Putter assembly having an image sensor and display associated therewith

Abstract

A putter assembly, configured to facilitate improved alignment by enabling the face angle of the putter to be properly aligned with the hole, including: (a) an elongated shaft; (b) a putter head; (c) a grip; (d) an image sensor, wherein the image sensor is associated with at least one of the putter head and the elongated shaft; (e) a display, wherein the display is in communication with the image sensor; and (f) an energy source, wherein the energy source is in electrical communication with the image sensor and the display.

Claims

1. A putter assembly, configured to facilitate improved alignment by enabling a face angle of the putter to be properly aligned with a pin/hole, comprising:—an elongated shaft;—a putter head;—a grip;—a mounting assembly secured to the elongated shaft, wherein the mounting assembly includes a primary body, a securement member, an adjustable sensor housing and one or more fasteners, and wherein a bottom surface of the primary body contacts a top surface of the putter head and further wherein a top surface of the primary body contacts a bottom surface of the adjustable sensor housing;—an image sensor, wherein the image sensor is associated with at least one of the putter head and the elongated shaft;—a display, wherein the display is in communication with the image sensor, and the display contacts and forms part of the putter head; and—an energy source, wherein the energy source is positioned within the primary body of the mounting assembly and is in electrical communication with the image sensor and the display.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Certain embodiments of the present invention are illustrated by the accompanying figures. It will be understood that the figures are not necessarily to scale and that details not necessary for an understanding of the invention or that render other details difficult to perceive may be omitted.

(2) It will be further understood that the invention is not necessarily limited to the particular embodiments illustrated herein.

(3) The invention will now be described with reference to the drawings wherein:

(4) FIG. 1 of the drawings is a perspective view of a putter assembly of the present invention;

(5) FIG. 2 of the drawings is a fragmented (i.e., partial shaft without grip) perspective view of the putter assembly of FIG. 1 showing the golf ball in play and on the display;

(6) FIG. 3 of the drawings is a top view of the putter assembly of FIG. 2;

(7) FIG. 4 of the drawings is a rear view of the putter assembly of FIG. 2;

(8) FIG. 5 of the drawings is a front view of the putter assembly of FIG. 2;

(9) FIG. 6 of the drawings is a front view of the putter assembly of FIG. 2 showing an image sensor in a first adjustment position;

(10) FIG. 7 of the drawings is a front view of the putter assembly of FIG. 2 showing an image sensor in a second adjustment position;

(11) FIG. 8 of the drawings is schematic representation of an electronics assembly for use in accordance with the present invention;

(12) FIG. 9 of the drawings is a representation of a display read out in accordance with the present invention;

(13) FIG. 10 of the drawings is a fragmented (i.e., partial shaft without grip) perspective view of a first alternative embodiment of a putter assembly of the present invention;

(14) FIG. 11 of the drawings is a front view of the putter assembly of FIG. 10;

(15) FIG. 12 of the drawings is a front view of the putter assembly of FIG. 10 showing an image sensor in a first adjustment position;

(16) FIG. 13 of the drawings is a front view of the putter assembly of FIG. 10 showing an image sensor in a second adjustment position;

(17) FIG. 14 of the drawings is a fragmented (i.e., partial shaft without grip) perspective view of a second alternative embodiment of a putter assembly of the present invention; and

(18) FIG. 15 of the drawings is a front view of the putter assembly of FIG. 14.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(19) While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms and applications, there are shown in the drawings and described herein in detail several specific embodiments with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the embodiments illustrated.

(20) It will be understood that like or analogous elements and/or components, referred to herein, may be identified throughout the drawings by like reference characters. In addition, it will be understood that the drawings are merely schematic representations of one or more embodiments of the invention, and some of the components may have been distorted from their actual scale for purposes of pictorial clarity.

(21) In accordance with the present invention, the putter assemblies disclosed herein include one or more image sensors and displays that facilitate improved alignment for golf practice and play.

(22) Referring now to the drawings, and to FIGS. 1-7 in particular, a first embodiment of putter assembly 10, is shown as generally comprising elongated shaft 12, putter head 14, grip 16, image sensor 18, display 20, and energy source 22.

