JPH049068B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field] The present invention relates to a batting practice machine for baseball, tennis, etc.

[Background technology]

This type of batting practice machine is generally carried and used in various outdoor locations, and is desired to be small and lightweight. In a batting practice machine that sequentially supplies balls and throws them out with a pitching arm, if the timing of the motion of the pitching arm and the motion of feeding the ball do not match, the pitching motion cannot be performed reliably. In order to synchronize the operation timing in this way, conventionally, for example, when the pitching arm is biased, the ball is simultaneously supplied by the ball feeding arm (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 56-97464). For this reason, the load that urges the pitching arm and the load that feeds the ball are applied at the same time, resulting in overlapping loads, so if the pitching arm is driven by a drive source such as a motor, a large capacity This requires a driving source, which increases the size of the device, and in the case of devices that are powered by batteries, there are problems in that the battery life is shortened.

[Purpose of the invention]

This invention provides synchronization between the motion of the pitching arm and the motion of feeding the ball, resulting in a reliable pitching motion.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a batting practice machine that has a distributed load and has a long lifespan with a small drive source.

[Disclosure of the invention]

The batting practice machine of the present invention stores energy in a pitching arm and feeds a waiting ball using a single motor, and the load ranges of the motors are divided in terms of time. Specifically, in a ball set arm actuator that uses a cam to store energy in the pitching arm, a ball set arm actuator is provided that is driven in synchronization with the cam to operate the ball set arm, so that the cam follower does not touch during one rotation of the cam. An angular range is provided, and while the cam moves within this angular range, the ball in the waiting area is sent by the ball set arm.

Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 1 to 11. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a main body case, which has a ball throwing port 2 (FIG. 6) on the front and a ball feeding port 3 (FIG. 2) on the side. A pair of parallel guide rails 4 (FIGS. 1 and 2) are provided inside the main body case 1 to receive the ball M sent from the ball feeding port 3, and a ball pitching arm 6, a ball setting arm 7, , these drive mechanisms are housed together with a U-shaped frame 8. A groove-shaped first ball stocker 9 (FIG. 6) is connected to the ball feeding port 3, and a second ball stocker 10 is connected to the first ball stocker 9 by a coupling fitting 11. 12 is a leg, and 13 is a feed port cover.

The driving means for the pitching arm 6 will be explained. The pitching arm 6 is made of a wire spring, and is deflected by the rotation of the cam 14, and when it comes off the cam 14, its tip rotates by the elastic force of the deflection, and throws out the ball M. Specifically, the pitching arm 6 consists of two parallel unit arms 6A and 6B (FIG. 3).
A torsion coil spring portion 15 is integrally extended at the base end of each unit arm 6A, 6B. The tips of each unit arm 6A, 6B are inclined and continuous in the direction of rotation, and the oar M is connected to both unit arms 6A, 6B.
The ball holding portion 6C can be held at three points: the parallel portion of B and the continuous portion. pitching arm 6
Cam follower 16 (Fig. 4) is located in the middle of the length direction.
A cam follower shaft 17, on which a cam follower shaft 17 is rotatably mounted, is fixed by welding or the like. The pitching arm 6 is supported by a torsion coil spring part 15 rotatably fitted onto a pipe-shaped arm support shaft 18 (FIG. 5), and an engaging part 15a provided at the tip of the torsion coil spring part 15.
is engaged with the arm spring holding portion 20 of the frame 8. The arm support shaft 18 is attached to the frame 8. The cam follower 16 is in rolling contact with the cam 14.

The diameter of the cam 14 gradually increases in the rotational direction,
There is a discontinuous small path along the way. The cam 14 is driven together with the ball set arm 7 by a motor. This drive transmission system will be explained. A geared motor 21, in which a motor and a speed reducer are integrated, is fixed to the frame 8 with screws 22 (Fig. 4), and an output shaft 2 of the geared motor 21 has a D-cut shape.
A small gear 23 is press-fitted and fixed to 1a. Further, the cam 14 and a large gear 26 having a protrusion 25 serving as a ball set arm actuator are press-fitted and fixed to the camshaft 24 having a spline portion near the center. Thereafter, the camshaft 24 is fitted into the hole in the frame 8, and a camshaft bushing 24' (FIG. 5) serving as a bearing is arranged between the camshaft 24 and the hole in the frame 8. At this time,
The camshaft 24 is inserted by expanding the U-shaped frame 8 in the direction B (FIG. 5), and then inserting the camshaft bushing 24' in the direction C after insertion. By installing the camshaft 24 in this manner, the large gear 26 meshes with the small gear 23. Note that the arm support shaft 18 is attached to the frame 8 in the same manner as the camshaft 24.

