A ball launching system for a ball game and a ball bag therefor

Abstract

This invention discloses a ball-serving system and its ball bag, relating to the field of sports training equipment technology. The system includes a ball-serving machine and a ball bag detachably connected to the machine. The ball bag includes a main body and a ball-ejecting structure. The ball-ejecting structure includes an infeed hole, a rotating mechanism, a drive motor, a detection component, and a controller. The rotating mechanism has a ball-receiving unit; rotation aligns the ball-receiving unit with the infeed hole, and the ball falls into the ball-serving machine under gravity and is launched by the serving device. The detection component detects the rotational position of the rotating mechanism. The controller controls the drive motor to rotate the rotating mechanism to a preset position based on the detection signal, ensuring precise alignment between the ball-receiving unit and the infeed hole. This invention, by setting up a closed-loop control system with the detection component and controller, effectively overcomes the rotation angle deviation caused by current fluctuations and vibrations in DC motors, ensuring the reliability of ball supply and the accuracy of serving rhythm. It features a simple structure and low cost.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of sports training equipment technology, and more specifically, to a ball-serving system for tennis, pickle or other ball games, and a ball bag used in the ball-serving system. Background Technology

[0002] In training for ball sports such as tennis and pickle, ball machines are widely used to automatically launch balls to athletes for hitting practice. Existing ball machines typically consist of a main body and a ball bag for storing balls. The ball bag is detachably mounted on the machine and supplies balls one by one to the serving mechanism, which then accelerates and launches the balls.

[0003] To achieve automatic and orderly ball feeding, a rotating mechanism (such as a turntable) is usually installed inside the ball bag. The rotating mechanism has multiple ball-holding units (such as through holes) for accommodating individual balls. The rotating mechanism is driven by a motor to rotate. When a ball-holding unit rotates to align with the ball-in-the-hole at the bottom of the ball bag, the ball falls into the ball-feeding machine under the action of gravity, completing one ball feeding cycle.

[0004] In practical applications, many ball-serving systems use DC motors to drive the rotating mechanism to reduce costs and control complexity. However, DC motors have an inherent technical problem: due to factors such as current changes during motor start / stop, speed fluctuations, movement deviations of mechanical transmission components, and vibrations during machine operation, DC motors are prone to inaccurate rotation angles with each rotation, i.e., "over-rotating" or "under-rotating." This leads to two adverse consequences: first, when a serve is needed, the ball-holding unit fails to align precisely with the in-goal hole, preventing the ball from falling and interrupting the serve; second, when a serve is not needed, the ball-holding unit accidentally aligns with the in-goal hole, causing the ball to fall unexpectedly, disrupting the rhythm and accuracy of the serve. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The present invention aims to solve the above-mentioned problems existing in the prior art and provide a ball serving system and ball bag that can achieve accurate ball feeding.

[0006] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention provides a ball-serving system and a ball bag in the system.

[0007] This invention provides a ball-serving system, comprising:

[0008] A ball-serving machine, comprising a main body and a ball-serving device disposed on the main body, the ball-serving device being used to launch a ball at a preset speed and angle; and a ball bag, detachably connected to the ball-serving machine, for holding and supplying balls to the ball-serving machine.

[0009] The ball bag includes:

[0010] The main body of the ball bag is used to hold multiple balls;

[0011] A ball-launching structure is provided on the main body of the ball bag for docking with the ball-launching machine;

[0012] The ball-release structure includes:

[0013] A ball-filling hole, located at the bottom or side of the ball bag, is used to allow the ball to fall into the ball-serving machine under the influence of gravity;

[0014] A rotating mechanism is rotatably disposed inside or on the ball bag body. The rotating mechanism is provided with at least one ball-holding unit for holding a ball. The rotation of the rotating mechanism drives the ball-holding unit to move. When the ball-holding unit is aligned with the ball-going hole, the ball in the ball-holding unit falls into the ball-going machine through the ball-going hole under the action of gravity.

