A training ball for use by a pitcher in practicing throwing a curve ball and a method for using the training ball as described. The training ball has a first ball having approximately the size, weight, and surface of a regulation baseball, for being held and thrown by the pitcher, and a counterweight connected to the first ball at a fixed distance and position, to provide a mass balancing the mass of the first ball at a balance point approximately at the surface of the sphere defined by the surf...

A remote time clock unit is connected as a part of one remote station of several in a data communication system having a controller to generate message frames for reading and resetting of the clock. The clock unit is a digital type having individual day, hour, minute and second counters, with binary coded decimal paralleled input and outputs connected for direct transfer of the input setting to the outputs. The clock outputs, through the loop controller, actuate time operated loads at loop remot...

A batting practice apparatus that employs a cyclone fence as an upright, rigid support. A rigid, horizontal arm is detachably secured at one end to the top of the fence. At the other end of the horiziontal arm is detachably secured the upper end of a vertically extending shock cord. At the other end of the shock cord is attached an anchoring spike. Intermediate the ends of the shock cord is a ball. The shock cord passes freely through the ball along its vertical axis. A tether passes horizontall...

There is disclosed a baseball batting training device provided with a base plate which is anchored to the ground by spikes, cork-shaped ground engaging pins or various other types of ground anchoring systems. A vertically extending hollow tube is mounted to a plate spaced from the base by rubber isolators. An L-shaped tube has one arm inserted in the vertical hollow tube with a rubber collar affixed about the inner tube. The vertical tube is provided with several vertically spaced pairs of holes...

A ball is disclosed formed with a spherical core of polyurethane foam covered with a thin winding of cotton yarn and with a hand stitched outer cover; the ball is formed in a mold by providing a polymeric isocyanate with a mixture of water and a polyol crosslinking catalyst with the ratio between the isocyanate and the mixture of the catalyst and the water being variable to provide a ball of desired resilience and density so that the ball formed by the method can duplicate such characteristics a...

A batting tee 10 is disclosed including a ball 12 supported for orbiting in a substantially vertical plane when struck by a bat. The tee 10 includes a stand 16 supported upright upon a base 14. An arm 40 is connected to the stand and includes a ball hanger 20 that couples the ball to the arm for orbital motion in the substantially vertical plane.

A sealing device which is more particularly designed for pneumatic multiway valves. The device comprises a holding sleeve, which both at its outer periphery and also at its inner periphery has a plurality of axially spaced circumferentially extending holding recesses, wherein sealing elements are held and at least the inner sealing elements are constituted by sealing material injected into the associated holding recesses directly. Furthermore the invention provides a method for the simple possib...

Apparatus and method for mechanically "pitching" a ball to a batter for the purpose of batting practice. A ball tethered to the end of a cord is revolved about a motorized base unit. The batter approaches the operating machine and positions him or herself so that they are positioned to bat the ball as it circles past them. The pitching machine has several elements for varying the "pitch" of the ball so that the batter is less likely to be able to anticipate the nest pitch thereby increasing his ...

An improvement in a variable pitch propeller to allow replacement of propeller blades under water without water intruding into the mechanism in the propeller hub and without a substantial quantity of oil leaking to the surrounding water. The propeller comprises a number of turnable propeller blades (2) which are each removably attached to a rotatable crank disk (3) and for each propeller blade there is provided a first seal (5) between the hub (1) and the propeller blade root (2a), a second seal...

A baseball pitching training device providing students of pitching with specific finger placement indicia on the cover of a baseball thus allowing the student to precisely emulate the grasp of the baseball utilized by another pitcher. The indicia provide instruction in several different types of pitches for both right handed and left handed students while maintaining the structural integrity of a regulation baseball thus permitting accurate duplication of actual baseball movement.