The ball set arm 7 is rotatably attached to the frame 8 by a screw 28 via a ball set arm collar 27, and is always urged downward by a set arm spring 29. The base end of the ball set arm 7 is connected to the protrusion 2 of the large gear 26.
5 to swing periodically with the rotation of the cam 14, and the other end includes a ball feeding section 7a for feeding the waiting ball _M1 into the guide rail 4, and a ball feeding section 7a for feeding the waiting ball M2 into the guide rail ₄ . Ball stopper part 7b to hold in position
have. The circumferential position of the protrusion 25 of the large gear 26 is such that the ball setting arm 7 is swung when the cam 14 is not in contact with the cam follower 16 of the pitching arm 6. A damper 31 is further fixed to the frame 8 via a damper stay 30. The damper 31 serves as a stopper for the pitching arm 6, and is made of an elastic body such as rubber.

The storage state of the mechanism incorporated in the frame 8 and the overall configuration of the main body case 1 will be described. The main body case 1 is divided at the center into a left cover 1A and a right cover 1B, and is provided with a front cover 1C. The front cover 1C has a ball throwing opening 2. Frame 8 is attached to left cover 1A with two screws 32.
Fixed to. The left cover 1A has a dry battery box 33 (FIG. 1) formed in a part thereof, one guide rail 4 is integrally formed therein, and a holding part 48 for thrust fixing of the camshaft bushing 24'. . Next, the right cover 1B is fixed with two screws 34 via the front cover 1C. The other guide rail 4 is also formed on the right cover 1B, and a holding portion for thrust fixing the camshaft bush 24' and the set arm spring 7 is formed. Furthermore, the right cover 1B is provided with the ball feeding port 3, and also includes a stopper part 35 (FIG. 2) for feeding the ball, a stocker holding part 36 for attaching the stocker 9, and a stocker for the ball after the standby ball _M2 . It has a ball feeding port 48 (FIG. 8) through which the ball M above 9 passes. The right cover 1B also has a hole 37 through which one end of the ball set arm 7 swings. In this way, the main body case 1 which has a built-in mechanical part and a stocker mounting function,
Attach the left cover 1A and the right cover 1 with screws 38 (Fig. 1).
It is assembled by tightening B. left cover 1
A handle portion 39 is formed by fitting A and the right cover 1B. In addition, the left and right covers 1
A and 1B are fixed in such a way that they sandwich the power switch 40 and AC adapter terminal 41, respectively.

The guide rail 4 is formed in an arc shape that substantially follows the rotational trajectory of the ball holding portion 6C of the pitching arm 6, and has a shape that gradually moves away from the rotational trajectory of the ball holding portion 6C toward the front in the pitching direction. It is becoming.

A fixed rubber foot 42 is fixed to the lower part of the main body case 1, and an adjusting rubber foot 45 is fixed via an angle adjusting metal fitting 43 and an angle adjusting screw 44 screwed into the nut portion thereof. Angle adjustment fitting 4
3 is fixed to the main body case 1. The angle adjustment screw 44 is also threaded with a screw fixing nut 46, and by tightening it against the angle adjustment fitting 43, a double nut effect is created and the adjustment rubber foot 45 is securely fixed. By warming the screw fixing nut 46 and turning the angle adjustment screw 44, the setting angle of the main body case 1 relative to the ground can be changed, and the throwing angle of the ball can be changed arbitrarily. Figure 7 shows the electrical circuit. 47 is a battery.

Operation When the power switch 40 is turned on, the geared motor 21 rotates, and the small gear 23 and large gear 26
The cam 14 rotates via. In the initial state, as shown in FIG. 1, the projection 25 of the large gear 26 is at position a ₁
The ball set arm 7 is rotated clockwise from the state shown in FIG. 1 and begins to push the ball set arm 7. At this time, the cam 14 rotates together with the large gear 26, but the position is set so that the cam surface does not hit the cam follower 16 in the angle range of θ ₁ , so the pitching arm 6 continues to stop at the same position. , only the ball set arm 7 rotates and moves to the position shown in FIG. As a result, the waiting ball M ₁ in the ball waiting area in the main body case 1 is sent over the ball stopper portion 35 formed in the main body case 1 onto the guide rail 4 . At this time, the waiting ball
The ball stopper portion 7b of the ball set arm 7 prevents the ball M ₂ from flowing into the location where the waiting ball M ₁ was, and remains almost stationary at that location.

When the cam 14 rotates by θ ₁ or more, the cam follower 1
6 begins to come into contact with the cam 14, and the pitching arm 6 begins to deflect while storing energy in the D direction via the cam follower 16. Then, from the position shown in Figure 8, cam 1
4 rotates further, the ball set arm 7 returns to its original state due to the spring force of the set arm spring 29. That is, as shown in FIG. 10, the pressing force on the ball set arm 7 is released before the pressing force by the cam 14 reaches its maximum, and therefore the torque for rotating the cam 14 is small. I'll try it. In addition, the ball set arm 7
The waiting ball _M2 , which had been prevented from flowing in by the ball stopper portion 7b, completes its flow into the position of the waiting ball _M1 due to its own weight, and is prepared for the future. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 10, the ball M sent into the guide rail 4 remains held by the ball holding portion 6C of the pitching arm and the guide rail 4 as the pitching arm 6 rotates in the D direction. Move in direction D.
The cam 14 rotates sequentially, and the pitching arm 6 is in a state where the maximum energy is stored just before the cam surface changes rapidly (the state shown in FIG. 10). At this time, be sure to hold the ball M at three locations on the ball holding portion 6C of the pitching arm 6.
The guide rail 4 is set and formed so that the two are in contact with each other.

