Instrumented Sports Paraphernalia System
First Claim
1. A system for determining the pressure of a conventional American-style football in real time;
- wherein the conventional American-style football is comprised of a bladder and a cover-liner; and
wherein said system is comprised of;
at least one pressure transducer device comprised of an electrical oscillator carried inside the football; and
configured for sensing the football'"'"'s pressure by electrically oscillating at a resonant frequency wherein the value of said resonant frequency of oscillation is a first known mathematical function of the football'"'"'s pressure;
andconfigured for receiving electrical stimulus from a pressure readout device to induce said pressure transducer device to electrically oscillate; and
configured for wirelessly coupling its electrical oscillation frequencies into said pressure readout device; and
at least one said pressure readout deviceconfigured for wirelessly stimulating the pressure transducer device to electrically oscillate at its resonant frequency; and
configured for wirelessly coupling the electrical oscillation frequencies of the pressure transducer device into the pressure readout device; and
configured for calculating the value of the football'"'"'s pressure from the resonant frequency using said first known mathematical function; and
a test stand comprised of a rigid material; and
configured for rigidly mounting and aligning the football and the pressure transducer device and the pressure readout device with respect to one another to stably facilitate the measurement of the football'"'"'s pressure.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention is a system for measuring and displaying the pressure of conventional American-style footballs in real time to game officials and spectators continuously. In one preferred embodiment, at least one pressure transducer device is disposed inside the football. The pressure transducer is an electrical oscillator. The frequency of oscillation is a known mathematical function of the bladder pressure. At least one pressure readout device is positioned externally to the football at the outside of the cover-liner. The pressure readout device wirelessly stimulates the pressure transducer device to oscillate. The pressure readout device reads the frequency of oscillation and calculates the value of the pressure. In another preferred embodiment, the value of the football'"'"'s pressure is measured by physical contact with a Durometer. Both embodiments display the pressure to game officials locally; and transmit the value of the football'"'"'s pressure to spectators remotely.
20 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A system for determining the pressure of a conventional American-style football in real time;
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wherein the conventional American-style football is comprised of a bladder and a cover-liner; and wherein said system is comprised of; at least one pressure transducer device comprised of an electrical oscillator carried inside the football; and configured for sensing the football'"'"'s pressure by electrically oscillating at a resonant frequency wherein the value of said resonant frequency of oscillation is a first known mathematical function of the football'"'"'s pressure; and configured for receiving electrical stimulus from a pressure readout device to induce said pressure transducer device to electrically oscillate; and configured for wirelessly coupling its electrical oscillation frequencies into said pressure readout device; and at least one said pressure readout device configured for wirelessly stimulating the pressure transducer device to electrically oscillate at its resonant frequency; and configured for wirelessly coupling the electrical oscillation frequencies of the pressure transducer device into the pressure readout device; and configured for calculating the value of the football'"'"'s pressure from the resonant frequency using said first known mathematical function; and a test stand comprised of a rigid material; and configured for rigidly mounting and aligning the football and the pressure transducer device and the pressure readout device with respect to one another to stably facilitate the measurement of the football'"'"'s pressure. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A system for measuring the pressure of a conventional American-style football in real time;
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wherein the conventional American-style football is comprised of a bladder and a cover-liner; and wherein said system is comprised of; at least one pressure readout device mounted outside the football'"'"'s cover-liner for measuring the value of the football'"'"'s pressure; and wherein said pressure readout device is comprised of; at least one digital Durometer configured for measuring the value of the football'"'"'s pressure; and at least one pressure readout display configured for receiving the value of the football'"'"'s pressure from said digital Durometer; and
for displaying the value of the football'"'"'s pressure; anda test stand made of a rigid material; and configured for rigidly mounting and aligning the football and the pressure readout device with respect to one another in order to stably facilitate the measurement of the football'"'"'s pressure. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A system for enabling spectators to simultaneously and continuously view in real time the value of the pressure of each of the conventional American-style footballs to be used for the game;
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wherein said conventional American-style footballs are each comprised of a bladder and a cover-liner; and wherein said system is comprised of; at least one pressure readout device mounted outside each football'"'"'s cover-liner for continuously determining the value of each football'"'"'s pressure; and a test stand made of a rigid material; and configured for rigidly mounting and aligning each football and said pressure readout device with respect to one another in order to stably facilitate the determination of each football'"'"'s pressure; and at least one transceiver device for each football configured for continuously receiving the value of each football'"'"'s pressure from each pressure readout device; and configured for simultaneously transmitting the value of each football'"'"'s pressure continuously from each pressure readout device to the spectators.
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Specification