US3428036A

US3428036A - Ball gripping and throwing apparatus

Info

Publication number: US3428036A
Application number: US484210A
Authority: US
Inventors: Robert J Parker
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1965-09-01
Filing date: 1965-09-01
Publication date: 1969-02-18
Anticipated expiration: 1986-02-18

Description

Feb. 18, 1969 BALL GRIPPING AND THROWING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 1, 1965 Sheet of 2 INVENTOR ROBERT J. PARKER 84 BY 61 (LC/M ATTORNEY R. J. PARKER 3,428,036

Feb. 18, 1969 R. J. PARKER BALL GRIPPING AND THROWING ARPARATUS Sheet Filed Sept. 1. 1965 INVENTOR United States Patent 3,428,036 BALL GRIPPING AND THROWING APPARATUS Robert J. Parker, 58 Mosher Ave., Battle Creek, Mich. 49017 Filed Sept. 1, 1965, Ser. No. 484,210 US. Cl. 124-5 Int. Cl. F41b 3/04; F41f 7/00; G01n 3/08 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates broadly to athletic equipment, and more specifically to a piece of athletic equipment to be used in assisting an individual in throwing a ball.

There is more baseball, soft ball, slow pitch ball, and other types of ball throwing actively being conducted at the present time and at all age levels. This increase of participation is on the increase for many basic reasons. One basic reason for the increase is that we have a continual growth of population. Another reason is that we have a continual expansion in the recreational time available by individuals as a whole. Still another reason is that more of our citizens are living in urban or suburban areas and this type of activity permits a pleasurable means of meeting various exercising desires by the participants.

Because of this increase in ball throwing type activities, there is also a greater opportunity that many more individuals will be participating in this activity on a very limited or sporadic basis. These individuals after being dormant in the field of vigorous physical activities for considerable and varied lengths of time can cause permanent or temporary injuries or inconvenience to develop in their arms and back upon hard throwing of balls, swinging of bats, et cetera. Many times ball throwing activities are conducted when a limited amount of time is available both for practice and participation. This is true both for persons holding down a full-time job and participating, and for individuals attending school full-time and participating. It is difiicult even for some good athletes to hit various types of balls such as pop-ups, grounders, fly balls, et cetera, a consistent or controlled distance, speed, direction, et cetera. Professional athletes have been able to acquire fairly expensive equipment which can simulate consistently and under controlled conditions line drives, fly balls, bouncers, et cetera, This equipment is not available to the vast majority of ball playing participants even in organized activities such as high school, college and community recreational programs. It is in recognition of these and other problems and the fact that no wholly satisfactory system has been commercially available that the present invention was conceived.

Accordingly, among the objects of the present invention is to provide a ball throwing assisting device which will permit even unskilled ball players to throw a ball in a controlled manner.

Another object is to provide a ball throwing assisting apparatus having the ability to permit the user to be very consistent in the distance he throws the ball.

A further object is to provide a ball throwing assisting apparatus which can accurately control the direction in which the ball will be thrown.

A still further object is to provide a ball throwing assisting apparatus permitting the user to throw various styles of balls and have a controlled direction of curve.

A still further object is to provide a ball throwing assisting apparatus permitting the user to throw various types of balls as he may desire, such as flies, line drives, grounders, or infield pop-ups.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a ball throwing assisting apparatus for use in throwing pop-ups which a catcher may be faced with in a riotmal ball game situation.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a ball throwing assisting apparatus which permits the user to throw a ball continually without having an adverse effect on his arm or back.

Still another object is to provide a ball throwing assisting apparatus which has adjusting means to help accomplish the direction and type of throwing being made and the pressure of grip the apparatus applies to the ball.

Also, an object of the present invention includes the provision of a ball throwing assisting apparatus capable of accomplishing the above objectives with a minimum of material cost and fabricating expense and at the same time being composed of a simple and ruggeclly formed structure which is very reliable in application.

Still further objects and advantages of the invention will appear as the description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the invention, then, consists of a ball throwing assisting apparatus as hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claim, the annexed drawings, and the following description setting forth in detail certain means for carrying out the invention, such disclosed means illustrating, however, but one of various ways in which the principles of the invention may be used.

In the annexed drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of a ball throwing assisting apparatus embodying the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is a partial front view of the present invention as disclosed in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a partial side elevational view of the present invention illustrating the ball throwing assisting apparatus showing the opposite side of the apparatus as shown in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 4 is a partial sectional view showing the ball control assembly taken along line IVIV of FIGURE 3 looking in the direction of arrows IV.

FIGURE 5 is a partial sectional side elevational view of the ball throwing assisting apparatus taken along line V-V of FIGURE 2 viewed in the direction of the arrows V.

