Alignment aid for a golfer

• US 10,603,567 B2
• Filed: 03/17/2015
• Issued: 03/31/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 03/18/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Georg Springub
• Original Assignee: Georg Springub
• Inventors: Springub, Georg
• Primary Examiner(s): Deodhar, Omkar A
• Application Number:
  US15/127,180
• Publication Number:
  US 20180214759A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,841 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A43B 3/34 with electrical or electronic arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: A43B 5/001 Golf shoes
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2503/10 Athletes
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0024 for multiple sensor units attached to the patient, e.g. using a body or personal area network
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/11 Measuring movement of the entire body or parts thereof, e.g. head or hand tremor, mobility of a limb for measuring pulse A61B5/02 ;A61B5/1038 takes precedence; motion detection to correct for motion artifacts in physiological signals A61B5/721
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1112 Global tracking of patients, e.g. by using GPS
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1114 Tracking parts of the body
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1116 Determining posture transitions
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6807 Footwear
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6828 Leg
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6829 Foot or ankle
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7415 Sound rendering of measured values, e.g. by pitch or volume variation A61B5/741 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/742 using visual displays A61B5/339 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7455 characterised by tactile indication, e.g. vibration or electrical stimulation
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2071/0625 Emitting sound, noise or music
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2071/0655 Tactile feedback
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/12 Absolute positions, e.g. by using GPS
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/16 Angular positions
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/836 Sensors arranged on the body of the user
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2225/50 Wireless data transmission, e.g. by radio transmitters or telemetry
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 57/00 : Golfing accessories
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 69/3608 : Attachments on the body, e.g. for measuring, aligning, restraining A63B69/0059, A63B69/3673 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 69/3629 : Visual means not attached to the body for aligning, positioning the trainee's head or for detecting head movement, e.g. by parallax
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 69/3667 : Golf stance aids, e.g. means for positioning a golfer's feet
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 71/06 : Indicating or scoring devices for games or players , or for other sports activities
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 71/0622 : Visual, audio or audio-visual systems for entertaining, instructing or motivating the user
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/20 : Instruments for performing navigational calculations G01C21/24, G01C21/26 take precedence

Abstract

An alignment aid for a golfer includes a handheld device with a direction finding device for determining a target vector (V1) with respect to a sighted target, a sensor device for determining a position vector (V2) as a measure of an instantaneous alignment of the golfer, and a display device. The alignment aid is operable to check an included angle (a) between the target vector (V1) and the position vector (V2) and to output a good signal (G) to the display device upon a successful check of the included angle.

Claims

1. An alignment aid for a golfer, comprising:

an alignment device having a direction finding device for determining a target vector (V1) with respect to a sighted target, the alignment device wearable by the golfer in or at the golfer'"'"'s body or clothing;

a sensor device for determining a position vector (V2) as a measure of an instantaneous alignment of the golfer, the sensor device disposed in or at the golfer'"'"'s body or clothing; and

an output device;

the alignment device operable to check an included angle (a) between the target vector (V1) and the position vector (V2) and to automatically output a good signal (G) indicating a successful check of the included angle to the output device upon a successful check of the included angle,

wherein the alignment device, the sensor device and the output device are disposed in or at the golfer'"'"'s body or clothing thereby enabling hands-free use of alignment aid.

2. The alignment aid in accordance with claim 1, wherein the alignment of a horizontal body line of the golfer is detected by the sensor device.

3. The alignment aid in accordance with claim 1, wherein the sensor device comprises at least two sensor systems which are arranged in or at the body and/or in or at the clothing of the golfer or are in contact therewith when functional.

4. The alignment aid in accordance with claim 3, wherein the two sensor systems are configured to be disposed in or at the shoes or at the lower legs or at the knees or at the hip or at the shoulder of the golfer.

5. The alignment aid in accordance with claim 1, wherein the alignment aid is functional before the striking of a golf ball.

6. The alignment aid in accordance with claim 1, wherein

a first sensor system is arranged in a first shoe and a second sensor system is arranged in a second shoe, the first and second sensor systems each comprise a direction finding sensor for determining a position vector (V2) between the first and second shoes;

and

the alignment device comprises;

a memory for storing data from the first and second sensor systems; and

a direction finding device having a direction sensor for determining the target vector (V1) to the sighted target;

the alignment device operable to check the included angle (a) between the target vector (V1) and the position vector (V2).

7. The alignment aid in accordance with claim 1, wherein the output device is operable to provide a visual signal, an acoustic signal and/or a vibration signal.

8. The alignment aid in accordance with claim 1, wherein the direction finding device comprises a direction finding rod or a direction marking.

9. The alignment aid in accordance with claim 1, wherein the direction finding device includes a GPS reception device via which the target vector (V1) to the sighted target is formed.

10. The alignment aid in accordance with claim 6, wherein the direction sensor is a microelectromechanical vibratory gyroscope.

11. The alignment aid in accordance with claim 6, wherein the first and second sensor systems are arranged in a first and second heel region or in a heel of the first and second shoes.

12. The alignment aid in accordance with claim 6, wherein data from the direction finding device is stored in the memory of the alignment device.

13. The alignment aid in accordance with claim 6, wherein

the alignment device comprises a first transmission/reception device for exchanging data over radio with the first and second sensor systems;

and

the first and second sensor systems each comprise a second transmission/reception device for exchanging data over radio between the first and second sensor systems and with the alignment device.

14. The alignment aid in accordance with claim 1, wherein the good signal is not output to the output device at the time of the striking of the golf ball.

15. The alignment aid in accordance with claim 14, wherein the alignment device has a switch for switching off the good signal and/or has a time-controlled automatic switch-off system for switching off the good signal.

16. A method of checking an included angle (a) between a target vector (V1) and a position vector (V2), comprising:

(i) providing an alignment aid in accordance with claim 1 and supporting the alignment aid in or at the golfer'"'"'s body or clothing;

(ii) aligning the direction finding device of the alignment device to a target or determining a direction to the target by GPS;

(iii) receiving a target vector (V1) from the direction finding device of the alignment device or of the GPS;

(iv) receiving a position vector (V2) from the sensor device of the alignment aid;

(v) storing the target vector (V1) and the position vector (V2) in a memory of the alignment device;

(vi) aligning first and second shoes of a golfer in parallel with the target vector (V1);

(vii) determining the included angle (a) between the target vector (V1) and the position vector (V2) in a processing system of the alignment device;

(viii) checking the included angle (a) in a processing system;

(ix) further aligning the two shoes in parallel with the vector (V1) until the included angle (a) becomes equal to zero; and

(x) outputting a good signal indicating a successful check to the output device of the alignment device upon the successful check,

wherein the alignment device, the sensor device and the output device are disposed in or at the golfer'"'"'s body or clothing thereby enabling hands-free use of alignment aid.