Pickleball and Tennis Ball Retriever and Caddy

Abstract

A ball retriever and caddy device for pickleballs or tennis balls includes a base and a push handle connected to the base. Wheels movably support the base on an associated court surface. A resilient ball engaging cylinder is rotatably supported relative to the base and rotatably driven by the wheels and adapted to engage balls on the court surface. A ramp is located adjacent to the resilient ball engaging cylinder and is spaced from the ball engaging cylinder by a distance that is less than a diameter of the balls. A basket is connected to the base and configured to collect balls that are ejected from the ramp by the resilient ball engaging cylinder. The base can comprise wings to funnel balls to the ball engaging cylinder. The basket is movable relative to the base between a lowered position located adjacent the base and raised position spaced above the base.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This application claims priority from and benefit of the filing date of U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 63 / 694,140 filed Sep. 12, 2024, and the entire disclosure of said provisional application is hereby expressly incorporated by reference into the present specification.BACKGROUND

[0002] Pickleball and tennis are indoor or outdoor racket or paddle sports where two or four players hit a ball over a net using a stringed racket or solid-faced paddle. Opponents on either side of the net hit the ball back and forth until one side commits a rule infraction or scores a point.

[0003] Players often take lessons, and the instructors usually have an elevated basket of balls called a ball caddy on their side of the court so they can grab balls and hit them to the student at different speeds and in different locations to teach the student how to return the ball in each situation. On other occasions a student may use a ball machine that propels balls to them for practice hitting the balls. In either of the above situations the result is a large quantity of balls spread around the court that have to be picked up by hand one by one.SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0004] The subject of this invention is a machine called a “all retriever / caddy” that is used to pick up the balls and also serve as a ball caddy. This machine employs a polyurethane cylinder mounted between two wheels, a ramp, and a basket for the balls. This machine can be pushed around the court in the direction of the balls that are lying on the court surface. When the polyurethane cylinder makes contact with balls it rolls them up the ramp and propels them rearward depositing them into the basket. (FIG. 1) The basket can then be lifted up to a convenient height hence the machine can also serve as a caddy. (FIG. 2)

[0005] The polyurethane cylinder can be shifted closer or further away from the ramp in order to accommodate both tennis balls (smaller diameter) or pickleballs (larger diameter). (see FIG. 3)

[0006] A lip (16) at the top of the ramp is curved inward (toward the center of the cylinder) this lip compresses the ball deeper into the polyurethane cylinder just as it clears the top of the ramp which propels the ball into the basket. (see FIG. 4).

[0007] The basket of balls can be lifted to a convenient height so the players have easy access to balls while practicing. When the basket is lowered the machine is in the retriever mode, when the basket is lifted the machine is in the caddy mode. (see FIGS. 1 & 2)

[0008] When the retriever is being pushed around the court, if the operator lets go of the push handle, it stays in the position or height where it is left, it does not drop to the court surface. This is accomplished because there are two friction discs one on each side where the handle mounts to the retriever's base. This is very convenient if the operator stops to manually pick up a stray ball or to tie his shoe. (see FIG. 6)

[0009] There are wings at the front of the machine where the balls enter the path to the polyurethane cylinder. This spreads the opening path so that more area of the court is covered with each pass the machine makes on the court. These wings have rubber flaps on the ends so if they brush along a chain linked fence they will not be damaged. These wings are attached to the basket lifting legs with torsion springs so if they are forced open or closed they will not be damaged. They can easily be forced closed by running into a fence or be forced open when passing too close to the net pole. These wings are automatically spread open when the machine is in the retriever mode and automatically folded closed when the machine is in the caddy mode. This prevents the player from kicking or tripping on the wings when walking around the caddy.

[0010] The push handle needs to be longer when it's being pushed around the court, but a shorter push handle is desirable when the machine is in ‘caddy mode’, or when it is being lifted or loaded into a car. Because of this the handle is made with telescoping aluminum tubing. By releasing the latches on the push handle it can be pushed in or pulled out for a shorter or longer length.

