U.S. patent application number 09/725261 was filed with the patent office on 2001-10-25 for flying ball stopping net device.
This patent application is currently assigned to TOA SPORTS MACHINE INC.. Invention is credited to Nozato, Kazu.
Application Number | 20010034271 09/725261 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 18633640 |
Filed Date | 2001-10-25 |
United States Patent
Application |
20010034271 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Nozato, Kazu |
October 25, 2001 |
Flying ball stopping net device
Abstract
A flying ball stopping net device including an elastic wire rod
assembly which assumes an annular form when it is in a free state
lying on a horizontal flat surface. The assembly first and second
end members with intermediate members constituting transition
members between the first and second members. A flying ball
stopping net is provided closing a first end space surrounded by
the first member. A flexible first connecting member interconnects
the first and second members and counteracts the elastic restoring
force of the wire rod assembly to enable imaginary extension planes
of the first end space and a second end space to cross each other
at a predetermined angle.
Inventors: |
Nozato, Kazu; (Osaka City,
JP) |
Correspondence
Address: |
ARENT FOX KINTNER PLOTKIN & KAHN, PLLC
Suite 600
1050 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.
Washington
DC
20036-5339
US
|
Assignee: |
TOA SPORTS MACHINE INC.
|
Family ID: |
18633640 |
Appl. No.: |
09/725261 |
Filed: |
November 29, 2000 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
473/197 ;
273/400; 273/407; 473/422; 473/451 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63B 71/022 20130101;
A63B 2210/54 20130101; A63B 63/00 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
473/197 ;
473/451; 473/422; 273/400; 273/407 |
International
Class: |
A63B 069/36; A63B
063/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Apr 24, 2000 |
JP |
2000-123315 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A flying ball stopping net device including an elastic wire rod
assembly that assumes an annular form when it is in a free state
lying on a horizontal flat surface, said wire rod assembly
including a first end member constituting one end of said wire rod
assembly in one direction extending along said horizontal flat
surface, a second end member constituting the other end of said
wire rod assembly in the direction opposite to said one direction,
and a pair of intermediate members respectively positioned in a
longitudinally intermediate place in each side of said wire rod
assembly to constitute a transition portion from the first end
member to the second end member, said flying ball stopping net
device further including a flying ball stopping net closing a first
end space surrounded by said first end member, and attached at its
outer edge to said first end member, each of said intermediate
members being bendable such that imaginary extension planes of a
second end space surrounded by said second end member and of said
first end space cross each other at a predetermined angle, in which
bent state said second end member is contacted with the ground
while said first end member is raisable with respect to the ground,
said flying ball stopping net device being characterized in that a
flexible first connecting member is provided for interconnecting
said first and second end members while counteracting the elastic
restoring force of said wire rod assembly, so as to retain said
predetermined angle.
2. A flying ball stopping net device as set forth in claim 1,
characterized in that said first end member is tilted toward the
second end member as seen in a side view of said flying ball
stopping net device with respect to a vertical line.
3. A flying ball stopping net device as set forth in claim 1 or 2,
characterized in that a second connecting member, which is
flexible, is provided for interconnecting the sides of said wire
rod assembly in the state in which said sides are brought closer to
each other while counteracting the elastic restoring force of said
wire rod assembly.
4. A flying ball stopping net device as set forth in any one of
claims 1 through 3, characterized in that a bag-like ball
collecting net is attached to said first end member, said ball
collecting net being adapted, when said first end member is raised,
to be positioned adjacent the lower portion of said flying ball
stopping net and opened upward.
5. A flying ball stopping net device as set forth in any one of
claims 1 through 4, characterized in that by bending the wire rod
assembly while counteracting the elastic restoring force of the
wire rod assembly, a plurality of spiral annuluses of substantially
the same diameter can be formed and superposed on each other on
substantially the same axis.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to a flying ball stopping net
device, which, in a toss batting in baseball practice or in golf
ball driving practice, for example, is used to prevent a flying
ball from flying farther than is necessary over a desired
position.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] As for the aforesaid flying ball stopping net device, there
has been one disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Registration NO.
