JP2003010360A - Ball shooting machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an inexpensive ball shooting machine with high reliability which rapidly re-starts ball shooting with a prescribed ball by detecting and removing a different ball even when the different ball is mixed, without allowing a ball different from a ball in use to be shot. SOLUTION: The ball shooting machine is provided with a different kind ball detector for detecting whether the ball arrayed in a ball supply part is the prescribed ball or the different kind ball, a gate for supplying the arrayed balls to a ball shooting part one by one and an gate opening/closing means for opening/closing the gate. When the ball arranged in the ball supply part is the prescribed one, the gate opening/closing part opens the gate. When the different kind ball detector detects the different kind of ball, the gate opening/ closing means keeps the gate closed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pitching machine used for practicing baseball and the like, and more particularly to a pitching machine configured to throw the same type of ball.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Pitching machines are not only used for hitting practice by professional baseball players, but are also installed in many batting centers. Today, at the batting center, some people enjoy leisurely hitting over a wide range of age groups from infants to the elderly, and most pitching machines use softballs.

However, the number of batting centers where soft-batter battings and hard-ball battings are provided side by side is increasing, and when the pitching and hitting balls are automatically collected, the soft-balls and hard-balls are mixed. Balls mixed in this way are automatically selected using the difference in repulsive force between the two balls, but in reality, a few different types of balls may be mixed in each ball group. .

[0004]

Under such a circumstance, when a conventional pitching machine is used for the purpose of pitching a soft ball, if a hard ball that has been mixed is suddenly pitched, control is disturbed. It is also possible that the bat may break. On the other hand, if a soft ball that had been hitting with a hard ball and was mixed was suddenly thrown,
There was a problem that the timing was missed due to the difference in pitching speed or the degree of bending.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems of the prior art. A ball different from the ball in use is not thrown, and even if different balls are mixed, An object of the present invention is to provide a highly reliable and inexpensive pitching machine capable of promptly restarting a pitching by a predetermined ball by detecting and removing the ball.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the invention according to claim 1 of the present invention throws a predetermined ball arranged in a ball supply portion through a pitching portion. In a pitching machine, a different type ball detector that detects whether the balls arranged in the ball supply unit are predetermined balls or different types of balls, a gate that supplies the arranged balls to the pitching unit one by one, and the gate is opened and closed. Gate opening / closing means is provided, and when the balls arranged in the ball supply section are predetermined balls, the gate opening / closing means opens the gate and the foreign ball detector detects foreign balls. And the gate opening / closing means maintains the closed state of the gate.

According to the second aspect of the invention, when the foreign ball is detected by the foreign ball detector, the driving means of the pitching portion is stopped and the warning means issues a warning. Characterize.

Further, according to a third aspect of the present invention, the ball supply portion is provided with an opening / closing opening, and when the foreign ball is detected by the foreign ball detector, the foreign ball is opened through the opening. It is characterized in that it is removed by doing.

Further, the invention according to claim 4 is characterized in that the predetermined ball and the different type ball are a soft type ball and a hard type ball, respectively, and a hardness detector is adopted as the different type ball detector.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the hardness detector includes a slide member which is slid by a drive source, and elastic means provided near the slide member.
A detecting means provided in the vicinity of the elastic means, and by appropriately setting the elastic force of the elastic means, the moving amount of the slide member is changed with respect to the predetermined ball and the different type of ball, It is characterized in that the detection means detects the predetermined ball and the different type of ball.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2 show an arm-type pitching machine A equipped with a heterogeneous ball detector according to the present invention, which is particularly used for a right-throw softball baseball.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, an arm type pitching machine A according to the present invention has a base 2 and the base 2.
A machine frame 6 is attached to the front part on the upper pitching direction side, and is tiltably mounted in the front-rear direction via a horizontal pin 4.

Two electric motors 8 and 10 are arranged on the machine frame 6, and two reducers 16 connected to the electric motors 8 and 10 via power transmission means 12 and 14 such as chains or belts. , 18 are arranged respectively.

