US3511225A - Small sized toy pitching machine - Google Patents

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The toy pitching machine of an embodiment of the present invention comprises a base section a

gear box section

20, a ball guiding and holding

section

30, a ball storaging and

feeding section

40 and

pitching arm section

50. As will be best seen in FIG. 2, the

base section

10 is composed of two

members

11 and 12 of molded plastic material. Each of the

plastic members

11 and 12 has substantially U-shaped cross-section so as to save the material and thus to reduce the weight of the member. The

member

11 is provided with

integral projections

13 on the opposite edges of the legs of the U-shaped crosssection. The

member

12 also has

similar projections

14 on the corresponding portions thereof. The

members

11 and 12 are joined together by means of the

projections

13 and 1-4 and a

rod

15 extending therethrough so that the

members

11 and 12 cooperate to define a hollow space of rectangular shape in cross-section. A pair of

springs

16 and 16' are mounted around the

rod

15 and have their opposite ends in pressure contact with the respective inner surfaces of the

base members

11 and 12 so that the lower portions thereof are normal y urged outwardly by the springs for the purpose which will be described later. The

base member

11 has an outwardly enlarged

bottom portion

19. Also, the

base member

12 is formed at a lower portion with a

recess

18 for receiving a dry cell.

The gear box section includes a generally rectangular box of a metallic material which is detachably mounted on the top portions of the

plastic base members

11 and 12. The

base members

11 and 12 each have a plurality of

projections

19 and 19' in the upper portions of their inner surfaces. The

projections

19 and 19' engage apertures in the opposite side walls of the

metallic box

20 for positively supporting the latter in position. The pressure force of the

springs

16 and 16' serves to bring the upper portions of the

plastic base members

11 and 12 into pressure contact with the sides of the

box

20 for firmly holding the latter.

Within the

metallic box

20 are mounted a DC motor and a set of speed reduction gears which form a conventional drive mechanism and thus are not shown in the drawings. The DC motor is electrically connected by means of a conductor, not shown, to the dry cell received in the

recess

18. An electrical switch, only an

actuator

21 of which is shown in FIG. 2, is provided on the

plastic member

12 adjacent the

recess

18 for opening and closing the electrical connection between the dry cell and the motor.

As shown in FIG. 1, the

metallic box

20 is provided with a semi-circular notch 22 in the upper surface thereof near the right end as seen in this figure. The notch 22 receives therein an upwardly opening

semi-cylindrical portion

31 of the ball guiding and holding section which is fastened to the

box

20 by means of a metallic band 24 (FIG. 3). The

semi-cylindrical portion

31, which is of a radius somewhat greater than that of the balls to be used, has an

integral U-shaped portion

32 having its one leg extending horizontally rearwardly from one of the sides of the

portion

31 and having its other leg extending hori zontally forwardly and terminating in an upwardly projecting

plate

33 which is in lateral alignment with the semi-cylindrical groove of the

portion

31. A plurality of

projections

34, 34a and 34b project from the end of the

portion

31 adjacent the

plate

33 toward the latter. The

semi-circular portion

31 at the other end is somewhat enlarged radially and is provided with a

groove

35 in the inner surface of the semi-cylindrical groove and with a plurality of

notches

35a and 35b in the radially enlarged wall at the diametrically opposite positions. The purpose of the

groove

35 and the

notches

35a and 35b will be described hereinafter.

As best shown in FIG. 3, the ball storaging and

feeding section

40 comprises a

latticed chute

41 of plastic material. The

chute

41 has a semi-cylindrical shape in crosssection, as seen in FIG. 2, of the curvature which is substantially the same as the

semi-cylindrical portion

31 of the

ball guiding section

30. A

bracket

42 of plastic material is detachably mounted on the

metallic box

20 at the side face remote from the U-shaped

portion

32 of the

ball holding section

30 by appropriate means, such as projections on the bracket and apertures in the surfaces of the

box

20. The

bracket

42 extends at substantially right angles from the

box

20 as shown in FIG. 3 and has at the free end a semi-circular notch in which the

chute

41 is detachably received at a portion near one end thereof.

