Abstract:
A system and method for pitching balls, particularly round balls such as soccer balls. The system and method are flexibly designed to simulate different types of pitches including but not limited to kicks, throws, and headers. A main frame has a frame with a front panel, a rear panel and a top panel. A tubular chute is rotatably mounted in the interior portion of the main frame with a set of bearings. A pair of opposing ball throwing wheels are fitted to the rotatable tubular chute for launching the ball from the chute. Each wheel is driven by a variable speed motor that is controlled by a variable switch mounted to the main frame. A pair of caddy wheels is attached to the main frame for portability of the apparatus, along with a rear support having an adjustable extension to vary the height and angle of the rotatable tubular chute to adjust the trajectory of the ball. A ball feed chute is mounted to the main frame onto which balls are loaded to be pitched.

Description:
COPYRIGHT NOTICE 
     Portions of this disclosure contain material in which copyright is claimed by the applicant. The applicant has no objection to the copying of this material in the course of making copies of the application file or any patents that may issue on the application, but all other rights whatsoever in the copyrighted material are reserved. 
     BACKGROUND 
     This invention relates to devices and methods for practicing sports that use balls. In particular, the invention relates to simulating kicked, thrown, or headed soccer balls, or other types of balls of a similar shape such as dodge balls. 
     Practicing receiving passes and other pitches of a ball in soccer is difficult because it is hard to pitch balls on a repetitive basis with particular spins and delivery trajectories. Even the most skilled of players find it challenging to get a reasonable number of repetitions with the qualities required for training. Providing repetitions for an entire team would be impossible without a pitching device. As soccer and other ball sport clinics have proliferated, the demand for repetitive quality kicks has increased even further where skill training must be provided for hundreds of younger inexperienced players at one session. This quality repetition must also be available for even the most skilled of players, including professionals. Further, since soccer drills involve different positions they take place in different areas of the field requiring a device that can provide repetitive quality kicks that can be moved quickly and easily. Portability is critical. Portability and movability are also important in rolling such a device to storage sheds or to vehicles to be transported. 
     Currently, there are a number of devices on the market for simulating the kicking of a soccer ball for players to practice receiving kicked passes. For purposes of this disclosure, the term “soccer ball” will refer to a ball that is round shaped including a dodge ball or other round ball that is of a similar size, and the terms “kicking,” “throwing,” “pitching,” “passing” and “heading” are used interchangeably to generally describe the motion of propelling a soccer ball. Typically, soccer ball throwing devices have two spinning opposing wheels that engage the ball as it passes through the wheels and impart speed and spiral spin to the ball. These opposing wheels can be adjustably rotated in unison around a central axis to cause the ball to spin in a particular direction simulating a pass curving to the right, to the left or in a straight-ahead motion. This allows for the simulation of a right-footed kicker or a left footed kicker and the degree of spin that is imparted to the ball when it is kicked, thrown or headed. 
     A problem with prior art soccer ball pitching devices is that they tend to have severe drawbacks in that they do not offer a stable platform that can replicate ball flight in a reliably consistent manner over a significant number of pitches without failure. 
     SUMMARY 
     The present invention provides an apparatus and method for throwing soccer or other round balls that may be presented to a player or groups of players in need of rapid repetition in individual and team drills that are difficult to manually replicate repeatedly. The apparatus for pitching balls includes a main frame that comprises a front panel, a rear panel and a top panel. A rotatable tubular chute is mounted in the main frame using a set of bearings. A pair of opposing ball throwing wheels are fitted to the chute for launching the ball from the chute. Each wheel is driven by a variable speed motor that is controlled by a variable switch mounted to the main frame. A pair of caddy wheels is attached to the main frame for portability of the device, along with a rear leg having an adjustable extension to vary the height and angle of the chute to adjust the trajectory of the ball. A ball feed chute is mounted to the exterior side of the main frame onto which balls are loaded to be pitched. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       For a better understanding of the present invention, and to show more clearly how it is configured and functions, reference will now be made, by way of example, to the accompanying drawings. The drawings show embodiments of the present invention in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a front perspective view of a device to pitch balls; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a rear panel of the frame of a device to pitch balls; 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a front panel of the frame of a device to pitch balls; 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a top panel of the frame of a device to pitch balls; 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view of a control box of a device to pitch balls; 
         FIG. 6  is a cut-away perspective view of a rotatable tubular chute of a device to pitch balls; 
         FIGS. 7A-7B  are front and side views of a throwing wheel, guard and motor mounting plate of a device to pitch balls; 
         FIG. 8A  is a view of the rear assembly on a device to pitch balls; and 
         FIGS. 8B-8C  are side and perspective views of a rear assembly on a device to pitch balls; 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIG. 1  is a front perspective view of a ball pitching machine  100 . Ball pitching machine  100  has a main frame made up of a rear panel  105 , a front panel  110  and a top panel  115 . A pair of opposing ball throwing wheels  120  are mounted on either side of a rotatable tubular chute  125  that is seated in the main frame with a set of bearings  130 . Ball throwing wheels  120  preferably include a concave outer edge  710  (see  FIG. 7A ) to improve grip on a ball passing through chute  125 . Ball throwing wheels  120  are fitted to chute  125  for launching the ball from chute  125 . Each wheel  120  is driven by a variable speed motor  135  that is controlled by a variable switch  140  (See  FIG. 4 ) located in a control box  145  mounted to top panel  115  of the main frame. A pair of caddy wheels  150  is attached to the rear panel  105  of the main frame for portability of machine  100 . A rear assembly  800  (See  FIGS. 8A-C ) having a rear leg with an adjustable extension to vary the height and angle of chute  125  is used to adjust the trajectory of the ball. Ball feed chute  155  is mounted to rear assembly  800  between extendible leg  160  with handle  165  and rear panel  105  of the main frame. Balls are loaded onto ball feed chute  155  to be pitched. A DC source such as a battery (see  FIG. 8A ) or an AC source is used to power motors  135 . 
