JP2540161Y2 - Ball launcher - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (Industrial application field) The present invention batting by automatically firing a ball for ball games and hitting it with a bat, racket, or hand, or receiving with a glove or hand. The present invention relates to a ball launching device for practicing swing, receiving, or catching.

(Prior Art) As a conventional ball launching device for automatically launching a hard ball used in baseball, a ball is sequentially inserted between wheels driven to rotate in opposite directions by a drive shaft, and the rotation of the wheel is performed. Some are designed to jump out in the tangential direction.

In such a conventional ball launching device, in order to cause a hard ball to fly out from between the wheels at a high speed (about 140 km / h), the ball 1 is sandwiched around the outer periphery of the wheel, and the ball 1 is held by the wheel. About 10 mm in the radial direction. This is because unless the ball is compressed and held so strongly, the ball cannot fly out at high speed. In order to hold the ball in compression, it is necessary to make the outer periphery of the wheel a relatively hard and hard urethane rubber.

However, while holding the ball in this way,
If the material of the surface in contact with the ball is made of hard urethane rubber, the ball is apt to be damaged, and the seam of the ball is cut, which has a disadvantage that the durability of the ball is significantly impaired.

As a ball launching device that does not cause such inconveniences, a ball launching device that holds a ball at the tip of a rotating arm, rapidly rotates the rotating arm by the pulling force of a spring, and launches the ball has been developed. ing.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, in such a conventional rotating arm type ball launching device, since the arm is configured to rotate 360 degrees, the larger the arm length, the larger the device. And there is a disadvantage that it cannot be installed in a narrow space.

Further, in the conventional ball shooting device, since the spring force acting on the arm is a pulling force, there is an inconvenience that the mounting portion of the spring is easily damaged. In order to increase the firing speed of the ball, it is necessary to increase the tensile force of the spring, but in that case, there is a disadvantage that the spring is easily broken.

Further, the conventional ball launching device has the disadvantage that the number of parts is large and the manufacturing cost is increased.

Furthermore, in the conventional ball launching device, there is relatively no problem when a hard ball is ejected at a high speed, but a soft ball such as a baseball or tennis ball or a volleyball is played at a relatively high speed. It is not suitable for popping out, and a convenient device for firing these balls at high speed is required.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and is applicable to both hard balls and soft balls.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a ball launching device that can fly out at a high speed without damaging the ball launching device, and that is small in size, has a small number of components, and is inexpensive to manufacture.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve such an object, the ball launching device of the present invention is configured such that a swing arm having a ball holding portion or a ball hitting portion formed on the tip end side is mounted on a support base. In a ball firing mounting, wherein the arm is rotatably mounted and the swing arm is rotated in the ball firing direction by the arm rotating power generating means, the arm rotating power generating means has one end rotatable with respect to the support table. A rod having one end attached to the swing arm and the other end attached to a piston movable in the cylinder; and a compression elastic force provided on the rod side in the cylinder. A first spring biasing the piston to rotate the swing arm in the ball firing direction, and a first spring provided on the cylinder in a side opposite to the rod side;
A second spring that indirectly receives an impact when the rotation of the swing arm is stopped by the compression elastic force via the piston;
It is characterized by having.

In the ball launching device of the present invention, the turning power generating means not only has a function of rotating the swing arm in the standby position in the ball firing direction, but also absorbs an impact when the swing arm reaches the firing position. It is an integral component that also has functions,
As a result, the ball launching device can be made compact and the parts can be easily replaced.

In addition, since the impact when the swing arm stops rotating is indirectly received via the piston, the impact when the swing arm stops rotating is compared to a configuration in which the impact is directly received by the swing arm. And the noise such as a collision sound generated at that time can be suppressed.

Further, in the ball launching device of the present invention, the rotation is absorbed at the launching position of the ball regardless of whether the ball is set on the swing arm, and the ball can be immediately stopped. Therefore, even if the ball supply device breaks down, the ball firing device will not be damaged.

It is more preferable that the ball launching device of the present invention has a ball launching warning unit for notifying the timing of launching the ball, in addition to the above configuration.