The

chute

41 has at the

other end portion

43 which is bent at substantially right angles with respect to the major portion of the chute. The

bent end portion

43 is provided at the end extremity with a plurality of projections which are snugly and detachably received in the

notches

35, 35a and 35b in the ball guiding section as shown in FIG. 3.

As seen in FIG. 2, the

bracket

42 is so shaped that the bottom of the semi-circular notch therein is at the level which is in lateral alignment with or higher than the top of the

box

20. This causes the

chute

41 to incline upwardly as best shown in FIG. 1, so that the balls manually fed thereinto at the free end roll down toward the

curved end

43 and, thus, into the groove defined by the

semi-circular portion

31 of the

ball guiding section

30. The first one of the balls fed into the

chute

41 will run over the end of the grooved

portion

30 and will be stopped by the

plate

33 at a position as shown in FIG. 3 by dotted line indicated at B. The

plate

33 cooperates with the

projections

34, 34a and 34b to rest the first ball in this position for the purpose which will be described hereinafter.

The

pitching arm section

50 includes a

disc

51 of a metallic material which is fixedly secured to the outer end of the

aforementioned extension

23 for rotation therewith. The

disc

51 has thereon a

radial projection

52. On the

shaft extension

23 is loosely mounted a

sleeve member

53 between the

disc

51 and a

thrust bearing

54 mounted on the side face of the

box

20, so that the sleeve member is freely rotatable about the

shaft

23. The

sleeve member

53 is fixedly connected with an

arm

55 which is in the form of a substantially fan-shaped plate (FIG. 1) extending in parallel relationship with the

disc

51 as shown in FIG. 2. The

arm

55 is connected at the free end with a

ball pitching palm

56 of molded plastic material. Adjacent one side of the fan-shaped plate of the

arm

55, there is provided a laterally outwardly directed

projection

57 at such a position as to interfere with the circular path of the movement of the

projection

52 on the

disc

51. The fan-shaped plate of the

arm

55 is also provided thereon with a

pin

58 projecting laterally outwardly from a point which is angularly spaced by substantially from the

projection

57 on the arm as shown in FIG. 1.

The

ball pitching palm

56 is formed therein with two spaced

notches

59 and 59a. The distances from the axis of the

shaft

23 to the centers of the

notches

59 and 59a are substantially equal to the distances as measured from the

shaft

23 to the

projections

34 and 34a, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 1, the

base member

11 is formed, in the lower portion of the side surface thereon, with an

arcuate slot

61 which has a toothed

upper edge

62. The

slot

61 is positioned such that the longitudinal center thereof is vertically aligned with the axis of the

shaft extension

23. A

coil spring

63 is pivotably connected at its one end to the

pin

58 on the fan-shaped

arm

55 and is connected at the other end with a

hook member

64 which in turn is detachably received in the

slot

61 and is adapted to be selectively adjusted with respect to the point of engagement thereof with the

toothed edge

62 of the

slot

61 for the reason which will be described later. The

coil spring

63 is so tensioned that the

arm

55 and the pitching

palm

56 is normally held in the position as shown in FIG. 1.

When the

actuator

21 of the switch is operated to electrically connect DC power source to the motor within the

box

20, the motor starts rotating which is transmitted to the

shaft

23 in a conventional manner by a series of speed reduction gears within the box so that the

disc

51 is rotated in a counterclockwise direction as indicated by the arrow. This rotation causes the

projection

52 on the

disc

51 to engage the

projection

57 for thereby rotating the

arm

55 and the

palm

56 in counterclockwise direction against the tensioned

coil spring

63. When the

arm

55 and the

palm

56 arrive at a position as shown by dotted line in FIG. 1, the

pin

58 is on the extension of an imaginary line joining the axis of

shaft

23 and the point at which the

hook

64 engages the

toothed edge

62. In this position of the

pin

58, the

spring

63 is subjected to the greatest degree of tension and thus this position is called as dead point. As soon as the

