Abstract:
A baseball training device includes a target net from which balls will be fed to a unit that will throw the balls back to a player. The unit can be set to throw the balls in the air or on the ground so a variety of situations can be practiced.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention relates to the general art of amusement devices, and to the particular field of devices used to train skills, such as baseball skills. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   Baseball has long been one of America&#39;s most popular sports and since its inception, it has gradually caught worldwide attention and acceptance. For instance, baseball has been received in Canada, Japan, Taiwan, South America, and Europe, and is now included as an Olympic sport. Moreover, while the sport of baseball has spanned other continents, it has become an integral part of American family life from little league teams to professional organizations. 
   Children first learn about baseball from visiting ballparks, watching television, and participating in organized leagues. It fosters dreams of future recognition in almost every youngster, and for those kids fortunate enough to acquire the requisite skills, baseball has provided an avenue for obtaining scholarships in higher education, escaping the streets, and reaching prosperity. Among the skills necessary to succeed in baseball are catching ground balls, line drives, and pop flies, batting, and throwing. The more batting, throwing, and catching techniques are practiced, the more developed a child&#39;s skills become. Hence, the sooner a child is given the opportunity to develop and perfect these baseball skills, the greater the young athlete&#39;s chances of succeeding in the sport as an adolescent and an adult. 
   Ideally, a ball throwing machine should provide a player with a tireless partner that supplies balls as desired at a selected trajectory so that the player can develop or improve his hand-eye coordination. Amateur coaches in youth leagues often find it difficult to properly instruct youngsters because of the limited resources and/or man-power available per team. Typically, one baseball coach is required to singly provide both batting practice and fielding practice to 10-20 players. This may become physically challenging for the coach, and often results in wasted time and player boredom. For some coaches, the inability to bat or pitch may create a virtually insurmountable obstacle to properly instructing the players in the art of hitting and fielding a baseball. 
   Pitching machines are among the most widely used devices for training, however, they generally are only available to older children, adolescents, and adults. Furthermore, existing pitching means merely concentrate on developing a player&#39;s batting skills rather than the tripartite skills of throwing, catching, and hitting. Since these techniques take years to develop, a device which affords children the opportunity to practice these skills early in life would be extremely useful and beneficial. Therefore, there exists a need for a machine capable of training young children to field grounders, line drives, and pop flies, as well as hitting pitched balls, and to throw at a designated target. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The above-discussed disadvantages of the prior art are overcome by a training device that has a target net from which balls fall into a unit that will throw them back to the player. The trainer can be set to throw balls in the air or on the ground back to the player. 
   Using the trainer embodying the present invention will permit a player to practice throwing, catching and even hitting if desired for as long as he or she likes. The device is simple and easy to operate and thus is not likely to fail and it is easy to adjust so even young players will be able to use the device. 
   Other systems, methods, features, and advantages of the invention will be, or will become, apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following figures and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, features, and advantages be included within this description, be within the scope of the invention, and be protected by the following claims. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES 
     The invention can be better understood with reference to the following drawings and description. The components in the figures are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention. Moreover, in the figures, like referenced numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the different views. 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a baseball training device embodying the present invention. 
       FIG. 2  is a view taken along line  2 - 2  of  FIG. 1 . 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   Referring to the figures, it can be understood that the present invention is embodied in a baseball training device  10  that can be used as a partner by a user to throw a baseball to and to receive a return toss. 
   Device  10  comprises a base unit  12  which includes a first end  14 , a second end  16 , two sides  18  and  20  which connect first end  14  to second end  16  and a cross bar  22  which extends between the two sides. As can be understood from  FIG. 1 , base unit  12  is in the form of a trapezoid. A net unit  30  is mounted on base unit  12  and includes a frame  32  which has a first end  34  which is a top end when the frame is in a use orientation such as shown in  FIG. 1 . Frame  32  further includes two sides  36  and  38  which extend between first end  34  and cross bar  22 . Cross bar  22  forms one end of the net unit. 
