GOLF SWING ANALYSIS APPARATUS AND METHOD
A method and integrated golf club apparatus for directly measuring physical parameters of the golf club head motional acceleration swing forces, golf club head face, golf ball impact forces, and subsequent calculations of other metrics useful to a golfer's understanding of the effectiveness of his or her golf swing and impact result in totality. The physical parameters that are directly measured include three dimensional motion force vectors of club head prior to, during and after impact and full impact pressure force profiles across the golf clubface with respect to time. The force measurements are made by at least one piezoelectric or differential capacitance based acceleration g-force sensor internal to the club head and pressure impact force sensors integrated into the clubface. The sensors are connected to electronics which condition, record and store the time varying sensors information electronically, then process and translate the information into one of several forms for delivery to a human interface function.
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The present invention relates to a method for determining the effectiveness of a golfer's swing and the associated golf club head time varying force metrics before, during and after impact between a golf club head and a golf ball. More specifically, the present invention relates to an integrated golf club capable of autonomous direct measurement and information storage of three dimensional motional acceleration forces of the club head during the swing, and complete club head and ball impact time varying force profiles across the entire club head face.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONFor several decades, external systems separate from a golf club, or attaching sensors to a golf club, have been used to gather and infer information about the effectiveness of a golfer's swing. One of the most common external systems relates to using high speed cameras to determine metrics about a golfer's swing. Some of these systems estimate club head speed and ball speed and spin after the ball leaves the club. However, the true forces introduced in the clubface and the club/ball impact information are estimates based upon indirect calculations of force inferred from optical images.
The approach of using prior art golf club attachments can identify to an unacceptable approximate degree the impact area on the clubface. However, the precise location cannot be achieved because of the removable nature of the sensors and the lack of relationship of time varying force profiles of each sensor which is needed for a full energy impact analysis.
An example of such an external system is U.S. Pat. No. 4,136,387 to Sullivan et al., for a Golf Club Impact And Golf Ball Launching Monitoring System. Sullivan discloses a system that uses external electro-optical sensors to measure the location of a plurality of spots on the surface of the golf club head or the golf ball, each at two points in time. For the golf club head measurement the two points in time are just before ball impact; for the two points in time for the golf ball, it is after impact. This device does not offer an integrated golf club and does not allow for direct force measurements of the time varying spatial and force profiles across the clubface and club head accelerations' forces for accurate force dynamics associated with the club swing and clubface/ball impact.
Another example of an external system is the Patent Application Publication U.S. 2008/0020867 A1 to Manwaring for a method of determining a golfer's golf club head orientation and impact location for a golf swing. The system uses an optical CMOS imaging system to measure angular velocity of the golf club, linear velocity of the golf club, and ball launch properties. Then, through iterative calculations using the mass of the golf club and the ball, the device makes determinations as to club head orientation and clubface impact. This publication does not offer an integrated golf club and does not allow for direct force measurements of the time varying spatial and force profiles across the clubface and club head accelerations' forces for accurate force dynamics associated with the club swing and clubface/ball impact.
Another example of an external system is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,329,193 B2 to Plank. Jr. who claims a portable golf swing analyzing system separate from the golf club based on infrared sensors and ultrasonic sensors. This publication does not offer an integrated golf club and does not allow for direct force measurements of the time varying spatial and force profiles across the clubface and club head accelerations' forces for accurate force dynamics associated with the club swing and clubface/ball impact.
An example of attaching sensors to a golf club is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,898,389 to Plutt, who claims a self contained device for indicating the area of impact on the face of the club and the ball, and a means for an attachable and detachable sensor or sensor array that overlies the face of the club. Plutt's device does not provide for an imbedded impact sensor array in the clubface that functions in conjunction with internal three dimensional g-force sensors to provide a superset of time varying spatial force impact contours of the clubface with club head acceleration force parameters that can be calibrated for highly accurate spatial and force measurement. Plutt's device is susceptible to location inaccuracy due to the removable constraint of the sensors and is susceptible to sensor damage since the sensors come in direct contact with the ball.
Another example of attaching sensors to a golf club is shown in U.S. Pat. No 7,264,555 B2 to Lee et a which claims a diagnostic golf club system that utilizes a golf club with strain gauges or other swing load measuring means attached to the golf club shaft to determine swing characteristics. This device does not utilize sensors embedded with in the club head.
Another example of attaching sensors to a golf club is U.S. Pat. No. 5,792,000 to Weber et al. which claims a swing analysis system that analyzes sensors placed on the shaft of the golf club. This device does not utilize sensors embedded within the club head.
The prior art disclosures all fail to offer a fully integrated golf club capable of autonomously making time varying direct force measurements with regards to three dimensional motional forces of the club head before, during and after golf club head/ball impact, and making direct time varying force measurements across the clubface surface. Accordingly, none of the prior art aggregates all of these direct measurements with respect to a single time line allowing a large number of metrics to be calculated.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention is an integrated golf club that measures directly and stores time varying forces during the golf club swing in the time span around the point of golf club head and ball impact. Two categories of time varying forces are being measured in real time simultaneously with different mechanisms.
