Climate controlled practice facility and method utilizing the same

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.

I 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.    
     
     
         2 . A climate controlled practice facility according to  claim 1  including a vestibule projecting exteriorly of said building and accessible from the building interior through said first building access door, said vestibule including a vestibule access door operative in an associated vestibule access door open position to permit passage between the external environment and said vestibule and operative in an associated vestibule access door closed position to isolate said vestibule from the external environment.  
     
     
         3 . A climate controlled practice facility according to  claim 2  wherein said first building access door and said vestibule access door are each adapted to be placed in respective locked and unlocked states.  
     
     
         4 . A climate controlled practice facility according to  claim 3  wherein said first building access door and said vestibule access door are electromechanically coupled to one another so that their respective locked and unlocked states can be simultaneously controlled.  
     
     
         5 . A climate controlled practice facility according to  claim 1  wherein at least some of said walls are formed by a plurality of wall panels joined together in a sealed arrangement.  
     
     
         6 . A climate controlled practice facility according to  claim 4  wherein said walls are constructed of a material composition which is capable of withstanding the selected pressure differential without significant structural deformation.  
     
     
         7 . A climate controlled practice facility according to  claim 5  wherein said material composition is selected from concrete, steel and aluminum.  
     
     
         8 . A climate controlled practice facility according to  claim 1  wherein said first building access door is a water impermeable marine door.  
     
     
         9 . A climate controlled practice facility according to  claim 1  including a second building access door associated with said building, said second access door spaced apart from said first access door and operative in an associated second access door open position to permit passage between an external environment and the interior and in an associated second access door closed position to isolate the interior from the external environment.  
     
     
         10 . A climate controlled practice facility according to  claim 1  wherein said pressurization unit is disposed exteriorly of said building, and including a conduit interconnecting said pressurization unit and said building interior thereby to establish fluid communication therebetween.  
     
     
         11 . A climate controlled practice facility according to  claim 10  including an air handling unit disposed in said building interior in communication with said pressurization unit via said conduit, said air handling unit operative upon receipt of pressurized air from said pressurization unit to circulate the pressurized air throughout the building interior.  
     
     
         12 . A climate controlled practice facility according to  claim 1  wherein said pressurization unit is located within the building's interior.  
     
     
         13 . A climate controlled practice facility according to  claim 1  wherein said building is supported above ground level.  
     
     
         14 . A climate controlled practice facility according to  claim 1  wherein said building is buried below ground level.  
     
     
         15 . A climate controlled practice facility according to  claim 1  wherein said pressure differential is between 0.1 psi and 3 psi.  
     
     
         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: 
 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.    
     
     
         17 . A climate controlled practice facility according to  claim 16  wherein said enclosure includes a domed roof.  
     
     
         18 . A climate controlled practice facility according to  claim 17  wherein said enclosure includes a circular base.  
     
     
         19 . A climate controlled practice facility according to  claim 18  wherein said circular base has a diameter of at least two hundred (200) feet.  
     
     
         20 . A climate controlled practice facility according to  claim 17  wherein said enclosure includes an elliptical base.  
     
     
         21 . A climate controlled practice facility according to  claim 17  wherein said enclosure has a rectangular base and includes opposed pairs of longitudinally and transversely extending sidewalls, adjacent ones of which are joined together by arcuate corner sections each formed at an appropriate radius of curvature.  
     
     
         22 . A climate controlled practice facility according to  claim 16  wherein said enclosure is cylindrical in configuration.  
     
     
         23 . A climate controlled practice facility according to  claim 22  wherein said enclosure has a length of at least sixty (60) feet.  
     
     
         24 . A climate controlled practice facility according to  claim 23  wherein a portion of said enclosed is buried below ground level.  
     
     
         25 . A climate controlled practice facility according to  claim 16  including a vestibule projecting exteriorly of said enclosure and accessible from the interior through said enclosure access door, said vestibule including a vestibule access door operative in an associated vestibule access door open position to permit passage between the external environment and said vestibule and operative in an associated vestibule access door closed position to isolate said vestibule from the external environment.  
     
     
         26 . A climate controlled practice facility according to  claim 16  wherein said programmable climate control system is selectively operative to regulate temperature and humidity within the interior, and to achieve a selected pressure differential between the interior and an external environment that has an absolute value within a range of 0.02 psi to 7 psi, inclusively.  
     
     
         27 . A climate controlled practice facility according to  claim 26  wherein said programmable climate control system includes a cooling system, a heating system, a pressurization system, and a programmable control station selectively operative to adjust the pressure, temperature and humidity within the interior, each to a desired setting level.  
     
