Information-presentation structure with impact-sensitive color changing incorporated into tennis court
First Claim
1. An information-presentation (“
- IP”
) structure comprising a tennis-playing structure which comprises a tennis net and an object-impact (“
OI”
) structure having an exposed surface for being impacted by an object wherein;
the surface comprises an in-bounds (“
IB”
) playing area and an out-of-bounds (“
OB”
) playing area surrounding the IB area, the IB area having (a) two opposite baselines, (b) two opposite sidelines extending between the baselines to define inwardly the IB area, (c) two opposite servicelines situated between the baselines and extending lengthwise between the sidelines, and (d) a centerline situated between the sidelines and extending lengthwise between the servicelines, an imaginary or real net line located substantially midway between the baselines and extending lengthwise between and beyond the sidelines, the net situated above the net line so as to extend fully across the IB area and into the OB area, a backcourt of the IB area defined inwardly by each baseline, the sidelines, and the serviceline closest to that baseline so as to establish two backcourts, four servicecourts of the IB area defined inwardly by the sidelines, the servicelines, the centerline, and the net line;
the OI structure comprises (a) two variable-color (“
VC”
) line-adjoining (“
LA”
) backcourt (“
BC”
) structure portions extending to the surface respectively at two LA BC area portions respectively partly occupying the backcourts and respectively largely adjoining the servicelines, each LA BC structure portion normally appearing along its LA BC area portion as a principal BC color, (b) four VC LA servicecourt (“
SC”
) structure portions extending to the surface respectively at four LA SC area portions respectively partly occupying the servicecourts and largely adjoining the centerline, each LA SC structure portion normally appearing along its LA SC area portion as a principal SC color, and/or (c) two VC OB LA structure portions extending to the surface respectively at two OB LA area portions partly occupying the OB area on opposite sides of the net line and respectively largely adjoining the baselines, each OB LA structure portion normally appearing along its OB LA area portion as a principal OB color; and
each LA structure portion in the OI structure comprises a principal impact-sensitive (“
IS”
) component and a principal color-change (“
CC”
) component, an impact-dependent (“
ID”
) segment of the IS component responding to the object impacting the LA area portion of that LA structure portion at an ID object-contact (“
OC”
) area spanning where the object contacts that LA area portion by providing a principal impact effect if the impact meets threshold impact criteria of that LA structure portion, an ID segment of the CC component responding to the impact effect, if provided, by causing an ID portion of that LA structure portion to temporarily appear along an ID print area of that LA area portion largely as generic changed color materially different from the principal color of that LA structure portion, the print area of that LA area portion at least partly encompassing, at least mostly outwardly conforming largely to, and being largely concentric with its OC area.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A variable-color region (106) of a tennis-playing structure of an information-presentation structure extends to an exposed surface (102) at a surface zone (112), normally appears along it as a principal color, and includes impact-sensitive and color-change components (182 and 184). A segment (192) of the impact-sensitive component responds to an object (104), typically a tennis ball, impacting the zone at an object-contact area (116) by providing an impact effect if the impact meets threshold impact criteria. A segment (194) of the color-change component responds to the impact effect by causing an impact-dependent portion (138) of the variable-color region to temporarily appear along a closely matching print area (118) of the zone as changed color materially different from the principal color. The zone adjoins a serviceline (34), the centerline (36), a sideline (30), or a baseline (28) to help determine whether a tennis ball impacted the surface “in” or “out”.
