Baseball Diamond Layout

Abstract

An apparatus for a baseball diamond layout is provided. The apparatus includes a pentagonal home plate having a first side edge, a second side edge, and a front edge. The home plate includes a measuring tapes disposed on each of the first side edge, the second side edge, and the front edge. A first base, a second base, a third base, and a rubber are operationally connected to the measuring tapes on the home plate. The measuring tape located on the front edge includes an indicator associated with a predetermined placement of the pitching rubber when the measuring tape is extended between the home plate and the second base. The measuring tape located on the first side edge and the second side edge include an indicator associated with a predetermined placement of the first base and the third base when the measuring tape is extended from the home plate.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/031,448 filed on Jul. 31, 2014. The above identified patent application is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety to provide continuity of disclosure.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention generally relates to an apparatus for a baseball diamond layout. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus for a baseball diamond layout having a pentagonal home plate with a plurality of measuring tapes. The measuring tapes located on edge portions of the home plate include indicators relating to the layout for a first base, a second base, a third base, and pitching rubber.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Youth baseball and softball leagues often do not have enough diamonds on which all of the teams in the league can practice simultaneously. The use of other available spaces is often undesirable in that the space is not properly laid out with authentic dimensions to provide a meaningful baseball or softball practice. Laying out the available space to correctly emulate a permanent diamond takes a lengthy amount of time and, even then, may not be accurate. In addition, the process of laying out a temporary ball diamond may need to be performed repeatedly each time a new space is chosen for practice.

In competitive play it is very important to position home plate, the three bases and the pitcher's rubber accurately to assure consistent results and fair competition. It is equally important in practice to lay out accurate distances from the pitcher's rubber to home plate for a pitcher, catcher, or batter practicing, and between home plate and the bases for runners practicing especially in practicing stealing bases, and between home plate and the bases and the pitcher's rubber in practice games to insure proper performance in the game by practicing on the same size field.

Laying out a baseball or softball diamond with a home plate, three bases, and a pitcher's rubber for playing competitively or practicing often takes considerable time and suffers greatly in accuracy if the distances area measured by pacing them out or just “eyeballing”. Even using a tape measure requires two people and an accurate reading of the tape. Prior art devices fail to provide a device which is easy-to-use and foolproof to measure and lay out a baseball diamond or any portion thereof accurately and quickly, and especially fail to provide such a device which may be used accurately and quickly by a single individual.

Therefore, it would be desirable to have an apparatus for laying out a baseball diamond that overcomes the limitations of the prior devices and proposals.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of baseball layouts with measuring means now present in the prior art, the present invention provides a new and improved apparatus for a baseball diamond layout wherein the same can be utilized for providing convenience for the user when measuring the distance and placement of a baseball diamond.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved apparatus for a baseball diamond layout that has all of the advantages of the prior art and none of the disadvantages.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for a baseball diamond layout assembly including a pentagonal home plate having a first side edge, a second side edge, and a front edge. The home plate includes a plurality of measuring tapes disposed on the first side edge, the second side edge, and the front edge.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus having a first base, a second base, a third base, and a pitching rubber operationally connected to the measuring tapes on the home plate.

It is still yet another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus wherein the measuring tape on the front edge includes an indicator associated with a predetermined placement of the pitching rubber when the measuring tape is extended between the home plate and the second base.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus wherein the measuring tape on the first side edge and the second side edge include an indicator associated with a predetermined placement of the first base and the third base when the measuring tape is extended from the home plate.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF THE DRAWINGS

Although the characteristic features of this invention will be particularly pointed out in the claims, the invention itself and manner in which it may be made and used may be better understood after a review of the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein like numeral annotations are provided throughout.

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of the baseball diamond layout assembly according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the measuring tape extending from the home plate according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of the measuring tape extending from the home plate according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 shows the baseball diamond layout in a field according to one embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Reference is made herein to the attached drawings. Like reference numerals are used throughout the drawings to depict like or similar elements of the baseball diamond layout. For the purposes of presenting a brief and clear description of the present invention, the preferred embodiment will be discussed as used for measuring the layout of a baseball diamond. The figures are intended for representative purposes only and should not be considered to be limiting in any respect.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 4, there are shown perspective views of the baseball diamond layout assembly according embodiments of the present invention. The baseball diamond layout assembly 100 includes a pentagonal home plate 102 having a first side edge 104, a second side edge 106, and a front edge 108. The first side edge 104 and the second side edge 106 form a peak of the pentagonal home plate 102. The first side edge 104 and the second side edge 106 are disposed at 45° angles from one another. The front edge 108 is a linear base of the pentagonal home plate 102.

