US1223386A

US1223386A - Automatic base-ball apparatus.

Info

Publication number: US1223386A
Application number: US5221615A
Authority: US
Inventors: Daniel Handelan
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1915-09-23
Filing date: 1915-09-23
Publication date: 1917-04-24
Anticipated expiration: 1934-04-24

Description

01 HANDELAN.

AUTOMATIC BASE BALL APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 23. 19x5.

Patented Apr. 24, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

ay/ 4. MM

' 6/3 4770r/7e g.

D. HANDELAN. AUTOMATIC BASE BALL APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 23, 1915.

7. 6 m M Mn 0 2m 4 T n f- PM A, A m M O: 7 M H r 9 n n m P F :m g. m" n n w 3 HI L IHHIH 2 w 2 7 -v 4 4/ m M. /v 5 w mm W w J/ .1 3 w 2 Q 71% 3|: 9 a 1 9 6 n A 9 M v 7 9 Z w 2 M? f, a5

D. HANDELAN.

AUTOMATIC BASE BALL APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED SEPT; 23, 1915.

1 ,223,386. v Patented Apr. 24; 1917.-

3 SHEETSISHEET 3. ea" 7./@

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

' minim HANDELAN, or MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.

AUTOMATIC BASE-BALL APPARATUS.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DANIEL HANDELAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Minneapolis, in the county of Hennepin and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Base-Ball Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

y ball apparatus and has for its object to provide, in combination with a sloping floor and a curtain or back stop against which the balls are batted, means at the rear of said curtain for taking the balls from a trough at the bottom of the sloping platform and elevating them behind the curtain, and for delivering said balls to pitching apparatus behind the curtain or back stop from which the balls are pitched through openings in the curtain to the batter at the front of the hall. It is a further object of the invention to provide novel pitching apparatus, comprising a continuously-driven shaft having thereon one or more pitching arms adapted to be actuated by springs set by the rotation of the shaft and to be automatically released to pitch the balls at the time when the spring 15 drawn to a larger scale.

properly set, means for automatically delivering one at a time to the throwing arm.

The full objects and advantages of my invention will appear in connection with the detailed description thereof and areparticularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, illustrating the applicationof my invention in one form,

- Figure 1 is a plan view of. a portion of a baseball court showing my invention in place. Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the ball elevating and delivery devices taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan view of a portion of the device shown in Fig. 1 drawn to a larger scale. Fig. 4 is a side elevational view of the parts shownin Fig. 3 in different positions. Fig. 5 is a rear elevational view of the parts shown in ig.

Figs. 6 and 7 are enlarged elevational sectional views of the ball ejectors orfeeders showing the parts in relatively altered positions. Fig. 8 is a said device also including the balls rear sectional elevational view of the equalizer taken on line 88 of Fig. 2. Fig. 9 is a plan view of the parts shown in Fig. 8 with portions cut away to show other portions beneath. Fig. 10 is a sectional plan view of the pitching machine proper.

Specification of Letters Patent.

and 15 invention relates to automatic base .ing upward to meet Patented Apr. 24, 1917.

Application filed September 23, 1915. Serial No. 52,216.

In conjunction with my invention I employ a baseball court of ordinary construction, as best shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Within a. building 10 is laid upon the regular floor 17 a supplemental floor 11 slanting toward the rear nating in a pair of transverse troughs 12 formed by vertical members 13 and 1 1. To the members 13 'I secure a canvas or other suitable backing 16 against which the balls are batted, said canvas backing slopthe ceiling and provided with an opening 136 through which the balls are thrown, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

As the balls are batted they finally light upon floor 11 and roll down into one o troughs 12 and 15, where they are conveyed to the ends 21 of said troughs and elevated to a distributing head 18 by means of a pair of belt conveyers 19 and 20 operating in said trough. As best seen in Fig. 1, troughs 12 and 15 approach each other at 21 and make a right angled turn, extending upward and adjacent to each other at 22 and 23 and uniting at and terminating in the distributing head 18 previously mentioned. The upper ends of

trough portions

22 and 23 rest upon a frame 24, shown in Fig. 2. The conveyers 19 and 20 already referred to comprise

belts

25 and 27 upon which are rotatably mounted sets of

rollers

26 and 28, and said belts pass through the

troughs

12, 15, 22 and 23', as clearly shown in Fig. 1, causing the balls to roll along the troughs. Belt 25 travels over idlers 29 and pulley 30, and belt 27 similarly passes over idlers 31 and pulley 32.