The reduction gear 16 is connected to a sprocket wheel 22 provided above the reduction gear 16 via a power transmission means 20 such as a chain or a belt, and a release pin 24 is attached to a side surface of the sprocket wheel 22. There is. Further, the sprocket wheel 22 is rotatably attached around a rotary shaft 26, and one end of a pitching arm 28 is fixed to the rotary shaft 26, and
A pitching hand 30 is attached to the other end of the pitching arm 28. The rotating shaft 26 is also connected to the crank 32 and is configured to be appropriately engaged with the brake 33.

On the other hand, the speed reducer 18 is connected to a cam mechanism 38 provided above it via two power transmission means 34 and 36 such as a chain or a belt, and the cam mechanism 38 includes a coil spring 40. While being connected to one end, the other end of the coil spring 40 is connected to the crank 32.

A ball supply unit 42 is provided on the upper part of the machine frame 6, and the ball supply unit 42 communicates with a collection place of the collected and sorted balls through a supply duct (not shown). ing. The ball supply unit 42 includes a gate 48 which is swingably driven up and down by a solenoid 46 electrically connected to a controller (not shown) as a gate opening / closing means, a hardness sensor provided upstream of the gate 48, and the like. Hardness detector 50 of FIG.

Reference numeral 52 denotes a warning light, 54 denotes a hydraulic cylinder as a front-back inclination adjusting means of the machine frame 6 provided on the base 2, and the machine frame is expanded and contracted by the hydraulic cylinder 54. The front-back inclination of 6 is adjusted.

More specifically, the pitching speed can be appropriately selected by operating the pitching speed selection switch provided at the bat, and the electric motor 10 is operated by the operation of the pitching speed selection switch to cause the cam mechanism 38 to operate. Operate.
As a result, one end of the coil spring 40 (the crank 32
The position of the opposite end) is changed, the tension of the coil spring 40 is changed, and the ball speed is changed.

The operation of the electric motor 10 is also interlocked with the hydraulic cylinder 54 that changes the inclination angle of the machine frame 6. That is, as the pitching speed becomes slower, the degree of the ball descending by the time it reaches the bat increases, and the ball gradually deviates downward from the strike zone at the bat. Therefore, in order to reduce the pitching speed, it is necessary to slightly raise the front part of the machine frame 6,
On the contrary, in order to increase the pitching speed, it is necessary to slightly lower the front part of the machine frame 6. Therefore, the machine frame 6 supported in the front portion so as to be tiltable in the front-back direction is adjusted in the front-back inclination by the expansion and contraction operation of the hydraulic cylinder 54 provided on the base 2 in the rear portion. Hydraulic cylinder 54
The degree of expansion and contraction of the machine frame 6, that is, the degree of inclination of the machine frame 6 in the longitudinal direction is controlled by operating the pitching speed selection switch when selecting the pitching speed.
It is set by controlling the pitching speed setting limit switch attached to the output part of the hydraulic cylinder 54 in conjunction with the operation of.

The operation of the arm type pitching machine A according to the present invention having the above structure will be described below. The soft balls B sent from the ball collecting place of the batting center via the supply duct are guided to the ball supply unit 42 and arranged in one row. The balls B arranged in the ball supply unit 42 are
It is controlled by the gate 48 and supplied to the pitching hand 30 of the pitching unit one by one.

At this time, the driving force of the electric motor 6 is the reduction gear 1.
6 is transmitted to the sprocket wheel 22 and the release pin 24 provided on the side surface of the sprocket wheel 22 contacts the pitching arm 28, and the pitching arm 28 is rotationally driven.

After the ball B is supplied to the pitching hand 30, the pitching arm 28 is further driven to rotate. The crank 32 is connected to the rotating shaft 26, and one end of the coil spring 40 is connected to the crank 32. Because
The coil spring 40 gradually extends and its tension increases. The tension of the coil spring 40 becomes maximum at the pitching start position where the pitching arm 28 separates from the release pin 24, and the crank 32 and the pitching arm 28 are rapidly driven by the accumulated strong spring force. The pitching arm 28 rapidly rotates after leaving the release pin 24, and the ball B is pitched from the pitching hand 30 at the pitching position beyond the top dead center thereof.

Since the release pin 24 is attached to the sprocket wheel 22 which is driven to rotate by the electric motor 8 in a constant cycle (throwing cycle) via the power transmission means 20, the release pin 24 is braked by the brake 33 after the pitching. And abutting the pitching arm 28 that is on standby again, the coil spring 40 is pulled to gradually increase the tension.

