Patent Application
20100148445
The present invention relates to a ball delivery apparatus and also to a sports apparatus. It relates particularly, but not exclusively, to an apparatus for delivering soccer balls as part of a soccer training and/or entertainment apparatus.
When creating an attraction for the public, it is often the personnel costs which form the greatest, or at least a significant, part of the running costs of the attraction. It is therefore important to be able to create such an attraction which provides maximum interest and interaction for visiting members of the public with a minimal need for paid staff to be present on site to run the attraction. For a sports themed attraction, this therefore requires any balls which are used as part of the attraction can be handled consistently and repeatedly without operator assistance or interference.
Sports balls present problems for ball handling apparatus since they are often air filled and therefore compressible and have surfaces designed to interact with objects other than other balls. For example, a soccer ball, (hereinafter referred to as a football) is only designed to be handled or kicked and therefore in the production of such balls little or no consideration is given to the interaction of one football with another. The surface of a football is designed to be kicked and caught and it is, for example, important that a players boot is able to engage a football so as to cause it to spin as it is kicked and that a goalkeeper is able to easily catch a ball. As a result, when the surface of two footballs are brought together, the surface of one ball does not slide easily over the surface of the other and in a ball delivery apparatus, they are therefore inclined to jam together. This can therefore result in at least inconsistent delivery of balls or damage to the apparatus.
Sports training games, whether used as part of a sports themed attraction or used as part of a training programme, need to be made interesting in order to encourage their use. However, normal methods of creating such interest require input from people such as a trainer. They are not only able to increase the variety of interaction but can also be used to determine such things as whether the game is being played properly, to keep a score, whether the game is being played fast enough and whether the user is improving. Such training methods are therefore not suitable at a public attraction as this will significantly increase running costs.
Preferred embodiments of the present invention seek to overcome the above disadvantages of the prior art.
According to an aspect of the present invention there is provided an apparatus for delivering balls, the apparatus comprising:—
at least one conveyor for conveying a plurality of balls, the or each conveyor following a respective path;
at least one collection portion for receiving said balls, wherein said path at least partially passes though said collection portion at an angle inclined to the horizontal, said collection portion comprising ball travel limiting means for preventing a ball from leaving said collection portion unless it is correctly engaged with said conveyor.
By providing a ball delivery apparatus in which part of the path of a conveyor passing through a ball collection portion is inclined from the horizontal and has a ball travel limiting means, the advantage is provided that if an excess of balls gets caught onto the conveyor, the excess of balls are prevented from passing out of the collection portion and are pushed back into the collection portion thereby filling further sections of the conveyor and ensuring consistent and repeatable delivery of balls without significant or even any operator interference.
In a preferred embodiment the conveyor comprises a plurality of supports connected thereto for supporting and/or guiding said balls.
In another preferred embodiment the ball travel limiting means comprises a portion of said path, within said collection portion, wherein said angle of said path in said portion increases such that said balls fall from said conveyor unless they are correctly engaged with said conveyor.
In a further preferred embodiment at least part of said portion of said path passing through said collection portion follows a substantially curved path with the angle of inclination changing from substantially horizontal to substantially vertical
By the ball travel limiting means being a portion of the path which is inclined at such a steep angle that balls are unable to remain on the conveyor when they are not correctly engaged with the conveyor, in particular between supports on the conveyor, the advantage is provided that the balls are falling one over the other only under the force of gravity and are not being pushed against an obstacle. The balls are therefore simply falling back one over the other and are less likely to become jammed one against another or against a part of the apparatus.
The apparatus may further comprise a pair of conveyors adapted to follow respective paths wherein at least a portion of said paths passing through said collection portion are separated by a first wall.
The apparatus may also further comprise second walls aligned substantially parallel to the path of said conveyor through at least part of said collection portion, wherein at least part of said second walls are taller that an equivalent portion of said first wall.
By providing a pair of conveyors, which typically follow mirror image paths of each other, and with this pair of conveyors passing through at least part of the collection portion and separated by a first wall which is lower than second walls on the opposite sides of the conveyors from the first wall, the advantage is provided that if a large number of balls mount up on one side of the collection portion and therefore fill one conveyor quicker than the other, the second wall will incline the balls to move over towards the less filled conveyor, thereby providing an even fill.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of delivering balls, comprising the steps of:—
receiving in a collection portion of an object delivery apparatus a plurality of balls;
conveying at least one conveyor along a path passing at least partially through said collection portion at an angle inclined to the horizontal; and
preventing a ball from leaving said collection portion unless it is correctly engaged with said conveyor.
