Games using tangible projectile – Playing field or court game; game element or accessory... – Practice or training device
Reexamination Certificate
1999-04-20
2001-02-13
Layno, Benjamin H. (Department: 3711)
Games using tangible projectile
Playing field or court game; game element or accessory...
Practice or training device
C473S457000, C473S201000, C446S473000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06186909
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a guard for use in association with a baseball or softball bat as a means to teach a batter to safely bunt a baseball or softball. This guard is for use in practice only and is not to be used in actual ball games. The bunt guard attaches to the tapered portion of the bat via friction fit. The bunt guard is provided with a shield that is held in spaced apart relationship with the bat so that a batter's hand can insert behind the shield when the batter is holding a baseball bat properly in preparation to bunt a baseball.
2. Description of the Related Art
To properly bunt a baseball, a baseball player must grip the handle of a baseball bat with his “off” hand and grip the bat approximately ⅔ of the way up the bat with his “on” hand. The “on” hand is the right hand for a right handed batter who is batting right handed, or alternately, is the left hand for a left handed batter who is batting left handed. If the “on” hand is not properly placed on the bat with the hand behind the bat and pinching the sides of the bat, fingers and hand of the player's “on” hand can be struck by a baseball as the batter attempts to bunt the baseball.
Many baseball players never learn how to bunt a baseball properly because of their fear of having their fingers and hand hit by the baseball or smashed between the baseball and the baseball bat when they attempt to bunt. The player's fear prevents the player from learning the proper finger placement of his “on” hand onto the bat that would help to avoid such injury. Also, even if a new player is not afraid of being injured, often he will be injured before he learns the proper way to grip the bat when he tries to bunt.
Other devices have been employed to assist in training a player to bunt. However, none of the prior devices attach to the player's regular baseball bat and allow the player to move his hands from the normal batting grip to the proper position on the bat for bunting. Also, none of the other prior devices do this while providing adequate protection to the players hand to prevent injury from the baseball while the player is learning to bunt.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is a bunt guard that attaches to a regular baseball bat. The bunt guard is provided with a ring that slides over the handle of the bat and is pushed toward the opposite end of the bat until the ring tightly engages the tapered portion of the bat. This causes the bunt guard to be secured to the bat by a friction fit. The ring is properly sized so that it positions the bunt guard over the proper location on the baseball bat for the player to place his “on” hand when practicing bunting.
A shield secures to the ring so that the shield is positioned in spaced-apart relationship with the bat and is located on the front side of the bat. The front side of the bat is the side of the bat from which the baseball is pitched and also the side of the bat that will encounter the baseball when the baseball is bunted. The shield of the bunt guard is sufficiently large that the player may slide his hand behind the shield to properly position his hand to bunt. In this position, the shield protects the player's hand from being impacted with the baseball when he is bunting.
The bunt guard may be loosened from the bat by pushing the bunt guard toward the handle of the bat. This frees the frictional hold that the bunt guard has on the bat and the bunt guard may be removed from the bat by passing the ring over the handle of the bat.
REFERENCES:
patent: D. 258343 (1981-02-01), Beck
patent: D. 334085 (1993-03-01), Niemann
patent: 3834249 (1974-09-01), Bothwell
patent: 3944226 (1976-03-01), Starrett
patent: 4080751 (1978-03-01), Copstead
patent: 4214751 (1980-07-01), Simpson
patent: 4365416 (1982-12-01), Overbury
patent: 4423868 (1984-01-01), Younts
patent: 4670932 (1987-06-01), Williams
patent: 4750760 (1988-06-01), Gurley
patent: 5127871 (1992-07-01), Miller
patent: 5256099 (1993-10-01), Rudell
patent: 5447308 (1995-09-01), Girard
Layno Benjamin H.
McKay Molly D.
Mendiratta Vishu
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