Abstract:
A pitching assistance device resembles a home plate with a coiled measuring element stored therein. The measuring element may be selectively extended from the home plate structure to measure off a predefined distance, such as the regulation distance between a pitching mound and a home plate. Once measured, the distance may then be used by a pitcher for warming up or the creation of an improvised bullpen.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The present invention relates to a device to assist pitchers in warming up before a game.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    Across America the spring and summer months bring a flurry of activity on baseball and softball fields. From Little League™ teams, to high school teams, to recreational summer leagues, people of all ages hit the fields for a bit of sport and relaxation. While the professional fields and many college fields have real bullpens, most high school and recreational fields do not have any sort of dedicated area which a pitcher can use to warm up before entering the game.  
           [0003]    Further complicating matters for pitchers is the need to position themselves a requisite distance from a device symbolizing a home plate so that they warm up using the distance that they will be required to throw the ball during the game. While some recreational leagues are more social than competitive, this lack of a bullpen is disruptive for competitive Little League™, middle school, high school, and college teams.  
           [0004]    Several devices have been proposed for laying out a ball field, but these devices are typically cumbersome and too complex for the creation of a temporary bullpen. Exemplary devices of this sort are illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,160,324; 4,978,121; 5,556,090; and 5,803,841.  
           [0005]    As another alternative, coaches or pitchers may bring a measuring tape with them to the game so that they can measure out an impromptu bullpen. Because of the distances involved between a typical pitching mound and the home plate, these measuring devices are usually purchased from the same sort that surveyors, real estate agents, and the like use for measuring yards, buildings and the like. While such measuring tapes are adequate for many purposes, there is still a need for a device that simply and efficiently allows the creation of an impromptu bullpen so that pitchers may warm up using a proper mimicry of a pitching mound to home plate distance.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0006]    The present invention addresses the need in the baseball/softball community for an impromptu bullpen by combining a home plate structure with a tape measure. The tape measure is preferably coiled within the home plate structure and selectively extended therefrom as needed to mark out a bullpen pitching area.  
           [0007]    The home plate structure may be a regulation size home plate, having sufficient thickness to house the tape measure. In an exemplary embodiment, the home plate structure is made from a durable plastic material, such as through a blow molding process.  
           [0008]    The measuring tape may have several embodiments, which are not necessarily mutually exclusive. The measuring tape may have several distances indicated thereon, so as to be useful for Little League™ teams, softball teams, high school baseball teams, and college teams, each of which has a different distance from the pitching mound to the home plate. The measuring tape may further be made from a number of different materials such as a weed cutting line, a cloth tape measure, a semi-rigid metallic measuring line, or the like.  
           [0009]    Those skilled in the art will appreciate the scope of the present invention and realize additional aspects thereof after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments in association with the accompanying drawing figures. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES  
       [0010]    The accompanying drawing figures incorporated in and forming a part of this specification illustrate several aspects of the invention, and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention.  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 1 illustrates a top plan view of the home plate structure of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention with the tape measure extended;  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 2 illustrates an exploded bottom perspective view of the home plate structure of FIG. 1;  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 3 illustrates an inner surface of a winding mechanism for the present invention;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 4 illustrates an alternate embodiment of a winding mechanism;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 5 illustrates a partial view of the tape measure according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention with multiple distances indicated; and  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 6 illustrates in a flow chart format the methodology of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0017]    The embodiments set forth below represent the necessary information to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention and illustrate the best mode of practicing the invention. Upon reading the following description in light of the accompanying drawing figures, those skilled in the art will understand the concepts of the invention and will recognize applications of these concepts not particularly addressed herein. It should be understood that these concepts and applications fall within the scope of the disclosure and the accompanying claims.  
         [0018]    The present invention provides a readily portable, easy to use temporary bullpen device for assisting pitchers during warm ups in locations where a predefined bullpen is not available. It is also well suited for random pitching practice where a ball field or bullpen is not readily available. To this end, an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in the accompanying figures. A pitching assistance device  10  is generally illustrated from a top plan view in FIG. 1. The pitching assistance device  10  comprises a pentagon shaped housing  12 , which is shaped to mimic a home plate structure. The rules of Major League Baseball indicate that home plate should be a seventeen inch square with two corners cut off to form a pentagon such that there is a seventeen inch side, two adjacent eight and one half inch sides, and two twelve inch sides that come together to form a point. There does not appear to be an official thickness associated with home plate, but the present invention is designed to mimic the top plan surface of an official home plate, without regard to an official thickness. The pentagon shaped housing  12  includes an axle  14  and a linear edge  16 . The linear edge  16  delimits an aperture  18  through which a measuring element  20  may be selectively extended. The presence of the measuring element  20  may cause the thickness of the pentagon shaped housing  12  to differ from that of an official home plate.  
         [0019]    As better illustrated in FIG. 2, the pentagon shaped housing  12  may further define a recess  22  surrounding the axle  14 , which may be snap fit with a winding mechanism  24 . The winding mechanism  24  cooperates with the axle  14  to house the measuring element  20  therebetween and selectively coil and uncoil the measuring element  20  for use. In an exemplary embodiment, the measuring element  20  is wound about a spool  26  which includes a slot  28  that interacts with a protuberance  30  (FIG. 3) positioned on the winding mechanism  24 . The protuberance  30  fits within the slot  28 , and as the winding mechanism  24  is rotated about the axle  14 , the protuberance  30  causes the spool  26  to rotate concurrently. This motion wraps or unwraps the measuring element  20  as is well understood. It should be appreciated that the protuberance  30  could be positioned on the spool  26  and the slot  28  could be positioned on the winding mechanism  24  if needed or desired.  
         [0020]    As can be seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, the winding mechanism  24  also includes a finger divot  32  or recess which allows a user to insert a finger or other elongate object to facilitate turning of the winding mechanism  24 .  
