Volleyball spiking tee

A volleyball storage and dispensing device, including a storage rack upon an upright post, and a ball dispensing station at its front that lightly holds a volleyball between a styrofoam stop and tips of a pair of rubber hoses.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention relates generally to aids for teaching the fundamentals of 
spiking and serving a volleyball. More specifically, it relates to 
automatic ball feeding devices. 
2. Description of Prior Art 
It is well known to those persons acquainted with the sport of volleyball 
that a teaching aid for this purpose has been developed in the past and is 
available on the market. It teaches correct arm swing, extension, approach 
and jump technique to learning players and corrects poor habits of 
advanced players. However, the device is a manually worked by a second 
person replacing a volleyball thereupon after each spiking action by a 
player. This is accordingly in need of an improvement. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
Therefore, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide a 
volleyball spiking tee that accomplishes all the same teaching 
fundamentals described above, and which additionally feeds the balls 
automatically so that no second person is needed for reloading the device 
after each spiking action; and which can be all done by the player alone 
before he starts to play. 
Other objects are to provide a volleyball spiking tee which is simple in 
design, inexpensive to manufacture, rugged in construction, easy to use 
and efficient in operation. 
These and other objects will be readily evident upon a study of the 
following Specification and the accompanying Drawing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
Referring now to the Drawing in greater detail, the reference numeral 10 
represents a volleyball spiking tee incorporating the invention wherein 
there is a cage or rack 11 upon which a plurality of volleyballs 12 are 
stored in a row. The rack is made from several spaced apart, generally 
"U"-shaped ribs 13 and which are attached to a plurality of elongated rods 
14 extending thereacross. The ribs and rods are made of anodized aluminum 
and the attachment may be made by weld. The rack thus forms a chute or 
trough in which the balls are supported. 
The rack is supported in elevated position upon a downwardly extending post 
assembly 15 that includes a pair of small flat plates 16 between which a 
portion of the lower rods are sandwiched and the plates are bolted 
together by bolts 17 extending therebetween. A vertically downward sleeve 
18 is welded to an underside of the lower plate which extends horizontally 
thereupon. A spacer 19 is placed between the rear portion of the lower 
plate and an underside of the frame so that the frame thus inclines 
downwardly toward its front at approximately eight degrees so that the 
balls roll freely toward the front end. 
A ball dispensing unit 20 is formed at the front end of the rack by means 
of the lowermost rods being longer so to form a pair of forwardly 
extending, equally spaced apart, track rails 21 upon which the balls can 
roll. A forward terminal end of the rails are slightly bent arcuately 
downward, and a rubber hose 22 is slid on each, the hoses projecting a 
short distance beyond the rod ends, as shown, for the balls to roll 
thereacross. Also the uppermost rods are made longer so to form a pair of 
forwardly extending arms 23 which at their terminal end are "U"-shaped and 
converge together for being inserted into an end of a cylindrically shaped 
stopper 24 made of styrofoam, and which serves to stop the forwardly 
rolling ball and hold it therebetween and upon the tips of the hoses which 
are spaced at proper distance therefrom for preventing the ball to drop 
down therebetween during the free roll of the ball, but from which it can 
be readily dislodged by the player during a playing action. 
After a ball is thus removed, a next ball resting thereagainst, 
automatically rolls down into the discharging seat 25 formed between the 
face of the stopper and the hose tips. 
The invention also includes means for a person to move a group of balls out 
of the rack storage area 26 and into the discharge area 27 ready for 
automatically feeding to the discharge seat. This includes a tension coil 
spring 28 attached across the rib at the exit end of the rack, and a nylon 
cord 29 attached to the center of the spring extending through an eyelet 
30 on a cross-bar 31 between the upper ends of the rib, so that when the 
cord is pulled, the spring is lifted up out of the way, allowing balls to 
roll out of the rack. 
The post assembly also includes a post 32 insertable into the sleeve 18, 
the post including a post adjustment handle 33 on a side plate 34 attached 
on a side of the post. 
While various changes may be made in the detail construction, it is 
understood that such changes will be within the spirit and scope of the 
present invention as is defined by the appended claims.