US20240181317A1

US20240181317A1 - Sports apparatus

Info

Publication number: US20240181317A1
Application number: US18/550,285
Authority: US
Inventors: Vitalij Zittel; Kai Fügel
Original assignee: Bownce Holding PLC
Current assignee: Bownce Holding PLC
Priority date: 2021-03-15
Filing date: 2021-03-15
Publication date: 2024-06-06
Also published as: EP4308259A1; WO2022194338A1

Abstract

Sports apparatus, comprising a boxing body, a tensioning rope, a first, in particular upper, fastening, a second, in particular lower, fastening, the tensioning rope being clamped between the two fastenings, the tensioning rope interacting with the boxing body in such a manner that the boxing body is held in a basic position and that the boxing body can be displaced, in particular elastically, out of the basic position by the action of a boxing blow and is subsequently returned to the basic position, wherein the sports apparatus comprises a measuring arrangement which is set up to detect a boxing blow on the boxing body in a metrological manner.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates to a sports apparatus.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Such a sports apparatus comprises a boxing body, a boxing body receptacle, and a holding apparatus for holding the boxing body receptacle. The holding apparatus and the boxing body receptacle are designed to hold the boxing body in a basic position. During the intended use, the boxing body is elastically displaced out of the basic position by the action of a boxing hit and is subsequently returned to the basic position. Such an apparatus can, in particular, be a punching bag apparatus, a heavy bag apparatus or double end bag apparatus. Such a sports apparatus is described in German patent application 10 2019 002 702.7.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

It is a task of the present invention to further design the aforementioned apparatus. This is solved by a sports apparatus and a use of the sports apparatus as described and claimed.
An exemplary sports apparatus includes a boxing body, a tensioning rope, a first, in particular upper, fastening, a second, in particular lower, fastening, wherein the tensioning rope is clamped between the two fastenings, wherein the tensioning cable cooperates with the box body in such a way that the box body is held in a basic position and that the box body can be displaced, in particular elastically, out of the basic position by the action of a boxing punch and is subsequently returned to the basic position again, wherein the sports apparatus comprises a measuring arrangement which is set up to detect a boxing punch on the boxing body in a metrological manner.
The boxing body can be designed in different ways, in particular adapted to the training requirements. For example, the boxing body can be round or angular, in particular as a spherical or egg-shaped ball, and as a polyhedron.
In particular, the boxing body is a ball which preferably has a weight of max. 100 g. The ball weight includes the electronic components contained in the ball. In this respect, the energy supply for the components arranged in the ball is also preferably provided by a battery which is as small as possible, and which may be rechargeable. A wired power supply is possible, but less preferred.
The box body is clamped in particular by means of a tension cable. In a rest position, the tensioning cable is aligned vertically in particular.
In particular, an evaluation result can be output in different ways. The evaluation result can be based on a computational evaluation. Corresponding values on which the evaluation is based are explained in the embodiment example. In a simplest case, the evaluation is a numerical value that is proportional to an amplitude of the deflection of the movement of the box body.
Wireless data transmission from and to the box body can be set up and takes place in particular via the Bluetooth Low Energy standard.
The sports apparatus can comprise an electronic terminal, in particular a cell phone or a tablet computer, on which the evaluation result is output.
In one embodiment, a movement path of the box body is determined. Based on the movement trajectory, the boxing punch can be inferred. In particular, the motion path for at least one or two post oscillations is considered for the evaluation. A post oscillation is the oscillation at time t with the proviso that T<t<2xT, where T represents the period duration of a ball oscillation. In deviation from the usual linguistic usage, the period between two zero crossings is referred to as the period duration (see diagrams in the figures).
If the path of motion for several post oscillations is as close as possible to a vertical plane when viewed from above, a high-quality impact can be assumed in one embodiment.
In particular, a comparison of the trajectories before the impact and the trajectory after the impact can be made for evaluation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to the figures; herein shows:

FIG. 1 depicts an exemplary sports apparatus according to the invention;

FIGS. 2A-2C depict measured value diagrams during an oscillating movement of the box body;

FIG. 3A-3C depict measurement diagrams after a boxing punch on a stationary boxing body;

FIGS. 4A-5C depict measured value diagrams after a boxing punch on an oscillating boxing body;

FIGS. 6A-C depict a measured value diagram and a trajectory after a high-quality boxing impact on a vibrating boxing body.

FIGS. 7A-7C depict a measured value diagram and a trajectory after an inferior boxing blow to a vibrating boxing body.

