Ball feeding mechanism of tennis robot

Abstract

The utility model provides a ball feeding mechanism of a tennis robot. The ball feeding mechanism comprises a ball squeezing assembly, a guide rail assembly and a ball feeding assembly. The ball squeezing assembly and the ball feeding assembly are installed on the installation frame, the ball squeezing assembly is connected with the ball feeding assembly through the guide rail assembly, and tennis balls sequentially pass through the ball feeding assembly and the guide rail assembly and are sent out through the ball squeezing assembly. The ball extruding assembly comprises a mounting plate, two ball extruding motors are mounted on one side of the mounting plate, output shafts of the ball extruding motors perpendicularly penetrate through the mounting plate to the other side and are fixedly connected with ball extruding wheels respectively, and a rotating round hole used for being rotationally connected with the mounting frame is formed in the middle of the mounting plate. A driven gear meshed with an external driving gear is fixedly arranged on one side of the mounting plate and used for driving the mounting plate to rotate around the rotating round hole. The ball feeding assembly comprises a ball feeding base, the ball feeding base is provided with a stopping rope capable of preventing the tennis balls from being concentrated at the ball falling opening, the ball feeding efficiency is improved, and the problems of ball falling blockage and discontinuity are solved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The utility model relates to the technical field of ball-serving robots, in particular to a ball-serving mechanism, in particular to a ball-serving mechanism for a tennis robot. Background Art

[0002] As an application of artificial intelligence in sports, the intelligence level of tennis serving robots directly impacts the user experience. While existing tennis serving robots on the market feature intelligent programming, remote control, and height adjustability, they suffer from issues such as ball jamming, varying contact time and area between the ball and the ball-squeezing wheel and channel, resulting in low accuracy, jamming, large fluctuations in ball delivery frequency, and slow ball delivery.

[0003] Those skilled in the art are in urgent need of a ball delivery mechanism that does not jam the ball, does not damage the ball, drops the ball continuously, delivers the ball at a fast speed, and ensures consistency between the ball delivery frequency and the ball delivery speed. Utility Model Content

[0004] The purpose of the utility model is to overcome the shortcomings of the existing technology and provide a tennis robot ball delivery mechanism to solve the problems of low ball delivery accuracy, ball jamming, large fluctuations in ball delivery frequency, slow ball delivery speed and damage to the ball in the existing tennis ball serving machine.

[0005] The utility model provides a ball delivery mechanism for a tennis robot, which includes a ball squeezing assembly, a guide rail assembly and a ball delivery assembly, wherein the ball squeezing assembly and the ball delivery assembly are mounted on a mounting frame, and the ball squeezing assembly is connected to the ball delivery assembly through the guide rail assembly, and the tennis ball passes through the ball delivery assembly and the guide rail assembly in sequence and is launched through the ball squeezing assembly; the ball squeezing assembly includes a mounting plate, two ball squeezing motors are mounted on one side of the mounting plate, the output shafts of the ball squeezing motors pass vertically through the mounting plate to the other side, and are respectively fixedly connected to ball squeezing wheels, a rotating circular hole for rotatably connecting to the mounting frame is provided in the middle of the mounting plate; a driven gear engaged with an external drive gear is fixedly provided on one side of the mounting plate, for driving the mounting plate to rotate around the rotating circular hole.

[0006] Furthermore, the ball feeding assembly includes a ball feeding base, the ball feeding base is fixed to the mounting frame, a ball feeding motor is fixedly provided at the lower portion of the ball feeding base, the output shaft of the ball feeding motor vertically passes through the ball feeding base to the ball feeding slot, a ball feeding dial is provided in the ball feeding slot and is fixedly connected to the output shaft of the ball feeding motor, a ball feeding dial is coaxially provided on the upper portion of the ball feeding dial, and a plurality of ball feeding slots for accommodating the tennis ball are provided around the axis of the ball feeding dial; a base ball dropping port is provided in the ball feeding slot of the ball feeding base, and a sensor for detecting a dropped ball is provided below the ball feeding base corresponding to the base ball dropping port; a limiting slot base for receiving the tennis ball is also provided below the ball feeding base corresponding to the base ball dropping port, the limiting slot base is fixed to the mounting frame, and the limiting slot base is connected to the guide rail assembly for feeding the ball; a first blocking cable is provided above the ball feeding base corresponding to the base ball dropping port, and the first blocking cable spans the upper portion of the ball feeding slot.

[0007] Furthermore, in the counterclockwise direction, a second blocking cable is provided above the ball delivery base near the first blocking cable, and the second blocking cable spans the upper part of the ball delivery slot; the first blocking cable and the second blocking cable are both located between the ball delivery dial wheel and the ball delivery lever.

