Trackable Ball

The present invention generally relates to ball games, and more particularly to a ball of a ball game whose whereabouts are trackable.

Golf is a leisure and competitive sport activity where the main objective is to hit the ball into distant holes. Therefore, golf courses are typically located outdoors and are spacious. To increase the difficulty, various terrains and types of areas (such as sand traps, fairways, roughs, etc.) are designed on the course. Due to its small size, golf balls are easily lost on the course.

Taiwan Patent No. 1543800, titled “Detectable Golf Ball,” teaches a golf ball which includes circuitry fixed inside the ball's cavity. This circuitry consists of a battery unit, a control unit, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a magnetometer, a signal processing unit, and a timing unit. The control unit has an antenna and is configured to control the accelerometer, gyroscope, and magnetometer to sense the ball's movement and angular velocity when it receives wireless signals from an external transmitter via the antenna. The signal processing unit converts the signals generated by the accelerometer, gyroscope, and magnetometer into motion signals, which are then transmitted externally via the antenna. The timing unit provides a first timing signal for the control unit to control the accelerometer, gyroscope, and magnetometer to continue sensing until the first sensing time ends, and to control the antenna until the first sensing time ends.

The aforementioned technology may be utilized to search for lost golf balls, but there are drawbacks such as complex structure, high cost, and difficulty in operation, which affect its practicality and thus require further improvement.

Therefore, the present invention discloses a trackable ball, including a ball member, and an electronic tag configured on the ball member. The electronic tag includes an identification chip and a transceiver antenna.

The electronic tag is signally connected to a mobile device. The mobile device is a smartphone or a smartwatch. The mobile device is equipped with an electronic tag reader.

Alternatively, the electronic tag is signally connected to a mobile device. The mobile device is a smartphone or a smartwatch. The mobile device is equipped with an electronic tag reader, and an indicator.

Specifically, the ball member is a golf ball.

Specifically, the electronic tag is a wireless radio frequency identification (RFID) tag or a near-field communication (NFC) tag.

In this way, the user can detect and track the ball member using the mobile device.

Because mobile devices such as smartphones or smartwatches are very common and easy to carry, the interaction between the electronic tag reader of the mobile device and the electronic tag can occur at close range, achieving the purpose of quickly searching for the ball member, making it convenient and efficient.

The foregoing objectives and summary provide only a brief introduction to the present invention. To fully appreciate these and other objects of the present invention as well as the invention itself, all of which will become apparent to those skilled in the art, the following detailed description of the invention and the claims should be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Throughout the specification and drawings identical reference numerals refer to identical or similar parts.

Many other advantages and features of the present invention will become manifest to those versed in the art upon making reference to the detailed description and the accompanying sheets of drawings in which a preferred structural embodiment incorporating the principles of the present invention is shown by way of illustrative example.

The following descriptions are exemplary embodiments only, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability or configuration of the invention in any way. Rather, the following description provides a convenient illustration for implementing exemplary embodiments of the invention. Various changes to the described embodiments may be made in the function and arrangement of the elements described without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

As shown in, a trackable ball according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a ball memberand an electronic tag.

The ball membercan be a golf ball. The shape of the ball membercan be spherical or elliptical.

The electronic tagis configured on the ball memberand comprises an identification chipand a transceiver antenna. Referring to, the electronic tagis signally connected to a mobile device, which can be a smartphone(as illustrated in) or a smartwatch(as illustrated in), and the mobile deviceis equipped with an electronic tag reader. Alternatively, as shown in, the mobile devicemay have an electronic tag readerand an indicator. The electronic tag readeris used to detect and read the electronic tag. The indicatorcan be a warning light or a buzzer, providing visual or auditory warning functions. The electronic tagcan be a wireless radio frequency identification (RFID) tag or a near-field communication (NFC) tag, and the electronic tag readercan correspond to an RFID reader or an NFC reader. It should be noted that the mobile deviceincludes but is not limited to smartphonesor smartwatches; other electronic devices such as tablets or wearable devices are also applicable.

Please refer toand. In the present embodiment, the electronic tagcan be formed as a circular or disc-shaped piece. The electronic tagis attached to the surface of the ball memberor embedded within the interior of the ball member, thus being integrated with the ball member. This allows the position of the electronic tagto represent the position of the ball member. Furthermore, referring toand, for example, when a useris playing golf, the userhits the ball member. The usercan then hold the mobile device(such as a smartphone) and walk slowly. The mobile deviceemits radio waves through the electronic tag readerto detect and read the electronic tag. If the ball membersenses the radio waves emitted by the electronic tag readerthrough the transceiver antenna, the transceiver antennagenerates electricity, triggering the identification chip. Once triggered, the identification chipemits the data stored internally through the transceiver antenna. Then, the electronic tag readerof the mobile devicecan read the information stored inside the identification chipto determine the position of the ball member. If the mobile deviceis equipped with the indicator, it can also emit visual or auditory warnings through the indicatorto alert the user.

In this way, the usercan detect and track the ball memberusing the mobile device. Because mobile devices such as smartphonesor smartwatchesare very common and easy to carry, the interaction between the electronic tag readerof the mobile deviceand the electronic tagcan occur at close range, achieving the purpose of quickly searching for the ball member, making it convenient and efficient.

While certain novel features of this invention have been shown and described and are pointed out in the annexed claim, it is not intended to be limited to the details above, since it will be understood that various omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and in its operation can be made by those skilled in the art without departing in any way from the claims of the present invention.