Paper gun for pitching practice

Abstract

To provide a new paper gun for pitching practice that can easily practice snapping, which is a trick for pitching, by keeping the wrist free, and can pitch while holding an actual ball, and can be easily attached and detached and can be prevented from coming off from the hand during pitching. [Solution] By adopting a configuration in which locking portions 3 protrude from both the left and right sides of the base 2 and lock onto the palms of the fingers, the stiffness of the wrist caused by holding the base 2 between the fingers is eliminated, allowing snap practice to be carried out without any problems. Furthermore, by reproducing the same palm shape and finger pressure as in an actual pitch, it is possible to perform the pitching motion while holding an actual ball. This provides a paper gun for pitching motion practice that makes it easy for even those who are not good at ball games to be taught and master the pitching motion, and contributes to reducing the number of children who are not good at ball games, especially in school life.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] This invention relates to a paper gun used for practicing throwing balls in ball games such as baseball. [Background technology]

[0002] "Paper guns" have long been popular in the world of origami. The most common way to make this "paper gun" is to fold a rectangular sheet of material P, such as paper, in the order shown in Figure 1 (A) to (H). As shown in Figure 2(A), when the completed paper gun 1 is held by the base 2 in the hand 11 and swung in a throwing motion, like throwing a baseball, the centrifugal force and wind pressure at that time cause the expansion part 4 on the opposite side of the base 2 to open with force, as shown in Figure 2(B), which produces a loud popping sound due to the impact.

[0003] As described above, the conventional paper gun 1 is generally a popular toy that is enjoyed for its loud popping sound. The size of the paper gun 1 varies depending on the size of the sheet material P before molding, but is usually small enough to be held in one hand.

[0004] Pitching practice using this "paper gun" has been around for a long time. For example, when practicing pitching a baseball, you hold a paper gun tightly between your thumb and index finger and swing your arm forward as if you were throwing a ball, being careful not to let the gun slip out of your hand. At this time, if the pitcher's pitching form, such as the "arm swing" and "snap effect," is performed properly, the centrifugal force and wind pressure will cause the expanding part of the paper gun to open forcefully, producing a loud popping sound. The occurrence of this popping sound lets the user know that his pitching form was appropriate.

[0005] After the throwing action, the paper gun can be used for throwing action practice any number of times by manually returning the open spread part to the original closed state. However, as mentioned above, it was very important for conventional paper guns to be tightly held at the base between the thumb and index finger to prevent them from falling off the hand during the throwing motion.

[0006] In addition, there are other types of pitching training equipment that have existed for a long time, such as those shown in the following prior art documents, which use bands or strings that are wrapped around the arm to secure them in place, preventing them from coming off the hand during the pitching motion. This method of fixing the device to the hand with a band or string was certainly effective in preventing the device from coming off the hand during the pitching motion. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0007] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-218272 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0008] In the conventional paper guns described above, the thumb and index finger are used to tightly grip the base of the gun, so it is not possible to reproduce the same palm opening and fingertip pressure as in an actual throw. Furthermore, when the base is tightly gripped between the thumb and index finger, the wrist naturally becomes stiff and loses its freedom of movement, which has the disadvantage that it is not possible to master the technique of pitching with a snap of the wrist (hereinafter simply referred to as "snap practice").

[0009] Furthermore, with conventional paper guns, even if you want to hold a real ball for a ball game and throw it, as mentioned above, the palm and fingertips cannot reproduce the same position as in an actual throw, so there is a drawback in that you cannot hold the ball itself together, regardless of the size of the ball. This has the drawback of making it difficult for teachers and parents to teach children how to pitch, for example, at school or at home.

[0010] Another drawback is that if the strength of the thumb and index finger holding the base weakens during the pitching motion, the paper gun can easily slip out of the hand. This means that the player is distracted by the need to make sure the paper gun does not slip out of the hand during the pitching motion, making it impossible to concentrate on a pitching form that uses the whole body, that is, on pitching motion practice that is linked to the movement of the whole body.

[0011] These drawbacks have been a major obstacle to mastering the art of pitching a ball, especially for children whose school days involve many ball games such as softball and dodgeball. This was a major obstacle, especially when teaching children who were not good at ball games how to pitch in a way that would give them confidence.