[0008] Furthermore, the first arresting cable and the second arresting cable are both elastic rope components.

[0009] In an embodiment of the present utility model, the guide rail assembly includes a ball feeding guide rail, and a second bearing is rotatably connected to the side wall on one side of the upper end of the ball feeding guide rail through a connecting piece, and the second bearing is movably connected to the limit groove base; a connecting rod is fixedly provided on the same side of the lower end of the ball feeding guide rail and the second bearing, and the connecting rod is used to rotatably connect the mounting plate.

[0010] Furthermore, the side wall of the limiting groove base has a vertical limiting groove, the upper part of the limiting groove is open, and the second bearing is slidably engaged in the limiting groove and can move up and down in the limiting groove.

[0011] In an embodiment of the present invention, a first bearing for connecting to the lower end of the guide rail assembly is provided on one side of the mounting plate, and the connecting rod extends into and is fixed at the axis of the first bearing.

[0012] In an embodiment of the present invention, a limiting bolt is provided on the mounting plate on the same side as the first bearing, for limiting the rotation range of the ball feeding guide rail.

[0013] In an embodiment of the present utility model, the guide rail groove of the ball sending guide rail has a first guide rail section and a second guide rail section, the first guide rail section is close to the upper end of the ball sending guide rail, and the second guide rail section is close to the lower end of the ball sending guide rail; the length of the first guide rail section is greater than that of the second guide rail section; the curvature of the first guide rail section is greater than that of the second guide rail section.

[0014] In an embodiment of the present invention, the outer ring of the ball squeezing wheel has a rubber layer.

[0015] As can be seen from the above embodiments, the tennis robot ball delivery mechanism provided by this utility model has at least the following benefits: By providing a blocking cable on the ball delivery base, this mechanism prevents balls from concentrating at the ball dropout port, which could cause stuck and discontinuous ball drops, thereby ensuring a consistent ball delivery frequency. During the ball delivery process, the ball contacts the ball-squeezing wheel at the rear end of the ball delivery guide, accelerating the ball. Subsequently, the ball is simultaneously contacted and accelerated by both upper and lower ball-squeezing wheels, improving ball delivery speed and efficiency.

[0016] It should be understood that the above general description and the following detailed description are merely exemplary and illustrative and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] The following drawings are part of the specification of the present utility model, which illustrate exemplary embodiments of the present utility model. The accompanying drawings and the description of the specification are used to explain the principles of the present utility model.

[0018] Figure 1 This is a structural diagram of a ball squeezing component of a ball delivery mechanism of a tennis robot provided by the present invention.

[0019] Figure 2 This is an exploded view of a ball squeezing component of a ball delivery mechanism of a tennis robot provided by the present invention.

[0020] Figure 3 This is a structural diagram of a guide rail assembly of a tennis robot ball delivery mechanism provided by the present invention.

[0021] Figure 4 This is an exploded view of a guide rail assembly of a tennis robot ball delivery mechanism provided by the present invention.

[0022] Figure 5 This is a structural diagram of a ball delivery component of a ball delivery mechanism of a tennis robot provided by the present invention.

[0023] Figure 6 This is an exploded view of a ball delivery assembly of a tennis robot ball delivery mechanism provided by the present invention.

[0024] Figure 7The utility model provides a top view of a ball delivery assembly of a tennis robot ball delivery mechanism.

[0025] Figure 8 The utility model provides a structure of a tennis robot ball delivery mechanism Figure 1 .

[0026] Figure 9 The utility model provides a structure of a tennis robot ball delivery mechanism Figure 2 .

[0027] Figure 10 This is a structural diagram of the serving angle 1 of the ball delivery mechanism of a tennis robot provided by the present invention.

[0028] Figure 11 This is a structural diagram of the second serving angle of a tennis robot ball delivery mechanism provided by the present invention.

[0029] Description of reference numerals:

[0030] 1-ball squeezing assembly, 2-guide rail assembly, 3-ball delivery assembly, 4-tennis ball;

[0031] 11-mounting plate, 12-ball squeezing motor, 13-ball squeezing wheel, 14-rotating circular hole, 15-driven gear, 16-first bearing, 17-limiting bolt;

[0032] 21- ball feeding guide rail, 22- second bearing, 23- connecting rod;

[0033] 31- ball delivery base, 32- ball delivery dial, 33- ball delivery lever, 34- ball delivery motor, 35- sensor, 36- limit slot base, 37- first blocking cable, 38- second blocking cable, 39- base ball drop port;

[0034] 211-first guide rail segment, 212-second guide rail segment;

[0035] 361-Limiting slot. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0036] Various exemplary embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail. This description should not be considered as limiting the present invention, but should be understood as a more detailed description of certain aspects, features, and embodiments of the present invention.