(23) Elongated shaft 12 includes a length (L), proximal end 24, and distal end 26. Elongated shaft 12 is preferably fabricated from metal, wood, and/or a graphite. These shafts are available from, for example, True Temper Sports (e.g., Dynamic Gold, Rifle) Nippon, and Aerotech—among others. It will be understood that elongated shaft 12 may house, comprise, and/or form part of any one of the components of putter assembly 10.

(24) Putter head 14 preferably includes toe 28, heel 30, face 32, sole 34, one or more upper/top surfaces 36. Putter head 14 is preferably secured to distal end 26 of elongated shaft 12. Putter head 14 may comprise any one of a number of types or forms, including, but not limited to, a blade, a half-mallet, and/or a mallet.

(25) In accordance with the present invention, putter head 14 is preferably fabricated from a material selected from the group consisting of a metal, a metal alloy, a natural resin, a synthetic resin, a plastic, a composite, carbon and/or wood.

(26) Grip 16 is preferably associated with proximal end 24 of elongated shaft 12. Grip 16 is secured over a portion of shaft 12 via conventional means. Non-limiting examples of suitable putter grips include those commercially available from Golf Pride, Lamkin, Winn, Ping, and Super Stroke—just to name a few.

(27) Image sensor 18 is preferably associated with, secured to, and/or forms part of putter head 14 and/or elongated shaft 12. In one embodiment (See FIGS. 1-7) image sensor 18 is secured to top surface 36 of putter head 14. In another embodiment (See FIGS. 10-13) image sensor 18 is secured to elongated shaft 12 proximate the hosel or distal end. In yet another embodiment (See FIGS. 14-15) one or more image sensor 18 are secured to and/or forms part of face 32 of putter head 14.

(28) In one embodiment of the present invention, the putter assembly comprises one or more image sensors 18 for providing a user with an image (e.g., a photo, a video). Such images are real time and, among other things, enable the face angle of the putter to be properly aligned with the target (e.g., hole, pin, etcetera). Examples of suitable image sensors include video camera tubes, semiconductor charge-coupled devices (CCD), active pixel sensor in complementary metal-oxide-semiconductors (CMOS), N-type metal-oxide-semiconductors (NMOS, Live MOS), and back-side illuminated complementary metal-oxide-semiconductors (BSI-CMOS).

(29) It will be understood that the above-identified image sensors are commercially available from a plurality of sources, including Agilent, Aptina, Canesta, Canon, Caeleste, CMOSIS, Dalsa, Eastman Kodak, ESS Technology, Fujifilm, MagnaChip, Matsushita, MAZeT GmbH, Mitsubishi, Nikon OmniVision Technologies, ON Semiconductor, Cypress Semiconductor, PixArt Imaging, Pixim, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, STMicroelectronics, Toshiba, TowerJazz, Town Line Technologies, TransChip, Trusight and Trusense Imaging—just to name a few suppliers.

