QUAD-WHEEL SERVING MACHINE

RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001]This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 18/660,588, filed May 10,2024, and titled MULTI-WHEEL SERVING MACHINE. The related application referred to in this paragraph is hereby incorporated by this reference as if fully set forth herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

[0002]The invention relates to the technical field of serving machines, in particular to a multi-wheel serving machine.

2. Background Art

[0003]Many projectile expelling apparatuses expel projectiles at various trajectories such as straight, rising, dropping, curving, sliding, and many other variable projectile directions. To adjust the projectile trajectory, some projectile apparatuses rotate the rotational expelling housing to change the spin direction of the projectile. Changing the projectile spin direction changes the trajectory of the projectile.

[0004]The serving machine in prior art usually serve in the form of serving breaking balls to directions of up, down, left or right, the form of which is less difficult, difficult actions such as inside pitch and outshoot are easy for beginners to learn, but for the athletes, professional players or other trainers with high requirement, it's difficult to meet requirements of their daily training, and they cannot break through to do further strengthened practice, to achieve the desired training effect and improvement.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0005]The purpose of the invention is to provide a multi-wheel serving machine, to solve one of problems in prior art.

[0011]Optionally, the serve driving component further comprises a mounting bracket and a driving unit; the mounting bracket is disposed on outer wall of the serving member, and the driving unit is disposed on the mounting bracket, and output end of the driving unit is connected to the serving wheels for driving serving wheels to rotate.

[0012]Optionally, the serve driving component further comprises an adjusting base; the driving unit is disposed on the adjusting base, and the adjusting base is disposed on the mounting bracket and is capable of being moved relative to the mounting bracket in a direction closer to or farther away from serving position when adjusted for adjusting the distance among a plurality of the serving wheels.

[0013]Optionally, the adjusting base and the mounting bracket are provided with adjusting slots and mounting holes respectively or with mounting holes and adjusting slots respectively, the adjusting slots being provided in correspondence with the mounting holes; the adjusting slots and mounting holes pass through locking members, the locking members being used for locking or unlocking the adjusting base and being capable of moving the adjusting base in a direction closer to or farther away from the serving position when the adjusting base is loosened.

[0014]Optionally, the serving member is rotatably disposed on the mounting base for a plurality of the serve driving component to rotate about an axis of the serving member to adjust position.

[0015]Optionally, on opposite sides of the mounting base are provided with a ball outlet tube and a ball inlet tube respectively, and the ball outlet tube and the ball inlet tube are arranged in a coaxial manner; ball outlet end, and ball inlet end of the serving member are rotatably connected to the ball outlet tube and the ball inlet tube, respectively, and the ball inlet tube is connected to a ball inlet guide tube.

[0016]Optionally, the invention also includes a locking component; the locking component is used to lock or loosen the serving member and to adjust positions of a plurality of the serve driving components when the serving member is loosened.

[0017]Optionally, the serving member is provided with at least one adjustment plate, and the adjustment plate is provided with an arc-shaped slot around axis of the serving member; the mounting base is provided with a through-hole on a side of the arc-shaped slot; the locking component comprises a second screw and a second nut; screw rod of the second screw passes through the arc-shaped slot and through-hole in sequence and is in threaded connection with the second nut.

[0018]Optionally, a support tube is vertically provided at top of the support frame, and a rotating tube is provided at bottom of the mounting base, the rotating tube being rotatably connected to the support tube, so that the mounting base can be rotated left or right relative to the support frame.

[0019]Optionally, the multi-wheel serving machine further comprises a base plate disposed on the support frame, two support plates are symmetrically disposed on the base plate, and lower end of the mounting base is rotatably connected to two support plates via a rotating shaft; each support plate is provided with an arc-shaped long slot around the rotating shaft, and lower end of the mounting base is provided with a fourth screw, screw rod of the fourth screw passes through the arc-shaped long slot and is in threaded connection with fourth nut; when the fourth nut is loosened, the mounting base can rotate up and down about the rotating shaft relative to the support frame.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024]In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiment of the invention, the accompanying drawings to be used in the description of the embodiment or prior art will be briefly described below. Obviously, only partial embodiments of the invention are shown and the actual structure is not limited thereto. It is to be understood by those skilled in the art that other drawings can be obtained based on the drawings of the invention with non-creative labor:

[0025]FIG. 1 is a structural diagram of the multi-wheel serving machine provided by the invention.

[0026]FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the multi-wheel serving machine provided by the invention.

[0027]FIG. 3 is a structural diagram of hidden protective cover of the multi-wheel serving machine provided by the invention.

