Oh, patents! Pickleball

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

A cross between tennis, ping-pong and badminton, pickleball is currently the fastest-growing sport in the USA. With an estimated 4.8 million picklers in 2022, representing a 40% increase between 2019 and 2021, half of the picklers are also 55 years and older. Popularity and demographics are both known to result from a host of factors. The most important factors, deemed to account for the sudden pickleball craze and its specific player population, include the following: the fact that pickleball is much easier to learn than tennis, much slower paced, with less court to cover, and much less strenuous, while still offering a great workout, and opportunity to socialize.

As for the origins of the name of this popular sport, circa 1965, according to USA Pickleball, the term pickleball was borrowed from pickle boats in College rowing events. Pickle boats are those boats, in which spare rowers also compete, during College crew events. A linguistic borrowing that makes sense, considering that pickleball was masterminded by parents, using spare parts stashed in garages, on Bainsbridge Island, in Washington State. A game originally cobbled together, using an old backyard badminton court, spare ping pong rackets, and plastic balls, because the inventors were reversed-challenged by their kids to invent a game. A game that would, by the same token, inject a little excitement into the boring lives of teenagers, stuck on an island for the summer.

Today, pickleball is not only making waves in popularity, this game is also stoking the fire of invention, with patents issued for rackets (also called paddles), balls, nets, and clothing, called racket wear. For example, the following US utility patent, US11679306B1, was recently awarded, on June 20, 2023, for an invention titled Illuminated pickleball.

The invention addresses two problems associated with the prior art of illuminated pickleballs, for playing the game after sunset. The first is the duration of the illumination, which was too short, preventing picklers from playing a complete game of pickleball (usually about 2.5 hours). The second problem associated with the prior art of lighted pickleballs was finding an illumination system, small enough to install within a pickleball, that would not offset the balance of the pickleball as it travels through the air, across the net, from one player to another.

Accordingly, as shown in the Figure 2, extracted from the previously mentioned patent, the invention pickleball 10 comprises  a shell 30, which has an outside surface 39 and an inside surface 31, forming a hollow interior space 35. The shell 30 is typically made of a polymer, ideally translucent, but also possibly opaque or transparent. A shell 30, comprising two shell halves 70, connected with adhesive, ultrasonic bonding, or with a screw thread feature.  The shell 30 also comprises a series of apertures 40, through which  light is diffused, from within, by the illuminating element 20; and two opposing access apertures 45, each comprising holding elements 50, friction retention elements 56, and a shank 55, projecting inward from the inside surface 31. Both holders 55 are designed to retain an elongated illuminated element 20, comprising two opposing ends 25, a lightweight LED illumination device 80, balanced relative to a spherical center 60; an LED 81, and a battery 82 to power the LED 81. The diameter D of the elongated illuminated element 20 is smaller than the access diameter Da.  

Below the abstract of the invention: 

An illuminated pickleball contains an elongated LED illuminated element with two opposing ends and comprises a shell that includes a plurality of apertures therethrough, two of which being designated as access aperture. The shell includes two opposing element holders which each include a shank projecting inwardly from the inside surface at one of the access apertures and which are mutually longitudinally aligned through a center point of the shell. Each holder is adapted for receiving the elongated illumination element and for retaining one of the opposing ends of the elongated illumination element by friction. When one end of the illumination element is inserted through an access aperture and then through one of the holders to engage the opposing holder, the opposing end of the elongated illumination element is retained, and the illumination element traverses through the center point of the shell and illuminates the pickleball from within. [Abstract US11679306B1] 

References
Fields, L. (June 2022). Pickleball: Five hidden health benefits for older adults. SilverSneakers.
https://www.silversneakers.com/blog/pickleball-health-benefits/ 
De Melo, J.  (Dec.  14, 2022). Why is pickleball so popular? NY Times.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/03/well/move/pickleball-popular-sport.html 
USA Pickleball - History of the game.
https://usapickleball.org/what-is-pickleball/history-of-the-game/