Idlers

29 and 31 are all mounted .on brackets 33 secured to the floor 17, while

pulleys

30 and 32 are fast upon

shafts

34 and 35. naled in bearings 24 and in bearings 37 attached to the floor 17.

Shafts

34 and 35 are driven by means of

pulleys

126 and 127 fast thereon and belted to pulleys 128 and 129, respectively, said latter pulleys being secured upon a constantly rotating shaft 60. the be later described, the rotation of said

shafts causing belts

25 and 27 to travel and engage the base balls 38. thus gathering and elevating them to the discharge head 18.

The course of the balls 38 after leaving

elevating troughs

22 and 23 is best shown in Fig. 1 A pair of and 4.0 communicate with the discharge head of the building and termi- Y function of which will delivery troughs 39 a lower end 18 and take an easy curve at right angles from said head to distribute the balls to the cups 41 of the pitching arins 42.

Troughs

39 and 40 slope so that the balls can be distributed by gravity. The head 18, as noted in Fig.2, slopes downward to meet the

troughs

39 and 40 so that as soon as the balls are disengaged from the conveyers they are thenceforth brought forward and distributed by gravity, In discharge head 18 I provide a vane 43 which is automatically turned, as best shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 5. to permit the balls to discharge in either of the

delivery troughs

39 or 40 from the respective

elevating troughs

22 and 23 or from both of them in to either of said delivery troughs. Trough 40 is supported upon its on a braced stand 44 to which it IS hinged at 45. Near its upper end said trough is supported upon one end 190f a rocking beam 46, which is pivoted at its forward direction. As clearly shown in Figs. 8 and 9. said arm 52 is connected by a pair of

cords

54 and 55, which pass over a pair of pulleys 56 and 57 secured to head to projecting

fingers

58 and 59 situated on the under sides of

delivery troughs

39 and 40. As the beam 46 is caused to rock, vane 43 is made to turn, as shown in Figs. 1 and 5. Normally the base balls 38 are collected and elevated by the conveyers 19 and 20 and the same are caused to be discharged

troughs

39 and 40, which is only permitted when vane 48 is in the position shown in full lines in Fig.

now a greater number of balls should be collected in trough 12 and discharg .d into trough 40. the additional weight of i would immediately cause it to move downward, this effecting a shift of the vane 43, as shown in full lines in Fig. 1, and so causing the balls from both of conveyers 19 and 20 to be discharged into trough 39. W'hen the weight of that trough would exceed that of trough 40 the reverse would take place and the vane would take the position shown in dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 5. Thus an equalizer is provided which automatically distributes the balls to the pitching arms in proportion to the number of balls thrown by the same regardless of whether they are collected from one side of the court or the other.

The

66 fast on shaft 60. The pitching machine proper is shown in section in Fig. 10. A housing 67 is rigidly secured to the end of shaft 60 and is provided with a 68. Within housing 67 69 in which are located the actuating and retarding elements of the device. Casting 69 is provided with a. cylindrical compartment 70, a crank shaft chamber 71 and an oil reservoir 72. Chamber 71 is provided with 74 in which is journaled a flanged sleeve 75. In sleeve 75 and a portion 7 6 of casting 69 is journaled a crank shaft 77 to which is attached a pitman 78 operating chamber 71 the periphery of the flange of sleeve 75 whereby the sleeve is held in engagement With said arm. Spr'ng 84 serves to actuate the throwing arm.

and when at the required movement arm 42 is released said arm swings by means of a needle Cylinder made to communicate with said chamber by means of a ball and a by-pass 86 issuing a fixed distance from the end of nterior pf casting 69 is filled with oil which arm 42 position shown in Fig. 10 in full lines, and as the arm 42 swings piston 79 travels rapbolt 96 passing through a idly into the cylinder, transferring the oil therein to

chambers

71 and 72 bv means of the by-pass 86 and the outlet 82. When said cylinder covers the inlet of by-pass 86 the flow f oil takes place entirely through outlet'82 and so quickly retards the motion of arm 42 to that of shaft 60. When arm 42 is next held still piston 7 9 is drawn back to the position shown in full lines in Fi 10, the oil entering said cylinder throug the ball valve 85 and by-pass 86. It will be noted that the crank shaft 77 never makes continuous rotation with respect to casting 69, but that it is turned a half a revolution and then returns in the opposite direction to its original position. To giv'e any desirable speed to the balls the sleeve may be rotated to wind or unwind spring 84 with respect to arm 42, and in order to prevent the same from unwinding the pitman 78 is made crank shaft *7 7 cannot make a complete revolution.

