JPH09253263A - Pitching machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a ball in an instant with a spinning force toward an optional direction by providing the ball with a thrusting force by the rotation of rotors and delivering it with a spinning force generated by the peripheral velocity difference of the rotors. SOLUTION: A ball speed controller 121, a right-and-left spin amount controller 123 and an up-and-down spin amount controller 125 are set by a control device 120 so as to provide balls with a desired property through the rotation of a vertical rotor unit 50 and a horizontal rotor unit 80. Then a ball drops from a ball hopper 20 through a supply guiding tube 40 onto the vertical rotor unit 50 by releasing a shutter. There the vertical rotor unit 50 provides the ball with a thrusting force and a right-and-left spinning force, and further the horizontal rotor unit 80 with a thrusting force and an up-and-down spinning force at a location 1e. Then the ball is delivered from a delivery guiding tube 110 toward a desired direction. Balls with variety of speeds and properties can be thus delivered by providing a greater peripheral velocity difference.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pitching device mainly used for practicing ball games such as soccer and volleyball.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For the practice of ball sports, it is an effective practice method to receive the same ball speed and ball of the ball muscle for repetitive practice, or to perform repetitive practice of agile motion corresponding to various changing balls. In order for a person such as a coach to throw a ball, there is a limit to various ball speeds, qualities, and continuous repeated pitches of the same quality, so a practice pitcher using a mechanical device is desired, such as a pitching machine for baseball. Although it is widely used in the field of spheres, for example, soccer, volleyball, rugby, etc., which have a large diameter and are spherical due to the internal air pressure, have sufficient ball speed and changeable spheres for practical practice. Was difficult to launch. That is, (1) it is difficult to rapidly rotate the ball so as to give a sufficient spin force to the ball when the variable ball is hit, because of the large ball diameter, (2) left-right curve, up-down curve,
There was a problem that it was difficult to control instantaneously in order to launch various spheres of varying sphere quality, such as a combination of diagonal curves.

[0003]

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED BY THE INVENTION There is provided a pitching device capable of instantly applying a spin force in an arbitrary direction to a ball in order to hit a ball having various ball speeds changing in an arbitrary direction.

[0004]

As a means for imparting spin to a ball, a pair of two rotors rotating in reverse at a constant speed through a differential gear device by a rotational driving force from a power source is used. By braking the rotation of either one of the rotors, a large peripheral speed difference is instantaneously generated between the rotors, and a unit unit configured to give a spin force to the balls when the balls pass under pressure between the rotors. By arranging two sets in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction, one ball is given a left-right spin when passing through the vertical unit and a vertical spin when passing through the horizontal unit. Ball hopper, ball supply guide tube The device main body, consisting of the ball launch guide tube and the control device that controls these, is mounted on a portable cart so that it can be horizontally swung.

[0005]

With the above structure, it is possible to move to a desired practice field, and to give a starting force to the ball by the rotating force of the rotor and to give a spin force by the difference in the peripheral speed of the rotor to launch it. The ball speed and the quality of the ball can be continuously shot, and effective practice of ball game becomes possible.

[0006]

The present invention will be described in detail with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 is a side view of the entire appearance of the device of the present invention, which is a trolley 10, a ball hopper 20, a supply device 30, a supply guide cylinder 40, a vertical rotor unit 50, a horizontal rotor unit 80, a braking device 90, a launch guide cylinder 110, and control. The ball 1 stored in the ball hopper 20 is constituted by a device 120 and a device main body 140 including these devices.
As shown in b and 1c, it falls and rolls in the supply guide tube 40, and the starting force and the left and right spin force are given when the vertical rotor unit 50 passes at the position 1d, and the horizontal rotor unit 80 passes when the position 1e passes. Further, given a starting force and a vertical spin force, arrows a, b, c, d, e from the launch guide cylinder 110 are given.
It is a configuration in which the ball is thrown in a preset direction shown in.

