US20070049426A1

US20070049426A1 - Swinging tee

Info

Publication number: US20070049426A1
Application number: US11/215,035
Authority: US
Inventors: Chen-Hui Huang
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2005-08-31
Filing date: 2005-08-31
Publication date: 2007-03-01

Abstract

A batting tee for baseball is comprised of a base, a height adjustable post erected on the base, a mechanical box containing a swing mechanism and a return mechanism being disposed at the top of the post, a rod being axially erected from one side of the swing mechanical box, a baseball being connected to the top of the rod; a swing for a preset angle being achieved when the baseball is stricken; the baseball returning to its standby position for next swing practice without spinning for 360° to pay better efficiency and results of swing practice by eliminating the return problem of the prior art.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a swinging tee, and more particularly, to one that promotes efficiency and results of batting practice to advance his swing capability of a baseball player.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
Though as a game teamwork commitments matter most of all, defensive, pitching and swing skills of an individual player in the team are critical in winning the game. It makes training routines related to practices of pitching, catching and swinging to hit the ball very important.
Other than having the pitcher and the catcher available for the batting practice, a swinging tee is used as an aid in the training of batting. The swinging tee of the prior art is essentially comprised of a post. A lever may be axially disposed to the top of the post and a baseball being directly placed on the free end of the lever; or alternatively, a cord may be provided to tie the ball to keep it suspended at a given height to facilitate swinging practice by the player. Once the ball is hit, the hitting force of the bat applied to the ball causes both of the ball and the lever or the cord to execute a rotation of 360° and greater hitting force means more rounds of spinning. The player has to wait for the ball to return to its standby status for the next batting once the spinning force is consumed by inertial.
Within such a structural operation mode of the prior art, the ball when hit executes 360° revolutions in cycle and the round of spinning increases as the hitting force becomes greater. Relatively, the time gets longer for the ball to be ready for next batting practice at the expense of the practice efficiency and expected training results are compromised by the failure in having intensive practice of batting.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary purpose of the present invention is to provide to an improved construction of a swinging tee for achieving the intensive swinging practice by eliminating the problem of longer intermission due to the spinning of the ball.
Another purpose of the present invention is to provide an improved construction of a swinging tee to shorten the time of the ball to automatically return to standby status after having been hit for promoting swing training efficiency and results.
To achieve the purposes, the present invention is essentially comprised of a base, a post, a mechanical box, and a ball. The post is erected on the base and the mechanical box is disposed on the top of the post. The mechanical box contains a swing mechanism and a return mechanism. On one side of the swing mechanism is axially disposed an upright rod and the ball is connected to the top end of the rod. Once the ball is hit during the swing practice, the ball swings for a preset angle due to the linkage between the rod and the swing mechanism, and both of the swing mechanism together with the rod and the ball returns by operating the return mechanism to its standby status to facilitate the next swing practice.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing constructional relationship among members of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2A is another schematic view showing constructional relationship among some of those members of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing operational relationship of the construction of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is another schematic view showing operational relationship of the construction of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing constructional relationship among members of a second preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is another schematic view showing operational relationship of the construction of the second preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing constructional relationship among members of the third preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is another schematic view showing constructional relationship among members of the third preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 9 is a schematic view showing constructional relationship among members of the third preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 10 is a schematic view showing constructional relationship among members of a fourth preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 11 is another schematic view showing constructional relationship among members of a fourth preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 12 is a schematic view showing operational relationship of the construction of the fourth preferred embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIGS. 1, 2, 2A, 3, and 4, a first preferred embodiment of the present invention is essentially comprised of a base (10), a post (20), a mechanical box (30) and a ball (40). Wherein, the base (10) is made solid or filled up with sandstone or water as a weight. The post (20) in a proper height is inserted into or secured with a fastener to the base. The post (20) may be made retractable by having an inner tube (21) inserted into an outer tube (22) for the adjustment of the height of the post by means of a fastener (23). The mechanical box (30) is disposed on the top of the post (20) and contains a swing mechanism and a return mechanism. The swing mechanism is related to a turntable (31) and an axial hole (32) is disposed at the center of the turntable (31) for an L-shaped upright rod (33) to be inserted into and thus linked to the swing mechanism. A bearing (331) is further disposed at where between the rod (33) and the mechanism box (30), and a pin (34) is disposed at where pre-designated on the inner circumference of the turntable (31). The return mechanism relates to a spring (35) with one end of the spring (35) hooked to the pin (34) of the turntable (31) thus to realized the linkage between the turntable (31) and the spring (35), and another end of the spring (35) hooked to an adjustment bolt (36) fastened to one side of the mechanical box (30) for the adjustment bolt (36) to adjust the tension of the spring (35). The ball (40) is connected to the top of the rod (33).
Accordingly, with the ball (40) being fixed to the top of the rod (30), the rod being linked to the turntable (31) when axially provided from the mechanical box (30) by means of the bearing (331), once the ball (40) is hit by the player in the swing practice, the hitting force applied by the bat causes the ball (40) and the rod to pivot to one side while driving the turntable (31) to revolve. In the course of revolving, the turntable (31) pulls the spring (35) to accumulate return kinetics. An additional limiting rod (301) is disposed to one side of the mechanical box (30) to limit the swing amplitude of the ball (40) and the rod (33) thus to pull back the turntable (31) by taking advantage of the return exercised by the spring (35) while driving both of the rod (33) and the ball (40) to return to its standby position to facilitate the next swing practice.
Now referring to FIGS. 5 and 6 for a second preferred embodiment of the present invention essentially comprised of the same base (10), the retractable post (20), the mechanical box (30), the turntable (31), the rod (33) and the ball (40) as that disclosed in the first preferred embodiment, a resilient rubber stick (37) is provided in lieu of the spring (35) to yield the same automatic return efficacy for the turntable (31), the rod (33) and the ball (40).
As illustrated in FIGS. 7, 8, and 9 for a third preferred embodiment of the present invention essentially comprised of the same base (10), the retractable post (20), the mechanical box (30), the turntable (31), the rod (33) and the ball (40) as that disclosed in the first preferred embodiment, the return mechanism is related to a vortex spring (38) inserted to one side of the turntable (31). One end of the vortex spring (38) is fixed to the turntable (31) while the other end of the vortex spring (38) is fixed to the mechanical box (30). Once the ball (40) is hit, both of the rod (33) and the turntable (31) swing to rewind the vortex spring (38). After the rod (33) and the ball (40) having swung for a certain angle, the return exercised by the vortex spring (38) controls the automatic return of the turntable (31), the rod (33) and the ball (40) to be ready for the next swing practice.
Furthermore, as illustrated in FIGS. 10, 11, and 12 for a fourth preferred embodiment of the present invention essentially comprised of the same base (10), the retractable post (20), the mechanical box (30), the rod (33) and the ball (40) as that disclosed in the first preferred embodiment, the spring (39) of the return mechanism is hooked to where between the rod (33) and the mechanical box (30) to enable the rod (30) and the ball (40) the automatic return efficacy; so that once the ball (40) is hit, the ball (40) and the rod (33) swing for a pre-designated angel before being pulled back by the return force of the spring (39).
The present invention by taking advantage of the functional configuration comprised of the base (10), the retractable post (20), the mechanical box (30), the swing mechanism, the return mechanism, the rod (33), and the ball (40) causes the ball (40) and the rod (33) to swing only for a pre-designated angle, instead of 360° revolution for the ball (40) and the rod (33) to automatically return in conjunction with the return mechanism and the swing mechanism to effectively shorten the intermission between swings during the practice. Therefore the present invention helps promote efficiency and results of swing practice for significantly improving the swing capability of the player, and the purpose of intensive training for the team.

