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Batting apparatus

Batting apparatus description/claims

The present invention generally relates to a batting apparatus, and more specifically to an apparatus using suction disk to hold the ball for batting practice.

There are a variety of batting apparatus for batting practice. The conventional batting apparatus is usually designed as a vertically standing position. FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of a vertically standing batting apparatus, including a base 11, a supporting rod 12, and a ball holder 13. Supporting rod 12 stands on the top of base 11. The upper part of supporting rod 12 is made of soft and resilient material. Ball holder 13 is placed on the topmost part of supporting rod 12. When batting, a baseball or softball 14 is placed on ball holder 13 for the batter to hit.

This type of batting apparatus only provides static batting practice; namely, the ball stays still for the batter to hit. Although the practice may be useful in some aspect, the practice is too monotonic. Furthermore, at the instant the ball is hit, the friction between the ball and ball holder 13 will affect the trajectory of the ball. Therefore, the present invention provides a batting apparatus to enable the batter to practice batting in various manners to improve the batting capability.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a batting apparatus using a suction disk temporarily hanging a ball for the batter to hit. As the surface of the baseball or softball is usually made of leather or PVC, neither is smooth, while the suction disk uses air compression for suction, which requires a smooth surface, and the ball is heavy with an arc surface, therefore, the suction disk can only temporarily hold the ball due to the aforementioned factors. The present invention utilizes the phenomenon to hold the ball with a suction disk. When the ball is hit, the ball will be disengaged immediately from the suction disk. When the ball falls from the suction disk, the batter can still practice to hit a falling ball.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a batting apparatus to enhance the eye-hand coordination and the focus of the batter. In addition to hitting the still ball held by the suction disk, the batter can also hit a ball falling from the suction disk. The latter practice requires the batter to be more focused and to work on the eye-hand coordination. Furthermore, in the latter practice, the trajectory of the hit ball is free of the friction between the ball holder and the ball, as in conventional batting apparatus.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a batting apparatus for dynamic batting. The batter can practice batting the ball falling from the suction disk or batting the ball hanging and swinging. Therefore, the batter can practice dynamic batting in addition to the static batting practice of the conventional batting apparatus.

To achieve the above objects, the present invention provides a batting apparatus, including a supporting unit, at least a linking unit, and a suction disk. The supporting unit includes a base, a supporting rod, and a hanging arm. The bottom of the supporting rod is engaged to the base, and the top of the supporting rod is connected to the hanging arm. The linking unit is a soft and long object, with one end fixed to the hanging arm, and the other end attached to the suction disk.

The foregoing and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood from a careful reading of a detailed description provided herein below with appropriate reference to the accompanying drawings.

The present invention can be understood in more detail by reading the subsequent detailed description in conjunction with the examples and references made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of a conventional vertically standing batting apparatus;

FIG. 2 shows a schematic view of the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3A shows a schematic view of the second embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 3B shows a schematic view of the third embodiment of the present invention.

• Provisional Patent
• Utility Patent

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