Patent Application
20240307754
This invention relates to boxing, combat sports and mixed martial arts, and more particularly relates to an interactive boxing glove assembly with integrated memory and virtual controls.
Boxing and mixed martial arts are combat sports wherein fighters engage each other in weaponless combat while abiding by defined rules of conduct concerning blows. Various forms of combat sports are known in the arts, including boxing and mixed martial arts (MMA). In these combat sports match, a winner is determined by knockout, winning on points, surrender, technique, and quality (determined by the location of the punch with a blow to the head possessing the most quality). Fighters become fatigued from maintaining defensive postures and attempting to strike others about the head, neck and face. Fighters are often concerned during training with the amount of force they can deliver in a blow, the number of blows which can be delivered over a predetermined period, and other metrics.
There is a need in the art for a system, device and method for tracking a fighters strength, force and agility in connection with assessing the fighter's overall performance, including punch count and force.
The following background information may present examples of specific aspects of the prior art (e.g., without limitation, approaches, facts, or common wisdom) that, while expected to be helpful to further educate the reader as to additional aspects of the prior art, is not to be construed as limiting the present invention, or any embodiments thereof, to anything stated or implied therein or inferred thereupon. In view of the foregoing, it is therefore desirable that such an apparatus and system be provided.
From the foregoing discussion, it should be apparent that a need exists for a smart boxing system and integrated memory. Beneficially, such a system and apparatus would overcome many of the difficulties with prior art by providing a simplfied assembly with integrated power supply and functionality.
The present invention has been developed in response to the present state of the art, and in particular, in response to the safety problems and needs in the art that have not yet been fully solved by currently available apparati. Accordingly, the present invention has been developed to provide a programmable smart combat glove, the glove comprising: a flexible, polymeric sleeve defining a hollow sleeve recess; a cylindrical polymeric housing defining a hollow interior recess, the housing defining a plurality of cutouts through which various components may be inserted into the hollow interior recess, wherein the cylindrical polymeric housing is insertable into the flexible, polymeric sleeve; a PCB housed within the hollow interior recess; an acceloremeter housed within the hollow interior recess; a battery housed within the hollow interior recess; a first magnetic resonance unit adapted to equalize a stored electrical charge between the battery and an external power source using magnetic induction, the magnetic resonance unit comprising: a transmitter coil, and a transmitter circuit; a display; a display housing having a planar rearward surface; and a NFC sensor.
The apparatus may further comprise persistent computer-readable memory. In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises a plurality of accelerometers.
The apparatus may be further adapted to share media wirelessly with one or more separate gloves using Bluetooth® technology. The first magnetic resonance unit may abut the display housing.
A programmable smart glove assembly is provided, the assembly comprising: a first technology bar comprising: a flexible, polymeric sleeve defining a hollow sleeve recess; a cylindrical polymeric housing defining a hollow interior recess, the housing defining a plurality of cutouts through which various components may be inserted into the hollow interior recess, wherein the cylindrical polymeric housing is insertable into the flexible, polymeric sleeve; a PCB housed within the hollow interior recess; an acceloremeter housed within the hollow interior recess; a battery housed within the hollow interior recess; a first magnetic resonance unit adapted to equalize a stored electrical charge between the battery and an external power source using magnetic induction, the magnetic resonance unit comprising: a transmitter coil, and a transmitter circuit; a display; a display housing having a planar rearward surface; and a NFC sensor; a second technology bar comprising: a flexible, polymeric sleeve defining a hollow sleeve recess; a cylindrical polymeric housing defining a hollow interior recess, the housing defining a plurality of cutouts through which various components may be inserted into the hollow interior recess, wherein the cylindrical polymeric housing is insertable into the flexible, polymeric sleeve; a PCB housed within the hollow interior recess; an acceloremeter housed within the hollow interior recess; a battery housed within the hollow interior recess; a first magnetic resonance unit adapted to equalize a stored electrical charge between the battery and an external power source using magnetic induction, the magnetic resonance unit comprising: a transmitter coil, and a transmitter circuit; a NFC sensor adapted to activate the display of the first technology bar when brought into physical contact therewith.
These features and advantages of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims, or may be learned by the practice of the invention as set forth hereinafter.
