Abstract:
The invention relates to a device for training batters comprising a stand, a housing coupled to the stand and a plurality of lights disposed in the housing. There is also at least one processor in electrical communication with the lights for controlling the turning on and off of each of the plurality of lights to indicate that a pitch has been thrown. This device can also include a power supply in communication with the processor and the lights. The power supply can be a battery or any other Direct Current (DC) apparatus or an Alternating Current (AC) type device such as a plug into an outlet. The power supply can be used along with the processor to turn the lights on and off. To assist the power-supply and the processor there is a switch which is in communication with the processor and the plurality of lights. This switch is for turning on and off at least one of the plurality of lights.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The present invention relates to a batting trainer that can be used to train a batter to hit a ball using a plurality of lights.  
         [0003]     2. The Prior Art  
         [0004]     Batting trainers are known in the art. For example, the following U.S. patents disclose sports training devices wherein at least one of these references is a batting trainer: U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,142,171; 1,170,467; 5,605,326, 4,461,477; 4,461,475; 5,711,726; 5,833,549 all incorporated herein by reference.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0005]     The invention relates to a device for training batters comprising a stand, a housing coupled to the stand and a plurality of lights disposed in the housing.  
         [0006]     There is also at least one processor in electrical communication with the lights for controlling the turning on and off of each of the lights to indicate that a pitch has been thrown. This device can also include a power supply in communication with the processor and the lights. The power supply can be a battery or any other Direct Current (DC) apparatus or an Alternating Current (AC) type device such as a plug into an outlet. The power supply can be used along with the processor to turn the lights on and off. To assist the power supply and the processor there is a switch which is in communication with the processor and the lights. This switch is for turning on and off at least one of the lights.  
         [0007]     There can be at least one area sensor disposed in the housing and in communication with the processor. This type of area sensor can be in the form of an area sensor shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,196,932 to Marsh et al incorporated herein by reference. Other sensor systems are also known such as from U.S. Pat. No. 4,659,090 to Kustanovich; U.S. Pat. No. 5,757,266 to Rider et al; U.S. Pat. No. 5,209,483 to Gedney et al all incorporated herein by reference. This sensor is for detecting whether the housing has been struck by a bat. There can also be an array of multiple sensors wherein each sensor is associated with or is disposed adjacent to each of the lights. Thus, when a light lights up, and the user strikes the light with the sensor, then there is an indication sent from the sensor to the processor to indicate that the light has been struck.  
         [0008]     This housing has a front surface facing a user and the sensor or sensor array is for detecting whether the front surface of the housing is hit by the user.  
         [0009]     The sensors are positioned in this housing so that they contact a front face of the housing particularly in the area of the lights. Thus, the sensors sense when either one of the lights is struck by a user or whether the housing is struck in a region of the light.  
         [0010]     The user can strike the front face of the housing which faces the user when the device is in use, and wherein the lights are positioned in an exposed manner in the housing so that when the light is turned on, light from these lights extends out of the front face so that the user has an indication of a pitch being thrown. In one embodiment, the lights are recessed in the housing with each sensor being positioned on the front face and around each of the lights. In another embodiment, coverings for the lights extend outside of the housing and are made from a resilient material such as a flexible plastic.  
         [0011]     This device can also comprise at least one indicator or indicia marking, indicating different sections of the front face of the housing, wherein at least one of the indicators can indicate a strike zone for the user.  
         [0012]     There is also a connecting arm coupling the housing to the stand. So that this device can receive a strong impact from a bat, this device can also include hinge coupling the connecting arm to the stand. Inside or coupled to the hinge can be a spring for biasing the housing in an upright position. This spring is of sufficient strength to keep the housing in this upright manner when it is not struck by the user&#39;s bat.  
         [0013]     In addition, to keep this housing in this upright position, the stand is counter-weighted against the housing so that when the housing is struck, it does not fall end over end. Alternatively, this stand could be secured to a floor so that when the housing is struck, it does not fall over.  
         [0014]     This device can also optionally include a sensor in communication with the processor for determining a force of impact on the housing by the user striking the housing with a bat. This sensor can be coupled to the hinge wherein the sensor determines the force applied to the housing by determining a movement in the hinge in response to the housing being hit by the user. The device calculates this applied force by correlating the rotational distance traveled by the housing on the hinge, vs. the counteracting force of the spring on the hinge. This information is sent from the sensor to the processor to create this determination.  
