Abstract:
A baseball practice system for training one in pitching, throwing, fielding, catching, and batting. The practice system is portable and collapsible having a removable pitching component on one side and a batting and netting on the other side. The pitching component has a strike-zone opening and one or more pockets in a catch sack in back of the strike-zone opening. The netting is of an elastic material suited to rebound a ball thrown on the netting for the purpose of practicing throwing, catching, and fielding. A ball component, attached to elastic cords, is suspended outward and downward from a forward extending member adjacent to the top of the baseball practice system. An adjustment and locking member adjacent to the rear of the forward extending member adjustably secures in place an upper cord which is attached to a ball.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   None. 
   STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY-SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
   Not applicable. 
   BACKGROUND 
   This currently described device relates to an improvement in baseball-practice devices, and more particularly to collapsible and truly portable multi-purpose practice device suitable for batting practice, pitching practice, catching practice, throwing practice, and fielding practice for use by one person or two persons and which furthermore is easily collapsible, easily returned to an operational state, and easily transportable. 
   Baseball is an extremely popular sport from the backyard player to the sandlot to schools to professional sports. Many elements are associated with this popular game. Among one of the most important is batting as without good batting skills no runs can be scored. For defensive play, good pitching, catching, fielding, and throwing skills are also key elements to the overall game play. 
   Coaching and practice are key elements to attaining better batting skills, pitching skills, catching skills, fielding skills, and throwing skills in play. For batting, a common method of improving a player&#39;s swing is to bat against live pitchers or against a pitching machine. This of course requires more than one ball player, in the case of live pitching, or many players merely standing around waiting for their turn to bat in the case of pitching machines. Time and manpower are wasted and pitching machines are costly in purchase and in maintenance. Additionally, most players also like to take practice swings against a baseball during a game while waiting for their turn to bat. 
   Several batting type devices have been designed for the purpose of permitting a single player to practice swinging at a ball with a bat typically where a single rope or cord was merely tethered to a ball. After striking the ball using this device, the ball would continue to circle around and around until it loses its speed or the cord becomes wrapped around its support structure. In such instances, the player has to reset the ball by unwinding it or waiting for the ball to stop circling. Time is wasted in the process. 
   A patent to Ratajac (U.S. Pat. No. 5,040,791) teaches a collapsible portable batting cage having an upper frame assembly, a lower frame assembly, a rear frame assembly on top and bottom, and one side frame assembly on each side of the upper and lower frame assemblies. A length of shock cord (elastic bungee type cord) is threaded through a vertical bore hole in a ball. The shock cord attaches to the top front, back to the top rear, and is insertably adjustable into one of a plurality of holes, of pre-determined spacing, on one side of the top rear assembly. The other end of the shock cord attaches to the bottom front and back to the rear frame on the bottom. 
   The ball is suspended approximately mid-height a the front by a non-elastic line (referred to as a safety line) attached to the ball with its two ends attached at approximately mid-height at the rear on the side frames. The height of the static position of the ball is adjustable by moving the shock cord at the rear frame assembly to different locations. This device is portable due to the nature of its light weight components and it is also collapsible which allows it to be stored or carried in a compact manner. Collapsing this device, however, requires that all fasteners must be removed from the frame components and that the frame components be removed from each other and, when its use is required, that they all be re-assembled. An extremely time-consuming process. In addition, the safety line has a tendency to interfere with a swing which is angled slightly up or down from a perfect horizontal swing. 
   A patent to McKenna (U.S. Pat. No. 6,186,540) describes a portable apparatus for the practice of a person&#39;s batting swings that includes a frame, a net, and a ball attached to non-elastic cords. Each lower terminal end of the frame has a ball-engaging eye bolt. A pair of net-engaging uprights of the frame have a pair of tubes that are formed as one-piece therewith for ease of manufacture by eliminating a need for welding. Button fasteners replaceably maintain the members of the frame together for ease of fabrication and collapsing by eliminating a need for nuts and bolts. A second upper member of the frame has a plurality of ball-engaging blind bores for adjusting the height of the ball. 
   A lowermost terminal edge of the net drapes so as to prevent any balls from rolling thereunder while providing a dampening effect for the ball when hit against the net. There is no lower cross member which eliminates any rebound of a ball that hits low on the net. One section of the non-elastic cords extend from the ball first upward to the top front then to the side attaching any one of the pre-determined blind bores. Two sections of the non-elastic cords emanate from the bottom of the ball and attach to either bottom rear side of the frame. This device eliminates the problems associated with the safety lines of Ratajac; but, the non-elasticity of the cords limits its effect of travel and renders it slower to rebound and reset. 