FIGURE 6 is an elevational back view of an alternate embodiment of a ball throwing assisting apparatus illustrating the present invention.

FIGURE 7 is a side elevational view of the ball throwing assisting apparatus disclosed in FIGURE 6.

Referring to FIGURE 1 there is disclosed a ball gripping and throwing apparatus generally referred to as 10 which has benefit as a ball throwing assisting device. The ball gripping and throwing apparatus 10 has a shaft assembly 11 which is made up generally of a handle member 12 and a shaft member 14. The handle member 12 has two general portions. The lower portion is a hand grip 15 and the upper :portion is a rigid shaft member 16. The hand 15 can be made of various materials such as metal, wood, et cetera, or some type of material such as rubber or leather which would give the user a firm gripping surface in a preferred embodiment. The rigid shaft member 16 has a support ring 17 positioned near its upper end. The support ring 17 could be a separate piece or part of rigid shaft member 16; in the present illustration it is shown as a separate piece and brazed to the rigid shaft member 16. The support ring 17 supports a locking member 18. The

locking member 18 has a locking arm 19 which includes a securing finger 21 and an actuating member 22. The locking arm 19 is pivotally supported by flange members 24 or support ring 17. A pivot pin 25 passes through and supports locking arm 19 to flange members 24. A spring member 26 acts on locking arm 19, as viewed in FIGURE 5, holding the securing finger 21 in contact with rigid shaft member 16 in its free condition, the purpose of which will be explained below in detail.

A clamping member 27 connects flange members 24, holding them in a proper spaced position so that locking arm 19 is free to move about pivot pin 25 when actuating member 22 is depressed and released. Rigid shaft member 16 has a receiving hole 28 which receives securing finger 21 of locking arm 19. Shaft member 14 can slide up and down along an inside surface 29 of rigid shaft member 16. Adjusting holes 31 are provided on shaft member 14 to receive securing finger 21. When the securing finger 21 is in position, as illustrated in FIGURE 5, the shaft member 14 is locked in its adjusted position with respect to rigid shaft member 16. The shaft member 14 depending upon its length, the intended use of the equipment, et cetera, may have as many adjusting holes 31 as may be needed to give the necessary length adjustment. A positioning slot 32 runs the length of shaft member 14 and acts with a positioning pin 33 which is embedded in rigid shaft member 16, as viewed in FIGURES 2 and 5, to hold the proper alignment of adjusting holes 31 with the securing finger 21. At the upper end of shaft member 14 is secured a cylindrical helical spring 37. The cylindrical helical spring 37 can be secured to the shaft member 14 in various manners. For the present illustration, a securing wire 38 is provided which extends across the shaft member 14, gripping a turn of the cylindrical helical spring 37. A ball control assembly 40 is mounted to the upper end of cylindrical helical spring 37. The ball control assembly 40 has a head support member 41 which is mounted to the cylindrical helical spring 37 by a securing wire 42 in a similar manner as the securing wire 38 mounts the shaft assembly 11 to the cylindrical helical spring 37. The ball control assembly 40 has a flange assembly 44 which can be mounted to the head support member 41 in various manners well known in the art. For the present illustration, rivet members 43 are shown. Flange assembly 44 has a flange hinge 45 at its upper end which connects flange assembly 44 to flange member 46. Flange member 46 is made up of rib member 47, guide arm 48, and gripping arm 49. A holding member 51 is connected to flange member 46. This can be accomplished in various ways. However, for the present illustration, rivet members 50 are used. Holding member 51 has gripping

leaves

52 and 53. The gripping leaves 52 and 53 have back-up support means in the form of

pressure arms

54 and 55, respectively. Pressure

arms

54 and 55 are secured to rib member 47 by

hinge members

56 and 57, respectively. The

pressure arms

54 and 55 have

end assemblies

58 and 59, respectively.

End assemblies

58 and 59 are connected together 'by an adjusting bolt 61. The adjusting bolt 61 is freely connected to end assembly 58 and threadably connected to end assembly 59. The adjusting bolt 61 is provided with a turning tip 62. When turning tip 62 is turned in one direction it will move

end assemblies

58 and 59 towards each other which causes

pressure arms

54 and 55 to move away from each other. When turning tip 62 is turned in the opposite

direction end assemblies

58 and 59 Will move away from each other which causes

pressure arms

54 and 55 to move towards each other. When the

pressure arms

54 and 55 move towards each other, they apply pressure on the gripping leaves 52 and 53 and as they move away from each other they reduce the pressure which they apply on the gripping leaves 52 and 53, the purpose of which will be explained below.