[0012] Furthermore, if conventional paper guns were to be secured to the arm with a band or string, as is the case with other types of pitching practice equipment, it would be cumbersome to put on and take off the gun, which would result in the disadvantage of making it difficult to manually return the expansion part to its original closed state after each use. This means that, particularly when the user is a small child, the task of returning the expansion section to its original closed state must be performed with both hands, which can make the task of putting on and taking off the band or string even more of a burden.

[0013] For this reason, there has long been a desire to develop a new paper gun that can reproduce the same palm opening and fingertip pressure as in actual throwing, and that also allows for freedom of the wrist so snap practice can be carried out without any problems, and that can also be used to hold and throw an actual ball, regardless of its size. This was especially needed for preschool and school-age children, in order to help them overcome their fear of standard ball games (such as softball and dodgeball) and teach them to enjoy playing ball games. [Means for solving the problem]

[0014] This invention was developed to eliminate the drawbacks of the conventional paper guns used for pitching practice described above. The invention of claim 1 is a paper gun made by folding a sheet-like material such as paper, and when swung while held in the hand, the front expansion part opens forcefully, producing a popping sound. It is configured with locking parts that protrude from both the left and right sides of the base that is held in the hand and can be rotatably locked onto the pads of the fingers.

[0015] In addition, the invention of claim 2 is based on the invention of claim 1 above and adopts a configuration in which the front edge of the expansion portion is shaped to act as an intake port that promotes the flow of air when the expansion portion is closed. [Effects of the Invention]

[0016] By adopting the above configuration, in the paper gun of claim 1, the thumb and index finger are not required to exclusively grip the base, and the gun can be held in the hand simply by engaging the engaging part with the joints on the palm side of the two adjacent fingers, which has the effect of reproducing the same palm opening and fingertip pressure as in an actual throw. This prevents the wrist from becoming stiff or losing freedom, allowing you to easily practice snapping, which is the key to pitching technique.

[0017] Furthermore, if you wish to practice pitching motions while holding an actual ball, the palm and fingertips can be made to reproduce the same state as when pitching an actual ball, as described above, so you can also practice pitching motions while holding an actual ball regardless of the size of the ball.

[0018] Furthermore, because the locking portion is locked onto the joint on the pad side of the finger, when the paper gun is forced outward to detach during the throwing motion, the locking portion is always pressed against the pad side of the finger, which has the effect of preventing the paper gun from detaching from the hand due to centrifugal force or wind pressure generated during the throwing motion. This means that you don't have to worry about the paper gun coming off during the pitching motion, and you can concentrate all your energy on practicing a pitching form that uses your whole body, that is, pitching motion practice that is linked to the movement of your whole body.

[0019] The above-mentioned effects are useful for making it easier to teach or learn pitching techniques, for example, for both teachers and parents who teach ball games at school or at home, and for students and children who are being taught. In other words, these effects will greatly contribute to reducing the number of students and children who are not good at ball games, especially in a school environment where there are many ball games such as softball and dodgeball, by having teachers, parents, students and children who are not good at ball games confidently teach or learn ball games.

[0020] In addition, since the paper gun is simply detachably attached to the hand by the locking part, it is easy to attach and detach from the hand, which also has the effect of facilitating the work of returning the opened expansion part to its original closed state after the throwing action. This effect is even more beneficial when the user is a small child, since the operation of returning the expanding portion to its original closed state must be performed with both hands.

[0021] Furthermore, in the paper gun of claim 2, by adopting the above configuration, in addition to the effect of claim 1, the shape of the air intake at the front edge of the expansion part makes it possible to easily open the expansion part and generate a popping sound even when throwing with weak force or at a slow speed, so that even small children with weak strength can enjoy practicing throwing. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0022] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a conventional method for forming a paper gun. [Figure 2] (A) is an explanatory diagram showing the state in which a conventional paper gun is held, and (B) is an explanatory diagram showing the state in which a throwing motion is performed while holding the conventional paper gun. [Figure 3](A) is an explanatory diagram showing a paper gun with one expanding part, and (B) is an explanatory diagram showing a paper gun with two expanding parts. [Figure 4] FIG. 1(1) is an explanatory diagram showing a method for providing the locking portion of the first embodiment, FIG. 1(2) is a perspective view showing the state in which the locking portion of the first embodiment is provided, and FIG. 1(3) is a front view of the same. [Figure 5] FIG. 1(1) is an explanatory diagram showing the state in which the paper gun of Example 1 is held, and FIG. 1(2) is an explanatory diagram showing the state in which the paper gun of Example 1 is held and a throwing motion is performed. [Figure 6] (1) is an explanatory diagram showing the state in which a ball is held together with the paper gun of Example 1, and (2) is an explanatory diagram showing the state in which a throwing motion is performed while holding the ball together with the paper gun of Example 1. [Figure 7] (1) and (2) are explanatory diagrams showing the state in which the paper gun of Example 1 is held together with balls of different sizes. [Figure 8] FIG. 11(1) is a perspective view showing a paper gun according to a second embodiment, FIG. 11(2) is a front view of the same, and FIG. 11(3) is an explanatory diagram showing another embodiment of the base. [Figure 9] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a method for molding a paper gun according to a second embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0023] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. [Example]

