U.S. patent application number 15/344670 was filed with the patent office on 2017-05-25 for towable/rollable baseball batting cage.
The applicant listed for this patent is Larry Tang. Invention is credited to Larry Tang.
Application Number | 20170144050 15/344670 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 58720000 |
Filed Date | 2017-05-25 |
United States Patent
Application |
20170144050 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Tang; Larry |
May 25, 2017 |
Towable/Rollable Baseball Batting Cage
Abstract
A baseball batting cage, steadied and stabilized by a mechanical
framework of struts, stiffening tubes, braces and clamps so as to
be towable and rollable in use, with reduced chance of undesirable
collapse.
Inventors: |
Tang; Larry; (East
Brunswick, NJ) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Tang; Larry |
East Brunswick |
NJ |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
58720000 |
Appl. No.: |
15/344670 |
Filed: |
November 7, 2016 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
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62259977 |
Nov 25, 2015 |
|
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63B 69/0002 20130101;
A63B 2071/025 20130101; A63B 2069/0008 20130101; A63B 2210/50
20130101; A63B 71/022 20130101 |
International
Class: |
A63B 71/02 20060101
A63B071/02; A63B 69/00 20060101 A63B069/00 |
Claims
1. In a towable/rollable baseball batting cage, the combination a
plurality of hinged struts, a first one of which defines a front
opening of the cage and a second one of which defines a rear
closure of the cage; first and second pairs of inside and outside
spaced-apart rings secured to said first strut and to said second
strut, respectively; and a plurality of linear stiffening tubes,
first individual ones of which are cradled between the spaced-apart
rings of each pair, and second individual ones of which are braced
against the inside rings of said pair.
2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said struts include
intercoupled inner straight sections and outer curved sections, and
wherein said pairs of rings are welded to said outer curved
sections.
3. The combination of claim 1, including U-shaped clamps on upper
and lower ends of said linear stiffening tubes.
4. The combination of claim 1 including: first, second, third and
fourth struts; first and second pairs of spaced-apart rings welded
to said first strut; third and fourth pairs of spaced-apart rings
welded to said second strut; fifth and sixth pairs of spaced-apart
rings welded to said third strut; and seventh and eighth pairs of
spaced-apart rings welded to said fourth strut; first and second
linear stiffening tubes having upper clamps connected between said
first and second pairs of said spaced-apart rings on said first
strut and lower clamps connected between said third and fourth
pairs of spaced-apart rings on said second strut; third and fourth
linear stiffening tubes having lower clamps connected between said
seventh and eighth pairs of spaced-apart rings on said fourth strut
and upper clamps connected between said fifth and sixth pairs of
spaced-apart rings on said third strut; and fifth and sixth linear
stiffening tubes having upper clamps braced against inside rings of
said third and fourth pairs of spaced-apart rings on said second
strut and lower clamps braced against inside rings of said fifth
and sixth pairs of spaced-apart rings on said third strut.
5. The combination of claim 4 including netting stretched along
substantially the entire length of said first, second, third and
fourth struts.
6. The combination of claim 5 including means coupled to said first
strut for rolling said batting cage.
7. The combination of claim 6 including means coupled to said
second strut for towing said batting cage.
8. In a towable/rollable baseball batting cage, the combination
comprising: a plurality of struts having interlocking straight and
curved sections defining a framework for the cage; individual pairs
of stops predeterminedly placed along said struts; and a plurality
of linear tubes between adjacent struts for stiffening said
framework, said tubes incorporating clamps at opposite ends
thereof, with outside ones of said plurality of linear tubes
cradled to fit between individual stops of said pairs of stops, and
with inside ones of said plurality of linear tubes braced against
individual stops of said pair of stops.
9. The combination of claim 8 wherein said pairs of stops include
rings welded onto said struts.
10. The combination of claim 8 wherein said pairs of stops are
predeterminedly placed on said curved sections of said struts,
adjacent to said interlocking straight sections of said struts.
11. The combination of claim 8 wherein said pairs of stops include
rings welded on said curved sections of said struts, adjacent to
said interlocking straight sections of said struts.
12. The combination of claim 11 including U-shaped clamps on upper
and lower ends of said plurality of linear tubes.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] A Provisional Patent Application covering the invention
described herein was filed on Nov. 25, 2015, and assigned Ser. No.
