Footwear with force sensing device
First Claim
Patent Images
1. an article of footwear, comprising:
- an upper connected to an outsole;
a controller mounted to one of said outsole and said upper, said controller including a display;
at least one sensor coupled to said controller and being mounted to one of said outsole and said upper, said at least one sensor being operative upon impact with a ball to transmit a signal to said controller representative of the magnitude of force with which said at least one sensor contacts the ball, said controller causing said display to provide a visual indication of the magnitude of said force.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An article of footwear is provided, particularly a soccer shoe, having one or more sensors mounted in the shoe upper which, when impacted by a ball, are effective to send a signal to a controller representative of the magnitude of the force with which the ball was struck by the shoe. A liquid crystal display, mounted within a housing which also carries the controller, provides a visual indication of the force of the ball strike which can be readily observed by the wearer of the shoe.
44 Citations
15 Claims
-
1. an article of footwear, comprising:
-
an upper connected to an outsole;
a controller mounted to one of said outsole and said upper, said controller including a display;
at least one sensor coupled to said controller and being mounted to one of said outsole and said upper, said at least one sensor being operative upon impact with a ball to transmit a signal to said controller representative of the magnitude of force with which said at least one sensor contacts the ball, said controller causing said display to provide a visual indication of the magnitude of said force. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
-
-
14. The method of detecting and displaying the magnitude of force with which a ball strikes an article of footwear, comprising:
-
(a) mounting at least one force sensor to the article of footwear in position to engage a ball, said at least one force sensor having a contact movable relative to a printed circuit board;
(b) causing the contact of the force sensor to engage the printed circuit board upon impact of the article of footwear with a ball;
(c) producing a signal representative of the time of engagement between the contact and printed circuit board in step (b); and
(d) causing a display to provide a visual indication of the magnitude of force with which the ball impacted the article of footwear based upon the signal produced in step (c). - View Dependent Claims (15)
-
Specification