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/

Oh, patents! Lacoste Mah-Jong game table (3)

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann 

Jean René Lacoste crossed the Atlantic, from France to the United States, and back, on more than one occasion to participate in the US Open Tennis Championships. The long five-day voyages at sea are thought to have given him much time to think about his inventions. In any event, Lacoste was inspired by the Chinese game of Mah-jong, which was both a popular form of entertainment onboard the large transatlantic liners, and a fad from China that had taken over the United States in the 1920s.

Inspired enough to invent a new game table specifically for playing Mah-Jong, and incidentally suitable for other card games, Lacoste filed a patent for his Mah-jong invention, as early as 1924, when he had just turned 20. The French patent FR603811A, titled Table de jeu de mah-jong utilisable pour jeu de cartes (Game table for Mah-Jong suitable for card games) was filed on December 24, 1924, and awarded almost 100 years ago, on April 23^rd 1926, to Jean René Lacoste. 

The invention was designed to facilitate racking tiles, and the secure storage of game tiles when not in use. The scope of the invention extended beyond Mah-jong to other card games, which could also be stored in the table's compartments. A portable (i.e., hinged foldable) embodiment of the invention is also described in this patent.

The Figure 1 is extracted from the patent. The Figure 1 depicts the top view of the square game tabletop (1). The game tabletop (1) is equipped with slightly angled edges (2) on all four sides, as well as pegs (11) for attaching markers in front of each player. 

A second smaller gameboard proper (6) is placed on an elevated frame, separating the tabletop (1) from the gameboard (6). The frame between the gameboard (6) and the tabletop (1) is designed to create a space for compartments that  accommodate the storage of Mah-jong tiles and other game accessories. Compartments that might be accessed by lifting the gameboard (6). The gameboard (6) further comprises hinged edges (10), on all four sides, that might be raised up, or lowered, thus forming stable tile racks for each of the players.

Below a set of Wind tiles:  East, South, North, and West, depicting various ethnicities. 

References

Heinze, A. (2021). Mahjong: A Chinese game and the making of American  Culture. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. 

Lacoste

https://www.lacoste.com/

Watson, T. (2014). Tile set materials. The Mahjong Tile Set 2014-2017.
https://www.themahjongtileset.co.uk/tile-set-materials/

Terminology - WOTTIES 2022 - Cambridge Dictionary "homer"

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

The Cambridge Dictionary has selected homer as the 2022 Word Of The Year (WOTY). Nothing new about this word in the United States, where it has been a winner, at least since the dawn of baseball. 

A homer is a home run, originally in baseball, one of America’s favorite sports. Indeed, a homer is scored when the batter is able to hit the ball with such force that s/he is able to run through all the bases to home base, in a single bat. When all the bases are loaded with previous players, a homer also scores points for each player, moving to home base. The YouTube video below shows Aaron Judge's 62nd home run, on Oct. 4, 2022. A homer, marking a record-breaking streak for any single player, in a single-season of American League professional baseball. 

What is extraordinary about the selection of homer (not Homer, the Greek) as WOTY in 2022, is that searches for the word homer, at the online Cambridge Dictionary website, were reported to have spiked to 65,000, in a single day, on May 4th, when homer was wordle in the free, Internet word-guessing game, called Wordle®. An increase in searches that made homer the 2022 WOTY, in part because Cambridge Dictionary selects WOTTIES based on the qualitative and quantitative observation of terms searched online at the dictionary’s website, and in part because the American-English term homer threw so many British-English speakers into search mode.

However, you might also be wondering, what is Wordle®? Alternatively, why isn’t wordle, or the verb to wordle, the 2022 WOTY? After all, Wordle® is a word-guessing game that has taken over the Internet, even prompting the New York Times to purchase the online game for a low-seven figure. (Cunningham, 1-30-2022).