This is because a user who hits the ball to be fired or a user who receives the ball to be fired can set the timing by the ball firing warning means, and can effectively use the ball firing device of the present invention.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

1 to 3 are schematic side views of a ball launching device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the arm turning power generating means shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, and FIG. FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a main part showing a modified example of a ball launching portion of a ball supply means of the ball launching device according to the present invention, and FIGS. FIG. 9 is a schematic view showing an example of a ball firing warning means for notifying the ball firing timing, and FIG. 10 is a schematic side view of a ball firing device according to another embodiment of the present invention. is there.

As shown in FIG. 1, a ball firing device according to the present embodiment
Reference numeral 10 has a swing arm 4 having a ball holding portion 2 formed on the tip side. A rotation shaft 6 is mounted on the base end of the swing arm 4, and the rotation shaft 6 constitutes a part of the support base 30 and stands substantially vertically from a base 30 b of the support base 30. The swing arm 4 is rotatably attached to the frame 30a at a predetermined angle with respect to the frame 30a. Note that the ball 1 can be stored in the ball holding unit 2.

On the base end side of such a swing arm 4, arm turning power generation means 12 is mounted. Arm rotation power generation means 12
Is not particularly limited. For example, one end of the swing arm 4
Has a rod 14 rotatably mounted on the rod. As shown in detail in FIG. 4, the rod 14 is accommodated in a cylinder 16 so as to be movable in the axial direction, and a piston 18 is fixed to the other end of the rod 14. The piston 18 is movable in the cylinder 16 in the axial direction together with the rod 14.

A spring 20 (first spring) is mounted between the piston 18 and one end wall 16a of the cylinder 16. The spring 20 is compressed by the axial movement of the rod 14 in the direction of arrow A. , A compressive elastic force is applied to the rod 14.

The spring 2 is also provided on the other end wall 16b side of the cylinder 16
2 (second spring) is attached. The spring 22 collides with the piston 18 when the piston 18 is suddenly returned in the direction of the arrow B in the cylinder 16 to cushion the impact. And the other end wall 16b side of the cylinder 16 in such an arm rotation power generating means is
It is rotatably held on the frame 30a via the rotating shaft 24, and follows the swinging movement of the swinging arm 4 conveniently. The cylinder 16, the rod 14 having the piston 18, and the springs 20 and 22 constitute the arm rotation power generating means of the present invention.

The ball launching device 10 shown in FIG. 1 shows a state immediately after the ball 1 is launched, and the swing arm 4 comes into contact with a stopper 26 fixed to the frame 30a, and the swing arm 4 moves in the direction of arrow C in FIG. Rotational movement is restricted. The stopper 26 collides with the swing arm 4 when the swing arm 4 sharply turns in the direction of arrow C due to the compressive elastic force of the arm turning power generating means 12 and stops the swing arm 4 from turning. In order to reduce the impact at the time of stoppage, it is preferable to use an elastic member.

In order to return the swing arm 4 from the ball launching position to the standby position, the ball launching device 10 is provided with arm return means 28 on a support table.

Although the arm return means 28 is not particularly limited, in this embodiment, a wire 32 having one end attached to the base end side of the swing arm 4 and the other end of the wire 32 are attached and fixed to the roller 34. There is a lever 36 that rotates together with the roller 34, a motor 38 that appropriately rotates the roller 34 at a constant speed in the direction of arrow E, a speed reducer 40, and a chain belt 42. A switch protrusion 44 is formed at a predetermined position on the outer periphery of the roller 34. As shown in FIG. 3, the switch projecting piece 44 comes into contact with the limit switch 46 when the swing arm 4 is at the standby position and the roller 34 reaches a predetermined rotational position.

The limit switch 46 is attached to an end of a swing piece 50 that is swingably mounted on the frame 30a via a rotation shaft 48. The swinging piece 50 is inclined downward to the right as shown in FIG. 1 when the pressing piece 51 attached to the base end side outer periphery of the swinging arm 4 is not in contact with the swinging piece 4, and is attached to the left end. The limit switch 46 does not come into contact with the switch protrusion 44 formed on the outer periphery of the roller.
When the limit switch 46 is not in contact with the switch protrusion 44 mounted on the outer periphery of the roller 34, the driving of the motor 38 is not stopped, and the roller 34 continues to rotate in the direction of the arrow E. Further, when the projection piece 44 comes into contact with the limit switch 46, the power supply to the motor 38 is stopped, and the rotation of the roller 34 is stopped.

