Apparatus and methods for determining loft time and speed
US5636146A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Nov 21, 1994 |
| Grant date | Jun 3, 1997 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Nov 21, 2014 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01S15/60
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
The invention detects the loft time and/or speed of a vehicle, such as a sporting vehicle, during activities of moving and jumping. A loft sensor detects when the vehicle leaves the ground and when the vehicle returns to the ground. A microprocessor subsystem converts the sensed information to determine a loft time. A display shows the recorded loft time to a user of the system. In addition, a speed sensor can detect the vehicle's speed for selective display to the user. The invention can be used, for example, in sporting activities such as snowboarding where users loft into the air on ski jumps and catch "air" time but have no quantitative measure of the actual time lapse in the air. Therefore, users in skiing can use invention to record, store, and playback selected information relating to their sporting day, including the total amount of "air" time for the day and information such as dead time, i.e., time not spent on the slopes.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.