The balls may be prevented from leaving said collection portion, by increasing said angle along said path such that said balls fall from said conveyor unless they are correctly engaged with said conveyor.
In a preferred embodiment the portion of said path passing through said collection portion follows a substantially curved path with the angle of inclination changing from substantially horizontal to substantially vertical.
According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provided a ball delivery device apparatus comprising:—
at least one conveyor for conveying at least one ball, the conveyor following a first path;
at least one direction changer for diverting the or each ball from following said first path, at least one said direction changer comprising at least one first rotatable ball engaging member positioned to direct said ball from said first path; and
at least one delivery device for delivering the or each ball.
By providing a ball delivery device with a conveyor and a direction changer for diverting balls from the conveyor, the direction changer having rotatable ball engaging members, the advantage is provided that as the balls engage the direction changer, the rotatable ball engaging members rotate thereby allowing the ball to not rotate relative the conveyor other than to be simply pushed from the conveyor. If the ball engaging members did not rotate, the ball would be forced to rotate either relative to the conveyor or relative to the direction changer. This would lead to damage to the conveyor and/or to inconsistent delivery of the ball to the delivery device.
In a preferred embodiment said delivery device comprises at least one chute.
The apparatus may further comprise at least one second rotatable ball engaging member adapted to engage the or each ball as they leave said conveyor and pass to said delivery device.
By providing further rotatable ball engaging members to engage the ball as it leaves the conveyor and passes to the delivery device, the advantage is provided that the ball is only ever engaged with a single surface which is not able to rotate. In this instance the conveyor, or support on the conveyor, is not able to rotate and if the second rotatable ball engaging members were not present there would be a danger that the ball would jam relative to the conveyor. However the second rotatable ball engaging members ensure there is no jamming of the ball and each ball is consistently delivered.
In a preferred embodiment at least one conveyor comprises at least one support for guiding and/or supporting a respective ball.
At least one of the rotatable ball engaging members may comprise a plurality of casters.
At least one of the first rotatable ball engaging members may comprise a pair of lines of casters aligned on either side of said conveyor.
By using a pair of lines of castors, the advantage is provided that castors either side of the conveyor consistently deliver the ball from the conveyor to the delivery device.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of delivering balls comprising the steps of:—
conveying at least one ball on a conveyor, the conveyor following a first path; and
diverting the or each ball from following said first path, using at least one said direction changer comprising at least one first rotatable ball engaging member positioned to direct said ball from said first path.
The or each ball may be diverted to at least one chute.
According to an aspect of the present invention there is provided a ball delivery device comprising:—
at least one feed device for feeding a plurality of balls to a collection portion;
at least one first ball delivery apparatus substantially as defined above;
at least one second ball delivery apparatus substantially as defined above;
wherein said conveyor conveys said balls from at least one said first delivery apparatus to at least one second ball delivery apparatus.
According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a sports apparatus comprising:—
at least one processor for receiving at least one input signal and producing at least one output signal;
at least one target indicator for indicating at least one target to be engaged by at least one ball, the or each target indicator indicating said target in response to at least one output signal from at least one said processor;
at least one sensor for sensing said sensor, or an area adjacent said sensor, being engaged by at least one ball and said sensor thereby producing at least one first input signal;
at least one result indicator for indicating at least one result in response to at least one second output signal from said processor, wherein said processor produces said second output signal dependent upon at least one said first input signal and at least one said first output signal.
By providing a processor, a target indicator, a sensor and a result indicator and linking them so that the result indicator indicates a result when the ball hits a sensor when its respective target indicator is indicating the target, the advantage is provided that an interesting training programme can be provided for a user with minimal operator interaction. When provided as part of a sports themed attraction, such an apparatus can be operated without operator interaction, thereby reducing operative costs.
In a preferred embodiment at least one target indicator and at least one sensor are located on a vertical surface and/or on a horizontal surface.
By providing the target indicators and sensors in a vertical surface, the apparatus can be used for football shooting practice and by providing them in a horizontal surface they can be used for close ball control or drilling skills practice.
In a preferred embodiment at least one target indicator comprises at least one light emitting device which emits light in response to said first output signal.
