Sports Ball Sensor Balancing via Bladder Weighting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional sports balls with embedded sensors or counterbalances face challenges in maintaining consistent performance and balance due to the added mass, which affects the center of gravity and moment of inertia.
Innovation Solution
The sports ball design incorporates a bladder with a radially inward-facing surface featuring a plurality of weighted areas and a component, such as a sensor or counterweight, located within a pocket on the bladder. This configuration balances the mass distribution to maintain a central center of gravity and optimal moment of inertia.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If sensors or counterbalances are embedded in conventional sports balls, then performance measurement or balance adjustment is improved, but the added mass affects the center of gravity and moment of inertia, worsening performance consistency
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the bladder into multiple segments or panels, with sensors distributed across different segments rather than concentrated in one location. This segmentation allows the sensor system to maintain measurement precision while distributing the added mass more evenly, thereby preserving performance consistency and flight characteristics.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements localized sensor placements at specific high-value positions on the bladder surface, rather than uniform distribution. This local quality approach concentrates measurement capabilities where most needed for performance tracking while minimizing overall added mass impact on the ball's center of gravity and moment of inertia.
2Loss of information
If sensors are embedded in the sports ball, then data collection capability is improved, but the added mass and structural complexity worsen the ball's flight characteristics
Solution Approach 1:
The patent nests sensors within the existing bladder structure, integrating them into the bladder's wall or surface rather than adding separate external components. This nesting approach enables comprehensive data collection while minimizing disruption to the ball's overall shape, mass distribution, and flight characteristics.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs thin-film or flexible sensor elements that can be integrated into the bladder's surface without significantly altering its structural properties. These flexible sensors maintain the bladder's integrity and the ball's aerodynamic shape, ensuring optimal flight characteristics while enabling enhanced data collection.
3Stability of the object's composition
If counterbalances are added to balance the sensor mass, then center of gravity stability is improved, but the overall mass and structural complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the counterbalance function with existing ball components, such as integrating counterbalancing elements into the bladder structure or restriction structure rather than adding separate counterweight components. This merging approach maintains center of gravity stability while minimizing increases in overall structural complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent strategically positions counterbalancing masses to offset the weight of sensor components, creating a balanced center of gravity. The counterweights are integrated into the ball's existing structure, allowing the system to achieve gravitational balance without requiring complex additional mechanisms or significantly increasing overall structural complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A sport ball with a casing that forms at least a portion of an exterior surface of the sport ball; a bladder located within the casing, the bladder having a radially outward- facing surface oriented facing away from a center of the sport ball, and a radially inward-facing surface facing toward the center of the sport ball; a plurality of weighted areas disposed on the radially inward-facing surface of the bladder, wherein one or more of the plurality of weighted areas includes a feature; and a component located on the bladder.