[0011] There is a lift bar that goes across the handle for lifting the basket to the caddy mode. The operator can hook the lift bar under hooks on the back of the basket and lift the basket to the caddy mode. The handle locks to the basket holder while the machine is in the caddy mode. The basket can also be lifted with your hand or foot using a handle on the basket holder.

[0012] There are gas struts or springs attached to the basket holder front legs which assist in lifting the basket holder and they hold the basket holder in the raised position. A separate basket is placed in the basket holder and can easily be removed to move the balls to different locations such as a ball launching machine.

[0013] There are latches for locking the basket holder in the down position when lifting or transporting the machine.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] FIG. 1 shows the machine in the retriever mode.

[0015] FIG. 2 shows the machine in the caddy mode.

[0016] FIG. 3 shows the shift mechanism for pickleballs or tennis balls.

[0017] FIG. 4 shows how the balls are rolled up the ramp and into the basket.

[0018] FIG. 5 (including FIGS. 5A & 5B) shows how the push handle locks to the basket holder while lifting it.

[0019] FIG. 6 shows how the friction disc holds the push handle up.

[0020] FIG. 7 shows how the wings operate.

[0021] FIG. 8 shows the basket holder lock.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0022] With reference to FIGS. 1 & 2, a retriever and caddy device for pickleballs or tennis balls includes a base comprising a base board (1),(2) on each side of the machine, i.e., a right base board (1) on a right side of the machine and a left base board (2) on an opposite left side of the machine. The base boards (1),(2) are arranged parallel and spaced-apart from each other. These base boards (1),(2) provide a mounting location for wheel mount brackets (3), provide a mounting location (4) for the push handle (21), and provide a location for the friction disc mechanism (5). The base boards (1),(2) have integral hinges (6) machined or otherwise formed into them for pivotally mounting the wings (28). The base boards (1),(2) also provide mounting locations for the four basket holder legs (7). The base boards (1),(2) also house the two basket holder lock down pins (31).

[0023] Referring also to FIGS. 3 & 4, an axle (9) is supported on its opposite ends by right and left wheel mount brackets (3) that are respectively connected to the right and left base boards (1),92). This axle (9) is mounted in elongated holes (10) in the wheel mount brackets (3) that are aligned with the radius of a curved ball ramp (R). The ramp (R) can comprise a concave surface that is oriented toward the axle (9), and the concave surface of the ramp (R) can comprise a cylindrical arc segment centered on an axis that is coincident with the axle (9). A lever (11) controls the position of the axle (9) in the elongated hole. When the axle (9) is furthest away from the ramp (R) when the lever (11) is in a first position the machine is set for picking up pickleballs (larger diameter), and when the axle (9) is moved closer to the ramp (R) by movement of the lever (11) to a second position, the machine is set for picking up tennis balls (smaller diameter).

