1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to instructional devices for improving an individual's bat swing and more particularly to an instructional device that enables an individual to achieve a proper bat swing for improved hitting.
2. Description of Related Art
The prior art is replete with diverse apparatus for improving the quality of an individual's bat swing. Examples are shown in the following United States Letters Patent:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,274,631 discloses a baseball practice bat that emits a hitting sound upon swinging. The practice bat includes a hollow interior or cavity. A pipe in the cavity extends for essentially the entire length of the bat. Guide slits, formed along the length of the pipe, receive a supporting pin attached to a weight that slides along the pipe. A spring extends inside the pipe from the supporting pin to the handle end of the bat. The handle end may attach to an adjustment mechanism for varying the spring's tension.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,050,908 and 6,949,036 and 7,147,580 and 7,297,077 disclose bat simulators used for training. In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 7,147,580 includes a sliding mass that apparently changes the dynamics of the bat but produces no audible sound. None of these references discloses a training aid that has the look and feel of a conventional baseball bat. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,050,908 and 6,565,462 require that a ball be thrown to the person using the training device. U.S. Pat. No. 6,569,042 provides speed information, but not all the information necessary to provide proper swing information.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,993,219 to Whitney et al. discloses a bat swing training device that enables the diagnosis and correction of an individual batter's swing. The training device includes a conventional bat modified to receive a training aid at its distal end with either an exposed extended assembly or an embedded assembly. The training aid provides a snapping sound as an individual swings a bat at greater than a predetermined speed. The position of the batter's hands at the time of the snap indicates whether the batter's swing is correct. A restraining structure includes a cartridge and a finger that can release a ring from a cocked position. After a swing, the batter manually displaces the cartridge so that a ring can be returned to its cocked position. It has been found that during practice a batter prefers to make repetitive swings without any further adjustments. However, this bat swing training device requires the batter to manually reset the device by displacing an exposed structure at the end of the bat prior to assuming a batting stance.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,118,693 to Tande and 8,187,124 to Ciesar et al. disclose practice bats with similar structures. In Tande the practice bat includes an elongated shaft with a free sliding region and first and second damping regions. When the practice bat is swung, a slider and a damper slide to the end of the bat where the slider impacts the damper to indicate swing quality. Ciesar discloses a shaft with first and second handles. The first handle accommodates both of the hitter's hands; the second handle accommodates all the fingers on a hand. During a swing the batter simultaneously moves the second handle to a stop position. Neither practice bat has the structure, appearance and look and feel of a conventional baseball bat.
What is needed is a bat swing training device that has the look, feel and weight of a batter's conventional bat and that eliminates the need for any batter action between practice swings to reset the training device.
Therefore it is an object of this invention to provide an improved bat swing training device for enabling an individual to achieve a proper swing for maximum impact without the need for contact with a thrown ball.
Another object of this invention is to provide an improved bat swing training device that facilitates the correction of an individual's swing and that closely simulates the physical and visual characteristics of a conventional bat.
Still another object of this invention is to provide an improved bat swing training device that has the look and feel of a conventional bat and enables a batter to take successive swings without having to release the batter's hands from the bat to reset or cock the training aid mechanism.
In accordance with one aspect of this invention, a bat swing training device for use in correcting a batter's swing includes a conventional baseball bat with a proximal handle or grip, a barrel portion and a distal barrel end. An axial passage extends proximally from the distal tip into the bat to receiving the training aid which is affixed to the bat. The training aid includes a structure that, at a predetermined bat speed, releases a magnetically captured slider ring that travels on a shaft in a tubular housing to snap against a distal stop.
The various objects, advantages and novel features of this invention will be more fully apparent from a reading of the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like reference numerals refer to like parts, and in which:
The bat 11 with these modifications receives a training aid 20 a portion of which is external to the bat and attached to the distal end 15.
As shown particularly in
The end plate 21 also carries a shaft 30 in a journal 31 for rotation about the bat axis 16. A threaded portion 32 at the distal end of a shaft 30 extends distally of the end plate 21 (i.e. to the left in
The shaft 30 includes a radial shoulder 34 closely spaced to the proximal end of the shoulder 24 thereby to provide a seat for a washer 35. The shoulder 34 and the force control knob 23 limit axial displacement of the shaft 30.
As described later, the washer 35 acts as a stop for a ring slider 36 located on the shaft 30. The ring slider 36 is formed of a paramagnetic material. In this embodiment the ring slider 36 is a cylindrical structure that is free to move between a first stop formed by the distal end 37 of a cylindrical insert 40 to limit proximal motion of the ring slider 36. The washer 35 acts as a second stop that limits axial displacement of the ring slider in the distal, or opposite, direction. The ring slider 36 and the cylindrical insert 40 are both located within the sheath 25. Other structures should also be substituted.
Still referring to
The cylindrical insert 40 and the cup-shaped body 42 incorporate anti-rotation means for blocking rotation of the cup-shaped body 42 when the shaft 30 rotates such that the permanent magnet subassembly 41 is limited to linear axial displacement along the bat axis 16. More specifically, the cylindrical insert 40 includes axially extending slots 48 that are open to the proximal end. The annular cup-shaped body 42 includes radially extending ears or tangs 49 that extend radially through the slots 47. This blocks any rotation of the annular cup-shaped body 40 relative to the bat axis 16 upon rotation of the force control knob 23.
When a batter swings the bat 11, the ring slider 36 undergoes angular acceleration. Initially the magnetic force is sufficient to maintain the configuration in
After the bat swing, the batter may prepare for another practice swing. During this preparation the batter normally raises the distal end 15 of the bat above the handle 12 in
Now referring to
From the forgoing description of the construction and operation of a bat training aid constructed in accordance with this invention, it will be apparent that this invention enables an individual to obtain a proper swing for maximum impact without any need for contacting a thrown ball. The weight of such a training aid can be adapted to match or closely match a batter's conventional bat weight. The training aid then provides a better simulation of the bat characteristics normally used by the batter. Bat weight adjustments can be made by adapting the depth of the cavity 18 shown as
Thus it now will be apparent that the bat swing training device embodying this invention meets all the objectives of this invention. Specifically, this bat swing training device is adapted for swinging baseball and softball bats and is useful in enabling a batter to perfect his or her swing. There is no need for a ball to be thrown. Each bat swing training device has the look and feel of a conventional baseball bat.
Many variations and modifications can be made to this invention. For example, the steel washer 35 in