U.S. patent application number 11/957449 was filed with the patent office on 2009-06-18 for autoclock: a timer for fencing scoring apparatus.
This patent application is currently assigned to Mr. Todd Brown. Invention is credited to Todd Rutledge Brown.
Application Number | 20090156316 11/957449 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 40754002 |
Filed Date | 2009-06-18 |
United States Patent
Application |
20090156316 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Brown; Todd Rutledge |
June 18, 2009 |
AutoClock: a timer for fencing scoring apparatus
Abstract
A device to activate a timer integrated into, or attached to, an
electronic fencing apparatus whereby the fencers themselves may
activate the timer with their fencing equipment, eliminating the
need for an official, thereby facilitating training. Upon
activation, the device will wait an unpredictable amount of time
before starting the timer, preventing competitors from anticipating
when the event will begin, which facilitates a fair competition.
When a third party is present and able to activate the timer, the
unpredictable delay also eliminates intentional or unintentional
unfairness on the part of the third party.
Inventors: |
Brown; Todd Rutledge;
(Portland, OR) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Todd Brown
6212 NE 6th Ave.
Portland
OR
97211
US
|
Assignee: |
Brown; Mr. Todd
Portland
OR
|
Family ID: |
40754002 |
Appl. No.: |
11/957449 |
Filed: |
December 15, 2007 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
463/47.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63B 2220/62 20130101;
A63B 71/0605 20130101; A63B 69/02 20130101; A63B 2225/50 20130101;
A63B 2225/74 20200801; A63B 2071/0625 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
463/47.1 |
International
Class: |
A63B 67/00 20060101
A63B067/00 |
Claims
1. A device integrated into or attached to a fencing scoring
apparatus comprising: (a) a timer (b) a means of activation (c) a
visual or audible signal to indicate said device has been activated
(d) a circuit to produce an unpredictable delay prior to starting
said timer (e) a visual or audible signal to indicate said timer
has started running.
2. The device of claim 1 wherein said means of activation is
response to a touch signal executed with a fencing weapon.
3. The device of claim 1 wherein said means of activation is
remote-control.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] Not Applicable
FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH
[0002] Not Applicable
SEQUENCE LISTING OR PROGRAM
[0003] Not Applicable
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0004] 1. Field of Invention
[0005] This invention generally relates to the sport of fencing,
specifically to electronically-scored fencing.
[0006] 2. Prior Art
[0007] Most fencers, even if they have taken up the sport for
recreational reasons only, will compete at some point. Because of
this, most fencing training programs are geared towards practicing
in the same environment that would be encountered in a competition.
According to the rules of fencing, each bout has a time limit--and
this is the rule that is most often ignored during practice. This
is to the detriment of fencers, because a fencer not practiced in
paying attention to the remaining time in their bout could lose by
allowing time to expire. At a competition, the clock is started and
stopped by a third party--either a dedicated timekeeper, or the
bout official. When two fencers meet in a club to practice, there
is often not a third person available to keep time, and it's
impractical for the fencers to operate the clock themselves. Even
scoring apparatus with integrated clocks are designed to be
activated by a third party via a remote control. Often fencers will
seek another fencer not currently engaged in a bout to officiate,
but even in this circumstance, time is rarely kept, since fencers
often don't wear watches or carry stopwatches during practice.
[0008] When an official is present, and is keeping time, there is
still a drawback with existing timekeeping devices (most commonly a
stopwatch or, in some cases, a clock integrated into the scoring
apparatus): fairness in starting and stopping the clock. A
competent official will vary his or her start signal so that the
fencers can't predict when the clock will be started, allowing
neither fencer an unfair advantage. Often, though, officials lack
the training or ability to ensure an unbiased start signal.
Additionally, it's an unfortunate reality that occasionally
officials are not unbiased and may (consciously or not) favor one
competitor over another when starting the clock.
