Patent Publication Number: US-2006019773-A1

Title: Baseball tee

Description:
BACKGROUND  
      Baseball tees have long been used to support a baseball while a batter swings a bat at the ball. Such baseball tees have traditionally comprised a base, vertical tubing secured at one end to a base, and ball holder at the other end of the vertical tubing. Baseball tees have been particularly useful for batting practice.  
     BRIEF SUMMARY  
      This invention relates to baseball tees. In a preferred embodiment, a baseball tee includes a wrapped ball holder secured to a top end of a slip tube. The bottom end of the slip tube fits into the top end of a compression nut. The bottom end of the compression nut is secured to a top of a vertical stem whose bottom end is secured to a base. The compression nut compresses a gripper ring against the slip tube such that the slip tube may slide up and down with respect to the vertical stem while a force is applied to the slip tube, but otherwise the slip tube stays in place with respect to the vertical stem. The top end of the slip tube may be rounded to protect the ball holder as it is struck and forced against the top end of the slip tube. The bottom end of the vertical stem may be secured to the base off center. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a baseball tee.  
       FIG. 2  illustrates the pattern of a sheet from which the ball holder of  FIG. 1  may be made.  
       FIG. 3  illustrates the ball holder and slip tube of the baseball tee of  FIG. 1 .  
       FIG. 4  illustrates the slip tube, compression nut, and vertical stem of the baseball tee of  FIG. 1 .  
       FIG. 5  illustrates the slip tube, gripper ring, and compression bushing of  FIG. 4 .  
       FIG. 6  illustrates the base of the baseball tee of  FIG. 1 .  
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS  
      Although this specification describes exemplary embodiments and applications of the invention, the invention is not limited to these exemplary embodiments and applications or to the manner in which the exemplary embodiments and applications operate or are described herein.  
       FIG. 1  illustrates a tee  100  for supporting a ball (e.g., a baseball). The tee  100  may be used to support a ball (not shown) while a batter strikes the ball with a bat (not shown). The tee  100  includes a ball holder  102 , which may be made of a sheet of flexible material that is rolled into the general form of a cone to form a cup  101  for supporting the ball (not shown). The sheet may be made of any of a variety of materials, may be any of a variety of sizes, and may be cut into any of a variety of shapes. For example, the sheet may be a rubber sheet, the sheet may be approximately 1/16 of an inch in thickness, and the sheet may be cut into the shape  352  shown in  FIG. 2 . The foregoing are exemplary only, however, and other materials, thicknesses, and shapes may be used. With missing corner  356 , the sheet shown in  FIG. 2  is preferably rolled from side  354 .  
      As shown in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 3 , a bottom portion  105  of the ball holder  102  is fitted over and secured to a top portion  202  of a slip tube  106 . As shown in  FIG. 3  and as will be discussed below, the top portion of  202  of the slip tube  106  may be rounded (e.g., spherical). The ball holder  102  may be secured to the slip tube  106  by a fastening member  104 , which may be any device suitable for securing the ball holder  102  to the slip tube  106 . For example, the fastening member  104  may be a twisted wire, elastic band, etc. An adhesive (e.g., tape, glue, etc.) (not shown) may alternatively or additionally be used to secure the ball holder  102  to the slip tube  106 .  
      As shown in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 4 , a bottom portion  204  of the slip tube  106  fits into a top opening  302  of a compression nut  108 . As also shown in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 4 , and as will be described in more detail below, the bottom portion  204  of the slip tube  106  also fits into one or more compression devices (e.g.,  306  and  308  in  FIG. 4 ), which hold the slip tube  106  in place with respect to a vertical stem  110  while allowing the slip tube  106  to slide up and down when a sufficient force is applied to the slip tube  106 . A bottom opening  304  in the compression nut  108  fits over a top portion  310  of the vertical stem  110 . As shown in  FIG. 4 , the top portion  310  of the vertical stem  110  may be threaded, and the inside of the bottom portion  304  of the compression nut  108  may have matching threads. Thus, the compression nut  108  may be secured to the vertical stem  110  by threading. Alternatively, the compression nut  108  may simply slide onto the top portion  310  (which need not be threaded) of the vertical stem  110  and be held in place by gravity and/or a friction fit or other securing mechanisms.  
