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field Of The Invention
The present invention pertains to a collapsible batting practice apparatus, and to a plastic tubing structure for use in same. More particularly, the invention pertains to such a batting practice device which is adjustable in multiple dimensions so that it may be effectively used by anyone, and to a collapsible plastic tubing structure which is easy and economical to produce, and yet results in the batting practice device being very durable and rigid.
2. Description Of Relevant Art
There are many known batting practice devices. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,955,606; 5,042,802; 5,066,010; 5,097,985; 5,232,218 and 5,292,119 each disclose a type of batting practice device in which balls are delivered one-by-one along an inclined channel to a batting area where the balls are dropped or “soft tossed” from the delivery channel so that a batter may swing at the balls. Although all of such known batting practice devices are effective for their intended purpose, they all have disadvantages and limitations associated therewith, whereby they do not sufficiently challenge a hitter to improve his or her swing to a high skill level, and whereby they are excessively cumbersome and expensive, liable to breakage, and difficult to adjust. For example, each of the devices disclosed in the discussed patents includes some type of ball delivery mechanism which must be actuated to initiate the delivery of a ball along the delivery channel, including an electric motor disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,097,985, foot-actuated switches disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,066,010 and 5,292,119, a hand-activated lever disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,042,862, and bat-actuated mechanisms disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,955,606 and 5,232,218. As will be understood, each of these mechanisms adds a significant cost to the practice device, and also may become broken or damaged with use, rendering the overall device less reliable.
Further, each of the disclosed devices permits only a limited amount of adjustment, primarily adjustment of the height at which the ball is delivered to a batting area, so that the device becomes non-challenging once the basic ball delivery pattern is mastered by a batter.
Still further, although the known batting practice devices may be collapsed or disassembled to some extent, each remains somewhat bulky, cumbersome, and hence difficult to transport and store.
The present invention has been developed to overcome the disadvantages and limitations of known batting practice devices, including those discussed above, and to generally fulfill a need in the art for a batting practice device which is adjustable in multiple dimensions such that it is challenging for substantially anybody regardless of size or skill level, which is sturdy and reliable in structure, economical to produce, and easy to assemble, disassemble, store and transport.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the invention there is provided a batting practice apparatus comprising an inclined ball delivery means for delivering a ball to a hitting area;
support stand means for supporting the inclined ball delivery means at an elevated position, the support stand means including a base and an elongate column connecting said base and said inclined ball delivery means; and the inclined ball delivery means and the elongate column being selectively collapsible and storable within the base.
Preferably the ball delivery means includes a ball feed section, a ball output section disposed at a level lower than the ball feed section, and a curved intermediate section connecting the ball feed and ball output sections such that free ends of the ball feed and ball output sections face in substantially the same direction such that a batter may place a ball in the ball feed section and swing at a ball delivered from the ball output section while standing in the same location. Also preferably, the ball delivery means is substantially U-shaped when viewed in plan; at least one of the ball feed and ball output sections is rotatable relative to the intermediate section for adjusting an angular orientation thereof; and the ball delivery means includes a hollow tubular member and an open channel member, each of which is selectively attachable as part of either of the ball feed and ball output sections.
According to the invention there is also provided an interfitting tubing system which may be used in constructing the collapsible batting practice apparatus, the tubing system comprising: a plurality of rigid tubing sections and a plurality of connectors fittable within ends of the tubing sections for connecting the sections together in an end-to-end manner; each connector comprising plastic tubing having a nominal, uncompressed outside diameter slightly larger than an average inside diameter of the tubing sections and a narrow gap defined along a longitudinal length thereof such that the connector may be selectively compressed along the gap for reducing the nominal diameter thereof. Preferably the tubing sections and the connectors are formed of rigid plastic tubing such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) tubing such as is conventionally utilized for plumbing applications; ends of the connectors will have beveled edges for facilitating insertion of the connectors into the tubing sections, and one end of each connector will be integrally fixed to one end of a column section for facilitating assembly of the sections and connectors together.
According to the invention there is additionally provided a collapsible support stand comprising base means for being disposed on a substantially flat surface; stand means, which connects to the base means, for defining an elevated support surface above the base means; the base means including a receptacle; and the stand means including a plurality of tubing sections and a plurality of connectors fittable within the tubing sections for joining the sections together in an end-to-end manner, the tubing sections and the connectors being selectively collapsible and storable within the receptacle.
It is an object of the invention to provide a collapsible batting practice apparatus which is readily adjustable in multiple dimensions so that it may be used in a challenging manner by substantially anyone regardless of size or skill level.
It is another object of the invention to provide such a batting practice device which is constructed of rigid, durable components such that it may be reliably used for a long period of time, and yet is simple and economic to manufacture.
It is a further object of the invention to provide such a batting practice apparatus which is constructed of a plurality of individual sections which may be readily assembled together into a sturdy structure, or disassembled into individual pieces for storage and transportation.
It is still another object of the invention to provide such a batting practice apparatus which integrally includes a storage and transportation receptacle.
Another object of the invention is to provide a novel connector structure for interconnecting sections of plastic tubing in a rigid manner.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a collapsible, adjustable batting practice apparatus including both a means for delivering a ball to be hit and means for restricting movement of the ball after it is hit.
A still further object of the invention is to provide such a batting practice device which may be conveniently used by a single person.
Other objects, advantages and salient features of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description which, when taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings, discloses preferred embodiments of the invention.
REFERENCES:
patent: 1348434 (1920-08-01), Marshick
patent: 2609638 (1952-09-01), Lindenmeyer
patent: 2827297 (1958-03-01), Foster
patent: 2955823 (1960-10-01), Chanko
patent: 3231278 (1966-01-01), Boulanger
patent: 3716234 (1973-02-01), Lancedotti
patent: 3952477 (1976-04-01), Candor
patent: 4132214 (1979-01-01), Schnurr
patent: 4151996 (1979-05-01), Lee
patent: 4478434 (1984
Blackman William D.
Carrier Joseph P.
Carrier Blackman & Associates P.C.
Chapman Jeanette
Hunter, Jr. Alvin A.
LandOfFree
Collapsible batting practice apparatus, and connectable... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Collapsible batting practice apparatus, and connectable..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Collapsible batting practice apparatus, and connectable... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2603632