Title of Invention

AN IMPROVED CRICKET BALL THROWING MACHINE

Abstract

In the cricket ball throwing machine of the present invention, the main mechanism which has been used is based on a pair of rotating wheels along with the other subsystems. The cricket ball throwing machine of the present invention comprises a Positive and Precise Tilting Mechanism (PPTM) as a central piece to hold a base plate on which a pair of driving wheels rest. The PPTM rests on a stand anchored on legs. The ball reaches in between the pair of driving wheels via a chute. The driving wheels are driven by two drive motors. The connection between the driving wheels and the motors are via a Wheel Holding Mechanism (WHM).

Full Text

The present invention relates to an improved cricket ball throwing machine. The present invention particularly relates to a device for throwing a cricket ball in an accurate manner at a predetermined speed, spin and direction. The main usage of this invention is to provide accurate and consistent batting practice for players by throwing a cricket ball in an accurate manner at a predetermined speed, spin and direction. The ball throwing machine of the present invention provides a very practical and useful means to improve batting performance of the cricketers. The bowling machine will find usage amongst both amateurand professional cricketers who can use it as part of their regular practice for fine tuning of batting without the necessity of bowlers capable of providing spin, fast bowling and the like. It will be of much use at school, club and junior level where the standards of bowling are less consistent. The bowling machine of present invention is also useful for base ball players for batting practice to avoid over working the arms of pitcher and also tennis player for practicing without other player. This machine generates a supply of cricket balls intermittently with required direction, flight, spin and other useful manipulations as done in the play of cricket. The prior art search covering literature, patent data-bases and market survey reveals that there are a number of well known ball throwing devices. However, as expected each of the known ball throwing devices has scope of further improvements. Reference may be made to U.S. patent no. 5975527, Portable spring type impact ball pitching device. An embodiment is shown in figure 1 of the drawings accompanying this specification. In the figure 1 is shown: 1. Pair of tension springs 2. Ball 3. Hammer 4. Drive handle In this mechanism, a drive handle (4) actuates a hammer (3) to hit a ball (2), the seat of which is controlled in its position by a pair of springs (1). In this system reliability of total mechanism is highly questionable due to fatigue of each linkages and springs. Moreover, this machine cannot create any spin on the ball for not having any gripper to hold it at desired orientation. Reference may be made to U.S. patent no. 4080950, Ball throwing device. An embodiment is shown in figure 2 of the drawings accompanying this specification. In the figure 2 is shown: 5. Pad 6. Wheel 7. Ball In this machine, a ball (7) is gripped frictionally by fixed pad (5) and thrown by the running wheel (6). Here, the control of orientation on the ball is not positive, hence the flexibility of producing various kinds of balls as a challenge to the cricketer is not possible. Reference may be made to U.S. patent no. 3774584, Co-acting wheel type ball projecting device. An embodiment is shown in figure 3 of the drawings accompanying this specification. In the figure 3 is shown: 8. Drive wheels 9. Ball 10. Ball and socket arrangement In this device, a ball (9) is thrown by the> action of pair of identical wheels (8) running in opposite directions and the entire setup is mounted on a ball and socket arrangement (10) for tilting the setup. In this device, the driving wheels are having straight surfaces and that is why it is a point contact situation with the ball and the grip on the ball is not sufficiently reliable to change the fine orientation of the ball for creating variations in quality of bowling. Here the driving wheels are pneumatic tire type which have number of in-build limitations. Principle among these are the requirement to maintain proper inflation pressure in order to insure consistent ball gripping action, the frequency of wheel balancing to prevent wheel wobble and consequent erratic ball throwing and the excessive cost of such wheels and their maintenance. Moreover, ball and socket arrangement is not a positive as well as self-locking tilting mechanism to hold the setup at a desired angle according to the requirement. It is obvious that neither the positive holding of the the ball nor orienting it in variations are possible in this device, and holding of the top heavy setup by a single point ball and socket arrangement cannot be relied on for continuous use. Moreover, the device is not adjustable to accommodate balls of