Granted Patent B1

US 12,646,604 · App. 18/191,755 · Granted Jun 2, 2026

Inventors: Edward J. Lewis (Thousand Oaks, CA); Wayne Morton Rapp (Irvine, CA); Steven Eannarino (Newport Beach, CA)

Assignee: TOCA Football, Inc.

G16H20/30A63B24/0062A63B24/0075A63B47/002A63B69/002A63B69/40A63B69/406A63B71/0605A63B71/0619A63B71/0622G06Q50/01G09B5/02G09B19/0038A63B2022/0092A63B24/0087A63B63/004A63B2069/402A63B2071/0063A63B2071/0072A63B2071/0081A63B2071/0625A63B2071/063A63B2071/0677A63B2071/068A63B2071/0683A63B2071/0694A63B2102/02A63B2102/06A63B2102/065A63B2102/14A63B2102/18A63B2102/182A63B2102/20A63B2208/12A63B2209/10A63B2210/50A63B2220/17A63B2220/53A63B2220/56A63B2220/801A63B2220/802A63B2220/805A63B2220/806A63B2220/833A63B2220/836A63B2225/20A63B2225/50A63B2225/74A63B2230/00A63B2230/06A63B2230/062A63B2230/75A63B2243/0025A63B2243/0095G08C2201/93

Abstract

Claims (50)

1 . A computerized method comprising:

detecting a through-beam between a first sensor and a second sensor of a first sensor pair, the first sensor being located at a first goal post of a goal apparatus, the second sensor being located at a second goal post of the goal apparatus, wherein the first goal post and the second goal post form a goal plane;

detecting an interrupt in the through-beam between the first sensor and the second sensor; and

responsive to detecting the interrupt:

determining an object has passed through the goal plane,

determining a speed of the object as the object passed through the goal plane by determining a time duration of the interrupt in the through-beam and correlating the time duration of the interrupt with a known size of the object.

2 . The computerized method of claim 1 , further comprising:

recording an indication of the object passing through the goal plane and the speed of the speed of the object as the objected passed through the goal plane in a player profile.

3 . The computerized method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining a trajectory of the object as the object passes through the goal plane based on timings of interrupts detected at a plurality of sensor pairs of the goal apparatus.

4 . The computerized method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining a zone of the goal plane through which the object passed based on a position of the first sensor along the first goal post.

5 . The computerized method of claim 1 , further comprising:

responsive to determining the object has passed through the goal plane, altering a state of a light of the goal apparatus from a first state to a second state.

6 . The computerized method of claim 1 , further comprising:

obtaining user input corresponding to a selected training drill.

7 . A goal apparatus comprising:

a first goal post having a first sensor located thereon;

a second goal post having a second sensor located thereon, wherein the first sensor and second sensor form a first sensor pair, and wherein the first goal post and the second goal post form a goal plane; and

a housing having one or more processors stored therein; and

a storage device stored in the housing and communicatively coupled to the one or more processors, the storage device having stored thereon logic that, when executed by the one or more processors causes operations to be performed including:

detecting a through-beam between the first sensor and the second sensor,

detecting an interrupt in the through-beam between the first and second sensors, and

responsive to detecting the interrupt:

determining an object has passed through the goal plane, and

determining a speed of the object as the object passed through the goal plane by determining a time duration of the interrupt in the through-beam and correlating the time duration of the interrupt with a known size of the object.

8 . The goal apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the operations to be performed further include:

recording an indication of the object passing through the goal plane and the speed of the speed of the object as the objected passed through the goal plane in a player profile.

9 . The goal apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the operations to be performed further include:

determining a trajectory of the object as the object passes through the goal plane based on timings of interrupts detected at a plurality of sensor pairs of the goal apparatus.

10 . The goal apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the operations to be performed further include:

determining a zone of the goal plane through which the object passed based on a position of the first sensor along the first goal post.

11 . The goal apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the operations to be performed further include:

responsive to determining the object has passed through the goal plane, altering a state of a light of the goal apparatus from a first state to a second state.

12 . The goal apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the operations to be performed further include:

obtaining user input corresponding to a selected training drill.

13 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon logic, the logic being executable by one or more processors to perform operations including:

detecting a through-beam between a first sensor and a second sensor of a first sensor pair, the first sensor being located at a first goal post of a goal apparatus, the second sensor being located at a second goal post of the goal apparatus, wherein the first goal post and the second goal post form a goal plane;

detecting an interrupt in the through-beam between the first sensor and the second sensor; and

responsive to detecting the interrupt:

determining an object has passed through the goal plane, and

determining a speed of the object as the object passed through the goal plane by determining a time duration of the interrupt in the through-beam and correlating the time duration of the interrupt with a known size of the object.

14 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the operations further include:

recording an indication of the object passing through the goal plane and the speed of the speed of the object as the objected passed through the goal plane in a player profile.

15 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the operations further include:

determining a trajectory of the object as the object passes through the goal plane based on timings of interrupts detected at a plurality of sensor pairs of the goal apparatus.

16 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the operations further include:

determining a zone of the goal plane through which the object passed based on a position of the first sensor along the first goal post.

17 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the operations further include:

obtaining user input corresponding to a selected training drill.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (4)

References Cited (400)