[0015] A drive motor is connected to the rotating mechanism for driving the rotating mechanism to rotate;

[0016] A detection component is used to detect the rotational position of the rotating mechanism;

[0017] The controller is electrically connected to the drive motor and the detection component respectively. The controller controls the drive motor to drive the rotating mechanism to rotate to a preset position according to the detection signal of the detection component, so that the ball-holding unit is aligned with the ball-holding hole.

[0018] Furthermore, the detection component includes:

[0019] Multiple magnetic devices are provided and are distributed at intervals along the circumference of the rotating mechanism;

[0020] A Hall switch is disposed on the ball bag body or the ball machine, and its position corresponds to the movement trajectory of the magnetic device on the rotating mechanism, and is used to generate a trigger signal when the magnetic device passes by.

[0021] Furthermore, the controller uses the trigger signal generated by the Hall switch as a reference position to control the drive motor to drive the rotating mechanism to rotate from the reference position by a preset angle so that the next ball-holding unit is aligned with the ball-holding hole.

[0022] Furthermore, the controller determines the current position of the rotating mechanism based on the trigger signal generated by the Hall switch, and controls the drive motor to drive the rotating mechanism to rotate based on the angle difference between the current position and the target position.

[0023] Furthermore, the number of magnetic devices is the same as the number of spherical units, and they are arranged in a one-to-one correspondence.

[0024] Furthermore, the rotating mechanism is a turntable, and the turntable has multiple through holes arranged along the circumference, which constitute the ball-receiving unit.

[0025] Furthermore, the controller includes:

[0026] A signal receiving module is used to receive the detection signal emitted by the detection component;

[0027] The motor drive module is used to send drive commands to the drive motor;

[0028] The processing module, electrically connected to the signal receiving module and the motor driving module, is used to determine the rotation direction and rotation angle of the drive motor according to the preset serving rhythm and the detection signal, and generate corresponding driving commands.

[0029] Furthermore, the processing module is configured as follows:

[0030] When a serve command is received, the current position information of the rotating mechanism is obtained;

[0031] Based on the position information, calculate the target rotation angle required to rotate the ball-holding unit of the next ball to be served to align with the ball-scoring hole;

[0032] The motor drive module is controlled to drive the drive motor to rotate the target rotation angle.

[0033] Furthermore, obtaining the current position information of the rotating mechanism includes: receiving a trigger signal from the Hall switch and determining the position corresponding to the trigger signal as the reference position of the rotating mechanism;

[0034] The current position of the rotating mechanism is calculated based on the number of steps or angles that the drive motor has rotated from the reference position.

[0035] This invention provides a ball bag for a ball-serving system, the ball bag being detachably connected to a ball-serving machine, comprising:

[0036] The main body of the ball bag is used to hold multiple balls;

[0037] A ball-launching structure is provided on the main body of the ball bag for docking with the ball-launching machine;

[0038] The ball-ejecting structure includes:

[0039] A ball-filling hole, located at the bottom or side of the ball bag, is used to allow the ball to fall into the ball-serving machine under the influence of gravity;

[0040] A rotating mechanism is rotatably disposed inside or on the ball bag body. The rotating mechanism is provided with at least one ball-holding unit for holding a ball. The rotation of the rotating mechanism drives the ball-holding unit to move. When the ball-holding unit is aligned with the ball-going hole, the ball in the ball-holding unit falls into the ball-going machine through the ball-going hole under the action of gravity.

[0041] A drive motor is connected to the rotating mechanism for driving the rotating mechanism to rotate;

[0042] A detection component is used to detect the rotational position of the rotating mechanism and send a detection signal to a controller, so that the controller controls the drive motor to drive the rotating mechanism to rotate to a preset position according to the detection signal, so that the ball receiving unit is aligned with the ball inlet hole.

