BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present invention can be understood in more detail by reading the subsequent detailed description in conjunction with the examples and references made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of a batting tee ball holder of the present invention;
FIG. 2A shows a top view of the structure shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 2B shows a cross-sectional view of the structure shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 shows a schematic view of an embodiment of a ball holder of the present invention applied in a batting tee; and
FIG. 4 shows a second embodiment of a ball holder of the present invention applied in a batting tee.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of a batting tee ball holder of the present invention. A batting tee ball holder 1 includes a holder base 11 and a plurality of resilient supporting elements 12. Ball holder 1 is placed on a batting tee for holding the ball for batting practice. Resilient supporting elements 12 include at least three long resilient elements. Each long resilient element has one end fixed on the top surface of holder base 11 with an upstanding position. Therefore, resilient supporting elements 12 can swing back and forth with one end attached to holder base 11. For batting practice, the ball is placed on the other end of long resilient supporting elements 12. Resilient supporting elements 12 should be strong enough to support the ball placed on them. Holder base 11 is a cylinder with a large cross-sectional area so that the distribution of resilient supporting elements 12 can hold the ball in place. Entire ball holder 1 is monolithic, for example, the entirety can be made of rubber or other resilient material by injection molding.
The length and diameter of each long object of resilient supporting elements 12, and the total number of resilient supporting elements 12 determine the resilience and the supporting effect of ball holder 1. The embodiment shown in FIG. 2A includes 19 long resilient elements. However, the number of the long resilient elements can vary according to the design. The designs with other numbers of resilient elements are also within the scope of the present invention. In this embodiment, resilient supporting elements 12 are evenly distributed over the top surface of holder base 11. As shown in FIG. 2A, the distribution of resilient supporting elements 12 is in a pattern of a plurality of concentric rings. In addition, to match the curvature of the ball, the resilient supporting elements on the outer rings is taller than the resilient supporting elements in the inner rings, and the height decreases gradually inward towards the center, as shown in FIG. 2B. With this design, the weight of the ball can be evenly supported by resilient supporting elements 12. On the other hand, resilient supporting elements 12 can also be distributed irregularly over the top surface of holder base 11. For example, the area closer to the hitting point of the ball may have more resilient supporting elements, and gradually decreasing towards the trajectory direction of the ball. This design reduces the contact surface between the ball and the resilient supporting elements as the ball flies off the ball holder. Hence, the ball holder will has less impact on the flying trajectory.
This embodiment shows that holder base 11 and resilient supporting elements 12 are monolithically manufactured by, for example, injection molding of the same resilient material. Holder base 11 and resilient supporting elements 12 can also be made of different material and separately. For example, each long resilient element can be made individually. The long resilient elements can then be placed into a mold, and a second injection molding process with a different material can be used to form a holder base with implanted long resilient elements. The embodiment uses injection mold for description. Other equivalent methods are also within the scope of the present invention.
FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of the application of a ball holder of the present invention to a batting tee. The batting tee includes a base plate 2, a supporting rod 3, and a ball holder 1 connected to the tip of supporting rod 2. Base plate 1 can be made of the shape of a home base and with sufficient weight so that the batting tee will stand alone. The center at the top surface of base plate 2 is supporting rod 3 in an upstanding position. Supporting rod 3 further includes a primary rod body 31 and a secondary rod body 32. primary rod body 31 is hard and rigid, and has a slightly larger diameter so that secondary rod body 32 can sleeve in and out of primary rod body for adjusting the height of the batting tee. Secondary rod body 32 is made of a resilient material, such as rubber or similar material. Once hit in the batting practice, secondary rod body can swing back and forth, and return to the original upstanding position. Ball holder 1 is engaged and fixed to the tip of secondary rod body 32 of supporting rod 3 to support the ball with resilient supporting elements 12. With the minimum contact surface, ball holder 1 can reduce the impact on the trajectory caused by the friction.
FIG. 4 shows a second embodiment of the application of a ball holder to a batting tee. The batting tee includes a base plate 2, a supporting rod 3 and a ball holder 1. In this embodiment, ball holder 1 is retractable from the tip of secondary rod body 32 of supporting rod 3. For example, in this embodiment, the outer circumference of holder base 11 of ball holder 1 includes screw teeth 111, and the inside of secondary rod body 32 includes screw teeth 321, so that ball holder 1 can be screwed in to be fastened to secondary rod body 32. This design allows the replacement of the ball holder for different batting practice, for example, softball and baseball.
Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the details described thereof. Various substitutions and modifications have been suggested in the foregoing description, and others will occur to those of ordinary skill in the art. Therefore, all such substitutions and modifications are intended to be embraced within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.
Patent Application
20070275793
