Patent Application
20080039247
As used herein, the term “coupling” means connecting or fastening at least two items directly or indirectly by use of a third component such as a mechanical fastener, e.g. a screw, a nail, a staple, or a rivet; an adhesive or a solder. The term “coupling” can also include associating or forming integrally together items either by chemical or mechanical means, by processes including stamping, molding, or welding. Furthermore, the term “coupled” can mean two items, directly or indirectly, joined, fastened, associated, connected, or formed integrally together.
Referring to
The filler 160 can include beads or pellets 164. The beads or pellets 164 may take a variety of shapes such as spherical or cylindrical. In one desired embodiment, the beads or pellets 164 may take the form of an annulus 168 that may aid in the transmission of sound, as depicted in
The support 200 can house a circuit board 400, and can be made of any suitable material such as a polymer, co-polymer, plastic or foam. Exemplary materials may include polystyrene or polyethylene. Although the support 200 can take a variety of shapes or sizes, such as a sphere or cube, or can include 2-12 elongated members bisecting each other, one desirable shape includes a first member 230, a second member 260, and a third member 290. Generally, each member 230, 260, and 290 is of substantially the same dimension and somewhat resembles a prism with rectangular sides and square ends. Generally, the first member 230 and the second member 260 are perpendicular to each other, desirably bisecting each other, and lie generally in a same plane 280. Desirably, the third member 290 intersects the first member 230 and the second member 260 and is perpendicular to the plane 280, and desirably, is in turn bisected by the first and second members 230 and 260. Generally, the first member 230, the second member 260, and the third member 290 may intersect each other and can be coupled together using any suitable means, such as adhesives or mechanical fasteners, or be formed integrally together.
In addition, the first member 230, the second member 260, and the third member 290, can each form respective passages 234, 264, and 294. The passages 234, 264, 294, extend along the length of respective members 230, 260, and 290. At an intersection 300 of these passages 234, 264, and 294, a circuit board 400 can be received within a chamber 320. Generally, the support 200 surrounds the circuit board 400 to provide protection against jolts and shocks during, e.g., play. In addition, the circuit board 400 can be secured within the chamber 320 utilizing any suitable fastening means, such as mechanical fasteners or adhesives. Both ends of each of the members 230, 260, and 290 can be secured to the cover 140 so the support 200 is fixed in the space 144. Alternatively, the support 200 can be unconnected to the cover 140 and tumble in the space 144 along with the beads and pellets 164 as the footbag 100 is struck.
Referring to
Desirably, the energy source 420 is a battery 424, such as a silver oxide button cell. In one embodiment, the battery 424 can have a long life-time, such as a lithium cell, so as not to require its replacement. Alternatively, the battery 424 can have a shorter life-span and access can be provided as hereinafter described for changing the battery 424.
One or more input/output devices 430 can include one or more pressure sensors 434 and a communication port 440. The pressure sensor 434 can be a high impedance electrode whose change in capacitance is measured in the time domain on the processor 450. The pressure sensors 434 can be positioned on the ends 268 and 270 of the member 260, and the end 296 of the member 290 of the support 200. Desirably, the footbag 100 has 3-6 pressure sensors 434 mounted on the support 200. In addition, each respective pressure sensor 434 can be connected to the processor 450 with a respective wire 530. Wires 530 can also connect the sound enunciator 480 and a button 490, as hereinafter described.
Alternatively, one or more pressure sensors 434 can be replaced with a proximity sensor. Exemplary proximity sensors are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,396,443 and 7,002,550, which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. Alternatively, the pressure sensors 434 and/or proximity sensors can be distributed within the space 144 and optionally attached to the insides of the cover 140.
In still another embodiment, the pressure sensors 434 can be used with or replaced with an inertial switch that is incorporated on the circuit board 400. An exemplary inertial switch is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,779,574, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. The inertial switch can send an activation and/or deactivation signal when the footbag 100 is accelerated in a different direction.
Generally, the communication port 440 provides a data transfer interface for bi-directional communication between the footbag 100 and an external host, such as a personal or laptop computer. As such, the external host can issue commands via the communication port 440 to the processor 450, such as deleting, writing, creating, reading, uploading, saving and updating files. The communication port 440 can include a data transfer interface, such as a universal serial bus (USB) port 590 or a device utilizing an IEEE 1394 standard that supports data transfer rates of up to, e.g., 800 megabytes per second. Alternatively, the communication port 440 can include a wireless data transfer interface implemented with devices having a BLUE TOOTH TECHNOLOGY standard, which is promoted by the Blue Tooth special interest group of Bellevue, Wash., or a device utilizing an IEEE 802.11 standard, such as products tested and approved as WI-FI CERTIFIED® promulgated by the Wi-Fi Alliance. Such a wireless data transfer can utilize any frequency in the electromagnetic radiation spectrum. Exemplary frequencies include radio waves, optical light waves, infrared radiation, and microwaves.
Referring to
Alternatively, referring to
The footbag 100 can also include a recording functionality that may be activated and deactivated by a button 490 positioned near the cover 140. Alternatively, a button communicating with the processor 450 can be provided on the support 200 that can be accessed by unzipping the cover 140. In another exemplary embodiment, the recording function can be activated and deactivated by an external host communicating with the processor 450. Particularly, as different sounds are initiated by striking the footbag 100, these digital files can be saved in the sequence and timing as emitted on the sound enunciator in a different sector of the storage unit 458 to create a composition that can be transferred to a computer, as hereinafter described.