The rotating shaft 26 of the throwing arm 28 rotatably supports the sprocket wheel 22 via a bearing, and can be rotated separately without the release pin 24.

Next, a case where a ball other than the soft ball B (for example, a hard ball) is mixed in the ball collecting place, and the different type ball passes through the ball supply section 42, FIG.
This will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

As described above, the balls arranged in one line in the ball supply unit 42 are controlled by the gate 48,
One by one is supplied to the pitching hand 30 of the pitching section. At this time, the hardness of the ball controlled by the gate 48 is detected by the hardness detector 50, and a detection signal is sent to the controller to determine whether the ball is the soft ball B or another type of other ball.

That is, in step S1, the hardness of the ball temporarily stopped at the gate 48 is detected by the hardness detector 50 as a foreign ball detector. In step S2, a detection signal (hardness signal) of the hardness detector 50 is sent to a controller (not shown), and in step S3, a threshold value H (hardness of soft ball <
H <hardness of hard ball).

If it is determined in step S3 that the hardness of the ball is smaller than the predetermined hardness (soft),
The process proceeds to step S4, and the solenoid 46 is passed through the controller.
Thus, the gate 48 is opened and the ball is supplied to the pitching hand 30 as usual. On the contrary, when it is determined that the hardness of the ball is higher (harder) than the predetermined hardness, the process proceeds to step S5, the gate 48 is maintained in the closed state via the controller, and the electric motor 8 is stopped. To stop the pitch.

Next, in step S6, a warning signal is sent from the controller to the warning lamp 54, and the warning lamp 54 is turned on. In step S7, when the staff who confirms that the warning light 54 is turned on removes a different type of ball (a ball other than the soft ball B) and presses the reset button provided on the controller, the electric motor 8 is restarted to throw the ball. Machine A
Returns to the normal state (restarts the pitching motion). After the reset, the process returns to step S1 and the above control is repeated.

In step S6, a warning sound may be issued at the same time when the warning lamp 54 is turned on to notify the staff of the mixing of different types of balls.

In the above embodiment, the staff who confirms the warning lamp 54 removes the foreign balls. However, an opening is provided in the ball supply section 42 below the gate 48, and this opening is automatically opened and closed. You can also do it. That is, an automatic opening / closing lid is provided in this opening, and when a different type of ball is detected by the hardness detector 50, the automatic opening / closing lid is opened via the controller, and after the different type of ball is dropped from the opening, the automatic opening / closing lid is opened. Should be closed again. In this case, the warning light 5
4. It is not necessary to provide warning means such as warning sound or a reset button.

Further, in the above embodiment, the hardness detector 50 is, for example, a hardness sensor or the like, but the configuration shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 is also possible.

Hardness detector 50 shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.
The electric motor 56 and the slide case 58 are arranged adjacent to each other above the ball supply unit 42, and the pinion 60 provided on the rotation shaft of the electric motor 56 and the rack 62 formed on the side surface of the slide case 58 are mutually connected. It is a meshed one.

The slide case 58 is provided with a slide shaft 64 penetrating up and down.
A coil spring 66 as an elastic means is attached around the slide shaft 64 inside. The lower end of the slide shaft 64 penetrates the upper wall of the ball supply unit 42 and faces the ball B at the stop position (rear of the gate 48). The upper end of the coil spring 66 contacts the inner surface of the upper wall 58a of the slide case 58, while the lower end contacts the stopper 68 fixed to the slide shaft 64. As will be described later, the coil spring 66 does not largely deform with respect to the soft ball,
The spring constant of the coil spring 66 is set such that the slide shaft 64 descends and the coil spring 66 is largely deformed with respect to the hardball with the slide shaft 64 hardly descending.

A limit switch 70 for detecting the stop position of the slide shaft 64, a limit switch 72 for detecting a soft ball, and a limit switch 74 for detecting a hard ball are provided in order from the top in the vicinity of the slide case 58 and the slide shaft 64. There is. A contact plate 76 of the soft ball detection limit switch 72 is attached to the upper end of the slide shaft 64, and a contact plate 78 of the hard ball detection limit switch 74 is attached to the side of the slide case 58. .

Next, the operation of the hardness detector 50 having the above structure will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7.