[0043] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of the present invention are as follows: by setting detection components (such as Hall switches and magnetic devices) to monitor the position of the rotating mechanism in real time, and combining it with the controller for closed-loop control, the rotation angle deviation of the DC motor caused by current fluctuations, vibrations and other reasons is effectively overcome, ensuring that the ball-holding unit can be accurately aligned with the ball-holding hole every time, avoiding the phenomena of ball jamming, ball leakage or multiple balls. Attached Figure Description

[0044] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are some embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0045] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a ball-serving machine provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0046] Figure 2 This is a partial structural diagram of a ball bag provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0047] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the internal structure of another ball bag portion provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0048] Figure 4 This is another internal structure diagram of the ball-serving machine provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0049] Figure 5 A flowchart of a control method provided in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0050] In the diagram: 100-ball machine; 110-ball machine body; 120-motion device; 130-support device; 200-ball bag; 210-ball bag body; 220-ball release structure; 221-rotation mechanism; 222-Hall switch; 223-connection structure. Specific Implementation

[0051] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of this invention clearer, the invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments. It is to be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the invention and not intended to limit it. All other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of this invention without inventive effort are within the scope of protection of this invention.

[0052] Furthermore, the terms "upper," "lower," "top," "bottom," "inner," and "outer," etc., indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings. They are used only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation. Therefore, they should not be construed as limitations on the present invention.

[0053] like Figure 1 As shown, this embodiment provides a ball-serving system, including a ball machine 100 and a ball bag 200 detachably connected to the ball machine 100. This ball-serving system is particularly suitable for training in ball sports such as tennis and pickle.

[0054] Please see Figure 1 The ball-serving machine 100 includes a main body 110, a support device 130 mounted on the main body 110, a motion device 120, and a ball-serving device (not shown in the figure) disposed inside the main body 110. The support device 130 is used to stably place the ball-serving machine 100 on the ground or other supporting surface. The motion device 120 can be used to adjust the serving direction. The ball-serving device is used to launch the ball at a preset speed and angle. Preferably, the ball-serving device can be two opposing friction wheels and their drive motor, accelerating and launching the ball through the high-speed rotation of the friction wheels.

[0055] Please refer to the following: Figure 2 , Figure 3 and Figure 4 The ball bag 200 is used to hold and supply balls to the ball machine 100. The ball bag 200 includes a ball bag body 210 and a ball delivery structure 220 disposed on the ball bag body 210. The ball bag body 210 has a receiving cavity for storing multiple balls (e.g., dozens of tennis balls).

[0056] like Figure 3 and Figure 4As shown, the ball-launching structure 220 specifically includes a ball-launching hole (located on the connecting structure 223 at the bottom of the ball bag 200), a rotating mechanism 221, a drive motor (not shown in the figure), a detection component, and a controller (not shown in the figure).

[0057] The ball-in-the-go hole is located at the bottom of the ball bag 200 (preferably at the bottom in this embodiment, but may also be located on the side in other embodiments) to allow the ball to fall into the ball-serving machine 100 under the action of gravity. A ball-guiding channel may be provided at a corresponding position on the ball-serving machine 100 to guide the ball falling from the ball-in-the-go hole to the ball-serving device.

[0058] like Figure 3 As shown, the rotating mechanism 221 is rotatably disposed within the ball bag body 210. In this embodiment, the rotating mechanism 221 is a turntable with multiple through holes arranged circumferentially on the turntable. These through holes constitute ball-containing units for accommodating balls. The size of each through hole is slightly larger than the diameter of the ball, so that each through hole can accommodate exactly one ball. When the rotating mechanism 221 rotates, it drives the balls in each through hole to perform circular motion.

[0059] The drive motor is connected to the rotating mechanism 221 for driving the rotating mechanism 221 to rotate. Considering cost factors, a DC motor is preferably used as the drive motor in this embodiment.

[0060] To address the issue of inaccurate rotation angles in DC motors caused by factors such as current fluctuations and vibrations, this system is specifically equipped with detection components and a controller.

