Remotely actuatable sports timing system

A remotely actuatable sports timing system automatically responds to a whistle blown by the sports official to generate a frequency modulated radio signal which is utilized to provide an instantaneous switching signal to actuate the game clock.

This invention relates to a remotely actuatable sports timing system such 
as a digital display clock utilized in basketball games. 
In many sports such as basketball the contest is divided into specific time 
periods. However, certain activities such as a foul called by the sports 
official require the stopping of the game clock. The signal for stopping 
the clock is the blowing of a whistle by the sports official, which the 
official timer upon hearing it responds by manually presses a stop button 
to stop the game clock. When play resumes the official timer presses a 
start button to restart the running of the game clock and the timing of 
the current period; or in the case of the last period, the time remaining 
in the game. 
Because game scores are frequently very close, the time remaining is often 
determinative of whether a team can turn a trailing score into a winning 
score. Time is normally counted on a digital display clock utilizing 
increments of seconds and tenths of a second. 
The official timer's delayed reaction time in translating a whistle blast 
of an official on the floor into a manual response to stop the game clock, 
or to stop or start other timers (such as the shot clock) is frequently 
accepted as human errors that simply can't be overcome. It is not 
uncommon, particularly during the remaining few seconds of a closely 
contested basketball game to have situations which require a conference of 
the three officials on the floor to estimate such human errors in the 
operation of the game clock, and to require resetting of the game clock to 
add time such as one or more seconds to the game clock which in their 
considered judgement compensates for the human error and delay in response 
of the official timer. Since a scoring basket which may reverse the entire 
outcome of the game can be obtained in as short a time period as one 
second, accuracy in timing can lead to controversies and differences of 
opinion crucial to accurate adherence to the rules and to the actual 
outcome of the game. 
Certain other events in sports are also timed such as the shot clock and 
inbounding the ball. Timing is of critical importance in other sports such 
as football, wrestling, hockey, and lacrosse. 
As a result it has been highly desirous to have an accurate, substantially 
instantaneous, reliable automated timer response to the whistle signals of 
a sports official. 
However, an automated remote timing system must operate in a hostile and 
difficult environment where there is audible noise interference from 
numerous sources such as spectators, bands, cheerleaders and a public 
announcing system; and electronic interference from numerous electronic 
and electrical systems such as the television cameras and transmission, 
voice communication transmissions from and between security and television 
personnel, and the public announcing system. To complicate matters 
further, a sports event such as a basketball game is frequently conducted 
in a closed sports arena, confining the interferences and setting up echo 
and other overlapping interference patterns. 
To still further compound the problem, the sports officials must 
continuously move around, and even run around, the playing area such that 
their whistle signal may be emitted while moving, at various locations and 
with surrounding players who are also moving. Moreover, it is desirable to 
enable the official timer to also operate the timer in the event of any 
failure of the automated remote control. Still further, it is highly 
desirable to have a built in test capability to test operation of the 
timing system prior to a game. 
In summary, it is highly desirable to be able to provide a timing system 
which automatically and instantaneously responds to the whistle of a 
moving official in the harsh audible and electronic interference 
environment of a sports event. 
OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved remotely 
actuatable sports timing system which is automatic in responding to 
audible signals of multiple sports officials. 
It is another object of the present invention to provide a remotely 
actuatable sports timing system which responds to a whistle blown by any 
of a plurality of sports officials moving about the playing area. 
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a remotely 
actuatable sports timing system which is substantially instantaneous in 
response and which operates in the presence of interfering audio signals. 
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a remotely 
actuatable sports timing system which utilizes a radio link and yet which 
is capable of reliable operation in the presence of potentially 
interfering radio signals. 
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a remotely 
actuatable sports timing system signal actuator which is suitable for the 
sports officials to carry without interfering with their normal methods of 
officiating, and which enables both automatic and manual operation. 
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a remotely 
actuatable sports timing system which incorporates a built-in testing 
capability, and which is operable in conjunction with manual operation by 
the official timer. 