     The design of the main frame as described and shown forms an interior portion that surrounds rotatable tubular chute  125  and the throwing mechanism, and eliminates the need for a cantilevered overhang of chute  125  from which the ball exits at high speed. This provides machine  100  with a balanced and stable design that reduces kickback and absorbs the impact of the ball being launched. 
       FIGS. 2 and 3  show perspective views of rear panel  105  and front panel  110  respectively. Rear panel  105  has a base portion that forms the bottom of the main frame. A ball spin axis slot  205  allows for tubular chute  125  to be rotated to adjust the directional spin of a ball being pitched from machine  100 . Bearings  130  are positioned around the outside of rotatable tubular chute  125  on panels  105 ,  110  to hold rotatable tubular chute  125  in place and facilitate rotation. The number of bearings  130  may be any number that is appropriate to hold chute  125  in place and ease rotation. It has been found that including, for example, six bearings  130  function well with three on rear panel  105  and three on front panel  110  configured with two bearings below and supporting rotatable tubular chute  125  on each panel and one above chute  125  on each panel to effectively centers tubular chute  125  in the main frame. A wire clamp  210  holds control wires in place that run from control box  145  to motors  135 . 
     Rear panel  105  and front panel  110  have corresponding openings  215   a, b  which align with rotatable tubular chute  125  when the main frame is assembled and through which a ball passes to be pitched. Front panel  110  is attached to rear panel by a set of screws or rivets at attachment points “A” on each panel. Extendible leg  160  is also attached to rear panel  105  at leg attachment points  220  and top panel  115  is attached between rear panel at attachment points  225   a  and front panel  110  at attachment points  225   b.    
       FIG. 4  is a perspective view of top panel  115 . Attachment points  225   a ,  225   b  are shown where top panel  115  is attached to rear panel  105  and front panel  110  respectively. In addition, an opening  405  is shown where control box  145  mounts to top panel  110 . 
       FIG. 5  is a perspective view of control box  145  which mounts to top panel  115 . In control box  145  is a pair of electronic variable switch knobs  140 , each of which provides input to a corresponding electronic controller  505 . Each controller  505 , in turn, controls the speed of a corresponding variable speed motor  135  for pitching the ball from rotatable tubular chute  125 . In the embodiment of  FIG. 4 , switches  140  are shown as dials, but it should be understood that switches  140  may be replaced with any type of adjustable switch including but not limited to a sliding switch, a push button switch, or an electronic switch. As the speed of motors  135  is increased, the distance and spin of the ball pitched from chute  125  is increased. A power source gauge  510  is included in control box  145  for indicating to an operator of machine  100  the level of charge left in the battery that powers motors  135 . 
       FIG. 6  is a cut-away perspective view of rotatable tubular chute  125  of machine  100 . A spin axis handle  605  with a screw  610  passes through rear ball spin axis slot  205  on rear panel  105  and is threaded into spin lock flange  615  mounted on the side of chute  125 . When handle  605  is loose, chute  125  rotates in either direction to adjust the direction of the spin applied to the ball as it exits chute  125 . Once an operator has rotated chute  125  into the desired position, handle  605  is turned to tighten screw  610  in spin lock flange  615  and lock chute  125  into that position. The rotational position of chute  125  is infinitely adjustable in spin axis slot  205 . With chute  125  locked in position, the direction of spin is repeated for all balls pitched until chute  125  is adjusted to a new position. 
     Mounted on chute  125  are four motor mount flanges  620 , two of which are visible on the outside of chute  125  in  FIG. 6 , in close proximity to throwing wheel aperture  625  through which a portion of throwing wheel  120  extends to contact a ball passing through chute  125 . A second pair of motor mount flanges  620  are positioned on the opposite side of chute  125  in close proximity to a second throwing wheel aperture  625 . Mounted to each pair of motor mount flanges  620  is a motor mount plate  630 . Plate  630  has adjustment holes “C” so that motors  135  may be moved in one direction or the other to further extend or pull back throwing wheels  120  through apertures  625 . Adjusting the position of throwing wheels  120  increases or decreases the pressure of ball throwing wheels  120  or the pinch applied between throwing wheels  120  to a ball passing through chute  125 . Additional holes “D” accept motor mount aligning pin  635 , which is positioned accordingly to accommodate different sized balls, or balls of the same size with different levels of air pressure. A motor  135  is attached to each motor mounting plate  630  on which throwing wheels  120  are mounted. 
