Basketball assistant

Abstract

A device that is designed to assist a basketball player with shooting practice by controllably dispensing multiple basketballs, one at a time, to the player. A vertical housing with an open top is used to store the basketballs one on top of the other and dispense the balls to the player. The housing has wheels attached to its bottom so the player can roil the device to any desired location on the basketball court. Underneath the stack of basketballs in the housing is a lifting mechanism that controllably raises the balls towards the top of the housing, for removal by the player. The player takes the top basketball from the housing, takes a shot, steps on a foot pedal and the player is presented with another basketball for shooting practice.

1 . A device that is adapted for storing and dispensing basketballs, one at a time, to a basketball player, the device allowing the player to take multiple shots at a basketball hoop without having to chase a basketball after each shot, the device comprising: 
 a housing unit that is able to hold the basketballs, one on top of another in a vertical orientation, the housing unit having a bottom, four sides and an open top, the bottom of the housing unit having an interior side that is in an interior of the housing unit and an exterior side that is on an exterior of the housing unit; and,    a lifting mechanism that is able to move the basketballs towards the open top of the housing unit, wherein the lifting mechanism is attached to the interior side of the bottom of the housing unit and able to be controlled by the player.    
   
   
       2 . The device of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 a set of wheels that are attached to the exterior side of the bottom of the housing unit, wherein the wheels allow the device to be rolled to different places on a basketball court.    
   
   
       3 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the lifting mechanism further comprises: 
 a foot pedal that is attached to a bottom of the lifting mechanism, the foot pedal allowing the player to control the movement of the basketballs toward the open top of the housing unit.    
   
   
       4 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein one or more of the sides of the housing unit includes openings that allow the player to see how many basketballs remain in the housing unit.  
   
   
       5 . The device of  claim 4 , wherein the openings are vertical slots that allow the player to at least partially see all of the basketballs that are stored in the housing unit.  
   
   
       6 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the lifting mechanism is a telescoping arm that is able to expand from a retracted position to an extended position, the telescoping arm having a ball support at a top of the arm that is raised substantially to the top of the housing unit when the telescoping arm is in the extended position.  
   
   
       7 . The device of  claim 6 , wherein the ball support comprises a concave shaped disk.  
   
   
       8 . The device of  claim 2 , wherein each of the wheels are attached to the bottom of the housing unit by a castor so that that device can easily be wheeled in any direction.  
   
   
       9 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the housing unit has a square cross-section.  
   
   
       10 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the housing unit has a height that is greater than 3 feet.  
   
   
       11 . The device of  claim 2 , wherein at least one of the wheels includes a locking mechanism that prevents the at least one wheel from rotating thereby preventing unwanted rolling of the device.  
   
   
       12 . The device of  claim 3 , wherein the lifting mechanism is operated pneumatically and the foot pedal is used to selectively increase and decrease an air pressure inside the lifting mechanism.