         [0021]    In an exemplary embodiment, the pentagon shaped housing  12 , the winding mechanism  24  and/or the spool  26  may be made from a durable material such as plastic, and, in a preferred embodiment, one or more of these elements is made from a blow molding process from recycled materials. As previously noted, the winding mechanism  24  may be snap fit into the recess  22 . Other materials and/or manufacturing techniques may be used; however, the preferred embodiment reflects a good compromise between durability, weight, and manufacturing economics.  
         [0022]    Note further that aperture  18  may be a slot (illustrated in FIG. 2) such that the measuring element  20  is exposed for a portion of the lower surface of the pentagon shaped housing  12 . Alternatively, that slot may be enclosed such that the measuring element  20  is enclosed except through aperture  18 .  
         [0023]    While a relatively simple winding mechanism  24  is illustrated in FIGS.  1 - 3 , other winding mechanisms may also be used. For example, a spring loaded winding mechanism akin to those found in conventional tape measures that are selectively actuated to retract the measuring element  20  may be used, effectively eliminating the need for manual winding of the measuring element  20 . Alternatively, a swing arm  34  as illustrated in FIG. 4 may be incorporated into the winding mechanism  24  and selectively extended around a hinge  36 . A rotatable knob  38  may assist in use of the swing arm  34 . When closed, the knob  38  may fit within a recess  40  within a cavity  42  that holds the swing arm  34  when not in use. In this manner, the swing arm  34  is flush within the cavity  42  when not in use, but is selectively extendable such that the knob  38  and swing arm  34  may be used to assist in winding the measuring element  20  when needed.  
         [0024]    The measuring element  20  is illustrated in fragmented form in FIG. 5, wherein marking indicia  44  are incorporated into the measuring element  20  to indicate certain predefined distances. In one embodiment, only one indicium  44  is used to denote a single predefined distance. For example, a distance of forty-six feet may be used to denote the defined distance between pitching mound and home plate for Little League™. Alternatively, sixty feet, six inches may be marked to denote Major League Baseball or the like. Other distances may also be used if needed or desired. In a more preferred embodiment, multiple predefined distances may be denoted by indicia  44  thereby making the pitching assistance device  10  suitable for use in multiple environments. A comprehensive list of distances to include on the measuring element is difficult, especially since official distances sometimes change from year to year. However, an exemplary, non-exhaustive list of leagues that may be covered include, but is not limited to Little League™ (both baseball and softball), Amateur Softball Association (ASA), Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) (both baseball and softball), National Softball Association, United States Specialty Sports Association (both baseball and softball), National Federation of State High School Association (both baseball and softball), National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA, both baseball and softball), Pony League (both baseball and softball), Cal Ripkin League, Babe Ruth League (baseball and softball), International Softball Federation, American Legion, and the like. These leagues and their various levels of play could all be denoted on the measuring element  20  with the indicia  44 .  
         [0025]    In the embodiment of FIG. 5, the measuring element  20  is illustrated to represent a flat, cloth or synthetic measuring tape as is sometimes used in a surveyor&#39;s measuring tape. Alternate embodiments allow for different sorts of measuring elements such as a round nylon weed trimming line, a flat semi-rigid metallic measuring line, a chain, a string, or the like. Indicia  44  may, in these alternate embodiments, be a legible marking with alphanumeric characters used to denote distances or may be knots or the like as needed or desired. In still another embodiment, color coded dots or markings could be used in conjunction with any of the different embodiments of measuring element  20 , and the color code may be duplicated with a translation table on the pentagon shaped housing  12  for ease of reference. In the event that the indicia  44  represent a more conventional tape measure with inches and feet denoted thereon, a chart indicating the appropriate distances for each class of ball field may be printed on the pentagon shaped housing  12 . Nothing precludes multiple embodiments of the indicia  44  from being used concurrently.  
         [0026]    Against the backdrop of equipment, a brief explanation of how the pitching assistance device  10  may be used may be helpful in explicating the present invention. A user purchases the present invention (block  100 ) through conventional channels such as a sporting good store, the Internet, or the like. The pitching assistance device  10  may be packed with other sporting paraphernalia for travel to a ballpark or other recreational vehicle (block  102 ). Upon reaching a situation where a pitcher needs or wants to practice pitching or warm up, the pitching assistance device  10  may be retrieved (block  104 ). The pentagon shaped housing  12  is positioned in a first location (block  106 ) and the measuring element  20  extended therefrom (block  108 ). The measuring element  20  is extended to the distance corresponding to the particular league in which the pitching is desired. Once extended, the user may mark the position and/or leave the measuring element  20  extended and begin pitching (block  110 ). In this manner, the pitcher is assured that they are throwing the ball the desired distance, even when there is not a predefined bullpen.  
         [0027]    After completion of the warm up or practice session, the pitching assistance device  10  is retrieved, such as by picking up the device  10  (block  112 ) and the measuring element  20  is wound back into the device (block  114 ) such as by rotation of the winding mechanism  24 . The pitching assistance device  10  may be placed back in a gym bag or the like until the next desired usage. As is readily apparent, the pitching assistance device  10  is readily portable and easily able to be set up in almost any location so that a pitcher may practice or warm up. Use of the device is not limited to improvised bullpens, but may also be used in a home or other recreational environment where people desire to know that they are throwing the ball a predefined distance, such as the one corresponding to the distance between a pitching mound and a home plate. Note that the methodology of FIG. 6 is purely exemplary and that other sequences of events may also occur in the normal use of the pitching assistance device  10 .  
         [0028]    Those skilled in the art will recognize improvements and modifications to the preferred embodiments of the present invention. All such improvements and modifications are considered within the scope of the concepts disclosed herein and the claims that follow.