Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02462358 2004-04-O1
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to an enhancement to an existing invent:ion which is an
optical device to aid ip
the finding of a white or light-coloured golf ball lost to the view of a
player.
CA 02462358 2004-04-O1
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Various technologies have been proposed in the past to assist golfers in
finding golf balls on
a course or in the adjacent rough terrains. Some inventors have proposed to
use a fluorescent
covering on a ball and to illuminate that ball with ultraviolet light to make
the ball glow. Other
inventors have proposed to use the reflection of radio waves against metal
plates inside a golf ball to
locate the ball. Other proposals include emitters of various sort, installed
inside the core of the ball.
However, none of the previous devices has enjoyed a lasting success. A
previous proposal uses a
similar filter to locate a white object, however, it did not focus the user's
vision efficiently and
therefore lessened the likelihood of locating the desired object.
PRIOR ART
2,314,137 Ball Detection Viewer (Inventors: Leslie, Chapman and Gibb)
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention improves the performance of a ball detection viewer that
enhances the
visual perception of a stationary white object, such as a golf ball, to help
the user to locate the
object. The present invention comprises of an optical filter that attenuates
light transmission for
light rays having wavelengths longer than approximately 500 nanometer and
transmits light rays
having shorter wavelengths. The optical filter is worn in eyeglasses with
opaque side shields. The
side shields force the user to use the area of highest visual acuity of their
eye as they sweep their
head from side to side searching for the object. The present invention is
advantageous for helping a
golfer avoid penalty strokes, wasted time and expenses due to lost balls. The
present invention also
improves golf course efficiency through the reduction of round times by
lessening search times.
The filter for this invention is worn as eyeglasses with opaque side shields.
The eyeglasses
constitute a relatively inexpensive, light, portable device that can be used
by any player under a
wide range of weather and foliage conditions. This invention can be used,
without modification, to
-2-
CA 02462358 2004-04-O1
find any light-coloured object in a field of vegetation or in a background
that reflects different
colours than the colour of the object.
LTST OF FIGURES
FIG. 1 - A graphical representation of the filter used in the invention
FIG. 2 - Illustration of the Iight transmission characteristics of the filter
used in the present
invention.
FIG. 3 - The field of vision of the average user
FIG. 4 - The area of highest visual acuity
FIG. 5 - A graphical representation of the field of vision blocked by
invention
FIG. 6 - Depiction of the user focusing their vision near the opaque shield
FIG. 7 - A pictorial representation of a possible form of the invention
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring firstly to FIG. l, the light reflected from the foliage l, tree
trunks 2, undergrowth
3, grass 4, dirt or gravel 5 and the stationary object to be located 6, in
this case the ball, are
represented by arrows. The filter 7 blocks most of the light reflected by the
foliage 1, tree trunks 2,
undergrowth 3, grass 4, dirt or gravel 5 (indicated by the arrows stopping at
the viewing apparatus).
The filter 7 allows the light reflected by ball 6 to pass through (indicated
by the arrow passing
through the filter) and reach the eye 8 of the user.
The characteristics of the filter 7 are illustrated in FIG. 2.. These
characteristics are shown in
the form of light transmission in percentage, for different wavelengths of
light in nanometers.
FIG. 3 is an overhead view of a person 9, who is facing the top of the page.
Lines 12 and 15
bound the person's horizontal field of vision. The field of vision can be
divided for each eye into
two regions. The temporal region 10 is shown on the figure for the left eye
(the region bounded by
lines 12 and 13). The nasal region 11 is also shown on the figure for the left
eye (the region
bounded by lines 13 and 14.
-3-
CA 02462358 2004-04-O1
The overhead view of a person 16, who is facing the top of the page, is shown
again in FIG.
4. The lines 17 and 18 bound the field of vision that accounts for 90% of the
average person's
visual acuity 19.
In FIG. 5 the overhead view of a person 20, who is facing the top of the page,
is wearing the
described invention 25. The described invention (a pair of glasses) consists
of a lens (represented on
the figure as a dotted line) and two opaque side shields 21 and 22. The left
side shield 21 blocks a
portion of the temporal region 23 bounded by lines 27 and 28. The right side
shield 22 blocks a
portion of the temporal region 24 bounded by lines 29 and 30. This limits the
person's field of
vision to region 26, which is bounded by lines 28 and 29.
In FIG. 6 the overhead view of a person 31, who is facing the top of the page,
is wearing the
described invention 32. The wearer of the invention is moving their head from
left to right
(clockwise from the overhead view) and in doing so, focusing their high acuity
vision region 37
(described in FIG. 4) near the opaque side shield of the glasses. The opaque
side shields block the
temporal region 33 (bounded by lines 35 and 36) and the user can see through
the lens region 37
(bounded by lines 34 and 35).
