Importance

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Abstract

The invention relates to a ball pitching machine having a ball feed means for feeding balls to a feeding point where they will be acted upon by rotating drive wheels, a plurality of at least two drive wheels having planes and axes of rotation, said axes of rotation being perpendicular to said planes, said wheels being disposed about said feeding point so as to simultaneously act on a fed ball imparting to the fed ball spin and a forward velocity and trajectory, outwardly away from the feeding point in a direction initially perpendicular to the axes of rotation and in the plane of the wheels. The rotating means is constructed for rotating each drive wheel independent of other drive wheels at a plurality of preselected rotational speeds thereby effecting a type of pitched ball having a predetermined trajectory. A tilting means is provided for altering the trajectory, upwardly or downwardly, in a vertical plane, coplaner with the plane of the drive wheels. A panning means is provided for altering the trajectory of the ball in a plane perpendicular to the plane of the drive wheels. A speed measuring means is provided for determining the speed of the moving ball, and a computer means for inputting at least one set of variables that determine the trajectory based on the speed of the ball and at least one set of variables for effecting the spin applied to the ball by the drive wheel.

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First Claim