[0028]FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the multi-wheel serving machine provided by the invention.

REFERENCE NUMBERS

[0029]As shown in the accompanying drawings:

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Specific Embodiment of the Invention

[0030]Embodiments of the invention are described in detail below, and embodiments are shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein the same or similar symbols throughout indicate same or similar elements or elements having same or similar functions. The embodiments described below by reference to the accompanying drawings are exemplary and are intended to be used to explain the embodiments of the invention and are not to be construed as a limitation of the invention.

[0031]In the description of the invention, it is to be understood that the terms “length”, “width”, “upper”, “lower”, “front”, “back”, “left”, “right”, “vertical”, “horizontal”, “top”, “bottom”, “inside”, “outside”, and the like indicate orientation or positional relationships based on those shown in the accompanying drawings, solely for the purpose of facilitating the description of the invention and simplifying the description and are not intended to indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a particular orientation, be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, and therefore are not to be construed as limitations of the invention.

[0032]Furthermore, the terms “first” and “second” are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly specifying the number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defined with the terms “first” and “second” may expressly or implicitly include one or more such features. In the description of the invention, “a plurality of” means two or more, unless otherwise expressly and specifically limited.

[0033]In the description of the embodiments of the invention, it should be further noted that unless otherwise explicitly stated or limited, the terms “mounted”, “linked”, “connected” and “fixed” should be interpreted broadly, and may be, for example, fixedly connected, detachably connected, or integrally connected; can be mechanically or electrically connected; they may be connected directly or indirectly through intervening media, or they may be interconnected between two elements. The specific meanings of above terms in the invention can be understood by those skilled in the art according to specific situations.

[0034]In one embodiment of the invention, with reference to FIG. 1 to FIG. 4, it provides a multi-wheel serving machine, comprising a support frame 100, a mounting base 200, a serving member 300, and serve driving components 400.

[0035]Wherein, with reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the mounting base 200 is provided on the support frame 100.

[0036]Wherein, with reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the serving member 300 is provided on the mounting base 200; the serving member 300 is provided with a serving channel 310, and two ends of the serving channel 310 are provided with a ball outlet end 311 and a ball inlet end 312 respectively; a plurality of openings 320 connecting with the serving channel 310 are provided on outer wall of the serving member 300.

[0037]Wherein, with reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, a plurality of serve driving components 400 are provided around outer wall of the serving member 300 and disposed in one-to-one correspondence with a plurality of the openings 320, respectively; serve driving components 400 include serving wheels 410 and serving wheel 410 of each serve driving component 400 extends into the serving channel 310 at least partially from an opening 320, and a serving position 411 is formed among peripheral walls of a plurality of serving wheels 410.

[0038]Compared with the prior art, one or more technical solutions of the multi-wheel serving machine provided by the embodiment has at least one of following technical effects:

[0039]With reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, when in operation, the ball enters the serving channel 310 from the ball inlet end 312 and moves to the serving position 411 (among a plurality of serving wheels 410), and the serving wheels 410 of a plurality of serve driving components 400 rotate to propel the ball to be released toward the ball outlet end 311 to realize the serving.

[0040]With reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, by adjusting rotation speed of a plurality of serving wheels 410, a plurality of serving wheels 410 rub against respective surfaces of the balls at the serving position 411 to propel the ball to be released outwards, so as to serving various different breaking balls, such as sinker, inside pitch, outshoot, up-and-down floater (butterfly pitch), drop ball, and other difficult action-changing balls, so as to make serve of serving machine more close to the way of real people pitching the ball to satisfy sports players' desired playing and catching ball interest, and to achieve the training effect that trainers want to improve ball skills.

[0041]In another embodiment, with reference to FIG. 3, the serve driving component 400 further comprises a mounting bracket 420 and a driving unit 430; the mounting bracket 420 is disposed on outer wall of the serving member 300, and the driving unit 430 is disposed on the mounting bracket 420, and output end of the driving unit 430 is connected to center of the serving wheels 410 for driving serving wheels 410 to rotate. Wherein, the driving unit 430 can be a motor, and when working, output end of the motor drives the serving wheels 410 to rotate, which is a simple structure.

[0042]In another embodiment, with reference to FIG. 3, the serve driving component 400 further comprises an adjusting base 440; the driving unit 430 is fixedly disposed on the adjusting base 440, and output end of the driving unit 430 passes through the adjusting base 440 and is fixedly connected to center of the serving wheel 410.