FIG. 7 is a pictorial representation of a possible form of the invention
showing the frames
37, the lenses 38 and the side shield 39.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The filter 7 transmits light in the blue colour range and attenuates the
transmission of light
with wavelengths over 500 manometer (500 nm). This filter attenuates colours
most commonly
found in vegetation, i.e. greens, yellows, oranges and reds; and transmits the
blue and violet colours
which are not reflected by vegetation but which are reflected to a much
greater extent by white
obj ects.
The degree of transmission of light through the filter 7 above approximately
500 nm should
be less than 15%, and the degree of transmission of light at wavelengths
shorter than 500 nxn should
be more than 30%.
-4-
A a.~~~ :r ~ ~ ~ . ,~ _~ w._n.~, ",..... ~. ~,M_._. ..__...__~.~,._".~.."
...u. ~~ ~__..-. ~.._. ~..__~__ _.... . _.___.__..
,r~,,~..w,.~,A. ,~ ..~m~~,.,~.~.m~a~,-.
CA 02462358 2004-04-O1
A preferred filter 7 is a plastic filter sold by Rosco Corporation under the
trade name
Roscolux #85 "Deep blue"TM.
The filter 7 mentioned above is advantageous because it has a good light
transmission below
the 500 nm mark, a good light attenuation above the 500 nm mark, and a sharp
drop in light
transmission at the 500 nm mark. As can be seen in FIG. 2, the; light
transmission curve of the filter
7 shows a light transmission of about 90% below 500 nm and a light
teansmission of less than 10%
above 500 nm. The light transmission curve makes a sharp drop at the 500 nm
mark, showing a
light transmission of 50% at that wavelength. In other words, the filter 7
blocks about 90% of the
light coming from a vegetative background and blocks only less than about 10%
of the light
reflected from the white object.
The preferred filter 7 is mounted into a standard eyeglass frame that blocks a
portion of the
user's peripheral vision. The filter 7 could also be mounted in many other
viewing devices such as
goggles, snap-on-shades, or a hand-held eye-piece as long as there is a method
of blocking the
user's peripheral vision.
Blocking a portion of the peripheral vision of the user increases the efficacy
of the filter 7 for
two reasons. Firstly, as the user looks from side to side by turning their
head, the natural tendency is
for the eye to fixate on the new information being presented. That is, the eye
will focus on the
information just coming in to view as the user moves their head. from side to
side. By encouraging
the user to focus on this region the user is utilising the portion of their
vision with the highest visual
acuity 19 to analyse the new information and this also limits the amount of
saccades. This claim is
supported by published scientific literature, "Global effects of feature-based
attention in human
visual cortex" by Melissa Saenz, Giedrius T. Buracas & Geoffrey M. Boynton.
For the average
person the portion of their vision with the highest visual acuity 19 can be
represented by a 10°
(degree) cone starting from the person's eye. Outside of this convergence
region the average visual
acuity drops by 90%.
Secondly, in the previous use of the filter 7 the ball would slowly come into
view through
the user's peripheral vision and given the natural saccades it would be
possible to not see the ball.
By blocking this peripheral vision and moving their head from side to side the
ball will suddenly
appear from the blocked region. This sudden 'reveal' or flash of white will
increase the likelihood
that the user will fixate on the white object thereby greatly increasing the
efficacy of the invention.
-5-
CA 02462358 2004-04-O1
For the average person the horizontal field of vision for each eye can be
divided into two
regions; the temporal region 10 and the nasal region 11 (both regions are
shown on FIG. 3 for the
left eye). The temporal region is on average 110° from the central axis
13 and the nasal region is on
average 60° from the central axis. The nasal region is influenced by
the size and shape of the
person's nose. The present invention blocks a certain amount of the temporal
region for the
purposes outlined above. If too much of the region is blocked then it limits
the person's ability to
navigate and search for the ball (vision region of 120° is often
required for driving) and if too little is
blocked then the 'reveal' effect and the use of the person's high visual
acuity is lost. For the
purposes of this invention the regions, 23 and 24, blocked by the opaque
shields 21 and 22 are each
set to be between 20° and 40°. That is, the frames of the
glasses are designed such that the angle of
the region blocked for the left side 23 bounded by lines 27 and 28 is between
20° and 40° and that
the angle of the region blocked for the right side 24 bounded by lines 29 and
30 is between 20° and
40°.
The eyeglasses 37 can be used when a search is required and can be stowed away
when not
used as is done with common sunglasses.
-6-