different diameters and therefore a separate device is required for different diameter balls. From the prior art details given herein above it is clear that there is a definite need to provide a cricket ball throwing machine which obviates the drawbacks as described above. The main object of the present invention is to provide a cricket ball throwing machine which obviates the drawbacks of the prior art as described above. Another object of the present invention is to provide a cricket ball throwing machine which can generate throwing of balls with different path, that is change of flight. Still another object of the present invention is to provide a cricket ball throwing machine that can provide a spin of various types, such as off-break, leg-break and swing of various types, such as in-swing, out-swing. Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a cricket ball throwing machine that is able to accommodate, grip, generate the throwing of balls of different dimension within the limit of the specified parameters A further object of the present invention is to provide a cricket ball throwing machine that can be made fully automatic by incorporating an electronic controller. A still further object of the present invention is to provide a cricket ball throwing machine that is positioned firmly on a central piece that can be tilted upward or downward in a self-locking mode to enable the machine remain steady for continuous generation of throwing of balls one after another. A yet further object of the present invention is to provide a cricket ball throwing machine which can be also used for practice of such games as tennis and base ball. In the cricket ball throwing machine of the present invention, the main mechanism which has been used is based on a pair of rotating wheels along with the other subsystems. The cricket ball throwing machine of the present invention comprises a Positive and Precise Tilting Mechanism (PPTKJXas a central piece to hold a base plate on which a pair of driving wheels rest. The PPTM rests on a stand anchored on legs. The ball reaches in between the pair of driving wheels via a chute. The driving wheels are driven by two drive motors. The connection between the driving wheels and the motors are via a Wheel Holding Mechanism (WHM). In the drawings accompanying this specification, figures 4, 5, 6 and 7 show the various subsystems and parts and describe the cricket ball throwing machine of the present invention. Figure 4 represents the schematic view of the machine of the present invention. The various parts (11 to 20) as shown in figure 4 are as follows: (11) Positive and Precise Tilting Mechanism (PPTM) (12) Wheel Holding Mechanism (WHM) (13) Drive wheel (14) Baseplate (15) Chute (16) Motor (17) Stand (18) Leg (19) Control panel (20) Ball Figure 5 shows the schematic view of the Positive and Precise Tilting Mechanism (PPTM) of the machine of the present invention, which comprises the following: (21) Tilting platform (22) Lower Bracket (23) Worm (24) Worm Wheel (25) Cap screw (26) Knob (27) L-frame Figure 6 shows the schematic view of the Wheel Holding Mechanism (WHM) of the present invention. The individual parts (28 to 32) of the wheel assembly, as depicted in figure 6 are as follows: (28) Slider block (29) Angular contact ball bearing (30) Screw (31) Nut (32) Motor shaft Figure 7 shows the schematic view of the drive wheel of the machine of the present invention, which comprises the following: (33) Concaved groove rubber tire (34) Filleted portion of rubber tire (35) Central hub portion of the wheel (36) Circumferential rim portion of the wheel (37) Arms of the wheel. Accordingly the present invention provides An improved cricket ball throwing machine which is characterised by a Positive and Precise Tilting Mechanism (PPTM) (11) resting on a stand (17) anchored on legs (18), the said PPTM (11) holding a base plate (14) having a pair of driving wheels (13) separated to accommodate a ball (20) through a chute (15), the said driving wheels being linked to two drive motors (16) wherein the connection between the said wheels (13) and motors (16) is via a Wheel Holding Mechanism (WHM) (12), the said PPTM consists of a tilting platform (21) actuated by an actuation knob (26) for driving a worm (23) to transmit the motion to the worm wheel (24) to change the inclination of the said tilting platform (21), either for rolling or for pitching with respect to the direction of the trajectory of the ball the Wheel Holding Mechanism (WHM) (12) consists of a slider block (28) holding an angular contact bearing (29) for accommodating hub of the wheel, the said WHM being provided with a screw (30) and nut (31) mechanism capable of actuating a sliding movement of the wheel (13) to change the gap between the pair of wheels, the said driving wheel (13) is provided with a central hub fitted with motor shaft (32) and a curved outermost surface (33) matching with the ball surface. In