In accordance with one form of the invention a remotely actuatable sports 
timing system includes a manually operated digital timer with parallel 
operation by a radio control signal generated by a portable radio 
transmitter carried by the sports officials including a microphone in 
proximity to their whistles to transmit a radio control signal to one or 
more stationary radio receivers which are connected to, and/or at the 
official timer position. The receivers are made responsive to the radio 
control signal to generate a switching signal to automatically operate the 
digital timer even in the presence of audible and electronic interference. 
Each of the radio transmitters carried by a plurality of sports officials 
may be tuned to a different carrier frequency and the correspondingly 
tuned receivers may be positioned and spaced about the playing area to 
provide a timer stop control signal in response to the blowing of a 
whistle, or manual actuator of a stop button by a sports official. The 
manual stop signal is generated by a tone board at a frequency different 
than that of the whistle, and band pass filters at the radio receivers 
pass the stop signals. 
Manual operation by the official timer is possible through manual stop and 
start buttons connected in parallel with the remotely generated automatic 
stop and start control. A remotely actuated timer start control may also 
be included.

Referring first to FIG. 1. The remotely actuatable timing system 1 is 
provided to actuate timer display clock 10 in response to the sounding or 
blowing of any of the sports whistles 2a, 2b and 2c carried by the sports 
officials officiating a sporting event. The sounding of any whistle 2a, 2b 
or 2c constitutes a signal for the actuation of timer display clock 10, 
such as to turn it off. Timer display clock 10 may be a Unitek digital 
display clock with tenths of a second capability. The whistles 2A, 2B and 
2C may, for example, be Fox 40 whistles manufactured by Fortron Inc. which 
is the standard whistle used in the National Basketball Association 
(hereinafter NBA) and also utilized by college and high school basketball 
teams. Such whistles include no moving parts and emit an audible signal at 
a frequency of around 3150 hertz. The subject timing system may be made 
particularly responsive by being tuned to 3150 hertz, although the timing 
system may be readily tuned to accommodate other whistles or audible 
signaling devices of other frequencies. 
In a basketball game there are three officials on the floor, anyone of whom 
may signal for the stopping of timer display clock 10. However, the 
subject invention is readily applicable to various other sporting events 
such as football, wrestling, hockey, and lacrosse, or other events 
utilizing a different number of officials. Each of the sports officials 
carry a microphone 3a, 3b and 3c in close proximity to whistles 2a, 2b and 
2c. Sports officials typically grip the whistles 2a, 2b and 2c in their 
teeth during periods of play such that the microphones 3a, 3b and 3c may 
conveniently be attached by a clip to the whistle cords typically worn by 
officials around their neck, or alternatively the microphones may be 
clipped in the vicinity of the neck portion of the shirt worn by the 
official in order to be in relatively close proximity to the whistles. 
Spring clips indicated as 7a, 7b and 7c may be provided for attaching 
microphones 3a, 3b and 3c respectively to the sports officials. 
Each of the sports officials also carry a radio transmitter 4a, 4b and 4c 
which may be conveniently attached to the clothing or belts of the 
officials by suitable clips or fastening means 14a, 14b and 14c. The radio 
transmitters 4a, 4b and 4c may conveniently be commercial radio 
transmitters commonly utilized by performers and actors such as the Samson 
model ST-2 selected to operate at different separated carrier or center 
frequencies; such as, for example, 195.6 megahertz, 208.2 megahertz and 
213.2 megahertz or other suitable frequencies. the frequencies are 
selected to be different than television transmission frequencies and 
their harmonics, and different than other radio and electronic 
communication equipment which may be present in a sports arena and used 
for security, announcing, and television crew communications. For example, 
television signals which are present in a stadium, such as an indoor 
basketball facility, operate at 80 megahertz with the third harmonic being 
240 megahertz, a frequency which would be avoided to minimize electronic 
interference with the communications system of the subject invention. 
Microphones 3a, 3b and 3c may conveniently be a Crown Countryman which is 
small and lightweight, includes a clip such as 7a, and has been found to 
work well with the Samson model ST-2 frequency modulated (hereinafter FM) 
transmitters 4a, 4b and 4c respectively, to which they are connected. 
