JP2888824B1 - Ball fryer in ball field - Google Patents

Abstract

[PROBLEMS] To easily install a ball on a floor formed by a standard inclined floor construction without requiring any special incidental work, and to stably lift and lower the ball to a higher position than a pitching machine. Send to ball distributor. SOLUTION: A ball lifting device in a ball field collects balls thrown from a pitching machine at a position higher than the floor at a ball collection location, and horizontally scoops a ball which rolls into a lower end portion of an open mouth from there. It is scooped by a machine and fed into an upward pocket at the lower end of a substantially vertical belt conveyor via a relay path. The conveyor has a plurality of pockets at substantially equal intervals on the outer peripheral surface thereof, and lifts the ball to a ball distribution section at a position higher than the pitching machine. The scooping machine
A plurality of feed rods protruding near the outer peripheral edge of the rotating disk are pushed up along the inner surface of the lower semi-cylindrical guide to supply the ball from the intermediate feed portion to the relay path.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a ball lifting device in a ballpark equipped with a pitching machine used for practicing baseball and softball hitting and practicing ball games such as tennis and soccer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional ball stadium such as a batting center, as shown in FIG. 2, a floor F is inclined toward a ball collecting point 105 in order to return a ball B after pitching to a pitching machine again. At the ball collecting point 105, the collected balls B are received by pockets P on the outer peripheral surface of the upright belt conveyor C and are raised to a position higher than the pitching machine. The ball B is received at a position where the pocket P faces upward.

[0003]

In the above-described conventional ball frying apparatus 100 in a ballpark, the conveyor C
In order to scoop up the ball B in the pocket P at the lowermost end of the ball, it is necessary to devise a special shape of the pocket other than the one shown in the drawing. Depending on how it fits, the ball must be interposed between the pocket and the guide to stop driving. Therefore, in the past, in order to transfer the ball B at the location F1 where the pocket P faces upward, it is necessary to provide a location higher than the level of the floor F0 through which the pocket P at the lower end of the conveyor C passes slightly. . In the ball field, the delivery point F1 of the ball B needs to be at the next lower level than the floor F0, so that almost the entire floor F2 is raised and inclined toward the delivery point F1. In addition to such general construction, there is also a construction method of digging a floor portion for accommodating a lower end portion of the conveyor C and providing a drainage system, but in any construction, there is a problem that ancillary work is required. .

The present invention has been devised in view of the above, and does not require any special floor-attaching work for installation of a ball fryer, and is formed by standard inclined floor work in a ballpark. It is an object of the present invention to provide a ball fryer in a ballpark where the ball is easily installed on a floor and can constantly send a ball to a ball distribution unit higher than a pitching machine by stable ball scooping.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a ball lifting apparatus in a ball game stadium according to claim 1 of the present invention provides a ball game utilizing a ball thrown from a pitching machine located above a floor. In the field, a conveyor with a pocket that receives balls gathered at a ball collecting point on the floor in a pocket moving upward near a lower end portion, and raises and sends the balls to a ball distribution section at a position higher than the pitching machine at an intermediate or upper end portion. And ball scooping means disposed at the lower end of the conveyor, receiving the ball at the lower end of the open mouth, and supplying the ball from the intermediate portion to the upwardly moving upward pocket of the conveyor via a relay path. It is characterized by having.