FIG. 2 is a front view taken along the line AA of FIG. 1, and FIG.
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB of FIG. 1, an explanatory view of a rotor drive mechanism, and FIG. 4 is a view showing a state where balls pass between the rotors. First, a rotary drive mechanism of a rotor by a differential gear device, which is a main part of the present invention and is most characterized, will be described with reference to FIG. The drive gear 52 attached to the shaft of the motor 51 is a pinion 55, 56 axially supported by a case 54 fixed to a drive gear 53 meshing with the drive gear 52.
Side gears 57 and 58 meshing with these bearings 67a and 67 via bevel gears 59 and 60 attached to their respective shafts and bevel gears 61 and 62 meshing with them.
b, 68a, 68b respectively supporting the respective shafts 63,
64 and the rotors 65 and 66 are rotated, and the shaft 6
Braking wheels 91, 92 are attached to the lower ends of 3, 64. Between the side gears 57, 58 which form the differential gear device and the case 54, friction plate type clutches 70 composed of friction plates 71, 72 and springs 73 are built in the side gears on both sides.

FIG. 5 is a view showing the braking device viewed from the line D-D in FIG. In FIG. 5, the stepping motor 10
The arm 103 attached to the shaft 102 of 1 is in contact with the braking levers 95 and 96 by springs 99 and 100, respectively,
When the shaft 102 of the stepping motor is rotated clockwise, the braking lever 96 rotates about the fulcrum pin 94 as a fulcrum,
The brake shoe 98 is pressed against the braking wheel 92 to apply a brake. When the stepping motor shaft 102 is rotated counterclockwise, the braking wheel 91 is braked in the same manner as above.

In FIG. 3, the purpose of the two sets of friction plate type clutches 70 incorporated in the differential gear device is to provide, for example, a component manufacturing error, a drive system between the left and right drive systems of a pair of rotors 65 and 66. When there is a slight difference in inertial force due to friction, foreign matter adhesion, etc., only the one with smaller inertial force is rotated by the differential function of the differential gear unit, and the left and right shafts rotate at a constant speed. This is for avoiding that the friction plate 71,
The side gears 55, 56 and the case 54 are integrated through 72 to absorb a slight difference in inertial force and rotate the left and right side gears 55, 56 at a constant speed, thereby artificially rotating the gears. This is a limited slip differential clutch for causing the clutch on the braked side to slip and to cause a difference in the number of revolutions only when the brake is applied to provide. The vertical rotor unit 50 and the horizontal rotor unit 80 have the same structural function, and are different only in that they are vertically and horizontally arranged at appropriate intervals on the pitch line.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line EE of FIG. 1, and FIG. 7 is a side view taken along the line FF of FIG. 1, showing the relationship between the ball hopper 20 and the feeding device 30. Is. 6 and 7, the shutter 3 inserted in the guide groove 32 of the guide frame plate 31 attached to the ball hopper 20.
A semi-circular cut 35 is provided in the right half of 4, and the upper and lower sides of the cut 35 are pulled to the right by tension springs 36a and 36b to close a ball passage hole 33 provided in the central portion of the guide frame plate 31. When 34 is pulled out to the position 34 'to the left, the ball passing hole 33 and the arc 35 are overlapped with each other to open the passing hole 33, and the ball 1 falls from the ball hopper 20 to the supply guide tube 40, so that the shutter 34 is released. When released, the shutter 34 is returned to the right by the tension springs 36a and 36b, and the ball passage hole is closed.

In FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the firing guide tube 110 is supported by the apparatus main body 110 by the shafts 111 on both sides and is rotatable up and down. Base plate 11 of trolley 10 and device body 1
The ball bearer 12 is arranged between the bottom plate 141 of the 40 and the device main body 140 as a whole so as to be horizontally turnable like a turntable. The base plate 11 is provided with the wheels 13 and the grips 14. It is portable.

FIG. 8 shows an operation panel of the control device. The control device 120 includes a ball speed adjuster 121, a ball speed indicator 122, a left / right spin amount adjuster 123, a left / right spin amount indicator 124, an up / down spin amount adjuster 125, and up / down spin amount indicators 126, 4
Rotor tachometers 127L, 127R, 127U, 12
7B, pitch counter 128, multiple rotation speed detector 1
29 (FIG. 3), the pitch number detector 130 (FIG. 4), and an arithmetic processing unit (not shown) for these, the ball speed is calculated from the rotational speed of each rotor obtained by the rotational speed detector 129. Is displayed, the spin amount in each of the up, down, left, and right directions is displayed by calculating the rotational speed difference of each rotor, and the number of pitches is displayed by the signal from the pitch number detector.