The device for holding and releasing arm 42 is best shown in Figs. 3 and 4. A plunger 89 slides in a casting 90 secured to standard 44, and between casting 90 and a collar 91' on said plunger is a compression coil spring 92 which tends to hold the plunger in the path of arm 42 so as to deprive it of rotational movement. Extending under housing 67 is a lever 93 hinged at 94 and-attached at one end to a post 95 by a slot 97 in said lever, and supported at its other end by a rod 104 operating in ball and

socket joints

105 and 106. Plunger 89 is pivoted to arm 93 at 98. Secured to arm 93 adjacent pivot 98 is a cord 99 which passes over a pulley 100 to the front of the court, whereby the plunger 89 can be retracted or projected to disengage or engage the arm 42 at the will of the operator at the front of the court. To one side of lever 93 is fastened a block 101 having a cam surface 102 engageable by a cam roller 103 adjustably positioned onthe periphery of houslng 67. Then at the right moment cam roller 103 engages cam surface 102, lever 93 is displaced and plunger 89 is withdrawn, releasing arm 42 to pitch the ball.

The halls are dropped into the cup 41 immediately after the arm 42 has been engaged by a device operating as follows: Pivotally attached to lever 93 at 107 is an arm 108 extending upward and-forward in back of the housing 67. From this arm extends a chain 111 to another arm 109 extending parallel to lever 93 pivoted to the post 95 at 110. Arm 108 is engaged by a roller 114 on the rear side of housing 67, which causes said arm to oscillate and lift arm 109. I The function of arm 109 is to discharge the balls one at a time into the cup 41, as clearly shown in Figs. 6 and 7. A

. Fig.

shown in Fig. 7,

long enough so that the" spout 115 communicating with trough 40 is set up above said trough so that the balls have tobe lifted before they can enter it and roll from it into cup 41. A vertical rod 113 is pivotally secured to arm 109 and is provided at its upper extremity with a plate 116 which normally lies flush with the bottom of the trough, as shown in 6. When arm 109 is lifted by arm 108, plate 116 is raised and elevates the ball, as where the same rolls off into cup 41 prior to the releasing of arm 42, and when plate 116 returns to its normal position another ball comes in place. It will be noted 7 in Fig. 3 in the dotted lines representing lever 93 and arm 108, that when cord. 99 is drawn up to disengage plunger and arm 108 so that cam roller 114 cannot engage said arm and hence ,does not cause balls to be elevated into the spout 115, thus ejecting exactly as many balls as are pitched.

To throw the balls in different elevations it is merely necessary to adjust the cam roller 103 circumferentially. To vary the lateral direction of throw of the balls I employ the device illustrated in Fig. 10. Casting 69 is pivotally attached to housing 67 at 117 and can oscillate between two adjustable stops 118 and 119 fastened in the wall of housing 67 and in the cover 68. Casting 69 can be oscillated to either of its extreme positions by means of a link 120 secured to a grooved collar 121 splined to shaft 60, said collar being shifted by a bell crank 122 pivoted at 123 to the bearing 63 and a connecting link 124 secured to a strap 150 operating in said collar. The bell crank 122 is operated by a long rod 125 extending to the front of the court within reach of the operator. This device is of special value in narrow courts to accommodate right and left handed batters. g

A device for throwing the base balls in curves is shown attached to the cup 41 in Fig. 10. "The cup proper 21 is made of sheet metal formed on two

wire forms

130 and 131, bent as shown. The ends of said wires are threaded to receive nuts 132, by means of which the cup can be attached to the arm 42. At the other ends of

wire forms

130 and 131 are provided

rollers

133 and 134 which may be kept from rotating by means of nuts 135. It will become evident that when the ball engages a fast roller it will be given absolute rotational movement and so travel in a curved path. By this means the ball can be made to travel in three curved paths and one normal path, as desired.

My invention has the advantage of relieving the operator of doing all the work in pitching the balls and also decreases the number of operators required for a court. It also provides means for gathering the balls from a floor sloping in only one direction, and so adapts the same to be installed 89, lever 93 are simultaneously drawn aside in discarded theaters, or the like, and the fact that all of the parts are above the floor makes it easy to install. It will be noted that all of the parts are situated behind the backing, adding to the ease of the which the balls come.