Briefly, in response to the first question about the Wordle® game: Josh Wardle’s Wordle®, is a cross between crossword puzzle and the Wheel of Fortune. An empty grid of 5 by 6 squares enables players to guess the 5-letter wordle of the day, in six attempts. The only clues provided are also the instructions, included below:

To answer the second question about the term wordle (noun or verb) not making the 2022 WOTY cut, the reason is probably that too few people queried the Cambridge Dictionary for the term wordle, preventing the word from even becoming a 2022 WOTY candidate. In fact, all of the searches that spiked for 2022 WOTY candidates were apparently other five-letter wordles. Wordles such as bayou, tacit, caulk and humor, with American-English spelling reported to have driven some of the searches, together with a bit of British-English speaker annoyance for getting stumped. Conversely, searches for the wordle bloke, the British-English equivalent of fellow in American-English, were also reported to have spiked, the wordle bloke, this time having vexed folks from the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. 

References

Cunningham, A. (1-31-2022) NYTimes spends low seven figure to by Wordle. NY Times
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2022/01/whats-a-five-letter-word-for-acquire-nyt-buys-wordle-for-low-7-figures/

The Cambridge Dictionary Word of the Year 2022
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/editorial/woty

Rosenberg, A. (Oct. 3, 2022). What’s Wordle? Here’s everything you need to know.
https://mashable.com/article/wordle-word-game-what-is-it-explained (since Oct, 2021 – John Wardle – inventor)

Oh, patents! TEQBALL®(3)

 Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

The invention of the TEQBALL® game table is recited in the US patent application, US2016271469A1, titled Multi-purpose sports apparatus. Interestingly, the invention is recited as a sports apparatus, intended to improve a soccer player’s technical skills. In particular, the invention aims at providing practice that involves intense player movement, excellent ball and kicking control, increased strength and concentration, quick evaluation and decision-making skills, without requiring an undue amount of outdoor space. As a result, the TEQBALL® apparatus actually offers soccer players, an opportunity to develop their skills, while playing with opponents in a singles or doubles game, somewhat consonant with futnet (soccer tennis in the USA), only in much smaller spaces. For this purpose, the sports apparatus offers a height-adjustable, curved tabletop playing surface, causing the ball to always bounce outwards from the apparatus. Thus, the persons using the apparatus can intercept the ball with foot or head, without the apparatus obstructing or inhibiting movement.

Below, a video showing the installation of a TEQBALL® table, coaching and demonstration at the Mahamasina National Palace of Culture and Sports in Antananarivo, Madagascar.

The abstract of the invention is included below, together with the patent Figure 1, depicting the TEQBALL® table with partial cross-sections for the height- and curvature-adjustment mechanisms (31 and 40 respectively). In particular, the patent Figure 1 shows the sports apparatus 1, comprising a tabletop (foundation body) 10, on top of a supporting structure 30, which has a smaller footprint. The tabletop 10 comprises an upper member 10a and a lower member 10b. The bendable upper member 10a, made of plywood, comprises a playing area 11 with a convex surface 15. The lower member 10b of the tabletop 10, made of rigid material, is designed for the purposes of connecting the tabletop 10 to the supporting structure 30. A rigid, plate-like obstacle 20, preferably transparent, divides the playing area 11, in two halves. A spacer 22 enables to adjust the height 21 of the obstacle 20. A curvature-adjustment mechanism 40, comprising connection pieces 41, and a tensioning mechanism 42, consisting of several threaded rods, enable to adjust the curvature of the table. A height-adjustment unit 30 is depicted below the tabletop, comprising connectors 31 a-b, and a manually-operated hydraulic actuator 31c, enabling to adjust the height of the tabletop, relative to the base 2.

The subject of the utility model is a multi-purpose sports apparatus particularly for improving footballers' technical skills, comprising a foundation body (10) containing a playing surface (11) and an obstacle element (20). The distinctive feature of the method is that the playing surface (11) of the foundation body (10) looking from the interior of the foundation body (10) has an at least partially convex top surface (15) and the foundation body (10) has a support structure (30) which separates the playing surface (11) from the base (2). [Abstract US 2016271469A1]

In 2018, the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) officially recognized The International Federation of TEQBALL® (FITEQ), during its General Assembly Meeting, held in Jakarta, Indonesia. A major milestone, opening the doors for inclusion in the programs of OCA-sponsored games, and down the road, the Olympics.

 References

International Federation of TEQBALL® (FITEQ - Fédération Internationale de TEQBALL®)

https://www.fiteq.org/

Olympic Council of Asia (OCA)

https://ocasia.org/

TEQBALL®
https://www.teqball.com/