[0006] Therefore, a conveyor is installed on a ball collecting point on the floor formed by the standard inclined floor construction in the ball field, and the ball gathering at the ball collecting point is scooped up by ball scooping means, and the relay path is provided. The ball can be fed to an upward pocket near the lower end of the conveyor via the conveyor, and the conveyor can successively carry the ball to the ball distribution unit at a higher position than the pitching machine. In addition, the floor of the ballpark can be completed at low cost without any additional work for raising the ball, and the ball lifting device can be easily installed at the ball collection point.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the ball frying apparatus at the ball stadium, the conveyor means is a peripheral belt conveyor provided substantially vertically, and a plurality of the belt means are provided on the outer peripheral surface of the conveyor belt at substantially equal intervals. Since the pockets are arranged, stable operation is ensured, and ball transfer is also performed stably.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the ball scooping device has a substantially lower half cylindrical shape having a ball feeding portion at an intermediate portion so as to be connected to the relay path. A horizontal guide, a rotating disk provided upright so as to form the bottom of the horizontal guide, and a ball that receives the ball and pushes the ball up to the ball feeder with the rotation of the rotary disk. Since it is composed of a plurality of feed rods provided at substantially equal intervals near the outer peripheral edge of the rotating disk, the ball rolling into the guide body can be rotated one after another while having a simple structure. Accordingly, the ball can be stably pushed up along the inner surface of the guide cylinder by the feed rod near the outer peripheral edge of the disk, and can be sent out to the relay path via the ball feeder at the intermediate portion of the guide cylinder.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the ball scooping device is driven by a driving portion or a driven portion of the conveyor means.
There is no need to separately provide a driving means, and interlocking can be ensured.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, an embodiment of a ball fryer in a ball field according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, applying to a baseball batting center.
FIG. 1 is an elevational view schematically showing a configuration of a ball fryer for a baseball batting center according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, a ball fryer 1 of a baseball batting center is
The balls B thrown from a pitching machine higher than the center floor F are collected at the ball collecting point F1 by the inclination of the floor F, and the balls B rolling from the lower part of the opening 11 to the horizontal ball scooping. With relay machine 1
9 through an upwardly facing pocket P at the lower end of a substantially vertical belt conveyor C. The conveyor C lifts the ball B to the ball distribution unit 110 at a position higher than the pitching machine by the plurality of pockets P on the outer peripheral surface.

The belt conveyor C includes an endless belt 7 which is wound around a pair of upper and lower rolls 5 and 6 and is stretched by tension rolls (not shown), and a plurality of belts provided at substantially equal intervals on the outer peripheral surface thereof. Pocket P and upper roll 5
And a rotary drive device (not shown) connected to the rotary drive device, and is rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow by the rotary drive device. The driven lower roll 6 is horizontally supported at a position where the tip of the pocket P moving around the lower roll 6 grabs the ball collection point F1 on the floor F.

A large-diameter sprocket wheel 18A for rotating and driving the rotary disk 12 of the scooping machine 10 is mounted on the rotary shaft 6A of the driven lower roll 6, and a small-diameter sprocket wheel 18A is mounted on the rotary shaft 12A of the rotary disk 12. A sprocket wheel 18B is mounted, and a chain 18C is wrapped around the sprocket wheels 18A and 18B. The rotating speed of the rotating disk 12 is increased to rotate in the direction of the arrow, and the ball B is constantly placed in the pocket P. We can supply them. The pocket P is formed from a Y-shaped hook or the like whose tip is curved in the circumferential direction.

The scooping machine 10 has a rotating shaft 12A as described above.
A rotating disk 12 horizontally supported above the rotating shaft 6A of the driven lower roll 6 of the conveyor C, a plurality of feed rods 13 protruding at equal intervals near the outer peripheral edge thereof, and a lower end of the opening 11 And a lower semi-cylindrical guide body 15 for receiving the ball B from the ball collection point F1.
And the ball B is supplied to the relay path 29 from the delivery portion 17 in the intermediate portion. The feed rod 13 can be configured to be covered with a freely rotatable color tube.

The inner surface of the guide 15 gradually separates slightly outward at a portion close to the feed-out portion 17 so that the feed rod 13
Out to the relay path 19. Relay 19
Is located at the level of the ball collecting point 105 of the prior art, and the ball B can be rolled and supplied to the upwardly facing conveyor pocket P by its inclination. Guide 15
May be constituted by a cylinder having an opening at the delivery portion 17.

Therefore, the present ball fryer 1 is easily installed on the ball collecting point F1 of the floor F formed by the standard inclined floor construction in the batting center. Further, the floor F can be completed at low cost without any additional work for raising the floor. The installation angle of the conveyor C can be variously selected from a vertical 90 degrees to a small angle. Conveyor C
Unlike the conventional ball frying apparatus 100, the rotary driving apparatus is installed on the floor F to greatly reduce the risk of flooding, and the lower roll 6 can be used as a driving roll. Furthermore, the drive of the scooping machine 10 can be provided separately from the rotary drive of the conveyor C.

