Abstract:
An impact illuminated bowling ball including a light transmitting core, a pair of LEDs embedded in the core, a piezoelectric transducer embedded in the core and electrically connected to the LEDs. A shock amplifying mechanism in the form of a steel ball is located in operative engagement with the piezoelectric transducer. A rechargeable electric battery in the core is electrically connected to a solar electric collector for recharging. An integrated timing circuit is used to continue illumination during start or stop times when the transducer is actuated by an impact of the bowling ball.

Description:
This application is a continuation of provisional Application Ser. No. 60/105,523 which was filed on Oct. 22, 1998. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     At the time bowling reached its peak of popularity during the 1960s and 1970s, it had changed very little (ten pins instead of nine) since first played by the ancient Egyptians. However, over the past 15 or so years, the recreational activity of bowling has undergone profound changes. 
     In terms of organized league bowling, bowlers have abandoned the sport by the millions and bowling alleys have disappeared by the hundreds. The American Bowling Congress, the sanctioning body for men, has seen its membership shrink 50 percent, with the loss of 2.4 million men since 1980. A similar, 51 percent drop in membership (2.1 million women) has been experienced by the Women&#39;s International Bowling Congress. At the same time, one in five bowling alleys across the country has closed. Explanations for this decline in interest have been many and varied. 
     Academics have linked the decline in league bowling to the rise in asocial entertainment, such as video games. Americans no longer find they need to bond in groups, as bowling leagues once allowed them to do. Others say this sport has been hurt by everything from its blue-collar image to the growth of fitness clubs, two-income families, and to various forms of in-home entertainment. 
     Bowling has also experienced a great technological makeover. In the early 1980s, urethane replaced the more flammable lacquer as the protective coating over the wooden lanes. Less conditioning oil is soaked up by urethane-coated lanes, making them “faster.” Since the old hard rubber and plastic-coated balls would not hook well on the new surfaces, they were soon replaced by highly-engineered “reactive” urethane balls. 
     In the past five years, more and more engineering has been devoted to the placement and action of the internal weight blocks of a bowling ball. Depending upon the mix of urethane and resin, the hardness of the shell, the placement of the weight block, and the angle of the finger grips, a bowling ball can be obtained that “breaks” hard or easy, short or long; one that performs well in oil or another than is better on dryer lanes. 
     The downside to all of this technology is that bowling balls have gotten expensive—two hundred dollars, and even more, is not an unusual price to pay for a modern bowling ball. As is the case with other sports, such an increase in costs will result in a decrease in the number of younger bowlers (who traditionally have less discretionary income). The long-term catastrophic result of such a trend has not been lost upon bowling equipment manufacturers and bowling alley operators. In addition to changes in semantics and promotional emphasis (bowling centers, not alleys and “channels,” not gutters), the world of “cosmic bowling” debuted at a Chicago bowling alley in the summer of 1995. 
     In bowling centers located throughout the country, as midnight approaches, the lights go out, laser beams flash, smoke machines pump fog, and dance music blasts. Then, the lanes start to shimmer, the pins turn purple, and the balls glow neon pink, orange, and yellow. Bowlers too go through a remarkable transformation, the middle-age bowlers disappear to be replaced by junior high and high school kinds—a crowd that has traditionally not considered bowling to be a wild night on the town. 
     Unfortunately for bowling center operators, this generational magic comes at a steep capital cost. The requirements to install a new stereo system, smoke machines, laser lights, banks of “black lights”, and UV-responsive coatings on pins, balls, and lanes can exceed tens of thousands of dollars. A need thus exists to enable operators of bowling centers to take advantage of this renewed interest in bowling expressed by younger adults by being able to convert their lanes to a “cosmic Bowling”-style without requiring the operator to first invest the significant (and likely unavailable) capital funds required for purchasing and installing expensive equipment. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view, with portions broken away, showing an illuminated bowling ball in accordance with the present invention: 
     FIG. 2 is an enlarged, top plan view showing a solar cell powering a flashing circuit in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 3 is an enlarged, bottom plan view showing a flashing circuit in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view, taken along line  4 — 4  of FIG. 3, showing a shock-amplifying device in accordance with the present invention; and 
     FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a flashing circuit in accordance with the present invention. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Reference is now made to the drawings wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout. A luminous bowling ball  10  is shown in FIG. 1 of conventional outer design, with a pair of finger holes  12  and a thumb hole  14 . Portions of the exterior surface have been shown broken away in FIG. 1, revealing an interior core  18 . 