Antennas 6a, 6b and 6c mounted on transmitters 4a, 4b and 4c respectively 
transmit electromagnetic radio waves 8a, 8b and 8c to radio receivers 11b, 
11b and 11c, respectively. Receivers 11a, 11b and 11c are Samson model 
SR-22 commercial receivers with receiving sections 11a, 11b and 11c 
operating on the same frequencies as transmitters 4a, 4b and 4c, 
respectively. Each of the model SR-22 receivers 11a, 11b and 11c include a 
pair of antennas such as 12a and 13a which provide directional and 
tracking capability for the receivers to enable reliable reception of 
radio waves 8a, 8b and 8c from anywhere on the playing area of the sports 
arena. The receivers 11a, 11b and 11c and the associated control equipment 
described below may in a basketball event be conveniently mounted on the 
table in front of the official timer which is positioned immediately 
adjacent the central region of the playing area or floor. 
In sports utilizing a larger playing area or field, such as soccer it may 
be desirable to position radio receivers such as 11a, 11b and 11c around 
the field to ensure reliable reception of radio signals such as 8a, 8b and 
8c. The directional antenna system and coverage by antennas 12a and 13a 
associated with each receiver can be positioned to enhance the coverage. 
These remote receivers could be in addition to corresponding receivers at 
the official timers position which would be tuned to the same frequencies 
as the remote receivers with the outputs of all of the radio receivers 
connected at the inputs 14a, 14b and 14c of mixer 15. The number and 
positioning of radio receivers such as 11a, 11b and 11c can be varied to 
ensure reliable radio reception from the particular playing area. For 
example, more than one of the radio receivers can be tuned to the same 
carrier frequency, that is tuned to receive a radio signal from the same 
sports official such as Official A, Official B or Official C. 
Transmitted radio signals 8a, 8b and 8c are received and amplified by radio 
receivers 11a, 11b 11c respectively, and are then fed as signals 14a, 14b 
and 14c respectively through mixer 15, and then through high band pass 
filter 16 and low band pass filter 17 to controller 20. Low band pass 
filter 17 is tuned to a center frequency of 400 hertz while high band pass 
filter 16 is tuned to a center frequency of 3150 hertz. Band pass filter 
16 is thus turned to the normal frequency of whistles 2a, 2b and 2c to 
selectively pass a received whistle signal while rejecting other 
frequencies. Low band pass filter 17 is tuned to receive and pass 400 
hertz signals which may be generated manually by the sports officials by 
actuation of buttons 5a, 5b and 5c on transmitters 4a, 4b and 4c, 
respectively. The band pass filters 16 and 17 attenuate any signals 
outside the pass band and thus filter out undesired electromagnetic 
signals and radio interference. Generation of the 400 hertz signal for 
manual actuation of display clock 10 is described below in more detail in 
connection with FIG. 2. 
The 3150 hertz first radio control signal 19 is provided at the output of 
high band pass filter 16 to controller 20 in response to the frequency 
modulation of the carrier frequency of an FM transmitter such as 4a, 4b 
and 4c by sounding of whistle 2a, 2b or 2c. A second radio control signal 
18 is provided at the output of low band pass filter 17 to controller 20 
in response to manual actuation of manual control buttons 5a, 5b or 5c by 
the sports officials. Band pass filters 16 and 17 may be those sold 
commercially by Marchand Electronics and identified as their XM-16 
crossover. Mixer 15 is a 3 line input mixer sold by Radio Design 
Laboratories and identified as their model ST MLX-3. 
Controller 20 is positioned on the table in front of the official timer and 
includes conventional manual timer start button 21 and manual timer stop 
button 22 which enable independent and conventional starting and stopping 
of the timer or display clock 10 in the manner normally done by the 
official timer. In addition to the start and stop signals provided by the 
official timer by actuation of timer start button 21 and timer stop button 
22, respectively, first radio control signal 18 and second radio control 
signal 19 are provided to controller 20 by way of frequency modulation of 
the carrier frequencies of transmitters 4a, 4b or 4c to provide an 
alternate, parallel remotely actuated control which is automatic, 
substantially instantaneous, and independent of the response time of the 
official timer in actuating display clock 10 upon blowing of a whistle 2a, 
2b or 2c by a sports official. 