As described above, the ball B supplied to the ball supply unit 42 is temporarily blocked by the gate 48. At this time, a drive signal is sent from the controller to the electric motor 56, and the electric motor 56 and the pinion 60 rotate forward. Since the rack 62 provided on the slide case 58 meshes with the pinion 60, the forward rotation of the pinion 60 causes the slide case 58 and the slide shaft 64 to integrally descend, and the lower end of the slide shaft 64 is at the stop position. While contacting the ball B, the lever of the hard ball detection limit switch 74 contacts the contact plate 78 of the hard ball detection limit switch 74. The ON signal of the hard ball detection limit switch 74 is input to the controller, and after a predetermined time has elapsed, the controller sends a reverse rotation signal to the electric motor 56.

Here, as shown in FIG. 6, when the ball B supplied to the ball supply portion 42 is a soft ball, after the lower end of the slide shaft 64 abuts on the soft ball (at the above predetermined time). Between), the slide shaft 64 does not contract so much, and the slide shaft 64 slides into the slide case 5.
The lever of the soft-ball detecting limit switch 72 comes into contact with the contact plate 76 of the soft-ball detecting limit switch 72. The ON signal of the softball detection limit switch 72 is input to the controller, the gate 48 is opened, and the softball is supplied to the pitching hand 30 of the pitching unit.

After a lapse of a predetermined time, the electric motor 56 rotates in the reverse direction, and the slide shaft 64 rises together with the slide case 58. After that, the stop position detection limit switch 70
When the lever comes into contact with the upper end of the slide shaft 64, the ON signal of the stop position detection limit switch 70 is input to the controller, the electric motor 56 is normally rotated again, and the above operation is repeated.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 7, when the ball B supplied to the ball supply unit 42 is a hard ball,
When the lower end of the slide shaft 64 comes into contact with the hard ball, the coil spring 66 contracts and the slide shaft 64 does not descend further even if the slide case 58 descends for the predetermined time. Therefore, since the lever of the soft-ball detecting limit switch 72 does not come into contact with the contact plate 76 of the soft-ball detecting limit switch 72, the ball B supplied to the ball supply unit 42 is determined to be a hard ball. As a result, as described above, the gate 48 is maintained in the closed state via the controller, and the electric motor 8 is stopped to stop the pitch (step S in FIG. 3).
5).

Although one example of the hardness detector 50 has been described above, a weight detector such as a load sensor is provided in place of the hardness detector 50, and different types of balls are detected by the weight difference between the soft ball and the hard ball. You can also

Further, instead of the hardness detector 50, an ultrasonic sensor is provided so that different types of balls can be detected by the difference in ultrasonic absorption due to the difference in structure between the soft ball and the hard ball (whether hollow or solid). Good.

Further, in the above embodiment, the hard ball throwing machine detects the mixing of the hard ball and stops the supply, but the hard ball throwing machine detects the mixing of the soft ball. A configuration in which the supply is stopped is also possible.

In this case, the gate 48 may be opened only when it is determined in step S3 in the flow chart of FIG. 3 that the hardness of the ball is higher than the predetermined hardness.

Although FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 show a stationary arm type pitching machine A which is usually provided in a plurality at a batting center or the like, the present invention is limited to the stationary pitching machine A. Instead, it is of course applicable to a movable arm type pitching machine A1 as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9.

In this case, the ball supply section 42 provided on the upper part of the machine frame 6 communicates with the ball receiver 44 provided further above the machine frame 6, and the balls collected in the ball receiver 44 are fed to the ball supply section 42. Are arranged in a line.

Further, the above embodiment has been described by taking the arm type throwing machine A for throwing a soft type ball as an example.
The present invention can also be applied to a rotor type pitching machine.

That is, the rotor-type pitching machine is provided with a pair of upper and lower rubber rotors which are arranged at intervals slightly smaller than the ball diameter and are rotationally driven at high speeds in opposite directions by the respective electric motors. It is the one that throws the ball that is supplied during.
However, the basic configuration of the ball supply unit that supplies the ball to the pitching unit is the same as that of the arm-type pitching machine A, and can be similarly controlled by providing the hardness detector 50 and the like described above.