The first category of measured forces includes three dimensional motional acceleration forces on the club head during the club swing from a point in time before the initial club/ball impact until a point in time after club head and bail separation has taken place. The relationship between force and acceleration is
The second category of force measurements includes the impact pressure forces that occur across the golf club head face for the duration of clubface and ball impact. This time varying pressure force is a scalar pressure profile normal to the clubface that is a result of the impact force and location of the ball on the clubface. The relationship between pressure and force is P(t)=
Both categories of dynamic direct vector measurements are related with a single time line and a single shared physical domain allowing a large number highly accurate golf club swing, club/ball impact and club head to ball orientation metrics to be realized. To achieve this aggregate of direct physical measurements, the golf club head has embedded within it at least one acceleration three dimensional g-force sensor and at least one, but preferably a plurality of impact pressure force sensors geometrically distributed in the club head face. From the aggregate related measurements of these two measurement systems associated with a single time line and a defined spatial relationship to each other and to the club head physical structure, the following metrics are either directly measured or directly calculated (if a metric calculation requires an assumption, such as ball surface condition and hence friction coefficient, its is stated as an estimate):
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- 1. Time varying pressure or force profile across the golf clubface;
- 2. Location of impact of clubface and ball on clubface;
- 3. Duration in time of club head face and ball impact;
- 4. Maximum pressure or force measured on clubface;
- 5. Total energy transferred from club to ball;
- 6. Time varying three dimensional motional acceleration and associated force vectors on club head before, during and after club head face and ball impact;
- 7. Radial acceleration forces on club for estimation of club head velocity;
- 8. Three dimensional deceleration force vectors of club head during the club/ball impact;
- 9. Force vector components that are transferred to ball launch and ball spin;
- 10. Estimated percent of total energy components transferred to ball trajectory and ball spin;
- 11. Club head orientation with respect to ball from before club head/ball impact, during ball impact and after impact;
- 12. Orientation of ball spin referenced to club head face;
- 13. Estimation of ball launch velocity;
- 14. Estimation of ball spin velocity;
- 15. Impact error offset on clubface which is a distance from actual impact location to optimum impact location;
- 16. Club head orientation percentage error from optimum in relation to club head/ball impact (This could be described as a error for each of three vectors describing forces on club head from ball) and;
- 17. Measure of torque and angular momentum of the club head as caused by the event of club head/ball impact.
The sensors are connected to electrical analog and digital circuitry, also embedded in the club head, that condition the signals from the sensors, samples the signals from all sensors simultaneously, converts to a digital format, attaches a time stamp to each group of simultaneous sensor measurements, and then stores the data in memory. The process of sampling sensors simultaneously is sequentially repeated at a fast rate so that all forces' profile points from each sensor are relatively smooth with respect to time. The minimum sampling rate is the “Nyquist rate” of the highest significant and pertinent frequency domain component of the sensors' time wave tor any of the sensors.
Thus, the present invention encompasses a variety of options for the golfer to receive and interpret the information of swing, impact and orientation metrics or a subset of total metrics available. The human interface function can be either integrated into the club or a separate human interface module that the golf club communicates with either through wires or wirelessly. The human interface function can be all or any subset of audible, visual, temperature or vibration signals for human interpretation.
A further advantage of the present invention is that in its preferred embodiment, the integrated club communicates with an external human interface apparatus through a wireless connection. The wireless connection could be Bluetooth™, Zigbee™, Wifi or any number of standardized or non standardized radio frequency communication links. There are many possible implementations for the human interface apparatus that support both visual and audio content for human interpretation. Some examples are: laptop computer, palmtop computer, PDA, smart phone, or a thick or thin client video audio custom device. For purposes of descriptive clarity, the preferred embodiment will use a wireless Bluetooth™ data link, and the human interface apparatus is a laptop computer.
Therefore, the preferred embodiment the integrated golf club, in addition to the previous described electronics, also has data formatting for wireless transport using Bluetooth™ transceiver protocols. The data, once transferred over the wireless link to the laptop computer, are processed and formatted into visual and or audio content with a proprietary software program specific for this invention. Examples of user selectable information formats and content could be:
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- 1. a dialog window showing a graphical representation of the clubface using a color force representation of the maximum force gradient achieved conveying the area of impact of the ball and along the side the graphic could show text describing key metrics such as maximum force achieved, radial acceleration of club at impact (related to club head velocity) and total energy transferred to the ball;
- 2. a motion video of the time varying nature of the forces on the clubface;
- 3. a three dimensional graphic showing force vectors on club head from ball;
- 4. an audio response which verbally speaks to the golfer telling him/her the desired metrics;
- 5. a video showing time varying acceleration vectors of the golf club head during the swing and through impact; or
- 6. numerous other combinations audio and visual user defined.
Still yet another advantage of the present invention provides for the integrated golf club that can be battery operated, or have batteries that are rechargeable or replaceable.
