Device for returning tennis balls to a ball throwing machine

Abstract

Device for returning tennis balls to a ball throwing machine, with • a pipe system (20, 220) serving to collect tennis balls (4, 204) ejected by the ball throwing machine (5, 205) and returned by a player (3) over a net (2) consisting of at least one outer pipe (21) provided with at least one opening (23) and at least one inner pipe (22) rotatably mounted relative to it and provided with at least one opening (24); • a threshold ramp (10, 210) which has an ascending slope (11) and a slope (12) descending towards the pipe system (20, 220); • at least one rotary drive (25, 225) by which the pipe system (20, 220) can be converted, at least section by section, by rotating the respective inner pipe (22) from an open state enabling the receipt of tennis balls (4, 204) rolling over the threshold ramp (10, 210) to the pipe system (20, 220) into a closed state enclosing the received tennis balls (4, 204); and • a transport system (40, 240) via which the tennis balls (4, 204) collected in the pipe system (20, 220) can be transported to the ball throwing machine (5, 205).

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a device for returning tennis balls to a ball throwing machine.

[0002] When training in tennis using a ball machine, manually collecting the tennis balls hit over the net by the player is a tedious process that reduces effective training time.

[0003] Current approaches to overcoming this problem often have the disadvantage that they require structural changes to the tennis court and cannot be easily retrofitted.

[0004] For the state of the art, reference is made only to DE 32 42 358 A1 and DE 24 30 916 A1 as examples.

[0005] Against the above background, it is an object of the present invention to provide a device for returning tennis balls to a ball throwing machine, which enables automated return of the tennis balls to the ball throwing machine without substantial structural changes to the tennis court.

[0006] This problem is solved by the features of independent claim 1.

[0007] A device according to the invention for returning tennis balls to a ball throwing machine has: - a pipe system for collecting tennis balls thrown by the ball throwing machine and returned by a player over a net, consisting of at least one outer pipe with at least one opening and at least one inner pipe rotatably mounted relative to it and with at least one opening; - a threshold ramp which has a rising slope and a descending slope towards the pipe system; - at least one rotary drive by which the pipe system can be converted, at least section by section, from an open state enabling the receipt of tennis balls rolling towards the pipe system via the threshold ramp into a closed state enclosing the received tennis balls by rotating the respective inner pipe; and - a transport system through which the tennis balls collected in the pipe system can be transported to the ball throwing machine.

[0008] The invention is based in particular on the concept of providing a device that can be installed and retrofitted on any tennis court without extensive substantial structural changes by combining a threshold ramp with a (double) pipe system consisting of at least one outer and at least one inner pipe rotatably mounted relative to it, as well as a transport system (which can be implemented in various suitable ways), in order to automatically feed balls hit by the player during tennis training back to a ball throwing machine.

[0009] The device according to the invention can be retrofitted into an existing tennis court facility without major alterations to the building structure (walls, floor). Furthermore, it can be easily retrofitted and, if necessary, dismantled and reassembled elsewhere.

[0010] According to one embodiment, openings in the outer tube can be closed by twisting the inner tube.

[0011] According to one embodiment, the device has at least one time control unit by which the at least one rotary drive can be controlled to move at least one section of the pipe system from the open state to the closed state at predetermined time intervals.

[0012] According to one embodiment, the device has at least one device for supplying the pipe system with compressed air or with negative pressure.

[0013] According to one embodiment, the transport system comprises at least one lifting machine which successively feeds tennis balls picked up from the pipe system to the ball throwing machine via a vertical stroke. This vertical stroke can preferably take place via a feed pipe with a constriction, the constriction preventing the tennis balls fed into the feed pipe from falling out.

[0014] According to another embodiment, the transport system can be supplied with compressed air via the at least one device for supplying compressed air and the pipe system directly, in order to supply the tennis balls to the ball throwing machine via at least one vertical supply pipe.

[0015] According to one embodiment, the pipe system has two sections, between which the transport system is arranged, preferably centrally with respect to the width of the tennis court.

[0016] According to one embodiment, the device has a covering arranged in the area of ​​the threshold ramp and the pipe system to reduce the risk of injury emanating from the pipe system.

[0017] According to one embodiment, a strip is arranged at each end section of the threshold ramp to deflect impacting tennis balls towards the pipe system.