an embodiment of the present invention, the PPTM consists of a tilting platform (21) actuated by an actuation knob (26) capable of driving a worm (23) to transmit the motion to the worm wheel (24) to change the inclination of the said tilting platform (21), either for rolling or for pitching with respect to the direction of the trajectory of the ball. In another embodiment of the present invention, the Wheel Holding Mechanism (WHM) (12) consists of a slider block (28) holding an angular contact bearing (29) capable of accommodating hub of the wheel, the said WHM being provided with a screw (30) and nut (31) mechanism capable of actuating a sliding movement of the wheel (13) to change the gap between the pair of wheels. In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the driving wheel (13) is provided with a central hub fitted with motor shaft (32) and a curved outermost surface (33) matching with the ball surface. In still another embodiment of the present invention, the cricket ball throwing machine is capable of being automated and program-controlled through interfacing with known mechanical, electro-mechanical, electronic control systems. The description of the cricket ball throwing machine of the present invention is as follows: The central piece (PPTM) (11) holds the fork type base plate (14) having two slots at either sides to hold the Work Holding Mechanism (WHM) (12) and this WHM holds the wheels (13) on its top. On top of the base plate (14) the chute (15) has been provided to insert the ball (20). From the exit of the chute (15) ball (20) reaches in between the rotating wheels, normally running in opposite directions. A worm (23) is contained within the PPTM (11) is supported on lower bracket (22) and meshes with worm wheel (24) which attached with tilting platform (21) of the PPTM (11) by means of cap screws (25). The worm shaft (23) extends outwardly of the lower bracket (22) and mounts a knob (26) by which the worm (23) is turned which . ' ' ' rotates the worm wheel (24) thereby rotate the base plate (14). The bottom of the PPTM is fixed on stand (17). Finally the stand (17) is anchored on the legs (18). Wheels (13) are driven by motors from the bottom side of the wheels (13). Each of the wheel (13) preferably includes a rigid central hub portion (35) of cast alloy suitably having a flat cylindrical rim (36) and elliptical arm (37) for supporting a body of visco-elastic material. Each visco-elastic body is formed with a peripheral groove (33) providing a concave cross-section in said body extending circumferentially around the perimeter of the wheel (13) for receiving a ball (20) and for channeling the trajectory of the ball (20) when the wheels (13) rotates. On either side of the concave cross-section, filleted edges (34) are defined in the body where the visco-elastic body is substantially thicker as measured from rim. The wheels (13) are generally spaced more closely together than the diameter of the ball (20) whereby the visco-elastic material is compressed when the ball (20) is received between the wheels (13). As a result of this compression, the filleted edges (34) spread laterally outwardly when receiving the ball (20) and provide a finger-like grip on either side of the ball (20). The finger-like gripping action of the filleted edges (34) is effective for gripping and controlling the trajectory of the ball. The motors are controlled by electronic controller (19). In the normal functioning of the machine, the ball (20) comes out of the chute (15) and reaches space between the two wheels (13) and is thrown straight towards the practicing batsman. In case of swing of the ball (20), a differential speed is maintained of the two wheels (13). To create a spin on the ball (20) of different kind, a differential speed is maintained between two wheels and at the same time tilting platform (21) is either inclined towards the left or towards the right with respect to fixed L-frame (27), according to the kind of the spin. To control the length of the bowling the tilting platform (21) is inclined upward or downward, as the case may be. Inward or outward sliding of the two wheels (13) with the help of slider block (28) and screw-nut mechanism (30), (31) will enable the throwing machine to accommodate balls of different diameters. The total operations of the machine can be made automatic with the use of electronic controller. All type of variation in length, line, swing and spin can be achieved by properly guiding the functional components of the machine either mechanically or electronically. The following examples are given by way of illustration of the present invention and should not be construed to limit the scope of the present invention. Example 1 Sample ball is the normal cricket ball weighing 153 gm with diameter 72 mm. Machine is placed at a distance of 66 feet, from the target (wicket) and at a height from the ground is 6.5 feet. Test situation is to generate