Patent Grant
10080946
This invention relates to equipment used in the sport of fencing, and more particularly to electrically conductive fencing strips used to record scores in competition.
Fencing is a highly competitive and strenuous sport for two contestants (“fencers”). Fencing takes place on a conductive narrow elongated surface, known as a piste, or fencing strip. A fencing competition involves two contestants (fencers) wearing appropriate protective clothing and face masks. In competition, the fencers are judged by a referee who monitors the fencer's activities as each competitor attempts to score touches on key areas of the other one's body with his or her blade. The goal is to touch the tip or edge of the weapon onto the valid surfaces of the competitor. Valid surfaces vary between the different branches of fencing, which are called foil, epee and sabre. Epee and foil blades have electrical contacts on their tips that respond to a touch. The surface of the fencing strip is electrically conductive. Saber blades employ a conductive blade surface. A body cord connects the weapon to the fencer's protective clothing. The floor is conductive so that the electronic signaling unit can receive signals from the weapons and protective clothing and differentiate between a touch landing on the foot of a fencer and a touch landing near the foot but on the floor, which is not a valid touch. The lights on electronic signaling units are green and red (showing touches by one or the other fencer), while touches made on invalid surfaces are shown by white lights for each fencer separately.
When constructed from aluminum (or another metallic) sheet, the fencing strip includes an exposed top surface that is electrically conductive. It is often constructed from aluminum sheet that may or may not include perforations or other structures thereon. The fencing strip is constructed in segments that are joined at joint lines for easy assembly, disassembly, storage and subsequent re-assembly. Appropriate mechanical fasteners and connectors can be used to join the segments together. A fully constructed fencing strip can extend up to at least 17 meters.
Touch signals from each fencer are transmitted through the wires via a connecting cable system to a central scoring console. The scoring console can include a time clock and a pair of score displays/pylons. The entire surface of the strip is conductive and provides a ground plane connected to the competitors When a blade conductively contacts the strip surface during competition, the control system in the console recognizes the touch as one with the strip and registers no score. The conductive surface in combination with an interconnection to the scoring console enables such differentiation.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a system that enables a ready display of the score and touches by fencers, regardless of where the fencers are positioned along the fencing strip. It is also desirable to provide displays of advertising and sponsorship to defray costs of events and fencing organizations.
The present invention overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art by providing a selectable boundary fencing strip that can comprise a plurality of strip segments of similar size and shape, each provided with a conductive perforated top surface that includes a plurality of holes; a plurality of internal hollow channels within the material of the strip segments; a plurality of illumination sources located within each of the channels, each illumination source being connected to a strip that includes a circuit board and is connected to a floor of the channel by an adhesive, each being constructed and arranged to indicate each of a plurality of different illumination effects, the illumination sources each being located beneath the conductive perforated top surface, the conductive top surface being perforated so that the illumination sources project illumination, and their illumination being visible through the perforations; a connection between the illumination sources and a control board for control of the illumination sources by switching the illumination sources on and off; a connection between the control board for control of the illumination sources and a computing device that includes a control application; and a plurality of pre-set illuminated boundaries that can be selected and modified. The perforated holes can be constructed with a diameter of 3 mm. Each of the strip segments can be constructed with six hollow channels and six columns of perforated holes. The hollow channels can be of equal sizes. The hollow channels can be of unequal sizes and can be provided with more than one strip of illumination sources. The perforation holes can be arranged in a plurality of columns that are aligned such that the holes form ranks with each other. The perforation holes can be arranged in a plurality of columns that are aligned such that each of the columns is offset relative to the others. The illumination effects can be displays of scores for competitors competing in a competition, logos for event sponsors and logos for event hosts.
The invention description below refers to the accompanying drawings, of which:
A fencing strip assembly 100 and scoring console assembly 150 are shown in
A wiring harness 121 for the purpose of transmitting power and instructions to each LED strip to illuminate is disposed within each of the side stringers 112 to connect the LEDs of each strip segment 110 to a power supply and control unit 122. The control unit 122 can include a user interface and a processor that enables the operator to instruct lighting arrangements that cause various of the LED strips to illuminate in a particular color and pattern, for example, an illuminated bar 130, an event logo 132, or the logo of a sponsor 134. In other embodiments, the illuminated displays of the LED strips can include scores, animations, or other images.
The length LS of the competitive length of the strip assembly 100 can vary depending upon the class of the competitors and can be varied by adding or removing strip assemblies 110 to the desired length. For example, a senior setting describes an active area of 14 meters in length and 1.5 meters in width WS for a fencer over 16 years of age and of largest stature. A junior setting describes an active area of 11.20 meters in length and 1.5 meters in width for a fencer between the ages of 10 and 15 years and of middle stature. A cadet setting describes an active area of 11.20 meters in length and 1 meter in width for a fencer between the ages of 7 and 9 years and of smallest stature. The length and width can also be modified by changing illuminations, that is to say, creating illuminated side lines 140 and end lines 142 that can be expanded or contracted by input by the operator to the control unit 122. The scoring relies upon contact by the fencers with an opponent's fencing epee (in other embodiments, a saber). These contacts (touches′) complete a circuit that links the epee to the competitor's tunic that is connected to the fencer's shoes that are in turn connected electrically to the strip and, in turn can be connected to the scoring console assembly 150. This can be connected to an interface system of the electronic signaling unit that can send signals to the LED lights within the fencing strip that will then be illuminated in different colors from within the fencing strip, the colors selected according to the particular fencer and the validity of the touch.