[0049]

Since the present invention is constructed as described above, it has the following effects. According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the ball arranged in the ball supply unit is a predetermined ball, the gate is opened by the gate opening / closing means, and the foreign ball is detected by the foreign ball detector. When it is detected, the gate opening and closing means keeps the gate closed.
The ball other than the predetermined ball is not thrown, and the reliability of the pitching machine is improved.

Further, according to the invention described in claim 2, when the foreign ball is detected by the foreign ball detector, the driving means of the pitching section is stopped and the warning means issues the warning. The staff can easily recognize the mixing of different types of balls. Therefore, it is possible to promptly restart the pitch after the foreign balls are removed.

Further, according to the invention described in claim 3,
The ball supply section has an opening that can be opened and closed, and when a foreign ball is detected by the foreign ball detector, the foreign ball is removed by opening the opening. Can be made.

Further, according to the invention of claim 4, the predetermined ball and the different type ball are the soft type ball and the hard type ball respectively, and the hardness detector is adopted as the different type ball detector. The ball can be easily identified. Therefore, it is possible to provide a highly reliable soft ball pitching machine in which hard balls do not mix with the pitched ball.

Further, according to the invention of claim 5, the hardness detector has a slide member slidably driven by a drive source, an elastic means and a detecting means provided in the vicinity thereof, and the elastic means. Since the amount of movement of the slide member with respect to a predetermined ball and a different type of ball is changed by appropriately setting the elastic force of, the detection means detects the predetermined ball and the different type of ball. It is possible to provide a simple and inexpensive pitching machine.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a stationary arm-type pitching machine equipped with a heterogeneous ball detector according to the present invention.

2 is a plan view of the pitching machine of FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing control of the pitching machine of FIG.

4 is a front view of a heterogeneous ball detector provided in the pitching machine of FIG. 1. FIG.

5 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the heterogeneous ball detector of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a front view of the heterogeneous ball detector of FIG. 4 showing a detection state of a soft ball.

FIG. 7 is a front view of the heterogeneous ball detector of FIG. 4 showing a detection state of a hardball.

FIG. 8 is a front view of a movable arm-type pitching machine equipped with a heterogeneous ball detector according to the present invention.

9 is a plan view of the pitching machine of FIG. 8. FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 bases, 6 machine frames, 8,10 electric motors, 12, 14, 20, 34, 36 power transmission means,
16,18 reducer, 22 sprocket wheels,
24 release pin, 26 rotating shaft, 28 throwing arm, 30 throwing hand, 32 crank, 33
Brake, 38 cam mechanism, 40 coil spring, 42 ball supply part, 44 ball receiver, 46
Solenoid, 48 gates, 50 hardness detector,
52 warning light, 54 hydraulic cylinder, 56 electric motor, 58 slide case, 60 pinion, 62
Rack, 64 slide shaft, 66 coil spring, 68 stopper, 70, 72, 74 limit switch, 76, 78 contact plate,

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. In a pitching machine for pitching a predetermined ball arranged in a ball supply section through a pitching section, a different kind of ball detection for detecting whether the ball arranged in the ball supply section is a predetermined ball or a different kind of ball. A container, a gate for supplying the arranged balls one by one to the pitching part, and a gate opening / closing means for opening / closing the gate. When the balls arranged in the ball supplying part are predetermined balls, A pitching machine in which the gate opening / closing means opens the gate, while the foreign ball detector detects a foreign ball, the gate opening / closing means maintains the closed state of the gate. 2. A different kind of ball is detected by the different kind of ball detector, the driving means of the pitching section is stopped, and the warning means issues a warning.
The pitching machine described in. 3. The ball supply unit is provided with an opening / closing opening, and when the foreign ball is detected by the foreign ball detector, the foreign ball is removed by opening the opening. The pitching machine described in 1. 4. The predetermined ball and the different type ball are a soft type ball and a hard type ball respectively, and a hardness detector is adopted as the different type ball detector.
The pitching machine according to any one of 1. 5. The hardness detector includes a slide member that is slidably driven by a drive source, elastic means provided in the vicinity of the slide member, and detection means provided in the vicinity of the elastic means. By appropriately setting the elastic force of the elastic means, the moving amount of the slide member is changed with respect to the predetermined ball and the different type ball, and the predetermined ball and the different type ball are detected by the detecting means. The pitching machine according to claim 4, wherein