[0043]Further, with reference to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the adjusting base 440 is disposed on the mounting bracket 420 and is capable of being moved relative to the mounting bracket 420 in a direction closer to or farther away from serving position 411 when adjusted for adjusting the distance among a plurality of the serving wheels 410, so as to realize serving balls with different sizes, such as baseball, tennis, softball, table tennis and so on, which has wide application ranges and has a very high degree of practicability.

[0044]Further, with reference to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the adjusting base 440 and the mounting bracket 420 are provided with adjusting slots 422 and mounting holes 442 respectively or with mounting holes 442 and adjusting slots 422 respectively, the adjusting slots 422 being provided in correspondence with the mounting holes 442; the adjusting slots 422 and mounting holes 442 are disposed through locking members (not shown in the drawings), the locking members being used for locking or unlocking the adjusting base 440 and being capable of moving the adjusting base 440 in a direction closer to or farther away from the serving position 411 when the adjusting base 440 is loosened, which is simple in structure.

[0045]With reference to FIG. 3, when the mounting holes 442 are threaded holes, the locking members are bolts, screw rods of the bolts pass through the adjusting slots 422 and are in threaded connection with the mounting holes 442; width of nut of the bolt is larger than width of the adjusting slot 422, which is used for locking the adjusting base 440 when the bolt is loosened, and is used to release the adjusting base 440 when the bolt is loosened. The locking member includes a first screw (not shown in the drawings) and a first nut (not shown in the drawings), screw rod of the first screw passes through the mounting hole 442 and the adjusting slot 422 in sequence and is in threaded connection with the first nut, the nut of the first screw is larger than the mounting hole 442, and width of the first nut is larger than width of the adjusting slot 422. When adjusting, loosening the first nut to push the adjusting base 440 along the adjusting slot 422 in a direction close to or away from the serving position 411 to adjust the distance among a plurality of serving wheels 410; after adjusting to a suitable position, tightening the first nut, fixing the adjusting base 440 and the serve driving components 400 to the mounting bracket 420, which is simple to operate and convenient to adjust.

[0046]In a specific embodiment, with reference to FIG. 3, on two opposite sides of the adjusting base 440 are provided with at least one mounting hole 442, the mounting bracket 420 is provided with at least two adjusting slots 422, two adjusting slots 422 are respectively provided in correspondence with two mounting holes 442, and each of the locking members is disposed through one of the mounting holes 442 and one of the adjusting slots 422.

[0047]Further, with reference to FIG. 3, on opposite sides of the adjusting base 440 are symmetrically provided with adjustment plates 441, each of two adjustment plates 441 is provided with at least one mounting hole 442, the mounting bracket 420 is symmetrically provided with two vertical plates 421, the adjusting base 440 is disposed between two vertical plates 421, and two vertical plates 421 are provided with at least one adjusting slot 422, and a plurality of adjusting slots 422 are provided in correspondence with a plurality of mounting holes 442, respectively.

[0048]In some embodiments, one side of the adjusting base 440 is slidably connected to the mounting bracket 420, other side of the adjusting base 440 is provided with at least one mounting hole 442, and the mounting bracket 420 is provided with at least one adjusting slot 422, the adjusting slots 422 being provided in correspondence with the mounting holes 442.

[0049]Further, with reference to FIG. 2 and FIG. 4, the serve driving component 400 also includes protective covers 450 disposed on the mounting bracket 420, each of the protective cover 450 is disposed covering outside of a serving wheel 410; the protective covers 450 play a protective role to avoid the user's hand from accidentally touching the serving wheels 410 when the serving wheels 410 are rotating, which has high safety.

[0050]In another embodiment, referring to FIG. 3, the serve driving component 400 further includes a speed-control switch 460, which is provided on outer wall of the mounting bracket 420 and is electrically connected to the driving unit 430 for adjusting rotation speed of the driving unit 430. When working, the speed-control switch 460 of each serve driving component 400 individually adjusts the rotation speed of its driving unit 430, thereby adjusting the rotation speed of the serving wheel 410, so that a plurality of serving wheels 410 rub against respective surfaces of the balls at the serving position 411 to propel the ball, so as to serve various different breaking balls; the use of the speed-control switch 460 for speed regulation is simple and convenient for the user to use. Wherein, the speed-control switch 460 is a mature prior art, such as speed-control switch 460 of a fan.

[0051]Further, with reference to FIG. 3, the serve driving component 400 also includes a speed-control digital display 470, which is provided on outer wall of the mounting bracket 420 and is electrically connected to the driving unit 430 for displaying rotation speed of the serving wheels 410. By setting the speed-control digital display 470, a user can visualize the rotation speed of the serving wheels 410 of each serve driving component 400. Wherein, the speed-control digital display 470 is mature prior art.