         [0015]     This device can also include a scoreboard coupled to the housing, wherein the scoreboard is in communication with the processor. This scoreboard can give the pitch count as well as the batting average or actually keep track of an actual baseball game being played between the user and this system.  
         [0016]     This device can also include a memory unit, which is in communication with the processor, this memory unit is for storing a set of instructions to the processor and it can also store previous readings from the sensors including a batting average and the force created by each bat striking the front surface of the housing. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0017]     Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description considered in connection with the accompanying drawings. It should be understood, however, that the drawings are designed for the purpose of illustration only and not as a definition of the limits of the invention.  
         [0018]     In the drawings, wherein similar reference characters denote similar elements throughout the several views:  
         [0019]      FIG. 1  shows a side perspective view of a first embodiment of the invention;  
         [0020]      FIG. 2  shows a schematic block diagram of a set of electronic components associated with the invention;  
         [0021]      FIG. 3A  shows a grid for the control of lights which includes switches;  
         [0022]      FIG. 3B  shows an electronic grid for the reading of sensors;  
         [0023]      FIG. 4  shows a front view of the housing associated with the invention;  
         [0024]      FIG. 5  shows a top view of a user using one embodiment of the device; and  
         [0025]      FIG. 6  is a side view of the user using the device as shown in  FIG. 5 . 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0026]     Referring to the drawings,  FIG. 1  shows a perspective view of a device  10  for training batters which includes a housing or box  20 , a plurality of lights  22  which are used as indicators disposed in the housing, a stand or base  50  and a support arm  30  which can extend vertically, coupling the stand to the housing. Support arm  30  can be in the form of a telescoping support arm. This support arm can be optionally coupled to the stand via a hinge or rotator  40 . This hinge is a rotating hinge that includes a spring force mechanism  45  which can also include a piezoelectric sensor which biases support arm  30  having a telescoping member  35  and housing  20  in an upright position and detects the force placed on housing  20  when it is struck.  
         [0027]     Essentially, housing  20  can be made from one or more different resilient components including plastic, rubber, metal or any other known resilient material. For example, housing  20  could be made from a metal such as steel and then coated with rubber to reduce the shock to a person&#39;s system when hitting housing  20 .  
         [0028]     With this design, lights  22  are disposed in housing  20  with the outside cover of the light either recessed inside of the housing, or extending out of housing  20 . Lights  22  can be made from a resilient material as well, including a resilient plastic and can be in any form such as an LED light which is in a preferred form, a bulb or any other type light known in the art. This type of resilient plastic could also be flexible so that it absorbs the shock of being hit by a baseball bat. In addition, this design can have optional wheels  47  coupled to one end of stand  50  on either side of this stand  50  with the opposite side not shown wherein these wheels are shown by dashed lines. Wheels  47  allow the device to be portable so that it can be wheeled from one area to another. To ease in the wheeling of this device there is also a handle  51  coupled to housing  20 . In addition there is also a coupling mechanism  53  which allows stand  50  to be secured to the ground. Coupling mechanism  53  can be in the form of a hook or a lock which locks to an adjacent hook or lock on the ground to keep stand  50  from flipping up when housing  20  is struck with a bat. Since the wheels, the handle and the coupling mechanism are optional features, other embodiments need not include these components.  
         [0029]      FIG. 2  shows a schematic block diagram of a set of electronic components  60  for device  10  wherein this set of electronic components, can in a first embodiment, be housed in housing  20 . In another embodiment, lights  22  are disposed inside of housing  20 , while area sensor  68  is disposed in housing  20 , but central processor  62 , switches  63 , power sensor  65  and power unit  66 , and memory  67  are disposed in stand  50 . In addition, as shown in  FIG. 4 , a scoreboard  64  is optionally connected to a top section of housing  20  to display a pitch count or a hitting tally of the user.  
         [0030]     Essentially, electronic components operate as follows: central processor or computing element  62  receives a set of instructions from memory  67  which can be in the form of RAM (Random Access Memory) or flash memory for controlling lights  22 , area sensor  68 , power sensor  65 , power unit  66 , switches  63  and scoreboard  64 . The instructions in memory  67  are in the form of a program wherein this program through processor  62  controls which of lights  22  are illuminated and the duration of that illumination.  
