Abstract:
Adjustable weight training belt for use with a baseball bat comprising a first layer of flexible material and a hook and loop fastening system. The hook portion of the fastening system connected to one face and the loop portion of the fastening system on the other face, the fastening system being adjustable to adjust the area encircled by the belt. A second layer of flexible material connected to the first layer forming a plurality of pockets between the a face of the first layer and a face of the second layer. A face of the second layer has a high coefficient of friction to resist movement of the belt when placed about the barrel of a baseball bat. A plurality of malleable weights engaged in the pockets, the weights formed to the curved surface of the barrel creating a substantially similar surface profile contributing to the resistance of movement.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The claimed invention relates to devices used to enhance the performance of a baseball player&#39;s batting swing, and more specifically to adjustable weighted attachments for baseball bats.  
           [0003]    2. Description of the Prior Art  
           [0004]    Athletes train to become better players in their sport, spending hours in practicing different aspects of the sport. As an example, baseball players continually practice hitting, fielding, and base running to become a better baseball player. In the past, different types of training devices have been used that were intended to enhance the performance of an athlete, particularly in sports requiring hand held equipment such as baseball, tennis, and hockey. These devices were often developed and used based on impressions that the devices would enhance an athlete&#39;s performance without actually studying the effect that a particular device might have upon a player&#39;s performance.  
           [0005]    One of the more popular types of training methods has been attaching weights to an athletes hand held playing equipment such as baseball bats, tennis racquets, hockey sticks, or golf clubs. The attaching of extra weigh to these types of equipment is thought to strengthen the athlete&#39;s muscles through practice while using such weighted equipment. However, placement of such weight upon the equipment has seldom been studied. In some applications, placement of extra weight upon playing equipment such as a baseball bat can actually be counter productive to the performance of the athlete due to the improper placement of the weight. If the weighted device is not secured about a baseball bat in the proper location, the extra weight can interrupt the baseball player&#39;s proper swinging form, possibly resulting in poor hitting performance. Several of the prior art weighted training devices and their disadvantages are discussed below.  
           [0006]    U.S. Pat. No. 5,484,156, issued to Guguere discloses a Golf Club Practice Swing Weight that comprises a flexible web arranged to have secured thereto a plurality of flexible pouches. The strap member can have a hook and loop fastener surface using a ring member. The device can be mounted about a shaft, such as a golf shaft whereupon it can be secured about itself. This training device provides a weight that conforms to the curvature of the golf club shaft, but does not provide an expedient way to add or remove a discrete amount of weight having a solid, reshapeable curved surface for engagement with a rounded surface such as a baseball bat. This makes it difficult for the user or athletic trainer to accurately monitor the amount of weight being used in the training device. Further, this training device does not have a memory characteristic allowing users to reattach the training device to the golf club in the same location as previously positioned if removed.  
           [0007]    Athletes often use the training device during practice sessions and then remove the training device during actual play. In prior art training devices of this type, it would be difficult if not impossible to place the training device on the golf shaft at the same location as previously placed due to the lack of formability memory training devices of this type have. This point is important in that an athlete can use and remove the training device from the golf club while being able to consistently place the training device on the club in the same location thereby providing a uniform training experience.  
           [0008]    U.S. Pat. No. 4,538,812, issued to Mugford et al. discloses a Weight Device for Athletic Racket having two sheets separated by an elastic member. Each sheet contains a plurality of weights that are housed in chambers that are formed by the joining of two layers of flexible material at spaced locations. Attachment can be made using VELCRO type surfaces. This training device presents many of the same problems as previously discussed. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the training device may perhaps be repeatably replace upon the racquet, but only due to the configuration of the racquet. This device would not be capable of being repeatably replace upon a hand held athletic tool as shown in FIG. 5. Therefore there is a need for a weighted training device that provides for quick and easy repeatable placement of the training device upon a hand held athletic tool.  