(30) Additional examples of suitable image sensors for use in accordance with the present invention include U.S. Pat. No. 6,359,323 B1 entitled “Color image sensor and method for fabricating the same,” United States Patent Application Publication No. 2006/0043261 A1 entitled “Solid state image pickup device and image pickup system comprising it,” U.S. Pat. No. 7,129,979 B1 entitled “Image sensor pixel for global electronic shuttering,” United States Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0147059 A1 entitled “Method for manufacturing CMOS image sensor having microlens therein with high photosensitivity,” U.S. Pat. No. 5,990,506 A entitled “Active pixel sensors with substantially planarized color filtering elements,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,235,549 B1 entitled “Method and apparatus for employing a light shield to modulate pixel color responsivity,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,765,276 B2 entitled “Bottom antireflection coating color filter process for fabricating solid state image sensors,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,486,913 B1 entitled “Pixel array with shared reset circuitry,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,872,584 B2 entitled “Solid state image sensor and method for fabricating the same,” United States Patent Application Publication No. 2006/0011813 A1 entitled “Image sensor having a passivation layer exposing at least a main pixel array region and methods of fabricating the same,” United States Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0187793 A1 entitled “Filter, color filter array, method of manufacturing the color filter array, and image sensor,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,379,992 B2 entitled “Method for fabricating an image sensor,” United States Patent Application Publication No. 2006/0138500 A1 entitled “CMOS image sensor and method for fabricating the same,” United States Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0263839 A1 entitled “Photoelectric converting film stack type solid-state image pickup device, and method of producing the same,” United States Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0090274 A1 entitled “Image sensors including active pixel sensor arrays,” United States Patent Application Publication No. 2006/0157761 A1 entitled “Image sensor with self-boosting and methods of operating and fabricating the same,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,369,417 B1 entitled “CMOS image sensor and method for fabricating the same,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,127,668 A entitled “Solid state image pickup device and method for manufacturing the same,” United States Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0023802 A1 entitled “CMOS image sensor and method of fabricating the same,” United States Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0090035 A1 entitled “Method for fabricating CMOS image sensor protecting low temperature oxide delamination,” and United States Patent Application Publication No. 2006/0261342 A1 entitled “Imaging device having a pixel cell with a transparent conductive interconnect line and the method of making the pixel cell”—all of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entirety, including all references cited therein.

(31) Display 20 is in communication with image sensor(s) 18 and provide the user with an output image of what the image sensor is reading/observing. This image may be unaltered or augmented with additional data for the user, such as distance to the hole, adjusted distance to the hole, STIMP conditions, layers for straight putts and/or layers for putts impacted by slope and/or break. Additional details pertaining to the functionality and information provided by display 20 are disclosed hereinbelow with reference to FIG. 9.

(32) Preferably, display 20 is associated with the putter head, but it also may be associated with elongated shaft 12 and/or a portable electronic device (e.g., smart phones, Apple iPhones, Samsung Galaxy, tablets, Apple iPads, Microsoft Surface Pros, Apple Watches, digital watches, etcetera).

(33) Non-limiting examples of displays include, for example, LCD displays, passive matrix displays, active matrix displays, LED displays, OLED displays, retina displays—just to name a few.

(34) Putter assembly 10 preferably includes one or more energy sources 22 which are in electrical communication with image sensor 18 and/or display 20. Energy source 22 may comprise a primary and/or secondary electrochemical cell. In one embodiment, energy source 22 of putter assembly 10 preferably comprises, a secondary electrochemical cell, such as a lead acid, NiCad, NiMH, and/or lithium-ion battery and/or fuel cell. Preferred examples of lithium-ion batteries include lithium cobalt oxide (LiC.sub.0O.sub.2) batteries, lithium manganese oxide (LiMn.sub.2O.sub.4) batteries, lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (LiNiMnC.sub.0O.sub.2) batteries, lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO) batteries, lithium nickel cobalt aluminum oxide (LiNiCoAlO.sub.2) batteries, and lithium titanate (Li.sub.4Ti.sub.5O.sub.12) batteries. In one embodiment, energy source 22 comprises a secondary electrochemical cell having an anode, a cathode, and an electrolyte, wherein at least one of the anode, cathode, and electrolyte are monitored by a circuit board/controller, wherein variables pertaining to the structural integrity of the anode, the cathode, the electrolyte, a passivation layer associated with the anode and/or the cathode, and/or the cycle life of each component—including electrolyte level, are stored in a memory module. In this embodiment, the secondary electrochemical cell participates in reversible redox reactions. In addition, energy source 22 may be coupled with at least one of a fixed capacitor, a variable capacitor, and a polarized capacitor to regulate the storage of potential energy within putter assembly 10.

(35) Referring once again to the Figures, and to FIGS. 1-7 in a first embodiment, FIGS. 10-13 in a second embodiment, and FIGS. 14-15 in a third embodiment, putter assembly 10 optionally includes one or more of mounting assembly 38 that includes primary body 40, securement member 42, adjustable sensor housing 44, and/or fasteners 46.