[0016]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the ball lifting device in the ball stadium according to the first aspect of the present invention, in a ball stadium using a ball thrown from a pitching machine at a position higher than the floor. Conveyor means with pockets for receiving the balls gathering at the ball collecting point on the floor in a pocket moving up near the lower end, and lifting and sending the balls to a ball distribution unit at a higher position than the pitching machine at the middle or upper end. Ball scooping means disposed at the lower end of the conveyor, receiving the ball at the lower end of the open mouth, and supplying the ball from the intermediate portion to the upwardly moving upward pocket of the conveyor via a relay path. For this reason, a conveyor is installed on the ball collection point on the floor formed by the standard inclined floor construction at the ballpark, and the ball is scooped by ball scooping means. It can scoop up the balls gathered at the gathering point and supply them to the upward pocket that moves upward near the lower end of the conveyor via the relay path, and the ball distribution unit at a position higher than the pitching machine by the conveyor stably from one ball to the next Can be carried up to. In addition, the floor of the ballpark can be completed at low cost without any additional work for raising the ball, and the ball lifting device can be easily installed at the ball collection point.

According to the ball lifting device of the present invention, the conveyor means is a peripheral belt conveyor which is provided substantially vertically, and is arranged at substantially equal intervals on the outer peripheral surface of the conveyor belt. Since a plurality of pockets are arranged, stable operation is ensured, and ball transfer is also performed stably.

According to the ball frying device in the ball arena of the third aspect of the present invention, the ball scooping means has a substantially lower half cylindrical shape having a ball feeding portion at an intermediate portion so as to be connected to the relay path. The horizontal guide body thus formed, a rotating disk provided upright so as to form the bottom of the horizontal guide body, and the ball is received, and the ball is pushed up to the above-mentioned ball delivery portion with the rotation of the rotary disk. Since it is composed of a plurality of feed rods provided at substantially equal intervals near the outer peripheral edge of the rotating disk as described above, the ball rolling into the guide body is successively formed from the next rotating disk while having a simple structure. With the rotation, the ball can be stably pushed up along the inner surface of the guide cylinder by the feed rod near the outer peripheral edge of the disk, and can be sent out to the relay path via the ball feeder at the intermediate portion of the guide cylinder.

According to the ball fryer in the ball arena of the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the ball scooping means is driven by the driving section or the driven section of the conveyor means, it is necessary to provide a separate driving means. No, and the interlocking can be ensured.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an elevational view schematically showing a configuration of a ball fryer of a baseball batting center according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an elevational view schematically showing a configuration of a conventional ball fryer of a baseball batting center.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF REFERENCE NUMERALS 1 Ball lifting device in a ballpark 5 Conveyor drive unit (upper roll) 6 Conveyor follower unit (lower roll) 10 Scooping machine 11 Opening opening 12 Rotating disk 13 Feed rod 16 Guide 17 Intermediate part (delivery part) 19 Relay path B Ball C Conveyor F Floor F1 Ball collection point P Pocket

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A ball game field using a ball thrown from a pitching machine higher than a floor, wherein a ball gathering at a ball collection point on the floor is received by a pocket moving upward near a lower end and an intermediate portion or an upper end. A conveyor means with a pocket that lifts and sends the ball to a ball distribution section at a position higher than the pitching machine, and receives the ball at the lower end of the open mouth located at the lower end of the conveyor, and relays the ball from the intermediate section to the relay path. And a ball scooping means for supplying the ball to the upward pocket of the conveyor through the ball fryer. 2. The ball lifting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said conveyor means is a peripheral belt conveyor provided substantially vertically, and a plurality of pockets are arranged at substantially equal intervals on an outer peripheral surface of the conveyor belt. . 3. The ball scooping means comprises: a substantially lower semi-cylindrical horizontal guide having a ball feed-out portion at an intermediate portion so as to be connected to the relay path; and a bottom of the horizontal guide. A rotating disk provided in an upright shape so as to form, and a plurality of balls are provided at substantially equal intervals near the outer peripheral edge of the rotating disk so as to receive the ball and push up the ball to the ball sending-out portion with the rotation of the rotating disk. 2. The ball fryer according to claim 1, comprising a feed rod provided. 4. The ball fryer according to claim 1, wherein the ball scooping unit is driven by a driving unit or a driven unit of the conveyor unit.