IPC분류정보
국가/구분 |
United States(US) Patent
등록
|
국제특허분류(IPC7판) |
|
출원번호 |
US-0992560
(2006-10-23)
|
등록번호 |
US-8359907
(2013-01-29)
|
우선권정보 |
GB-0521604.9 (2005-10-22) |
국제출원번호 |
PCT/GB2006/003954
(2006-10-23)
|
§371/§102 date |
20090818
(20090818)
|
국제공개번호 |
WO2007/045915
(2007-04-26)
|
발명자
/ 주소 |
|
출원인 / 주소 |
- The Sports Turf Research Institute
|
인용정보 |
피인용 횟수 :
0 인용 특허 :
8 |
초록
▼
A device (60) and method for measuring the roughness of a playing surface are described. The device includes a carriage (12) which can travel over the playing surface, a rotatable member (80) which can roll over the playing surface, a restraint (84) which constrains the rotatable member (80) to trav
A device (60) and method for measuring the roughness of a playing surface are described. The device includes a carriage (12) which can travel over the playing surface, a rotatable member (80) which can roll over the playing surface, a restraint (84) which constrains the rotatable member (80) to travel with the carriage (12) and a transducer (70) coupled to the rotatable member (80) and which can generate a signal representative of the height and/or lateral translation of the rotatable member.
대표청구항
▼
1. A grass playing surface roughness measuring device, comprising: a carriage mounted on a plurality of surface engaging members by which the device can travel over a grass playing surface to be measured, wherein the surface engaging members comprise a plurality of wheels;a rotatable member contacta
1. A grass playing surface roughness measuring device, comprising: a carriage mounted on a plurality of surface engaging members by which the device can travel over a grass playing surface to be measured, wherein the surface engaging members comprise a plurality of wheels;a rotatable member contactable with the grass playing surface to roll thereover in use;a restraint which constrains the rotatable member to travel with the carriage;a transducer mounted on the carriage and coupled to the rotatable member and which can generate a signal representative of translation of the rotatable member relative to the carriage, wherein the rotatable member is a sphere or a strip of the surface of a sphere extending around the circumference of the sphere; anda plurality of bogey arrangements coupling the plurality of wheels to the carriage, the plurality of bogey arrangements being independently movable to adapt to variations in the grass playing surface over which the device travels so as to generally maintain the carriage in a substantially constant attitude relative to the playing surface. 2. A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rotatable member has one, some or all of the same properties as a ball used in a game normally played on the grass playing surface. 3. A device as claimed in claim 2, wherein the grass playing surface is a green of a golf course and the ball is a golf ball. 4. A device as claimed in claim 2, wherein said same properties include the size, mass, density, surface or material of said ball used in said game normally played on the grass playing surface. 5. A device as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a device for determining the speed of the carriage over the surface. 6. A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the signal is representative of the height of the rotatable member. 7. A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the restraint includes a pivot mechanism which allows the rotatable member to move laterally relative to the direction of travel of the device. 8. A device as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a data logging apparatus for logging data obtained from said signal generated by the transducer. 9. A device as claimed in claim 8, wherein the data logging apparatus is programmed to calculate a quantitative measure of the roughness of the playing surface. 10. A method for determining the roughness of a grass playing surface, comprising: propelling a carriage over the grass playing surface;engaging a rotatable member with the grass playing surface as the rotatable member is carried along by the carriage over the grass playing surface; andmeasuring any variations in the vertical movement and the lateral movement of the rotatable member as it rolls over the grass playing surface. 11. A method as claimed in claim 10, wherein said grass playing surface is a part of a golf course. 12. A method as claimed in claim 10, wherein said rotatable member has one, some or all of the same properties as a golf ball. 13. A method as claimed in claim 10, wherein said rotatable member is a sphere or a strip of the surface of a sphere extending around the circumference of the sphere. 14. A method as claimed in claim 10, further comprising calculating a quantitative measure of the roughness of the grass playing surface. 15. A grass playing surface roughness measuring device, comprising: a carriage mounted on a plurality of surface engaging members by which the device can travel over a grass playing surface to be measured;a rotatable member contactable with the grass playing surface to roll thereover in use;a restraint which constrains the rotatable member to travel with the carriage and which allows the entire rotatable member to move laterally relative to a direction of travel of the device so as to follow a track that a ball would follow; anda first transducer mounted on the carriage and coupled to the rotatable member and which can generate a signal representative of the lateral movement of the entire rotatable member relative to the carriage. 16. A device as claimed in claim 15, wherein the rotatable member is a sphere or a strip of the surface of a sphere extending around the circumference of the sphere. 17. A device as claimed in claim 15, wherein the rotatable member has one, some or all of the same properties as a ball used in a game normally played on the grass playing surface. 18. A device as claimed in claim 17, wherein said same properties include the size, mass, density, surface or material of said ball used in said game normally played on the grass playing surface. 19. A device as claimed in claim 15, wherein the grass playing surface is a green of a golf course and the ball is a golf ball. 20. A device as claimed in claim 15, wherein the surface engaging members comprise a plurality of wheels. 21. A device as claimed in claim 20, further comprising a plurality of bogey arrangements coupling the plurality of wheels to the carriage, the plurality of bogey arrangements being independently movable to adapt to variations in the grass playing surface over which the device travels so as to generally maintain the carriage in a substantially constant attitude relative to the playing surface. 22. A device as claimed in claim 15, further comprising a device for determining the speed of the carriage over the grass playing surface. 23. A device as claimed in claim 15, wherein the restraint allows the rotatable member to move vertically relative to the direction of travel of the device and a second transducer is mounted on the carriage and coupled to the rotatable member and which can generate a signal is representative of the vertical movement of the rotatable member. 24. A device as claimed in claim 15, wherein the restraint includes a pivot mechanism which allows the entire rotatable member to move laterally relative to the direction of travel of the device. 25. A device as claimed in claim 15, wherein the transducer includes an optical encoder. 26. A device as claimed in claim 15, further comprising a data logging apparatus for logging data obtained from said signal generated by the transducer. 27. A device as claimed in claim 26, wherein the data logging apparatus is programmed to calculate a quantitative measure of the roughness of the grass playing surface. 28. A grass playing surface roughness measuring device, comprising: a carriage mounted on a plurality of surface engaging members by which the device can travel over a grass playing surface to be measured;a rotatable member contactable with the grass playing surface to roll thereover in use;a restraint which constrains the rotatable member to travel with the carriage; anda transducer mounted on the carriage and coupled to the rotatable member and which can generate a signal representative of translation of the rotatable member relative to the carriage, wherein the rotatable member is a sphere or a strip of the surface of a sphere extending around the circumference of the sphere, wherein the signal is representative of lateral translation of the rotatable member. 29. A grass playing surface roughness measuring device, comprising: a carriage mounted on a plurality of surface engaging members by which the device can travel over a grass playing surface to be measured;a rotatable member contactable with the grass playing surface to roll thereover in use;a restraint which constrains the rotatable member to travel with the carriage; anda transducer mounted on the carriage and coupled to the rotatable member and which can generate a signal representative of translation of the rotatable member relative to the carriage, wherein the rotatable member is a sphere or a strip of the surface of a sphere extending around the circumference of the sphere, wherein the transducer includes an optical encoder.
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