Gripping leaf 53 is provided with a pressure gauge assembly 65. Pressure arm 55 acts on the gripping leaf 53 through pressure gauge assembly 65. The pressure gauge assembly 65 has a gauge fluid housing 66 which is acted upon and is in actual physical contact with pressure arm 55. The gauge fluid housing 66 holds the main portion of the gauge fluid used in the pressure gauge assembly 65. A gauge tube 67 is provided below the gauge fluid housing 66 and is marked off with graduation marks. The gauge tube 67 is provided with a confined gas at its lower tip. As the pressure arm 55 is moved towards gripping leaf 53 it will apply additional pressure on the gauge fluid housing 66 forcing more fluid into the gauge tube 67 compressing the confined gas at the tip of gauge tube 67 and giving a relative reading along its graduated side. This will provide a reading which will be beneficial to the user as will be explained below in more detail.

Rib member 47 is provided with a contacting means 71. Contacting means 71 receives an adjusting bolt 72. The adjusting bolt 72 is pivotally connected to flange assembly 44 by pivot nut assembly 73. The adjusting bolt 72 is in threaded contact with pivot nut assembly 73 and has turning knob 74 connected at its opposite end from contacting means 71. When the turning knob 74 is turned in one direction, it will move flange member 46 in a counterclockwise direction about flange hinge 45 as viewed in FIGURE 1. When the turning knob 74 is turned in the opposite direction it will move flange member 46 in a clockwise direction about flange hinge 45 as viewed in FIGURE 1. A gauge flange 77 is mounted to flange assembly 44 and has a graduated scale 78 secured to it toward gripping arm 49. Gripping arm 49 has an indicator member 79 secured to its bottom side which extends adjacent to graduated scale 78 giving an indicated relative reading when turning knob 74 is turned, moving flange member 46 about flange hinge 45. The purpose of this adjustment will be explained below in more detail.

Gripping leaves 52 and 53 are used to grip a projectile, in the present illustration a ball is shown in phantom and indicated as 80. The gripping arm 49 also acts on the ball 80 gripping it between itself and guide arm 48. To utilize the present invention, a ball 80 is positioned within gripping

leaves

52 and 53 and gripping arm 49 and guide arm 48 and the user will grasp the hand grip 15 and swing the ball gripping and throwing ap paratus 10 in a movement pattern similar in manner to that used in the normal throwing of a ball. Depending upon the user and the adjustments, the ball 80 will take various paths in its flight; examples would be fly balls, line drives, grounders, pop-ups, et cetera. Each user will have to accustom himself to the adjustments to get the results they may desire.

As the ball 80 is being released from the ball control assembly 40, it will get part of its direction of flight from the guide arm 48. The gripping arm 49 merely assists in holding the ball 80 in position Within the ball control assembly 40 before it is released. Depending upon the snap the user puts in the ball gripping and throwing apparatus 10, the guide arm 48 will control the type of projectory. As the turning knob 74 is turned to move the flange member 46 in more of a counterclockwise direction along flange hinge 45, the projectory of the ball will become higher because the guide arm 48 will be raised. If the turning tip 62 is turned in one direction adjusting bolt 61 will cause the

end assemblies

58 and 59 to move towards each other and increase the pressure to be applied against the ball 80 by the gripping leaves 52 and 53, thus requiring more force to be exerted to get the ball 80 out of holding member 51. If the turning tip 62 is turned in the opposite direction the pressure on ball 80 will be reduced allowing it to come out of the holding member 51 with less force.

To throw the ball in a straight direction, the followthrough of the user should be such that the arm will have the holding member 51 extending forward in a direction indicated by arrow 82 of FIGURE 4. The ball 80 will then be released with substantially no spinning motion about its up and down axis. If the thrower wishes to have the ball 80' curve to the right, the up direction as viewed in FIGURE 4, he should have holding member 51 cocked and the follow-through be in the direction of arrow 83, as shown in FIGURE 4. This will cause the ball 80 to be released by rolling off gripping leaf 53 giving the ball a clockwise spinning motion, as viewed in FIGURE 4. If he wishes the ball to curve to the left, the down direction as viewed in FIGURE 4, he should have holding member 51 cocked and the follow-through be in the direction of arrow 84, as shown in FIGURE 4. This will c ause the ball 80 to be released by rolling off gripping leaf 52 giving the ball a counterclockwise spinning motion, as viewed in FIGURE 4.

Users, because of their various heights and swinging motions, may want to change the length of the shaft assembly 11. This, of course, will be accomplished by pushing actuating member 22 toward rigid shaft member 16 which removes securing finger 21 from contact with adjusting holes 31. Then the shaft member 14 can be moved either in or out along inside surface 29 of the rigid shaft member 16 until the desired length is found. Then actuating member 22 can be released so that securing finger 21 may again contact adjusting holes 31, securing the ball gripping and throwing apparatus at this desired length. The cylindrical helical spring 37 permits the ball control assembly 40 to have a certain amount of resilient freedom in any direction. It also adds a good deal of the snap necessary to provide the type of throw a user may desire and permitting him to throw for considerable lengths of time without tiring or injuring his arm or back.