[0061] Please see Figure 3 The detection component is used to detect the rotational position of the rotating mechanism 221. Preferably, the detection component includes multiple magnetic devices (not shown in the figure) and a Hall switch 222. The multiple magnetic devices are distributed at circumferential intervals along the rotating mechanism 221. The Hall switch 222 is disposed on the ball bag body 210 (or, in other embodiments, on the ball-launching machine 100), and its position corresponds to the movement trajectory of the magnetic devices on the rotating mechanism 221, used to generate a trigger signal when the magnetic devices pass by.

[0062] As a further preferred embodiment, the number of magnetic devices is the same as the number of spherical units (through holes), and they are arranged in a one-to-one correspondence. For example, if there are 4 through holes on the turntable, then 4 permanent magnets are arranged accordingly, and each permanent magnet can be embedded in the turntable at a position corresponding to the through hole. In this way, whenever a through hole rotates to a specific position (such as above the spherical hole), the corresponding permanent magnet passes through the Hall switch 222, triggering a signal.

[0063] Please see Figure 4The ball bag 200 is also equipped with a connecting structure 223 for detachable connection with the ball machine 100. The connecting structure 223 can be in the form of a slot, a buckle, or a guide rail, etc., to achieve quick installation and disassembly.

[0064] The controller is electrically connected to both the drive motor and the detection component. Based on the detection signal from the detection component, the controller controls the drive motor to rotate the rotating mechanism 221 to a preset position, aligning the ball-holding unit with the ball-filling hole. The controller can be a standalone microcontroller (MCU) or a control module integrated into the main control circuit of the ball-launching machine 100.

[0065] Regarding the specific implementation of the controller, the following is a combination of... Figure 5 The control flow diagram shown is explained in detail.

[0066] like Figure 5 As shown, the control flow of this system includes the following steps:

[0067] System initialization. After the system is powered on, the controller initializes and drives the rotating mechanism to rotate until the Hall switch is triggered for the first time, and this position is set as the initial reference position.

[0068] Determine if a serve command has been received. The controller continuously monitors for serve commands from the trainer or preset programs. If no command is received, it continues to wait.

[0069] Obtain the current position information of the rotating mechanism. When a serve command is received, the controller first obtains the current position of the rotating mechanism. Specific methods for obtaining this information include:

[0070] It receives trigger signals from Hall switches. Since there is a one-to-one correspondence between the magnetic device and the ball cell, each trigger signal indicates that a ball cell has reached a specific position (e.g., aligned with the ball hole).

[0071] The position corresponding to the trigger signal is determined as the reference position of the rotating mechanism. This reference position serves as the benchmark for position calculation.

[0072] The precise position of the rotating mechanism is calculated based on the number of steps or angles the drive motor has rotated since the reference position. For example, the controller can record the number of pulses or the time since the last Hall signal to estimate the current position.

[0073] Calculate the target rotation angle. Based on the acquired current position information, the controller calculates the target rotation angle required to rotate the ball-holding unit of the next ball to be served to align with the ball-holding hole.

[0074] The controller controls the drive motor to rotate to the target angle. It sends drive commands (such as PWM signals) to the drive motor via the motor drive module, controlling the motor to precisely rotate to the calculated target angle.

[0075] The ball-holding unit aligns with the ball-in-the-hole, and the ball falls into the ball-launching machine. After rotating into position, the ball-holding unit is precisely aligned with the ball-in-the-hole, and the ball inside falls into the ball-launching machine under the influence of gravity, and is then launched by the ball-launching device.

[0076] Determine whether to continue serving. If the training is not yet finished, return to step S102 and wait for the next serving instruction; if the training is finished, the process terminates.

[0077] This mode achieves high-precision ball supply control through real-time position feedback and angle difference calculation.

