STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
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THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT
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INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC OR AS A TEXT FILE VIA THE OFFICE ELECTRONIC FILING SYSTEM
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STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR OR A JOINT INVENTOR
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FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to the field of wearable exercise performance monitoring equipment and more particularly to wearable gloves that have embedded sensors to monitor performance during exercise, sports, and for medical rehabilitation.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
There currently are a few gloves sold today that have embedded pressure sensors for measuring the pressure distribution. However, the products on the market today seem to only be dedicated to a specific sport. For example, a product called the SensoGlove is a leather golf glove that has four sensors and a mounted computer that provides audio and visual feedback on the grip pressure during a golf swing. A more sophisticated glove for use by engineers having sixty-five pressure sensors called the TactileGlove allows for computer display of the pressure distribution. Unlike the SensoGlove, the TactileGlove can be used for various activities such as manufacturing engineering studies of workers and to help design of tools for workers. However, it is not intended to be used for sports fitness performance monitoring as it is not only very expensive given the large number of pressure sensors, but also requires the use of a computer to display the pressure data.
U.S. Pat. No. 10,420,387 issued to Zambriski et al discloses a combination of gloves and shoes with embedded sensors that provide visual color based feedback directly on the gloves using LED displays mounted on the gloves only.
Clearly, there is a need for a performance monitoring glove that is affordable and can be used for exercise, sports, and for medical rehabilitation. The glove to be disclosed here will also include a wireless rechargeable battery and will be able to display the results in multiple modes including vibration, audio and visual methods.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a glove that has an array of wired pressure sensors to measure pressure at discrete points on the fingers and palm.
It is secondary object of the present invention to provide a glove that provides a means of wireless recharging of the gloves.
It is a third object of the present invention to provide a glove that has a single main control module for processing pressure data, performing wireless (Bluetooth) communications with the opposite hand glove and smartphone as well as control of secondary devices to provide real-time performance monitoring feedback to the user.
It is a fourth object of the present invention to provide a glove that has embedded vibration pads to provide performance feedback using vibrations sent into the hand.
It is a fifth object of the present invention to provide a glove that has an embedded flexible LED/OLED display screen to provide performance feedback using visual methods.
It is a final object of the present invention to provide a glove that provides auditory performance feedback using earbuds.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the exercise performance monitoring glove shown with the palm side facing up;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the exercise performance monitoring glove shown with the palm side facing down;
FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the main control module.
FIG. 4 is a flow chart of the glove pressure monitoring smartphone app; and
FIG. 5 is a flow chart of the glove pressure performance monitoring process.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring now to the drawings and in particular FIGS. 1 & 2, the performance monitoring glove of the present invention is designated by reference numeral 100. Although only the left hand glove is shown, the right hand glove would have the same components arranged in the same locations except in a symmetric arrangement. Said glove 100 contains a plurality of pressure sensing elements 10 that are located at desirable locations on the hand where pressure is exerted during exercise such as near the finger tips, along the base of the fingers and along the bottom of the palm. The pressure sensing elements can be made from typical compact discrete pressure transducers such as piezoresistive or capacitive pressure sensors. Each pressure sensing element 10 converts the pressure applied to it to an electrical signal which is transmitted via wires 30 to a main control module pressure measurement and data transmission module 20. The pressure sensor wiring 30 wraps around the glove and continues on the top (non palm) face of the glove to connect to the main control module 90 (shown in FIG. 2). The glove fabric 40 is preferably made from materials that are both lightweight as well as breathable. Examples of fabrics to be used in the preferred embodiment include polyester/nylon woven blends and polyester/cotton woven blends. A thumb OLED/LED flexible display 50 is located at the distal end of the thumb on the palm side so the user can see a visual performance feedback at that location when the user is exercising in a position such that their palm side is facing them.
A wireless (Qi style) charger pad 75 is located at the wrist end of the glove and allows for Qi wireless recharging of the main control module 90 when the glove is placed over a wireless Qi charger accessory such as are used for smartphones. Wiring 77 connects the wireless Qi charger pad 75 to main control module 90.
A flexible LED/OLED display 70 wraps completely around the glove so it can be visible at any angle. Although the display is shown at the wrist end of the glove in the preferred embodiment, it may be embedded at other areas of the glove. This display provides a secondary method of providing performance feedback via visual means such as emojis, graphics or text.