It is to be appreciated that there is a time delay in the manual actuation 
of a push button such as timer stop button 22 by the official timer 
because of inherent cumulative delays. Even assuming that the official 
timer is positioned adjacent to the midcourt or central area of the 
playing area, the official timer may be in excess of 70 feet from a given 
official at the far corner of the floor in the case of college basketball, 
and in the case of sports such as football or lacrosse may be as much as 
200 feet or more from the official blowing a whistle. Since sound 
propagation in air at normal pressure and temperatures is in the order of 
1100 ft./second there is a necessary inherent delay in the sound from a 
whistle reaching the ear of the official timer. Added to that delay is the 
reaction time of the official timer in identifying or recognizing the 
whistle, and then in manually responding by pressing manual stop button 22 
in order to stop timer display clock 10. The cumulative delays can be in 
the order of a significant portion of a second even with experienced 
official timers having rapid response reflexes. It has been estimated that 
in an officiated basketball game there are in the order of 80 or more 
whistles blown per game requiring the stopping of the clock. With a good 
rapid manual response time of the official timer of even 0.6 seconds this 
represents the loss of almost a minute or more in a game which may only be 
40 minutes of playing time long. 
More significant, and by way of example, in a closely contested basketball 
game where time is running out and is being counted in tenths of a second, 
and where the scores, for example, of the competing teams may be separated 
by only 1 point or 2 points, a single score such as a basket can change 
the very outcome of the game. The remaining game time in seconds and 
tenths of a second become very critical since a team can inbound and score 
a basket in one second or even less. It is not uncommon for there to be a 
controversy in the final seconds of such a closely contested game as to 
the proper reaction of the official timer such that the sports officials 
are forced to confer and determine whether the time clock should be 
changed by adding or subtracting a second or more to the remaining time 
indicated by display clock 10. 
In contradistinction to the time-consuming cumulative delays resulting from 
the official timer manually actuated stop button 22, the present invention 
provides an accurate, faster (essentially instantaneous), and more 
consistent actuation of display clock 10 through use of the radio link 
provided by radio signals 8a, 8b and 8c. Since the microphones 3a, 3b and 
3c are positioned close to their associated respective whistles 2a, 2b and 
2c, namely a matter of only a couple of inches or so, the sound 
transmission between the two is reduced by a very large factor, as much as 
a hundred or more times faster than the time it takes to reach the ears of 
the official timer. After that, there is essentially no reaction time 
since radio waves travel at the speed of light, namely some 186,000 
miles/second and the operation of the electronic switching circuitry is 
essentially instantaneous. 
It may be desirable, and it is possible, for the official timer to utilize 
manual stop button 22 in the normal fashion in parallel with the remote 
actuation as a back up and double check, although in practice remote radio 
control signals 18 and 19 will invariably have stopped display clock 10 
prior to the actuation of the manual stop button by the official timer. 
It may be also desirable in some situations to enable the sports officials 
to also manually stop the clock through actuation of push buttons such as 
5a, 5b and 5c on transmitters 4a, 4b and 4c respectively. Since there are 
many events for restarting a clock such as the shot clock as contrasted 
with the game clock one or more manual additional start buttons 26a, 26b 
and 26c and an associated tone or frequency generating signal equipment 
could be provided to enable a sports official on the floor to also restart 
the game or shot clock. Push buttons 26a, 26b and 26c on transmitters 4a, 
4b and 4c respectively may be provided along with additional tone 
circuitry on circuit boards 25a, 25b and 25c for starting timer display 
clock 10. 