         [0031]     Power sensor  65  is in the form of a piezoelectric sensor which can be inserted into a spring force mechanism for reading the spring forces from a batter hitting housing or box  20 . As housing  20  is hit it rotates against stand  50  so that support arm rotates for example in a substantially clockwise manner so that it rotates and the distance traveled by housing  20  and the force placed on spring force mechanism  45  in this rotating manner registers a signal which is sent either through a wire or wirelessly to processor  62 .  
         [0032]     One of the instructions fed into processor  62  is to control the switching on and off of a selected light  22  shown in  FIG. 3A . In this case, as shown in  FIG. 3A  lights  22  are disposed in a matrix  31  wherein each light is identified by its location in matrix  31  having lines  33  which intersect at points to provide a point for switch  63 .  
         [0033]     Thus, each light  22  in housing  20  can have a switch  63  associated with it so that processor  62  can selectively turn on or off light  22 . This switch may be located adjacent to the light and in electrical communication with electrical wires feeding into light  22  to control the switching on and off of the light. Each switch has a singular identity which is stored in memory  67  to identify each light location. Thus, processor can then send a signal to each switch to turn on or off a particular light. In this case, processor  62  can have a series of instructions to randomly select one of lights  22  in either a random order or in a select order. Processor  62  can also control the duration of the illumination of that particular light. For example, to simulate a slower pitch, the light would stay illuminated for a longer period of time. However, to simulate a faster pitch, the light would stay illuminated for a shorter period of time.  
         [0034]      FIG. 3B  shows the matrix with area sensors  68  disposed therein. These area sensors also each have an identity to them wherein the identity of these sensors is stored in memory  67  as well. Thus, when any one of sensors  68  is struck, it sends a signal back to processor  62  which along with memory  67  identifies the location of the bat strike so that it can register whether a user has struck the region associated with the light, or whether the user has missed the region associated with a particular light. In this case, processor  62  also tracks whether the region associated with a particular light  22  is struck at a particular time so as to indicate that the user struck a ball.  
         [0035]      FIG. 4  shows housing  20  which has the various regions for lights  22  disposed in housing  20 . For example,  FIG. 4  shows that housing  20  includes a strike zone  24  and also many different regions or sections disposed around a periphery of the strike zone. For example, strike zone  24  is formed as a 3×4 box matrix of lights in a center region of housing  20 . First peripheral region or corner region  23  is disposed in a top left corner and is formed as a 3×2 matrix box of lights which overlaps strike zone  24 . Second peripheral or corner region  25  is disposed in a top right corner and is formed as a 3×2 matrix box of lights overlapping strike zone  24 . Third peripheral or corner region  27  is disposed in a bottom left corner and is formed as a 3×2 matrix box of lights overlapping strike zone  24 . Finally, fourth peripheral or corner region  29  is disposed in a lower right corner and is formed as a 3×2 matrix box of lights overlapping strike zone  24 .  
         [0036]     With these sections, a user can instruct processor  62  to control or favor the area selected so that all of the lights or a greater number of the lights that light up will be in one of the selected areas. This feature allows a hitter who is practicing his ability to hit a ball in a particular region, to weight the occurrence of pitches in that particular region. This device can also include a selector such as an adjustment knob  80  to weight the occurrence of pitches in these regions. The adjustment knob can be set so that a greater percentage of lights light up in a particular region vs. another set of lights.  
         [0037]     In this embodiment, disposed on top of housing  20  is an additional light or indicator  90  which lights up to indicate the start of a pitcher&#39;s pitch. This additional light is in electrical communication with switches  63 , and also in communication with processor  62  so that processor  62  controls when additional light lights up and the time period between when additional light or indicator  90  is turned on and when the selected one of lights  22  turns on to indicate a pitch crossing a plate.  
         [0038]     The process occurs as follows: the user sets the appropriate settings for his or her skill level using selectors or adjustment knobs  80  and  82 . The first selector  80  is for setting the areas for the pitches to be located. The user can select to have all, or a certain percentage of the pitches or lights associated with the pitches to occur within strike zone  24 , or in one of the peripheral regions  23 ,  25 ,  27  or  29 . In this way, the user can work on hitting a ball in a particular area that a pitcher may pitch. For example, if the user was a right handed batter and typically struggled with hitting balls that were “high and tight” which is baseball terminology for pitches in peripheral zone  23 , then that user could select to have a disproportionate number of lights lighting up in region  23  to indicate that a pitch was thrown in that region. If that same batter struggled with hitting pitches that were “low and away” and wanted to work on hitting balls in that region, the user could select to have processor  62  to favor pitches in peripheral region  29 .  
