IP Library › Granted Patent US 12691354
Granted Patent B2
US 12691354 · App. 18/750,809 · Granted Jul 28, 2026

Flexible sports bay

Inventors: Scott B. Almes (Coraopolis, PA); Rob Brown (Coraopolis, PA)
Assignee: Dick's Sporting Goods, Inc.
A63B71/0622A63B2220/806A63B2225/50
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12691354
App. No.
18/750,809
Granted
Jul 28, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

A terminal for use with a sports bay. The terminal can receive a first indication of a selection of a plurality of pieces of sports equipment, provide a first prompt to initiate execution of a plurality of interactions between a user and an object, determine a plurality of characteristics to indicate a first performance of a user when utilizing at least one piece of sports equipment of a plurality of pieces of sports equipment, receive a characteristic to indicate a second performance of the at least one piece of sports equipment of the plurality of pieces of sports equipment, provide a second prompt to indicate a first selection of the at least one piece of sports equipment of the plurality of pieces of sports equipment, and receive a second indication of a second selection of the at least one piece of sports equipment.

Claims (92)

1 . A sports bay, comprising:

a terminal, the terminal including one or more memory devices storing instructions thereon that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:

receive, via one or more inputs provided to a display of the terminal, a first indication of a selection of a plurality of pieces of sports equipment, the one or more inputs including information to identify the plurality of pieces of sports equipment;

provide, via the display of the terminal, a first prompt for a user to initiate execution of a plurality of interactions between the user and an object, wherein the user utilizes at least one piece of sports equipment of the plurality of pieces of sports equipment to execute the plurality of interactions responsive to the first prompt being provided via the display;

determine, responsive to execution of the plurality of interactions, a plurality of characteristics to indicate a first performance of the user when utilizing the at least one piece of sports equipment of the plurality of pieces of sports equipment;

receive, via the display of the terminal, a characteristic to indicate a second performance of the at least one piece of sports equipment of the plurality of pieces of sports equipment;

provide, via the display of the terminal, a second prompt to indicate a first selection of the at least one piece of sports equipment of the plurality of pieces of sports equipment; and

receive, via the display of the terminal, a second indication of a second selection by the user of the at least one piece of sports equipment of the plurality of pieces of sports equipment.

2 . The sports bay of claim 1 , wherein the characteristic is defined by the user via one or more interactions with the terminal, and wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to:

select, responsive to a determination that a difference between the first performance and the second performance is less than a predetermined threshold, the at least one piece of sports equipment of the plurality of pieces of sports equipment; and

provide the second prompt to indicate the first selection of the at least one piece of sports equipment of the plurality of pieces of sports equipment.

3 . The sports bay of claim 1 , further comprising:

a camera configured to obtain information associated with interactions within the sports bay; and

wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to:

receive, from the camera responsive to execution of the plurality of interactions, a first set of data corresponding to one or more aspects of the plurality of interactions;

identify, from the first set of data, information associated with the at least one piece of sports equipment of the plurality of pieces of sports equipment; and

determine the plurality of characteristics using at least a portion of the information associated with the at least one piece of sports equipment.

4 . The sports bay of claim 1 , wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to:

query, responsive to receipt of the second selection of the at least one piece of sports equipment, a database to identify a plurality of locations where the at least one piece of sports equipment is present;

determine, responsive to identifying the plurality of locations, that a user identified location is absent from the plurality of locations; and

identify, using one or more aspects of the at least one piece of sports equipment, one or more second pieces of sports equipment.

5 . The sports bay of claim 1 , wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to:

query, responsive to receipt of the second selection of the at least one piece of sports equipment, a database to identify one or more second pieces of sports equipment similar to the at least one piece of sports equipment;

provide, via the display of the terminal responsive to identification of the one or more second pieces of sports equipment, a visual representation of one or more characteristics of the one or more second pieces of sports equipment;

receive, from the display of the terminal, a third indication of a selection of the one or more second pieces of sports equipment; and

provide, via the display of the terminal, information associated with one or more sources to obtain the one or more second pieces of sports equipment.

6 . The sports bay of claim 1 , wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to:

prompt, responsive to receipt of the first indication of the selection of the plurality of pieces of sports equipment, the user for information to identify a plurality of criteria pertaining to usage of the plurality of pieces of sports equipment;

receive, from the display of the terminal, the information to identify the plurality of criteria;

determine, using the plurality of criteria and characteristics of the plurality of pieces of sports equipment, that at least one second piece of sports equipment of the plurality of pieces of sports equipment is excluded from consideration; and

provide, via the display of the terminal, a notice to indicate exclusion of the at least one second piece of sports equipment of the plurality of pieces of sports equipment.

7 . The sports bay of claim 1 , wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to:

receive, via the display of the terminal, a first selection of a mode of the sports bay;

determine, based on one or more characteristics of the mode, a set of parameters pertaining to a camera proximate to the sports bay; and

control, using the set of parameters, the camera to execute a plurality of operations to obtain information associated with the plurality of interactions.

8 . The sports bay of claim 7 , wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to:

receive, via the display of the terminal, a second selection of a second mode of the sports bay;

determine, based on one or more characteristics of the second mode, a second set of parameters pertaining to the camera; and

control, using the second set of parameters, the camera to execute a second plurality of operations to obtain information associated with a second plurality of interactions, wherein the second plurality of operations are different than the plurality of operations.

9 . The sports bay of claim 8 , wherein the mode is an equipment testing mode configured to test equipment for a first sport, and wherein the second mode is a second equipment testing mode configured to test equipment for a second sport.

10 . The sports bay of claim 1 , wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to:

control a camera to execute one or more first operations based on the selection of the plurality of pieces of sports equipment corresponding to a first mode of the sports bay; and

control the camera to execute one or more second operations based on the selection of the plurality of pieces of sports equipment corresponding to a second mode of the sports bay.