     A solar cell  22  is shown within the interior core  18  and in close proximity to the surface of the bowling ball  10 . A pair of charging wires  26  is attached to the solar cell  22  and extends towards an attachment with a flashing unit  28  that is placed at a location deeper within the interior core  18 . 
     Separation of the flashing unit  28  from the solar cell  22 , which is made possible by the charging wires  26 , enables two conflicting design criteria to be satisfied. The core material is preferably translucent. Placement of the solar cell close to the surface permits reception of a greater amount of incident light energy. Positioning the flashing unit  28  deeper within the interior core  18  provides a greater amount of internal light diffraction, better illuminating the bowling ball  10 . 
     A protective case  32  is shown surrounding the flashing unit  28  in FIG.  2 . An electrical storage battery  34  lies within the flashing unit  28  and is in electrical communication with the solar cell  22  through a pair of electrical contacts  38 . In a manner discussed hereinafter, electrical current generated by the solar cell  22  is utilized to recharge the electrical storage battery  34 . 
     A support platform  42  is provided within the flashing unit  28  as a member to which the various components are attached. Among such components are a pair of high intensity Light Emitting Diode&#39;s (LED&#39;s)  46  that project beyond the support platform  42  to provide greater visibility when activated. Visibility is further enhanced, as is shown in FIG. 3, by a pair of visibility portals  52  formed in the protective case  32 . 
     FIG. 3 also illustrates a presently preferred shock or motion-amplifying system. As noted previously, by positioning the flashing unit  28  deep within the interior core  18  there is a significant refractory enhancement of the light generated upon activation of the flashing unit  28 . However, the deeper within the interior core  18 , the more attenuated the shock energy that impacts upon the flashing unit  28 . In FIG. 3, a hardened steel ball  56  is shown placed within the protective case  32 . The steel ball  56  amplifies any shock energy impacting the bowling ball  10  to ensure reliable activation of the flashing unit  28 . An example of an activity during which activation of the flashing unit  28  is desired occurs when the bowling ball  10  impacts the lane bed as a player launches the ball on its course towards the pins (not shown in the Figures). 
     As depicted in FIG. 4, the protective case  32  forms an enclosed area about the steel ball  56 , permitting a limited amount of movement within the protective case  32 . The inertial characteristics of the steel ball  56  result in a somewhat lagging response to the quick movements associated with shock impact of the outer bowling ball  10 . This delay in turn causes the steel ball  56  to generate a second impact that is primarily “felt” by the flashing unit  28 , resulting in the activation thereof. 
     In the presently preferred embodiment, a piezoelectric transducer is the apparatus utilized to initiate the flashing of the LEDs  46 . Such a transducer will generate a voltage in response to a mechanical stress, such as those caused by shock and/or vibration. Piezoelectric transducers are well known. An inexpensive type that is used with some frequency for other applications is a piezoceramic made from either barium titanate or lead zirconate titanate. 
     As shown in FIG. 5, a piezoceramic transducer  60  has a pair of output signal lines  62 ,  64 , that are respectively connected to an amplifier  66  at a signal input thereof and to ground. In response to a mechanical stress, the transducer  60  provides a voltage to the input of the amplifier  66 . 
     The amplifier  66  has a high input impedance. As a result, the amplitude of the transducer voltage provided to the amplifier  66  is substantially equal to the amplitude of the open circuit transducer voltage. Additionally, the amplifier  66  has a unity voltage gain and an output impedance that is sufficiently low to make it suitable for driving other electrical circuit elements. Because of the unity voltage gain, the amplifier output voltage is similar to the transducer voltage provided to the input of the amplifier  66 . Also, the transducer  60  is electrically a capacitor. Hence, the transducer voltage and the amplifier output voltage have an average value of zero. In other words, neither the transducer voltage nor the amplifier output voltage have a DC component. 
     The output of the amplifier  66  is connected to a peak-to-peak detector  68 . In response to the amplifier output voltage, the detector  68  provides a unipolar positive voltage substantially equal in amplitude to the peak-to-peak amplitude of the amplifier output voltage. 
     The output of the detector  68  is connected through a resistor  70  to an NPN transistor  72  at its base  74 . An emitter  76  of the transistor  72  is connected to ground. The purpose of the resistor  70  is to limit the magnitude of a base current that can be provided to the transistor  72 . 
     A collector  78  of the transistor  72  is connected through a resistor  80  to a light generator. In this embodiment, the light generator is the light emitting diode (LED)  46 . More particularly, the connection through the resistor  80  is to a cathode  84  of the LED  46 . An anode  86  of the LED  46  is connected to a battery  88  at a positive pole  90 . A negative pole  92  of the battery  88  is connected to ground. In this embodiment, the battery  88  provides 1.5 volts. 