DETAILED DISCLOSURE OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 shows a sports apparatus 1 which corresponds in principle to what is described in German patent application 10 2019 002 702.7. This comprises a box body 2 which is held by means of a tension cable 3. The tensioning rope 2 is clamped between a first upper attachment 4 and a second lower attachment 5. The sports apparatus 1 further comprises an electronic terminal 8 for operation. The mobile terminal 8 may be a cell phone or a tablet PC, which may be accommodated in a holder.
A measuring arrangement 21 is attached to, in particular in, the box body 2. The measuring arrangement 21 is set up to measure a box impact. For this purpose, the arrangement comprises at least one acceleration sensor 211, 212 and a computing unit 213. The at least one acceleration sensor detects accelerations to which the box body 2 is subjected during use and generates acceleration values therefrom. The computing unit 213 can process these generated acceleration values. A communication unit attached to the box body can communicate, for example, evaluation results or the raw data to the outside, in particular to the cell phone. Communication with the mobile terminal may be indirect via an Internet bridge and/or a central computing unit of a service provider.
An essential component of this sports apparatus is the metrological detection of a boxing punch, which will be further explained on the basis of the following figures. FIGS. 2A to 7A show the boxing arrangement in the respective situations during use. The diagrams drawn below (FIGS. 2A, 2C, 3B, 3C, 4B, 4C, 5B, 5C, 6B, 7B) show values belonging to the respective situations drawn above.
For example, in an idealized view, the box body 2 oscillates back and forth in the y-direction. The different representations of FIGS. 2A-C describe this oscillation process, with FIG. 2B showing the respective associated longitudinal deflection in the y-direction. FIG. 2C shows the respective associated longitudinal acceleration a.
Characteristic for the ideal oscillation is a constant period T over the following oscillations (post oscillations). Due to friction losses, the amplitude of the deflection y and the amplitude of the acceleration a decrease with the duration of the oscillation t. The period T is constant over the following oscillations (post oscillations).
FIGS. 3A-C show, analogous to the representation in FIGS. 2A-C, the diagrams when the box body is brought from the rest position into oscillation by a box impact at the time t=0. The box body is brought into oscillation by a box impact. Within a few milliseconds, the box body is fully deflected and oscillates.
A boxing blow can now be determined by different quantities. On the one hand, a literally abrupt increase in the amplitude of the deflection in the direction of the beat is a clear signal that a beat has occurred. On the other hand, a detected phase shift, especially by about T/2, is a clear signal that a blow has occurred. However, the phase offset is smaller the closer the impact takes place to the time of the largest deflection. A punch at the time of greatest deflection cannot be detected based on the phase offset alone.
A possible challenge for the boxer is now to hit an already vibrating box body at the zero crossing if possible. An idealized punch is shown in FIGS. 4A-C at time tB. The phase shift dP between the oscillation before the boxing stroke and the oscillation after the boxing stroke can be seen. If the phase offset dP is approximately half the period T, the boxing body 2 was hit at the zero crossing.
Another possible challenge for the boxer is to hit the vibrating box body as centrally as possible. FIGS. 5A-C show, analogous to FIGS. 4A-C, a hit on an already vibrating box body. In FIG. 5C, however, a rotational acceleration w of the box body about the rope axis M is shown. The rotational acceleration w depends on the eccentricity of the box impact. In the ideal case, the rotational acceleration is small or equal to zero.
Another possible challenge of the boxer is to set the box body in an optimal oscillation. FIG. 6C shows a trajectory TR in addition to the figure in FIG. 6B. The trajectory TR describes the trajectory of the box body. Since the box body is held vertically in a defined vertical position by the box body support, only the course of the trajectory in plan view is of importance, i.e. a projection of the trajectory onto a plane spanned by the coordinates xy. For the sake of simplicity, the box body initially oscillates only in the y-direction. The box impact occurs at the time tB=t2 in y-direction exactly at the zero crossing. If the boxing body is hit optimally, the boxing body again enters an oscillation in which the trajectory is exclusively in the y-direction.
In contrast, FIG. 7C shows the trajectory for an inferior boxing punch. The boxing blow does not hit the boxing body optimally at the zero crossing, namely laterally. It is true that the box body starts to oscillate in the y-direction. However, the trajectory traces a tumbling motion, since the boxing body also enters an oscillating motion in the x-direction. The period of the oscillation in x-direction can be different from the period of the oscillation in y-direction.
An evaluation of the boxing stroke can now be made on the basis of the trajectory. The higher a boxing punch is, the less tumbling the trajectory is. An oscillation of the boxing body with as few motion components as possible in the direction transverse to an especially predetermined main stroke direction, which can be determined from the trajectory, is thus the result of an optimum boxing stroke.
A first oscillation occurs between the times t4 and t6; a second oscillation occurs between the times t6 and t8.
The longitudinal acceleration and the rotational acceleration are recorded by means of at least one acceleration sensor 211, 212. The longitudinal acceleration can have values above 200 g in a professional boxing punch. The values of the rotational acceleration w are significantly below this and are even zero for an ideal punch. Rotational accelerations above 20 g (relative to a reference point on the ball surface) already indicate a very poorly struck punch. In this respect, the types of acceleration result in different requirement profiles for the accelerometer.
In the present case, two accelerometers 211, 212 are used. The first acceleration sensor 211 is a longitudinal acceleration sensor. The longitudinal acceleration sensor is set up to measure accelerations of at least 100 g, in particular 150 g, and to output corresponding acceleration values.
Suitable acceleration sensors that are set up to detect such high accelerations are commercially available at low cost, provided that they are only intended to detect longitudinal acceleration. However, corresponding acceleration sensors are significantly more expensive, if available at all, if they are also to simultaneously detect rotational accelerations.
The invention therefore provides for the acceleration sensors to be designed separately due to the significantly different measuring ranges. Thus, a second acceleration sensor 212 is used for detecting rotational acceleration. This second acceleration sensor 213 is designed from the requirement profile in such a way that only the low rotational accelerations up to max. 20 g (referred to a reference point on the ball surface) are detected. All other values above this are irrelevant in terms of content, since the associated blow was hit too decentrally anyway. A rotational acceleration sensor suitable for this purpose is also commercially available at low cost.
The adjustment of the rope tension is performed as follows. For optimal training success, a certain period duration is useful. Advanced athletes prefer a higher stroke frequency and therefore desire a lower period duration of an oscillation. For beginners, a longer period duration is desirable. Thus, different period durations are stored for different usage profiles.
Setting the rope tension is therefore done like tuning a stringed instrument. First, a user profile is entered, for example “Professional” or “Beginner”. A database query is used to determine a period T that matches the user profile. Now the user is asked to perform a test beat. In particular, this test stroke can be executed with any hardness, since the oscillation period is constant regardless of the stroke hardness. Based on the recorded longitudinal acceleration, the period duration of the subsequent oscillations is determined. The user is then prompted to increase or reduce the rope tension.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