[0024] Mounted on the axle (9) are two large diameter drive wheels (12) which movably support the machine on a court surface and that rotate when the machine is pushed around the court surface and provide the power to pick up the balls from the court surface. Mounted between the wheels (12) is a tube (13) for supporting a resilient ball engaging cylinder (14) such as a polyurethane or other polymeric cylinder (14). The resilient ball engaging cylinder (14) extends between and is rotatably supported relative to the base boards (1),(2) of the base. Polyurethane is one example of a soft, easy to compress spongy material that springs back to its original shape when compressed and that is suitable for the resilient ball engaging cylinder 914). This ball engaging cylinder (14) is positioned in the machine between the wheels (12) such that a distance between the outer diameter of the ball engaging cylinder (14) and the court surface is slightly less than the diameter of the ball (15). The ball engaging cylinder (14) is also positioned adjacent the ramp (R) but spaced from the ramp by a distance that is less than the diameter of the ball (15) to be retrieved so that the balls (15) are resiliently held between the ball engaging cylinder (14) and the ramp (R) as the balls move upwardly along the ramp (R) as the ball engaging cylinder (14) rotates. The tube (13) and the resilient ball engaging cylinder (14) are rotatably driven by rotation of the wheels (12) on the court surface. Hence, when the rotating ball engaging cylinder (14) makes contact with a ball (15), the ball is lightly squeezed between the ball engaging cylinder (14) and the court surface which rotates the ball and, when the ball (15) makes contact with the ramp (R), the ball engaging cylinder rolls and / or slides the ball (15) up the ramp (R) from a lower end of the ramp (R) upwardly away from the court surface toward an upper end of the ramp (R) which is spaced above the lower end of the ramp (R). The upper end of the ramp (R) includes an inwardly extending lip (16) that extends from the upper end of the ramp (R) toward the ball engaging cylinder (14). When a ball (15) being moved up the ramp (R) by the ball engaging cylinder (14) makes contact with this lip (16), the lip (16) urges the ball (15) toward the center of the ball engaging cylinder (14) so that the lip (16) compresses the ball (15) into the resilient ball engaging cylinder (14) further as shown at (17) just before the ball (15) clears the top of the ramp (R), which provides extra spring force from the resilient ball engaging cylinder (14) to propel or eject the ball towards and into a ball collection basket (18) which collects the balls (15) and which is removably supported in a basket holder (8) so that the basket (18) including a plurality of collected balls (15) can be lifted from the basket holder (8) if desired and moved or dumped into a separate ball receptacle.

[0025] As noted above, the lever (11) controls the position of the axle (9) in the elongated hole of the base. When the lever (11) is in a first position and the axle (9) is positioned in a first position relative to the ramp (R), the resilient ball engaging cylinder (14) supported on the axle (9) is also located in a first position relative to the ramp (R) and the machine is set for picking up pickleballs (larger diameter). Conversely, when the axle (9) is moved to a second position closer to the ramp (R) as compared to its first position by movement of the lever (11) to a second position, the resilient ball engaging cylinder (14) is also moved to and located in a second position relative to the ramp (R) which is closer to the ramp (R) as compared to the first position of the resilient ball engaging cylinder (14) and the machine is set for picking up tennis balls (smaller diameter).

[0026] With reference to FIG. 2, there are four legs (7) that are mounted to the baseboards (1),(2) on one end and mounted to the basket holder (8) on the opposite end. The four legs (7) form a parallel motion linkage that maintain the basket holder (8) and basket (18) connected thereto in a level, horizontal orientation for all operative positions of the basket holder (8). Two of the legs (7) (right front and right rear) are pivotally mounted to the right base board (1) and two of the legs (7) (left front and left rear) are pivotally mounted to the left base board (2). The legs (7) are mounted to the base boards (1),(2) with bolts or other fasteners that allow the legs (7) to pivot as described herein, which allows the basket holder (8) to be raised and lowered relative to the base boards (1),(2) while staying level. The basket holder (8) and basket (18) connected thereto are located adjacent the base boards (1),(2) and adjacent the court surface when the basket holder (8) and basket (18) are in the lowered position, and the basket holder (8) and basket (18) connected thereto are spaced upwardly above the base boards (1),(2) and above the court surface when the basket holder (8) and basket (18) are in the raised position. One or more gas springs (19) are attached to the legs (7) such as to the front legs (7) as shown herein and at the opposite end to one of the base boards (1),(2) to assist in lifting the basket holder (8) and basket (18) located therein and to hold the basket holder (8) and basket (18) in the elevated position as shown in FIG. 2. The basket holder (8) including the basket (18) held thereby can be manually lifted by a user by hand or foot or there is a lift bar (20) on the push handle (21) that can be positioned under hooks (22) on the basket holder (8) and then the push handle (21) and lift bar (20) can be used to lift the basket holder (8). As shown in FIG. 5, there are flat sections (23) on the lift bar (20) that rotate as the push handle (21) is lifted, locking the lift bar (20) to the basket retainer (8), i.e., the flat sections (23) are oriented to allow the lift bar (20) to enter the hooks (22) when the push handle (21) and lift bar (20) are in the lowered position (FIG. 5A), and the flat sections (23) are rotated and oriented such that the lift bar (20) is captured in the hooks (22) when the push handle (21) and lift bar (20) are in the raised position (FIG. 5B).