[0078] The controller can also employ a simplified control mode of "reference position + preset angle". That is, whenever the Hall switch generates a trigger signal, the controller uses this signal as a reference to control the drive motor to rotate from that reference position by a preset fixed angle (e.g., 30 degrees, corresponding to one ball position), thereby aligning the next ball-holding unit with the ball-holding hole. This mode has simpler control logic and is suitable for applications with slightly lower precision requirements.

[0079] This embodiment provides a ball bag 200 for a ball-serving system, which is detachably connected to a ball-serving machine 100. For example... Figure 2 , Figure 3 and Figure 4 As shown, the ball bag 200 includes:

[0080] The main body of the ball bag 210 is used to hold multiple balls;

[0081] The ball delivery structure 220 is mounted on the ball bag body 210 and is used to connect with the ball delivery machine 100.

[0082] Among them, the ball-release structure 220 includes:

[0083] The ball-filling hole is located at the bottom of the ball bag 200 and is used to allow the ball to fall into the ball-serving machine 100 under the action of gravity.

[0084] The rotating mechanism 221 is rotatably disposed inside the ball bag body 210. The rotating mechanism 221 is provided with multiple ball-holding units (through holes on the turntable in this embodiment) for holding balls. The rotation of the rotating mechanism 221 drives the ball-holding units to move. When the ball-holding unit is aligned with the ball-in-the-hole, the ball in the ball-holding unit falls into the ball-launching machine 100 through the ball-in-the-hole under the action of gravity.

[0085] A drive motor (not shown in the figure) is connected to the rotating mechanism 221 for driving the rotating mechanism 221 to rotate.

[0086] The detection component is used to detect the rotation position of the rotating mechanism 221 and send a detection signal to a controller so that the controller can control the drive motor to drive the rotating mechanism 221 to rotate to a preset position so that the ball receiving unit is aligned with the ball inlet hole.

[0087] Similar to Embodiment 1, the detection assembly preferably includes a plurality of magnetic devices spaced apart circumferentially along the rotation mechanism 221, and a Hall switch 222 disposed on the ball-shaped body 210. The position of the Hall switch 222 corresponds to the movement trajectory of the magnetic devices and is used to generate a trigger signal when the magnetic devices pass by.

[0088] The ball bag 200 is also equipped with a connecting structure 223 (such as...). Figure 4 As shown in the figure, the ball bag 200 is used to achieve a detachable connection with the ball machine 100. The connection structure 223 can be in the form of a slot, a buckle, or a guide rail. At the same time, an electrical connector (not shown in the figure) can also be provided on the ball bag 200 to realize the electrical connection between the drive motor, the Hall switch 222 and the controller on the ball machine 100 when the ball bag 200 is installed on the ball machine 100.

[0089] In this embodiment, the ball bag 200 is an independent sales unit that can be adapted to various models of ball machines 100, and has good versatility and replaceability.

[0090] Those skilled in the art will recognize that the units and algorithm steps of the various examples described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are implemented in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementations should not be considered beyond the scope of this invention.

[0091] The above-described embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, and are not intended to limit it. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that modifications can still be made to the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments, or equivalent substitutions can be made to some of the technical features. Such modifications or substitutions do not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solutions to deviate from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, and should all be included within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A ball-serving system, characterized in that, include: A ball-serving machine, comprising a ball-serving machine body and a ball-serving device disposed on the ball-serving machine body, the ball-serving device being used to launch a ball at a preset speed and angle; A ball bag, detachably connected to the ball machine, for holding and supplying balls to the ball machine; The ball bag includes: The main body of the ball bag is used to hold multiple balls; A ball-launching structure is provided on the main body of the ball bag for docking with the ball-launching machine; The ball-release structure includes: A ball-filling hole is located at the bottom of the ball bag to allow the ball to fall into the ball-serving machine under the influence of gravity; A rotating mechanism is rotatably disposed inside or on the ball bag body. The rotating mechanism is provided with at least one ball-holding unit for holding a ball. The rotation of the rotating mechanism drives the ball-holding unit to move. When the ball-holding unit is aligned with the ball-going hole, the ball in the ball-holding unit falls into the ball-going machine through the ball-going hole under the action of gravity. A drive motor is connected to the rotating mechanism for driving the rotating mechanism to rotate; A detection component is used to detect the rotational position of the rotating mechanism; The controller is electrically connected to the drive motor and the detection component respectively. The controller controls the drive motor to drive the rotating mechanism to rotate to a preset position according to the detection signal of the detection component, so that the ball-holding unit is aligned with the ball-holding hole.