When the swing arm 4 returns to the standby position by the arm return means 28 on the support table 30, the swing arm 4 is engaged with the hook portion 52 formed on the swing arm 4 and the swing arm 4 is An engaging means 54 is provided for holding at the standby position shown in FIG. In the present invention, the specific configuration of the engagement means 56 is not particularly limited, but the engagement means 56 according to the illustrated embodiment has a tapered surface formed on the upper surface, and the hook portion 52 is engaged with the bottom surface. It consists of a top 56. The frame body 56 is fixed to the distal end side of the rod 58, and is movable in the axial direction together with the rod 58. The rear end of the rod 58 is connected to a solenoid actuator 60 as a disengagement means, and a foot switch 62 is connected to the actuator 60.
The connection to the actuator 60 is not limited to a foot switch, but may be another type of switch.

In order to engage the hook portion 52 of the swing arm 4 with the bottom surface of the frame body 56, the swing arm 4 may be rotated in the direction of the standby position by the arm turning power generation means 28. Then, the bottom of the hook portion 52 comes into contact with the tapered surface of the top body 52, and the hook portion 52 is pushed down along the tapered surface, whereby the top body 56 is retracted in the direction of the actuator 60, and the hook portion 52 is automatically turned off.
Is engaged with the frame 56.

In order to release this engagement, for example, a foot switch 62 at the foot of a batter who practices hitting is turned on, the actuator 60 is driven, and the frame 56 is moved in the direction of the actuator 60.

FIG. 5 shows an example of supplying the ball 1 to the ball holding unit 2 at the standby position of the swing arm 4 shown in FIG.

In the vicinity of the ball holding unit 2 at the standby position, an inclined surface inclined toward the ball holding unit 2 is formed.
A ball guideway 62 is provided. This first ball guideway
One end of 62 is inclined toward the ball holding portion 2, and the other end is formed with a first stopper plate 64 hanging downward. A feed plate 66 on which one ball can be placed is provided below the first ball guide path 62 below the stopper plate 64. This feed plate 66 is also the first
The ball 1 is inclined in the same direction as the ball guide path 62, and the ball 1 placed thereon comes into contact with the first stopper plate 64. A second stopper plate 68 hanging downward is also formed at the inclined upper end of the feed plate 66.
One end of a rod 70 is fixed to the back surface of the feed plate 66,
The vertical movement of the rod 70 causes the surface of the feed plate 66 to be flush with the first guide path 62 or flush with a second guide path 72 described later.

On the second stopper plate 68 side of the feed plate 66, a second guide path 72 which is flush with the surface of the feed plate 66 in a normal state is provided. The second guide path 72 is connected to a ball storage box (not shown), from which the balls 1 are continuously supplied. It is preferable to form guide walls on both sides of the first guide path 62, the feed plate 66, and the second guide path 72 so that the ball 1 does not fall off the side surface.

The rod 70 is linked to the rotating shaft 6 of the swing arm 4 by means such as a link, and when the swing arm 4 is located at the standby position, the rod 70 rises and the rod 70 is placed on the feed plate. Balls are passed through the first guide path 62 and
Is preferably supplied to In this case, the balls 1 arranged on the second guide path 72 are not supplied to the feed plate 66 by the action of the second stopper 68 and remain stopped. Thereafter, when the swing arm 4 rotates to the firing position, the link 70 connected to the rod 70 operates to
The rod 70 moves downward together with the feed plate 66, and the second guide path 72
Only the next one ball 1 on top rides on the feed plate 66,
The above operation is repeated, and the ball 1 is supplied to the ball holding portion 2 one after another.

Next, the operation of such a ball shooting device 10 will be described.

When the ball 1 is supplied to the ball holding unit 2 at the standby position of the swing arm 4 shown in FIG. 3 and the foot switch 62 is turned on, the top body 56 retracts toward the actuator side by the action of the solenoid type actuator 60, and the hook unit The engagement between 52 and top body 56 is released.

Then, the rocking arm 4 is rapidly pulled up via the rod 14 by the compressive elastic force of the spring 20 which has been compressed to the maximum in the cylinder 16 as the arm rotating means, and the rocking arm 4 is moved to the position shown in FIG. It turns sharply in the direction of arrow C shown.
However, in the direction of rotation of the swing arm 4, the stopper 26
Is stopped by the rotation stopper 26 of the swing arm 4 in the direction of the arrow C.

