Speed, spin rate, and curve measuring device using multiple sensor types
First Claim
1. A measuring device comprising an object unit secured to a movable object, said object unit comprising:
- an acceleration sensor network that detects at least one spin event of said movable object;
an electronic processor circuit connected to said acceleration sensor network;
a radio transmitter connected to said electronic processor circuit; and
a monitor unit external to said object unit comprisinga radio receiver wherein said object unit communicates with said monitor unit by sending from said radio transmitter at least one radio signal to said radio receiver,a monitor processor connected to said radio receiver, wherein said monitor processor determines motion characteristics of said movable object,an output display connected to said monitor processor, andan input keypad connected to said monitor processor;
wherein said at least one radio signal further comprises an identification code derived from said object unit, wherein said monitor unit will only process said at least one radio signal when said at least one radio signal is a first radio signal received by said monitor unit after said monitor unit has been primed, and further wherein all subsequent radio signals having said identification code from said object unit will also be processed by said monitor unit and any of said all subsequent radio signals having a different identification code from a plurality of other object units will not be processed by said monitor unit.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A device for measuring a movable object, such as a baseball, football, hockey puck, soccer ball, tennis ball, bowling ball, or a golf ball. Part of the device, called the object unit, is embedded, secured, or attached to the movable object of interest, and consists of an accelerometer network, electronic processor circuit, and a radio transmitter. The other part of the device, called the monitor unit, is held or worn by the user and serves as the user interface for the device. The monitor unit has a radio receiver, a processor, an input keypad, and an output display that shows the various measured motion characteristics of the movable object, such as the distance, time of flight, speed, trajectory height, spin rate, or curve of the movable object, and allows the user to input data to the device.
241 Citations
64 Claims
-
1. A measuring device comprising an object unit secured to a movable object, said object unit comprising:
-
an acceleration sensor network that detects at least one spin event of said movable object; an electronic processor circuit connected to said acceleration sensor network; a radio transmitter connected to said electronic processor circuit; and a monitor unit external to said object unit comprising a radio receiver wherein said object unit communicates with said monitor unit by sending from said radio transmitter at least one radio signal to said radio receiver, a monitor processor connected to said radio receiver, wherein said monitor processor determines motion characteristics of said movable object, an output display connected to said monitor processor, and an input keypad connected to said monitor processor; wherein said at least one radio signal further comprises an identification code derived from said object unit, wherein said monitor unit will only process said at least one radio signal when said at least one radio signal is a first radio signal received by said monitor unit after said monitor unit has been primed, and further wherein all subsequent radio signals having said identification code from said object unit will also be processed by said monitor unit and any of said all subsequent radio signals having a different identification code from a plurality of other object units will not be processed by said monitor unit. - View Dependent Claims (2)
-
-
3. A measuring device comprising:
an object unit secured to a movable object, said object unit comprising an acceleration sensor network comprising a first pair of mixed g-force sensors that detect at least one spin event of said movable object, an electronic processor circuit connected to said first pair of mixed g-force sensors, wherein said electronic processor receives an output of said first pair of mixed g-force sensors and determines motion characteristics of said movable object from said output, and an output display in communication with said electronic processor circuit for displaying said motion characteristics. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
-
16. A measuring device comprising:
-
an object unit secured to a movable object, said object unit comprising an acceleration sensor network comprising a first pair of mixed g-force sensors that detect at least one spin event of said movable object, an electronic processor circuit connected to said first pair of mixed g-force sensors, wherein said electronic processor processes an output of said first pair of mixed g-force sensors to create motion data, and a radio transmitter connected to said electronic processor circuit, for transmitting at least one radio signal comprising said motion data; and a monitor unit, wherein said monitor unit is located external to said object unit, wherein said monitor unit comprises a radio receiver for receiving said at least one radio signal from said radio transmitter, a monitor processor connected to said radio receiver, wherein said monitor processor determines at least one motion characteristic of said movable object from said motion data received by said radio receiver, and an output display for displaying said at least one motion characteristic. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
-
-
28. A measuring device comprising:
an object unit secured to a movable object, said object unit comprising an acceleration sensor network comprising a first pair of mechanical g-force sensor switches and a first g-force proportional output sensor, wherein said first pair of mechanical g-force sensor switches comprise a mechanical g-force sensor switch network, wherein said mechanical g-force sensor switch network detects at least one spin event of said movable object, an electronic processor circuit connected to said acceleration sensor network, wherein said electronic processor circuit receives an output of said acceleration sensor network and determines motion characteristics of said movable object from said output, and an output display in communication with said electronic processor circuit for displaying said motion characteristics. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32)
-
33. A measuring device comprising:
-
an object unit secured to a movable object, said object unit comprising an acceleration sensor network comprising a first pair of mechanical g-force sensor switches and a first g-force proportional output sensor, wherein said first pair of mechanical g-force sensor switches comprise a mechanical g-force sensor switch network, wherein said mechanical g-force sensor switch network detects at least one spin event of said movable object, an electronic processor circuit connected to said acceleration sensor network, wherein said electronic processor circuit processes an output of said acceleration sensor network to create motion data, and a radio transmitter connected to said electronic processor circuit for transmitting at least one radio signal comprising said motion data; and a monitor unit, wherein said monitor unit is located external to said object unit, wherein said monitor unit comprises a radio receiver for receiving said at least one radio signal from said radio transmitter, a monitor processor connected to said radio receiver, wherein said monitor processor determines at least one motion characteristic of said movable object from said motion data received by said radio receiver, and an output display for displaying said at least one motion characteristic. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45)
-
-
46. A method for measuring characteristics of a movable object comprising the steps of:
-
(a) detecting a start of a spin event of said movable object with a mechanical g-force sensor switch network secured to said movable object; (b) capturing g-force data with said at least one g-force proportional output sensor; and (c) calculating a spin rate of said movable object from said g-force data. - View Dependent Claims (47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53)
-
-
54. A method for measuring characteristics of a movable object comprising the steps of:
-
(a) detecting a start of a spin event of said movable object with an acceleration sensor network secured to said movable object, wherein said acceleration sensor network is comprised of a pair of mixed g-force sensors; (b) capturing g-force data with said acceleration sensor network; and (c) calculating a spin rate of said movable object from said g-force data. - View Dependent Claims (55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62)
-
-
63. A measuring device comprising:
an object unit secured to a movable object, said object unit comprising an acceleration sensor network comprising an aligned pair of g-force sensors that detect at least one spin event of said movable object, an electronic processor circuit connected to said aligned pair of g-force sensors, wherein said electronic processor receives an output of said aligned pair of g-force sensors and determines motion characteristics of said movable object from said output, and an output display in communication with said electronic processor circuit for displaying said motion characteristics. - View Dependent Claims (64)
Specification