The shaft assembly 11 also provides for completely releasing the shaft member 14 from the rigid shaft member 16 so that an alternate shaft member could be placed in the rigid shaft member 16, giving great flexibility as to the size ball any one ball gripping and throwing apparatus 10 could be used to throw.

Referring generally to FIGURES 6 and 7, an alternate ball gripping and thowing apparatus 110 is illustrated. The ball gripping and throwing apparatus 110 has a unitary shaft assembly 111, at the upper end of which is secured a leaf spring 137. This can be done in various manners well known in the art. For the presenf illustration rivet members 138 are shown. A gripping portion 115 is provided at the bottom end of the shaft assembly 111. A ball control assembly 140 is secured to the upper end of leaf spring 137 This can be done in various manners well known in the art. For the present illustration rivet members 142 are shown. Ball control assembly 140 has a flange assembly 144 which is in actual secured contact with leaf spring 137. A holding member 151 with

gripping leaves

152 and 153 is secured to the flange assembly 144. This can be done in various manners well known in the art. For the present illustration rivet members 150 are used, only one is viewable in FIGURES 6 and 7. A pair of

pressure arms

154 and 155 are in contact with

gripping leaves

152 and 153, respectively. Hinge members 156 and 157

connect pressure arms

154 and 155, respectively, to flange assembly 144. Pressure

arms

154 and 155 are provided with

end assemblies

158 and 159, respectively.

End assemblies

158 and 159 are provided with

pressure control rods

161 and 162, respectively. The ends of

pressure control rods

161 and 162 extend away from their

end assemblies

158 and 159, respectively, and are connected together by tension spring 163. Tension spring 163 tends to move the ends of

pressure control rods

161 and 162 towards each other which causes a predetermined pressure to be applied on the projectile held by the holding member 151. Thus,

pressure arms

154 and 155 are continually urged into contact with

gripping leaves

152 and 153, respectively. A flange member 146 is connected to flange assembly 144 by flange hinge 145. A contacting means 171 is mounted on flange assembly 144 and receives one end of an adjusting bolt 172 which has a turning knob 174. The adjusting bolt 172 passes through and is in threadable engagement with pivot nut assembly 173. The flange member 146 has a rib member 147 and a guide arm 148. If the turning knob 174 is turned in one direction, it will move flange member 146 in a clockwise direction about flange hinge 145; and if it is turned in the opposite direction, it will move flange member 146 in a counterclockwise direction about flange hinge 145. This adjustment by positioning guide arm 148 helps control the course a ball or projectile will take as it leaves holding member 151 in the same manner that guide arm 48 helps to determine the path that ball will take as it leaves holding member 51.

While but two forms of the invention have been shown and described, other forms within the spirit and scope of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the embodiments shown in the drawings are to be considered as merely being set forth for illustrative purposes and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention described and shown.

Other modes of applying the principle of my invention may be employed, instead of those explained, change being made as regards the apparatuses herein disclosed, provided the means stated by the following claim or the equivalents of such stated means be employed.

I therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as my invention:

1. A ball gripping and throwing apparatus comprising, in combination:

(a) a unitary shaft assembly having a gripping handle at its lower end,

(b) a leaf spring secured to said unitary shaft assemblys upper end,

(c) a flange assembly secured to one end of said leaf spring, 1

(d) a flange hinge connecting a flange member to said flange assembly,

(e) a connecting means secured on said flange assembly above said flange hinge,

(if) said flange member having a rib member connected to said flange hinge at one end,

(g) said flange member having a guide arm connected to the end of said rib member away from said flange hinge,

(h) a pivot nut assembly connected to said flange member between its ends,

(i) an adjusting bolt threadably connected with said pivot nut assembly and rotatably connected with said contacting means,

(j) a ball holding member secured to said flange assem- (k) said ball holding member having ball gripping leaves, and

(1) pressure arm connected to said flange assembly applying pressure on said gripping leaves.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 663,090 12/ 1900 Pike et al. 124-5 1,253,700 1/1918 McLaughlin 273-812 1,535,029 4/1925 Murch 124*5 3,058,341 10/1962 Heintzmann 7314l FOREIGN PATENTS 307,797 2/ 1920 Germany.

RICHARD c. PINKHAM, Priniary Examiner.

W. R. BROWNE, Assistant Examiner.

U.S. Cl. X.R.