Digitally controlled variable stiffness sporting equipment
AssigneeVerispellis Skis & Snowboards, Inc.
InventorsAra Nazarian, Edward K. Rodriguez
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system, method, and apparatus for an athlete to variably control the flexibility and stiffness parameters of a piece of athletic equipment to select a desired performance characteristic of the equipment based on the stiffness parameter. According to certain embodiments discussed herein, an item of sporting equipment may be embedded, impregnated, lined, or encased using nitinol components, wherein the nitinol components may themselves be treated using a specific method in order to achieve the desired transformation results, as described below.
Claims16
A fishing-rod comprising:
- an item body of the fishing-rod, the item body of the fishing-rod comprising a first end and a second end, and including a component formed of a thermally responsive material;
- a heating element proximate to the component of the item body to impart a phase change upon the thermally responsive material;
- and
- an input module comprising one or more processors and a switch mechanism that comprises an open state and a closed state, to receive a user input that initiates the heating element and causes the heating element to impart the phase change upon the thermally responsive material based on a property of the user input, wherein the property of the user input is based on a period of time in which the switch mechanism is detected in the closed state.
A method for adjusting a property of an item of sporting equipment that includes a fishing-rod, comprising:
- receiving an input at an input component associated with the item of sporting equipment, the input comprising an input property, the input component comprising a switch mechanism that comprises an open state and a closed state;
- and
- causing a heating element to impart a phase change to a component formed of a thermally responsive material based on the input property of the input, wherein the input property of the input includes a period of time in which the switch mechanism is detecting in the closed state.
An apparatus comprising:
- a fishing-rod that comprises an item body, the item body comprising a first end and a second end, and including a component formed of a thermally responsive material;
- a heating element proximate to the component of the item body to impart a phase change upon the thermally responsive material;
- and
- an input module that comprises a switch mechanism comprising an open state and a closed state to receive an input that initiates the heating element and causes the heating element to impart the phase change upon the thermally responsive material based on a property of the input, wherein the property of the user input is based on a period of time in which the switch mechanism is detected in the closed state.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.