In order that the advantages of the invention will be readily understood, a more particular description of the invention briefly described above will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments that are illustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are not therefore to be considered to be limiting of its scope, the invention will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings, in which:
Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” or similar language means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment,” “in an embodiment,” and similar language throughout this specification may, but do not necessarily, all refer to the same embodiment.
Furthermore, the described features, structures, or characteristics of the invention may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In the following description, numerous specific details are provided to convey a thorough understanding of embodiments of the invention. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize, however, that the invention may be practiced without one or more of the specific details, or with other methods, components, materials, and so forth. In other instances, well-known structures, materials, or operations are not shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of the invention.
The apparatus 100 comprises a boxing glove or MMA glove having a glove member 102. A strap of the glove member 106 is adapted to circumscribe the wrist and a boxing NFC (near field communication) 502 positions on the strap 106. In various embodiments, the NFC sensor 502 protrudes through one or more apertures in the strap 106.
The glove member 102 may be fabricated from any polymeric or organic material, including nylon and leather. In various embodiments, the glove member 102 comprises padding.
The apparatus 200 comprises a polymeric sleeve 202 into which a cylindrical housing 206 inserts. The cylindrical housing 206 comprises a PCB 204 and a plurality of sensors 214 which may position anywhere within the cylindrical housing 206. These sensors 214 may include an accelorometer 214, a pressure sensor and a Bluetooth transceiver. In various embodiments, the sensors 214 are in connectivity with the PCB 204. The sensors 214 may comprise sensors adapted to track the trajectory of a punch, the force of a punch, the speed of a punch, a number (or quantity) of punches.
In some embodiments, the apparatus includes a plurality of accelormeters 214, each adopted to measure one of yaw, pitch, roll, lateral force, longitudinal force, and the like. The PCB is configured to receive input from these acceloremeters 214 and determine, based input, which direction the combat glove 100 is traveling and at what orientation.
The polymeric sleeve 202, cylindrical housing 206, power supply 208, PCB 204, and sensors 214 together form the technology bar 304.
The technology bar 304 and/or the polymeric sleeve 202 may be cylindrical or arcuate, and may be adapted to be gripped within a glove member 102.
The cylindrical housing 206 may define a plurality of recesses, or cutouts 209, for facilitating insertion and extraction of components interior to the cylindrical housing 206.
The apparatus 200 may be programmable using an interface on the touch display 402 and/or the tactile buttons 108.
The touch display 402 in the shown embodiment comprises resistive touchscreen which may be flexible, including an input device layered an electronic visual display, such as an LCD screen or plasma screen. The touch display 402 may comprise several layers including two or more electrically-resistive layers separate by a compressible insulator. The the outer layer is pressed against the inner layer by a wearer of the headphones. The touch display may be flexible and may be shatter resistant. The touch display 402 may comprise a plasma, LCD, OLED, to other displays known to those of skill in the art.
The touch display 402 may also comprise a capacitive touch screen, a surface acoustic wave touch screen, an infrared grid, or other type of touchscreen commonly known to those of skill in the art. The touch display 402 is a high resolution digital display which may comprise a plurality of florescent lamps behind a diffuser.
The apparatus 200 may comprise means for relaying and receiving electrical signals enabling device-to-device communication (meaning wireless transmission of media between apparati 200 in glove member 102 in close proximity). The apparatus 200 may be configured to make use of the Bluetooth® protocols and procedures enabling device-to-device intercommunication connectivity. This functionality may be provided by incorporating the Bluetooth Intercom Profile® and/or the Bluetooth Telephony Profile®, or other wireless technologies known to those of skill in the art.
This communication may be in accordance with core specifications of one or more subsets of Bluetooth® profiles, wherein the core specifications comprise one or more of: the Cordless Telephony Profile (CTP), the Device ID Profile (DIP), the Dial-up Networking Profile (DUN), the File Transfer Profile (FTP), the Hands-Free Profile (HFP), the Human Interface Device Profile (HID), the Headset Profile (HSP), and the Intercom Profile (ICP), the Proximity Profile (PXP).
Multiple systems or apparati 200 may be networked together and information including media exchanged between them wirelessly. Virtual, touch-activated controls may be displayed on the touch display 402 which alternatively may be activated by the user to enable wireless functionality and modified replay of media.
