OPERATIONS WITH INSTRUMENTED GAME BALL

• US 20160001136A1
• Filed: 07/01/2013
• Published: 01/07/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 07/02/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Russell Brands LLC (Berkshire Hathaway Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Information Sports Technologies Incorporated
• Inventors: King, Kevin William, Davisson, Mark Joseph, Knittle, John Joseph, Tyson, Mathew Anthony
• Granted Patent: US 10,076,685 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 15/02 with illuminating devices
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2024/0034 during flight
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/10 Positions
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/30 Speed
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/34 Angular speed
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/35 Spin
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/40 Acceleration
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/80 Special sensors, transducers or devices therefor
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2225/20 with means for remote communication, e.g. internet or the like
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2225/50 Wireless data transmission, e.g. by radio transmitters or telemetry
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2243/0025 Football American football A63B2243/007
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2243/0037 Basketball
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 24/0021 Tracking a path or terminating locations
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 41/00 Hollow inflatable balls
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 43/004 electrically conductive, e.g. for automatic arbitration
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 45/00 Apparatus or methods for manufacturing balls working of plastics or substances in a plastic state B29
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 69/0071 for basketball
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/2225 used in active tags, i.e. provided with its own power source or in passive tags, i.e. deriving power from RF signal
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/10 using inductive coupling
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/60 responsive to the presence of foreign objects, e.g. detection of living beings
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/90 : involving detection or optimisation of position, e.g. alignment

Abstract

This document provides a computer-implemented method that includes placing an athletic ball containing a battery on an inductive charging device; generating an electric or magnetic field, or both with the inductive charging device; receiving energy from the field or fields via a receptor located inside the athletic ball; and charging a battery inside the athletic ball using the received energy. This document also provides devices and methods for detecting events with an instrumented player-controllable game device, such as an event of a basketball or soccer ball passing through a goal.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

placing on an inductive charging device an athletic ball that contains a battery;

generating an electric or magnetic field, or both, with the inductive charging device;

receiving energy from the field or fields via a receptor located inside the athletic ball; and

charging a battery inside the athletic ball using the received energy.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting data wirelessly from the ball in response to sensing the inductive charging device.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the receptor comprises one or more coils mounted in a periphery of the athletic ball.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, wherein the one or more coils include a plurality of coils in different hemispheres of the athletic ball so as to enable charging of the battery when the athletic ball is at different rotational angles in relation to the inductive charging device.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, wherein the one or more coils are formed integrally with a flexible printed circuit board.

3. (canceled)

5. (canceled)

8. (canceled)

9. An athletic game ball system, comprising:

a multi-layer ball shell sealed from an area around the ball shell;

one or more electronic sensors located within a periphery of the ball; and

one or more inductive electric secondary charging coils located in the ball shell or on an interior surface of the ball shell and connected to provide electrical energy to one or more energy storage devices connected to supply power for operating the one or more sensors.

10. The athletic game ball system of claim 9, further comprising a circuit board supporting the electronic sensors and associated circuitry for monitoring motion of the game ball.

14. The athletic game ball system of claim 9, wherein the one or more sensors comprise (i) an accelerometer, (ii) a magnetometer or angular rate sensor, and (iii) a near field communications sensor.

19. The athletic gaming ball system of claim 9, wherein the one or more inductive electric secondary coils include a plurality of coils in different hemispheres of the ball so as to enable charging of the battery when the ball is at different rotational angles in relation to a charging base.

20. The athletic gaming ball system of claim 9, wherein the one or more inductive electric secondary coils are formed integrally with a flexible printed circuit board.

21. The athletic gaming ball system of claim 9, wherein the associated electronics are programmed to identify perturbations in an electric or magnetic field around the ball so as to identify when the ball has passed near a gaming goal.

11-13. -13. (canceled)

15-18. -18. (canceled)

22. A method of constructing an instrumented athletic game ball, the method comprising:

providing an electronics receptor in an interior volume of a ball bladder layer that is part of a periphery of the game ball;

applying one or more inductive charging coils to a layer that is part of the periphery of the game ball;

connecting the one or more inductive charging coils to an electronic sensor package; and

inserting the electronic sensor package into the electronics receptor so that the electronics sensor package is within the periphery of the game ball.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the one or more inductive charging coils is applied to the ball bladder.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the electronics are attached to the inductive charging coil before the inductive charging coil is applied to the layer that is part of the periphery of the game ball.

25. The method of claim 22, wherein the electronics are attached to the inductive charging coil after the inductive is applied to the layer that is part of the periphery of the game ball.

26. The method of claim 22, wherein at least one of the one or more inductive charging coils is located to surround a hole in the ball bladder at a location of the electronics receptor.

27. The method of claim 22, further comprising, after applying the one or more inductive charging coils to the layer, applying windings around the bladder.

28. The method of claim 22, wherein the electronics sensor package includes a battery for powering components of the electronics sensor package and for receiving electrical charging power from the inductive charging coil.

29. The method of claim 22, wherein the one or more inductive charging coils are connected to the electronic sensor package before the one or more inductive charging coils are applied to the layer that is part of the periphery of the game ball.

30. The method of claim 22, further comprising testing charging of the electronics sensor package via the one or more inductive charging coils to verify proper operation of the game ball.

31-40. -40. (canceled)