[0037] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations may be made to the specific embodiments described herein without departing from the scope or spirit of the present invention. Other embodiments derived from the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The present description and examples are intended to be illustrative only.

[0038] The utility model provides a tennis robot ball delivery mechanism, such as Figure 8 and 9 The figure shows the overall structure of the ball delivery mechanism. In a specific embodiment, the ball delivery mechanism includes a ball squeezing assembly 1, a guide rail assembly 2, and a ball delivery assembly 3. The ball squeezing assembly 1 and the ball delivery assembly 3 are mounted on a mounting frame, and the ball squeezing assembly 1 is connected to the ball delivery assembly 3 via the guide rail assembly 2. A tennis ball 4 passes through the ball delivery assembly 3 and the guide rail assembly 2 in sequence and is launched through the ball squeezing assembly 1.

[0039] like Figure 1 and 2 As shown, in a specific embodiment of the present invention, the ball squeezing assembly 1 includes a mounting plate 11, with two ball squeezing motors 12 mounted on one side of the mounting plate 11, and the two ball squeezing motors 12 are arranged parallel to the sub-mounting plate 11. The output shafts of the ball squeezing motors 12 pass vertically through the mounting plate 11 to the other side and are fixedly connected to ball squeezing wheels 13. A rotating circular hole 14 is provided in the middle of the mounting plate 11 for rotatably connecting to the mounting frame, and the entire mounting plate 11 can rotate around the rotating circular hole 14.

[0040] A driven gear 15 meshing with an external driving gear is fixedly provided on one side of the mounting plate 11 to drive the mounting plate 11 to rotate around the rotating circular hole 14. When the mounting plate 11 rotates, the guide rail assembly 2 can be driven to rotate, thereby changing the angle of the serve.

[0041] like Figure 5-7 As shown, in a specific embodiment of the present invention, the ball feeding assembly 3 includes a ball feeding base 31, which is fixed to the mounting frame. A ball feeding motor 34 is fixedly provided at the lower portion of the ball feeding base 31, and the output shaft of the ball feeding motor 34 vertically passes through the ball feeding base 31 to the ball feeding groove. A ball feeding dial 32 is provided in the ball feeding groove and is fixedly connected to the output shaft of the ball feeding motor 34. A ball feeding lever 33 is coaxially provided on the upper portion of the ball feeding dial 32, and the ball feeding lever 33 rotates synchronously with the ball feeding dial 32. In addition, a plurality of ball feeding slots for accommodating tennis balls 4 are provided around the axis of the ball feeding dial 32. In this embodiment, four ball feeding slots are evenly distributed around the axis on the ball feeding dial 32 for transporting tennis balls 4.

[0042] In addition, a base ball drop port 39 is provided in the ball delivery groove of the ball delivery base 31. During the rotation of the ball delivery dial 32, each ball delivery groove can be arranged concentrically with the base ball drop port 39, and then the tennis ball 4 in the ball delivery groove will fall out through the base ball drop port 39.

[0043] A sensor 35 for detecting falling balls is provided below the ball-delivering base 31 and corresponds to the base ball-dropping opening 39 , and controls the operation of the ball-delivering motor 34 through the detection signal.

[0044] Below the ball delivery base 31, corresponding to the ball drop opening 39, is a retaining groove base 36 for receiving the tennis ball 4. This retaining groove base 36 is fixed to the mounting frame and connected to the guide rail assembly 2 for ball delivery. The tennis ball 4 is transported to the ball drop opening 39 by the ball delivery dial 32, where it falls onto the retaining groove base 36 and then rolls onto the guide rail assembly 2, completing the delivery process before the serve.

[0045] Furthermore, a first blocking rope 37 is provided above the ball delivery base 31 corresponding to the base ball drop port 39. The first blocking rope 37 spans the upper part of the ball delivery slot to prevent the tennis ball falling from above from directly falling above the base ball drop port 39, or from being squeezed or blocked above it.

[0046] Furthermore, in the counterclockwise direction, a second blocking rope 38 is provided above the ball-delivering base 31 and near the first blocking rope 37 , and the second blocking rope 38 spans the upper portion of the ball-delivering slot.

[0047] The first blocking cable 37 and the second blocking cable 38 are both located between the ball feeding dial wheel 32 and the ball feeding dial rod 33 .

