With the start of the NFL season upon us, it’s a good time to take a look at some of the more recent football related patents and patent applications that have been issued or published.
Wilson Sporting Goods Co. has applied for a patent on an American style football with an electronic circuit held within it to monitor the position, speed, acceleration, deceleration, rotation, and movement of the football during play.
This invention aims to provide more data during the course of a football game to help officials when their view, or a camera’s view, is obstructed. It is also meant to provide a higher level of analysis from commentators to enhance a fan’s experience by tapping into the science of the sport.
NIKE, Inc. has applied for a patent on a football with improved aerodynamic laces. Traditionally, footballs were made by stitching multiple outer panels around an inner bladder of the football. The bladder was inserted into an opening in the outer skin and then the final stitch was made, which led to the large laces you see on every football. With improved manufacturing methods, the laces are now merely used to help with grip and proper finger placement. In this application, NIKE claims that the previous applications and patents for lace geometries have not explored the impact of the laces on the aerodynamics of the football when thrown and has proposed a number of geometric configurations that would improve performance. You can see a number of the configurations below. For more, take a look at the application.
An individual in Denver, CO was issued a patent for a football training aid shown below:
This football is equipped with an internal cam driven assembly and a variable speed setting control mechanism. It is meant to be activated during practice to create a dynamic inertia or shaking to help improve grip strength and muscle memory in the hands of the player by making the football difficult to hold and handle.
An inventor in Atlanta, GA filed a patent application for a training device, shown below, to develop muscle memory for better ball handling skills for football players.
A football player would slide his or her arm through the arm loop up to the upper arm and place his or her index finger through the finger loop, resulting in a right angle position for the arm. The intention would be that this would keep the football close to the player’s body and after repetition will develop better muscle memory, thus decreasing the chances of mishandling the football.
Design Patents:
Below are a couple of design patents that have issued. Design patents do not protect the actual function of the invention, but they do protect the ornamental design of the apparatus.
US D729,327 – Football Tee:
US D733,231 – Football Tee:
US D736,296 – Video Camera Housing For Football Helmet:
US D735,050 – Football Shaped Bottle:
Finally, for all of you new parents out there…don’t worry, there is also a design patent for a “Football Infant Bodysuit!”