3057465.
[0003] According to the above publication, an elastic wire rod
assembly is provided that assumes an annular form when it is in a
free state lying on a horizontal flat surface. This wire rod
assembly comprises a first end member constituting one end of said
wire rod assembly in one direction extending along said horizontal
flat surface, an second end member constituting the other end of
said wire rod assembly in a direction opposite to said one
direction, and a pair of intermediate members respectively
positioned in a longitudinally intermediate place in each side of
said wire rod assembly to constitute a transition portion from the
first end member to the second end member. Further, there is
provided a flying ball stopping net closing a first end space
surrounded by said first end member, and attached at its outer edge
to said first end member.
[0004] Each of said intermediate members is bendable such that it
elastically deforms to assume a curved form, as a result of which
bending, imaginary extension planes of a second end space
surrounded by said second end member and of said first end space
cross each other at a predetermined angle. And the second end
member is contactable with the ground in said bent state while the
first end member is raisable with respect to the ground.
[0005] Further, a support bracket is attached to said wire rod
assembly that supports the first end member on the ground while
counteracting the elastic restoring force of said wire rod assembly
in order to retain said predetermined angle and to allow the first
end member to retain its raised position on the ground, with the
second end member of the wire rod assembly contacted with the
ground. When the first end member is thus retained in its raised
position, the flying ball stopping net device is in the "usable
state."
[0006] And if a flying ball hits the flying ball stopping net in
the flying ball stopping net device in said usable state, this
flying ball stopping net deflects, whereby the speed of said ball
is reduced, dropping down said flying ball stopping net; thus, the
ball is prevented from flying farther than is necessary.
[0007] On the other hand, by bending said wire rod assembly while
counteracting the elastic restoring force of the wire rod assembly,
a plurality of spiral annuluses of substantially the same diameter
can be formed and these spiral annuluses and said support bracket
can be superposed on each other, whereby the flying ball stopping
net device is put in a "stored state" in compact form easy for
carrying around by hand.
[0008] In this connection, the above prior art has the following
problems.
[0009] First, the support bracket, which when said flying ball
stopping net device is put in the usable state, retains said
predetermined angle and holds the first end member of said wire rod
assembly in the raised position on the ground, is designed to
support the elastic restoring force of said wire rod assembly as a
compressive load, so that said support bracket is given a great
strength because of the necessity of counteracting said compressive
load. Therefore, the support bracket tends to be heavy, entailing
the danger of the handling, such as carrying around, of the flying
ball stopping net device becoming troublesome.
[0010] Second, said second end member is positioned one of the
forward and rearward directions of said first end member as seen in
a side view of said flying ball stopping net device and said
support bracket is positioned in the other direction thereof.
Therefore, when it is desired to do the practice of toss batting or
golf ball driving toward the flying ball stopping net attached to
said first end member, said second end member or support bracket
constitutes an obstacle, thus entailing a danger that it becomes
difficult to use said flying ball stopping net device.
[0011] Third, said flying ball stopping net is constantly subjected
to tension by said elastic restoring force of said wire rod
assembly; therefore, when a flying ball hits said flying ball
stopping net, the net insufficiently deflects, entailing a danger
that the flying ball greatly bounces back after hitting and hence a
danger that the ball collecting operation thereafter becomes
troublesome.
[0012] Fourth, when said wire rod assembly is to be bent to put the
flying ball stopping net device in the stored state of compact
form, the support bracket, which is attached to said wire rod
assembly, constitutes an obstacle; thus, the operation of putting
the flying ball stopping net device in the stored state would
become troublesome.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0013] An object of the present invention is to reduce the weight
of the flying ball stopping net device to facilitate the handling,
such as carrying abound, thereof.
[0014] Another object of the invention is to facilitate the use of
the flying ball stopping net device.
