Golf information system
AssigneeYardmark, Inc.
InventorDouglas P. Dudley
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A golf information system which automatically provides golfers with reference position and distance information from a number of points on a particular golf course hole. In one embodiment, radio frequency identification tags would be positioned along a golf cart path, for example, buried underneath the path, and a reading system carried by the golf cart would output an interrogation signal which would activate the tags causing the tags to output a coded signal which would be received by the reading unit, which would retrieve information about that location from memory and output it to the golfer. The system can further be used to display advertising messages and to provide golf course management features such as monitoring cart usage and speed of play.
Claims24
A golf information system for providing a golfer with information regarding the position and distance of designated points on a golf course comprising:
- (a) a plurality of antenna means, each of said antenna means being buried within and extending across portions of said golf course for transmitting a digitally encoded signal therefrom, said digitally encoded signal corresponding to said information;
- (b) a plurality of transmitter means, coupled to a corresponding antenna means, for generating said digitally encoded signal transmitted from said antenna means;
- and
- (c) receiver means, mounted upon a golf cart, for receiving said digitally encoded signal when passing over one of said antenna means, said receiver means having a limited range for receiving comprising the area beneath and in the immediate vicinity of said golf cart, intended to cause only one digitally encoded signal to be received at any given time, said receiver means interpreting said digitally encoded signal via a system memory, said system memory correlating each of said digitally encoded signals to corresponding data defining said information, said receiver means relaying said information derived therefrom to display means for displaying said information to the golfer.
A golf information system for providing information regarding the position of a golf cart upon a golf course comprising:
- (a) a plurality of antenna means, each of said antenna means being buried within and extending across portions of said golf course for transmitting a digitally encoded signal therefrom, said digitally encoded signal corresponding to said information;
- (b) a plurality of transmitter means, coupled to a corresponding antenna means, for generating said digitally encoded signal transmitted from said antenna means;
- (c) first receiver means, mounted upon a golf cart, for receiving said digitally encoded signal when passing over one of said antenna means, said receiving means having a limited range for receiving comprising the area beneath and in the immediate vicinity of said golf cart, intended to cause only one digitally encoded signal to be received at any given time, said receiver means interpreting said digitally encoded signal via a system memory, said system memory correlating each of said digitally encoded signals to corresponding data defining said information, said receiver means relaying said information derived therefrom to display means for displaying said information to the golfer;
- (d) second transmitter means, coupled to said receiver means, for transmitting said digitally encoded signal received by said first receiver means and a current time associated therewith;
- and
- (e) second revolver means, remotely located from said first receiver means, for receiving said digitally encoded signal and said current time transmitted from said second transmitter means, said second receiver means interpreting said digitally encoded signal via a second system memory correlating each of said digitally encoded signals to corresponding data defining said information, said second receiver means relaying said information derived therefrom to display means for displaying the same.
A golf information system for providing a golfer with information regarding distances between designated points and predetermined landmarks on a golf course hole, said golf information system comprising:
- a plurality of radio frequency tags positioned at said designated points along a golf course hole, each of said tags having a digital memory storing a characteristic digitally coded message, each of said tags having a first antenna means for receiving an interrogation signal capable of activating each of said tags and for broadcasting said characteristic coded message, said tags being in a quiescent state when not activated by said interrogation signal;
- a reading system carried by a golf cart which is movable along said golf course hole, said reading system having second antenna means for transmitting said interrogation signal and for receiving said characteristic coded message when passing means of said first antenna over one of said tags, said second antenna means having a limited range for transmitting and receiving comprising the area beneath and in the immediate vicinity of said golf cart, intended to cause only one of said tags to be interrogated at any given time;
- a reading system memory storing said information, said information comprising discrete data which individually correspond to each of said characteristic coded messages;
- and
- signal processing means carried by said golf cart in communication with said reading system and said reading system memory, said signal processing means fetching said discrete data corresponding to a proximate tag from said reading system memory and outputting said discrete data via a visual display, said visual display generating a message related to said landmarks, and thereby enabling the golfer to judge the position of a golf ball relative to said predetermined landmarks.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.