[0027] The push handle (21) is used to push the machine around the court. It is formed in a U shape with the opposite ends of the U shaped handle attached to the right and left base boards (1),(2), respectively. The push handle (21) can be made using telescoping aluminum tubing so it can be lengthened or shortened for different height people or to make the machine more compact for storage and / or loading in a vehicle for transport. Where each end of the U shaped handle (21) is attached to the base board (1),(2) there is a friction disc mechanism (5) as shown in FIG. 6 to frictionally secure the handle (21) at any operative angle relative to the base boards (1),(2) in an infinitely adjustable manner. As shown in FIG. 6, the friction disc mechanism can comprise a friction disc (24 that can be made from rubber or another friction material that is placed in a counterbore pocket (25) in each of the baseboards (1),(2), and another outer disc (26) is attached to and / or formed as part of the push handle (21) at each of the opposite ends of the U shape. A keeper plate (37) is connected to the base board (1),(2) with fasteners or otherwise to capture the friction disc (24) and outer disc (26) in the counterbore pocket (25). A spring such as a wave spring (27) can be provided between the keeper plate (37) and the outer disc (26) and apply a biasing force for pushing the outer disc (26) against the rubber or other friction disc (24) creating the friction necessary to hold the handle from dropping to the floor. The fasteners holding the keeper plate (37) can be tightened or loosened to provide a preload adjustment that varies the biasing force provided by the spring (27) to accommodate for wear of the friction disc (24) over time.

[0028] Referring also to FIG. 7, there are wings (28) at the front of each baseboard (1), (2) to help funnel balls (15) into the machine. As such, the wings (28) are normally in a position where they diverge away from each other as the extend outwardly from the base board (1),(2) to which they are respectively pivotally connected. The wings (28) are each mechanically linked with a torsion spring (29) attached to the front legs (7) of the basket holder (8) on one end and to a flexible plastic strip (30) on the other end which is then attached to the wing (28) hence when the basket holder (8) (and basket (18) supported thereby) is in the lowered position the wings (28) are open (FIG. 1) and when the basket holder (8) / basket (18) is raised the wings (28) are moved to the closed position (see FIG. 2) by movement of the springs (29) and flexible plastic strips (3) in response to pivoting movement of the front legs (7) when the basket holder (8) is moved to the raised position. In the closed position, the wings (28) can be arranged so as to extend toward each other as they extend away from their respective base boards (1),(2) to which they are respectively connected, such as in the illustrated example of FIG. 2 where the wings (28) are arranged perpendicular to the base boards (1),(2) to which they are respectively pivotally connected with the outer ends of the wings located adjacent each other. The torsion springs (29) allow the wings (28) to be forced open or shut without damage in the event the wings (28) run into or contact an obstruction such as a fence or net pole or are kicked by a player.

[0029] As shown in FIG. 8, the basket holder (8) can be locked in the down position when lifting the machine or whenever desired. There is a pin (31) on each side of the machine movably installed in each or one of the baseboards (1),(2), respectively (or, alternatively, only one such pin (31) is provided). When these pins (31) are pushed inward from a retracted position to an engaged position, the pins (31) they engage an opening (32) or other portion of the front basket holder legs (7) (or engage the basket (18) or basket holder (8)) locking the legs (7) in the down position.

[0030] The development has been described with reference to preferred embodiments. Modifications and alterations will occur to those of ordinary skill in the art to which the invention pertains, and it is intended that the claims be construed as broadly as possible while maintaining their validity in order to encompass all such modifications and alterations.