[0052]Wherein, the serve driving components 400 may be provided in two, three or more numbers, and the number of serve driving components 400 may be set according to the actual production demand. In a specific embodiment, the serve driving components 400 are provided as four, and four serve driving components 400 are provided above, below, to the left and to the right of the serving member 300, respectively.

[0053]In another embodiment, referring to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the serving member 300 is rotatably disposed on the mounting base 200 for a plurality of serve driving components 400 to rotate around an axis of the serving member 300 to adjust the position, i.e., when the serving member 300 rotates relative to the mounting base 200, it drives a plurality of serve driving components 400 to rotate around the axis of the serving member 300 to adjust positions of a plurality of serving driving components 400, thereby adjusting positions of a plurality of serving wheels 410, and different types of breaking balls can be released by changing the position of a plurality of serving wheels, which further enriches serving types of the serving machine. Wherein, the serving member 300 may be rotated 360° relative to the mounting base 200.

[0054]Wherein, the serving member 300 can be driven to rotate by manpower or a driving device, and when a driving device is used to drive the serving member 300 to rotate, the structure of the driving device may include a driving motor, a first gear, and a second gear. The driving motor is disposed on the mounting base 200, center of the first gear is fixedly connected to output shaft of the driving motor, the second gear is fixedly sleeved outside the serving member 300, the first gear is meshed with the second gear, and the driving motor drives the serving member 300 to rotate via the first gear and the second gear. Of course, the above is only a structure of the driving device, and the driving device may also be other structures, as long as it can drive the serving member 300 to rotate.

[0055]Further, with reference to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the mounting base 200 is a U-shaped base, and the U-shaped groove of the U-shaped base provides accommodation space for the serve driving component 400, with a compact structure. On opposite sides of the mounting base 200 are provided with a ball outlet tube 210 and a ball inlet tube 220 respectively, and the ball outlet tube 210 and the ball inlet tube 220 are arranged in a coaxial manner; the serving member is serving tube 300a, and tube hole of the serving tube 300a is serving channel 310, ball outlet end 311 and ball inlet end 312 of the serving tube 300a are respectively sleeved outside of the ball outlet tube 210 and the ball inlet tube 220, ball outlet end 311 and ball inlet end 312 are rotatably connected to the ball outlet tube 210 and the ball inlet tube 220, respectively, so that the serving tube 300a can be stably and rotatably connected to the mounting base 200, structure of which is solid.

[0056]Wherein, with reference to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the ball inlet tube 220 is connected to a ball inlet guide tube 221, and when the serving member 300 rotates, the ball inlet tube 220 does not follow the rotation, i.e., the ball inlet guide tube 221 does not rotate, keeping the position of the ball inlet guide tube 221 unchanged, so as to enable the ball to stably enter into the serving channel 310 from the ball inlet guide tube 221. Preferably, the ball inlet guide tube 221 is vertically provided so that the ball inlet guide tube 221 is kept vertical) (90° to feed the ball.

[0057]Further, with reference to FIG. 2 and FIG. 4, the multi-wheel serving machine also includes a locking component 230; the locking component 230 is used to lock or loosen the serving member 300 and to adjust positions of a plurality of the serve driving components 400 when the serving member 300 is loosened.

[0058]In a specific embodiment, with reference to FIG. 2 and FIG. 4, the serving member 300 is provided with at least one adjustment plate 330, and the adjustment plate 330 is provided with an arc-shaped slot 331 around axis of the serving member 300; the mounting base 200 is provided with a through-hole 201 on a side of the arc-shaped slot 331; the locking component 230 comprises a second screw 231 and a second nut 232; screw rod of the second screw 231 passes through the arc-shaped slot 331 and through hole 201 in sequence and is in threaded connection with the second nut 232. When adjusting, loosening the second nut 232 to push the rotating plate 330 to drive the serving member 300 to rotate, adjusting the position of a plurality of serving wheels 410; after adjusting to the desired position, tightening the second nut 232 can fix the rotating plate 330, which is simple in structure and convenient in operation.

[0059]Preferably, the second nut 232 is a nut handle, which is convenient for the user to turn the second nut 232.

[0060]In another embodiment, peripheral wall of the serving tube 300a is provided with screw holes (not shown in the drawings), the locking component 230 is a locking screw (not shown in the drawings), and screw rod of the locking screw is screwed into the screw hole, and when the locking screw is tightened, screw rod of the locking screw presses against peripheral wall of the ball outlet tube 210 or the ball inlet tube 220, thereby locking the serving tube 300a. When the locking screw is loosened, the screw rod of the locking screw moves away from peripheral wall of the ball outlet tube 210 or the ball inlet tube 220, thereby loosening the serving tube 300a.

