System for monitoring play of a golfer
First Claim
1. A system for monitoring a golfer'"'"'s play within a golf course, comprising:
- a mobile transmitter carrier in association with said golfer for transmitting an identification signal associated therewith;
a plurality of location receivers each proximate to a corresponding golf hole within said golf course and each operable to receive said identification signal responsive to said golfer being proximate to said corresponding golf hole;
a plurality of first location transmitters each operable to transmit one or more play monitoring signals responsive to said identification signal received by an associated location receiver, first ones of said play monitoring signals indicating when said golfer is proximate to each said golf hole corresponding to said associated location receiver and second ones of said play monitoring signals indicating when said golfer ceases being proximate to each said golf hole corresponding to said associated location receiver;
means for determining a length of time for said golfer to play one of said corresponding golf holes based upon said first and second play monitoring signals; and
means for comparing a predetermined time against said length of time for said golfer to play in order to enable the determination of whether the golfer played the golf hole within the predetermined time.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system for monitoring play of a golfer (24,26) comprises Location Information Transmitters (LIT) (52, 54, 56) at predetermined locations within a golf course and a Mobile Electronic Transmitter/Receiver (METAR) (48, 50) carried in association with a golfer (24,26) on a golf bag (30) or a golf cart (28).
A METAR (48) transmits a METAR code to a LIT (54), which then transmits its LIT code and the received METAR code to a Tracking Center (22) display terminal. Golf course personnel can monitor the display terminal and determine play of golfers (24, 26), golf cart (28, 34) utilization and golf hole (10, 14) utilization. When the golfer (24) causes a slow play indication, the Tracking Center (22) is notified and the slow golfer (24) is asked to increase the rate of play or leave the golf course. The METAR (48) transmission may be begun in response to the METAR (48) receiving an LIT code periodically transmitted by an LIT (52, 54, 56) over a restricted transmission range (58, 60, 62).
When the METAR (48) arrives within an LIT (54) transmission range (60), the METAR (48) receives a LIT code and subsequently initiates a counter to measure time required by the golfer (24) to move within transmission range (62) of a next LIT (56). If the counter exceeds a prescribed time, then a display on the METAR (48) indicates slow play.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. A system for monitoring a golfer'"'"'s play within a golf course, comprising:
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a mobile transmitter carrier in association with said golfer for transmitting an identification signal associated therewith; a plurality of location receivers each proximate to a corresponding golf hole within said golf course and each operable to receive said identification signal responsive to said golfer being proximate to said corresponding golf hole; a plurality of first location transmitters each operable to transmit one or more play monitoring signals responsive to said identification signal received by an associated location receiver, first ones of said play monitoring signals indicating when said golfer is proximate to each said golf hole corresponding to said associated location receiver and second ones of said play monitoring signals indicating when said golfer ceases being proximate to each said golf hole corresponding to said associated location receiver; means for determining a length of time for said golfer to play one of said corresponding golf holes based upon said first and second play monitoring signals; and means for comparing a predetermined time against said length of time for said golfer to play in order to enable the determination of whether the golfer played the golf hole within the predetermined time. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method for monitoring a golfer'"'"'s play within a golf course, comprising the steps of:
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transmitting an identification signal associated with a mobile transmitter carried in association with said golfer; receiving said identification signal with each of a plurality of location receivers each proximate to a corresponding golf hole within said golf course and each in response to said golfer being proximate to said corresponding golf hole; transmitting one or more play monitoring signals from each of a plurality of first location transmitters each in response to said identification signal received by an associated location receiver, first ones of said play monitoring signals indicating when said golfer is proximate to each said golf hole corresponding to said associated location receiver and second ones of said play monitoring signals indicating when said golfer ceases being proximate to each said golf hole corresponding to said associated location receiver; determining a length of time for said golfer to play one of said corresponding golf holes, based upon said first and second play monitoring signals; and comparing a predetermined time against said length of time for said golfer to play in order to enable the determination of whether the golfer played the golf hole within the predetermined time. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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Specification