The processor 450 can communicate with the one or more input/output devices 430, receive power from the energy source 420, and include one or more counters 454 and a storage unit 458. The one or more counters 454 can close the switch 470 after a predetermined amount of time. The storage unit 458 can be an electronic storage medium for storing information, such as audio files 460, which can be digital or analog files. Desirably, the file is a digital audio file 460, which in one exemplary embodiment is an MP-3 file. The storage unit 458 can be a hard disk, a non-volatile storage device, or other type of storage medium. The power may be provided by a battery 424 as described above. In one exemplary embodiment, the processor 450 receives input from the pressure sensor 434, and after a predetermined period of time, the processor 450 outputs a signal to the sound enunciator 480. The processor 450 can be any suitable processor known to those of ordinary skill in the art. An exemplary processor 450 is the PENTIUM microprocessor from Intel Corporation of Santa Clara, Calif. Optionally, the processor 450 can include a radio receiver to play songs received from a radio receiver such as XM satellite radio.
The switch 470 can permit signals to activate the sound enunciator 480. The switch 470 can be any suitable switch known to those of skill in the art, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,066,011, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. Generally, the switch 470 is an open position unless closed to permit the playing of sounds from the sound enunciator 480.
The sound enunciator 480 can broadcast sounds, such as music, from the footbag 100. The sound enunciator 480 can be positioned within the space 144, such as on or in the support 200. In one exemplary embodiment, the sound enunciator 480 can be positioned at the end 298 of the member 290, as depicted in
As depicted in
Although the electronic circuit 410 has been disclosed, it should be understood that other circuits could be used. Exemplary circuit boards 400 and/or electronic circuits 410 are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,066,011; 5,779,574; 5,954,603; 6,497,607; and 6,959,166; all of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
Referring to
Referring to
An exemplary system of the present invention is depicted in
The footbag 100 can be activated to play different musical sounds or songs depending on the number and timing of hits by, e.g., one or more kicks by a player. Thus, musical songs can be played and created using the footbag 100. If songs are created from musical sounds, these songs can optionally be saved on the storage unit 458. In the exemplary embodiment as depicted in
If music is created on a footbag 100, the music can be saved on the storage unit 458 by pressing the button 490 and then uploading on the computer 900 and transmitting to the website 980. As such, the website 980 can serve as a portal for a contest. Particularly, footbag owners can create their own songs and load them to the website 980. The songs can be played by persons accessing the website 980, and they can vote for their favorite song and a winner can be selected. Similarly, music can be downloaded from the website 980, for free or for a fee, to the computer 900 and subsequently transmitted to the footbag 100 by the wireless connection 1000 or USB connection 1100. Exemplary sound sets can include dog barks, car horns, bell rings, and cat meows. Further implementations can include downloading music from the website 980 onto the computer 900, and then onto the footbag 100. Software can be provided on the computer 900 to program what sounds or music are played depending on the number and types of hits. In other words, the computer 900 can be used to program the footbag 100 via the wireless connection 1000 or USB connection 1100 to play certain sounds based on the timing and frequency of hits.
In one exemplary embodiment, the footbag 100 can have a library of different sounds stored in the storage unit 458. When the footbag 100 is struck, the pressure sensors 434 can detect impacts as contacts are made from kicking, kneeing, head-butting, slapping, hitting, or hacking the sack. Afterwards, the counter 454, which is connected to the sound enunciator 480, can be activated. When the footbag 100 is struck again, the counter stops and the switch 470 is closed to permit the playing of an audio file stored in the storage unit 458 by the sound enunciator 480. The number and timing of hits can determine the sound produced by the footbag 100.
As an example, the following depicts different sounds that can be produced depending on the timing and number of hits:
During operation, an initial hit to the footbag 100 can activate one of the pressure sensors 434, which sends a signal to the processor 450 to activate the counter 450. The processor 450 can include a routine to track predetermined time intervals of, e.g., 1.5 and 3 seconds based on the counter 450 and the number of hits made during those time intervals. As an example, if no subsequent hit is registered after 5 seconds, the counter 454 can reset. On the other hand, if after three seconds only one subsequent hit is registered, the switch 470 can close and the sound enunciator 480 can emit, “One Guitar D Flat Note”. Afterwards, the switch 470 opens. Furthermore if, e.g., two subsequent hits are made after the initial hit and within three seconds, the switch can close and the sound enunciator 480 can broadcast a “Drum Beat”. After the “Drum Beat”, the switch can open and the counter 454 reset. In another embodiment, additional counters 454 can be provided to implement different routines of playing sounds as the footbag 100 is struck.
Different sounds can be used to create any number of beat combinations for different games. As an example, alone or with a group, a set of beats can be hit or hacked creating an original tune or broadcasting a pre-existing song saved in the storage unit 458.
Exemplary games are depicted in the table below:
In yet another embodiment of the footbag 100, an orchestra can be conducted. Each member of a group can have a footbag 100 that plays different instruments. Thus, the group can create their own music.
Without further elaboration, it is believed that one skilled in the art can, using the proceeding description, utilize the present invention to its fullest extent. Unless otherwise indicated, all parts and percentages are by weight. The entire disclosure of all cited applications, patents and publications is hereby incorporated by reference.
From the foregoing description, one skilled in the art can easily ascertain the essential characteristics of this invention and, without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, can make various changes and modifications to the invention to adapt it to various usages and conditions.
