Measuring foot contact time and foot loft time of a person in locomotion
First Claim
1. A method for analyzing motion of a foot of a person relative to a surface, comprising steps of:
- (a) using an accelerometer that does not require compression forces thereon to sense acceleration to sense an acceleration of the foot and to provide a signal indicative of the acceleration of the foot;
(b) providing the signal from the accelerometer to a signal processor; and
(c) using the signal processor to analyze the signal to determine a moment that the foot leaves the surface during a footstep taken by the person.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The time period that a foot is in contact with the ground during a stride taken by a user, and the period that the foot is not in contact with the ground between strides taken by the user are determined by processing and analyzing the output signal of an accelerometer. The accelerometer is mounted on the user such that its acceleration sensing axis senses acceleration in a direction substantially parallel to the bottom of the user'"'"'s foot. The output of the accelerometer is high-pass filtered, amplified, and fed to the input of a micro-controller, which monitors the signal for positive and negative signal spikes that are indicative, respectively, of the moment that the foot of the user leaves the ground and the moment that the foot impacts with the ground. By measuring time intervals between these positive and negative spikes, average "foot contact times" and "foot loft times" of the user may be calculated. To derive the pace of the user, the average foot contact time is multiplied by a first constant if it is less than 400 milli-seconds (ms) and is multiplied by a second constant if it is greater than 400 ms. This pace value may, in turn, be used to calculate the distance traveled by the user.
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Citations
38 Claims
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1. A method for analyzing motion of a foot of a person relative to a surface, comprising steps of:
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(a) using an accelerometer that does not require compression forces thereon to sense acceleration to sense an acceleration of the foot and to provide a signal indicative of the acceleration of the foot; (b) providing the signal from the accelerometer to a signal processor; and (c) using the signal processor to analyze the signal to determine a moment that the foot leaves the surface during a footstep taken by the person. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method for analyzing motion of a foot of a person relative to a surface, comprising steps of:
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(a) using an output of an accelerometer that does not require compression forces thereon to sense acceleration to determine a moment that the foot of the person leaves the surface during a footstep taken by the person; and (b) using the output of the accelerometer to determine a moment that the foot comes into contact with the surface. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method for determining a rate that a person is moving on foot relative to a surface comprising steps of:
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(a) determining a foot contact time of the person in locomotion; and (b) if the foot contact time is less than a first amount of time, then deriving the rate at which the person is moving according to a first equation in which the foot contact time is a factor; and (c) if the foot contact time is greater than a second amount of time, which is greater than the first amount of time, then deriving the rate at which the person is moving according to a second equation in which the foot contact time is a factor.
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23. A device for analyzing motion of a foot of a person relative to a surface, comprising:
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an accelerometer supported in relation to the foot, the accelerometer being configured and arranged to provide an output signal indicative of motion of the foot during at least one footstep taken by the person without requiring compression forces thereon to sense motion; and a signal processor coupled to the accelerometer to receive the output signal therefrom, the signal processor being configured to analyze the output signal of the accelerometer to determine at least one moment that the foot leaves the surface during the at least one footstep. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. A device for determining a rate at which a person in locomotion is moving on foot, comprising:
a signal processor adapted to receive information regarding at least one foot contact time, the signal processor being configured such that; if the at least one foot contact time is less than a first amount of time, then the signal processor derives the rate at which the person is moving according to a first equation in which the at least one foot contact time is a factor; and if the at least one foot contact time is greater than a second amount of time, which is greater than the first amount of time, then the signal processor derives the rate at which the user is moving according to a second equation in which the at least one foot contact time is a factor.
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31. A method for monitoring activity of a person in locomotion on foot, comprising steps of:
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(a) using a first electronic device to determine at least one foot contact time of the person; (b) using the first electronic device to calculate a rate at which the person is moving relative to a surface based upon the at least one foot contact time determined in the step (a); and (c) transmitting information, which is based upon the rate calculated in the step (b), from the first electronic device to a second electronic device via a wireless communication channel. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33)
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34. A system for monitoring activity of a person in locomotion on foot, comprising:
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a first electronic device to measure at least one foot contact time of the person and to calculate a rate at which the person is moving relative to a surface based upon the at least one foot contact time; and a second electronic device, coupled to the first electronic device via a wireless communication channel, to receive information from the first electronic device over the wireless communication channel which is based upon the rate calculated by the first electronic device. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36)
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37. A method for analyzing motion of a foot of a person relative to a surface, comprising steps of:
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(a) using an accelerometer located entirely above a bottom surface of the foot to sense acceleration of the foot and to provide a signal indicative of acceleration of the foot; (b) providing the signal from the accelerometer to a signal processor; and (c) using the signal processor to analyze the signal to determine a moment that the foot leaves the surface during a footstep taken by the person.
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38. A device for analyzing motion of a foot of a person relative to a surface, comprising:
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an accelerometer supported by the person, the accelerometer being located above a bottom surface of the foot and configured and arranged to provide an output signal indicative of acceleration of the foot during at least one footstep taken by the person; and a signal processor coupled to the accelerometer to receive the output signal therefrom, the signal processor being configured to analyze the output signal of the accelerometer to determine at least one moment that the foot leaves the surface during the at least one footstep.
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Specification