[0018] Further embodiments of the invention can be found in the description and the dependent claims.

[0019] The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to preferred embodiments and the accompanying illustrations.

[0020] They show: Fig. 1A-1B schematic representations of a device according to the invention for returning tennis balls to a ball throwing machine in an exemplary embodiment; Fig. 2A-2B schematic representations of a further embodiment of a device according to the invention; Fig. 3A-3B enlarged views of a device according to the invention Fig. 1A-1B or Fig. 2A-2B existing threshold ramp or pipe system present in the device; and Fig. 4A-4B schematic sectional views of the device according to the invention. Fig. 1A-1B or Fig. 2A-2B existing threshold ramp or the pipe system present in the device.

[0021] In Fig. Figure 1A shows a schematic top view of a tennis court 1 with a net 2, wherein tennis balls 4 hit by a player 3 over the net 2 are returned to a ball throwing machine 5 via the device according to the invention.

[0022] The number “10” designates a threshold ramp, which has an ascending slope 11 and a descending slope 12. Tennis balls 4 hit by player 3 over the net 2 roll, due to their kinetic energy, over the threshold ramp 10 to a pipe system 20, the structure and function of which will be described below with reference to Fig. 3A-3B and Fig. 4A-4B will be explained in more detail. Furthermore, at each end of the threshold ramp 10, a strip 47 is arranged at an oblique angle to the respective hall walls designated "45a" and "45b", which prevents tennis balls 4 from remaining between the threshold ramp 10 and the hall walls 45a, 45b and thus from being fed into the pipe system 20.

[0023] The tennis balls 4 collected in the pipe system 20 are returned to the ball throwing machine 5 via a transport system 40. The pipe system 20 is arranged parallel to the baseline 7 of the tennis court 6 or parallel to any existing hall wall 45 and extends almost over the corresponding length of the hall wall 45.

[0024] In particular, the end sections of the pipe system 20 are designed according to Fig. Each of the components 1A-1B is equipped with a rotary drive 25 and a device 30 for supplying compressed air to the pipe system 20 via a supply line 31. The device 30 for supplying compressed air to the pipe system 20 can, for example, be designed as a side channel blower, which is exemplified for a volume flow rate of approximately 400 m³ / h. 3 The transport system 40 can be designed for a maximum speed of / h. Furthermore, the transport system 40 is preferably arranged centrally on the pipe system 20, so that the pipe system 20 forms two adjacent sections.

[0025] According to Fig. In section 1A-1B, the transport system 40 has a lifting machine 41, a feed pipe 42, an overflow 43, and a feed 44 to the ball throwing machine 5 for each of the two adjacent sections of the pipe system 20. The lifting machine 41 picks up the tennis balls 4, which are supplied via compressed air, in the pipe system 20 and transports or pushes them vertically in the feed pipe 42 to the overflow 43 located at the upper end of the feed pipe 42. The tennis balls 4 are then fed to the ball throwing machine 5 via the feed 44. Each newly supplied tennis ball 4 can be used as described in the following. Fig. 1B is indicated by a constriction 46, which prevents it from later falling out of the supply pipe 42.

[0026] Fig. Figure 3A shows a top view of the threshold ramp 10 and the pipe system 20. Fig. Figure 3B shows a side view of pipe system 20. Fig. Figures 4A-4B show schematic sectional views of the threshold ramp 10 and the pipe system 20.

[0027] According to Fig. 3A-3B and Fig. 4A-4B the tennis balls 4 roll across the tennis court floor 6 due to their kinetic energy first over the rising slope 11 to the falling slope 12 of the threshold ramp 10, which is located directly in front of the pipe system 20. According to Fig. In sections 3A-3B and 4A-4B, each of the two sections of the pipe system 20 adjacent to the transport system 40 has an outer pipe 21 with openings 23 and an inner pipe 22 arranged inside this outer pipe 21 and rotatably mounted relative to it, with (in Fig. 3A-3B (not shown) openings 24. The outer tube 21 can be firmly connected to a hall wall 45 or the tennis court floor 6. The tennis balls 4 roll from the sloping incline 12 of the threshold ramp 10 over the openings 23 of the outer tube 21 and the (in Fig. 3A-3B (not shown) openings 24 of the inner tube 22 into the inner tube 22 of the pipe system 20.