(36) As is best shown in FIG. 8, putter assembly 10, in certain embodiments, includes electronics sub-assembly 50 having one or more of the following components, namely: switch 52, energy source and/or energy storage device 22, circuit board/controller (e.g., printed circuit board) 54, communication module 56 (e.g., wired, wireless, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, RF, NFC), antenna 58, primary user interface via touch screen display 20, memory module 60, and accelerometer 62 (preferably 3 axis).

(37) Referring now to FIG. 9, display 20 preferably displays distance to the target, adjusted distance to the target, and/or STIMP conditions. In one mode, the display provides a linear graphical overlay (A) that emanates perpendicular to the face of the putter head. In a second mode, the display provides a linear graphical overlay that emanates perpendicular to the face of the putter head and is adjusted for left/right break along the path to the intended target. In a third mode, the display provides a linear graphical overlay that emanates perpendicular to the face of the putter head and is adjusted for slope along the path to the intended target. In a fourth mode, the display provides a linear graphical overlay that emanates perpendicular to the face of the putter head and is adjusted for slope and left/right break along the path to the intended target (B) and (C). Overlay (B) is a downhill left-to-right breaking put, and overlay (C) is an uphill right-to-left breaking putt.

(38) The foregoing description merely explains and illustrates the invention and the invention is not limited thereto except insofar as the appended claims are so limited, as those skilled in the art who have the disclosure before them will be able to make modifications without departing from the scope of the invention.

(39) While certain embodiments have been illustrated and described, it should be understood that changes and modifications can be made therein in accordance with ordinary skill in the art without departing from the technology in its broader aspects as defined in the following claims.

(40) The embodiments, illustratively described herein may suitably be practiced in the absence of any element or elements, limitation or limitations, not specifically disclosed herein. Thus, for example, the terms “comprising,” “including,” “containing,” etcetera shall be read expansively and without limitation. Additionally, the terms and expressions employed herein have been used as terms of description and not of limitation, and there is no intention in the use of such terms and expressions of excluding any equivalents of the features shown and described or portions thereof, but it is recognized that various modifications are possible within the scope of the claimed technology. Additionally, the phrase “consisting essentially of” will be understood to include those elements specifically recited and those additional elements that do not materially affect the basic and novel characteristics of the claimed technology. The phrase “consisting of” excludes any element not specified.

(41) The present disclosure is not to be limited in terms of the particular embodiments described in this application. Many modifications and variations can be made without departing from its spirit and scope, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Functionally equivalent methods and compositions within the scope of the disclosure, in addition to those enumerated herein, will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the foregoing descriptions. Such modifications and variations are intended to fall within the scope of the appended claims. The present disclosure is to be limited only by the terms of the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. It is to be understood that this disclosure is not limited to particular methods, reagents, compounds compositions or biological systems, which can of course vary. It is also to be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only, and is not intended to be limiting.

(42) In addition, where features or aspects of the disclosure are described in terms of Markush groups, those skilled in the art will recognize that the disclosure is also thereby described in terms of any individual member or subgroup of members of the Markush group.

(43) As will be understood by one skilled in the art, for any and all purposes, particularly in terms of providing a written description, all ranges disclosed herein also encompass any and all possible subranges and combinations of subranges thereof. Any listed range can be easily recognized as sufficiently describing and enabling the same range being broken down into at least equal halves, thirds, quarters, fifths, tenths, etcetera. As a non-limiting example, each range discussed herein can be readily broken down into a lower third, middle third and upper third, etcetera. As will also be understood by one skilled in the art all language such as “up to,” “at least,” “greater than,” “less than,” and the like, include the number recited and refer to ranges which can be subsequently broken down into subranges as discussed above. Finally, as will be understood by one skilled in the art, a range includes each individual member.

(44) All publications, patent applications, issued patents, and other documents referred to in this specification are herein incorporated by reference as if each individual publication, patent application, issued patent, or other document was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference in its entirety. Definitions that are contained in text incorporated by reference are excluded to the extent that they contradict definitions in this disclosure.

(45) Other embodiments are set forth in the following claims.