At that time, the ball 1 held by the ball holding unit 2
It is fired at high speed in the tangential direction of rotation of the swing arm 4. In order to stabilize the ball firing direction at the ball firing position, to further improve the firing speed, or to apply rotation to the ball, as shown in FIG. The ball 1 held by the ball holding section 2 is located above the ball holding section 2
Rotate by pressing on top of. A roller wheel 72 may be provided. The roller wheel 72 is rotated by a motor or the like (not shown) in a direction opposite to the firing rotation direction C of the swing arm 4, and combined with the rotation of the swing arm 4,
The ball 1 is made to fly out in the firing direction.

When the ball is fired by the swinging arm 4, the contact between the pressing piece 51 provided on the base end side of the swinging arm 4 and the swinging piece 50 is separated, and the swinging piece 50 inclines to the lower right. The contact between the limit switch 46 and the switch projection 44 is separated, and as a result,
The motor 38 is restarted, and the roller 34 rotates again in the direction of arrow E. Then, the wire 32 attached to the lever 36
, The swing arm 4 is pulled in the direction of the arrow D shown in FIG. 1, and the compression elastic energy is stored in the spring in the cylinder 16.

When the roller 34 rotates to the position shown in FIG. 2, the hook portion 52 fixed to the tip side of the swing arm 4 engages with the frame 56, and the swing arm 4 is held at the standby position. In this state, for example, the ball 1 is supplied to the ball holding unit 2 by the above-described ball supply unit. Roller 34
Nevertheless, it continues to rotate in the direction of arrow E, and finally, the switch projection 44 formed on the outer periphery of the roller 34 comes into contact with the limit switch 46 as shown in FIG. Projection piece for switch
The contact between the limit switch 46 and the limit switch 46 is because the swing arm 4 is at the standby position, and the pressing piece 51 presses the swing piece 50 to the left. When the switch projection 44 and the limit switch 46 contact each other, the power supply to the motor 38 is stopped, and the rotation of the roller 34 is stopped.

If the foot switch 62 is turned on in this state, the above-described operation is repeated.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be variously modified.

For example, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the direction of launching the ball on the support 30 of the ball launching device may be changed periodically to the left and right, and the direction of launch of the ball 1 may be changed periodically. Good.

In this embodiment, the support 30 is composed of an upper support 74 and a lower support 76, these are swingably connected around a support shaft 78, and the transmission 80 is fixed to the lower support 76. The rotating disk 82 and the upper support 74 are connected by a link lever 84,
Move the upper support 74 to the lower support 76 around the support shaft by an arrow F.
It swings periodically in the direction.

If the ball launching device as described above is installed on the upper support 74 in such a support 30, it is possible to easily change the left and right launch direction of the ball.

Further, as schematically shown in FIG. 9, the ball launching device may be provided with an alarm plate 86 for notifying that the preparation for launching the ball is completed and that the ball is about to be launched. The alarm plate 86 is rotatably held around a rotation axis 87, and its rear end is connected to a display lever 88 that rotates in conjunction with the swing arm 4 via a wire 90, and When the arm 4 comes to the standby position, the alarm plate 86 is pulled up by the wire 90 and rises.
When the swing arm 4 rotates in the direction of the ball firing position, the wire 90 is loosened, and the alarm plate 86 falls down under its own weight. A person who hits or receives the shot ball can set a timing by using the alarm board 86. The alarm plate 86, the rotating shaft 87, the display lever 88, and the wire 90 are the ball firing warning means 85 of the present invention.
Is configured. However, the ball launch warning means 85 of the present invention
The batter is not limited to the warning plate 86 and the like, and the batter may be notified of the firing timing by a warning lamp using an electric signal or the like.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to a pitching machine that fires a ball for baseball has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and fires a ball for another ball game. It goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to a ball launching device.