   A target net  40  is mounted in the frame. A ball return unit  50  is mounted on base unit  12  and includes a ball chute unit  52  which has a V-shaped frame  54  located adjacent to target net  40  near base unit  12 . Ball chute unit  52  further includes two troughs  56  and  58  which are angled toward each other. Each trough has a first end, such as first end  60  on trough  56 , and second end, such as second end  64  of trough  56 , with the first end of each trough being located higher than the second end of the trough when ball return unit  50  is mounted on the base unit. The second ends of troughs are located adjacent to each other. 
   A ball ejecting unit  70  includes a housing  72  which has a first surface  74  which is a top surface when housing  72  is in use such as shown in  FIG. 1 . Housing  72  further includes a second surface  76  which is a bottom surface when the housing is in use, a first end  78 , a second end  80 , an interior volume  82 , an entrance port  84  defined through the first surface adjacent to the second ends of the troughs, and an exit port  86  defined through first end  78  of the housing. 
   A ball ejecting tube  90  is mounted on first end  78  of the housing of the ball ejecting unit adjacent to exit port  86 . The ball ejecting tube has an inlet end  92  in communication with the interior volume of the housing via exit port  86  and an exit en  94 . 
   First and second belt units  100  and  102  are located in the interior volume of the housing. Each belt unit includes a drive element, such as drive gear  104  on belt unit  100  to drive the belt in a manner that will be understood by those skilled in the art based on the teaching of the present disclosure. Each belt unit is mounted to extend in a horizontal direction when the ball ejecting unit is in a use orientation. First belt unit  100  is located above second belt unit  102  when the ball ejecting unit is in the use orientation so a gap  110  is defined between the first and second belt units. Gap  110  has an entrance location  112  adjacent to entrance port  84  and an exit location  114  adjacent to exit port  86  and inlet end  92  of the ball ejecting tube. The belts move in opposite directions as indicated by arrows  116  and  118  to have a portion thereof moving from the entrance location of the gap toward the exit location of the gap. 
   As will be understood from the teaching of this disclosure, gap  110  is sized to frictionally engage a baseball and move it from the entrance port  84  to exit port  86  with speed sufficient to launch it through ball ejecting tube  90  with force sufficient to move that ball back to a person who has thrown the ball toward unit  10 . Tube  90  is swivably mounted on the housing so it can be oriented to be angled upwardly as shown in  FIG. 2  or angled downwardly as desired. 
   A guide plate  120  is mounted on the housing in the interior volume of the housing and extends from entrance port  84  to second belt  102  adjacent to entrance location  112  of the gap. A drive unit  130  is mounted on the housing and is drivingly connected to the drive elements of the belts. 
   A height adjustment element  140  is mounted on the housing adjacent to the first end of the housing. Base unit  12  includes a platform  142  near first end  14  to support the height adjustment element  140 . Height adjustment element  140  permits unit  10  to be used on uneven terrain or to further adjust the angle at which a ball is thrown back to a user. The platform permits height adjustment without difficulty caused by soft terrain or uneven terrain. 
   Use of unit  10  can be understood from the teaching of the foregoing disclosure and thus will not be presented in detail. A user throws a ball, such as a baseball, into target net  40 . The ball rolls down the target net into the chute unit and is guided to entrance port  84  through which it passes. Guide plate  120  guides the ball to entrance location  112  of the belts. The belts are moving and frictionally engage the ball and move it toward exit port  86 . The ball is then ejected from unit  10  through ball ejecting tube  90 . If the tube is angled upwardly as shown in  FIG. 2 , the ball will move in a trajectory above the ground back to the user. If the tube is angled downwardly, the ball will move along the ground back to the user. The user can thus practice his or her fielding skills. 
   While various embodiments of the invention have been described, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that many more embodiments and implementations are possible within the scope of this invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be restricted except in light of the attached claims and their equivalents.