           [0009]    U.S. Pat. No. 4,364,560, issued to Gemmel includes a practice weight for a flat sided hockey stick that is a U-shaped weight that can be clamped onto a shaft or handle and is then clamped by clamp screws and then secured by a flexible cover that is wrapped around the shaft and itself. The clamp feature of this training device provides a device that can be removably coupled to a hockey stick while providing means for preventing the training device from shifting during use. However, this training device does not allow for easy repeatable placement of the training device upon the hockey stick. Therefore, there is a need for a training device that provides a quick and easy way to reattach a weighted training device to a hand held athletic tool in the same location as previously placed.  
           [0010]    Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,000,893, issued to Evans teaches a weight holder and method of use that can removably add weight at selected positions on a flat sided racket and possibly a bat. The device is made of flexible material that wraps around a shaft or handle and overlaps at the ends for removable, adjustable securement and positioning. The holder comprises two, spaced pockets with a weight in each pocket and these weights can be removed to change weight size and weight. The weights disclosed in this training device are cylindrical and non-formable. Weights of this type tend to shift during use of the tennis racquet do the surface profile of the weight not being similar to the surface profile of the racquet. Therefore, there is a need for a weighted training device that provides a weight that conforms to the curvature of a hand held athletic tool that prevents the weights from shifting during use of the training device.  
           [0011]    As athletic training methods have advanced, athletic trainers have studied the effects of different types of training devices upon the performance of an athlete. Improved technology such as slow motion imaging has helped athletes and athletic trainers to study the behavior of athletes as they perform different tasks within a sport. These advances have made athletes and athletic trainers aware that some of the training methods previously used actually hinder an athletes performance instead of improving performance. As an example, some baseball trainers who study hitting discourage the use of the doughnut type weight that has been in use for many years due to the negative effects weighting of this kind is thought to have on a hitter&#39;s form. Therefore there is a long felt need for a weighted training device that can provide a solution to the problems previously explained in the prior art.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0012]    Accordingly, there is a need for a weighted device that can be placed about the baseball bat in a more appropriate position than that of the ordinary doughnut type weight. To satisfy this need as well as others, an objective of the claimed invention is to provide an adjustable weight training belt for use with a baseball bat.  
           [0013]    Another object of the claimed invention is to provide an adjustable weight training belt where the amount of weight may be varied by changing the amount of weight contained with an adjustable weight training belt.  
           [0014]    Yet another object of the claimed invention is to provide an adjustable weight training belt where the weights have formable memory allowing the adjustable weight training belt to be repeatable placed in the same location upon the hand held athletic tool as previously placed.  
           [0015]    A further object of the claimed invention is to provide an adjustable weight training belt where the weights are formable to prevent the weights from shifting during use.  
           [0016]    A yet further object of the claimed invention is to provide an adjustable weight training belt where the weights are formable to prevent the training belt from moving about the surface of the hand held athletic tool.  
           [0017]    To achieve the foregoing objectives, the claimed invention provides an adjustable weight training belt for use with a baseball bat. The belt comprises a first layer of flexible material having a front face and a back face. A hook and loop fastening system with the hook portion of the fastening system on the front face and the loop portion of the fastening system on the back face is employed to increase or decrease the area encircled by the belt.  
           [0018]    A second layer of flexible material having a front face and a back face is connected to the first layer forming a plurality of pockets between the front face of the first layer and the back face of the second layer. The front face of the second layer has a high coefficient of friction to resist movement of the belt when placed about the barrel of a baseball bat.  