[0048] When one of the ball feeding slots of the ball feeding wheel is concentric with or partially overlaps the ball drop opening 39 of the base, the first blocking cable 37 is positioned above the ball feeding slot. Counterclockwise, the second ball feeding slot adjacent to the first one has a second blocking cable 38 positioned above it. These first and second blocking cables 37 and 38 prevent upper tennis balls from falling into their corresponding ball feeding slots, preventing squeezing and blockage. Furthermore, they can separate the upper tennis balls into layers. As the ball feeding lever 33 rotates, the upper tennis ball 4 moves into another ball feeding slot and rotates along with the ball feeding slot toward the ball drop opening 39 of the base.

[0049] The first arresting cable 37 and the second arresting cable 38 are both elastic rope components. In this embodiment, preferably, the two arresting cables are made of steel wire.

[0050] In the specific implementation of the present utility model, Figure 3 and 4 As shown, the guide rail assembly 2 includes a ball feeding guide rail 21 , and a second bearing 22 is rotatably connected to the side wall of one side of the upper end of the ball feeding guide rail 21 through a connecting piece. The second bearing 22 is movably connected to the limiting groove base 36 .

[0051] A connecting rod 23 is fixedly provided on the same side as the second bearing at the lower end of the ball feeding guide rail 21 , and the connecting rod 23 is used for rotatably connecting to the mounting plate 11 .

[0052] Furthermore, the guide rail groove of the ball-delivering guide rail 21 includes a first guide rail segment 211 and a second guide rail segment 212. The first guide rail segment 211 is close to the upper end of the ball-delivering guide rail 21, and the second guide rail segment 212 is close to the lower end of the ball-delivering guide rail 21. The first guide rail segment 211 is longer than the second guide rail segment 212, and the curvature of the first guide rail segment 211 is greater than the curvature of the second guide rail segment 212.

[0053] In this embodiment, Figure 10 and 11 As shown, the function of the first guide rail section 211 is to ensure that, regardless of the angle to which the ball squeezing assembly 1 drives the guide rail assembly 2, the tennis ball 4 remains tilted within the groove of the ball delivery guide rail 21, allowing the tennis ball to fall due to gravity. Furthermore, the function of the second guide rail section 212 is to ensure that, when the ball delivery guide rail 21 pitches to any angle, the ball squeezing wheel 13 located above the ball delivery guide rail 21 first contacts the tennis ball 4, ensuring that this contact occurs at the same time as the release of the tennis ball 4 from the second guide rail section 212. After the upper ball squeezing wheel 13 drives the tennis ball 4 forward and out of the second guide rail section 212, both the lower ball squeezing wheel 13 and the upper ball catching wheel 13 of the ball delivery guide rail 21 contact the tennis ball 4, exerting a squeezing force on the tennis ball 4 and launching it forward. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the rotational speed of the ball squeezing motor 12 can be adjusted by a controller.

[0054] exist Figure 10 and Figure 11 In the figure, the two tennis balls 4 on the track 21 are one tennis ball, and tennis balls at different positions are simply grouped together in one figure for display.

[0055] Furthermore, the side wall of the limiting groove base 36 has a vertical limiting groove 361 with an opening at the top. The second bearing 22 is slidably engaged in the limiting groove 361 and can move up and down in the limiting groove 361 .

[0056] Furthermore, a first bearing 16 for connecting to the lower end of the guide rail assembly 2 is provided on one side of the mounting plate 11 , and a connecting rod 23 extends into and is fixed at the axis of the first bearing 16 .

[0057] Furthermore, a limiting bolt 17 is provided on the mounting plate 11 on the same side as the first bearing 16 . The limiting bolt is fixed in position by a limiting nut to limit the rotation range of the ball feeding guide rail 21 .

[0058] In a specific embodiment of the present invention, the outer ring of the ball squeezing wheel 13 has a rubber layer, which increases the friction coefficient between the ball squeezing wheel 13 and the tennis ball, thereby improving the speed and efficiency of the ball.

