Patents Assigned to Ball-IT Oy
  • Patent number: 8441434
    Abstract: A user operable device for control of or communication with an electric appliance, in particular a user operable pointing device such as a mouse, including electrical components and circuits including sensor elements, processing elements and wireless communication elements for detecting movements including at least rotational movements of the device, producing data related to the movements and transmitting the data to the electric appliance, is characterized in that the device (1) is essentially a ball (2) including outer surface (2?) for free rolling and for receiving influences of physical effects on the surface and the device, and that the electrical components and circuits (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10) are inside the ball (2) in integrated relationship with the ball. The invention concerns also a user interface including the user operable device of the invention.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2006
    Date of Patent: May 14, 2013
    Assignee: Ball-IT Oy
    Inventors: Johannes Väänänen, Juha Rytky
  • Publication number: 20120172129
    Abstract: A throwable gaming control (710) for controlling at least one event in a computer game, includes at least one magnetic sensor (110) and at least one acceleration sensor (120) is characterised in that: at least one acceleration sensor (120) is arranged to the center of gravity of the game control and/or to the proximity of the center of gravity of the gaming control and at least one magnetic sensor (110) is arranged to a position of least internal magnetic noise, and/or a position of low internal magnetic noise. The best mode of the invention is considered to be the combination of an acceleration sensor in the center of gravity of a wireless spherical mouse that in addition houses a magnetic sensor (110) in a magnetic noise free position. This spherical mouse can be used to play for example basketball with real basketball like movements in a computer game (70).
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 22, 2010
    Publication date: July 5, 2012
    Applicant: BALL-IT OY
    Inventor: Johannes Vaananen
  • Publication number: 20100267266
    Abstract: A water and/or airtight electrical socket for portable electronic devices includes sealing elements that are shaped like an arc, and arranged to seal only a portion of the perimeter of the socket-plug interface. When this arc element experiences pressure, it will mechanically relay the force caused by the pressure only to that section of the perimeter of the socket-plug interface that it is arranged to seal. It will not relay mechanical forces any further. This way, the mechanical effect of any extra asymmetric pressure will simply be limited to increasing the pressure of the seal in the perimeter section of that particular sealing element, thereby tightening the seal further still. This allows the socket opening to be sealed in a water- and/or airtight manner even in asymmetric pressure conditions, both when there is no plug in the socket and also when a plug is inside the socket.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 2, 2010
    Publication date: October 21, 2010
    Applicant: BALL-IT OY
    Inventors: Timo REMES, Johannes Väänänen
  • Patent number: 7803004
    Abstract: A water and/or airtight electrical socket for portable electronic devices includes sealing elements that are shaped like an arc, and arranged to seal only a portion of the perimeter of the socket-plug interface. When this arc element experiences pressure, it will mechanically relay the force caused by the pressure only to that section of the perimeter of the socket-plug interface that it is arranged to seal. It will not relay mechanical forces any further. This way, the mechanical effect of any extra asymmetric pressure will simply be limited to increasing the pressure of the seal in the perimeter section of that particular sealing element, thereby tightening the seal further still. This allows the socket opening to be sealed in a water- and/or airtight manner even in asymmetric pressure conditions, both when there is no plug in the socket and also when a plug is inside the socket.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 10, 2009
    Date of Patent: September 28, 2010
    Assignee: Ball-IT Oy
    Inventors: Timo Remes, Johannes Väänänen
  • Publication number: 20100064803
    Abstract: A method for determining a velocity of an object (O), such as a ball, over a span length (SL) extending from a span start (SS) to a span end (SE). An audio signal (AS) is received by a mobile telephone's (MT) microphone (MP). An approximate travel time (TT) for a traversal of the span length (SL) by the object (O) is determined, which act time comprises processing the audio signal (AS) and detecting a first shape (210) and a second shape (212) which respectively correspond to an approximate start time (T1) and approximate end time (T2) of the traversal, and determining the approximate travel time (TT) based on the detected first shape (210) and second shape (212). The object's velocity is determined based on the span length (SL) and approximate travel time (TT).
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 9, 2009
    Publication date: March 18, 2010
    Applicant: Shoot the Balls Oy
    Inventors: Tomi Salmi, Timo Salmi, Lauri Ilvas, Anssi Luomaranta, Miikka Tikander
  • Publication number: 20090275225
    Abstract: A water and/or airtight electrical socket for portable electronic devices includes sealing elements that are shaped like an arc, and arranged to seal only a portion of the perimeter of the socket-plug interface. When this arc element experiences pressure, it will mechanically relay the force caused by the pressure only to that section of the perimeter of the socket-plug interface that it is arranged to seal. It will not relay mechanical forces any further. This way, the mechanical effect of any extra asymmetric pressure will simply be limited to increasing the pressure of the seal in the perimeter section of that particular sealing element, thereby tightening the seal further still. This allows the socket opening to be sealed in a water- and/or airtight manner even in asymmetric pressure conditions, both when there is no plug in the socket and also when a plug is inside the socket.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 10, 2009
    Publication date: November 5, 2009
    Applicant: BALL-IT OY
    Inventors: Timo Remes, Johannes Väänänen
  • Patent number: 7588448
    Abstract: The invention relates to an electrical socket (110) that is water and/or airtight. In particular, the invention relates to a water and/or airtight electrical socket (110) for portable electronic devices (500). The invention involves sealing elements (200, 210, 220 and 230) that are shaped like an arc, and arranged to seal only a portion of the perimeter of the socket-plug interface (300, 310). When this arc element experiences pressure, it will mechanically relay the force caused by the pressure only to that section of the perimeter of the socket-plug interface (300, 310) that it is arranged to seal. It will not relay mechanical forces any further. This way, the mechanical effect of any extra asymmetric pressure will simply be limited to increasing the pressure of the seal in the perimeter section of that particular sealing element (200, 210, 220 and 230), thereby tightening the seal further still.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2008
    Date of Patent: September 15, 2009
    Assignee: Ball-IT Oy
    Inventors: Timo Remes, Johannes Väänänen
  • Publication number: 20090225030
    Abstract: A user operable device for control of or communication with an electric appliance, in particular a user operable pointing device such as a mouse, including electrical components and circuits including sensor elements, processing elements and wireless communication elements for detecting movements including at least rotational movements of the device, producing data related to the movements and transmitting the data to the electric appliance, is characterised in that the device (1) is essentially a ball (2) including outer surface (2?) for free rolling and for receiving influences of physical effects on the surface and the device, and that the electrical components and circuits (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10) are inside the ball (2) in integrated relationship with the ball. The invention concerns also a user interface including the user operable device of the invention.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 19, 2006
    Publication date: September 10, 2009
    Applicant: BALL-IT OY
    Inventors: Johannes Vaananen, Juha Rytky
  • Publication number: 20080242136
    Abstract: A water and/or airtight electrical socket for portable electronic devices includes sealing elements that are shaped like an arc, and arranged to seal only a portion of the perimeter of the socket-plug interface. When this arc element experiences pressure, it will mechanically relay the force caused by the pressure only to that section of the perimeter of the socket-plug interface that it is arranged to seal. It will not relay mechanical forces any further. This way, the mechanical effect of any extra asymmetric pressure will simply be limited to increasing the pressure of the seal in the perimeter section of that particular sealing element, thereby tightening the seal further still. This allows the socket opening to be sealed in a water- and/or airtight manner even in asymmetric pressure conditions, both when there is no plug in the socket and also when a plug is inside the socket.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 28, 2008
    Publication date: October 2, 2008
    Applicant: BALL-IT OY
    Inventors: Timo Remes, Johannes Vaananen