The home plate 102 includes a plurality of measuring tapes 122 disposed on the first side edge 104, the second side edge 106, and the front edge 108. The measuring tape 108 on the first side edge 104 and the second side edge 106 are arranged at 45° angles relative to the measuring tape 108 located on the front edge 108. A 90° angle is formed when the measuring tape 122 on the first side edge 104 and the second side edge 106 are extended. The measuring tape 122 on the first side edge 104 and the second side edge 106 include an indicator associated with a predetermined placement of the first base 110 and the third base 114 when the measuring tape 122 is extended from the home plate 102.

A first base 110, a second base 112, a third base 114, and a pitching rubber 116 are operationally connected to the measuring tapes 122 on the home plate 102. The measuring tape 122 extends to length denoting the distance of the first base 110, the second base 112, the third base 114, and the pitching rubber 116. The measuring indicia on the measuring tape 122 include markings corresponding to the distance for placement of the bases for different regulation fields. The bases are preferably constructed from a vinyl or rubber covering disposed over an interior generally comprising foam. The home plate 102 and the pitching rubber 116 are preferably constructed from rubber.

The measuring tape 122 on the front edge 108 includes an indicator associated with a predetermined placement of the pitching rubber 116 when the measuring tape 122 is extended between the home plate 102 and the second base 112. The three retractable tape measures 122 can be extended from the home plate 102 and includes measuring indicia denoting distance thereon corresponding to different types of baseball fields, such as tee ball fields or regulation size major league and little league baseball fields.

Referring now to FIG. 2, there is shown a perspective view the measuring tape 122 extending from the home plate 102 according to one embodiment of the present invention. The measuring tape 122 on the front edge 108 includes an indicator associated with a predetermined placement of the pitching rubber 116 when the measuring tape 122 is extended between the home plate 102 and the second base 112. The measuring tape 122 includes a locking mechanism 120 adapted to lock the measuring tape 122 at a desired length.

Referring now to FIG. 3 there is shown the spike of each plate according to one embodiment of the present invention. Each of the bases and the pitching rubber further include a fixation spike 118 on a base portion thereof. The fixation spike 118 is removably affixed to the bottom surface the bases and the pitching rubber. The fixation spike 118 is removably affixed via a hook and loop fastener. In use, a user can insert the spike 118 into the ground to securely fix the bases in the ground.

It is therefore submitted that the instant invention has been shown and described in what is considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments. It is recognized, however, that departures may be made within the scope of the invention and that obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art. With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the invention, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by the present invention.

Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.

Claims

1-12) (canceled)

13) A baseball diamond layout assembly, comprising:

a pentagonal home plate including a first side edge, a second side edge, and a front edge;

a first base, a second base, a third base, and a pitching rubber;

a first measuring tape disposed at the first edge, the first measuring tape including indicia corresponding to a plurality of distances to the first base according to a plurality of types of baseball fields;

a second measuring tape disposed at the front edge, the second measuring tape including indicia corresponding to a plurality of distances to the second base according to the plurality of types of baseball fields and indicia corresponding to a plurality of distances to the pitching rubber according to the plurality of types of baseball fields; and

a third measuring tape disposed at the second edge, the third measuring tape including indicia corresponding to a plurality of distances to the third base according to the plurality of types of baseball fields.

14) The baseball diamond layout assembly of claim 13, further comprising a fixation spike disposed on each of the first base, the second base, the third base, and the pitching rubber.

15) The baseball diamond layout assembly of claim 14, wherein the fixation spike is removably affixed to a bottom surface of the first base, the second base, the third base, and the pitching rubber.

16) The baseball diamond layout assembly of claim 13, wherein the first measuring tape and the third measuring tape are angled at 45° angles.

17) The baseball diamond layout assembly of claim 13, wherein each of the first measuring tape, the second measuring tape, and the third measuring tape include a locking mechanism.