[0015] Another object of the invention is, in the case where the
flying ball hits the flying ball stopping net of the flying ball
stopping net device to fall down therebelow, to facilitate the
operation of collecting the ball thereafter.
[0016] Another object of the invention is, when the wire rod
assembly of the flying ball stopping net device is to be bent into
a stored state in compact form, to facilitate the operation of
establishing this stored state.
[0017] The present invention provides a flying ball stopping net
device including an elastic wire rod assembly that assumes an
annular form when it is in a free state lying on a horizontal flat
surface, said wire rod assembly including a first end member
constituting one end of said wire rod assembly in one direction
extending along said horizontal flat surface, a second end member
constituting the other end of said wire rod assembly in the
direction opposite to said one direction, and a pair of
intermediate members respectively positioned in a longitudinally
intermediate place in each side of said wire rod assembly to
constitute a transition portion from the first end member to the
second end member, said flying ball stopping net device further
including a flying ball stopping net closing a first end space
surrounded by said first end member, and attached at its outer edge
to said first end member, each of said intermediate members being
bendable such that imaginary extension planes of a second end space
surrounded by said second end member and of said first end space
cross each other at a predetermined angle, in which bent state said
second end member is contacted with the ground while said first end
member is raisable with respect to the ground, wherein
[0018] a flexible first connecting member is provided for
interconnecting said first and second end members while
counteracting the elastic restoring force of said wire rod
assembly, so as to retain said predetermined angle.
[0019] Other objects, arrangements, functions and effects of the
invention than those described above will become apparent from a
detailed description of the invention to be given below with
reference to the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0020] The drawings show a preferred embodiment of the
invention.
[0021] FIG. 1 is a front view of a flying ball stopping net
device;
[0022] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the flying ball stopping net
device in its usable state;
[0023] FIG. 3 is side view of the flying ball stopping net device
in its usable state;
[0024] FIG. 4 is a side view of what is shown in FIG. 1;
[0025] FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line 5-5 in FIG.
1;
[0026] FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line 6-6 in FIG.
1;
[0027] FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line 7-7 in FIG.
1; and
[0028] FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the flying ball stopping net
device in its stored state.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0029] In FIGS. 1, 4-7, the numeral 1 denotes a flying ball
stopping net device having an elastic wire rod assembly 2 that
assumes a substantially annular form when it is in a free state
lying on a horizontal flat surface A, as shown in alternate long
and short dash lines in FIG. 1.
[0030] Said wire rod assembly 2 includes an outer shell member 3
made of flexible sheet material in annular form as a whole and in
the form of a pipe closed in any cross-section, and an elastic,
wire rod assembly main body 4 inserted in said outer shell member 3
and made of carbon glass wool substantially in said annular form,
said wire rod assembly main body 4 being circular in any cross
section.
[0031] Said wire rod assembly 2 includes a first semicircular end
member 6 constituting one end of said wire rod assembly 2 in one
direction B extending along said horizontal flat surface A, a
second semicircular end member 7 constituting the other end of said
wire rod assembly 2 in a direction C opposite to said one direction
B, and a pair of intermediate members 9 respectively positioned in
a longitudinally intermediate place in each side 8 of said wire rod
assembly 2 to constitute a transition portion from the first end
member 6 to the second end member 7.
[0032] There is provided a flying ball stopping net 14
substantially completely closing a substantially semicircular, flat
first end space 12 that is surrounded by said first end member 6 of
said wire rod assembly 2 and that is attached at its outer edge to
the outer shell member 3 of said first end member 6 by sewing with
a thread 13.
[0033] In FIGS. 2 and 3, each of the intermediate members 9 is
bendable to elastically deform so as to assume a curved form so
that imaginary extension planes of a substantially semicircular,
flat second end space 16 surrounded by said second end member 7 and
of said first end space 12 may cross each other at a predetermined
angle .alpha..
[0034] With said intermediate members 9 bent, the second end member
7 is wholly contactable with the ground 18 coinciding with said
horizontal flat surface A, while the first end member 6 is raisable
with respect to the ground 18. Said ground 18 may have more or less
surface unevenness.