Claims

1. A swinging tee for baseball is comprised of a base, a post in proper height being erected at the center of the base, a mechanical box containing a swing mechanism and a return mechanism interconnected to each other being disposed at the top of the post, a rod being erected and connect to the swing mechanism, and a baseball being disposed on the tope of the rod.

2. The swinging tee for baseball of claim 1, wherein the swing mechanism relates to a turntable, an axial hole being disposed at the center of the turntable, the rod being inserted into the axial hole and connected to the turntable; a pin being disposed at where pre-designated on the inner circumference of the turntable, the return mechanism being related to a coil, one end of the coil being hooked to the pin of the turntable to connect the coil to the turntable, and both of the turntable and the rod being enabled with automatic return efficacy.

3. The swinging tee for baseball of claim 1, wherein the return mechanism relates to a resilient rubber stick.

4. The swinging tee for baseball of claim 1, wherein the return mechanism relates to a vortex spring disposed to the axial of the swing mechanism.

5. The swinging tee for baseball of claim 1, wherein the return mechanism relates to a spring in lieu of a rotation mechanism, the spring being directly hooked to where between the rod and the mechanical box to achieve the same automatic return purpose of the rod.

6. The swinging tee for baseball of claim 1, wherein the return mechanism relates to a spring, one end of the spring being hooked to the swing mechanism, another end of the spring being hooked to an adjustment bolt to adjust the tension of the spring.

7. The swinging tee for baseball of claim 1, wherein a limiting lever is disposed on one side of the mechanical box to limit the swing angle of the rod.

8. The swinging tee for baseball of claim 1, wherein the base is made hollow to be filled up with water or sandstone as a weight.

9. The swinging tee for baseball of claim 1, wherein the post is comprised of an inner tube inserted into an outer tube, and a fastener is provided for height adjustment of the post.