The present invention relates to game balls and, more particularly, recreational sport balls having clocks or timers.
In many sports activities, timing or counts can be important. For example, in a professional basketball game, officials have a shot clock that provides a specific amount of time for the offensive team to take a shot. In recreational basketball games, often times participants wish to simulate the shot clock. Similarly, in recreational football games, often a “pass rusher” counts off a number of seconds prior to rushing the passer to simulate the time a professional quarterback would have to stand in, for example, the pocket prior to throwing a pass.
In some case, such as the basketball shot clock, timers can be used off the court. Alternatively, the basketball hoop can be modified to incorporate a timer that resets after each basket. However, even simple timers require equipment to be attached to the basket or carried from court to court This is difficult as conventional timers are relatively non-portable. Thus, it would be desirous to provide a ball with a clock or timer to perform these and other functions of timers.
The foregoing and other features, utilities and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following more particular description of a preferred embodiment of the invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Further, the advantages and purpose of the invention will be realized and attained by means of the elements and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.
To attain the advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, balls having a timer integrated into the ball are provided. The balls also have a sound generator. The timer is capable of measuring at least one time period and the sound generator can provide a sound indicating the end of the at least one time period.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the present invention, and together with the description, serve to explain the principles thereof. Like items in the drawings are referred to using the same numerical reference.
Some embodiments of the present invention are described with reference to
In operation, a player would reset the timer 12, which will be further explained in conjunction with the control panel description below, at the start of the desired count period. The timer 12 would begin counting, in this case, seconds until the shot clock period expires. At the end of the time period, the timer would send a signal to sound generator 16 that would generate a sound, such as a buzzer, indicating the end of the period. In more complex arrangements, the timer 12 could send a signal to sound generator 16 that causes sound generator 16 to make audible all or some portion of the countdown period, i.e., sound generator 16 could produce a 10, 9, 8, . . . countdown to the end of the period. The count down could be a voice synthesis countdown or simply clicks that start at the 10 second point (or some other point such as 5 second). Moreover, the countdown could be a combination of clicks or voice synthesis, such as a verbal 10, 9, 8 . . . and a buzzer at zero.
After the count period, if the game ball has a control panel, the player can reset the timer 12 to being the next period. Alternatively, the timer could simply being the next period after the end of the previous period without need for a reset. If the timer 12 did not get reset, but rather started counting the next period at the end of the pervious period, the entire control panel could be eliminated if desired. Instead of a manual reset on a control panel, a reset device could be mounted in, for example, the basketball hoop that would automatically reset the timer 12 when the basketball comes within a predetermined distance of the reset device. Alternatively, a remote control style device could be used to reset the timer 12. Also, the timer 12 could be voice activated by commands such as, for example, start, stop, shot, etc. to start, stop, or even pause the timer period. If voice actuation is employed, it may be desirous to use a microphone, which could be mounted on the control panel or elsewhere.
As shown in
The above reset and count period select controls are described in relation to simply single action style actuators or switches with multiple presets It would be possible to incorporate a keyboard into the control panels. The keyboard could be a conventional alpha, numeric or alphanumeric keyboard.
As one of skill in the art would recognize on reading this disclosure, while the timers 12 and 22, and sound generators 16 and 26 are shown mounted internal to the balls 10 and 20, they could be mounted on the surface of the balls. Moreover, the timers and sound generators could be incorporated into the control panel. Alternatively, the control panels 14 and 24 could be removed and the timers 12 and 22, and sound generators 16 and 26 could mounted on the surface or internal to the balls 10 and 20.
If a control panel is not used, timers 12 and 22 and sound generators 16 and 26 could be preset to particular counts periods and sounds. Alternatively, a receiver (not shown) could be incorporated into the balls to receive control signals from a remote control device The remote control device would operate similar to the control panels 30 and 50 discussed above. The timers and sound generators could also respond to proximity signals (such as a reset for the shot clock when the shot is close to the basket), or motion detectors (such as the pass rush counting beginning on the snap motion). In other words, many types of control schemes are possible using the present invention, but only a few illustrative examples are given.
While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to some embodiment thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various other changes in the form and details may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20030109338 A1 | Jun 2003 | US |