Pitching machine

Abstract

To provide a downsized pitching machine having reduced weight and enhanced rigidity.SOLUTION: A pitching machine (1) using a plurality of rotating rotors (38, 50 and 62) to throw a ball (7) toward a batter in front thereof, is configured to rotatably support rotating shafts (37, 49 and 61) of the rotors (38, 50 and 62) on both sides of the rotors (38, 50 and 62). Further, drive shafts (31, 44 and 56) of the motors (30, 43 and 55) for driving the rotors (38, 50 and 62) and the rotating shafts (37, 49 and 61) of the rotors (38, 50 and 62) are interlocked with one another via accelerators (41, 53 and 65). Furthermore, the rotors (38, 50 and 62) and the motors (30, 43 and 55) are so positioned that they overlap when viewed from the front.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a pitching machine that uses multiple rotating rotors to throw a ball toward a batter in front of it. [Background technology]

[0002] BACKGROUND ART Pitching machines, which use multiple rotating rotors to throw a ball toward a batter in front of them, are widely used as baseball training equipment and play equipment (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

[0003] Conventional pitching machines have multiple motors attached to a housing, with a rotor attached to the drive shaft of each motor.

[0004] In conventional pitching machines, when a ball is fed between the tips of multiple rotors, the ball is clamped between the tips of the rotors and the rotational force of the rotors causes the ball to be thrown toward the batter in front of it. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2011-224092 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] In the conventional pitching machines described above, the ball is held between the tips of multiple rotors and thrown using the rotational force of the rotors, so a large reaction force is applied from the ball to the rotors.

[0007] Furthermore, in the conventional pitching machines described above, the rotor is attached directly to the drive shaft of the motor attached to the housing, so the reaction force from the ball is applied directly to the housing via the drive shaft and motor.

[0008] Therefore, in the conventional pitching machines described above, the motor drive shaft and housing must be made of sturdy structures, which makes the pitching machine heavier and larger, and also increases the cost of the pitching machine. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] Therefore, in the present invention as defined in claim 1, in a pitching machine in which multiple rotating rotors are used to throw a ball toward a batter in front, the rotation axis of the rotors is supported so as to be freely rotatable on both sides of the rotors.

[0010] In addition, in the present invention according to claim 2, in the present invention according to claim 1, the drive shaft of the motor for driving the rotor and the rotation shaft of the rotor are interlocked via an accelerator.

[0011] In addition, in the present invention according to claim 3, in the present invention according to claim 1 or claim 2, the rotor and the motor are arranged in positions where they overlap when viewed from the front. [Effects of the Invention]

[0012] The present invention provides the following effects.

[0013] In other words, in this invention, in a pitching machine that uses multiple rotating rotors to throw a ball toward a batter in front, the rotor's rotation axis is supported so that it can rotate freely on both sides of the rotor, so that the reaction force generated when the ball is held between the rotors and thrown can be distributed and received on both sides of the rotor on the rotation axis, making it possible to reduce the weight and size of the motor's drive shaft and casing, and increasing the rigidity of the pitching machine.

[0014] In particular, if the drive shaft of the motor for driving the rotor and the rotating shaft of the rotor are linked via an accelerator, the rotor diameter can be made smaller (downsized) and the motor can be made smaller, which makes it possible to further reduce the weight and size of the housing and increase the rigidity of the pitching machine.

[0015] Furthermore, if the rotor and motor are positioned so that they overlap when viewed from the front, the width of the housing can be narrowed, thereby slimming down the pitching machine. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0016] [Figure 1] FIG. [Figure 2] Right side view of the same. [Figure 3] Rear view of the same. [Figure 4] FIG. [Figure 5] FIG. [Figure 6] Right side view of the same. [Figure 7] Same plan view. [Figure 8] The same bottom view. [Figure 9] Rear view of the same. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0017] Hereinafter, a specific configuration of a pitching machine according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0018] As shown in Figures 1 to 3, pitching machine 1 has height adjustment means 3 attached to the top of movable platform 2, and ball storage device 4, ball transport device 5, and pitching device 6 mounted on top of height adjustment means 3. Height adjustment means 3 may be any mechanism that can raise and lower the upper surface relative to the lower surface, and in this case, it is designed to be able to raise and lower vertically.

[0019] This allows the pitching machine 1 to move (transport) the ball storage device 4, ball transport device 5, and pitching device 6 as a unit using the stand 2, and also allows it to be raised and lowered using the height adjustment means 3.

