Patent ID: 7841372

Claim:
An apparatus for hardening the head area of a wooden baseball bat having a handle area for gripping thereof and a head area for hitting a baseball therewith, said apparatus comprising: A. a carriage assembly defining a bat receiving zone therealong for detachably retaining a wooden baseball bat therewithin to be movable therewith, said carriage assembly including; (1) a carriage platform member; (2) a bat retainer to receive and detachably retain a wooden baseball bat with respect to said carriage platform member to be movable therewith, said bat retainer including: a. a bat handle retaining bracket attached to said carriage platform member and adapted to receive and detachably retain the handle area of a baseball bat with respect to said carriage platform member; b. a bat head retaining bracket mounted on said carriage platform member at a position thereon spatially disposed from said bat handle retaining bracket, said bat head retaining bracket being adapted to receive and detachably retain the head area of a wooden baseball bat with respect to said carriage platform member, said bat receiving zone being defined extending between said bat handle retaining bracket and said bat head retaining bracket, said bat handle retaining bracket being adjustably positionable with respect to said carriage platform member to provide adjustability in the distance between said bat handle retaining bracket and said bat head retaining bracket to facilitate secure positioning of wooden baseball bats of various different lengths within said bat receiving zone of said carriage assembly; (3) a carriage rail secured to said carriage platform member and extending outwardly therefrom to facilitate movement of said carriage assembly; B. a base housing assembly including: (1) a base member; (2) a track secured to said base member and extending longitudinally therealong, said track being engageable with respect to said carriage rail of said carriage assembly to facilitate longitudinal movement of said carriage assembly and a wooden baseball bat retained within said bat receiving zone defined thereon with respect to said base housing assembly; (3) a housing mounted upon said base member and extending outwardly therefrom around said track; (4) a compression roller attached with respect to said housing at a position extending toward said track for facilitating direct abutment thereof with respect to the head area of a bat retained within said bat receiving zone of a carriage assembly positioned with said carriage rail thereof in moveable engagement with respect to said track; and (5) a flexibly resilient biasing mechanism attached with respect to said compression roller for urging thereof into compressing abutment with respect to the head area of a wooden baseball base located within said bat receiving zone of said carriage assembly for compressing the surface of the head area of a wooden baseball bat responsive to movement of said carriage assembly with respect to said base housing assembly along said track thereof.