The touch display 402 is housed within a polymeric or metal alloy screen housing 216 (or display housing), which may have a planar rearward surface.
The touch screen assembly 222 comprises the touch screen 402, the screen housing 216, and inductive power transfer unit 218.
The assembly 200 may include wireless power transfer functionality for inductive charging of the power supply 208. In various embodiments, the device 200 comprises a magnetic resonance (or inductive power transfer) unit 218 for charging the apparatus sitting in close proximity to the apparatus 200.
In various other embodiments, the apparatus 200 comprises a plurality of magnetic resonance (or inductive power transfer) units 218 for charging the power supply 208 by drawing power using from an adjacent inductive power transfer unit. The unit 208 may be positioned in abutment with the screen housing 216.
A transmitter circuit 218 sends the high frequency alternating current to a transmitter coil, which induces a time-varying magnetic field in the transmitter coil. The magnetic field generates current within the receiver coil of the receiving device 200. Energy is transmitted between the transmitter in unit's 218 receiver coil using resonant (or magnetic) coupling and is achieved by the transmitter coil and the receiver coil resonating at the same frequency. Current flowing within the receiver coil is converted into direct current by the receiver circuit, which uses the current to charge the battery 208.
Electrical current within the apparatus 200 may originate with the power supply 208. In various embodiments, the apparatus 200 comprises a PCBA for managing power input from lower magnetic resonance unit 218 to the battery 208.
The PCBA 112 mechanically supports and electrically connects electronic components of the apparatus 200 and is well-known to those of skill in the art.
The apparatus 200, 300 may also comprise a housing cap 210 and flexible wire 212 for interconnecting the various components of the apparatus 200, 300.
As shown, the display 402 positions on an inside surface of the strap 106 of the glove 400. In some embodiments, the display 402 positions on an exterior surface of the glove 400.
The glove 500 comprises an NFC sensor 502 adapted to interface with a display on an adjacent glove using RFID technology. In the shown embodiment, the NFC sensor 502 in affixed to the strap 106 on the inside of the glove 102. In other embodiments, the NFC sensor 502 may position on the outside of the glove 102.
In various embodiments, various numbers of taps and duration of taps from the NFC connector with a connector on an adjacent glove causes the graphical user interface, or display 402, to be activated and/or virtual controls navigated. For instance, bringing the NFC connector 502 into contact with another glove may activate various sensors 214 or activate the display 402 on an adjacent glove. In various embodiments, when the NFC sensors 502 are taps together for 2-15 seconds, the display 402 is activated. In other embodiments, once the display is activated, each tap may progress the interface shown on the display 402 from one box 602 to another 604. The display 402 may also be deactivated by holding the gloves 102a-b together for a predetermined period of time, such as 2-15 seconds.
In various embodiments, the glove 500 additionally or alternatively comprises tactile controls which may include a plurality of arcuate buttons concentrically arranged (not shown). The depressible buttons may comprise volume controls or navigation controls.
Each of the four boxes 602-608 shown display various information to a viewer of the glove 400 on the display 402. In various embodiments, the system 100-600 is configured to prompt the viewer to press and hold the display 402 to begin a training session and again to end a training session.
Metrics from a training session may be displayed on the display 402, including the pressure exerted by a punch, the velocity of the punch or a plurality of punches, the vector traveled by the glove, a number of punches made over a predetermined period, and various other metrics exclusively-associated with thrusts, kicks or punches.
The system 100-600 may comprise a camera for recording video media of training motions. The camera may be forward-facing enabling a wearer to film video of targets in front of the system 600.
The system 100-600 may also comprises persistent computer-readable memory. The memory may comprise a memory card, and is well-known to those of skill in the art. The memory may be insertable and removable from a positioning slot defined by the housing 206.
The housing 206 may be formed from polymeric, metallic, or metal alloys and defines a hollow interior recess for receiving and housing a number of components.
As shown, the display assembly 222 may be affixed to an exterior surface of the strap 106 such that the display assembly 222 protrudes laterally.
In various embodiments, the smart combat system 600 may be inserted into a soccer ball, football, baseball, or the like.
The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics. The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. All changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.