[0035] In FIGS. 1 to 4, a first connecting member 20, which is a
flexible long-sized body, is provided for pulling said first and
second end members 6 and 7 toward each other to connect them
together while counteracting the elastic restoring force of said
wire rod assembly 2, so as to retain said predetermined angle
.alpha..
[0036] Said first connecting member 20 includes a pair of bands 21
extending from the sides 8 of said second end member 7, and a pair
of buckles 22 attached to the sides 8 of said first end member 6
and connected to said bands 21. Longitudinal predetermined portions
of said bands 21 are removably connected to said buckles 22,
whereby said first and second end members 6 and 7 are
interconnected and said predetermined angle .alpha. is
obtained.
[0037] Further, said first connecting member 20 includes other
flexible bands 23 for interconnecting the sides 8 of said second
end member 7, another pair of bands 24 extending from the
longitudinal intermediate portions of said bands 23, and another
pair of buckles 25 attached to said first end member 6 and
connected to said bands 24. Longitudinal predetermined portions of
said bands 24 are removably connected to said buckles 25, whereby
said first and second end members 6 and 7 are interconnected more
reliably and said predetermined angle a is obtained more
accurately.
[0038] In the above case, optional longitudinal portions of said
bands 21 and 24 are removably connected to the buckles 22 and 25,
whereby said predetermined angle .alpha. can be adjusted to a
desired value.
[0039] In FIGS. 2 and 3, in the bent state of said intermediate
members 9 in which said first and second end members 6 and 7 are
interconnected by said first connecting member 20, substantially
the whole of each of said first and second end spaces 12 and 16 is
substantially flat.
[0040] In a side view (FIG. 3) of said flying ball stopping net
device 1, said first end member 6 is tilted toward said second end
member 7 with respect to a vertical line 26.
[0041] In FIGS. 1 to 5, a fixing means 27 is provided for removably
fixing said second end member 7, contacted with the ground 18, to
the ground 18. This fixing means 27 includes a plurality of annular
to-be-fixed portions 28 attached to the outer shell member 3 of
said second end member 7, and pegs 29 for fixing these to-be-fixed
portions 28 to the ground 18.
[0042] In FIGS. 1 to 3, and 6, a second connecting member 32, which
is a flexible long-sized body, is provided for interconnecting said
sides 8 of said wire rod assembly 2 in the state in which said
sides 8 are widthwise brought closer to each other while
counteracting the elastic restoring force of said wire rod assembly
2.
[0043] Said second connecting member 32 includes a flexible band 33
for interconnecting the sides 8 of said first end member 6, and
another band 34 of large area for interconnecting the sides 8 of
said second end member 7.
[0044] The width dimension between the sides 8 of said wire rod
assembly 2 is maintained at a predetermined width dimension D by
the elastic restoring force of the wire rod assembly 2 for the
latter to assume the annular form (alternate long and short dash
lines in FIG. 1) and by the second connecting member 32
interconnecting the sides 8 in the state in which they are closer
to each other. This imparts slack to the flying ball stopping net
14 while preventing the elastic restoring force of said wire rod
assembly 2 from being applied to the flying ball stopping net
14.
[0045] In FIG. 1, in the state in which said wire rod assembly 2 is
placed on the horizontal flat surface A, said wire rod assembly 2
is substantially in the form of an elongated circle under the
action of the pulling force exerted by the second connecting member
32, the overall length E of said wire rod assembly 2 in said one
direction B being greater than the predetermined width dimension
D.
[0046] In FIGS. 2 and 3, a bag-like flexible ball collecting net 37
is provided that, when said first end member 6 is raised, is
positioned adjacent the lower portion of said flying ball stopping
net 14 attached to the first end member 6 and is opened upward. A
portion of the open edge of this ball collecting net 37 is formed
integral with said flying ball stopping net 14 and is attached to
the first end member 6 through said flying ball stopping net 14.