     
         28 . A climate controlled baseball practice facility for use in acclimating baseball players to selected playing conditions, said climate controlled baseball practice facility comprising: 
 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.    
     
     
         29 . A climate controlled baseball practice facility according to  claim 28  wherein said perimeter wall and said base are circumferential.  
     
     
         30 . A climate controlled baseball practice facility according to  claim 29  including a plurality of practice regions each disposed within the enclosure interior and distributed equiangularly about a center thereof, each of said practice regions including an associated said pitching station and batting station, and each of said practice regions resembling an appearance of a portion of a baseball playing field so that a plurality of associated player pairs may enter the enclosure through said access door and practice within a respective one of said practice regions for a selected interval of time while being exposed to said set of meteorological conditions.  
     
     
         31 . A climate controlled baseball practice facility according to  claim 30  wherein each said pitching station includes a pitcher's mound and each said batting station includes a batter's box.  
     
     
         32 . A climate controlled baseball practice facility according to  claim 30  wherein each of said practice regions is generally triangular in configuration.  
     
     
         33 . A climate controlled baseball practice facility according to  claim 30  including a plurality of partition members each extending radially outward away from said center and separating adjacent ones of said practice regions.  
     
     
         34 . A climate controlled baseball practice facility according to  claim 33  including an observation tower centrally disposed within the interior of said dome-like enclosure and projecting upwardly from said base toward said domed roof.  
     
     
         35 . A climate controlled baseball practice facility according to  claim 34  including an equipment room for containing equipment associated with said climate control system.  
     
     
         36 . A climate controlled baseball practice facility according to  claim 34  wherein said equipment room is located in said observation tower.  
     
     
         37 . A climate controlled baseball practice facility according to  claim 34  wherein said observation tower is cylindrical in configuration, and wherein said facility includes an inner circumferential wall spaced radially inwardly from said perimeter wall to provided a circumferential walkway within the interior of said enclosure.  
     
     
         38 . A climate controlled baseball practice facility according to  claim 37  wherein each of said partition members extends between said observation deck and said inner circumferential wall, and including a plurality of observation windows disposed in said inner circumferential wall to permit viewing of players within each of said practice regions.  
     
     
         39 . A climate controlled baseball practice facility according to  claim 28  including at least one enclosure access door operative in an open position to permit ingress into and egress out of the enclosure interior and operative in a closed position to prevent ingress into and egress out of the enclosure interior.  
     
     
         40 . A climate controlled baseball practice facility according to  claim 39  including a vestibule projecting exteriorly of said enclosure and accessible from the interior through said first access door, said vestibule including a vestibule access door operative in an associated vestibule access door open position to permit passage between the external environment and said vestibule and operative in an associated vestibule access door closed position to prevent passage between said vestibule and the external environment.  
     
     
         41 . A climate controlled baseball practice facility according to  claim 28  wherein said climate control system is selectively operative to achieve a pressure differential between the enclosure's interior and an external environment that is between 0.02 psi and 7 psi, inclusively.  
     
     
         42 . A method of practicing a selected sporting activity, comprising: 
 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.    
     
     
         43 . The method according to  claim 42  wherein the selected sporting activity is baseball.  
     
     
         44 . The method according to  claim 42  wherein the selected sporting activity is basketball.  
     
     
         45 . The method according to  claim 42  including an operation of regulating a set of meteorological conditions within the interior of said enclosure, each to a desired setting level.  
     
     
         46 . The method according to  claim 45  wherein the set of meteorological conditions includes pressure, temperature and humidity.  
     
     
         47 . The method according to  claim 46  wherein the operation of regulating the set of meteorological conditions is accomplished prior to entering into the interior of said enclosure.  
     
     
         48 . The method according to  claim 47  including periodically adjusting the set of meteorological conditions to different desired settings.  
     
     
         49 . The method according to  claim 42  including preventing ingress into the interior of said enclosure during said interval of time.  
     
     
         50 . The method according to  claim 42  wherein said interior includes a practice area and a decompression area adapted to be placed in isolation from said practice area, and including the operations of exiting the practice area after said interval of time has elapsed and entering said decompression area.  
     
     
         51 . The method according to  claim 50  including the operations of isolating said decompression area from the interior of said enclosure, adjusting the pressure within said decompression area to a level corresponding to pressure associated with the outdoor environment, and thereafter exiting said decompression area to the outdoor environment.