In another preferred embodiment at least one said sensor is adapted to produce at least one said input signal in response to a ball being rolled over it.
In a further preferred embodiment at least one said sensor is adapted to produce at least one said input signal in response to a ball being hit against it.
At least one sensor may produce at least one said input signal in response to a change in the amount of light received by said sensor being altered by the position of a ball relative to said sensor.
In a preferred embodiment at least one result indicator comprises at least one light emitting device.
At least one said target indicator and at least one said result indicator may comprise at least one respective light emitting device.
At least one said target indicator may comprise at least one visual display device adapted to display a score.
At least one said processor may produce at least one said second output signal if said first input signal is received from at least one sensor corresponding to at least one respective target indicator which has received at least one first output signal within a predetermined time.
According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provided sports apparatus comprising:—
at least one processor for receiving at least one input signal and producing at least one output signal;
at least one target adapted to be hit by at least one ball and adapted to move between at least one first position and at least one second position in response to at least one output signal from said processor;
at least one sensor for sensing at least one ball hitting a respective target and said sensor thereby producing at least one first input signal;
wherein said processor produces said output signal dependent upon at least one said first input signal.
At least one said sensor may comprise at least one accelerometer.
The first position may be an extended position and the second position may be a retracted position.
According to an aspect of the present invention there is provided a sports apparatus comprising:—
at least one ball delivery apparatus substantially as defined above; and
at least one sports apparatus substantially as defined above.
Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, and not in any limitative sense, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:—
Referring to
As will be explained in greater detail below, the transition from horizontal to vertical movement of the conveyor 14 prevents any balls 12 from exiting the collection portion 16 of apparatus 10 unless they are correctly engaged with the conveyor and therefore provides a ball travel limiting means. The conveyor 14 has a conveyor surface 20 which the balls engaged with when travelling in the horizontal plane (see
When the conveyor 14 is following a linear path (as shown in
Balls enter the collection portion 16 at entrance points indicated at 32 and roll down an inclined surface 34 towards conveyor 14. As can be seen from
As can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 5-11, the conveyor changes from travelling in a horizontal plane and follows an upwardly directed curve Cv. As shown in
As can be seen from
Turning to
Upon leaving the collection portion, the conveyor 14, carrying the balls 12, follows a path which will pass through a number of vertical and horizontal curves, a vertical curve being a curve where the path of the conveyor remains in a vertical plane whilst passing through the curve (previously referred to as Cv) and a horizontal curve being where the path of the conveyor remains in a horizontal plane whilst passing through a curve (previously referred to as Ch). An example of a horizontal curve is shown in
In order to alleviate this problem, the outer wall 40 of curve 38 is provided with two lines of castors 44 which allow the balls 12 to remain rotationally stationary relative to conveyor 14 whilst the castors rotate in direction R2.
As can be seen in
Although the collection portion 18 of apparatus 10 is designed to consistently provide a ball in each conveyor section 28, it is possible that a section may be left empty and as a result, it is advisable to provide a ball counting device to ensure that the number of balls that are required to be provided in a group are all available as required. If a ball is missing, that group can be rejected and a new group selected.
The apparatus as a whole may consist of two conveyors, one of which passes through the collection portion and from which balls are transferred to a second conveyor which delivers them to a delivery device. In the example shown in
The conveyor 14 continues to follow its path until reaching a ball delivery device 50 which removes the ball 12 from the conveyor 14. The timing of delivery of the ball 12 from the conveyor 14 is dependent upon movement of the conveyor and this can be controlled by stopping and starting the conveyor 14 in order to deliver the balls 12 one at a time at the required intervals.
The delivery device includes a direction changer 52 which diverts the ball 12 from following the path of conveyor 14 which is travelling in direction D. The direction changer 52 is formed from two lines of castors 54 which are located on either side of the conveyor 14 and are contained within a pair of walls (not shown) which retain the ball 12 as it is carried by the conveyor 14. In the example shown, the path of conveyor 14 is vertical and therefore the ball 12 is being carried on support 22. A second pair of lines of castors 56 guide the ball 12 as it is diverted from the conveyor 14 towards a run off chute 58.