Claims

1. A ball retriever and caddy device for pickleballs or tennis balls, said device comprising:a base;a push handle connected to the base;wheels that movably support the base on an associated court surface;a resilient ball engaging cylinder rotatably supported relative to the base and rotatably driven by the wheels and adapted to engage balls on the court surface;a ramp located adjacent to the resilient ball engaging cylinder and spaced from the ball engaging cylinder by a distance that is less than a diameter of the balls;a basket connected to the base configured to collect balls that are ejected from the ramp by the resilient ball engaging cylinder.

2. The ball retriever and caddy device as set forth in claim 1, wherein the base comprises right and left base boards that are arranged in a parallel, spaced-apart configuration relative to each other, and wherein the resilient ball engaging cylinder extends between the right and left base boards.

3. The ball retriever and caddy device as set forth in claim 2, further comprising right and left wings that are resilient pivotally connected to respective forward ends of the right and left base boards and that diverge outwardly away from each other in an operative position such that the wings funnel balls toward the resilient ball engaging cylinder between the right and left base boards.

4. The ball retriever and caddy device as set forth in claim 3, wherein the basket is movable relative to the base between a lowered position located adjacent the base and raised position spaced above the base.

5. The ball retriever and caddy device as set forth in claim 4 wherein the basket is connected to the base by a parallel motion linkage that maintains the basket horizontal in the raised and lowered positions.

6. The ball retriever and caddy device as set forth in claim 5, further comprising at least one gas spring operably connected between the base and the parallel motion linkage to assist movement of the basket from the lowered position toward the raised position.

7. The ball retriever and caddy device as set forth in claim 5, wherein the right and left wings are operatively connected to the parallel motion linkage and pivot from their respective operative positions to respective retracted positions when the basket is moved from its lowered position to its raised position.

8. The ball retriever and caddy device as set forth in claim 5, wherein the basket is removably connected to a basket holder that is operatively connected to the parallel motion linkage.

9. The ball retriever and caddy device as set forth in claim 5, wherein the ramp comprises a lower end and an upper end spaced above the lower end, and wherein the ramp comprises a lip located at the upper end that extends toward the resilient ball engaging cylinder and that compresses balls that are moving up the ramp into the resilient ball engaging cylinder so that the balls that are compressed by the lip are ejected into the basket by the resilient ball engaging cylinder when exiting the ramp.

10. The ball retriever and caddy device as set forth in claim 2, wherein the ramp comprises a lower end and an upper end spaced above the lower end, and wherein the ramp comprises a lip located at the upper end that extends toward the resilient ball engaging cylinder and that compresses balls that are moving up the ramp into the resilient ball engaging cylinder so that the balls that are compressed by the lip are ejected into the basket by the resilient ball engaging cylinder when exiting the ramp.

11. The ball retriever and caddy device as set forth in claim 2, wherein the wherein the push handle is pivotally connected to the right and left base boards.

12. The ball retriever and caddy device as set forth in claim 11, further comprising right and left friction disc mechanisms that respectively pivotally connect the push handle to the right and left base boards and that frictionally hold the handle at a selected angle relative to the right and let base boards.

13. The ball retriever and caddy device as set forth in claim 5, further comprising a movable pin connected to at least one of the right and left base boards that is selectively movable into a position where the pin retains the basket in the lowered position.

14. The ball retriever and caddy device as set forth in claim 11, wherein the push handle comprises a lift bar that is engaged with the basket to move the basket from the lowered position to the raised position and vice versa when the push handle is pivoted relative to the right and left base boards.

15. The ball retriever and caddy device as set forth in claim 2, wherein the resilient ball engaging cylinder is selectively movable between first and second positions relative to the ramp, wherein the resilient ball engaging cylinder is closer to the ramp in the second position as compared to the first position.

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