[0059] The above description is only an illustrative embodiment of the present invention. Without departing from the concept and principle of the present invention, any equivalent changes and modifications made by those skilled in the art should fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A tennis robot ball delivery mechanism, characterized in that: The ball delivery mechanism comprises a ball squeezing assembly (1), a guide rail assembly (2) and a ball delivery assembly (3), wherein: The ball squeezing assembly (1) and the ball delivery assembly (3) are mounted on a mounting frame, and the ball squeezing assembly (1) is connected to the ball delivery assembly (3) via the guide rail assembly (2). A tennis ball (4) passes through the ball delivery assembly (3) and the guide rail assembly (2) in sequence and is launched out through the ball squeezing assembly (1). The ball squeezing assembly (1) comprises a mounting plate (11), two ball squeezing motors (12) are mounted on one side of the mounting plate (11), output shafts of the ball squeezing motors (12) vertically pass through the mounting plate (11) to the other side and are fixedly connected to ball squeezing wheels (13), respectively; a rotating circular hole (14) for rotatably connecting to the mounting frame is provided in the middle of the mounting plate (11); A driven gear (15) meshing with an external driving gear is fixedly provided on one side of the mounting plate (11) and is used to drive the mounting plate (11) to rotate around the rotating circular hole (14).

2. The tennis robot ball delivery mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that: The ball delivery assembly (3) comprises a ball delivery base (31), the ball delivery base (31) is fixed on the mounting frame, a ball delivery motor (34) is fixedly provided at the lower portion of the ball delivery base (31), an output shaft of the ball delivery motor (34) vertically passes through the ball delivery base (31) to a ball delivery groove, a ball delivery dial (32) is provided in the ball delivery groove and is fixedly connected to the output shaft of the ball delivery motor (34), a ball delivery dial rod (33) is coaxially provided at the upper portion of the ball delivery dial wheel (32), and a plurality of ball delivery slots for accommodating the tennis balls (4) are provided around the axis of the ball delivery dial wheel (32); A base ball drop opening (39) is provided in the ball delivery groove of the ball delivery base (31), and a sensor (35) for detecting a dropped ball is provided below the ball delivery base (31) and corresponding to the base ball drop opening (39); The ball delivery base (31) is provided below the base corresponding to the base ball drop opening (39) with a limit groove base (36) for receiving the tennis ball (4); the limit groove base (36) is fixed on the mounting frame, and the limit groove base (36) is connected to the guide rail assembly (2) for ball delivery; A first blocking rope (37) is provided above the ball-delivering base (31) and corresponds to the base ball-dropping opening (39), and the first blocking rope (37) spans the upper portion of the ball-delivering slot.

3. The tennis robot ball delivery mechanism according to claim 2, characterized in that: In the counterclockwise direction, a second blocking cable (38) is provided above the ball-delivering base (31) and close to the first blocking cable (37), and the second blocking cable (38) spans the upper portion of the ball-delivering slot; The first blocking cable (37) and the second blocking cable (38) are both located between the ball sending dial wheel (32) and the ball sending dial rod (33).

4. The tennis robot ball delivery mechanism according to claim 3, characterized in that: The first arresting cable (37) and the second arresting cable (38) are both elastic rope components.

5. The tennis robot ball delivery mechanism according to claim 2, characterized in that: The guide rail assembly (2) includes a ball-feeding guide rail (21), a second bearing (22) being rotatably connected to a side wall on one side of an upper end of the ball-feeding guide rail (21) via a connecting piece, and the second bearing (22) is movably connected to the limiting groove base (36); A connecting rod (23) is fixedly provided on the same side of the lower end of the ball feeding guide rail (21) and the second bearing, and the connecting rod (23) is used for rotatably connecting to the mounting plate (11).

6. The tennis robot ball delivery mechanism according to claim 5, characterized in that: The side wall of the limiting groove base (36) has a vertical limiting groove (361), the upper end of the limiting groove (361) is open, and the second bearing (22) is slidably engaged in the limiting groove (361) and can move up and down in the limiting groove (361).

7. The tennis robot ball delivery mechanism according to claim 5, characterized in that: A first bearing (16) for connecting to the lower end of the guide rail assembly (2) is provided on one side of the mounting plate (11), and the connecting rod (23) extends into and is fixed at the axis of the first bearing (16).

8. The tennis robot ball delivery mechanism according to claim 7, characterized in that: A limiting bolt (17) is provided on the mounting plate (11) on the same side as the first bearing (16) for limiting the rotation range of the ball-feeding guide rail (21).

9. The tennis robot ball delivery mechanism according to claim 5, characterized in that: The guide rail groove of the ball-feeding guide rail (21) comprises a first guide rail section (211) and a second guide rail section (212), wherein the first guide rail section (211) is close to the upper end of the ball-feeding guide rail (21), and the second guide rail section (212) is close to the lower end of the ball-feeding guide rail (21); The length of the first guide rail section (211) is greater than that of the second guide rail section (212); The curvature of the first guide rail section (211) is greater than the curvature of the second guide rail section (212).

10. The tennis robot ball delivery mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that: The outer ring of the ball squeezing wheel (13) has a rubber layer.

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