[0020] In the pitching machine 1, the ball storage device 4, the ball transport device 5, and the pitching device 6 can be attached to and detached from the stand 2 independently, and each of the devices 4, 5, and 6 can be removed for maintenance.

[0021] In addition, in the pitching machine 1, the ball storage device 4 is placed directly below the pitching device 6, and a ball transport device 5 extending vertically is placed behind the pitching device 6 and the ball storage device 4, thereby reducing the area occupied by the pitching machine 1.

[0022] In the pitching machine 1, a plurality of balls 7 stored in a ball storage device 4 are transported by a ball transporting device 5 from the lower rear end of the ball storage device 4 to the upper rear end of the pitching device 6, and the balls 7 are supplied one by one from the ball transporting device 5 to the pitching device 6 via a ball supply passage 8. The pitching machine 1 is driven and controlled by a control device 9.

[0023] The throwing device 6 is attached to a base 10 attached to the top of the height adjustment means 3 so that it can tilt back and forth via tilt adjustment means 11. The tilt adjustment means 11 can be any mechanism that can adjust the front and rear tilt of the throwing device 6, and in this case it is designed so that the front side can tilt up and down with the rear end as a fulcrum. This allows the throwing device 6 to adjust the height of the ball 7 it throws using the height adjustment means 3, and also allows the angle of the ball 7 it throws to be adjusted using the tilt adjustment means 11.

[0024] 4 to 8, the ball throwing device 6 accommodates a plurality (three in this case) of rotation mechanisms 13, 14, and 15 inside the housing 12. The plurality of rotation mechanisms 13, 14, and 15 are arranged at equal intervals (at 120-degree intervals in this case) in the circumferential direction in a front view, centered on the tip end of the ball supply passage 8 (the portion where the ball 7 is supplied).

[0025] The housing 12 has a pair of left and right connecting bodies 18, 19 attached between the lower ends of a rectangular plate-shaped front wall 16 and a rear wall 17, extending forward and backward, and a pair of supports 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 attached between the front wall 16 and the rear wall 17, extending forward and backward, for supporting the rotation mechanisms 13, 14, 15, and houses the rotation mechanisms 13, 14, 15 between the front wall 16 and the rear wall 17. The housing 12 also houses a power source for driving the rotation mechanisms 13, 14, 15 and a control device 9 for controlling them.

[0026] A ball throwing opening 26 for throwing out the ball 7 is formed in the front wall 16 in the shape of a notch from the top end. Also, a ball supply opening 27 for arranging the ball supply passage 8 is formed in the rear wall 17 in the shape of a notch from the top end.

[0027] The first rotation mechanism 13, which is located on the lower side when viewed from the front, has a pair of left and right brackets 28, 29 attached facing downward to the inside rear of supports 20, 21 provided below the ball throwing opening 26 (ball supply opening 27) when viewed from the front, a motor 30 is detachably attached between the left and right brackets 28, 29, and a drive pulley 32 is attached to a drive shaft 31 protruding leftward from the left side of the motor 30.

[0028] The first rotation mechanism 13 has a pair of left and right brackets 33, 34 attached facing downward to the inside of the front parts of the supports 20, 21, bearings 35, 36 detachably attached to the inside of the left and right brackets 33, 34, and a rotation shaft 37 extending to the left and right is rotatably supported by the pair of left and right bearings 35, 36. A disc-shaped rotor 38 is attached to the middle part of this rotation shaft 37, and a driven pulley 39 is attached to the left end.

[0029] The first rotation mechanism 13 has an endless transmission belt 40 wound between the driving pulley 32 and the driven pulley 39 .

[0030] The drive pulley 32 has a larger diameter (twice the radius) than the driven pulley 39, and accelerates the rotation of the motor 30 twice as fast before transmitting it to the rotor 38. In this way, an accelerator 41 consisting of the drive pulley 32, driven pulley 39, and transmission belt 40 is provided between the drive shaft 31 of the motor 30 and the rotation shaft 37 of the rotor 38, and the drive shaft 31 of the motor 30 and the rotation shaft 37 of the rotor 38 are interlocked and connected via the accelerator 41.

[0031] The second rotation mechanism 14, which is located on the upper left side when viewed from the front, has a bracket 42 attached to the inside rear part of a support 22 provided on the left side of the ball throwing opening 26 (ball supply opening 27) when viewed from the front, facing upward and left, a motor 43 attached detachably between the support 23 provided on the upper left side of the ball throwing opening 26 (ball supply opening 27) and the bracket 42, and a drive pulley 45 attached to a drive shaft 44 protruding downward and left from the left side of the motor 43.