Referring now to FIG. 2, the performance monitoring glove 100 of the present invention is shown with the palm side of the glove facing down. Flexible display 70 is connected to the main control module 90 using wiring 80. A plurality of vibration pads 95 are also connected to the main control module 90 via wiring 97 and provide vibrations to the hand as another method of performance feedback. Although shown at the wrist end of the gloves, said vibration pads 95 may also be located at other locations.
Referring next to FIG. 3, the main control module 90 shall be explained. An array of pressure sensors 10 are embedded in the glove fabric 40 and connect to a central processor 21 via wiring 30. The central processor uses an algorithm to compare pressures from both the left and right gloves. Pressure data from the each glove is sent to the main control module 90 of the opposite hand glove using a wireless comm module 24 with antenna 25. Once the algorithm performs a pressure balance determination, feedback data is sent to the main control module 90 via the wireless communications module 24 and antenna 25. Pressure data between calculations is stored in memory 22 so that the processor is able to perform calculations of pressure comparison in a real-time manner throughout the exercise session. A rechargeable battery 23 powers the module and can be recharged via the wireless recharger pad 75 via connecting power wiring 77.
Referring again to FIG. 3, the main control module 90 allows for a single module to be embedded safely on the non-palm side of the glove to avoid damage during exercise. The pressure performance feedback is made available to the user through either one of three separate modes—visual, auditory or vibrational feedback. The main control module 90 includes the following additional components: (1) a graphics display module 91, (2) a vibration signal control module 93, and (3) an audio control module 99.
If the user selects the graphical feedback mode then pressure data is received through the wireless comms module 24 and sent for conversion to graphical feedback using both the graphics display module 91 and memory 22. The graphical feedback output (such as video, pictures, images or text) is then sent to the LED/OLED flexible display screen 70 via wiring 80. If the user selects the vibrational feedback mode then pressure data is received through the wireless comms module 24 and sent for conversion to vibrational feedback using the vibration signal control module 93. The vibrational feedback output (such as pulses of varying intensity and frequency) is then sent to the vibration pads 95 via wiring 97. Finally, if the user selects the audio feedback mode then pressure data is received through the wireless comms module 24 and sent for conversion to audio feedback using the audio control module 99. The audio feedback output (such as musical tones or human voice delivered information) is then sent to a smartphone having the glove pressure monitoring application 110 using the wireless communications module 24 and antenna 25. The smartphone pressure monitoring application 110 then controls the audio feedback output to the user via earbuds.
Referring next to FIG. 4, the glove pressure monitoring smart phone application 110 shall be further explained. The smartphone application allows the user to first select which feedback mode he wants. Three options are presented, specifically audio, video, or vibrational feedback. If the user selects audio mode then further options are presented for selection specifically voice feedback or audio tone. The smartphone application then wirelessly communicates to the main control module 90 to allow audio feedback during exercise. If the user selects video mode then further options are presented for selection specifically color display, text based feedback or graphical images. The smartphone application then wirelessly communicates to the main control module 90 to allow video feedback during exercise. If the user selects vibrational mode then three further options are presented: (1) vibrational intensity, (2) vibrational frequency, and (3) duration of vibrations. The smartphone application then wirelessly communicates to the main control module 90 to allow vibrational feedback during exercise.
Referring finally to FIG. 5, the glove pressure performance monitoring process 120 used in the present invention shall be further explained. During exercising the user wears a pair of pressure performance monitoring gloves 100. Both gloves have an array of embedded pressure sensors 10, and each sensor sends signals to the main control module 90 located on each glove. The wireless communications module 24 then sends the pressure data from the opposite glove wirelessly. Once the main control modules 90 receive the data from the opposite glove, a pressure balance state is determined using an algorithm. The pressure balance state is then communicated back to the main control module 90. Depending on which feedback method has been selected (audio, video, or vibrational), the specific assigned feedback module within the Main control module 90 (audio—99, video—91, vibrational—93) then provides feedback to the user using either the vibrational pads 95 or the LED/OLED flexible display 70 or through earbuds that communicate with a smartphone having the smartphone glove pressure performance monitoring application 110.