SUMMARY
[0009] In accordance with one embodiment, a device designed for use
with electronic fencing scoring apparatus such that following
activation of the device there will be an unpredictable delay
before the clock starts. The device may be activated either by the
fencers themselves (using their own fencing equipment) or via
remote control so that it may be activated by an official.
DRAWINGS
[0010] FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a possible implementation of
the device in accordance with one embodiment.
DRAWINGS
Reference Numerals
[0011] 10 Activation input [0012] 12 Latch [0013] 14 Connection to
indicators to signal device activation [0014] 16 Connection to
downcounter to initiate unpredictable delay [0015] 18 Downcounter
[0016] 20 Timing clock [0017] 22 Free-running counter [0018] 24
High-speed clock [0019] 26 Fixed delay [0020] 28 Parallel OR gates
[0021] 30 Borrow line from downcounter [0022] 32 Audible and/or
visible indicators [0023] 34 Event timer/clock [0024] 36 External
devices
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
FIG. 1--First Embodiment
[0025] One embodiment of the automatic clock is an integration with
an electronic scoring apparatus for sport fencing. A block diagram
for an implementation of this embodiment is shown in FIG. 1. The
device would be activated by an electronic input (10). The input
could either come from one of the fencers' weapons, a switch on the
device, or by remote-control. In the case of saber, where the
weapons have no physical switch, the signal would come from
touching the saber itself to the metallic vest, completing a
circuit. The touch-detection mechanisms of existing scoring
apparatus would not need to be modified in any way to provide the
appropriate signal. A latch (12) would prevent multiple
activations. The latch is connected (14) to audible or visible
indicators (32) to indicate that the device has been activated
(this is a signal to the competitors to be ready to begin).
[0026] Following activation, a downcounter (18) driven by a timing
clock (20) would be started by the latch output (16). The
downcounter is responsible for producing an unpredictable delay
prior to starting the clock. The unpredictability of this delay is
generated by a free-running counter (22) which is driven by a
high-speed clock (24). The seemingly random value of the
free-running counter is combined with a fixed value (26) by
parallel OR gates (28). Thus, at the instant of activation, the
downcounter will be loaded with the combined value of the
free-running counter and the fixed delay, ensuring a non-zero,
unpredictable delay before the downcounter reaches zero, causing
the borrow line (30) to assert.
[0027] When the downcounter reaches zero, asserting the borrow
line, the audible and visible indicators (32) an event timer (34)
and any optional external devices (36) will be activated via the
borrow line. In addition, the latch will be reset, allowing the
device to be activated again.
[0028] The audible indicators could be simple tones, or more
complicated tones such as polyphonic tones or even voice commands
("ready", "fence", "allez", etc.). Once the event timer has
started, it could be stopped as in existing scoring apparatus with
integrated clocks: either when a touch is detected, or by
remote-control.
CONCLUSION, RAMIFICATIONS, AND SCOPE
[0029] Accordingly the reader will see that I have provided a
timing device for use with electronic scoring apparatus for the
sport of fencing. Said timer may be activated by the contestants
themselves, eliminating the need of a third party. Being unable to
predict when the clock will start prevents one competitor from
starting early, thereby gaining an advantage on his or her
opponent. Furthermore, allowing the competitors to activate the
device with their own fencing equipment is easy, quick, and
non-disruptive in a practice or training environment. When a third
party is available, the device may be activated by remote-control.
In this mode of operation, neither the third party nor the
competitors may predict when the clock will start which eliminates
any unfairness due to malicious intent or incompetence.
[0030] Although the description above contains many specificities,
these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the
embodiment but as merely providing illustrations of some of the
presently preferred embodiments. For example, instead of staring a
bout between two fencers, the device could be used to measure
reaction time to some unpredictable stimulus. Also, the embodiment
described above could be implemented in microcode instead of with
discrete components.
[0031] Thus the scope of the invention should be determined by the
appended claims and their legal equivalents, and not by the
examples given.
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