Ball testing device
OwnerTaylor R. Zeissinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A testing device and method for determining the coefficient of restitution of a rebounding object, such as a ball, by comparison of the bounce periods of successive bounces of the ball. The ball is dropped onto the reaction plate from which it is permitted to rebound at least three times. A transducer such as a microphone is mounted near the reaction plate to detect the impacts on the reaction plate. An electronic circuit times the interval or bounce period between impacts, stores the bounce periods for comparison. The coefficient of restitution for the rebounded object is determined by comparing a subsequent bounce interval to a preceding bounce period as a ratio. The coefficient of restitution so determined is displayed on an LCD display.
Claims13
A testing device for determining the coefficient of restitution of a object having a predetermined mass, said object being freely dropped from a random position above said testing device, said testing device comprising:
- a reaction plate having a mass at least fifty times larger than said predetermined mass of said object, said reaction plate having a top surface having a portion aligned along a generally horizontal plane, said top surface being positioned below and spaced apart from said random position from where said object is dropped
- a transducer for detecting an impact upon said reaction plate, said transducer producing a signal in response to said impact;
- means for measuring at least two successive bounce periods of said object, each of said bounce periods being an interval of time between two successive impacts of said object on said reaction plate, said means for measuring being responsive to said signal produced by said transducer to measure said bounce periods and produce an output for each bounce period;
- means for storing said output for each bounce period;
- and means for computing the ratio of said output for a subsequent bounce period to said output for previous bounce period to determine said coefficient of restitution of said object.
A method of determining a coefficient of restitution of a ball, said method including the steps of:
- dropping a ball and permitting it to bounce at least three times on a reaction plate having a mass at least fifty times greater than the mass of said ball;
- detecting each impact of said ball on the reaction plate with a transducer;
- timing bounce periods of at least two sequential bounces of said ball with a timer responsive to a signal generated by said transducer, each bounce period being an interval of time between two successive bounces of said object;
- comparing the bounce period of a subsequent bounce period to said first bounce period as a ratio to determining said coefficient of restitution;
- and
- displaying the coefficient of restitution.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.