Golf clubs and golf club heads

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9433844-B2
Application number	US-201313906346-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 31, 2013
Priority date	Apr 28, 2011
Publication date	Sep 6, 2016
Grant date	Sep 6, 2016

Abstract

Golf clubs according to at least some example aspects of this disclosure may include a golf club head and a shaft configured to engage with the golf club head which includes a grip engaged with the shaft. Further, the golf club may include a monitoring device, which includes a sensor and a transmitter. Additionally, the monitoring device may be configured to determine data related to the characteristics of a golf swing. Further, the monitoring device may be configured to transmit the data related to the characteristics of a golf swing to a remote computer.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A golf club configured to determine aspects related to a golf swing, comprising:
a golf club head;
a shaft; and
a monitoring device configured to be engaged with the golf club, comprising:
a power supply; and
one or more components which are configured to receive power from the power supply,

wherein the monitoring device is configured to:
enter a hibernation state when the monitoring device determines that there has been no movement of the golf club for a predetermined amount of time, wherein, during the hibernation state, at least one of the one or more of the components receive less power from the power supply as compared with a use state which includes the monitoring device collecting data related to at least one characteristic of a golf swing; and
exit the hibernation state when the monitoring device detects a specified amount of movement of the golf club.

2. The golf club of claim 1 , wherein the one or more components include a first sensor configured to determine data related to the at least one characteristic of a golf swing.

3. The golf club of claim 2 , wherein the one or more components include at least a second sensor configured to determine data related to the at least one characteristic of a golf swing,
wherein the monitoring device is further configured to selectively use, in the use state, the first sensor instead of the second sensor to determine data related to the at least one characteristic of a golf swing when a predefined condition is satisfied or receive data from both the first sensor and the second sensor and selectively use data from the first sensor instead of the second sensor to determine data related to the at least one characteristic of a golf swing when a predefined condition is satisfied.

4. The golf club of claim 3 , wherein the first sensor is configured to measure the at least one characteristic with a first sensitivity and the second sensor is configured to measure the at least one characteristic with a second sensitivity, which is different than the first sensitivity.

5. The golf club of claim 2 , wherein the at least one characteristic is at least one of: angular velocity of the golf club during a golf swing, or acceleration of a golf club during a golf swing.

6. The golf club of claim 2 , wherein the one or more components further include a second sensor, wherein, during the hibernation state, the first sensor receives less power than the second sensor such that the second sensor is configured to detect the specified amount of movement of the golf club during the hibernation state.

7. The golf club of claim 1 , wherein the specified amount of movement of the golf club corresponds to a threshold angular velocity or a threshold acceleration.

8. The golf club of claim 1 , wherein the specified amount of movement includes a predefined motion signature.

9. The golf club of claim 8 , wherein the golf club includes a sensor configured to detect motion and wherein the monitoring device is configured to detect the specified amount of movement of the golf club by comparing motion data detected by the sensor to the predefined motion signature.

10. The golf club of claim 1 , wherein the golf club is further configured to exit the hibernation state upon receiving a command from a remote device.

11. The golf club of claim 10 , wherein the remote device includes a mobile communication device.

12. The golf club of claim 1 , further comprising:
a removable section configured to receive the monitoring device, wherein the removable section includes one or more protrusions configured to engage with the monitoring device.

13. The golf club of claim 1 , wherein the one or more components of the monitoring device includes at least one of: an accelerometer, a gyroscope.

14. A golf club configured to determine aspects related to a golf swing, comprising:
a golf club head;
a shaft; and
a monitoring device configured to be engaged with the golf club, comprising:
at least a first sensor configured to determine data related to at least one characteristic of a golf swing; and
at least a second sensor configured to determine data related to at least one characteristic of a golf swing;
wherein the monitoring device is configured to:
selectively use the first sensor instead of the second sensor to determine data related to at least one characteristic of a golf swing when a predefined condition is satisfied,
distinguish between different types of swings of the golf club based on detecting, by the monitoring device, predefined movement of the golf club, and
associate data received from at least one of the first sensor and the second sensor with a corresponding one of the different types of swings.

15. The golf club of claim 14 , wherein the monitoring device determines that the predefined movement of the golf club corresponds to a first type of swing when the data received from at least one of the first sensor or the second sensor is within a predetermined range or matches a predetermined value.

16. The golf club of claim 15 , wherein the predetermined range or the predetermined value relates to a predetermined angular velocity associated with a predefined typical practice swing of the golf club.

17. The golf club of claim 16 , wherein the predetermined range or the predetermined value includes a particular graphical range of the data received from at least one of the first sensor and the second sensor and associated with the typical practice swing of the golf club when the data is plotted.

18. The golf club of claim 17 , wherein the monitoring device is configured to end associating data received from at least one of the first sensor and the second sensor with a particular swing after a predetermined time has elapsed from recognition of the typical practice swing of the golf club by the monitoring device.

19. The golf club of claim 15 , wherein the monitoring device is further configured to:
record and store data from a prior swing corresponding to the first type of swing, and
determine the predetermined range or predetermined value for the first type of swing based on the stored data for the prior swing.

20. The golf club of claim 15 , wherein each of the types of swings are associated with a corresponding predetermined value or predetermined range.

21. The golf club of claim 14 , wherein the first sensor has a first sensitivity and the second sensor has a second sensitivity different from the first sensitivity.

22. The golf club of claim 14 , wherein the different types of swings includes a pre-shot movement of the golf club, and wherein the monitoring device is configured to associate detected data with a golf shot only after detecting an end of the pre-shot movement.

23. The golf club of claim 22 , wherein the monitoring device is configured to associate detected data with a golf shot only after a predefined amount of time has elapsed after detecting the end of the pre-shot movement.

24. The golf club of claim 22 , wherein the end of the pre-shot movement is detected based on user input.

25. The golf club of claim 22 , wherein the end of the pre-shot movement is detected based on matching the data received from the at least one of the first sensor and the second sensor to a predefined pre-shot movement signature.

26. A monitoring device configured to determine aspects related to a swing of a piece of sports equipment comprising:
a c

Assignees

• Nike Inc

Inventors

• Boyd Robert
• Stites John T
• Lafortune Mario A
• Hatton Philip
• Wallans Michael

Classifications

• A63B2220/40

  Acceleration · CPC title

• A63B2220/833

  Sensors arranged on the exercise apparatus or sports implement · CPC title

• G09B19/0038

  Sports · CPC title

• G06F3/0346

  with detection of the device orientation or free movement in a three-dimensional [3D] space, e.g. 3D mice, 6-DOF [six degrees of freedom] pointers using gyroscopes, accelerometers or tilt-sensors · CPC title

• A63B69/3617

  Striking surfaces with impact indicating means, e.g. markers · CPC title