62/259,977.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
[0002] Research and development of this invention and Application
have not been federally sponsored, and no rights are given under
any Federal program.
REFERENCE TO A MICROFICHE APPENDIX
[0003] NOT APPLICABLE
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0004] Field of the Invention
[0005] This invention relates to baseball batting cages, in
general, and to towable/rollable ones, in particular.
[0006] Description of the Related Art
[0007] As will be appreciated, baseball batting cages are available
in a variety of sizes, shapes, manufactures and pricings. As will
also be appreciated, those installed for college and
semi-professional baseball use are of a greater, or better, quality
than those employed for junior league baseball--or even, just for
softball players--for practicing their batting skills. For
professional baseball teams, on the other hand, the designs are
improved further, so that the batting cage will be more safely and
easily assemblable and disassemblable; besides being more safely
and easily connectable to receive and thereafter release their
nettings at the sides, tops and rears to additionally protect those
outside and surrounding the cage and to keep loose balls within a
certain range so that they are easy to pick up and are not lost.
When the batting cage also needs to be shifted from place to place
at a field or stadium--and ultimately brought to a storage
location--the batting cage additionally needs to be safely and
easily moved, as by towing on a roller system. And this remains all
the more so even though the batting cage might only be broken down
for storage once or twice a year.
[0008] Proposed types of towable/rollable baseball batting cages
offered on the market to meet these requirements have been found to
be wanting--and primarily because their lack of sturdiness and
stability allows them to undesirably collapse at times during
use.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
[0009] It is an object of the invention, therefore, to enhance
towable/rollable baseball batting cage performance by addressing
such limitations in a new and improved towable/rollable
manufacturing manner to provide an optimal operational
utilization.
[0010] It is another object of the invention to provide a
towable/rollable baseball batting cage in which adjustments can
readily be made in its configuration to vary, where desired, the
degrees of protection offered by its nettings to coaches and
players observing a practice from just outside the enclosed cage
area to begin with.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0011] As will be clear from the following description, the
towable/rollable baseball batting cage of the invention employs a
mechanical framework for the batting cage utilizing a series of
braces and clamps in a fabrication which locks its implemented
strut and tubing component parts in position.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0012] These and other features of the present invention will be
more clearly understood from a consideration of the following
description, taken in connection with the accompanying Drawings in
which:
[0013] FIGS. 1A-1C are pictorial illustrations of the commonly
employed towable/rollable baseball batting cage typifying the prior
art;
[0014] FIGS. 2A-2C illustrate various component parts of the
invention which when joined together, provide a safe and easy
operation and utilization of a quality towable/rollable baseball
batting cage; and
[0015] FIGS. 3A-3E are helpful in understanding the connections
together of such component parts in structuring the
towable/rollable batting cage of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0016] The prior art towable/rollable baseball batting cage of FIG.
1A includes five struts 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18, with the struts 12,
14 and 16 being hinged together at 20 and 22--with those hinges
then being fixed together with the strut 10, at 24, 26. Further
hinges at 28, 30 couple the struts 10 and 12, with the strut 10
then joined with the strut 18 as at 32, 34 (if not constructed
merely as an extension of it). Three wheels 36, 38 and 40 are
employed in constructed cradles for rolling the cage 100 about,
with the cage 100 employing a coupling assembly 42 adjacent the
wheel 40 for also towing the cage about, either by human or
mechanical effort.
[0017] Prior to assembly, the prior art struts (as so far
described) are rotated downwardly atop or adjacent and above one
another, as shown by the arrows A.sub.1, A.sub.2, and A.sub.3--with
the strut 18 being above the strut 16, with the strut 16 being over
the strut 14, and with the strut 14 being rotatable to rest above
the strut 12. In common installations, the struts typically are
composed of tubular inter-coupled curved sections 70 and straight
sections 71 in satisfying needed size requirements.
