Baseball batting aid for detecting motion of head in more than one axis of motion

• US 5,447,305 A
• Filed: 09/20/1994
• Issued: 09/05/1995
• Est. Priority Date: 02/01/1993
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Creative Sports Design Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Creative Sports Design Incorporated
• Inventors: Lacko, Mark A., Socci, Roger
• Primary Examiner(s): Grieb, William H.
• Application Number:
  US08/309,894
• Time in Patent Office: 350 Days
• Field of Search: 273/26 R, 273/26 C, 273/29 A, 273/35 R, 273/183.1, 273/187 R, 273/187.2, 273/190 R, 273/190 A, 273/DIG. 7
• US Class Current: 473/458
• CPC Class Codes: A42B 3/0433 Detecting, signalling or lighting devices
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2071/0625 Emitting sound, noise or music
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2071/0627 when used improperly, e.g. by giving a warning
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 69/0002 for baseball
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 69/3608 Attachments on the body, e.g. for measuring, aligning, restraining A63B69/0059, A63B69/3673 take precedence

Abstract

The present invention is concerned with a training device which can be worn by a user to teach the correct body position when hitting a baseball comprising: an adjustable sensing mechanism fitted on the batter'"'"'s helmet to sense the movement in three mutually perpendicular axes of the batter'"'"'s head in relation to his shoulder during a swing; an audible sound device connected to the sensing mechanism to alert the batter when his head is not correctly positioned in relation to his shoulders during the swing; and an electrical power supply integrated with the sensing mechanism and said audible device and wherein said electrical power supply has sufficient voltage to activate the audible device.

Claims

1. A training device which can be worn by a user to teach the correct body positioning when hitting a baseball, comprising:

a) a baseball helmet fitted with a sensing means for sensing movement of the batter'"'"'s head in relation to his shoulders during a swing simultaneously in three axes which are mutually perpendicular to each other;

b) an audible sounding device connected to the sensing mechanism to alert the batter when his head is not correctly positioned in relation to his shoulders during the swing; and

c) an electrical power supply integrated with the sensing mechanism and the audible sound device and wherein said electrical power supply has sufficient voltage to activate the audible sound device.

2. A device according to claim 1, wherein the adjustable sensing mechanism includes three gyroscopes, one for each of three axes which are mutually perpendicular to each other.

3. A device according to claim 2, wherein the sensitivity of each said gyroscope is within a range of 0 to 180 degrees per second.

4. A device according to claim 1, wherein the adjustable sensing mechanism includes three accelerometers, one for each of said axes.

5. A device according to claim 1, wherein the audible sound device is a member selected from a group consisting of an alarm, a speaker, a buzzer, and an air phone.