   As with the Ratajac device, this device, though it may be “collapsible” it too must be taken apart for travel and re-assembled when need. Also a time-consuming process. Typically, after each device is first assembled, users generally leave them assembled and either leave them where there are or find a means to transport them, in their assembled state, to the desired location. Either prospect renders each such device less desirable. Moreover, if left assembled, each takes up quite a bit of storage space. 
   A patent issued to the current inventors solved and overcame the problems noted in the prior-art devices; U.S. Pat. No. 7,252,603, which issued on Aug. 7, 2007. Our patented device solved all the problems associated with the above referenced prior-art devices. Because the frame components are hingedly connected, the entire device of our patent was truly collapsible. From its assembled state, the device easily and quickly “folds” into a “dis-assembled” state for storage or transportation and easily and quickly “unfolds” into an assembled stated when it is needed. Height adjustment for the ball is not based on a pre-determined set of height increments but can be adjusted to accommodate even the slightest of increments to the millimeter. 
   Safety/return lines are structured as not to interfere with a batter&#39;s swing and a removably attachable rear elastic cord removably attachable to the ball facilitates resetting of the ball after it has been struck and is a greater practice aid for an experience player. Its removability permits a less experienced player, who may have a tendency to under swing the ball and hit the cord below the ball, to also use the same device by merely removing this cord from the bottom of the ball. Detailed adjustments to all the cord components permits a skilled user to make minute adjustments to tautness to thereby establish a sense of dynamic reality in the batting/swinging practice. 
   Our patented device has been greatly improved upon by the currently described device/system contained in the application. It is considered a system in that it is a multi-function device which permits a single user, with no outside assistance, to practice the five major elements of the game; batting, catching, fielding, throwing, and pitching. The new multi-function device is more easily collapsible, more easily restorable to a useful mode, more easily transportable, and more easily storable. 
   The batting element, though similar to our patented device is more easily adjustable for different sized user. A web-like elastic concave netting in back of the ball allows a user to throw the ball into the netting from and distance to hone throwing skills. Depending on from where thrown and to where on the netting, the ball will be cast back to the thrower either as a fly ball, a line drive, or a grounder thereby honing skills for fielding ground balls and catching line drives or fly balls. 
   The pitching element is on the opposite side of the catching element. It has a cut-out area with is the size of an average strike zone with a pocket therein to retain any balls thrown into the strike zone. As a complete universal baseball practice system, our new inventive concept cannot be beat. It allows for a single user to practice all the key elements to the game or it allows for two people to use it at the same time; one person practicing on the pitching side and the other person practicing either batting, catching, fielding, or throwing on the opposite side [the batting/catching side]. 
   The foregoing has outlined some of the more pertinent objects of the universal baseball practice system of this disclosure. These objects should be construed to be merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the universal baseball practice system of this disclosure. Many other beneficial results can be attained by applying the disclosed universal baseball practice system of this disclosure in a different manner or by modifying the universal baseball practice system of this disclosure within the scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, other objects and a fuller understanding of the universal baseball practice system of this disclosure may be had by referring to the summary of the universal baseball practice system of this disclosure and the detailed description of the preferred embodiment in addition to the scope of the universal baseball practice system of this disclosure defined by the claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
   SUMMARY 
   The above-noted problems, among others, are overcome by the universal baseball practice system of this disclosure. Briefly stated, the universal baseball practice system of this disclosure contemplates a complete practice system for training use in training one in baseball&#39;s essential elements of pitching, throwing, fielding, catching, and batting. The practice system is portable and collapsible having a removable pitching component removably attached on one side and a batting and netting removably attached on the other side. 
   The pitching component has a strike-zone opening into which a user practices pitching a ball into the strike zone. A catch sack is in back of the strike-zone opening to retain the balls thrown therein for ease of retrieval. The catch sack has one or more dividers, either vertically disposed, horizontally disposed, or both, thereby defining pockets for practicing greater precision of pitching. 
   The netting is of an elastic material suited to rebound a ball thrown on the netting for the purpose of practicing throwing, catching, and fielding. It is removably attachable to the practice system. As attached, the netting is somewhat curvilinear [concave] in order to replicate various forms of rebound [i.e., line drives, fly balls, ground balls] in any direction and at any angle. 