Further another portion of the open edge of said ball collecting
net 37 is attached to the band 33 of said second connecting member
32 and is attached to said first end member 6 through said band
33.
[0047] When it is desired to put the flying ball stopping net
device 1 in the usable state for use as a flying ball stop, first
said flying ball stopping net device 1 is placed in its free state
at a desired position on the ground 18 to extend along the ground
18 (alternate long and two short dashes lines in FIGS. 1, 4 and
3).
[0048] And then the second end member 7 of said wire rod assembly 2
is fixed on the ground 18 by the fixing means 27, said intermediate
members 9 are bent to raise said first end member 6, and the
predetermined angle a is maintained by the first connecting member
20 (FIGS. 2 and 3).
[0049] Thereupon, said flying ball stopping net 14 extends
substantially vertically while having slack, and said ball
collecting net 37 is positioned adjacent the lower portion of the
flying ball stopping net 14 at a position closer to the side toward
said one direction B than is the flying ball stopping net 14.
Further, a weight 38 may be placed on the second end member 7, as
the need arises, to make more reliably the fixing of the second end
member 7 to the ground 18.
[0050] With the above arrangement thus made, the flying ball
stopping net device 1 is in the usable state, as shown in FIGS. 2
and 3.
[0051] When the ball 39, which comes flying from that side of the
flying ball stopping net 14 which is associated with one direction
B, hits the flying ball stopping net 14 in said flying ball
stopping net device 1 in its usable state, the latter fully slacks
to quickly decelerate the ball 39, whereupon the ball 39 falls
along that surface of the flying ball stopping net 14 which is
associated with one direction B to be automatically collected in
said ball collecting net 37.
[0052] Thus, the ball 39 is prevented from flying farther than is
necessary, said flying ball stoppage being repeated.
[0053] In FIG. 8, if the wire rod assembly 2 is bent to be
elastically deformed into a curved form while counteracting the
elastic restoring force of the wire rod assembly 2, a plurality
(three) of spiral annuluses 40 of substantially the same diameter
can be formed while entailing the deflection of said flying ball
stopping net 14 and the first and second connecting members 20 and
32 (alternate long and short dash lines in FIG. 8).
[0054] Further, said spiral annuluses 40 are adapted to be
superposed on each other on substantially the same axis 41 together
with the flying ball stopping net 14, etc. (solid lines in FIG. 8),
so that said flying ball stopping net device 1 is put in its
compact stored state.
[0055] The flying ball stopping net device 1 in the stored state is
held in this stored state by an unillustrated band and is put in a
bag 43 or the like for carrying around by hand.
[0056] When said flying ball stopping net device 1 in the stored
state is taken out of the bag 43 or the like and the unillustrated
band is loosened, the flying ball stopping net device 1 is
automatically restored to said usable state by its own
elasticity.
[0057] According to said arrangement, the flexible first connecting
member 20 is provided for interconnecting said first and second end
members 6 and 7 while counteracting the elastic restoring force of
said wire rod assembly 2, so as to retain said predetermined angle
a.
[0058] Therefore, when the flying ball stopping net device 1 is put
in its usable state by contacting the second end member 7 with the
ground 18, raising said first end member 6 with respect to the
ground 18 and retaining the predetermined angle a by said first
connecting member 20, said first connecting member 20 is subjected
to the elastic restoring force, acting as a tensile load, from said
wire rod assembly 2.
[0059] Therefore, a flexible member suffices to serve as the first
connecting member 20, as described above, and a lower strength
suffices for such member to have in this case than when it is
subjected to a compressive load. Thus, the first connecting member
20 can be made correspondingly lighter in weight, contributing to
the ease with which the flying ball stopping net device 1 is
handled as when it is carried around.
[0060] Further, in the usable state of the flying ball stopping net
device 1, the second end member 7 of the wire rod assembly 2 is
contacted on the ground 18 and the first end member 6 is brought
into its raised position; therefore, on the ground 18 no components
of the flying ball stopping net device 1 exist on the side of the
ground 18 opposite to the second end member 7 with the first end
member 6 used as the reference.
