Frictional Catching Device for Inflatable Balls
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional catch games, such as those involving lacrosse sticks, require catchers to recoil to secure the ball, making them difficult for young children and adults to play effectively, as they necessitate additional actions beyond intercepting the ball's flight path.
Innovation Solution
A catching device that uses frictional retention, either through pressure points or a hook-and-pile system like Velcro, to securely hold an inflatable ball without the need for recoil, allowing easy transition from catcher to thrower and accommodating various shapes and materials like polyethylene foam and PVC, enabling secure ball retention with minimal force.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional lacrosse sticks are used for catching, then the ball can be secured, but the catcher must recoil to prevent the ball from falling, increasing operational complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The catching device is designed to automatically retain the ball through its inherent structural features (U-shaped configuration with resilient material) without requiring the catcher to perform additional actions like recoil. The device serves itself by using the ball's own momentum and the device's elasticity to secure the ball upon interception.
Solution Approach 2:
The catching device incorporates resilient material that dynamically adapts to the ball's impact, deforming to absorb the ball's momentum and then recovering to retain the ball. This dynamic response eliminates the need for manual recoil while maintaining secure ball retention.
2Ease of operation
If friction-based retention is used without recoil, then operational simplicity is improved, but ball retention reliability may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The catching device combines resilient material (for elastic retention) with potentially adhesive or high-friction surface materials to create a composite structure that reliably secures the ball through friction alone, without requiring recoil or additional securing mechanisms.
3Device complexity
If the catching device uses only friction without additional securing mechanisms, then device complexity is reduced, but ball retention force may be insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The U-shaped or curved configuration of the catching device creates a geometric constraint that works together with friction to retain the ball. The curved geometry naturally cradles the spherical ball, increasing the effective contact area and frictional force without adding complex securing 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
Simplifies the game of catch by allowing secure ball retention with minimal effort, enabling easy transition between catching and throwing, and facilitating play by young children and adults without the need for recoil, promoting accessibility and versatility in game play.
Implementation Method 1
The receiving mechanism 4 frictionally retains the ball 6 therein. The friction is caused by pressure that is applied on opposing points of a secant line 8 about a surface of the ball 6.
Implementation Method 2
The resilient sheath is not necessarily resilient. It should, however, have a proper coefficient of friction that would allow a ball such as a beach ball to be retained in a hoop that is made of the sheath material.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed herein is a game system that includes a receiving mechanism and a ball. The receiving mechanism frictionally retains the ball therein. The friction is caused by pressure that is applied on opposing points of a secant line about a surface of the ball. The frictional retention is effected by pressure applied by the receiving mechanism on at least two opposing points on the surface of the ball and the contact points of the receiving mechanism are distributed along a common secant around the ball.