I claim:

1. In combination with a platform sloping rearWardly having a ball-receiving trough at the bottom thereof and a back stop exwardly to an elevated point and operating to convey the balls thereto from said trough, means for delivering the balls one at a time to the pitching machine, said pitching machine thereafter automatically throwing the balls through apertures in the back stop.

2. In combination with a platform sloping rearwardly having a ball-receiving trough at the bottom thereof and a back stop extending upwardly from said trough against which the balls are batted, a trough extending rearwardly first-named trough behind said back stop, a pitching machine located behind the back stop, a receptacle for receiving balls from said upwardly-sloping trough and holding the same for automatic delivery one at a time to the pitching machine, and means running continuously in said troughs for positively conveying the balls to the receptacle.

wardly and upwardly from said first-named trough behind said back stop, a pitching machine located behind the back stop, a recepback stop.

4. In combination with a platform slopmg rearwardly having a ball-receiving trough at the bottom thereof and a'back stop extending upwardly from said trough against which the balls are batted, a trough extending rearwardly and upwardly from the central portion of said first-named trough behind said back stop, a pitching machine located behind the back stop, a receptacle for receiving balls from said upwardly-sloping trough and holding the same for autoballs to the receptacle.

5. In combination with a platform sloping rearwardly having a ball-receiving trough at the bottom thereof and a back stop extending upwardly from said trough against which the balls portion of said first-named trough behind said back stop, a pair of pitching machines located behind the back stop in spaced relation, a separate receptacle for each pitching machine for receiving balls from said upwardly-sloping trough and holding the same for automatic delivery one at a time to the pitching machine, and a pair of constantly-driven endless convevcrs each running through said central trough and a portionof the first-named trough. each of said conveyers operating positively to convey the balls to a corresponding receptacle.

6. In combination with a platform sloping rearwardly having a ball-receiving trough at the bottom thereof and a back stop extending upwardly from said trough against which the balls are batted, a trough extending rearwardly and upwardly from said first-named trough behind said back stop, a pair of pitching machines located behind the back stop in spaced relation, a separate receptacle for each pitching machine for receiving balls from said upwardly-sloping trough and holding the same for automatic delivery one at a time to the pitching machine, a pair of constantly-driven endless conveyers each running through said central trough and a portion of the firstammed trough, each of said cqnveyers operating positively to convey the balls to a corresponding re ceptacle, and means for causing both conveyers to deliver to one receptacle.

7. In combination with a platform sloping rearwardly having a lull-receiving trough at the bottom thereof and a back stop extending upwardly from said trough against which the ball. are batted. a trough extending rearwardly and upwardly from the central portion of said first-named trough behind said back stop, a pair of pitching machines located behind the back stop in spaced relation, a separate recepeach running through said central trough and a portion of 'the first-named trough, each of said conveyers operating positively to convey the balls to a corresponding receptacle, and means controlled by the aggregate weight of the balls in either receptacle for causing the delivery of balls from both conveyers into the same receptacle.

8. In combination with a platform sloping rearwardly having a ball-receiving trough at the bottom thereof and'a back stop extending upwardly from said trough against which the balls are batted, a trough extending rearwardly and upwardly from the central portion of said first named trough behind said back stop, a pair of pitching machines located behind the back stop in spaced relation, a separate receptacle for each pitching machine for receiving balls from said upwardly-sloping trough and holding the same for automatic delivery one at a time to the pitching machine, a pair of constantly driven endless conveyers each running through said central trough and a portion of the first named trough, each of said conveyers operating positively to convey the balls to a corresponding receptacle, a gate in said central trough adapted to direct the balls from both conveyers into either of said receptacles, and means controlled by the aggregate weight of the balls in either receptacle for operat ing the gate.

9. In combination with a baseball court, a pair of pitching machines, means for collecting the balls from said court, means for elevating the balls from said collecting means, and means for distributing the balls from said elevating means to either or both of said pitching machines.

10. In combination with a baseballcourt, a pair of pitching machines, means for collecting the balls from said court, means for elevating the balls from said collecting means, means for distributing the balls from said elevating means to said pitching machines, and means operated by the balls delivered to each machine for causing said distributing means to deliver to either or both of said pitching machines in accordance with the nu ber of balls pitched by the machines.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature in presence of tWo, witnesses.

DANIEL HANDELAN. \Vitnesses:

F. A. \VHITELEY, H. A. BOWMAN.