JP3007218B2 - Pitching machine - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pitching machine for throwing a ball, such as a baseball, toward a batter by rotating an arm once, and more particularly to a compact pitcher when the device is not used or when it is transported. It is of the type that can retain the spring and the spring retainer is not easily broken.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional arm-rotating pitching machine, there are a front and rear column vertically joined to a machine base, a frame connecting between the front and rear columns, and a rotating shaft supported by the column or frame. An arm and a gear, and a rotor mounted on the other end of the drive shaft that supports the rotating arm and the like, between a spring mounting tool rotatably supported at an eccentric position of the rotor and a rear support. There is a known type that includes a motor that passes a spring and rotates the gear through a chain.

[0003]

In such a conventional pitching machine, however, there is no trouble in pointing when pitching in a normal state, but in general, an arm-type pitching machine throws an arm by the force of a spring. Many of them are applied, and a large stress is applied to the spring mounting device and the spring tensioning device. Therefore, if the device is frequently used, there is an inconvenience that the portion of the spring tensioning device or the spring is easily broken. Furthermore, conventional pitching machines do not have a compact counterpart and have the disadvantage of occupying space (especially height) when transporting or storing. In addition, although the supply of the ball to the pitching portion of the conventional arm is performed smoothly, it is necessary to provide a cutout in the portion of the pitching hand so that the wire constituting the ball shooter and the stopper can pass, There is also a disadvantage that the strength is appropriately weak. Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned drawbacks of the related art, and has as its object to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks.

[0004]

That is, the present invention provides a front and rear support rotatably supported by a machine base, a drive shaft rotatably supported near the front support, and one end of the drive shaft. With respect to the mounted fan-shaped brake rotor, the brake shoe mounted on the rotation trajectory of the outer circumference of the rotor, the gear mounted on the other end of the drive shaft, the arm for pitching, and the gear A motor for transmitting power via a chain, a frame connected between the front and rear columns, a ball supply mechanism mounted in the frame, and a rotatably mounted shaft behind the rear column or frame. And a pitching machine comprising a spring attachment rotatably mounted at a position shifted from the rotation center of the brake rotor, and tensioning the tension portion and the spring attachment with a spring, In the pitching machine The arm consists of a stopper and a ball shooter pivotally mounted in a vertical position opposite to the pitching direction at a position where the arm is horizontal and opposite to the pitching direction so as to be swingable in the elevation direction. This object is achieved by a pitching machine equipped with a ball supply mechanism which is swingable in the elevation direction and which comes into contact with the stopper and the tip in a horizontal position, and releases the contact with the arm when the arm rises to a predetermined level. .

[0005]

In the pitching machine according to the present invention, since the front and rear struts are rotatably supported by the machine base, an underframe, a rotor, a gear, a brake shoe, and the like connecting the front and rear struts are provided.
When the arm, the spring, and the like are removed, the column can rotate freely, and if both are pushed down toward the machine base, the height becomes low. Conversely, by lifting the front and rear support columns and attaching them to the underframe, the rotor, the gears, the brake shoes, the arms, the springs, and the like, the device can be used as a pitching machine. Further, with the rotation of the rotor, a force is applied to the spring coupled to the spring mounting device mounted at the eccentric position, but in the device according to the present invention, the spring mounting device and the tension portion are rotatably supported respectively. Therefore, the spring always applies a force only in a linear direction. The ball supply mechanism also
The ball can be supplied to the pitcher without providing the notch groove in the arm itself.

[0006]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, a rear support column 2 having an extendable and retractable length and a front support column 3 on which a motor and the like are mounted are rotatably supported on the upper part of the machine base 1. In the lower corner, the free wheels 4, 4 and the fixed wheels 5,
5 is attached. The upper part of the rear support 2 is a shaft 6 which is screwed, and the height of the shaft 6 can be adjusted by screwing the shaft 6 into a hole formed in the rear support 2. A frame 7 is mounted on the shaft 6, and a frame 8 is screwed to the frame 7. A cylindrical spring pulling portion 9 is rotatably mounted on the end of the frame base 8 so as to be rotatable.
A handle 12 is attached to one end of the threaded rod 10 and a spring hook 14 is attached to the other end.

A frame 8 is screwed to the front column 3, and a rotating shaft 16 is supported at the tip of the frame 8, and the rotating shaft 16 is
A gear 18 and an arm 20 are mounted on one end of the brake unit 16, and a brake rotor 22 is mounted on the other end. A brake shoe 26 is mounted on the frame member 24 joined to the frame base 8 so as to be in contact with the outer peripheral portion of the rotor 22, and a spring mounting tool 28 is rotatable at a position deviated from the rotation axis of the rotor 22. It is supported, and its tip is a spring hook 30. A plurality of springs 32 are suspended between the hooks of the tension portion 9. A bracket 34 is joined to the front support 3 on the pitching direction side, and a motor 36 is mounted on the bracket. The drive gear and the gear 18 are connected via a chain 38.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show a pitching arm and a ball supply mechanism according to the present embodiment. A ball shooter is provided at a substantially central portion of a frame 8 near a position where a pitcher of a rotating arm 20 is located. 40 is mounted, the tip of the ball shooter 40
42 is swung as shown in the figure, and a stopper 44 is mounted at a position opposite to the frame base 8 so as to be swingable in an elevation angle direction. Reference numeral 46 denotes a transformer for supplying electric power to the motor 36, and reference numeral 48 denotes a bracket for supporting the rear support 2 connected to the lower part of the machine 1 below the front support 3 when the rear support 2 is tilted. In the example, the receiving fitting 48 has a semi-cylindrical shape with the open part facing upward.

