Stride evaluation system

Claim 2

An improved system for determining stride forces produced by a sport participant in a sporting event, said system comprising: a first portable housing (10) for placement on each leg of said participant, said housing being oriented in close proximity to the extremity of said leg near the location of the stride forces produced by said leg, means firmly engaging around said leg and connected to said first portable housing for holding said housing against the outer surface near the ankle of said leg, means (200) in said first portable housing for sensing the vibrations from said ankle caused by said stride force, said vibrations being proportional to the magnitude of said stride force produced by said leg, said sensing means also generating a signal (642) corresponding to the magnitude of each said stride force, a second portable housing (20) for placement on the body of said participant, means (25) in said second portable housing receptive of said signal from said sensing means for storing stride information corresponding to (a) the magnitude of said stride force and (b) the relative time of said occurrence of said stride force signal, said receiving means also transmitting said stride information (40) to a remote location, and means (30) at a remote location for receiving said transmitted stride information from said storing means, said receiving means also displaying said stride information.

Claim 3

The improved system of claim 1 in which said sensing means further comprises: means (600, 610) for detecting said stride force (602), said detecting means also issuing an analog signal (614) proportional to said detected stride force, means (620) receptive of said analog signal from said detecting means for producing a window signal (624) only when the analog signal (614) is greater than a predetermined value and means (630, 640) receptive of said window signal from said producing means for generating said digital signal (642).

Claim 4

The improved system of claim 2 in which said producing means further comprises means for selectively adjusting said predetermined value.

Claim 5

An improved system for determining stride forces produced by a sport participant in a sporting event, said system comprising: a first portable housing (10) for placement on each leg of said participant, said housing being oriented in close proximity to the extremity of said leg near the location of the stride forces produced by said leg, means firmly engaging around said leg and connected to said first portable housing for holding said housing against the outer surface near the ankle of said leg, means (200) in said first portable housing for sensing the vibrations from said ankle caused by said stride force, said vibrations being proportional to the magnitude of said stride force produced by said leg, said sensing means further generating a signal (642) corresponding to the magnitude of each said stride force, said sensing means comprising: (a) means (600, 610) for detecting said vibrations (602), said detecting means also issuing an analog signal (614) proportional to said stride force, (b) means (620) receptive of said analog signal from said detecting means for producing a window signal (624) only when the analog signal (614) is greater than a predetermined value, and (c) means (630, 640) receptive of said window signal from said producing means for generating said digital signal (642), a second portable housing (20) for placement on the body of said participant, and means (25) in said second portable housing receptive of said signal from said sensing means for storing stride information corresponding to (a) the magnitude of said stride force and (b) the time of said occurrence of said stride force signal.

Claim 6

An improved system for determining stride forces produced by a sport participant in a sporting event, said system comprising: a first portable housing (10) for placement on each leg of said participant, said housing being oriented in close proximity to the extremity of said leg near the location of the stride forces produced by said leg, means firmly engaging around said leg and connected to said first portable housing for holding said housing against the outer surface near the ankle of said leg, means (200) in said first portable housing for sensing the vibrations from said ankle caused by said stride force, said vibrations being proportional to the magnitude of said stride force produced by said leg, said sensing means further generating a signal (642) corresponding to the magnitude of each said stride force, said sensing means comprising: (a) means (600, 610) for detecting said vibrations (602), said detecting means also issuing an analog signal (614) proportional to said stride force, (b) means (620) receptive of said analog signal from said detecting means for producing a window signal (624) only when the analog signal (614) is greater than a predetermined value, and (c) means (630, 640) receptive of said window signal from said producing means for generating said digital signal (642), a second portable housing (20) for placement on the body of said participant, and means (25) in said second portable housing receptive of said signal from said sensing means for storing stride information corresponding to (a) the magnitude of said stride force and (b) the time of said occurrence of said stride force signal.

Claim 7

The improved system of claim 4 in which producing means further comprises means for selectively adjusting said predetermined value.

Claim 8

The improved system of claim 4 further comprising: said receiving means transmitting said stride information (40) to a remote location, and means (30) at said remote location for receiving said transmitted stride information from said storing means, said receiving means also displaying said stride information.

Claim 9

An improved system for determining stride forces produced by a sport participant in a sporting event, said system comprising: means (50) for visually recording said sporting event, a first portable housing (10) for placement on each leg of said participant, means firmly engaging around said leg and connected to said first portable housing for holding said housing against the outer surface near the ankle of said leg, means (200) in said first portable housing for sensing the vibrations from said ankle caused by said stride force, said vibrations being proportional to the magnitude of said stride force produced by said leg, said sensing means further generating a digital signal (642) corresponding to each said stride force, a second portable housing (20) for placement on the body of said participant, means (25) in said second portable housing receptive of said signal from said sensing means for transmitting stride information corresponding to (a) the presence of said stride force and (b) the time of occurrence of each said stride force signal, to a remote location, means (30) at a remote location for receiving said transmitted stride information from said transmitting means, and means (60) connected to said receiving means (30) and to said visually recording means (50) for synchronizing, in time, the visual recording to the occurrence of each stride force by the sport participant so that the strides are displayed on said visual recording of the sporting event on a monitor at substantially the time of the occurrence of each said force.

Claim 10

An improved system for determining stride forces produced by a sport participant in a sporting event, said system comprising: means (50) for visually recording said sporting event, a first portable housing (10) for placement on each leg of said participant, means firmly engaging around said leg and connected to said first portable housing for holding said housing against the outer surface near the ankle of said leg, means (200) in said first portable housing for sensing the vibrations from said ankle caused by said stride force, said vibrations being proportional to the magnitude of said stride force produced by said leg, said sensing means further generating a digital signal (642) corresponding to each said stride force, a second portable housing (20) for placement on the body of said participant, means (25) in said second portable housing receptive of said signal from said sensing means for transmitting stride information corresponding to (a) the presence of said stride force and (b) the time of occurrence of each said stride force signal, to a remote location, means (30) at a remote location for receiving said transmitted stride information from said transmitting means, and means (60) connected to said receiving means (30) and to said visually recording means (50) for synchronizing, in time, the visual recording to the occurrence of each stride force by the sport participant so that the strides are displayed on said visual recording of the sporting event on a monitor at substantially the time of the occurrence of each said force.

Claim 13

The system of claim 8 further comprising means at a remote location receptive of said stride information from said storing means for displaying said stride information.

Claim 14

The system of claim 8 further comprising means at a remote location receptive of said stride information from said storing means for determining the average stride length, the number of positive strides are the number of negative strides.

Claim 15

The system of claim 8 further comprising: means for visually recording said horse when being ridden by said person, said recording means also generating signals corresponding to said visual recording, and means receptive of said signals from said recording means and of said stride information from said storing means for displaying said stride information with said visual recording.