1 Sport apparatus
2 Boxing body
3 tension cable
4 upper fastening
5 lower fastening
8 end device, especially cell phone or tablet PC
9 Boxing glove
21 Measuring arrangement in the box body
211 first acceleration sensor
212 second acceleration sensor
213 computing unit
22 communication unit
t duration
T period of the oscillation
y deflection
a longitudinal acceleration
w rotational acceleration

Claims

1. A sports apparatus (1), comprising a boxing body (2), a tensioning rope (3), a first, optionally upper, fastening (4), a second, optionally lower, fastening (5), wherein the tensioning rope (3) is clamped between the two fastenings (4, 5), wherein the tensioning cable (3) cooperates with the box body (2) in such a way that the box body (2) is held in a basic position and that the box body (2) can be displaced, optionally elastically, out of the basic position by the action of a boxing punch and is subsequently returned to the basic position again, wherein the sports apparatus (1) further comprises a measuring arrangement (21) which is set up to detect a boxing punch on the boxing body in a metrological manner.

2. The sports apparatus (1) according to the claim 1, wherein the sports apparatus is set up to carry out an evaluation of the boxing punch on the basis of the metrological detection and to output an evaluation result to the user.

3. The sports apparatus (1) according to the claim 2, wherein the boxing body can perform an oscillating movement, a boxing punch acting on the oscillating boxing body, in that the sports apparatus is set up to determine the time of the boxing punch in relation to the oscillating movement and to generate the evaluation as a function of the determined time.

4. The sports apparatus (1) according to claim 3, wherein the sports apparatus is arranged to detect a rotational acceleration of the boxing body, and in that the sports apparatus is arranged to generate the evaluation as a function of the determined rotational acceleration.

5. The sports apparatus (1) according to claim 1, wherein the sports device is set up to determine an at least two-dimensional trajectory (TR) of the boxing body, in particular to determine the trajectory in plan view, and that the sports apparatus is arranged to generate the evaluation as a function of the determined movement path (TR).

6. The sports apparatus (1) according to claim 5, wherein the sports apparatus is arranged, during the generation of the evaluation trajectory (TR) of the boxing body during a first post oscillation (t4−>t6) and/or during a second post oscillation (t6−>t8) be considered.

7. The sports apparatus (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the sports apparatus comprises two separate acceleration sensors which are attached to the box body (2), namely a first acceleration sensor (211) for detecting a longitudinal acceleration (a), and a second acceleration sensor (212) for detecting a rotational acceleration (w), wherein the first acceleration sensor (211) is set up to detect a maximum longitudinal acceleration (a) of at least 100 g, in particular wherein the second acceleration sensor (212) being set up to detect a maximum rotational acceleration (a) of max. 20 g, in particular relative to a reference point on the surface of the box body to be detected.

8. Use of the sports apparatus according to claim 1, comprising striking the sports apparatus of claim 1.

9. The use according to claim 8, wherein, in order to set a preload after a boxing stroke, the period duration of the vibration of the box body generated by the boxing stroke is determined, in that the determined period duration is compared with a preset value, and that, based on the comparison result, the user is prompted to adjust the rope tension.

10. The use according to claim 9, wherein the preset value is variable and is adjusted based on a user input.