[0061] Therefore, when toss batting or the like, on said opposite
side of the ground 18, is to be done toward the flying ball
stopping net 14 attached to said first end member 6, the components
of the flying ball stopping net device 1 are prevented from
constituting obstacles; this facilitates the use of the flying ball
stopping net device 1.
[0062] Further, as described above, said first end member 6 is
tilted toward the second end member 7, as seen in a side view of
said flying ball stopping net device 1, with respect to the
vertical line 26.
[0063] Therefore, a perpendicular line passing through the center
of gravity of the first end member 6 including said flying ball
stopping net 14 and ball collecting net 37 passes through somewhere
in the second end space 16 surrounded with said second end member
7, so that the flying ball stopping net device 1 can be easily
self-supported on the ground 18.
[0064] Thus, when the flying ball stopping net device 1 is to be
put in its usable state on the ground 18, the assembling operation
thereof is correspondingly facilitated.
[0065] Further, as described above, the second connecting member
32, which is flexible, is provided for interconnecting the two
sides 8 of the wire rod assembly 2 such that the sides 8 are closer
to each other while counteracting the elastic restoring force of
the wire rod assembly 2.
[0066] Therefore, the width dimension between the sides 8 of said
wire rod assembly 2 is maintained at a predetermined width
dimension D by the elastic restoring force of the wire rod assembly
2 with which the wire rod assembly 2 tends to become annulus and by
the second connecting member 32 interconnecting the sides 8 in
their state of being closer to each other.
[0067] Thus, the elastic restoring force of said wire rod assembly
2 is prevented from being applied to the flying ball stopping net
14 attached to the first end member 6, so that sufficient slack can
be imparted to the flying ball stopping net 14. Therefore, when the
ball 39 that comes flying hits the flying ball stopping net 14, the
latter sufficiently deflects owing to its slack, quickly
decelerating the ball 39. Then the ball 39 is prevented from
greatly bouncing off the flying ball stopping net 14, with the
result that the operation of collecting the ball 39 thereafter is
facilitated.
[0068] Further, as described above, the first end member 6 has
attached thereto the bag-like ball collecting net 37 that is
positioned adjacent the lower portion of the flying ball stopping
net 14 and that opens upward when the first end member 6 is raised
by putting the flying ball stopping net device 1 in its usable
state.
[0069] Therefore, the ball 39 hitting the flying ball stopping net
14 and quickly decelerated to fall therefrom is collected by the
ball collecting net 37, so that such balls are prevented from
scattering over the ground 18.
[0070] Thus, the operation for collecting the ball 39 is further
facilitated.
[0071] Further, as described above, by bending the wire rod
assembly 2 while counteracting the elastic restoring force of the
wire rod assembly 2, a plurality of spiral annuluses 40 of
substantially the same diameter can be formed and superposed on
each other on substantially the same axis 41.
[0072] In this case, the flying ball stopping net 14, first and
second connecting members 20 and 32, and ball collecting net 37,
which are attached to the wire rod assembly 2, are all flexible but
have no rigidity or elasticity, so that they do not constitute
obstacles when said wire rod assembly 2 is bent to superpose the
spiral annuluses 40 on each other.
[0073] Thus, the operation of bending the wire rod assembly 2 to
form spiral annuluses 40 and superposing them on each other to put
the flying ball stopping net device 1 in its compact stored state
is facilitated.
[0074] In addition, the above explanation has been given of the
illustrated example, and the first and second end members 20 and
32, which are flexible long-sized bodies, may be ropes, wires or
the like.
[0075] Further, either the assembly of the band 21 and buckles 22
or the assembly of the bands 23 and 24 and buckles 25 may be
dispensed with.
[0076] Further, the present invention may be such that it achieves
the object by suitably combining the individual component members
described above.
* * * * *