[0024] First, this invention applies the "paper gun," a popular toy in the field of origami, to a tool for practicing the throwing motion of a ball in ball games such as baseball. As mentioned above, the conventional method of forming a "paper gun" is as shown in the order of Figures 1(A) to 1(H). However, by changing the final folding point in the final stage (G) of Figure 1, it is possible to arbitrarily select whether the number of expansion sections 4 that generate plosive sounds is one or two, as shown in Figures 3(A) and (B). Although the present invention does not limit the number of expansion sections 4, having only one expansion section 4 has the advantage that it makes it faster to return the expansion section 4 to its original closed state when used repeatedly.

[0025] The paper gun 1 according to the first embodiment is characterized in that, as shown in FIG. 4, cylindrical locking portions 3 that protrude outward are provided on both the left and right sides of the base portion 2 that is held by hand. Specifically, as shown in the same figure (1), a through hole 6 is drilled in the base 2, a cylindrical resin member is inserted into it, and this member is fixed in a state where it protrudes outward by an equal length from both the left and right sides of the base 2, thereby forming the locking portion 3, as shown in the same figures (2) and (3). The material and shape of the member that forms the locking portion 3 are not limited to those described above, and other materials and shapes can be selected as desired as long as they produce the effect of the locking portion according to the present invention.

[0026] To use this paper gun 1 for pitching practice, first, as shown in Figure 5 (1), the two engaging parts 3 protruding from the left and right sides of the base 2 are hooked onto the joints 12 on the palm side of two adjacent fingers. Then, due to its own weight, the back edge 5 of the paper gun 1 comes into contact with the interdigital space 13 and becomes locked in a state where it is hooked onto the hand 11. At this time, as shown by the dotted line, the paper gun 1 is in a state where it can rotate around the locking part 3 while still locked onto the hand 11. In actual pitching practice, the player swings his arm forward while keeping the paper gun 1 in the hand 11 as described above, thereby performing the desired pitching motion as shown in FIG.

[0027] During this throwing practice, as shown in Figure 5 (2), when the paper gun 1 is forced outward in the direction F in an attempt to detach it from the hand 11, the engaging portion 3 is always pressed against the joint portion 12 on the pad side of the finger, so that the paper gun 1 is effectively prevented from detaching from the hand 11 due to the centrifugal force or wind pressure of the throwing motion.

[0028] In Example 1, the locking portion 3 is locked onto the middle finger and index finger, but the fingers to be locked are not limited to this combination, and can be any combination selected according to the type of sport or ball, such as the ring finger and middle finger, or the little finger and ring finger.

[0029] In this way, the paper gun 1 of Example 1 has the advantage that it is not necessary to hold the base 2 between the thumb and index finger as with conventional paper guns, and therefore it is possible to recreate the state of holding the ball using all five fingers. As a result, the paper gun 1 of Example 1 can also be used to practice pitching movements while holding an actual ball, making it possible to practice pitching movements in a manner that is even more realistic.

[0030] For example, Figure 6(1) shows a state in which a baseball B1 is held together with the paper gun 1, and Figure 6(2) shows a state in which the arm is swung in a pitching motion in that state.In either case, the engaging part 3 is held between the ball B1 and two fingers, which further increases the effect of preventing the paper gun 1 from falling off the hand 11.