         [0039]     The user could also select the speed at which the pitches would occur using selector  82 . This selector would be used to determine the time period for lighting up the light selected by processor  62  and also for the time period between the illumination of additional light  90 , which indicates when a pitcher is throwing a pitch, and the time period when the selected one of lights  22  is lit.  
         [0040]     Thus, if a user struggled with hitting extremely fast fast-balls, the user could select to have device  10  to imitate the timing for a 95 mph fastball over a plate. Thus, the timing between when additional light  90  is lit and the selected one of lights  22  is lit would be dramatically shortened and also the time period for the duration of the selected one of lights  22  being lit would be dramatically shortened when compared to a pitch that was representative of an 85 mph fastball. Thus, the user has some flexibility in selecting the timing and also the placement of pitches with respect to front face  21  of housing  20 .  
         [0041]     As the user swings his or her bat, the user attempts to strike front face  21  of housing  20  in a region where the selected one of lights  22  is lit. The selected one of lights  22  is lit to indicate the time period that the ball is in flight and also the region of flight of the ball. If for any reason the user hits a light or even the selected light before it is lit, then it is not recorded as a hit in processor  62  and is not shown in scoreboard  64 . If the user strikes the light when it is lit, then this is termed a hit in processor  62  and scoreboard  64 .  
         [0042]     In another embodiment of the invention, there is a distance indicator or light series  92  disposed on-top of housing  20 , wherein distance indicator  92  includes a plurality of lights including an initial light  94  indicating the time period when the pitch leaves the pitchers hand and another adjacent light  96  indicating when the pitch starts to cross a user&#39;s plate. For example, when the pitch is released a light on the left hand side of the plurality of lights or initial light  94  first lights up and then an adjacent light lights up, followed by the next one all the way to the right most light. The light  96  just one place to the left of the right most light is lit indicating the time period that the ball would start to cross the plate. This indicator  92  is thus used to help the user perfect his or her timing on hitting a baseball.  
         [0043]     If the ball has been struck, wherein the user strikes a sensor in a vicinity of a lit light during the time period allowed for hitting the ball, then this information is sent to processor  62  which then sends instructions on to scoreboard  64  to indicate a hit. If the user hits a region other than the region indicating where a ball has been thrown then that sensor that has been struck sends a signal to processor  62  which then forwards this information-onto scoreboard  64  in the form of a strike. In addition, of a pitch has been indicated inside of the strike zone  24  and the user does not-swing or the user does not hit the sensor in time, then this pitch is indicated as a strike on scoreboard  64 . If the pitch is located outside of the strike zone  24  and the user does not swing then this-pitch is indicated as a ball on scoreboard  64 . Just as in baseball, if in a single turn at bat the user receives four balls before he receives three strikes then this is recorded as a walk on scoreboard  64  and the pitch count starts over again with a new batter. In addition if the user either gets a hit or strikes out, then the scoreboard indicates this feature on the board and the pitch count starts over again.  
         [0044]      FIG. 5  discloses a top view of the device substantially shown in  FIG. 1  which shows a home plate  100  which is disposed adjacent to stand  50  which can be embedded into an adjacent floor for additional stability. In addition, housing  20  is shown rotated vs. the position of the batter so that the bat can strike housing  20  with the bat positioned at an angle so as to not hit housing  20  with only a small portion of the bat.  
         [0045]      FIG. 6  shows a side view of the device  10  wherein housing  20  is rotated as shown in  FIG. 5  as well. With this view, the batter is starting his swing to hit a particular light  22  and then have this information be registered in scoreboard  64 . Essentially, housing  20  is rotatably coupled to support arm  30  on a hinge  32  so that housing  20  can rotate either before being hit, or once hit by a bat. In that way, the bat hits flush against housing  20 . Thus, with this design, the user can develop his or her reaction time and coordination to a pitch.  
         [0046]     Accordingly, while at least one embodiment of the present invention have been shown and described, it is to be understood that many changes and modifications may be made thereunto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.