straight bowling in the variation of good length, short pitch and full toss. In all the situations machine was able to produce satisfactory effect. Machine setting : Speed of the counter-rotating wheels are same, at 3000 rpm. Tilting table (facing to the player) horizontal, upward inclination 1 to 3 degree (pitching angle) with horizontal, downward 1 to 12 degree (pitching angle) with horizontal were tried. Example 2 Sample ball is the normal cricket ball weighing 153 gm with diameter 72 mm. Machine is placed at a distance of 66 feet, from the target (wicket) and at a height from the ground is 6.5 feet. Test situation is to generate swing bowling in the variation of in-swing and out-swing at a distance of good length, successively five balls in this test situation were found satisfactory. Machine setting : Differential speed of the counter-rotating wheel is (3000-2500= 500 rpm). Tilting table (facing to the player) downward 5 degree (pitching angle) with horizontal was tried. Example 3 Sample ball is the normal cricket ball weighing 153 gm with diameter 72 mm. Machine is placed at a distance of 66 feet, from the target (wicket) and at a height from the ground is 6.5 feet. Test situation is to generate swing bowling in the variation of off-spin and leg-spin at a distance of good length with good amount flight, successively five balls in this test situation were found satisfactory. Machine setting : Differential speed of the counter-rotating wheel is (2400 - 1400 = 1000 rpm). Tilting table (facing perpendicular to the player) upward 20 to 60 degree (rolling angle) with horizontal was tried. The novelty of the cricket ball throwing machine of the present invention resides in providing a practicing machine which is highly versatile, in producing all most all kinds of balls as available in the game of cricket. This has been possible by solving the related technical problems, as available in the public domain, in this class of practicing machines. The novelty has been achieved by the non-obvious inventive steps which consists of the Positive and Precise Tilting Mechanism (PPTM), Wheel Holding Mechanism (WHM), the special kind of driving wheels and the sliding mechanism provided to change the location of the wheels with respect to each other to hold and throw different kinds of balls, beside the cricket ball, within the limit of the specifications. Along with the possibility of complete automation of such kind of machine capable and flexible to generate various kinds of bowling as used in the game of cricket. The main advantages of the present invention are: 1. The ball throwing speed is variable within a range of low to very high speed. 2. Positive adjustment of line and length of ball are possible with repeatability. 3. Almost all varieties of balls including in-swing, out-swing, leg spin, off spin is possible. 4. Different sizes of balls can be thrown effectively, beside cricket ball. 5. Machine has a good portability 6. A very stable machine in operation. 7. Reasonable cost. 8. Full automation is possible. 9. Same machine can be used for practicing other than cricket, such as, base ball, tennis ball, and the like. We claim: 1. An improved cricket ball throwing machine which is characterised by a Positive and Precise Tilting Mechanism (PPTM) (11) resting on a stand (17) anchored on legs (18), the said PPTM (11) holding a base plate (14) having a pair of driving wheels (13) separated to accommodate a ball (20) through a chute (15), the said driving wheels being linked to two drive motors (16) wherein the connection between the said wheels (13) and motors (16) is via a Wheel Holding Mechanism (WHM) (12), the said PPTM consists of a tilting platform (21) actuated by an actuation knob (26) for driving a worm (23) to transmit the motion to the worm wheel (24) to change the inclination of the said tilting platform (21), either for rolling or for pitching with respect to the direction of the trajectory of the ball the Wheel Holding Mechanism (WHM) (12) consists of a slider block (28) holding an angular contact bearing (29) for accommodating hub of the wheel, the said WHM being provided with a screw (30) and nut (31) mechanism capable of actuating a sliding movement of the wheel (13) to change the gap between the pair of wheels, the said driving wheel (13) is provided with a central hub fitted with motor shaft (32) and a curved outermost surface (33) matching with the ball surface. 2. An improved cricket ball throwing machine, substantially as herein described with reference to the examples and figures 4 to 7 of the drawings accompanying this specification.

Documents:

1560-del-2003-abstract.pdf

1560-del-2003-claims.pdf

1560-del-2003-correspondence-others.pdf

1560-del-2003-correspondence-po.pdf

1560-del-2003-description (complete).pdf

1560-del-2003-drawings.pdf

1560-del-2003-form-1.pdf

1560-del-2003-form-18.pdf

1560-del-2003-form-2.pdf

1560-del-2003-form-3.pdf

1560-del-2003-form-5.pdf