11 . A system comprising one or more memory devices storing instructions thereon that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:

receive, via one or more inputs provided to a device, a first indication of a selection of a plurality of pieces of sports equipment, the one or more inputs including information to identify the plurality of pieces of sports equipment;

provide, via the device, a first prompt for a user to initiate execution of a plurality of interactions between the user and an object, wherein the user utilizes at least one piece of sports equipment of the plurality of pieces of sports equipment to execute the plurality of interactions responsive to the first prompt being provided via the device;

determine, responsive to execution of the plurality of interactions, a plurality of characteristics to indicate a first performance of the user when utilizing the at least one piece of sports equipment of the plurality of pieces of sports equipment;

receive, from the device, a characteristic to indicate a second performance of the at least one piece of sports equipment of the plurality of pieces of sports equipment;

provide, via the device, a second prompt to indicate a first selection of the at least one piece of sports equipment of the plurality of pieces of sports equipment; and

receive, from the device, a second indication of a second selection by the user of the at least one piece of sports equipment of the plurality of pieces of sports equipment.

12 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the characteristic is defined by the user via one or more interactions with the device, and wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to:

select, responsive to a determination that a difference between the first performance and the second performance is less than a predetermined threshold, the at least one piece of sports equipment of the plurality of pieces of sports equipment; and

provide the second prompt to indicate the first selection of the at least one piece of sports equipment of the plurality of pieces of sports equipment.

13 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to:

receive, from a camera responsive to execution of the plurality of interactions, a first set of data corresponding to one or more aspects of the plurality of interactions;

identify, from the first set of data, information associated with the at least one piece of sports equipment of the plurality of pieces of sports equipment; and

determine the plurality of characteristics using at least a portion of the information associated with the at least one piece of sports equipment.

14 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to:

query, responsive to receipt of the second selection of the at least one piece of sports equipment, a database to identify a plurality of locations where the at least one piece of sports equipment is present;

determine, responsive to identifying the plurality of locations, that a user identified location is absent from the plurality of locations; and

identify, using one or more aspects of the at least one piece of sports equipment, one or more second pieces of sports equipment.

15 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to:

query, responsive to receipt of the second selection of the at least one piece of sports equipment, a database to identify one or more second pieces of sports equipment similar to the at least one piece of sports equipment;

provide, to the device responsive to identification of the one or more second pieces of sports equipment, a visual representation of one or more characteristics of the one or more second pieces of sports equipment;

receive, from the device, a third indication of a selection of the one or more second pieces of sports equipment; and

provide, to the device, information associated with one or more sources to obtain the one or more second pieces of sports equipment.

16 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to:

prompt, responsive to receipt of the first indication of the selection of the plurality of pieces of sports equipment, the user for information to identify a plurality of criteria pertaining to usage of the plurality of pieces of sports equipment;

receive, from the device, the information to identify the plurality of criteria;

determine, using the plurality of criteria and characteristics of the plurality of pieces of sports equipment, that at least one second piece of sports equipment of the plurality of pieces of sports equipment is excluded from consideration; and

provide, to the device, a notice to indicate exclusion of the at least one second piece of sports equipment of the plurality of pieces of sports equipment.

17 . The system of claim 11 , further comprising:

the device including a terminal associated with a sports bay; and

the terminal including:

one or more second memory devices storing second instructions thereon that, when executed by one or more second processors, cause the one or more second processors to:

receive, via a display of the terminal, a first selection of a mode of the sports bay;

determine, based on one or more characteristics of the mode, a set of parameters pertaining to a camera proximate to the sports bay; and

control, using the set of parameters, the camera to execute a plurality of operations to obtain information associated with the plurality of interactions.

18 . A terminal for use with a sports bay, the terminal comprising one or more memory devices storing instructions thereon that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:

receive, via one or more inputs provided to a display of the terminal, a first indication of a selection of a plurality of pieces of sports equipment, the one or more inputs including information to identify the plurality of pieces of sports equipment;

provide, via the display of the terminal, a first prompt for a user to initiate execution of a plurality of interactions between the user and an object, wherein the user utilizes at least one piece of sports equipment of the plurality of pieces of sports equipment to execute the plurality of interactions responsive to the first prompt being provided via the display;

determine, responsive to execution of the plurality of interactions, a plurality of characteristics to indicate a first performance of the user when utilizing the at least one piece of sports equipment of the plurality of pieces of sports equipment;

receive, via the display of the terminal, a characteristic to indicate a second performance of the at least one piece of sports equipment of the plurality of pieces of sports equipment;

provide, via the display of the terminal, a second prompt to indicate a first selection of the at least one piece of sports equipment of the plurality of pieces of sports equipment; and

receive, via the display of the terminal, a second indication of a second selection by the user of the at least one piece of sports equipment of the plurality of pieces of sports equipment.

19 . The terminal of claim 18 , wherein the characteristic is defined by the user via one or more interactions with the terminal, and wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to:

select, responsive to a determination that a difference between the first performance and the second performance is less than a predetermined threshold, the at least one piece of sports equipment of the plurality of pieces of sports equipment; and

provide the second prompt to indicate the first selection of the at least one piece of sports equipment of the plurality of pieces of sports equipment.

20 . The terminal of claim 18 , wherein the sports bay includes a camera configured to obtain information associated with interactions within the sports bay, and wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to:

receive, from the camera responsive to execution of the plurality of interactions, a first set of data corresponding to one or more aspects of the plurality of interactions;

identify, from the first set of data, information associated with the at least one piece of sports equipment of the plurality of pieces of sports equipment; and

determine the plurality of characteristics using at least a portion of the information associated with the at least one piece of sports equipment.