arm

55 is moved by the

disc

51 beyond the dead point, the tensioned

spring

63 will violently contract toward its initial position. This contraction of the

spring

63 will cause the

arm

55 and

palm

56 to violently swivel or rotate in counterclockwise direction independently and in advancement of the rotation of the

disc

51. In this rotational movement, the

ball pitching palm

56 first relatively slowly approaches to the ball held in the position as indicated at B in FIG. 3 and receives the ball in the concave surface of the palm at the radailly inward portion thereof. The

palm

56 then lifts the ball upwardly. At or about this time, the

spring

63 is in such a position that the

pin

58 is slightly displaced in counterclockwise directionfrom the position as shown in dotted line in FIG. 1. After this moment, the movement of the

arm

55 and the

palm

56 are accelerated by a further contraction of the

spring

63, so that the ball on the concave surface of the pitching

palm

56 is accelerated to roll radially outwardly by the centrifugal force and reaches near the outer end of the palm and finally is pitched off the palm along a predetermined trajectory toward a batter. When the ball has been removed from the ball holding position as shown at B, following balls roll down along the groove of the

chute

41 by gravity and the foremost one is guided into the position B to be ready for a next pitching by the arm and the palm and this is cyclically continued. The

arm

55 and the

palm

56, after having pitched a ball, will be at rest in the position as shown by full line in FIG. 1 until the

projection

52 on the

disc

51 arrives at the

projection

57 of the

arm

55 for a next rotation.

To vary the trajectory along which the pitched ball is moved, it is only required to adjust the

hook member

64 leftwardly or rightwardly as viewed in FIG. 1. It will be appreciated that, if the

hook member

64 is set at the leftward end of the

toothed edge

62, the dead point is shifted or displaced in clockwise direction as compared with the case where the hook member is set at substantially intermediate position of the

toothed edge

62. This will result in a clockwise displacement of point of ball release from the palm whereby the trajectory is rendered somewhat mountainous. An opposite result will be obtained where the

hook member

64 is shifted to the rightward end of the

toothed edge

62 and, in this case, a pitched ball will be moved along a relatively plainer trajectory.

When a batting game in which the machine of this invention is used has completed, the machine may be disassembled for storage purpose. The disassembly may be simply carried out in such a manner that the

curved end portion

43 of the

chute

41 is first detached by disengaging the projections on the end portion from the

notches

35, 35a and 35b and then the

chute

41 is removed from the semi-circular notch of the

bracket

42. Then, the

bracket

42 is detached from the

box

20. The

hook

64 is then disengaged from the

toothed edge

62 of the

slot

61 to cause the

arm

55 and the

palm

56 as well as the

spring

63 to be freely pivotable about the

shaft

23 and the

pin

58, respectively. Finally, the fastening means 65 are removed so that the base section 10', the

gear section

20, the ball guiding and holding

section

30 and the

pitching arm section

50 are carried away as a unit into a container for the machine, and the unit together with the detached parts is storaged in the container with the

palm

56 positioned between the legs of the

U-shaped portion

32. The detachment of the

chute

41 and the

bracket

42 serves to reduce the bulkiness of the machine.

2. A toy pitching machine as defined in claim 1 in References Cited which one of the plastic base members is formed at a T lower side surface thereof with a slot having a toothed UNITED STATES PATEN S upper edge with which adjustably engages a hook member 2 which in turn is connected to said coil spring at the one 5 e0 "'7 I 4 2,877,757 3/ 1959 Giovagnolr 1247 end other than that prvotally connected to said fan-shaped 3 084 680 4/1963 G 01 df arb et a1 XR plate of said pitching arm, whereby an adjustment of engaging point of said hook member with said toothed edge RICHARD Q PINKHAM, Primary Examiner of said slot serves to displace or shift the dead point of said spring for thereby varying the trajectory of the

balls

10 US. Cl. X.R.