[0032] In addition, second rotation mechanism 14 has bracket 46 attached to the inside front part of support body 22 facing upward and left, bearings 47, 48 detachably attached to the inside of support body 23 and bracket 46, which are provided on the upper left side of ball throwing opening 26 (ball supply opening 27), and a rotation shaft 49 extending from the upper right to the lower left is rotatably supported by the pair of upper and lower bearings 47, 48. A disc-shaped rotor 50 is attached to the middle part of this rotation shaft 49, and a driven pulley 51 is attached to the lower left end.

[0033] The second rotation mechanism 14 has an endless transmission belt 52 wound between a drive pulley 45 and a driven pulley 51. The drive pulley 45 has a larger diameter (twice the radius) than the driven pulley 51, and accelerates the rotation of the motor 43 twice as fast before transmitting it to the rotor 50. In this way, an accelerator 53 consisting of the drive pulley 45, driven pulley 51, and transmission belt 52 is provided between the drive shaft 44 of the motor 43 and the rotation shaft 49 of the rotor 50, and the drive shaft 44 of the motor 43 and the rotation shaft 49 of the rotor 50 are interlocked and connected via the accelerator 53.

[0034] The third rotation mechanism 15, which is located on the upper right side when viewed from the front, has a bracket 54 attached to the inside rear part of a support 24 provided on the right side of the ball throwing opening 26 (ball supply opening 27) when viewed from the front, facing upward and to the right, a motor 55 detachably attached between the support 25 and bracket 54 provided on the upper right side of the ball throwing opening 26 (ball supply opening 27), and a drive pulley 57 attached to a drive shaft 56 protruding downward and to the right from the right side of the motor 55.

[0035] In addition, third rotation mechanism 15 has bracket 58 attached to the inside front part of support body 24 facing up and to the upper right, bearings 59, 60 detachably attached to the inside of support body 25 and bracket 58, which are provided on the upper right side of ball throwing opening 26 (ball supply opening 27), and a rotation shaft 61 extending from the upper left to the lower right is rotatably supported by the pair of upper and lower bearings 59, 60. A disc-shaped rotor 62 is attached to the middle part of this rotation shaft 61, and a driven pulley 63 is attached to the lower left end.

[0036] The third rotation mechanism 15 has an endless transmission belt 64 wound around the drive pulley 57 and driven pulley 63. The drive pulley 57 has a larger diameter (twice the radius) than the driven pulley 63, and accelerates the rotation of the motor 55 twice as fast before transmitting it to the rotor 62. In this way, an accelerator 65 made up of the drive pulley 57, driven pulley 63, and transmission belt 64 is provided between the drive shaft 56 of the motor 55 and the rotation shaft 61 of the rotor 62, and the drive shaft 56 of the motor 55 and the rotation shaft 61 of the rotor 62 are interlocked and connected via the accelerator 65.

[0037] In this way, the first to third rotation mechanisms 13, 14, 15 rotatably support the rotation shafts 37, 49, 61 of the rotors 38, 50, 62 by bearings 35, 36, 47, 48, 59, 60 detachably attached (fixed) to the housing 12 on both the left and right or top and bottom sides of the rotors 38, 50, 62.

[0038] In addition, the first to third rotation mechanisms 13, 14, 15 have motors 30, 43, 55 positioned immediately behind the rotors 38, 50, 62, and are linked to the rotors 38, 50, 62 and motors 30, 43, 55 via accelerators 41, 53, 65 on the sides, so that the rotors 38, 50, 62 and motors 30, 43, 55 are positioned so that they overlap when viewed from the front.

[0039] In addition, a notch 66 is formed in the bracket 33, 46, 58 on the side where the driven pulley 39, 51, 63 is provided, so that by removing the bearings 35, 36, 47, 48, 59, 60 from the bracket 33, 34, 46, 58 and the support body 23, 25, the rotor 38, 50, 62 can be removed from the bracket 33, 34, 46, 58 and the support body 23, 25 together with the rotating shaft 37, 49, 61, bearings 35, 36, 47, 48, 59, 60 and driven pulley 39, 51, 63, making replacement and maintenance of the rotor 38, 50, 62 easy.