Next, the operation of the rotor rotation drive system will be described. In the differential gear device shown in FIG. 3, when the load torques applied to the bevel gears 59 and 60 are the same, the rotational force of the drive gear 52 passes through the drive gear 53, the case 54, the pinions 55, 56, and the side gears. 5
7 and 58, the bevel gears 59 and 60 are rotated in the same direction at the same number of revolutions, and the pinions 55 and 56 do not rotate while being supported by the case 54, and revolve integrally with the case 54, The left and right bevel gears 59 and 60 are driven at the same speed while meshing with the gears 57 and 58. In this case, the case 54 and the bevel gears 55, 56, 57, 58 inside the case 54 rotate integrally in the same direction at the same speed, so that the friction plate clutch does not slip and the clutch also rotates integrally. To do.

When the bevel gear 59 is decelerated by applying a brake to the left drive system while rotating in this state, the pinions 55 and 56 revolve with the case 54 while the decelerated left side is rotated. It rolls on the side gear 57 and rotates in opposite directions at a speed proportional to the difference between the left and right rotational speeds, and drives the right side gear 58 faster. As an extreme case, when the rotation of the left bevel gear 59 is stopped by the brake, the right side gear 58 is rotated by the case 54 and the pinion 55,
It becomes the sum of the number of rotations driven by 56, for example,
If the four bevel gears 55, 56, 57 and 58 have the same size, the right side gear 58 has twice the rotational speed of the case 54, and a large rotational speed difference is instantaneously generated.

Next, the ball throwing operation will be described. In FIG. 1, the firing guide tube 110 is adjusted to a desired elevation angle or depression angle, and the device body 140 is swung in a desired direction with respect to the trolley 10 to adjust the vertical rotor unit 5
After rotating both 0 and the horizontal rotor unit 80 and setting the ball speed adjuster 121, the left and right spin amount adjusters 123, and the up and down spin amount adjusters 125 by the control device 120 shown in FIG. When the shutter 34 shown in FIGS. 1, 6 and 7 is pulled, the ball 1 in the ball hopper 20 passes through the ball passage hole 33 and falls into the supply guide tube 40, and 1a, 1b, 1c shown in FIG. 1d via the route
The vertical rotor unit 50 gives the starting force and the left-right spin force at the position 1 and the horizontal rotor unit 80 further gives the starting force and the vertical spin amount at the position 1e to hit the ball from the launch guide cylinder 110 in a desired direction. You can When continuously hitting the balls, the shutter 34 is opened until the desired number of balls are supplied from the ball hopper 20 to the supply guide tube 40, and if it is desired to shoot the balls at intervals. Opens and closes the shutter 34 each time.

The operation of giving the spin amount to the ball is performed by adjusting the settings of the spin amount setting devices 123 and 125 shown in FIG. 8 so that one of the two rotors forming a pair and rotating at a constant speed. On the other hand, when the brake is applied by the braking device shown in FIG. 6 to decelerate, the other rotor is accelerated by that amount due to the function of the differential gear device, and a large difference in rotation speed is instantaneously generated between the pair of rotors. Yes, there is no need to control the rotation speed by the motor to give the ball spin. This is because it is difficult to instantly generate a large rotational speed difference in the method of individually accelerating and decelerating one rotor to two rotors by using two motors as in the conventional device. Compared to those that could not give force, it exerts a remarkable effect, and the spin force can be adjusted extremely easily and continuously.