[0031] Furthermore, even if the player actually throws the ball B1 he is holding during the pitching motion in this state, the result will be the same as in the state shown in Figure 5 (2), in that the locking portion 3 is always pressed against the pad of the finger in the outward direction F in which the paper gun 1 is forced to come off, so that the paper gun 1 will not come off from the hand 11 when the ball B1 is thrown.

[0032] The opening part 4 that opens after the throwing action must be manually returned to its original closed state, but since the paper gun 1 is simply attached to two fingers in a detachable manner, there is an advantage that once the paper gun 1 is removed from the fingers, this manual operation can be done quickly with both hands. This means that, particularly when the user is a child, being able to perform manual tasks quickly using both hands contributes to efficient pitching practice.

[0033] In this embodiment 1, the ball B1 is assumed to be a baseball, but in the case of the paper gun 1 of this invention, the ball can be held using all five fingers, so as shown in Figure 7, it is also possible to practice pitching with a larger ball B2, such as a dodgeball or handball.

[0034] In this way, the paper gun of Example 1 is useful for making it easier for both teachers and parents who teach ball games at school or at home, and students and children who are being taught, to teach or learn how to throw a ball.In a school life where there are many ball games such as softball and dodgeball, the paper gun of Example 1 makes it possible for teachers, parents, students and children who are not good at ball games to teach or learn ball games with confidence, and thereby greatly contributes to reducing the number of students and children who are not good at ball games. [Example]

[0035] Next, a paper gun according to a second embodiment will be described. As shown in Figure 8, the paper gun 1 of Example 2 is based on the paper gun of Example 1 described above, and is provided with a shape 4a at the front edge of the expansion section 4 that serves as an intake port to promote the inflow of air. By providing this shape 4a, when a throwing motion is made with the paper gun 1 according to the second embodiment, the inflow of air into the expanding portion 4 is promoted more than with the paper gun of the first embodiment. This makes it possible to easily open the expansion part 4 and generate a popping sound even when the pitching motion is performed with weak force or at a slow speed.

[0036] In other words, the paper gun 1 of Example 2 can easily produce a popping sound even when used by a weak child or when practicing a slow pitching motion. In particular, when used by a child who is not very strong, it is expected to have the effect of preventing the child from getting bored of practicing pitching movements because the expansion part 4 does not open no matter how many times he swings.

[0037] The method of forming the paper gun 1 of this embodiment 2 is as follows: as shown in Figure 9, one mountain fold portion H is provided near each of the two side edges of the expansion section 4, extending from the tip on the opposite side of the base 2 toward the front edge of the expansion section 4, and by folding this portion in a mountain shape, a shape 4a that becomes the air intake is formed. Therefore, the paper gun 1 of Example 2 can also be easily produced by simply adding two more folding points. The shape 4a of the intake port is not limited to the shape exemplified in the second embodiment, and other shapes can be selected as long as they encourage the inflow of air.

[0038] Also, Figure 8 (3) shows another example of the base 2, which is shown for reference. By folding the lower part of the base 2 inward and inserting the resin member that becomes the locking part 3 into the through hole 6a near the back edge 5, the amount of the base 2 that faces the palm when the paper gun 1 is held can be minimized, and this is one example of how the base 2 can be kept from getting in the way as much as possible when holding an actual ball together. [Industrial Applicability]

[0039] To provide a new paper gun for pitching practice which not only facilitates snap practice, which is a trick of pitching, but also allows pitching practice while holding an actual ball, and is easy to put on and take off from the hand and does not come off from the hand during pitching. [Explanation of symbols]

[0040] 1. Paper Gun 2 base 3 Locking part 4 Expansion section 4a Air intake shape 5 Dorsal edge 6 through holes 6a Through hole near the back edge 11 moves 12 Finger joints 13 Interdigital space B1 Baseball B2 Dodgeball ball F The direction in which the paper gun is energized by the throwing motion H Mountain fold P Sheet material

Claims

1. This paper gun for pitching practice is formed by folding a sheet-like material, and when swung while gripped by hand, the front expansion part opens forcefully to generate a popping sound, and is characterized in that it has locking parts that are protruded on both the left and right sides of the base gripped by hand and are rotatably locked on the pads of the fingers.

2. 2. The paper gun for pitching practice according to claim 1, wherein the front edge of the expansion portion is shaped to serve as an air intake port for promoting the inflow of air when the expansion portion is in a closed state.

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