   A removable ball component, attached to elastic cords [an upper cord and two lower cords], is suspended outward and downward from a forward extending member adjacent to the top of the baseball practice system. An adjustment and locking member adjacent to the rear of the forward extending member adjustably secures in place an upper cord which is attached to the top of a ball. The two lower cords attach to the bottom of the ball at one end and to the bottom of the practice system on opposite sides. 
   The foregoing has outlined the more pertinent and important features of the universal baseball practice system of this disclosure in order that the detailed description that follows may be better understood so the present contributions to the art may be more fully appreciated. Additional features of the universal baseball practice system of this disclosure will be described hereinafter which form the subject of the claims. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conception and the disclosed specific embodiment may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures and methods for carrying out the same purposes of the universal baseball practice system of this disclosure. It also should be realized by those skilled in the art that such equivalent constructions and methods do not depart from the spirit and scope of the universal baseball practice system of this disclosure as set forth in the appended claims. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the universal baseball practice system of this disclosure, reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the baseball practice system detailing the frame, netting, forward extending member, and ball component. 
       FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the baseball practice system detailing the pitching component with strike-zone and catch sack. 
       FIGS. 3 and 4  are detailed views of the adjustment and locking member of the baseball practice system. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
   Referring now to the drawings in detail and in particular to  FIG. 1 , reference character  10  generally designates the universal baseball practice system constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment thereof illustrating the three key elements thereon, the batting element  70 ,  61 ,  62 ,  63 ,  55 ,  56 ,  57 , the catching element  90 , both on the batting/catching side [for the practice of throwing, catching, and fielding], and the pitching element  80  on the opposite side. 
   The frame construction of this universal baseball practice system is key to its universality, collapsibility, and transportability. It has a first U-shaped tubular foot  11  [also referred to as the front U-shaped tubular foot] and a second U-shaped tubular foot  21  [also referred to as the back or rear U-shaped tubular foot]. The first U-shaped tubular foot  11  has a left-side leg  12 , a bottom leg  13 , and a right-side leg  14 . Similarly, the second U-shaped tubular foot  21  has a left-side leg  22 , a bottom leg  23 , and a right-side leg  24 . 
   Each U-shaped tubular foot  11 ,  21  [front and back (or rear)] are hingedly connected to each other by a right-side hinge  44  at their respective right-side legs  14 ,  24  and by a left-side hinge  42  at their respective left-side legs,  12 ,  22 . An upper U-shaped tubular member  51  having a left-side section  52 , a top section  53 , and a right-side section  54  is lockably and hingledly connected to the right-side hinge  44  at its right-side  54  and to the left-side hinge  42  at its left-side  52 . 
   A lockable folding bracket  32  is connected to the respective left-side  12 ,  22  and near to the top of each U-shaped tubular foot  11 ,  12  while a second lockable folding bracket  34  is connected to the respective right-sides  14 ,  24  and also near to the top of each U-shaped tubular foot  11 ,  12 . These U-shaped tubular feet  11 ,  12 , and upper U-shaped tubular member  51 , are illustrated in  FIG. 1  in their assembled, operational mode. The first and second lockable folding brackets  32 ,  34  are extended and locked in place thereby separating the bottom legs  13 ,  23  apart from each other forming a strong triangular footing for the universal baseball practice system. 
   The upper U-shaped tubular member  51  is locked into place approximately perpendicular to the ground. A forward extending member  55  is hingedly and lockably connected to the top section  53  of the upper U-shaped tubular member  51  at the swivel hinge  58 . The swivel hinge  58  is approximately at the center of the top section  53 . The ball component  70  comprises the ball  74 , a upper cord  75  attached to the ball  74  at one end and an upper ball connector  77  at the other end, a lower cord  76  attached to the ball  74  at one end and an lower ball connector  78  at the other end. An upper main cord  61  is removably attached to the upper ball connector  77  at one end, and runs through the first guide pulley or ring  56  at approximately at the front end of forward extending member  55  and back to and through a second guide pulley or ring  57  at the top section  53  of the upper U-shaped member  51 . These guides  56 ,  57  may be pulleys or may be hanging rings or any combination of either. 
   Seen in detail in  FIGS. 3 and 4  is an adjustment and locking member  60  [a bungee cleat locking device] through which the upper cord  61  is placed, adjusted, and held in place. The locking member  60  is adjacent to the rear of, and on the bottom if, the forward extending member  55 . The upper cord  61  is inserted into the chamber  65  in the locking member  60 , which as shown and configured is exposed, and past and into the first set of gripping teeth  66  and the second set of gripping teeth  68  which are on opposing sides of the chamber  65  in the locking member  60 . As so placed, the two sets of gripping teeth  66 ,  68  hold the upper cord, and concomitantly, the ball component  70  in place. 