A relatively soft ball other than a baseball ball, for example,
In order to fire a ball such as a volleyball or tennis hard ball at a high speed, a ball firing device 10 as shown in FIG.
It is preferable to use

In the ball shooting device 10, a ball hitting portion 92 is formed without forming a ball holding portion on the tip side of the swing arm 4. Although the specific configuration of the hitting portion of the ball is not particularly limited, in the present embodiment, the hitting portion 92 of the ball is a hitting plate rotatably mounted on the tip end side of the swing arm 4 via a turning shaft 94. Has 96. The striking plate 96 and the swing arm 4 are also connected via an angle adjusting link 98. A bolt 102 or the like is passed through a predetermined position of a long hole 100 formed in the link, and the link 98 is And the swing arm 4 can be fixed. Moreover, by tightening bolts at predetermined positions in the long holes 100 of the link 98, the inclination angle of the striking plate 96 with respect to the swing arm 4 can be changed.

The striking plate 96 strikes the ball 1 set on the ball setting unit 104 mounted on the frame 30a when the swing arm 4 rotates in the direction of arrow D and comes to the ball firing position. This is for firing the ball 1 at a high speed. The supply means for supplying the balls one by one onto the ball installation unit 104 is not particularly limited.
Means similar to the supply means as shown in the figure are conceivable. Since the inclination angle of the hitting plate 96 is possible, it is possible to change the vertical firing direction of the ball 1. It has been discovered for the first time by the present inventor that hitting a volleyball, a tennis ball, or the like makes it possible to fire these balls at high speed.

In the above-described embodiment, the swing arm 4 is arranged in the vertical direction. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the swing arm 4 may be arranged in the horizontal direction or in an intermediate state. Further, the swing arm 4 may be configured to be able to freely change its length. Furthermore, in order to make the compression elastic force of the spring 20 in the arm rotation power generating means 12 variable, the frame 30a
For example, means for changing the mounting position of the rotating shaft 24 with respect to, or changing the mounting position of the rod 14 with respect to the swing arm 4 may be employed.

In addition, since the swing arm 4 and the like rotate at a high speed, it is preferable that their outer circumferences be covered with a casing (not shown). The casing has an opening for the ball,
It is preferable to arrange the above-mentioned warning plate 86 and the like around the periphery.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, according to the present invention, the turning power generating means is an integral component having a function of rotating the swing arm and a function of absorbing the shock of the swing arm.
The ball launching device can be made compact, and parts can be easily replaced.

In addition, since the impact when the swing arm stops rotating is indirectly received via the piston, the impact when the swing arm stops rotating is compared to a configuration in which the impact is directly received by the swing arm. And the noise such as a collision sound generated at that time can be suppressed.

Furthermore, in the ball launching device of the present invention, the rotation is absorbed at the ball launching position and can be stopped immediately, regardless of whether the ball is set on the swinging arm. Even so, the ball launching device is not damaged.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 to 3 are schematic side views of a ball firing device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an arm turning power generating means shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, and FIG. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a main part of a ball supply means of the ball firing device according to the first embodiment, FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a main part showing a modification of the ball firing part, and FIGS. FIG. 9 is a schematic view showing an example of a ball firing warning means for notifying the ball firing timing, and FIG. 10 is a schematic side view of a ball firing device according to another embodiment of the present invention. is there. 10 Ball launching device 1 Ball 4 Swinging arm 2 Ball holding unit 92 Ball hitting unit 30 Support 30 a Frame 30 b Base 12 Arm power generation means 16 ... Cylinder 18 ... Piston 14 ... Rod 20 ... Spring (first spring) 22 ... Spring (second spring) 85 ... Ball launch warning means 86 ... Warning plate 87 ... Rotating shaft 88 …… Display lever 90 …… Wire

Claims (2)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] An oscillating arm having a ball holding portion or a ball hitting portion formed at the tip end side is rotatably mounted on a support table, and the oscillating arm is rotated by an arm rotating power generating means in a ball firing direction. A ball firing device, wherein the arm rotation power generating means comprises: a cylinder having one end rotatably attached to the support base; one end attached to the swing arm; A rod on which a piston movable in a cylinder is attached; and a rod provided on the rod side in the cylinder, and urges the piston to rotate the swing arm in a firing direction of the ball by a compressive elastic force. A first spring provided on a side of the cylinder opposite to the rod side, and indirectly receives, via the piston, an impact when the swing arm stops rotating by a compressive elastic force. That a ball launching device, characterized in that it comprises a second spring, the. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a ball firing warning unit for notifying a timing of firing the ball.
3. The ball launching device according to claim 1.