[0040] The pitching machine 1 is configured as described above, and the three rotors 38, 50, 62, which are arranged at equal intervals (here, 120-degree intervals) circumferentially in a front view around the tip of the ball supply passage 8 of the pitching device 6 (the portion where the ball 7 is supplied), are rotated by the control device 9 at a preset rotational speed (number of rotations per unit time), and when balls 7 are supplied one by one from the ball supply passage 8 to the centers of the three rotors 38, 50, 62, the ball 7 is sandwiched between the three rotors 38, 50, 62, and the rotational force of the three rotors 38, 50, 62 causes the ball 7 to be thrown toward the batter in front. Note that the difference in rotational speed of the three rotors 38, 50, 62 can impart spin to the ball 7.

[0041] In this way, in pitching machine 1, when ball 7 is thrown by pitching device 6, ball 7 is held between three rotors 38, 50, 62, and the reaction force from ball 7 acts on rotating shafts 37, 49, 61 via rotors 38, 50, 62. In pitching machine 1, the force acting on rotating shafts 37, 49, 61 is distributed and received by bearings 35, 36, 47, 48, 59, 60 on both sides.

[0042] As described above, the pitching machine 1 has a configuration in which the rotation shafts 37, 49, 61 of the rotors 38, 50, 62 are rotatably supported on both sides of the rotors 38, 50, 62 (on both the left and right sides or on both the top and bottom sides when viewed from the front).

[0043] Therefore, in the pitching machine 1 configured as described above, the reaction force when the ball 7 is clamped between the rotors 38, 50, 62 and thrown can be received by distributing it to both sides (left and right sides or top and bottom sides when viewed from the front) of the rotors 38, 50, 62 of the rotating shafts 37, 49, 61, allowing the drive shafts 31, 44, 56 of the motors 30, 43, 55 and the housing 12 to be made lighter and smaller, thereby increasing the rigidity of the pitching machine 1.

[0044] The pitching machine 1 is configured such that the drive shafts 31, 44, 56 of the motors 30, 43, 55 for driving the rotors 38, 50, 62 are linked to the rotation shafts 37, 49, 61 of the rotors 38, 50, 62 via accelerators 41, 53, 65.

[0045] Therefore, in the pitching machine 1 configured as described above, the rotors 38, 50, 62 can be made smaller in diameter (downsized) and the motors 30, 43, 55 can be made smaller, which allows the housing 12 to be made even lighter and more compact, and the rigidity of the pitching machine 1 can be increased.

[0046] Furthermore, the pitching machine 1 is configured such that the rotors 38, 50, 62 and the motors 30, 43, 55 are arranged in positions that overlap each other when viewed from the front.

[0047] Therefore, in the pitching machine 1 having the above configuration, the left-right width of the housing 12 can be narrowed, and the pitching machine 1 can be made slimmer. [Explanation of symbols]

[0048] 1 Pitching machine 2 Stand 3 Height adjustment means 4 Ball storage device 5 Ball transport device 6 Throwing device 7-ball 8-ball supply passage 9 Control unit 10 Base 11 tilt adjustment means 12 housing 13,14,15 Rotation mechanism 16 Front wall 17 Rear wall 18,19 Connector 20~25 Support 26 Ball throwing hole 27 Ball supply port 28,29 Bracket 30 Motor 31 Drive shaft 32 Drive pulley 33,34 Bracket 35, 36 Bearing 37 Rotating shaft 38 Rotor 39 Driven pulley 40 Transmission belt 41 Accelerator 42 Bracket 43 Motor 44 Drive shaft 45 Drive pulley 46 Bracket 47,48 Bearing 49 Rotating shaft 50 Rotor 51 driven pulley 52 transmission belt 53 Accelerator 54 Bracket 55 Motor 56 Drive shaft 57 Drive pulley 58 Bracket 59,60 Bearing 61 Rotating shaft 62 rotor 63 driven pulley 64 Transmission belt 65 Accelerator 66 Notch

Claims

1. In a pitching machine that uses multiple rotating rotors to throw the ball toward the batter in front, A pitching machine characterized in that the rotor's rotation shaft is supported rotatably on both sides of the rotor.

2. 2. The pitching machine according to claim 1, wherein a drive shaft of a motor for driving the rotor and a rotation shaft of the rotor are interlocked via an accelerator.

3. 3. The pitching machine according to claim 1, wherein the rotor and the motor are arranged in a position where they overlap when viewed from the front.

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