Amusement devices: games – Board games – pieces – or boards therefor – Rotatably mounted board
Patent
1992-08-26
1995-06-13
Harrison, Jessica J.
Amusement devices: games
Board games, pieces, or boards therefor
Rotatably mounted board
273 58G, A63B 4300
Patent
active
054235499
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a device for the location of golf balls comprising a transmitter unit which is arranged in the golf ball which can be actuated by means of a control unit and which transmits electromagnetic locating signals and an associated electrical storage capacitor which is likewise accommodated in the golf ball and serves as the energy store, with the storage capacitor being rechargeable for a temporally restricted operating period by means of an energy receiver arranged in the golf ball and by means of an external energy transmitter, and further comprising a portable or mobile signal receiving unit which responds to the locating signal and also an associated evaluating circuit for generating directionally dependent signals for the localization of the golf ball.
A corresponding device is known from WO-A 89/02 768. A lost golf ball can be found again in principle with this device, however account is not taken of the fact that the search for a golf ball can be made more difficult by the location signals of other golf balls. Account must namely be taken of the fact that golf balls lost by relatively many players will simply be left lying on the terrain even with the availability of a corresponding search device for locating the lost ball. This will lead to a relatively large number of balls always being present in the terrain which transmit location signals with reducing intensity corresponding to the remaining residual capacity of the energy store which supplies the transmitter units of the balls, and this can cause considerable disturbance when searching for a freshly lost ball.
Similar problems occur with devices in accordance with GB-A 11 72 449. In accordance with this document the transmitter unit arranged in the ball can be formed as a reflector for high frequency signals which are generated in an external detector which then receives the signals reflected back by the ball-side reflector and evaluates them to locate the golf ball. The ball-side transmitter unit is thus formed as a passive transmitter which draws its operating energy from a high frequency field. A similar system is also described in German utility model 87 09 503. Here the ball-side reflectors each consist of a two part foil antenna with a Varactor diode connected between their inner ends, with the Varactor diode bringing about a frequency doubling of the reflected high frequency signal. All such systems in which the golf ball contains a passive transmitter have however, the disadvantage that a lost golf ball which is left lying on the golf course, i.e. is forgotten or not sought, will at once again become active in transmission when a detector is set into operation. In this way the finding of a further lost golf ball can be made impossible or very difficult.
In GB-A 11 72 449 it is indeed proposed to provide golf balls with radioactive material the half life of which far exceeds the normal life of a golf ball. Such golf balls can admittedly be located in principle with detectors which respond to radioactive radiation, however the searching of a specific golf ball is made considerably more difficult through further golf balls lying in terrain since all lost balls are radioactive in a basically similar manner.
Accordingly it is the object of the invention to provide an arrangement for finding specific individual golf balls while precluding as far as possible sources of disturbance caused by other golf balls.
This and other objects are satisfied in accordance with the invention in an apparatus of the initially named kind in that the energy store is provided as the operating voltage source of a constant current source which supplies the transmitter unit of the golf ball and also of a control unit which actuates the transmitter unit, with the energy store having a capacity which is dimensioned for a temporally restricted operating period of the control unit and/or of the transmitter unit.
In the system of the invention it is ensured through the constant current source that the ball-side
REFERENCES:
patent: 3782730 (1974-01-01), Horchler
patent: 4660039 (1987-04-01), Barricks et al.
patent: 5083113 (1992-01-01), Slawinski et al.
Transistorized Golf Ball, "Radio Electronics", Jun. 1956 p. 79.
Harrison Jessica J.
IPU Int. Patents Utilization Ltd.
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