FIG. 11 shows the state of the large gear 26 and the pitching arm 6 just before the ball M is thrown. When the cam follower 16 comes off the maximum radius of the cam 14, the energy stored in the torsion coil spring section 15 of the pitching arm 6 causes the pitching arm 6 to move toward the ball M in the E direction.
is kicked out while holding 3 points. The pitching arm 6 moves in the E direction while holding the ball M.
When it comes into contact with the damper 31, the movement stops abruptly, and only the ball M is thrown out with an initial velocity accelerated by the energy of the torsion coil spring section 15.

Here, in FIG. 10, the guide rail 4
The ball M is held by the pitching arm 6 and moves together with the pitching arm 6, so that the user can see the movement of the ball M from the ball outlet 2 on the front cover. Furthermore, as shown in Fig. 11,
The locus Q of the ball holding portion 6C of the pitching arm 6 and the upper surface of the arc-shaped guide rail 4 are arranged to separate from each other as they move diagonally upward from below, that is, in the pitching direction. Therefore, only the pitching arm 6 and the guide rail 4 are used in the initial stage when the ball M is thrown.
Afterwards, it is held only by the tip of the pitching arm 6. Thereafter, the above-described operations are repeated and the balls M held in the stockers 9 and 10 are successively thrown out. The height of the thrown ball M is determined by adjusting the height of the ball M on the main body case 1 of the adjustable rubber feet 45.
By changing the amount of protrusion, the capacity can be changed to meet the user's needs.

It operates in this way, and one motor 21 stores energy in the pitching arm 6 and feeds the waiting ball, but since the respective load ranges are temporally differentiated, the load on the motor 21 is made uniform. , load curves with instantaneous peaks can be avoided. Therefore, if the motor 21 is a DC motor,
This has the advantage of equalizing the load current and extending the motor life. Furthermore, since the load current is made uniform, the battery life becomes longer when the device is driven by a battery, and the product becomes easy to use and requires less frequent battery replacement. It is generally known that when the same energy is taken from a battery, the battery life is longer when the voltage is constant than when the current waveform is pulsating. However, this is the case where the total amount of energy used, expressed as the area when the waveform is integrated over time, is the same.

〔Effect of the invention〕

The batting practice machine of the present invention has the advantage that the operation of the pitching arm and the ball feeding operation can be synchronized to provide a reliable pitching operation, and the load can be dispersed so that a long life can be achieved with a small drive source. In other words, there is an angular range in which the pitching arm does not touch during one rotation of the cam, and while the cam moves through this angular range, the ball in the waiting area is sent by the ball set arm, so that the pitching arm is not driven. The force and the driving force of the ball set arm are not applied at the same time, and the load on the motor can be reduced.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an initial state of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a cutaway front view thereof, FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view thereof, and FIG. 4 is a side view of its internal mechanism. Figure 5 is a plan view of the internal mechanism, Figure 6 is a perspective view of the exterior, Figure 7 is the electric circuit diagram, Figure 8 is a side view of the ball supply state, and Figure 9 is the same state. FIG. 10 is a side view of the ball in the ball set state, and FIG. 11 is a side view of the ball in the pitching state. 1... Main body case, 2... Ball throwing opening,
4...Guide rail, 6...Pitching arm, 6C...
...Ball holding part, 7...Ball set arm,
9,10...Ball stock, 14...Cam, 1
5...Torsion coil spring portion, 18...Arm support shaft, 21...Geared motor, 25...Protrusion (ball set arm actuator), 26...Large gear,
M...Ball.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A pitching arm whose base is supported, has a ball holding portion at its tip, and whose tip can rotate within a certain angle range, and whose diameter gradually increases in the direction of rotation and discontinuously decreases along the way. a cam for repelling the pitching arm, which has a shape such that the pitching arm is not pressed against the pitching arm; a ball set arm that sequentially supplies the ball to the ball holding portion of the pitcher; a motor that drives the cam; A batting practice machine equipped with a ball set arm actuator for causing a ball supply operation to be performed. 2. The batting practice machine according to claim 1, wherein the pitching arm is provided with a rotatable cam follower that contacts the cam. 3. A spring member is provided that biases the ball set arm in a direction opposite to the pressing direction by the ball set arm actuator, and the ball set arm is pressed by the actuator of the ball set arm at a position before the maximum pressing force position by the cam. A batting practice machine according to claim 1, wherein the pressing force of the set arm is released to return to the original state.