Ball Pickup Device Inversion Eliminates Folding Extensions
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional ball pickup devices require continuous folding of movable extensions between handling and storage positions, and adding balls is cumbersome due to the need to unlatch and open the top door, which complicates the process.
Innovation Solution
A ball pickup device with a container featuring a bottom frame, top frame, and side walls, where elongate members form a door that can rotate and latch, allowing the device to be easily converted between positions without moving parts, and gaps between components enable ball insertion without inverting the device.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If conventional ball pickup devices use movable extensions that fold between handling and storage positions, then the device can be maneuvered and carried easily, but the extensions must be folded up and down continuously which complicates operation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the conventional approach by making the extensions fixed rather than movable. Instead of folding extensions to achieve compact storage, the invention uses a fixed extension structure combined with an invertible container that achieves compact storage through inversion rather than folding parts.
2Ease of operation
If conventional ball pickup devices have a top door that must be unlatched and opened to add balls, then balls can be added to the basket, but the process becomes cumbersome and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The patent eliminates the top door mechanism entirely. Instead of opening a door to add balls, the invention allows balls to be added by inverting the container, which opens the bottom and enables quick ball insertion without latching or door mechanisms.
3Adaptability or versatility
If conventional ball pickup devices require the top door to be opened to add balls when in the first arrangement, then balls can be added, but the extensions may prevent the top door from being opened at all
Solution Approach 1:
The patent eliminates the top door obstruction problem by using a fixed extension structure. Balls can be added in either arrangement by inverting the container, which opens the bottom access without interfering with the fixed extensions.
4Productivity
If conventional ball pickup devices use a wire basket bottom with spaced wires, rods or elastic members, then balls can pass through when compressed, but the structure requires complex movable extensions for positioning
Solution Approach 1:
The patent simplifies the positioning mechanism by using fixed extensions instead of movable folding ones. The inverted container design allows the bottom opening to face upward for efficient ball collection while the fixed extensions provide stable positioning without requiring complex folding mechanisms.
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
Facilitates efficient ball collection and storage by eliminating the need for continuous extension folding and simplifying ball addition, allowing the device to be inverted between positions without part movement, enhancing usability and convenience.
Implementation Method 1
The elongate members cooperate to form a door having a first end rotatably connected to a first side of the bottom outer frame
Implementation Method 2
a second end engageably and disengageably connectable to a second side of the bottom outer frame
Implementation Method 3
each opening having a first width less than a diameter of the at least one ball and through which a compressed one of the at least one ball may be forced
Implementation Method 4
The device is configured to be inverted between the first and second positions without movement of any parts of the device with respect to each other
Data Source
AI summary
A device for picking up balls from a court surface comprises: a container having a bottom face which includes a bottom outer frame and a plurality of elongate members forming a door; a plurality of elongate legs having top and bottom ends, wherein each bottom end is integral with the container; and a support frame formed by the top ends and at least one transverse member. The device may be inverted between a first position, in which the device is supported on the court surface by the bottom face, and a second position, in which the device is supported by the support frame, without movement of any parts of the device with respect to each other. In the first position, the bottom face may be pressed against balls on the court surface so as to urge them through openings between the elongate members and into the interior of the container.