      As shown in  FIG. 5 , an inner portion of the gripper ring  306  includes concave teeth  307 . As the compression nut  108  is fit over (e.g., threaded onto), the top portion  310  of the vertical stem  110 , the compression nut  108  compresses a compression bushing  308 , which compresses the teeth  307  of the gripper ring  306  against the side  502  of the slip tube  106 . (The gripper ring and compression bushing may be made of any durable material, including without limitation metal, stainless steel, nylon, plastic, etc.) As mentioned above, the gripper ring  306  thus holds the slip tube  106  in place with respect to the vertical stem  110  while allowing the slip tube  106  to slide up and down when a sufficient force is applied to the slip tube  106 . Thus, a user may grasp the slip tube  106  and move it up or down with respect to the vertical stem  110 , but once the user stops applying pressure to the slip tube  106 , the slip tube  106  will stay in place with respect to the vertical stem  110 . The position of the top  101  of the ball holder  102  may thus be adjusted with respect to the base  112 , allowing a user to adjust the height of a ball (not shown).  
      Referring again to  FIG. 1 , the vertical stem  110  is secured to a base  112 , which may be made from any durable material (e.g., wood, metal, plastic, polyprophylene, etc.). The vertical stem  110  may be secured to the base  112  in any suitable way. For example, a threaded bolt (not shown) may extend through the base into a correspondingly threaded opening (not shown) in the bottom of the vertical stem  110 . As another example, the bottom of the vertical stem  110  may thread into corresponding threads in or secured to the base  112 . The base  112  is placed on the ground or floor.  
      The slip tube  106 , the compression nut  108 , and the vertical stem  110  may be generally tube shaped. Preferably, all three members are made of a durable material. For example, the slip tube  106 , the compression nut  108 , and/or the vertical stem  110  may be made of a durable plastic or steel and may optionally be covered with a protective covering (e.g., polyolefin).  
      As shown in  FIG. 3 , the top portion  202  of the slip tube  106  is preferably rounded. If the ball holder  102  is struck (e.g.,  210 ), the ball holder  102  tends to rotate about the top portion  202  of the slip tube  106 . Because the top portion  202  is rounded, little to no damage is done to the ball holder  102  as it rotates about and impacts the top portion  202  of the slip tube  106 . Optionally, and as shown in  FIG. 3 , the top portion  202  may have a diameter that is greater than a diameter of the slip tube  106 , which may facilitate securing the ball holder  102  to the slip tube  106 . The top portion  202  may be formed integrally with the slip tube  106  or may be formed separately and attached to the slip tube  106 . For example, the top portion  202  may be heat molded to the slip tube  106 . Alternatively, the top portion  202  of slip tube  106  may be molded on a rounded molding piece, which may be left in place to form part of the top portion  202 .  
      As shown in  FIG. 6 , the vertical stem  110  is preferably secured to the base  112  away from the center  406  of the base  112 . (In  FIG. 6 , the center  406  is defined by horizontal center axis  404  and vertical center axis  402 , where horizontal and vertical are relative directions with respect to the swing path  408  of a bat.) This improves the stability of the tee  100 , and in particular, reduces the likelihood that the tee  100  will tip over even if the ball holder  102  is struck. Although the location of the vertical stem  110  with respect to the base  112  is shown in  FIG. 6  as being along the vertical center axis  402  above the horizontal vertical axis  404 , the off-center location may be anywhere on the base  112 . Moreover, the vertical stem  110  may alternatively be located at the center  406  of the base  112 .  
      Although exemplary embodiments and applications of the invention have been described herein, there is no intention that the invention be limited to these exemplary embodiments and applications or to the manner in which the exemplary embodiments and applications operate or are described herein. Rather, many variations and modifications to the exemplary embodiments are possible.