[0028] With a diameter of approximately 69 mm for the tennis balls 4, the outer tube 21 can, for example (without the invention being limited thereto), have an outer diameter of 80 mm and an inner diameter of 76 mm. The inner tube 22 can, by way of example, have an outer diameter of 75 mm and an inner diameter of 70 mm.

[0029] Fig. Figure 4A shows the pipe system 20 in the open state, i.e., when the tennis balls 4 are inserted into a section of the pipe system 20, as previously shown in Figure 4A. Fig. 3A and Fig. 3B described. The inner tube 22 with openings 24 is arranged parallel to the wall of the outer tube 21 and can be accessed via the respective openings in Fig. 1A and Fig. The rotary actuator 25 shown in Figure 1B is rotated such that the openings 23 of the outer tube 21 are closed. A time control unit can be provided, by which the rotary actuator 25 can be controlled to move the pipe system 20 from the open state to the closed state at predetermined time intervals. Furthermore, in Fig. 4A a network 48 is indicated, which is optionally arranged in a vertical direction on the pipe system 20 and (referring to Fig. 1A (but not shown there) is stretched from the hall wall 45a to the hall wall 45b to prevent tennis balls 4 from remaining in the area between the hall wall 45 and the pipe system 20. A [measurement] according to Fig. 4A above the threshold ramp 10, and also optional cover 49, which is (referring to Fig. 1A (not shown there) preferably also extending from the hall wall 45a to the hall wall 45b across the entire width of the pipe system 20, reduces the risk of injury from the pipe system 20. The cover 49 can, by way of example, have a depth of approximately (70-80) cm measured from the side of the outer pipe 21 facing the threshold ramp 10.

[0030] Fig. Figure 4B shows a section of the pipe system 20 in a closed state, i.e., after the tennis balls 4 have been placed in the pipe system 20 and during the process of pressurizing the pipe system 20 with compressed air via the in Fig. 1A and Fig. 1B depicted facility 30. According to Fig. 4B the openings 23 of the outer tube 21 are closed by the inner tube 22 via the rotary drive 25.

[0031] Fig. Figures 2A-2B show schematic representations of another embodiment of the transport system, wherein to Fig. 1A-1B are analogous or essentially functionally identical components with reference numbers increased by "200".

[0032] According to Fig. In 2A-2B, the transport system 240 has a feed pipe 242 and a feeder 244 to the ball throwing machine 205 at each end section of the pipe system 220. The feed pipe 242 is connected to the pipe system 220 in an arc, with the rotatable inner pipe 222 being connected to the feed pipe 242 via a socket 250. The tennis balls 204, transported by compressed air in the pipe system 220, are directly transported vertically by the compressed air in the feed pipe 242 to a feeder 244 located at its upper end and fed to the ball throwing machine 205. Reference symbol list 1 tennis court 2 network 3 players 4 tennis balls 5 Ball throwing machine 6 Tennis court floor 7 Baseline 10 Threshold ramp 11 rising slope 12 sloping incline 20 pipe system 21 outer pipe 22 inner tube 23 Opening of outer pipe 24 Opening inner tube 25 Rotary drive 30 Device for applying compressed air 31 Compressed air supply 40 transport system 41 lifting machine 42 Supply pipe 43 Overflow 44 Feed to the ball throwing machine 45 Hall wall 45a Hall wall 45b Hall wall 46 Narrowing 47 bar 48 network 49 Cover pipe system 204 tennis balls 205 Ball throwing machine 206 Tennis court flooring 210 Threshold ramp 220 pipe system 221 outer pipe 222 inner tube 225 Rotary drive 230 Device for applying compressed air 231 Compressed air supply 240 transport system 242 Supply pipe 244 Feed to the ball throwing machine 250 sleeve QUOTES INCLUDED IN THE DESCRIPTION

[0000] This list of documents cited by the applicant was automatically generated and is included solely for the reader's convenience. The list is not part of the German patent or utility model application. The DPMA accepts no liability for any errors or omissions. Cited patent literature

[0000] DE 32 42 358 A1

[0004] DE 24 30 916 A1

[0004]

Images