Self-Loading Football Throwing Machine with Gravity Orientation
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing football throwing machines require an additional person to load and operate them, limiting athlete skill development and consistency in practice, as they do not allow for self-loading and often result in inefficient and inconsistent football orientation.
Innovation Solution
A manually loadable and self-operating oval football throwing machine with a collector chute, orienting belt, and drive wheels that provide consistent timing, adjustable launch height, speed, and spin, reducing jamming through a large drop opening and low friction rollers, mimicking a quarterback pass with precise four-bar linkage adjustments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a traditional football throwing machine is used, then the football can be thrown consistently to athletes, but an additional person is required to load and operate the machine, reducing practice efficiency and athlete skill development
Solution Approach 1:
The football receiving and throwing machine automatically orients the football using a single-sided funnel and gravity, eliminating the need for manual loading and operation by a second person. The system serves itself by automatically positioning footballs for throwing without human intervention in the loading process.
Solution Approach 2:
The machine separates the loading function from the throwing function, allowing the athlete to simply catch and throw footballs while the machine handles all loading, orientation, and positioning tasks automatically through its mechanical systems.
2Reliability
If vibration technology is used to orient the football in a two-sided funnel, then the football can be oriented, but the process becomes inefficient and inconsistent with variable pauses, disrupting practice rhythm
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using a two-sided funnel with vibration to orient footballs, the invention inverts the approach by using a single-sided funnel where footballs naturally orient themselves through gravity and geometry, eliminating vibration and variable pauses entirely.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention eliminates mechanical vibration entirely by replacing it with a passive gravity-based orientation system using a single-sided funnel, where footballs automatically position themselves without vibrational forces.
3Manufacturing precision
If a two-sided sloping funnel is used to orient the football, then the football can be oriented nose first, but the ball may sit at the orientation point for extended periods, creating inefficiency and inconsistency
Solution Approach 1:
The invention uses an asymmetric single-sided funnel design where the angled surface guides footballs to orient nose-first as they roll down, preventing them from stopping or sitting at the orientation point and ensuring continuous, efficient processing.
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
Enables consistent and efficient football practice with predictable path and rhythm, allowing athletes to develop proper footwork and catching skills without additional operators, reducing jamming and improving orientation consistency.
Implementation Method 1
The football follows a predictable path through the collector chute, along the orienting belt
Implementation Method 2
low friction rollers
Implementation Method 3
The drive motor carrier system includes a precise four bar linkage adjustment to change the football launch angle. The football spin can be changed from RH to LH with individual adjustments of the motor positions.
Data Source
AI summary
A machine and method for receiving and launching an oval football. The machine includes a football catch area, a motorized belt to orient the football and motorized wheels to launch the football. The user catching the football throws it back to the machine. The machine automatically orients the football and launches it back to the user catching the football. The machine provides the user a consistent timing pause between receiving the football and launching of the football.