SWIMMING TIMER

Abstract

A swimming timer including a fluid container, a fluid channel, a fluid sensor, a control circuit board and a display device. The fluid channel is connected to the fluid container and the fluid sensor, and the control circuit board is wired with the fluid sensor and the display device. The fluid container is installed and mounted on a side-wall of a swimming lane. When a swimmer starts, turns and stops, the fluid container will be touched and compressed forcing the fluid inside to flow into the fluid channel. The fluid sensor detects the fluid flow and generates electronic signals accordingly for the control circuit board and the built-in timing and stopwatch program to use as the input commands of start, lap and stop to compute the swimming time and the number of swimming laps. The display device is to show the results for the swimmer reference.

Claims

1. A swimming timer, comprising: a fluid container holding a Newtonian fluid fully inside with a fluid hole opened at the top end of the fluid container so that the Newtonian fluid is able to flow toward and through the fluid hole when the fluid container is touched to cause deformation, compression and volume decrease; a fluid channel with one end connected to the fluid hole of the fluid container to receive the flow out of the Newtonian fluid when the fluid container is touched to cause deformation, compression and volume decrease; a fluid sensor connected to the other end of the fluid channel to detect the flow of the Newtonian fluid in the fluid channel continuously and to generate electronic signals accordingly; a control circuit board providing with a central processing unit, a memory unit and plural Input and Output units that the control circuit board is connected electrically with the fluid sensor and the display device, and is built-in with drivers to operate the fluid sensor and the display device; and a display device connected electrically to the control circuit board to receive and display the computation results of the control circuit board; the fluid containers mounted and equipped on the two side-walls of a lane in a swimming pool so that a swimmer starts, turns around and reaches the end to touch and compress the fluid containers (side-walls) will cause the Newtonian fluid in the fluid containers to flow through the fluid holes into the fluid channels allowing the fluid sensors to detect the flow of the Newtonian fluid in the fluid channels.

2. The swimming timer according to claim 1, wherein the fluid container is a cubic vessel, and the width, the height and the thickness of the cubic vessel comply with the FINA (Federation Internationale de Natation) regulations of the size of touch pad of a swimming timer.

3. The fluid container according to claim 2, wherein the fluid container is formed by a structure frame, a structure back panel and a front touch panel that the structure frame and the structure back panel are rigid bodies to construct the rigidity of the fluid container and the front touch panel is an elastic plastic or metal plate so that a touch force activated by a swimmer will cause deformation of the front touch panel and volume decrease of the fluid container and that the fluid container will restore to its initial volume due to the elasticity when the touch force released.

4. The fluid container according to claim 2, wherein the Newtonian fluid in the fluid container is water or air.

5. The swimming timer according to claim 1, wherein the fluid channel is an airtight tube full of the Newtonian fluid that one end of the fluid channel connected with the fluid sensor and the other end of the fluid channel connected with the fluid hole of the fluid container.

6. The swimming timer according to claim 1, wherein a timing and stopwatch program is installed in the control circuit board to receive the electronic signals generated by the fluid sensor as the input command data of start, lap and stop required by the timing and stopwatch program to compute the swimming time and the number of swimming laps.

7. The swimming timer according to claim 1, wherein the control circuit board is connected electrically with a chargeable battery supplying electricity to the control circuit board to drive the fluid sensor, to receive the electronic signals generated by the fluid sensor, to execute the timing and stopwatch program, and to transmit the results of execution to the display device.

8. The swimming timer according to claim 1, wherein the fluid sensor is a fluid pressure sensor able to measure the pressure of fluid.

9. The swimming timer according to claim 1, wherein the fluid sensor is a fluid flow-rate sensor able to measure the flow rate of fluid.

10. The swimming timer according to claim 1, wherein the display device is the display screen of a cell phone or a computer.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] FIG. 1 shows an external and structural view of the swimming timer of the present invention.

[0011] FIG. 2 shows a schematic view of the swimming timer installed in a swimming pool, according to the present invention.

[0012] FIG. 3 shows a functional block diagram of the swimming timer of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0013] Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the present invention discloses a swimming timer, comprising mainly a fluid container 10, a control circuit board 20, a fluid sensor 30, a fluid channel 40 and a display device 50.

[0014] The fluid container 10 is a cubic vessel, and its width, height and thickness comply with the FINA (Federation Internationale de Natation) regulations of the size of the touch pad of a swimming timer. The fluid container 10 is formed by a structure frame 13, a structure back panel 14 and a front touch panel 15. The structure frame 13 and the structure back panel 14 are rigid bodies to construct the rigidity of the fluid container 10. The front touch panel 15 is a plastic or metal plate with elasticity. When a force is placed on the front touch panel 15, the volume of the fluid container 10 will decrease, whereas the fluid container 10 will restore to its original volume when the placed force is released.