           [0019]    A plurality of malleable weights are engaged in the pockets. The weights formable to the curved surface of the barrel of the baseball bat creating a substantially similar surface profile contributing to the resistance of movement of the training belt against the surface of the bat. The weights have a memory characteristic enabling a user to place the weights in substantially the same location along the surface of a baseball bat from one use to another by matching the surface profile of the weights to the curvature of the baseball bat. In one embodiment of the invention the malleable weights are removably engaged in the pockets. In another embodiment of the invention the pockets are sewn closed permanently retaining the malleable weights.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0020]    [0020]FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the adjustable weight training belt.  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a top view of the adjustable weight training belt.  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 3. FIG. 3 shows a solid reshapeable weight.  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 4. FIG. 4 shows a cross section of the adjustable weight training belt about a baseball bat.  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 5. FIG. 5 illustrates the placement of the adjustable weight training belt about a baseball bat.  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 6. Shows an alternate embodiment having two adjustable weight training belts sewn together.  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 7. Shows a preferred embodiment of the adjustable weight training belt.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0027]    [0027]FIGS. 1, 2,  6  and  7  show the adjustable weight training belt  10 . The adjustable weight training belt  10  is essentially made of four major components, a belt  20 , a plurality of malleable or preferably manually reshapeable weights  30 , a weight cover  40 , and an adjustable fastener  50 . In the preferred embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 7, the plurality of weights  30  are removable from the training belt  10  so that the amount of weight can be varied depending upon the training needs. FIGS. 1 and 2 show an adjustable weight training belt  10  containing four  2  ounce weights  30  providing a total of 8 ounces of weight. Other embodiments of the invention will be discussed below.  
         [0028]    [0028]FIGS. 1 and 2 show the belt  20  is preferably made of a durable, flexible material such as nylon webbing, but may be made of other durable, flexible materials such as plastic or canvass. The belt  20  is preferably about 2 inches in width, but may be configured in greater or narrower widths to support larger or smaller weights. The belt  20  is preferably about 11 inches in length, but may be shorter or longer depending upon the weights being employed with the adjustable weight training belt  10 . The belt  20  preferably has sufficient length to wrap around a baseball bat  60  approximately 1½ times.  
         [0029]    [0029]FIGS. 3 and 4 show the reshapable weights  30  are preferably made of lead covered with a non-toxic plastic coating  70 , but may be made of other materials having similar weight to volume ratio and formability. FIGS. 1 and 2 show that an  8  ounce adjustable weight belt  10  has four 2 ounce weights measuring approximately 1¼ inches in length by approximately 1 inch in width by approximately ⅛ inch in thickness. The weights  30  are covered with a non-toxic coating  70  so that the toxicity of the lead will not pose a potential health problem to persons handling the weights  30  while using the training belt  10  as shown in FIG. 3. The weights  30  employed in the adjustable weight training belt  10  can range from as little as about ½ ounce to as much as about 80 ounces. The surface profile  80  of the weights  30  can be formed to conform to the curvature of the baseball bat  60  as shown in FIG. 4. The reshapeability of the weights  30  serves several purposes. One of the purposes the reshapable weights  30  serve is to help hold the training belt  10  at a desired location upon the baseball bat  60 . The curvature  90  of the weights  30  creates a greater amount of surface to surface contact between the training belt  10  and the baseball bat  60 . Another purpose the reshapeable weights  30  serve is to make the training belt  10  feel more like a continuous part of the baseball bat  60  when using it in training. Due to the high surface to surface contact between the training belt  10  and the baseball bat  60 , the weights  30  resist shifting when the baseball bat  60  having the training belt  10  strapped about it is swung. The weights of the prior art weighted devices tended to shift about the baseball bat due to the inability of the weights to form to the curved surface of the baseball bat.  
         [0030]    [0030]FIGS. 1, 2, and  4  show the weight cover  40  is preferably made of a flexible material having a surface with a high coefficient of friction such as rubber, but may be made of other similar materials. The weight cover  40  is preferably sewn to the belt  20  forming at least one pocket  100  between the belt  20  and the weight cover  40  for receiving the weights  30 . In the preferred embodiment of the invention as shown in FIG. 7, the weight cover  40  forms four pockets  100  for receiving the weights  30  with an opening  110  at one end of each pocket  100  so that different configurations of weights  30  can be employed with the adjustable weight training belt  10 . The openings  110  may have a closure such as a zipper  120  to close the pockets  100  and retain the weights  30  within the pockets  100 . The distance between each of the weight pockets  100  in the training belt  10  may vary depending upon the type of baseball bat  60  the training belt  10  is designed to fit.  