[0061]Further, referring to FIG. 2, a plurality of guide rods 240 are disposed uniformly in the middle ring of the serving channel 310, each guide rod 240 being parallel to axis of the serving member 300; a gap is formed between two adjacent guide rods 240, each gap being disposed in correspondence with an opening 320, and each serving wheel 410 is disposed through one opening 320 and one gap. The ball enters the serving channel 310, and a plurality of guide rods 240 are used to guide the ball to move toward the serving position 411 (among a plurality of serving wheels 410), so that the ball is precisely moved toward the serving position 411 to avoid position offset of the ball, which affects effect of the serve. Wherein, a plurality of guide rods 240 are directly connected or connected to inner wall of the serving channel 310 via a connecting frame.

[0062]In another embodiment, referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 4, a support tube 110 is vertically provided at top of the support frame 100, and a rotating tube 250 is provided at bottom of the mounting base 200, the rotating tube 250 being rotatably connected to the support tube 110, so that the mounting base 200 can be rotated left and right relative to the support frame 100. By pushing the mounting base 200 to rotate left and right relative to the support frame 100, the ball outlet direction of the serving channel 310 of the serving member 300 is adjusted, so that the serving mechanism is capable of serving balls at different angles, and serving effect of the serving machine is further enriched. Wherein, the mounting base 200 may be rotated 360° relative to the support frame 100.

[0063]Further, referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 4, a first threaded hole is provided throughout outer wall of the support tube 110, and screw rod of the handle screw 120 is screwed to the first threaded hole, and when the handle screw 120 is tightened, the screw rod of the handle screw 120 presses against outer wall of the rotating tube 250, thereby fixing the rotating tube 250. When the handle screw 120 is loosened, screw rod of the handle screw 120 moves away from outer wall of the rotating tube 250, thereby loosening the rotating tube 250, at which time the rotating tube 250 may rotate relative to the support tube 110, so that the mounting base 200 may rotate left or right relative to the support frame 100.

[0064]In another embodiment, referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 4, the multi-wheel serving machine further comprises a base plate 260 disposed on the support frame 100, two support plates 261 are symmetrically disposed on the base plate 260, and lower end of the mounting base 260 is rotatably connected to two support plates 261 via a rotating shaft 262; specifically, lower end of the mounting base 200 is provided with a turning hole 202 running through two sides thereof, and two ends of the rotating shaft 262 are respectively connected to two support plates 261, and the turning hole 202 is rotatably connected to the rotating shaft 262; each support plate 261 is provided with an arc-shaped long slot 263 around the rotating shaft 262, and lower end of the mounting base 200 is provided with a fourth screw 203, screw rod of the fourth screw 203 passes through the arc-shaped long slot 263 and is in threaded connection with fourth nut 264; when the fourth nut 264 is loosened, the mounting base 200 can rotate up and down about the rotating shaft 262 relative to the support frame 100; when the fourth nut 264 is tightened, the mounting base 200 can be fixed to the support frame 100. By pushing the mounting base 200 to rotate up and down relative to the support frame 100, the ball outlet direction of the serving channel 310 of the serving member 300 is adjusted, so that the serving mechanism is able to serve balls at different angles, further enriching serving effect of the serving machine.

[0065]Preferably, the fourth nut 264 is a nut handle, which is convenient for the user to turn the fourth nut 264.

[0066]Further, with reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 4, each of two opposite sides of the rotating shaft 262 is provided with an elastic buffering member 270, and both ends of the elastic buffering members 270 are respectively pressed against bottom of the mounting base 200 and top of the base plate 260; when the mounting base 200 rotates up and down around the rotating shaft 262, the mounting base 200 can rotate stably by the elastic buffering member 270 to support and cushion acting force of the mounting base 200, and the structure is stable. Wherein, the elastic buffering member 270 may be a spring.

[0067]Wherein, the rotating tube 250 is vertically disposed at bottom of the base plate 260, and the base plate 260 is rotatably connected with the support tube 110 via the rotating tube 250 and is disposed on the support frame 100.

[0068]The rest of the embodiment is the same as embodiment 1. The features not explained in the embodiment are adopted as explained in embodiment 1 and will not be repeated herein.

[0069]The invention and its embodiments have been described above, but the description is not limited thereto; only one embodiment of the invention is shown in the drawings, and the actual structure is not limited thereto. In general, it is to be understood by those skilled in the art that non-creative design of structural forms and embodiments that are similar to the technical solutions without departing from the spirit of the invention shall all fall within the protective scope of the invention.