[0015] The fluid container 10 holds a Newtonian fluid 11 (such as water or air) inside. A fluid hole 12 is opened at the top end of the fluid container 10 and is connected to one end of the fluid channel 40. When the front touch panel 15 of the fluid container 10 is placed a force to cause deformation, the volume of the fluid container 10 will decrease to force the Newtonian fluid 11 inside the fluid container 10 to flow toward and through the fluid hole 12 into the fluid channel 40.

[0016] The fluid sensor 30 is connected to the other end of the fluid channel 40 and is connected electrically with the control circuit board 20. The fluid sensor 30 can detect the flow of the Newtonian fluid 11 in the fluid channel 40 to generate electronic signals accordingly, and to transmit the electronic signals to the control circuit board 20 for further processing.

[0017] The control circuit board 20 is provided with a central processing unit, a memory unit and plural I/O units. The control circuit board 20 is able to control the operations of the fluid sensor 30, the display device 50 and all driving circuits connected electrically with the control circuit board 20. In addition, the control circuit board 20 is installed with a timing and stopwatch program 21. The control circuit board 20 receives the electronic signals generated by the fluid sensor 30, and the timing and stopwatch program 21 takes the electronic signals as the input command data of start, lap and stop required to compute the swimming time of the full course and every lap and to count the number of swimming laps.

[0018] The display device 50 is connected electrically with the control circuit board 20. The control circuit board 20 transmits the results of the swimming time and the number of swimming laps produced by the timing and stopwatch program 21 to the display device 50 for the swimmer to read.

[0019] By the abovementioned construction of the swimming timer, the fluid container 10 can be installed on t a side-wall 61 of a lane in a swimming pool 60, and the top edge of the structure frame 13 is made to align with the top edge of the side-wall 61 of the lane. In addition, the structure back panel 14 is fixed flat on the side-wall 61 of the lane, and the front touch panel 15 faces toward the lane and the swimmer. In a swimming course, when the swimmer starts (push off), turns (touch and push off) and stops (touch), the swimmer will place a force on the front touch panel 15 to cause deformation of the front touch panel 15. The volume of the fluid container 10 will decrease, allowing the Newtonian fluid 11 held in the fluid container 10 to flow into the fluid channel 40 through the fluid hole 12. Once the fluid sensor 30 detects the flow of the Newtonian fluid 11 in the fluid channel 40, electronic signals will be generated accordingly. The control circuit board 20 receives the electronic signals and uses the electronic signals as the input command data of start, lap and stop required by the built-in timing and stopwatch program 21 to compute the swimming time of the full course and every lap and to count the number of swimming laps. Then, the produced results of the swimming time and the number of laps are transmitted to the display device 50 for the swimmer to read. The swimmer can collect statistically the swimming time and the number of swimming laps to understand the swimming speed and performance.

[0020] Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the control circuit board 20 is connected electrically with a chargeable battery 22 to supply electricity to the control circuit board 20.

[0021] Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 again, the fluid sensor 30 can be a fluid pressure sensor to measure the fluid pressure continuously. The fluid pressure sensor is able to measure the initial pressure value of the Newtonian fluid 11 in the fluid container 10 and the fluid channel 40 at the initial state. The increase of the pressure value of the Newtonian fluid 11 relative to the initial pressure value due to the volume decrease of the fluid container 10 caused by the touch force of the swimmer can be measured. The restoration to the initial pressure value of the Newtonian fluid 11 can also be measured, when the swimmer releases the touch force and the fluid container 10 restores to its initial volume by the elasticity of the front touch panel 15.

[0022] Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 again, the fluid sensor 30 can be a fluid flow-rate sensor to measure the flow rate of the fluid continuously. The fluid flow-rate sensor is able to measure the flow rate of the Newtonian fluid 11 in the fluid channel 40 flowing from the fluid container 10, when the volume of the fluid container 10 decreases caused by the touch force of the swimmer. In addition, the reverse flow rate of the Newtonian fluid 11 in the fluid channel 40 flowing back to the fluid container 10 can also be measured, when the fluid container 10 restores to its original volume by the elasticity of the front touch panel 15 as the swimmer releases the touch force.

[0023] Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 again, the display device 50 is a screen of a cell phone or a computer.

[0024] The swimming timer of the present invention has the following advantages comparing with the prior art: [0025] 1. As the fluid sensor is used, the costs of construction and maintenance are low that the present invention can be applied widely to daily swimming training for a group or an individual. [0026] 2. The wiring layout is simple and the installation is easy that it is not necessary to set up and calibrate by professional technicians in every use. [0027] 3. The safety of use is superior. As the electric parts are installed on a far end outside the swimming pool, and only the mechanical parts are submerged in the pool water, there is no risk of electric shock to the swimmer.

[0028] It is of course to be understood that the embodiments described herein is merely illustrative of the principles of the invention and that a wide variety of modifications thereto may be effected by persons skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.