Tennis court boundary sensor
First Claim
1. A out-of-bounds sensor for ball courts defined by boundary lines comprising:
- at least one first light emitter providing a first light beam substantially parallel to a boundary line;
at least one first light receptor which is collinear to said first light beam for receiving said first light beam;
at least one second light emitter providing a second light beam substantially parallel to said first light beam, wherein said second light beam is elevated above said first light beam for disabling said first light emitter when said second light beam is interfered;
at least one second light receptor which is collinear to said second light for receiving said second light beam; and
at least one timing circuit coupled to said first light receptor for determining the duration of interference in said first light beam;
wherein said first light emitter and said first receptor are a plurality of light emitters and receptors providing the first light beam as substantially parallel light beams forming a first plane parallel to a surface of said ball court, andwherein said second light emitter and said second receptor are a plurality of light emitters and receptors providing the second light beam as substantially parallel light beams forming a second plane parallel to and above said first plane.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Optical system for detecting and signaling a ball out-of-bounds condition on a tennis court. An optical shape plane interfered by a tennis player disables an underlying optical timed plane. The timed plane discriminates between an interference caused by a player'"'"'s foot or a tennis ball. The optical planes are produced by emitter and receptor sensor units which surround the tennis court. The sensor units may be configured around the tennis court in sets of units referred to as optical lattices. Each optical lattice provides intersecting light beams allowing for continuity in court coverage when a player disables a timed plane. An out-of-bounds ball is signalled by an audiovisual device.
-
Citations
26 Claims
-
1. A out-of-bounds sensor for ball courts defined by boundary lines comprising:
-
at least one first light emitter providing a first light beam substantially parallel to a boundary line; at least one first light receptor which is collinear to said first light beam for receiving said first light beam; at least one second light emitter providing a second light beam substantially parallel to said first light beam, wherein said second light beam is elevated above said first light beam for disabling said first light emitter when said second light beam is interfered; at least one second light receptor which is collinear to said second light for receiving said second light beam; and at least one timing circuit coupled to said first light receptor for determining the duration of interference in said first light beam; wherein said first light emitter and said first receptor are a plurality of light emitters and receptors providing the first light beam as substantially parallel light beams forming a first plane parallel to a surface of said ball court, and wherein said second light emitter and said second receptor are a plurality of light emitters and receptors providing the second light beam as substantially parallel light beams forming a second plane parallel to and above said first plane. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
-
-
12. An out-of-bounds system for a tennis court, comprising:
-
means for generating a timed light beam; means located collinear to said timed light beam for detecting when said timed light beam is interfered; means coupled to said detecting means for discriminating between a human interference and a ball interference; means for generating a shape light beam wherein said shape light beam is substantially parallel to said timed light beam and elevated therefrom; means located collinear to said shape light beam for detecting when said shape beam is interfered; and means for disabling said timed light beam generating means only when said shape light beam has been interfered; wherein said first and shape light beam generating and detecting means and said disabling means are configured such that, for a tennis court line, said timed light beam includes at least three intersecting timed light beams, wherein a first timed light beam intersects said tennis court line, and a second timed light beam intersects said tennis court line and further intersects said first timed beam, and a third timed beam located substantially parallel and outside of said boundary line intersects said first timed beam at substantially the same point where said first and second timed beams intersect. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
-
-
23. An out-of-bounds system for a tennis court, comprising:
-
means for generating a timed light beam; means located collinear to said timed light beam for detecting when said timed light beam is interfered; means coupled to said detecting means for discriminating between a human interference and a ball interference; means for generating a shape light beam; means located collinear to said shape light beam for detecting when said shape beam is interfered; means for disabling said timed light beam generating means only when said shape light beam has been interfered, wherein said timed and shape light beam geneating and detecting means and said disabling mean are configured such that, for a tennis court line, said timed light beam includes at least three intersecting timed light beams, wherein a first timed light beam intersects said tennis court line, and a second timed beam intersects said tennis court line, and a second timed light beam intersects said tennis court line and further intersects said first timed beam, and a third timed beam located substantially parallel and outside of said boundary line intersects said first timed beam at substantially the same point where said first and second timed beams intersect; means coupled to said timed light beam generating means for determining an out-of-bounds condition for a tennis ball when said timing means detects interference at an intersection of at least two of said timed light beams outside of said tennis court; and means coupled to said determining means for displaying said interference at said intersection. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25)
-
-
26. An out-of-bounds system for a tennis court, comprising:
-
means for generating a timed light beam; means located collinear to said timed light beam for detecting when said timed light beam is interfered; means coupled to said detecting means for discriminating between a human interference and a ball interference; means for generating a shape light beam; means located collinear to said shape light beam for detecting when said shape beam is interfered; means for disabling said timed light beam generating means only when said shape light beam has been interfered, wherein said timed and shaped light beam generating and detecting means and said disabling means are configured such that, for a tennis court line, said timed light beam includes at least three intersecting timed light beams, wherein a first timed light beam intersects said tennis court line, and a second timed light beam intersects said tennis court line and further intersects said first timed beam, and a third timed beam located substantially parallel and outside of said boundary line intersects said first timed beam at substantially the same point where said first and second timed beams intersect; and means coupled to said timed light beam detecting means for determining an out-of-bounds condition for a tennis ball when said timed light beam detecting means detects interference at an intersection of at least two of said timed light beams outside of said tennis court, wherein said determining means comprises; means for electro-optical coupling and pulse generation coupled to said timed light beam detecting means; and means for buffering, electro-optical coupling and pulse generation coupled to said shape light beam detecting means for determining whether two of said three intersecting sets of lights are interfered and whether said intersection is out-of-bounds.
-
Specification