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US-12616886-B2 - Structural energy storage with carbon fiber for sport equipment sensor

US12616886B2US 12616886 B2US12616886 B2US 12616886B2US-12616886-B2

Abstract

A sport apparatus, including a handle, an action portion, a connection portion connecting the handle to the action portion, at least part of the connection portion including a structural battery, the structural battery including one or more energy storage devices, each of the one or more energy storage devices having at least one anode core of a continuous carbon fiber, an electrolyte arranged on the at least one continuous carbon fiber core, and a cathode layer coating arranged to the at least one continuous carbon fiber core on the electrolyte, and at least one sensor unit electrically connected to the energy storage devices, the at least one sensor unit providing signals related to use of the sport apparatus.

Inventors

  • Jae Seung Lee
  • Paul Gilmore

Assignees

  • TOYOTA MOTOR ENGINEERING & MANUFACTURING NORTH AMERICA, INC.

Dates

Publication Date
20260505
Application Date
20220113

Claims (7)

  1. 1 . A sport apparatus, comprising: a handle; an action portion; a connection portion connecting the handle to the action portion, at least part of the connection portion including a structural battery, the structural battery including one or more energy storage devices; each of the one or more energy storage devices having: at least one anode core of a continuous carbon fiber, an electrolyte arranged on the at least one continuous carbon fiber core, and a cathode layer arranged to the at least one continuous carbon fiber core on the electrolyte; and at least one sensor unit electrically connected to the one or more energy storage devices, the at least one sensor unit outputting signals related to use of the sport apparatus.
  2. 2 . A sport apparatus, comprising: a handle; an action portion; a connection portion connecting the handle to the action portion, at least part of the connection portion including a structural battery, the structural battery including one or more energy storage devices, wherein each of the one or more energy storage devices having a laminate structure with: at least one anode core of a plurality of continuous carbon fibers, an electrolyte coating arranged on the plurality of continuous carbon fibers, and a cathode layer arranged on the electrolyte coating.
  3. 3 . The sport apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the handle, the action portion, and the connection portion form a tennis racket, the action portion is a head of the tennis racket, and the structural battery is located at a position at a mid-portion of the connection portion.
  4. 4 . The sport apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the at least one sensor unit includes an accelerometer mounted on an inner surface of the mid-portion of the connection portion.
  5. 5 . The sport apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the accelerometer is a multi-axis accelerometer to detect an impact speed and free swing speed.
  6. 6 . The sport apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the connection portion includes a Y-shaped portion, and the at least one sensor unit includes a pair of accelerometers mounted in each side of a mid-portion of the Y-shaped portion in order to monitor spin impact.
  7. 7 . The sport apparatus of claim 6 , wherein a first sensor unit of the at least one sensor unit is mounted on a free end of the handle, and the first sensor unit includes a communication device.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This patent application is related to non-provisional application Ser. No. 17/372,629 filed Jul. 12, 2021, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. This patent application is also related to non-provisional application Ser. No. 17/574,685, filed Jan. 13, 2022, entitled “STRUCTURAL ENERGY STORAGE FOR CF BASED PERSONAL MOBILITY AND LIGHTWEIGHT DELIVERY” which is filed concurrently herewith, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. This patent application is also related to non-provisional application Ser. No. 17/574,660, filed Jan. 13, 2022, entitled “STRUCTURAL ENERGY STORAGE FOR CF BASED POWERED MOBILE DEVICES” which is filed concurrently herewith, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. This patent application is also related to non-provisional application Ser. No. 17/574,642, filed Jan. 13, 2022, entitled “APPLICATION OF STRUCTURAL ENERGY STORAGE WITH CARBON FIBER IN PERSONAL WEARABLE AND CARRIABLE DEVICES” which is filed concurrently herewith, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE This disclosure is directed to structural energy storage devices, containing a plurality of lithium ion batteries having an anode of a continuous carbon fiber core, applied to sports equipment having sensors in order to compensate for weight to power the sensors and alleviate problems associated with battery positioning and the effects of a battery on weight balance. DISCUSSION OF THE BACKGROUND The competitive racket sports and similar sports that use a hand-held sport implement are gradually adopting carbon fiber and one or more advanced sensor units attached onto its structure for advanced features such as swing, trajectory, and impact analysis. These sensor units are powered by replaceable or rechargeable batteries. In this disclosure, the spelling of the terms racket and racquet are used interchangeably. A typical sensor unit for a tennis racket is shown in FIG. 1. The sensor unit 104 can be mounted on the end of a racket handle 102 using adhesives or rubber mounting band. The sensor unit 104 consists of multi axis accelerometer that senses racquet impact, swing speed etc. The sensor 104 unit has a built-in communication device such as Bluetooth or Wi-Fi by which the collected data are transmitted to a smartphone, personal computer, or a cloud service. These sensor units 104 include electronics, and being portable, are powered by battery. Typically, button style batteries (CRxxxx) are used. The bottom end of the racket is a preferred position for this sensor unit because this type of unit may be provided as an aftermarket component 112 and the bottom end is an easiest place to physically mount an aftermarket component 112. Also, the sensor unit itself can better endure against large impact at swing action. The use of an impact sensor in racket sports is not limited to tennis, as it can be easily be applied to most racket/racquet sports; including badminton, squash, racquetball, table tennis, pickleball, etc. An example is found in FIG. 2 for badminton. According to the technical specification of Coollang (www.coollang-global.com/welcome/badminton), the sensor unit 202 weighs around 5 g. The sensor unit 202 may be attached to the racquet end by a special adapter 208, or the sensor unit may be mounted to the racquet end 206 with a 2-way tape 204. A conventional golf swing analyzer is shown in FIG. 3. A motion sensor unit 304 is mounted at the end of club handle 302. The motion sensor unit 304 includes a micro USB port for charging and a Bluetooth communication unit. The motion sensor unit 304 outputs sensor signals that may be used to measure club head speed, up/down motion, and impact force. The same principle has been applied to baseball, hockey and lacrosse. FIG. 4 shows an example sensor unit 404 attached to the end of a hockey stick 402. For each of these hand-held sport implements, those hand-held sport implements that require relatively high strength of impact, the weight of the sensor is heavier and the electrical power required is higher than sport implements that do not require high strength of impact. Rowing, canoeing, and kayaking are also adopting carbon fiber due to its superb mechanical properties. Research in these types of sports has attempted to mount cameras to monitor the oaring action by way of video images. The camera-based image sensor detects the motion of the oar. The post analysis of the recorded image stream can deliver information such as speed, stroke, and trajectory of rowing. Another sport where sensors are being applied is archery, which can involve a recursive (Olympic style) or compound bow. A compound bow is preferably lighter weight as portability is an important feature for wildlife shooting. Carbon fiber has become a popular choice to reduce weight in a compound bow. In archery, a speed sensor has been introduced. Anot