[0018] Then, in readying the typical cage for use via a counter
rotation movement of the struts, a pair of linear stiffening tubes
60, 61 are added to join with the struts 12 and 14, and a second
pair of linear stiffening tubes 62, 63 are added to join with the
struts 14 and 16. Lastly, a third pair of linear stiffening tubes
64, 65 are added to join with the struts 16 and 18. With
appropriate nettings connected with the struts and tubes, the cage
structure is formed. FIG. 1B in this respect illustrates claw-type
clasps 72, 73 at the opposing ends of each linear stiffening tube
and FIG. 1C illustrates how the clasps 72, 73 grasp onto the
various sections of the struts. As such, the clasps commonly grasp
onto the straight sections 71 of the various struts.
[0019] Experience has shown, however, that the couplings of these
clawed-ended clasp stiffening tubes with the tubular struts as rods
do not provide a sturdiness of the cage once assembled, nor a
stability of the cage as it is moved about. Such lack of sturdiness
and stability will be appreciated by the skilled artisan as
allowing individual ones of the linear stiffening tubes 60-65 to
slide outwardly, and undesirably shift to the curved sections of
the struts. This can lead to a collapse of the nettings connected
in forming the cage enclosure--and especially when the cage is
towed or rolled from one location to another as the claw clasps 72,
73 slide down towards the curved strut sections.
[0020] FIG. 2A illustrates a towable/rollable batting cage
according to the invention, with the stiffening tubes 60-65
removed--while FIG. 2B illustrates a different designed tube for
joining with the struts 12, 14, 16 and 18. Specifically, the
claw-type clasps 72, 73 of the prior art linear stiffening tubes
are replaced by U-shaped clamp ends 80, 81 (FIG. 2B), with holes
82, 83 to receive a locking pin to be described below.
Additionally, rings 84 and 85 are welded onto the curved section 70
of each strut 12, 14, 16 and 18 at their left and right ends, just
outside their couplings with the straight sections 71. FIG. 2C also
illustrates the coupling assembly 42 as it would appear locked in
place by a slider 43.
[0021] With respect to the towable/rollable batting cage of the
invention illustrated in FIG. 3A with the redesigned, replacement
linear stiffening tubes in place--while retaining the same
reference numbers 60-65 as those of the prior art batting cage of
FIG. 1A--, the following will be noted:
[0022] a) As to the tubes 64 and 65, the U-shaped clamp at their
upper ends are fitted between the 2 rings welded on the left and
right sides of the strut 18, as at 90, 91;
[0023] b) As to the tubes 60 and 61, the U-shaped clamp at their
lower ends are fitted between the 2 welded rings on the left and
right sides of the strut 12, as at 92, 93;
[0024] c) As to the tubes 62 and 63, the U-shaped clamp at their
upper ends are fitted inwardly of the 2 welded rings on the left
and right sides of the strut 16, as at 94, 95;
[0025] d) Also with respect to the tubes 62 and 63, the U-shaped
clamp at their lower ends are fitted inwardly of the 2 welded rings
on the left and right sides of the strut 14, as at 96, 97;
[0026] e) As to the tubes 64 and 65, once again, the U-shaped clamp
at their lower ends are fitted between the 2 welded rings on the
left and right sides of the strut 16, as at 98, 99; and
[0027] f) As to the tubes 60 and 61, the U-shaped clamp at their
upper ends are each fitted between the 2 welded rings on the left
and right sides of the strut 14, as at 100, 101.
[0028] FIG. 3B in this respect illustrates the arrangement for the
lower end of the tube 65 and the upper end of the tube 63, with the
straight section of the strut 16 being shown at 71, and the curved
section of the strut 16 being shown at 70. The 2 welded rings 84,
85 on the curved section 70 are shown, along with locking pins 50,
51 fitted through the holes 82, 83 of each U-shaped clamp. To
facilitate an assembling of the components together, the locking
pins 50 and 51 are joined by wire cablings 52, 53 to openings on
the tubes to assist in retaining them in place as the cage is being
erected. In such manner, the lower end of the tube 65 is cradled or
locked in place between the rings welded to the curved sections of
the strut, while the upper end of the tube 63 is braced against the
inside welded ring. Similar analysis will be seen to apply with the
lower end of the tube 64 and the upper ends of the tubes 60 and 61
being cradled between the spaced apart welded rings and the bracing
of the lower ends of the tubes 62 and 63, along with the upper end
of the tube 62 against the inside welded ring. For those
alignments, the illustration of FIG. 3B will be understood to be
re-oriented, so that the cradling or locking is at the location
closer to the curved section of the strut and the bracing is inside
of that. Thus, for example, the illustration of FIG. 3C represents
a mirror image of the arrangement of the lower end of the tube 64
with the upper end of the tube 62--wherein the lower end of the
tube 64 is cradled between the welded rings and the upper end of
the tube 62 is braced inside against the rings. In such manner, the
sturdiness and stability of the framework and its attached netting
is maintained. FIG. 3D repeats the assembly locking of FIG. 2C, and
FIG. 3C repeats the U-shaped clamps of the tube of FIG. 3B.
