Patent ID: 7987693

Claim:
An apparatus for determining the coefficient of rolling friction or relative speed of a horizontal surface said apparatus comprising: (a) a measuring ball and means for launching said ball horizontally across a surface at an initial velocity which is substantially constant for each launching instance (b) a computing mechanism for controlling a sequence of operations of the apparatus and timing significant events (c) a timer for determining the elapsed time between events, said timer incorporating an accurate time base reference (d) a sensor to initiate the counting of said timer when the measuring ball has been released (e) a sensor inside the ball which terminates the counting sequence of said timer at the instant that the ball ceases rolling and comes to rest (f) a central processing unit which processes the measured data to determine the coefficient of rolling friction corresponding to the time interval measured by said timer (g) in combination an electronic circuit and means to report the results of the coefficient of rolling friction measurement as determined by said central processing unit.