Multi sport ball rolling, levitating, tosssing and throwing system

Abstract

A multi-sport ball machine is disclosed that is configured to selectively levitate, softly toss, rapidly pitch, roll, and bounce balls to a consistent or random location. The disclosed machine can also control the spin of a ball which affects its flight path and is self-contained and compact in size. Furthermore, the disclosed machine allows athletes of any age to practice safely in close quarters, indoors or out, with others or independent of others, and is easy to operate which enables athletes to train in a more efficient manner. Accordingly, the disclosed machine serves as a tool to help players transition from practice to utilizing the practiced skills in a competitive game play situation further engraining the skills they have been practicing and having fun.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A multi-sport ball machine comprising:
 a. a container for holding a plurality of balls;   b. a blower having an inlet and an outlet;   c. a plurality of tubes that can be assembled together and connected to the container such that the plurality of tubes are placed in airflow communication with the blower outlet;   d. the machine being configured to sequentially launch the plurality of balls through the plurality of tubes via airflow generated by the blower;   e. wherein, the plurality of tubes can be placed in at least two of the following ball launching configurations:
 i. a levitation configuration in which a ball is levitated above an outlet of the at least one tube; 
 ii. a soft toss configuration in which a ball is launched at a relatively slow speed to allow the ball to travel to a consistent or random location at a relatively high arcing trajectory; 
 iii. a rapid pitch configuration in which the ball is launched at a relatively high speed to allow the ball to travel to a consistent or random location at a relatively low arcing trajectory; 
 iv. a bounce configuration in which the ball is launched such that the ball bounces to a consistent or random location; and 
 v. a rolling configuration in which the ball is launched parallel to a surface. 
   
     
     
         2 . The machine of  claim 1 , wherein:
 a. the blower is driven by a constant speed motor.   
     
     
         3 . The machine of  claim 1 , wherein:
 a. the blower is driven by a variable speed motor.   
     
     
         4 . The machine of  claim 1 , wherein:
 a. at least one of the plurality of tubes is provided with a spin control area that acts as a friction surface to impart a spinning motion onto a ball passing through the tube.   
     
     
         5 . The machine of  claim 1 , wherein:
 a. the plurality of tubes includes a randomizer for automatically changing the orientation of the plurality of tubes between ball launches.   
     
     
         6 . The machine of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of tubes includes:
 a. a rotatable launch tube connected to the housing that can be rotated with respect to the housing;   b. a ball staging tube connected to the rotatable launch tube;   c. a tee tube connectable to the rotatable launch tube, the tee tube being for use with the levitation configuration;   d. a first speed tube connectable to the ball staging tube, the first speed tube being for use in the rapid pitch, soft toss, and bounce configurations;   e. a second speed tube connectable to the first speed tube, the second speed tube being for use in the rapid pitch configuration;   f. a roller tube connectable to the rotatable launch tube, the roller tube being for use with the rolling configuration.   
     
     
         7 . A multi-sport ball machine comprising:
 a. a container for holding a plurality of balls, the container having a ball discharge outlet;   b. a blower having a fan inlet and a fan outlet;   c. at least one tube configured to be attached to the ball discharge outlet;   d. an airflow control mechanism located between the fan outlet and the ball discharge outlet, the airflow control mechanism being configured to selectively restrict airflow from the fan outlet to the ball discharge outlet, wherein the airflow control mechanism has a first position in which a first airflow is allowed to flow to the ball discharge outlet and has a second position in which a second airflow is allowed to flow to the ball discharge outlet, wherein the second airflow is greater than the first airflow; and   e. an airflow switch configured to activate the airflow control mechanism between the first and second positions.   
     
     
         8 . The multi-sport ball machine of  claim 7 , further comprising:
 a. a tee tube removable attached to the ball discharge outlet; and   b. a ball spinning device located within the tee tube, the ball spinning device being configured to impart a rotation on a ball passing through the tee tube by force of airflow generated by the blower.   
     
     
         9 . The multi-sport ball machine of  claim 8 , wherein:
 a. the machine automatically feeds a ball into the tee tube with the airflow control mechanism in the first position and moves the airflow control mechanism to the second position after the ball has been discharged from the tee tube to levitate the ball above the tee tube.   
     
     
         10 . The multi-sport ball machine of  claim 7 , further comprising:
 a. a ball feed plate including a plurality of receiving areas, each receiving area being sized to receive only a single ball, the ball feed plate being rotated by a motor to align the receiving areas of a drop tube in communication with the ball discharge outlet.   
     
     
         11 . The multi-sport ball machine of  claim 7 , wherein:
 a. the airflow switch is switched between open and closed positions by a rotating timing plate attached to the ball feed plate.   
     
     
         12 . The multi-sport ball machine of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 a. a second tube; and   b. a ball stop configured to provide sufficient frictional resistance to prevent the ball from passing through the tube when the airflow control mechanism is in the first position, and to allow the ball to pass through the tube and beyond the ball stop once the airflow control mechanism moves to the second position.   
     
     
         13 . The multi-sport ball machine of  claim 7 , wherein:
 a. the airflow control mechanism includes a door disposed in a passageway between the fan outlet and the ball discharge outlet when the airflow control mechanism is in the first position.   
     
     
         14 . The multi-sport ball machine of  claim 13 , wherein:
 a. the door defines an opening through which the first airflow in the passageway passes when the door is disposed in the passageway.