Deployable Batter's Eye Backdrop for High-Wind Ballparks
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Solution Overview
Problem
There is a need for a batter's eye apparatus that can be easily installed and maintained, capable of withstanding high wind gusts, and deployable in locations without existing structures behind the outfield or centerfield, while also being easy to raise and lower for protection and seasonal storage.
Innovation Solution
A free-standing deployable batter's eye apparatus with a panel system that adjusts orientation, shape, and area in response to wind, featuring battens and batten cars slidably coupled to a support beam, allowing for flexibility and reduced complexity in the support structure, and includes a lifting system for quick deployment and storage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a rigid support structure is used to withstand wind loads, then structural strength is improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the dynamics principle by making the support structure movable rather than rigid. The batter's eye apparatus includes a support beam that can move horizontally along tracks mounted to the outfield wall, allowing the structure to dynamically adjust to wind loads rather than resisting them rigidly. This reduces the complexity and cost of the support structure while maintaining adequate strength.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies parameter changes by allowing the support beam to change its horizontal position along the tracks in response to wind conditions. The ability to adjust the position of the support beam and the batter's eye panel horizontally enables the system to adapt to varying wind loads, reducing the need for an overly complex rigid support structure designed for maximum wind conditions.
2Stability of the object's composition
If the batter's eye panel is made fixed and permanent, then stability is improved, but ease of operation for deployment and storage deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the dynamics principle by making the batter's eye panel movable rather than fixed. The panel can be horizontally moved along the support beam and vertically adjusted, allowing for easy deployment and storage while maintaining stability during use. The panel's position can be changed by moving it along the support beam or by raising/lowering it vertically.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies segmentation by dividing the batter's eye system into separable components: the panel, the support beam, and the tracking mechanism. This allows the panel to be independently moved and adjusted along the support beam, facilitating easy deployment and storage while maintaining stability when in use.
3Productivity
If a complex lifting system is used to raise and lower the panel quickly, then productivity is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies mechanics substitution by replacing a complex mechanical lifting system with a simpler cable and pulley system. The panel is raised and lowered using cables that run through pulleys attached to the support beam, eliminating the need for complex hydraulic or electric lifting mechanisms while achieving quick deployment.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies the intermediary principle by using cables and pulleys as intermediary elements between the operator and the panel. The cables transmit the lifting force through the pulleys attached to the support beam, providing a simple yet effective mechanism for quick panel deployment without requiring a complex direct lifting system.
Data Source
AI summary
A batter's eye or backdrop apparatus and system, and to a free-standing deployable batter's eye apparatus and system, including a panel which may be raised, lowered and/or removed, as desired. The apparatus and system are easy to install and maintain, designed to tolerate design wind loads by changing orientation, shape and/or area presented to winds in response to the winds and/or wind pressures. The batter's eye apparatus is flexible and allows for movement in instantaneous wind modes, thereby reducing the complexity and cost of a support structure for the batter's eye and the batter's eye system. The batter's eye also includes a panel, screen or sheet that may be raised, and lowered closer to the ground to provide further protection against damage due to winds and/or weather.