In the construction described above, in the apparatus according to the present embodiment, the frame base 8 is screwed with the front and rear support columns 2 and 3 vertically upright with respect to the machine base 1, and the gears 18, the arms 20, The rotor 22, the brake shoes 26, the springs 32, and the like are mounted, and further, a chain 38 is suspended between the drive gear of the motor 36 and the gear 18 to assemble. When the device is operated in the assembled state, when the motor 36 rotates the arm 20 together with the gear 18 to a position horizontal to the frame 8 against the pulling force of the spring 32, the pitcher of the arm 20 moves It is located immediately below the ball locked by the ball supply mechanism composed of the stopper 44 and the like. And further arm
When the player rotates 20, the pitcher touches the tip 42 and the stopper 44 and lifts them up, and the contact relationship is released at a predetermined position (above the horizontal), and both the tip 42 and the stopper 44 reach the initial position. Descend. The arm 20 continues to rotate against the spring force further, and when the distance between the hooks 14 and 30 becomes maximum, the amount of energy stored in the spring becomes maximum, and when the arm 20 further rotates, the spring 32
When the direction of the force of the contraction and the rotation direction of the arm 20 match, the arm 20 starts rotating at a stretch and throws the held ball. The rotor 22 comes into contact with the brake shoe 24 near the horizontal position of the arm 20 where the pitching has been completed, and the arm stops due to frictional force. The arm starts rotating little by little by receiving the torque of the motor 36 again. Note that the next ball is held between the tip portions 40 and 44 at the time when the throwing hand and the tip portion and the stopper 44 are released by the ball supply mechanism. In the present embodiment, since the motor is mounted on the front portion of the front support, the motor can be mounted without being obstructed when the support is folded.

[0010]

[Effect] The conventional pitching machine occupies space when storing and transporting, but as the apparatus according to the present invention, the column is rotatably supported and other parts are mounted, It can be compact. Further, in the device according to the present invention, since both the spring tensioning device and the spring mounting device are rotatably supported in the pitching direction, stress is not easily applied to the spring and the mounting device, and the spring and the mounting device are not easily broken. In addition, the ball supply mechanism is rotatably supported at the tip and the stopper, so that the ball is supplied without providing a notched groove or the like in the pitcher of the arm itself. And the durability of the device is improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view showing a mounting state of a front support.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the vicinity of a rear support.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state in which front and rear columns are folded.

FIG. 5 is a schematic front view showing a ball supply mechanism.

FIG. 6 is a partial rear view of the pitching arm.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Machine stand 2 Rear support 3 Front support 4 Free wheel 5 Fixed wheel 6 Axis 7 Frame bracket 8 Frame base 10 Screw rod 12 Handle 14 Spring hook 16 Rotation axis 18 Gear 20 Arm 22 Brake rotor 24 Frame material 26 Brake shoe 28 Spring Mounting device 30 Spring hook 32 Spring 34 Bracket 36 Motor 38 Chain 40 Ball shooter 42 Tip 44 Stopper 46 Transformer 48 Receiving bracket

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) A63B 69/40

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A front and rear support rotatably supported on a machine base, a drive shaft rotatably supported near the front support,
A fan-shaped brake rotor mounted at one end of the drive shaft;
A brake shoe mounted on the rotation locus of the outer periphery of the rotor, a gear mounted on the other end of the drive shaft and the arm for pitching, and a motor for transmitting power to the gear via a chain. An underframe connected between the front and rear struts,
A ball supply mechanism mounted substantially at the center of the underframe, and a tension portion rotatably mounted on the rear support or the back of the underframe.
A pitching machine comprising: a spring mounting tool rotatably mounted at a position shifted from a rotation center of the brake rotor, wherein a tension is applied between the tension portion and the spring mounting tool by a spring. 2. The pitching machine according to claim 1, wherein the height of the rear support is configured to be expandable and contractible. 3. A ball shooter, comprising a stopper and a ball shooter pivotally pivotally mounted in an elevation direction mounted at a position where the arm is horizontal at the rear and at a position opposite to the pitching direction in a direction perpendicular to the pitching direction. The tip of the shooter is swingable in the elevation direction, and the arm comes into contact with the stopper and the tip in a horizontal position, and the contact with the arm is released when the arm rises to a predetermined level. The pitching machine according to claim 1.