     At either end of rotatable tubular chute  125  on the exterior radial surface is affixed a rotation ring  640 . Rotation ring  640  may be approximately the width and height of one of the bearings and may be formed of either a rigid metal or plastic material. The use of rotation ring  640  at either end of chute  125  works in conjunction with the surface engaging bearings  130  by providing a truly rounded component to facilitate rotation of rotatable tubular chute  125 . 
       FIGS. 7A and 7B  are front and side views of a throwing wheel  120  respectively, throwing wheel guard  705  and motor mounting plate  630  of the device to pitch balls. As is seen in  FIG. 7A  a throwing wheel  120  attached to the shaft of each motor  135 . Each throwing wheel  120  and motor  135  pair is shielded by a throwing wheel guard  705  to protect the operator and anyone else coming near machine  100  when it is in operation and throwing wheels  120  are moving at high speed. With wheel guards  705  in place, the only portion of throwing wheels  120  that is exposed is inside of rotatable tubular chute  125  where the concave edge surface  710  of throwing wheels  120  contacts and launches a ball passing through rotatable tubular chute  125 . 
       FIGS. 8A-8C  show views of rear assembly  800  on the device to pitch balls. Rear assembly  800  has a housing  805  for holding a power source  810  such as a 12 volt battery for powering motors  135 . The battery may be the type used in an automobile and may be rechargeable using a charging attachment  830  that may be built into housing  805  and may be plugged into a standard 120 volt AC wall outlet (cord not shown) when machine  100  is not in use. A removable and adjustable rear leg  160  has an extension  815  with a foot  820  that telescopes from the bottom of leg  160  by loosening and then tightening handle  825 . Raising or lowering leg extension  815  adjusts the angle of chute  125  and, in turn, the trajectory of the ball as it exits rotatable tubular chute  125 . Handle  165  is used to facilitate the rolling of machine  100 . Ball feed chute  155  is used to load balls which roll down chute  155  and into tubular chute  125  to be pitched. Handle  605  for adjusting the rotational angle of tubular chute  125  is also visible in spin axis slot  205 , as is control box  145  and control knob  140 . 
     Detachment of rear assembly  800  from rear panel  105  is accomplished by tilting machine  100  onto the angled front portion of top frame  115 . Once machine  100  is tilted, quick pin  840  is released and engagement clips (not shown) on the front of housing  805  are slid out of attachment points  220  on rear panel  105 . Ball feed chute  155 , which includes a pair of curved roller rods  835  on which a ball descends into chute  125  are attached to leg  160  and housing  805 . The entire rear assembly  800  may be quickly and easily removed for portability and transport. 
     A camera (not shown) may be used to capture either or both still images and/or video recordings of players receiving balls pitched by ball pitching machine  100 . A controller connected to a sensor on motors  135  can transmit signals to the camera at a time when a ball is sensed to turn on as a ball is being pitched through and including a time period for reception of a pitch. A series of still images or a video recording may later be reviewed and analyzed by coaches and players so that a player can improve different aspects of play. The images may be stored on the camera or in a memory connected to the controller where they may be accessed through a connection port such as a standard USB port, or connected for transmission over a network as desired by a user. 
     The operation of machine  100  will now be described. First, the operator turns on machine  100  using variable switches  140 . Each motor  135  is adjusted to the desired speed using switches  140 . If both motors  135  are set to the same speed, the ball being pitched will have no spin. If one motor is spinning faster than the other motor, spin will be imparted to the ball as it is launched in a particular direction depending on which motor is spinning faster. The arc of the spin will be greater as the difference in the speeds of the motors is increased. The operator adjusts the axis of spin and the resulting trajectory of the ball by rotating tubular chute  125 . This is accomplished by loosening handle  605  and rotating chute  125  on bearings  130  until the desired position of handle  605  is reached in slot  205 . Handle  605  is then tightened to hold chute  125  in the desired position. A ball is then placed at the top of ball feed chute  155  where it rolls down on curved roller rods  835  until it reaches opening  215   a  in rear panel. It passes through opening  215   a  and enters tubular chute  125 . As it rolls into chute  125  it reaches opposing throwing wheels  120 , the edges of which extend through apertures  625  into the cylindrical space within rotatable tubular chute  125 . As the ball passes between opposing throwing wheels  120  in chute  125 , it is pinched and pitched by the action of wheels  120  out through chute  125  and through opening  215   b  in front panel  110 . 
     While the invention has been described with respect to the  FIGS. 1-8 , it will be appreciated that many modifications and changes may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. Any variation and derivation from the above description and drawings are included in the scope of the present invention as defined by the claims.