The scoring console assembly 150 can include one or more illuminated scoring towers 152, a timing clock display 154, a scoring display surface 156 and various lights 158 for illuminating contacts between the competitors.
As used herein the directional terms, such as, but not limited to, “up” and “down”, “upward” and “downward”, “rear”, “rearward” and “forward”, “top” and “bottom”, “inside” and “outer”, “front” and “back”, “inner” and “outer”, “interior” and “exterior”, “downward” and “upward”, “horizontal” and “vertical” should be taken as relative conventions only, rather than absolute indications of orientation or direction with respect to a direction of the force of gravity.
Portions of the fencing strip assembly 100 can be illuminated so as to produce either a static or moving image 200, as shown in
A portion of a fencing strip segment 110 is shown in
The strip segment 110 of
The individual holes 116 can be formed in any shape, depending on the availability of cutting broaches. In an embodiment, the holes are circular in shape. The diameter HD of an exemplary hole is 3 mm in an illustrative embodiment. The hole 116 functions as a light pipe to transfer illumination from an LED through the body of the strip assembly 110, creating an illumination that is visible both to the participants and the audience. While the diameter of the holes can vary, holes larger than 3 mm in diameter can allow too much light for the illumination, thereby “washing” out the effect, while holes smaller than 3 mm can be restrictive as to how much illumination is transmitted. While the holes 116 as presented in
The cross-sectional view in
The channels 402 can be machined within the material of a strip segment. Given that the strip is metallic, either aluminum, an aluminum alloy or another metal, the machining itself will provide a finish to the surface of the channel walls that can be polished to increase the reflectivity of the channel walls, thereby increasing the strength of the illumination effect as light passes more easily through the holes 116 after bouncing around the interior surfaces of the various channels. It is contemplated that a more reflective surface material can be applied to the interior surfaces of the channels, so that each channel surface becomes a mirror and most of the light emitted by the LEDs eventually passes through the holes 116, thereby greatly increasing the luminosity of the illumination effects. Such a surface treatment can be an applied paint, applied layer of a reflective foil, or other treatment.
It is further contemplated that other illumination sources, or a mixture thereof, can be used as replacements for the LED strips described in the foregoing. For example, a plasma lighting source, a fluorescent bulb arrangement, illumination by an array of fiber optical cables, or another light source can be installed instead of LED strips. It is further contemplated that utilizing stronger LED bulbs or alternative illumination sources can result in heat build up within the channels as a result of sustained illumination, and that heat radiating ports and/or ventilation ports assisted by forced air can be desirable modifications to the fencing strip assembly. In the illustrative embodiment, the top surface 118 of the strip segment 110 is milled so that small ridges 430 are created to provide traction for the competitors and officials when moving back and forth along the strip assembly.
The connectors 504 are connected by wires 502 to a LED controller 506. The LED controller 506 receives instructions from an operator via a control application 516 and relays those instructions via at least one connector 504 to various of the LED bulbs in their respective LED strips to create a desired illumination effect. A computer 510 is provided with a user input assembly 512 (for example, touch pads, voice activation, a keyboard and/or a mouse) and a Graphic User Interface (GUI) that is presented on a GUI display 514. A wiring harness can connect the computer 510 to the LED controller 506.
In other embodiments, the various LED strips can be provided with a wireless receiver for instructions for the LED bulbs to switch on and off that can be linked to a wireless transmitter in the computer. The computer 510 can be a tablet device, personal communications device (for example, a phone) or another personal computing device.
A strip segment 110 wherein the holes 116 are arranged in columns that are offset with respect to each other and do not form rows perpendicular to the plane of the strip segment as described in
It should be clear that the embodiments of the selectable boundary fencing strip described above provides a system that can be used to project graphics upon a fencing strip. These illuminations can present a conventional fencing piste, lines scores and information about competitors, and logos for sponsors and hosts of the event. Such graphics can be fixed or changeable and are controllable by an operator. The graphics can be presented to simulate animated movement. The illuminating sources are placed within channels that can be machined within the material of the strip segments and can connect, via connectors to a LED controller and in turn, to a power source and a user input device (i.e., a computer).
The foregoing has been a detailed description of illustrative embodiments of the invention. Various modifications and additions can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention. Features of each of the various embodiments described above may be combined with features of other described embodiments as appropriate in order to provide a multiplicity of feature combinations in associated new embodiments. Furthermore, while the foregoing describes a number of separate embodiments of the apparatus and method of the present invention, what has been described herein is merely illustrative of the application of the principles of the present invention. For example, using multi-color light arrays, various colors can be accommodated without increasing the size of the illumination array's footprint within the strip. The illumination effects can be automatically generated when a touch occurs by pre-programming using the control application. In a similar fashion, an illumination of the current scores in the fencing strip can be programmed for after a touch occurs, updating itself as the scores change. Between matches, the strip illumination can feature sponsor logos, event hosts and promotions for the event location and future events. In a further embodiment, the illumination effects can be furnished for financial remuneration to benefit an organization, the teams, or charities. In another embodiment, emergency information can be displayed in the event of an emergency, such as a sudden illness or injury of a competitor or spectator, or evacuation of the facility (for example, providing a giant arrow to point out the emergency exits). Accordingly, this description is meant to be taken only by way of example, and not to otherwise limit the scope of this invention.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/400,009, entitled SELECTABLE BOUNDARY FENCING STRIP, filed Sep. 26, 2016, the teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference.
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| 20160351619 | Cramer | Dec 2016 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62400009 | Sep 2016 | US |