56 Citations
20 Claims
-
1. An information-presentation (“
- IP”
) structure comprising a tennis-playing structure which comprises a tennis net and an object-impact (“
OI”
) structure having an exposed surface for being impacted by an object wherein;the surface comprises an in-bounds (“
IB”
) playing area and an out-of-bounds (“
OB”
) playing area surrounding the IB area, the IB area having (a) two opposite baselines, (b) two opposite sidelines extending between the baselines to define inwardly the IB area, (c) two opposite servicelines situated between the baselines and extending lengthwise between the sidelines, and (d) a centerline situated between the sidelines and extending lengthwise between the servicelines, an imaginary or real net line located substantially midway between the baselines and extending lengthwise between and beyond the sidelines, the net situated above the net line so as to extend fully across the IB area and into the OB area, a backcourt of the IB area defined inwardly by each baseline, the sidelines, and the serviceline closest to that baseline so as to establish two backcourts, four servicecourts of the IB area defined inwardly by the sidelines, the servicelines, the centerline, and the net line;the OI structure comprises (a) two variable-color (“
VC”
) line-adjoining (“
LA”
) backcourt (“
BC”
) structure portions extending to the surface respectively at two LA BC area portions respectively partly occupying the backcourts and respectively largely adjoining the servicelines, each LA BC structure portion normally appearing along its LA BC area portion as a principal BC color, (b) four VC LA servicecourt (“
SC”
) structure portions extending to the surface respectively at four LA SC area portions respectively partly occupying the servicecourts and largely adjoining the centerline, each LA SC structure portion normally appearing along its LA SC area portion as a principal SC color, and/or (c) two VC OB LA structure portions extending to the surface respectively at two OB LA area portions partly occupying the OB area on opposite sides of the net line and respectively largely adjoining the baselines, each OB LA structure portion normally appearing along its OB LA area portion as a principal OB color; andeach LA structure portion in the OI structure comprises a principal impact-sensitive (“
IS”
) component and a principal color-change (“
CC”
) component, an impact-dependent (“
ID”
) segment of the IS component responding to the object impacting the LA area portion of that LA structure portion at an ID object-contact (“
OC”
) area spanning where the object contacts that LA area portion by providing a principal impact effect if the impact meets threshold impact criteria of that LA structure portion, an ID segment of the CC component responding to the impact effect, if provided, by causing an ID portion of that LA structure portion to temporarily appear along an ID print area of that LA area portion largely as generic changed color materially different from the principal color of that LA structure portion, the print area of that LA area portion at least partly encompassing, at least mostly outwardly conforming largely to, and being largely concentric with its OC area. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
- IP”
-
11. An information-presentation (“
- IP”
) structure comprising a color-change (CC″
) controller and a tennis-playing structure which comprises a tennis net and an object-impact (“
OI”
) structure having an exposed surface for being impacted by an object wherein;the surface comprises an in-bounds (“
IB”
) playing area and an out-of-bounds (“
OB”
) playing area surrounding the IB area, the IB area having (a) two opposite baselines, (b) two opposite sidelines extending between the baselines to define inwardly the IB area, (c) two opposite servicelines situated between the baselines and extending lengthwise between the sidelines, and (d) a centerline situated between the sidelines and extending lengthwise between the servicelines, an imaginary or real net line situated substantially midway between the baselines and extending lengthwise between and beyond the sidelines, the net situated above the net line so as to extend fully across the IB area and into the OB area, a backcourt of the IB area defined inwardly by each baseline, the sidelines, and the serviceline closest to that baseline so as to establish two backcourts, four servicecourts of the IB area defined inwardly by the sidelines, the servicelines, the centerline, and the net line;the OI structure comprises (a) two variable-color (“
VC”
) line-adjoining (“
LA”
) backcourt (“
BC”
) structure portions extending to the surface respectively at two LA BC area portions respectively partly occupying the backcourts and respectively largely adjoining the servicelines, each LA BC structure portion normally appearing along its LA BC area portion as a principal BC color, (b) four VC LA servicecourt (“
SC”
) structure portions extending to the surface respectively at four LA SC area portions respectively partly occupying the servicecourts and largely adjoining the centerline, each LA SC structure portion normally appearing along its LA SC area portion as a principal SC color, and/or (c) two VC OB LA structure portions extending to the surface respectively at two OB LA area portions partly occupying the OB area on opposite sides of the net line and respectively largely adjoining the baselines, each OB LA structure portion normally appearing along its OB LA area portion as a principal OB color; andan impact-dependent (“
ID”
) segment of each LA structure portion in the OI structure responds to the object impacting the LA area portion of that LA structure portion at an ID object-contact (“
OC”
) area spanning where the object contacts that LA area portion by providing a principal characteristics-identifying impact signal if the impact meets threshold impact criteria of that LA structure portion, the impact signal identifying an expected location of an ID print area in that LA area portion and principal general supplemental impact information for the impact, the controller responding to the impact signal, if provided, by determining whether the supplemental impact information meets principal supplemental impact criteria for that LA structure portion and, if so, by providing a principal CC initiation signal, an ID portion of that LA structure portion responding to the initiation signal, if provided, by temporarily appearing along the print area of that LA area portion largely as generic changed color materially different from the principal color of that LA structure portion, the print area of that LA area portion at least partly encompassing, at least mostly outwardly conforming largely to, and being largely concentric with its OC area. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
- IP”
Specification