Baseball bat with a ball-serving device

Abstract

A baseball bat includes a tubular bat body with a resilient member, a ball-pushing unit which is disposed within the bat body, a gripping rod that retains the ball-pushing unit within the bat body, and an adjustment member that is coupled with the gripping rod. The resilient member is formed with a retaining projection that engages a hole in the ball-pushing unit. The resilient member can be actuated to separate the projection from the hole so that the ball-pushing unit is biased by a spring to move quickly in the bat body, thereby shooting a ball from an opening in an end of the bat body. When it is desired to perform a subsequent ball serving action, an adjustment member is pulled out from the bat body so as to engage the retaining projection with the hole, after which the adjustment member is returned to its normal position on the bat body.

I claim:  
     
         1 . A baseball bat comprising: 
 a tubular bat body having a barrel portion, a grip portion extending axially from an end of said barrel portion, and a ball-shooting opening formed in the other end of said barrel portion, said barrel portion defining an accommodating space therein, said bat body further including an integral resilient member which is formed with a retaining projection that is biased to move in a radial direction of said bat body;    a ball-pushing unit disposed within said accommodating space in said bat body and including a bowl-shaped ball-receiving element that is adapted to receive a baseball therewithin, and a push rod unit which has an outer end that is connected fixedly to said ball-receiving element, and an inner end that is provided with a fixed retaining seat, said push rod unit being formed with a guide slot that extends along length thereof and that has an outer end and an inner end, said retaining seat having a slide slot, within which said resilient member of said tubular bat body is received slidably, and a hole, which is communicated with said slide slot and which engages said retaining projection of said resilient member, thereby positioning said ball-pushing unit within said bat body;    means for guiding said ball-pushing unit to move axially within said bat body;    a gripping rod retained at a retracted position relative to said bat body and having a wide rod portion disposed within said grip portion of said bat body, a narrow rod portion disposed within said push rod unit of said ball-pushing unit, a limiting shoulder defined between said wide and narrow rod portions and abutting against said inner end of said push rod unit, and a gripping portion formed on said narrow rod portion and retained slidably within said guide slot in said push rod unit so as to limit movement of said gripping portion between said inner and outer ends of said guide slot, thereby retaining said ball-pushing unit on said gripping rod;    a coiled compression spring sleeved on said wide rod portion of said gripping rod and disposed between said ball-pushing unit and said bat body so as to bias said ball-pushing unit away from said gripping rod when said resilient member is actuated to remove said retaining projection of said resilient member from said hole in said retaining seat, thereby pushing the baseball from said ball shooting opening in said bat body; and    an adjustment member connected removably to said gripping rod in such a manner that, after said retaining projection of said resilient member has been removed from said hole in said retaining seat, said adjustment element can move relative to said bat body so that said resilient member slides within said slide slot in said retaining seat of said push rod unit of said ball-pushing unit, thereby engaging said retaining projection of said resilient member with said hole in said retaining seat and consequently permitting subsequent ball pushing action of said ball-pushing unit.    
     
     
         2 . The baseball bat as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein said push rod unit includes an inner rod that is formed with said guide slot therethrough, and an outer tube that is disposed around said inner tube, each of said inner rod and said outer tube having an end that is connected fixedly to said ball-receiving element, said narrow rod portion of said gripping rod having a plate-shaped portion that engages said guide slot in said inner rod and that has a uniform width, said guide slot in said inner rod having an elongated rectangular cross-section with a long side and a short side that is slightly longer than the width of said plate-shaped portion of said narrow rod portion of said gripping rod, said plate-shaped portion of said gripping rod and said guide slot in said inner rod constituting said means for guiding said ball-pushing unit to move axially within said bat body.  
     
     
         3 . The baseball bat as claimed in  claim 2 , wherein said inner rod has an end surface which is formed with a cylindrical recess that is communicated with said guide slot in said inner rod and that has a diameter smaller than width of said guide slot in said inner rod to define a retaining shoulder therebetween, said gripping rod being made of a flexible material and having a bifurcated end, which constitutes said gripping portion and which includes two lateral projections that extend integrally therefrom away from each other and that are movable to abut against said retaining shoulder so as to prevent removal of said bifurcated end of said gripping rod from said inner rod.  
     
     
         4 . The baseball bat as claimed in  claim 2 , wherein said bat body is formed with an insert tube that is connected fixedly to said grip portion of said bat body and that extends into said sleeve portion of said bat body, said insert tube being inserted between said inner rod and said outer tube of said push rod unit so as to permit sliding movement of said insert tube therebetween, thereby further guiding said ball-pushing unit to move axially in said bat body.  
     
     
         5 . The baseball bat as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein said wide rod portion of said gripping rod is formed with a longitudinal slot that extends along length thereof, said bat body including a radial guide bolt that is fixed thereon and that extends slidably into said longitudinal slot in said gripping rod, thereby guiding said gripping rod to move axially in said bat body.  
     
     
         6 . The baseball bat as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein said compression spring is disposed between said ball-pushing unit and said guide bolt, thereby biasing said ball-pushing unit away from said guide bolt.  
     
     
         7 . The baseball bat as claimed in  claim 6 , wherein said push rod unit has an end surface which is formed with a cylindrical recess, said compression spring having a first end portion that is received fittingly within said cylindrical recess in said push rod unit, and a second end portion that abuts against said guide bolt.  
     
     
         8 . The baseball bat as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein said grip portion of said bat body is formed with an axially extending central hole therethrough, said wide rod portion of said gripping rod extending into said central hole in said grip portion and having an end surface that is formed with a threaded hole, said adjustment member having an integral insert rod that is press fitted within said central hole in said grip portion, a hole formed through said adjustment member, and a lock bolt extending through said hole in said adjustment member to engage said threaded hole in said gripping rod, thereby retaining said gripping rod at said retracted position, said adjustment member being capable of being pulled away from said grip portion of said bat body so as to separate said insert rod of said adjustment member from said central hole in said grip portion and so as to move said ball-pushing unit and said gripping rod relative to said bat body, thereby moving said gripping rod to an extended position, in which said retaining projection of said resilient member engages said hole in said retaining seat of said ball-pushing unit.  
     
     
         9 . The baseball bat as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein said retaining seat has a generally U-shaped cross-section, and includes two parallel side walls and a connecting wall that is formed integrally with said side walls at two opposite sides thereof, said slide slot in said retaining seat being defined between said side walls, said hole in said retaining seat being formed through said connecting wall.  
     
     
         10 . The baseball bat as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein said sleeve portion of said bat body is formed with an inward flange that extends radially and inwardly therefrom and that defines said ball-shooting opening, said bowl-shaped ball-receiving element of said ball-pushing unit being formed with a hemispherical cavity that is adapted to receive the baseball, said ball-shooting opening being sized so as to be adapted to prevent movement of the ball therethrough.