Patents by Inventor Robert Benton Ahlfinger

Robert Benton Ahlfinger has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20200324171
    Abstract: Systems and apparatus for Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) golf ball testing include, in at least one aspect, an apparatus including: one or more RFID readers having associated read zones; a star wheel unit defining cavities to receive golf balls; golf ball sensors including at least one sensor for each respective path through the read zones; kickers including at least one kicker positioned after each respective path through the read zones and arranged to change a golf ball's direction of travel when the at least one kicker is activated; and a controller coupled with the kickers, the golf ball sensors, and the one or more RFID readers, wherein the controller is configured to activate any of the kickers responsive to the one or more RFID readers inadequately reading an RFID tag in a golf ball detected by the at least one sensor for that kicker's associated path through a read zone.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 12, 2019
    Publication date: October 15, 2020
    Inventors: Mark Joseph Semsak, Romeo Espana, Brian David Burdette, Clinton Scott Lovejoy, Adrian Torrance Chaney, Hieu Nguyen-Minh Duong, Robert Benton Ahlfinger
  • Patent number: 10799770
    Abstract: Systems and apparatus for Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) golf ball testing include, in at least one aspect, an apparatus including: one or more RFID readers having associated read zones; a star wheel unit defining cavities to receive golf balls; golf ball sensors including at least one sensor for each respective path through the read zones; kickers including at least one kicker positioned after each respective path through the read zones and arranged to change a golf ball's direction of travel when the at least one kicker is activated; and a controller coupled with the kickers, the golf ball sensors, and the one or more RFID readers, wherein the controller is configured to activate any of the kickers responsive to the one or more RFID readers inadequately reading an RFID tag in a golf ball detected by the at least one sensor for that kicker's associated path through a read zone.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 12, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 13, 2020
    Assignee: Topgolf International, Inc.
    Inventors: Mark Joseph Semsak, Romeo Espana, Brian David Burdette, Clinton Scott Lovejoy, Adrian Torrance Chaney, Hieu Nguyen-Minh Duong, Robert Benton Ahlfinger