   As the upper cord  61  is pulled down in the direction of Arrow A, it is released from the hold of the two sets of gripping teeth  66 ,  68  and may be and then may be pulled in either the direction of Arrow B or Arrow C thereby adjusting the upper line  61  up or down as desired by the user. The ball component  70  will adjust upward and downward accordingly. Once at the desired level, the user re-inserts the upper cord  61  into the two sets of gripping teeth  66 ,  68 . 
   Attached to the lower ball connector  78  are a left-side lower cord  62  and a right-side lower cord  64 . The far ends of each of these lower cords  62 ,  64  are removably connected at the bottom leg  13  on its respective left and right sides or onto the respective left-side leg  12  and right-side leg  14 . 
   It is preferred that the upper cord  61  be made of an elastic or bungee-like material as well at the lower cords  62 ,  64 , though such is not as critical for the lower cords  62 ,  64  as it is for the upper cord  61 . The upper and lower lines  75 ,  76  should generally be of a non-elastic material, though they may also be elastic. 
   The catching element  90 , which also comprises the throwing and fielding elements may be on the batting side [also referred to for administrative convenience as the front side] or may be on the back side where the pitching element  80  is currently illustrated to be in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . The catching element  90  should generally be made of an elastic material and should generally be of a “netting” construction as illustrated in  FIG. 1 . It is removably attachable to the top section  53  of the upper U-shaped tubular member  51  and to the first U-shaped tubular foot  11  [also referred to as the front U-shaped tubular foot]. 
   The pitching element  80  has an opening therein  81  which has the approximate dimensions of a typical strike-zone having a left-side strike zone  82 , a top-side strike zone  85 , a right-side strike zone  84 , and a bottom-side strike zone  83 . The typical width of a strike zone is the width of home plate, approximately 17 inches. 
   The strike zone is currently defined as that area over home plate the upper limit of which is a horizontal line at the midpoint between the top of the shoulders and the top of the uniform pants, and the lower level is a line at the bottom of the knees. The strike zone is determined from the batter&#39;s stance as the batter is prepared to swing at a pitched ball. Consequently a strike zone will vary with the varying height of players. The average for our strike zone is based on the average height of typical ball players with the bottom  83  being approximately 23 inches from the ground and the top  85  being approximately 36 inches from the ground. 
   So not to lose balls being thrown into the strike zone, there is a catch-sack or similar retaining means to stop and hold the ball once it passes through the opening  81  and hold it there until the user wishes to retrieve the one or more balls held therein. Multiple divider strips  88  retain balls thrown therein in the respective “pocket” as defined by two adjacent divider strips  88 . As shown, the divider strips  88  are relatively vertically disposed but also may be horizontally disposed or both thereby defining smaller distinct pockets. The inclusion of the divider strips  88  will assist the user in training for greater accuracy. 
   To give the pitching component  80  a somewhat concave configuration the lower ends of the catching element  90  are attached to the bottom leg  13  and to the left-side leg  12  and right-side leg  14  upwards thereon approximately two-thirds to three-quarters up the respective legs  12 ,  14 . The upper ends of the catching element  90  are attached to the top section  53  and to the left-side  52  and right-side  54  downwards thereon approximately two-thirds to three-quarters down the respective sides  52 ,  54 . 
   The pitching element  80  is removably attached to the back side. The upper end of the pitching element  80  is attached to the top section  53  and the lower end of the pitching element  80  is attached to the bottom leg  23  of the second U-shaped tubular foot  21  [also referred to as the back [or rear] U-shaped tubular foot]. 
   The present disclosure includes that contained in the present claims as well as that of the foregoing description. 
   Although this universal baseball practice system of this disclosure has been described in its preferred forms with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure of the preferred forms has been made only by way of example and numerous changes in the details of construction and combination and arrangement of parts and method steps may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the universal baseball practice system of this disclosure. Accordingly, the scope of the universal baseball practice system of this disclosure should be determined not by the embodiment[s] illustrated, but by the appended claims and their legal equivalents. 
   Applicant[s] have attempted to disclose all the embodiment[s] of the universal baseball practice system of this disclosure that could be reasonably foreseen. It must be understood, however, that there may be unforeseeable insubstantial modifications to universal baseball practice system of this disclosure that remain as equivalents and thereby falling within the scope of the universal baseball practice system of this disclosure.