The above and other features of the present invention will become more apparent upon reading the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
The present invention comprises an integrated golf club that measures directly and stores time varying forces during the golf club swing in the time span from before the golf club head and ball impact, to a point in time after club head and ball separation. Two categories of physical parameters are being measured in real time simultaneously with different mechanisms that both convert directly to time varying force vectors. The force vectors from each measurement mechanism are interdependent in time and fixed spatial relation to one another as the club head transitions through all of the different dynamic forces during a golf swing, ball impact and after impact.
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The non-conducting monolith material 15 with embedded pressure sensors 30 can be pressure fit between the outer layer 13 and the inner layer 14. The outer layer 13 and the inner layer 14 can be connected to the club head housing 16 with conventional club head construction techniques utilizing weld seams. Some techniques might include Aluminum MIG (Metal Inert Gas) welding for aluminum to aluminum connection and brazing for aluminum to titanium connections. The clubface layers 13 and 14 can be titanium or comparable metal or alloy and the club head housing components can be an aluminum alloy.
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- 1. Total energy transferred from club to ball;
- 2. Time varying three dimensional motional acceleration and associated force vectors on club head before, during and after club head face and ball impact;
- 3. Radial acceleration forces on the club for an estimation of club head velocity;
- 4. Three dimensional deceleration force vectors of club head during the club/ball impact;
Although specific embodiments of the invention have been disclosed, those having ordinary skill in the art will understand that changes can be made to the specific embodiments without departing form the spirit and scope of the invention. The scope of the invention is not to be restricted, therefore, to the specific embodiments. Furthermore, it is intended that the appended claims cover any and all such applications, modifications, and embodiments within the scope of the present invention.
The electronic module may also have the ability to receive data from the golfer, such as arm length, which can be used for calculations of golf club head velocity. In this form of the invention, the arm length datum is input into the electronic circuitry and display module 1206 by a smart wheel 1206b, or some such other similar means.
Claims
1-14. (canceled)
15. A golf swing measurement and analysis system comprising:
- first and second impact sensors that detect impact of a golf club head; and
- sampling circuitry that is coupled to the first and second sensors, wherein the sampling circuitry samples the first and second sensors simultaneously at a single point in time.
16. The golf swing measurement and analysis system of claim 15, wherein the sampling circuitry further holds for a period of time a first value sampled from the first sensor and a second value sampled from the second sensor at the single point in time, wherein analog to digital conversion of the first and second values occurs during the period of time.
17. The golf swing measurement and analysis system of claim 16, further including a processor that applies a sequencing group tag and time reference to both the first and second values and stores the sequencing group tag, time reference, and first and second values in a digital memory.
18. The golf swing measurement and analysis system of claim 15, wherein the sampling circuitry samples at a sample rate at least as fast as a Nyquist rate determined by a highest frequency component of all of a plurality of analog sensors connected to the sampling circuitry, the plurality of analog sensors including the first and second sensors.
19. The golf swing measurement and analysis system of claim 15, further including first and second accelerometers, wherein the first and second accelerometers are also simultaneously sampled by the sampling circuitry at the point in time.
20. A golf swing analysis system comprising:
- a clubface;
- first and second impact sensors embedded in the club face; and
- sampling circuitry that samples the first and second impact sensors,
- wherein the first impact pressure sensor is at a first location further from a center point of the club face than a second location of a second impact pressure sensor, wherein the first and second impact sensors are calibrated differently based on the first and second locations.
21. The golf swing analysis system of claim 20, wherein the first and second sensors are piezoelectric elements of a same surface area and thickness.
22. The golf swing analysis system of claim 20, wherein the clubface has an edge that is connected to a club head shell housing such that the clubface deforms less near the edge than at the center point.
23. The golf swing analysis system of claim 20, wherein the calibration is accomplished with fixed calibration coefficients that are set within a processing circuitry of the system.
24. The golf swing analysis system of claim 20, wherein the first and second impact sensors are sampled simultaneously by the sampling circuitry.
25. A golf club head comprising:
- a polymer clubface for striking a golf ball; and
- a body to which the polymer clubface is attached.
26. The golf club head of claim 25, wherein the polymer clubface is attached to a metal inner layer with an adhesive and metal the inner layer is connected to the body with a welded seam.
27. The golf club head of claim 25, wherein the polymer clubface includes an outer surface and an inner surface, and the body defines a central cavity, the inner surface of the polymer clubface being disposed across the central cavity.
28. The golf club head of claim 27, further including a metal hitting layer that is attached to the outer surface of the polymer clubface.
29. The golf club head of claim 27, wherein the polymer club face includes at least one groove on the inner surface.
Type: Application
Filed: Jun 2, 2015
Publication Date: Sep 24, 2015
Applicant: Golf Impact, LLC (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
Inventors: Roger Davenport (Fort Lauderdale, FL), Paul Reynolds (Santa Monica, CA)
Application Number: 14/729,043