     In a similar manner, the collector  78  is connected through a resistor  94  to an LED  46  at a cathode  98  thereof. An anode  100  of the LED  46  is connected to the positive pole  90 . The resistors  80 ,  94  are of equal resistance. 
     In response to a positive voltage provided by the peak-to-peak detector  68 , current from the battery  88  flows through the pair of LEDs  46  and the pair of resistors  80 ,  94  to ground via the NPN transistor  72 . The purpose of the pair of resistors  80 ,  94  is to limit and substantially equalize currents through the pair of LEDs  46 . 
     The positive pole  90  is additionally connected to a positive voltage input  102  of the amplifier  66 . A negative voltage input  104  of the amplifier  66  is connected to a second battery  106  at a negative pole  108  thereof. A positive pole  110  of the second battery  106  is connected to ground. Hence, the pair of batteries  88 ,  106  are positive and negative power sources for the amplifier  66 . In this embodiment, the first battery  88  is similar to the second battery  56 . 
     Preferably, a solar cell  112  has a positive pole  114  connected to a diode  116  at its anode. A negative pole  117  of the solar cell  112  is connected to ground. As known to those skilled in the art, a solar cell provides a voltage in response to incident light. Since the bowling ball is made from a translucent resin, the solar cell  112  receives incident light that causes it to provide a voltage. 
     The cathode of the diode  116  is connected to the positive pole  90 . Whenever the voltage provided by the solar cell  112  is greater than the voltage provided by the battery  88 , the solar cell  112  charges the battery  88 . The diode  116  prevents the battery  88  from discharging through the solar cell  112 . 
     Similarly, a second solar cell  118  has a negative pole  120  connected to a diode  122  at its cathode. A positive pole  124  of the solar cell  118  is connected to ground. The anode of the diode  122  is connected to the negative pole  108 . Whenever the voltage provided by the second solar cell  118  is greater than the voltage provided by the battery  106 , the second solar cell  118  charges the battery  106 . The diode  122  prevents the battery  106  from discharging through the second solar cell  118 . 
     In a preferred embodiment, the luminous bowling ball  10  is fabricated using a bowling ball similar to the “Amulet” model manufactured by Visionary Bowling Products of Jennings, Mo., or the “Clear Wolf” bowling ball, manufactured by Ebonite International of Hopkinsville, Ky., with the flashing device molded into the ball during its manufacture. The solar cells can be of a type that provide 3 volts D.C., such as the Silicon Solar Cell, Model No. 276-1244 sold by Radio Shack (Tandy Corporation) of Fort Worth, Tex. To obtain reliable and sufficient power, installation of the solar cells is preferably ½″ (approximately) from the surface of the bowling ball. 
     The power source for the flashing unit is a 3-volt D.C. Nicad Rechargeable battery, such as battery number 23292 as sold by Radio Shack (Tandy Corporation) of Fort Worth, Tex. The flashing unit itself includes preferably two high-intensity LEDs, such as Model No. 2761622 sold by Radio Shack, or one or more taken from a sequence of color models, such as Model No. 92N5330 MCL934MBC (Blue) by Newark Electronics of Chicago, Ill. Such LEDs are manufactured in a variety of colors. Red, green, and blue are considered to be especially appropriate for use in the present invention. A flashing circuit such as membrane switch No. 04F1071 MCS12411208, also manufactured by Newark Electronics of Chicago is of the type presently preferred for use in the present invention, with a piezo crystal, such as piezo crystal No. 16F1869 12412501 sold by Newark Electronics of Chicago, Ill. useful for triggering the flashing circuit. 
     To continue the sequence of flashing of the LEDs  46  after an impact of the bowling ball on the lane or an impact of the ball with the pins, a timing circuit (preferably an integrated circuit), such as that shown in FIG. 5 of U.S. Pat. No. 4,848,009 may be used to control illumination duration start or stop times when illumination is called for after the piezoelectric transducer  60  is actuated by an impact of the bowling ball. This timing circuit may be incorporated in the circuit of FIG. 5 or substituted therefor. Additional LEDs, such as the nine LEDs shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,848,009, may be incorporated in the circuit of my bowling ball. U.S. Pat. No. 4,848,009 is incorporated by reference in this application for all purposes. 
     My invention has been disclosed in terms of a preferred embodiment thereof, which provides an improved luminescent bowling ball that is of great novelty and utility. Various changes, modifications, and alterations in the teachings of the present invention may be contemplated by those skilled in the art without departing from the intended spirit and scope thereof. It is intended that the present invention encompass such changes and modifications.