Indicator lights 23a, 23b and 23c could be made responsive to the whistle 
signals received from transmitters 4a, 4b and 4c, respectively, to operate 
as a built-in test circuit to indicate that a signal is being received 
from each of radio transmitters 4a, 4b and 4c, respectively, and/or by 
their failure to glow to indicate a fault in the radio transmission of a 
particular transmitter. Alternatively, timing system 1 can be tested prior 
to a game, or at any break in the play, by sequentially blowing whistles 
2a, 2b and 2c and observing whether each whistle stops timer clock 10, 
with the timer clock being restarted after each stop. 
In order to generate a separate 400 hertz frequency or tone signal in 
response to actuation of the manual stop buttons 5a, 5b and 5c, or a 
manual start buttons 26a, 26b and 26c, one or more separate tone boards or 
circuit boards 25a, 25b and 25c are added to the commercial frequency 
modulated transmitters 4a, 4b and 4c respectively with the stop and start 
signals generating signals at different frequencies. The configuration of 
the 400 hertz manual stop tone boards 25a, 25b and 25c is shown in FIG. 2. 
Referring to FIG. 2, tone board 25a includes a semiconductor oscillator 
circuit utilizing one half of an LM358 semiconductor in the circuit shown 
and in which the resistors and capacitors are identified by their values. 
Nine volt battery 35 also supplies DC power to the remainder of the 
electronic circuitry of transmitter 4a and is connected through voltage 
divider resistors 36, 37 to provide DC power from center tap 38 to the 
tone circuit. Oscillation at a frequency of 400 hertz provides an output 
400 hertz signal through the series output circuit of resistor 41 and 
coupling capacitor 42 to provide an FM signal, or tone, for transmittal of 
FM radio signal 8a by transmitter 4a via antenna 6a to receiver section 
11a to provide a remote manual stop or second radio control signal 18 at 
the output of low band pass filter 17. 
Additional oscillator circuitry such as 25a but tuned to a different 
frequency than 400 hertz can be provided on tone circuit boards 25a, 25b 
and 25c, or on separate tone boards, in transmitters 4a, 4b and 4c, 
respectively, to generate different frequency radio start signals which in 
combination with an additional band pass filter such as 16 and 17 at the 
official timer station but tuned to the different frequency could provide 
a third radio control signal connected in parallel with manual start 
button 21 (rather than in parallel with manual stop button 23 as in the 
case of radio control signals 18 and 19) to start timer display clock 10. 
FIG. 3 shows circuit details of controller 20. Referring to FIG. 3, 
controller 20 includes electronic circuitry 45, 46 and switch or high 
speed relay 47. Whistle 2a, 2b or 2c actuated first radio control signal 
19 is fed through diode 51 and resistor 52 to transistor 53. Manual switch 
5a, 5b or 5c actuated second radio control signal 18 is similarly fed 
through diode 61 and resistor 62 to transistor 63. The outputs 54 and 64 
of semiconductor circuits 53 and 63, respectively, are fed to first 
integrated circuit 56 which is connected via leads 68 and 69 to second 
integrated circuit 66 to provide a flip-flop circuit with a square-wave 
output switching signal 71 which is applied through resistor 7 to gate 
transistor 73 which is connected in circuit with switch or high speed 
relay 47. Actuation of high speed relay 47 moves relay arm 75 to open the 
circuit between terminals 76 and 78 to deenergize and stop display clock 
10 (see FIG. 1). As shown in FIG. 3, either second radio control signal 18 
provided by manual actuation of manual buttons 5a, 5b or 5c, or first 
radio control signal 19 provided by blowing of whistles 2a, 2b or 2c can 
stop display clock 10. As mentioned above, an additional manually operated 
button such as 26a, 26b or 26c could be utilized at transmitters 4a, 4b or 
4c, respectively with additional tone boards similar to 25a, 25b and 25c 
but oscillating at a different frequency, to start or restart display 
clock 10 if desired in which case the resultant control signal would be 
connected in parallel with manual start button 21 to reclose the circuit 
through terminals 76 and 78 to power the display clock. 
While the present invention has been described with respect to certain 
preferred embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that numerous 
variations in the details of construction, the arrangement and combination 
of parts, and the type of materials used may be made without departing 
from the spirit and scope of the invention.