Claims
- 1. A pitching system including:means for propelling a ball toward a batter; means for delivering a ball to a queued position in advance of said means for propelling; injector means for injecting the ball from the queued position into said means for propelling; means for visually displaying a video image of a pitcher; and means for synchronizing the injection of said ball into said means for propelling and propelling said ball toward said batter in synchronization with said video image, said means for synchronizing comprising a programmable controller adapted to initiate the display of said video image and initiate a countdown timer which, upon reaching a predetermined time, will activate said injector means and inject said ball into said means for propelling so as to propel the ball toward said batter in synchronization with said video image.
- 2. A pitching system including:a power head including at least one wheel for propelling a ball toward a batter; means for delivering a ball to a queued position in advance of said at least one wheel; injector means for injecting the ball from the queued position into said at least one wheel; means for visually displaying a moving image of a pitcher; and means for synchronizing the injection of said ball into said power head to propel said ball toward said batter in synchronization with said video image, said means for synchronizing comprising a programmable controller adapted to initiate the display of said video image and initiate a countdown timer which, upon reaching a predetermined time, will activate said injector means and inject said ball into said means for propelling so as to propel the ball toward said batter in synchronization with said video image.
- 3. The pitching system of claim 2, wherein power head includes at least two wheels.
- 4. The pitching system of claim 2, wherein said power head includes at least three wheels.
- 5. The pitching system of claim 2, wherein said injector means comprises a solenoid.
- 6. The pitching system of claim 2 further including a programmable controller adapted to initiate the display of said video image and initiate a countdown timer which, upon reaching a predetermined time, will activate said injector means and inject said ball into said power head so as to propel the ball toward said batter in synchronization with said video image.
- 7. A pitching system including:a power head for propelling a ball toward a batter; means for visually displaying a moving image of a pitcher; and a programmable controller adapted to initiate the display of said video image and cause said ball to be introduced into said power head and propelled toward said batter at a predetermined time after the initiation of the display of said video image, said controller including a countdown timer which, upon reaching a predetermined time, will cause said ball to be introduced into said power head in synchronization with said video image.
- 8. A method of synchronizing the release of a ball from a pitching system with the display of a video image of a pitcher by said system, said method comprising the steps of:initiating the display of said video image of the pitcher on a projection screen; setting a count down timer from the beginning of the display of the video image; propelling a ball toward the batter at a predetermined time after the initiation of the video image.
RELATED APPLICATIONS
This is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/457,809 filed on Dec. 9, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,186,134, in the names of Gregory J. Battersby, Charles W. Grimes and Steven Van Geldern which, in turn, was a continuation-in-part U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/259,722 filed on Mar. 1, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,182,649, in the names of Gregory J. Battersby, James Cobb, Charles W. Grimes, Richard Schile, and Steven Van Geldem for Ball-throwing Machine.
US Referenced Citations (8)
Continuations (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09/457809 |
Dec 1999 |
US |
Child |
09/779129 |
|
US |
Continuation in Parts (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09/259722 |
Mar 1999 |
US |
Child |
09/457809 |
|
US |