[0029] In assembling the towable/rollable baseball cage of the
invention, two persons are involved in its setting up, and
subsequent knocking down. First, the lower ends of the tube
modifications 60 and 61 according to FIG. 2B are pushed in place
onto the strut 12 and fitted between the welded rings on the struts
12 and 14 secured by the locking pins. Starting with the struts 14,
16 and 18 initially rotated downwardly above the strut 12, the
strut 18 is next rotated outwardly and upwardly. Netting is then
stretched along its length and the upper ends of tube modifications
64 and 65 of FIG. 2B, which are then to be set in place by pushing
them into position on the strut 18. The locking pin and wire
cablings are then placed to hold the tube modifications 64 and 65
while the strut 16 is itself rotated upwardly to receive the lower
ends of the tube modifications 64 and 65, where similar locking
pins are inserted into the holes provided there to secure the two
modifications in place while tube modifications 64 and 65 are
pushed onto the strut 16. At that time, the netting can be
stretched to join with the struts 16 along its length. The process
is then repeated with the tube modifications 62 and 63 by inserting
their upper clamp ends onto the strut 16. The same is followed for
the lower ends of the modifications 62 and 63, and the upper ends
of the modified tubes 60 and 61. And each time the section is
secured, the netting is then attached to it. As will be
appreciated, the curvature of strut 18 defines the front or opening
of the cage. And, as will be understood, the knock down of the cage
follows a reverse process from the setting up so that those
knocking down the cage begin with the netting between the struts 18
and 16, and work their way down from there.
[0030] While there have been described what are considered to be a
preferred embodiment of the present invention, it will be readily
appreciated by those skilled in the art that modifications can be
made without departing from the scope of the teachings herein.
Thus, whereas a welding of the clamps and braces to the curved
sections 70 of the struts 12,14, 16 and 18 of the above-described
batting cage have provided beneficial results, other manners of
their securement might be utilized instead. Also, one might attempt
to proceed with the assembly and disassembly of the
towable/rollable batting cage without the employment of locking
pins to temporarily secure the linear stiffening tubes 60-65 in
place while the cage is being set up or broken down. But such
manners of proceeding might lead to the possibility of the
assembler experiencing difficulty in retaining everything in proper
position in so doing. As a reasoned analysis will show, such
elimination of those components very well could result in a
decrease of the rigidity and sturdiness of the cage of the
preferred embodiment, and in a manner which decreases the
availability of its safe and easy transportation about, especially
when the cage is to be towed, or is being towed by a mechanical
means instead of by a manual activity. And, as will be appreciated,
the strut 18 defines the front opening of the batting cage, while
the strut 14 defines the rear closure of the cage.
[0031] In similar manner, to even further strengthen the sturdiness
and stability of the invention, additional rings may be welded to
the straight sections 71 of the struts 14 and 16 to receive the
upper end of the modified tubes 62 and 63 of FIG. 2B between
them--as by making the 2-welded ring configuration at the locations
94, 95 and 96, 97 into a 3-welded ring alignment, to cradle and
lock not only the modified tubes 64 and 65, and the modified tubes
60 and 61, but the modified tubes 62 and 63 at the same time. And,
besides being able to also secure the clamps and braces of the
linear stiffening tubes to the straight sections 71 of the struts
(although with somewhat less of of a beneficial result), it will
further be understood that a series of screws, bolts or like
impediments could be configured along the struts other than welded
rings to limit any outward sliding or shifting of the stiffening
tubes in a direction to collapse the framework of the batting cage.
For at least such reasons, therefore, resort should be had to the
claims appended hereto defining the invention.
* * * * *