         [0031]    In another embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 1, the openings  110  are sewn closed so that the weights  30  are permanently retained within the training belt  10 . Training belts of this type do not require the use of coated weights  30  and therefor are potentially less costly to manufacture. However, training belts  10  of this type do not allow the adjustment of the amount of weight contained in the training belt  10 . Therefore, persons using a training belt  10  of this configuration would either have to purchase additional training belts  10  of differing weight or would have to combine the weight of more than one training belt  10  to achieve the amount of weight desired. FIG. 6 illustrates in this particular embodiment, more than one adjustable weight training belt  10  is employed to adjust the amount of weight being used during weight training. These additional weight belts may be separately strapped to the baseball bat  60  or a plurality of belts may be sewn together forming one training belt  10 . It is contemplated for ease of manufacturing purposes that one training belt  10  containing a standard amount of weight would be produced, and a plurality of these belts could be sewn together and sold to provide training belts of differing weight while achieving the desired economy of scale by producing many of the same configuration of training belt  10 .  
         [0032]    [0032]FIGS. 1, 2 and  4  show the adjustable fastener  50  is preferably VELCRO, but may be other types of fastening devices such as a series of snaps. The hook  130  and loop  140  portions of the VELCRO are sewn to opposite sides of the belt  20  so that the training belt  10  can be properly secured to the baseball bat  60  by wrapping the training belt  10  upon itself as shown in FIG. 4. The end of the training belt  10  opposite the weighted portion has a pull tab  150  to facilitate the removal of the training belt  10  from the baseball bat  60 . The VELCRO allows the user of the adjustable weight training belt  10  to secure it about a baseball bat  60  at different locations along the barrel of the bat  60 . The VELCRO also allows the use of the adjustable weight training belt  10  on baseball bats  60  of many different sizes.  
         [0033]    The VELCRO fastener  50  allows use of the training belt  10  on full sized wooden and metal bats as well as smaller bats sized for youth baseball. The placement of the adjustable weight training belt  10  is preferably from about ½ inch to about 8 inches from the grip of the person holding the baseball bat  60  as shown in FIG. 5. Due to the various types of grips employed from one baseball player to another as well as from one situation to another, the adjustable weight training belt  10  may need to be placed close to the knob  160  of the bat  60  or close to the hitting area  170  of the bat  60 . The placement of the training belt  10  above the hands  180  of the athlete positions the training belt  10  in a more balanced location than that of the prior art devices previously discussed in the background of the invention section. Since the training belt  10  is place in a more properly balanced location upon the baseball bat  60 , the added weight of the training belt  10  does not interfere with the swinging form of the athlete. The ability to form the training belt  10  to the curvature  190  of the baseball bat  60  along any part of the bat  60  gives the claimed invention an important advantage over the prior art. The prior art did not provide means for conforming a training device to a hand held athletic tool while also providing means for allowing a user to remove the training device and reliably place the training device back on the hand held athletic tool in the same location as previously placed.  
         [0034]    The training belt  10  is generally used by first shaping the malleable weights  30  so that the surface profile  80  of the weights  30  are substantially similar to the curvature  190  of the baseball bat  60  as shown in FIG. 4. This can be accomplished by placing the malleable weights  30  against the barrel  200  of the baseball bat  60  and then forming them to the curvature  190  by applying force to the weights  30  such as the user pushing upon the weights  30  with the user&#39;s thumb or tapping the outside of the training belt  10  with a hammer to form each of the weights  30  to a desired configuration.  
         [0035]    After the weights  30  have been properly formed, the weighted portion of the training belt  10  is placed against the barrel  200  of the bat  60  from about ½ inch to about 8 inches above the hands  180  of the athlete using the bat  60  as shown in FIG. 5. The remainder of the training belt  10  is then wrapped around the bat  60 , the hook  130  and loop  140  fastener securing the training belt  10  about the bat  60  and the weight cover  40  providing resistance to slippage of the training belt  10  against the bat  60 .  
         [0036]    Although the invention has been described by reference to some embodiments it is not intended that the novel device be limited thereby, but that modifications thereof are intended to be included as falling within the broad scope and spirit of the foregoing disclosure, the following claims and the appended drawings.