As ball 12 travels in direction D being carried on support 22 of conveyor 14, it engages a first pair of castors 54a and is moved slightly in direction E which is substantially perpendicular to direction D. This is shown in
Referring to
The apparatus 100 also includes sensors 124 which are also located in wall 118 and are positioned in a line which is positioned at a height approximately equal to the average radius of the ball above floor 120. As a result the sensors 124 can detect being hit by a ball which is rolling along floor 120. Typically the sensors 124 include a photosensor which detects changes in the amount of light it receives which can in turn be used to determine if it has been hit by a football hitting. This can either be as a result of a decrease in light as a ball hits the sensor and therefore blocks light being received by the photosensor or can be another change in light where light from LED's 116, or other LED's which closely surround the sensor and may emit light outside of visible wave lengths, reflect light from a ball as it approaches and hits the sensor. This will produce a characteristic output from the photosensor which can be recognised by processor 102 as a ball hitting the sensor 124.
In an alternative embodiment of the sensor each sensor has its own light emitter which produces light with a unique signature, either as a result of a unique frequency or a unique wave pattern. The emitter produces a light close to the sensor which detects a change in the amount of light, carrying that signature, as a ball approaches it or hits it.
A display device 126 acts as a result indicator and can be used to display a score. A console 128 contains processor 102 and is used to identify a player 130 using an RFID card (not shown).
In use, a player 130 approaches the console 128 and identifies themselves using the RFID card. The player 130 then enters the play area 122 and a session using the sports apparatus 100 starts. A group of the LED's 116 are simultaneously lit to indicate a target which is to be hit by a ball. If several adjacent LED's from each line are lit, as a result of output signal 108 from cable 112, this forms a rectangular target area.
A player 130 kicks ball 12 along the surface of floor 120 towards the target indicated by lit LED's 116 on wall 118. When ball 12 hits wall 118 this impact will be detected by sensors 124 in the manner described above. This will result in a signal 104 being sent along cable 106 to processor 102. The processor 102 then determines whether the or each sensor 124 which sent a signal to processor 102 indicating that it, or they, had been hit by the ball 12, corresponded to the target as indicated by the LED's 116 which were lit at that time. If the LED's 116 corresponding to a respective sensor 124 were lit at the time the sensor was hit, that is the LED's adjacent the sensor that was hit were lit, this means that the ball hit the target. This will result in a second output signal 110 being output along cable 114 to display device 126 to indicate that a target has been hit. Typically this indication can be in the form of a number which increases with each time the target is correctly hit.
With two lines of LED's 116, as shown in
Alternatively, a rectangle of LED's can be lit for a short period of time before being switched off and a different set of consecutive LED's in each line representing a rectangle are lit. The blocks which switch on and switch off are the type used in the apparatus shown in
Referring to
Referring to
The object for the player of apparatus 200 is to hit the targets 234 which the ball 12 at a significant speed. In order to detect the impact, the sensors 224 ideally include an accelerometer which is able to measure the impact of the ball 12 against the target 234. As the ball 12 hits target 234 the impact causes movement of the target which is measured by the accelerometer 224. The output signal from the accelerometer is sent to the processor 202 as input signal 204 and if this signal indicates that the target was hit with sufficient force the processor sends an output signal 208 along cable 212 to the pneumatic control device 238 which causes the target 234 supported on retractable support member 236 to be retracted. Optionally at the same time an output signal 210 is sent along cable 214 to a display device 226 thereby displaying a score.
As an alternative to the pneumatic control the targets may be raised and lowered by a belt driven by an electrically operated motor. This provides a rigid framework which supports the target and the motor acts as a break when the target is being moved.
As the balls 12 are kicked by players 230 they are collected in a ball sump 240 typically by rolling from incline surfaces such as that shown as 242. The ball sump 242 allows balls to roll under gravity towards the entrance 32 of collection portion 160f ball delivery apparatus 10, as seen in
In a soccer themed attraction a player arrives and registers their details which are entered into a computer which is linked to a network also linked to the processors 102 and 202 for each sports apparatus. The players registration details are stored on a RFID card which the player carries with them and on arriving at each game the card is read at a console 228. The player then uses each of the sports apparatus shown in
It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the above embodiment has been described by way of example only and not in any limitative sense, and that various alterations and modifications are possible without departure from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0618702.5 | Sep 2006 | GB | national |
| 0620133.9 | Oct 2006 | GB | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/GB2007/003579 | 9/21/2007 | WO | 00 | 3/1/2010 |
