# US 10,864,410 B2 · Bluetooth enabled ball analyzer and locator

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- Number: US 10,864,410 B2
- Document ID: US10864410B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 16/438,412
- Filed: 2019-06-11
- Published: 2020-10-01
- Granted: 2020-12-15
- Earliest claimed: 2019-03-27
- Assignees: Graff Golf LLC
- Applicants: Upshot Golf
- Inventors: Michael Eberle; Patrick Kelly; Aaron Shapiro
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10864410B2

## CPC

- A63B 37/0039: {characterised by the material}
- A63B 43/00: Balls with special arrangements
- A63B 24/0021: {Tracking a path or terminating locations}
- A63B 37/0003: {Golf balls}
- A63B 71/0622: {Visual, audio or audio-visual systems for entertaining, instructing or motivating the user}
- A63B 37/0075: {Three piece balls, i.e. cover, intermediate layer and core}
- A63B 37/0076: {Multi-piece balls, i.e. having two or more intermediate layers}
- A63B 2024/0028: {Tracking the path of an object, e.g. a ball inside a soccer pitch}
- A63B 2024/0034: {during flight}
- A63B 2024/0043: {Systems for locating the point of impact on a specific surface}
- A63B 2071/0625: {Emitting sound, noise or music}
- A63B 2071/0694: {Visual indication, e.g. Indicia}
- A63B 2220/12: Absolute positions, e.g. by using GPS
- A63B 2220/30: Speed
- A63B 2220/34: Angular speed
- A63B 2220/35: Spin
- A63B 2220/40: Acceleration
- A63B 2220/62: Time or time measurement used for time reference, time stamp, master time or clock signal
- A63B 2220/80: Special sensors, transducers or devices therefor
- A63B 2220/803: Motion sensors
- A63B 2220/833: Sensors arranged on the exercise apparatus or sports implement
- A63B 2225/50: Wireless data transmission, e.g. by radio transmitters or telemetry
- A63B 2225/52: modulated by measured values
- A63B 2225/54: Transponders, e.g. RFID
- A63B: APPARATUS FOR PHYSICAL TRAINING, GYMNASTICS, SWIMMING, CLIMBING, OR FENCING; BALL GAMES; TRAINING EQUIPMENT (apparatus for passive exercising, massage A61H)

## Abstract

A Bluetooth chip designed to track proximity and play a sound, along with an accelerometer, that is embedded inside of a golf ball is disclosed. The technology inside the balls allows it to be found quickly through proximity and sound, and the app gives a golfer helpful analytical data.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A system for monitoring a golfer's performance, the system comprising:
a golf ball with embedded electronics, the golf ball comprising:
a BLE processor electrically connected to Bluetooth communications circuitry and memory;
a spin detector electrically connected to the BLE processor, said spin detector directing data regarding rotation of the spin detector to the BLE processor, where the BLE processor converts the data regarding the rotation of the spin detector into a rotation value and a rotation direction, said rotation value determined by a frequency of the data and said rotation direction determined by a magnitude of the data, through a calculation and stores said rotation value and said rotation direction in the memory;
a polymer urethane visco-elastic foam third layer mechanically encompassing the BLE processor and the spin detector;
a polymer second layer mechanically enclosing the third layer;
a cover layer with a surface dimple pattern enclosing the polymer second layer;
a central interrogator comprising:
a central interrogator processor;
central interrogator Bluetooth circuitry electronically connected to the central interrogator processor, the central interrogator Bluetooth circuitry wirelessly connected to the Bluetooth communications circuitry;
a display screen electrically connected to the central interrogator processor;
wherein application software executes on the central interrogator processor, said application software interrogates the golf ball through the central interrogator Bluetooth circuitry for the rotation value and said rotation direction regarding the rotation of the spin detector, the application software derives analytics on the golfer's performance from the rotation value and the rotation direction for display on the display screen.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1 wherein the spin detector in the golf ball is a Magnetoresistive sensor.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1 wherein the spin detector in the golf ball is a gyroscope.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1 wherein the cover layer in the golf ball is polymer.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1 wherein the cover layer in the golf ball is ionomer.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1 wherein the polymer second layer in the golf ball is a polymer matrix composite.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1 further comprising an epoxy third layer in the golf ball encompassing the BLE processor and the spin detector, inside of the polymer second layer.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1 further comprising a buzzer in the golf ball electrically connected to the BLE processor.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The system of claim 8 wherein the central interrogator processor wirelessly transmits an instruction to the golf ball to activate the buzzer.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1 further comprising locator software in the central interrogator that interrogates a RSSI signal from the Bluetooth communications circuitry as detected by the central interrogator Bluetooth circuitry; compares a location of the central interrogator to the RSSI signal; and calculates a location of the golf ball based on a plurality of central interrogator location and RSSI signal data pairs.

### Claim 11 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1 wherein the central interrogator is a smartphone.

### Claim 12

A method for analyzing performance of a game of golf, the method comprising:
detecting an impact with an accelerometer;
waking a microprocessor located inside of a golf ball upon a signal from the accelerometer that the impact was detected;
measuring rotation with a spin detector, said spin detector sending a rotation signal to the microprocessor;
measuring acceleration with the accelerometer, said accelerometer sending an acceleration signal to the microprocessor;
converting the rotation signal into a rotation value and a rotation direction, said rotation value determined by a frequency of the data and said rotation direction determined by a magnitude of the rotation signal, through a calculation in the microprocessor;
storing the rotation value, the rotation direction, and the acceleration signal in a memory electrically connected to the microprocessor;
sending the rotation value, the rotation direction, and the acceleration signal to a Bluetooth communications interface for transmission to a central interrogator for analysis on a golfer's performance.

### Claim 13 (depends on 12)

The method of claim 12 wherein the spin detector is a Magnetoresistive sensor.

### Claim 14 (depends on 12)

The method of claim 12 wherein the spin detector is a gyroscope.

### Claim 15 (depends on 12)

The method of claim 12 wherein a timestamp is stored in addition to the rotation value and the acceleration signal.

### Claim 16 (depends on 15)

The method of claim 15 wherein the timestamp is sent to the Bluetooth communications interface.

### Claim 17

A golf ball with embedded electronics, the golf ball comprising:
an accelerometer;
a BLE processor electrically connected to the accelerometer, Bluetooth communications circuitry and memory, said BLE processor configured to emerge from a sleep state when the accelerometer detects movement, wherein the BLE processor stores data from the accelerometer in the memory;
a spin detector electrically connected to the BLE processor, said spin detector directing rotation data regarding rotation of the spin detector to the BLE processor, where the BLE processor converts the data regarding the rotation of the spin detector into a rotation value and a rotation direction, said rotation value determined by a frequency of the data and said rotation direction determined by a magnitude of the data, through a calculation and stores said rotation value and said rotation direction in the memory;
a polymer urethane visco-elastic foam third layer mechanically encompassing the BLE processor and the spin detector;
a polymer second layer mechanically enclosing the third layer;
a cover layer with a surface dimple pattern enclosing the polymer second layer;
the Bluetooth communications circuitry configured to communicate the accelerometer data, the rotation direction, and the rotation value to a central interrogator for analysis on a golfers performance.

### Claim 18 (depends on 17)

The golf ball of claim 17 wherein further comprising an epoxy third layer encompassing the BLE processor and the spin detector, inside of the polymer second layer.