Asymmetric Thumb Ring Batting Aid for Vibration Damping
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing hand-protection equipment for batting sports, such as baseball, fails to effectively minimize the transmission of vibration and impact from the bat, leading to pain and injury known as "bat sting".
Innovation Solution
A batting aid with a protective, resiliently deformable flap that cushions the palm of the batter's distal hand, conforming to the bat handle for improved grip and control, and featuring a self-aligning design to reduce setup time.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If a cushioning pad is placed in the batter's palm area with a ring portion over the thumb, then vibration cushioning is provided, but the pad and ring can unintentionally pivot around the thumb causing incorrect orientation and reduced effectiveness
Solution Approach 1:
The ring portion is made asymmetric with a distinct front and back side, featuring an asymmetric cross-section where one side has a larger diameter than the other. This asymmetry prevents the ring from pivoting or rotating on the thumb, ensuring it maintains the correct orientation and position, thereby resolving the positioning problem while maintaining vibration cushioning effectiveness
Solution Approach 2:
The asymmetric ring design automatically orients itself correctly on the thumb without requiring the batter to manually adjust or verify positioning. The asymmetry creates a self-aligning mechanism where gravity and thumb geometry ensure proper orientation, eliminating the need for repeated verification and adjustment during batting preparation
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the batter focuses on carefully positioning and adjusting the cushioning pad, then correct orientation is achieved, but the batter's concentration and confidence are interfered with reducing batting performance
Solution Approach 1:
The asymmetric ring design serves itself by automatically maintaining correct orientation on the thumb. Once placed, the asymmetry prevents any pivoting or rotation, making the device self-regulating and eliminating the need for the batter to spend time verifying or adjusting the pad position, thus preserving concentration and confidence
Solution Approach 2:
The asymmetric ring is pre-designed to inherently maintain correct orientation without requiring subsequent adjustments. The preliminary design feature (asymmetry) ensures that once the pad is initially placed, it remains in the correct position and orientation throughout use, preventing the need for repeated adjustments that would distract the batter
3Ease of operation
If the resiliently deformable flap conforms to the bat handle, then grip and control are improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The batting aid incorporates a resiliently deformable flap made of flexible material that naturally conforms to the contours of the bat handle through elastic deformation. This flexible component provides custom-fit grip and control without requiring complex mechanical structures, adjustments, or multiple parts, thus improving ease of operation while minimizing device complexity
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The batting aid significantly reduces the transmission of vibration and impact from the bat, minimizing pain and injury, while enhancing the batter's grip and control over the bat, leading to improved performance.
Implementation Method 1
a protective resiliently deformable flap that cushions a portion of the palm of the distal hand of a batter. The protective resiliently deformable flap minimizes the transmission of vibration and impact from the bat
Implementation Method 2
When a bat hits a ball, vibrations are transmitted from the impact site down the shaft of the bat to the player's hands... the protective resiliently deformable flap minimizes the transmission of vibration and impact from the bat
Implementation Method 3
In some embodiments, the protective resiliently deformable flap can provide enhanced friction between the batting aid and the shaft of the bat
Data Source
AI summary
A batting aid to be worn on a thumb of a distal hand of a baseball player while gripping a handle of a baseball bat. The batting aid includes a thumb ring to secure the batting aid to the thumb, and a cushioning saddle integrated with the thumb ring. The saddle has a crest portion configured to engage a portion of the second metacarpal of the distal hand, also having at least one resiliently deformable flap configured to extend substantially along a middle portion of the second metacarpal bone of the distal hand. The batting aid minimizes the transmission of vibration and impact from the bat hitting a ball, thereby reducing pain and injury. The batting aid conforms to the bat handle and improves a player's grip on the bat. Because the resiliently deformable flap is self-aligning on the player's hand, the player can more easily concentrate on hitting pitched balls.