2. The ball-serving system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The detection component includes: Multiple magnetic devices are provided and are distributed at intervals along the circumference of the rotating mechanism; A Hall switch is disposed on the ball bag body or the ball machine, and its position corresponds to the movement trajectory of the magnetic device on the rotating mechanism, and is used to generate a trigger signal when the magnetic device passes by.

3. The ball-serving system according to claim 2, characterized in that, The controller uses the trigger signal generated by the Hall switch as a reference position to control the drive motor to drive the rotating mechanism to rotate from the reference position by a preset angle so that the next ball-holding unit is aligned with the ball-holding hole.

4. The ball-serving system according to claim 2, characterized in that, The controller determines the current position of the rotating mechanism based on the trigger signal generated by the Hall switch, and controls the drive motor to drive the rotating mechanism to rotate based on the angle difference between the current position and the target position.

5. The ball-serving system according to claim 2, characterized in that, The number of magnetic devices is the same as the number of spherical units, and they are arranged in a one-to-one correspondence.

6. The ball-serving system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The rotating mechanism is a turntable, and the turntable has multiple through holes along its circumference, which constitute the ball-holding unit.

7. The ball-serving system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The controller includes: A signal receiving module is used to receive the detection signal emitted by the detection component; The motor drive module is used to send drive commands to the drive motor; The processing module, electrically connected to the signal receiving module and the motor driving module, is used to determine the rotation direction and rotation angle of the drive motor according to the preset serving rhythm and the detection signal, and generate corresponding driving commands.

8. The ball-serving system according to claim 7, characterized in that, The processing module is configured as follows: When a serve command is received, the current position information of the rotating mechanism is obtained; Based on the position information, calculate the target rotation angle required to rotate the ball-holding unit of the next ball to be served to align with the ball-scoring hole; The motor drive module is controlled to drive the drive motor to rotate the target rotation angle.

9. The ball-serving system according to claim 8, characterized in that, The step of obtaining the current position information of the rotating mechanism includes: Receive a trigger signal from the Hall switch, and determine the position corresponding to the trigger signal as the reference position of the rotation mechanism; The current position of the rotating mechanism is calculated based on the number of steps or angles that the drive motor has rotated from the reference position.

10. A ball bag for a ball-serving system, the ball bag being detachably connected to a ball-serving machine, characterized in that, include: The main body of the ball bag is used to hold multiple balls; A ball-launching structure is provided on the main body of the ball bag for docking with the ball-launching machine; The ball-ejecting structure includes: A ball-filling hole, located at the bottom or side of the ball bag, is used to allow the ball to fall into the ball-serving machine under the influence of gravity; A rotating mechanism is rotatably disposed inside or on the ball bag body. The rotating mechanism is provided with at least one ball-holding unit for holding a ball. The rotation of the rotating mechanism drives the ball-holding unit to move. When the ball-holding unit is aligned with the ball-going hole, the ball in the ball-holding unit falls into the ball-going machine through the ball-going hole under the action of gravity. A drive motor is connected to the rotating mechanism for driving the rotating mechanism to rotate; A detection component is used to detect the rotational position of the rotating mechanism and send a detection signal to a controller, so that the controller controls the drive motor to drive the rotating mechanism to rotate to a preset position according to the detection signal, so that the ball receiving unit is aligned with the ball inlet hole.

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