In the above description, for simplification of the description, the rotor unit drive power source and the brake operation power source are electric motors, and the control of the ball speed and the ball quality is electric control. When used in an outdoor playground where power cannot be supplied, such as in soccer or volleyball, the engine is used as the drive power source, a manual method such as a hand-operated type or a foot-operated type is used, and the brake operation is applied to the brake lever of the bicycle. It can also be a manual type. In addition, it was explained that the swing adjustment of the firing guide tube and the device main body for deciding the opening / closing method of the shutter and the ball firing direction was a manual type and the trolley was a push type, but it can also be powered and automated by an appropriate method. And the point is,
By driving a pair of two rotors that rotate at a constant speed through a differential gear unit and applying a brake to one rotor side, a large peripheral speed difference is instantaneously generated, and a sufficient spin is generated for a ball passing between them. Based on the basic principle of the present invention that a force is applied and fired, various modifications and application means such as automation and manualization may be adopted as needed.

[0018]

As described above, according to the present invention, a pair of two rotors for giving a starting force and a spin force to the ball when hitting the ball are driven one by one through the differential gear device. It can be rotated by a power source and a large peripheral speed difference can be instantly generated by a brake operation, so that balls of various ball speeds and qualities can be continuously shot, and effective ball game practice can be performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external side view showing an embodiment of a pitching device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view taken along the line AA of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line BB in FIG. 1 (7).

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line CC of FIG. 3;

5 is a side view taken along the line D-D in FIG.

6 is a sectional view taken along line EE of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a side view taken along the line FF of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a partially enlarged view of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Ball, 10 ... Bogie, 11 ... Base plate, 12 ... Ball bay, 13 ... Wheels, 14 ... Handle, 20 ... Ball hopper, 30 ... Supply device, 31 ... Guide frame plate, 32 ... Guide groove,
33 ... Ball passage hole, 34 ... Shutter, 35 ... Semicircular notch, 36a, 36b ... Extension spring, 40 ... Supply guide tube, 50 ... Vertical rotor unit, 51 ... Motor, 52,
53 ... Drive gear, 54 ... Case, 55, 56 ... Pinion, 57, 58 ... Side gear, 59, 60, 6
1, 62 ... Bevel gears, 63, 64 ... Shafts, 65, 66 ... Rotors, 67a, 67b, 68a, 68b ... Bearings, 70 ... Differential limiting clutches, 71, 72 ... Friction plates, 73 ... Spring, 8
0 ... Horizontal rotor unit, 81 ... Motor, 82, 83,
84, 85 ... Bevel gear, 86, 87 ... Shaft, 88, 89 ... Rotor, 90 ... Braking device, 91, 92 ... Braking wheel, 93, 9
4 ... Support pin, 95, 96 ... Braking lever, 97, 98 ...
Brake shoes, 99, 100 ... Spring, 101 ... Stepping motor, 102 ... Motor shaft, 103 ... Arm, 1
10 ... Launch guide cylinder 111 ... Shaft, 120 ... Control device, 1
21 ... Ball speed adjuster, 122 ... Ball speed indicator, 123 ... Left and right spin amount adjuster, 124 ... Left and right spin amount indicator, 125
... Vertical spin amount controller, 126 ... Vertical spin amount indicator,
127L, 127R, 127U, 127B ... Rotor tachometer, 128 ... Pitch counter, 129 ... RPM detector, 130 ... Pitch detector, 140 ... Device body, 141
... Main body bottom plate

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Matsuhito Kikuchi 2 1539, Narisawa-cho, Mito-shi, Ibaraki 2 Kikuchi engineer office

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A pair of two rotating shafts supported in parallel are provided with rotors each having an elastic surface whose outer peripheral surface in the rotating shaft direction is formed by a straight line or a concave arc, and one power source. The parallel shaft comprises a rotation transmission mechanism in which the parallel shafts are rotated in opposite directions through a differential gear device having a differential limiting clutch, and a braking device for individually braking the rotation of the two parallel shafts. Two sets of rotor rotating devices each having one rotating mechanism are arranged in a vertical direction and a horizontal direction, and a feed guide tube for supplying a ball between the rotors, a ball hobber, and a ball hobber are provided. A supply device for supplying a ball to a supply guide cylinder, a launch guide cylinder for regulating the ball firing direction, a device for controlling the direction of the guide cylinder, a rotor rotation number detector, and a pitching number detection And for controlling ball speed and ball muscle A pitching device comprising a control device.