Climate controlled practice facility and method utilizing the same
First Claim
1. A climate controlled practice facility, comprising:
- a. an enclosable building including;
i. a plurality of walls joined together to substantially surround a building interior; and
ii. a first building access door operative in an open position to permit passage between an external environment and the building interior and operative in a closed position to enclose the building interior and isolate the building interior from the external environment;
b. a pressurization unit in communication with the interior of said enclosure and selectively operative upon activation to pressurize the interior to achieve a selected pressure differential between said interior and the external environment having an absolute value in a range of 0.02 psi to 7 psi, inclusively; and
c. a plurality of items correlated to a selected sporting activity, said items located within the interior of said building and arranged to simulate an appearance of at least a portion of a playing environment associated with the selected sporting activity.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A climate controlled practice facility comprises an enclosable building having an access door to permit into the building'"'"'s interior, a pressurization unit for pressurizing the interior to a selected pressure differential, and a plurality of items located within the interior correlated to a selected sporting activity and arranged to simulate an appearance of at least a portion of a playing environment. In one embodiment, the climate controlled practice facility is a baseball practice facility for acclimating players to selected playing conditions. Here, a practice region is located within the enclosure interior and includes a pitching station and a batting station spaced apart therefrom. Players may enter the enclosure and practice for an interval of time while being exposed to a set of metrological conditions, such as pressure, temperature and humidity, that are regulated by a climate controlled system. A method of practicing a selected sporting activity is also provided.
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Citations
51 Claims
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1. A climate controlled practice facility, comprising:
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a. an enclosable building including;
i. a plurality of walls joined together to substantially surround a building interior; and
ii. a first building access door operative in an open position to permit passage between an external environment and the building interior and operative in a closed position to enclose the building interior and isolate the building interior from the external environment;
b. a pressurization unit in communication with the interior of said enclosure and selectively operative upon activation to pressurize the interior to achieve a selected pressure differential between said interior and the external environment having an absolute value in a range of 0.02 psi to 7 psi, inclusively; and
c. a plurality of items correlated to a selected sporting activity, said items located within the interior of said building and arranged to simulate an appearance of at least a portion of a playing environment associated with the selected sporting activity. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A climate controlled practice facility for simulating an environment associated with at least one selected sporting activity so that participants practicing within the practice facility can acclimate themselves to selected playing conditions, said climate controlled practice facility comprising:
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a. an enclosure having a selected geometric configuration which is sized and adapted to accommodate a plurality of participants, said enclosure including;
i. a plurality of enclosure walls joined together in a sealed, air tight arrangement to surround an enclosure interior; and
ii. an enclosure access door operative in an open position to permit ingress into and egress out of the interior of said enclosure and operative in a closed position to impede ingress into and egress out of the interior of said enclosure;
b. a programmable climate control system operative upon activation to selectively regulate a set of meteorological conditions within the interior; and
c. a plurality of items correlated to the selected sporting activity, said items located within the interior of said enclosure and arranged to simulate an appearance of at least a portion of a playing surface associated with the selected sporting activity so that the participants may enter the enclosure through said enclosure access door and practice the selected sporting activity for an interval of time while being exposed to said set of meteorological conditions. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A climate controlled baseball practice facility for use in acclimating baseball players to selected playing conditions, said climate controlled baseball practice facility comprising:
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a. an accessible dome-like enclosure including a base, a surrounding perimeter wall extending upwardly from said base, and a domed roof supported by said perimeter wall thereby to surround an enclosure interior. b. a climate control system associated with said enclosure for selectively regulating a set of meteorological conditions within the enclosure interior thereby to simulate the selected playing conditions, wherein said set of meteorological conditions includes pressure and at least one of temperature and humidity, and wherein said climate control system is operative toachieve a pressure differential between the enclosure'"'"'s interior and an external environment that is greater than 0.02 psi; and
c. at least one practice region located within the enclosure interior, said practice region including a pitching station and a batting station spaced apart a selected distance therefrom, said practice region resembling an appearance of a portion of a baseball playing field so that players may enter the enclosure through said access door and practice for a selected interval of time while being exposed to said set of meteorological conditions. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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42. A method of practicing a selected sporting activity, comprising:
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a. providing a climate controlled enclosure having an interior that is sized and adapted to accommodate a plurality of participants of the selected sporting activity;
b. in any order;
i. creating a pressure differential between said interior and an outside environment, wherein said pressure differential has an absolute value in a range of 0.02 psi to 7 psi, inclusively; and
ii. entering into the interior of said enclosure and thereafter sealing said enclosure from the outside environment; and
c. practicing the selected sporting activity with the interior of the enclosure for an interval of time. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51)
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Specification