WO2023026040A1

WO2023026040A1 - Training apparatus including a mannequin

Info

Publication number: WO2023026040A1
Application number: PCT/GB2022/052172
Authority: WO
Inventors: John Salerno
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2021-08-23
Filing date: 2022-08-23
Publication date: 2023-03-02
Anticipated expiration: 2024-02-23
Also published as: AU2021106474A4

Abstract

A training apparatus (10) including a mannequin, for being struck by a person training for fighting, the apparatus comprising an internal support structure (15) and an external support structure (100) for supporting the mannequin, the mannequin including a head (30), a torso (20), two arms (40) and two legs (50), wherein the mannequin includes recesses on its external surface, and sensors (60) releasably located in said recesses, said sensors arranged to provide data relating to one or more of the movement of the mannequin, the amount of force applied to it when struck, and the accuracy of any strikes applied to it, in use.

Description

Training apparatus including a mannequin

The present invention relates generally to a training apparatus including a mannequin, for being struck by a person training for fighting, and finds particular, although not exclusive, utility in training for boxing, kick-boxing, and other martial arts that have hand, foot or weapon contact.

There are various types of known apparatus for being struck by a person training for fighting. For example, a person training for boxing may use apparatus comprising a boxing bag. A person training for sports involving kicking, for example kick-boxing or martial arts, may employ apparatus comprising a kick bag. A person training for martial arts or sports involving hand, foot or weapon contact may employ apparatus comprising a rigid post or other strikeable object. The weapon may be a stick. Often the known apparatus is suitable for one type of sport but not another type of sport. Often the apparatus is not realistic. Often the apparatus is not sufficiently robust. Often, there is no way to monitor how much force is applied by the person, or if such means are provided, they are attached to the surface of the apparatus where they may be easily damaged, or fall off, or lower the realism of the experience.

It is an aim of the present invention to reduce the above-mentioned problems and to provide improved apparatus.

Accordingly, in one aspect of the invention, there is provided a training apparatus including a mannequin, for being struck by a person training for fighting, the apparatus comprising an internal support structure and an external support structure for supporting the mannequin, the mannequin including a head, a torso, two arms (having upper and lower arms) and two legs, wherein the mannequin includes recesses in its external surface, and sensors releasably located in said recesses, said sensors arranged to provide data relating to one or more of the movement of the mannequin, the amount of force applied to it when struck, and the accuracy of any strikes applied to it, in use.

The sensors may be located near the exterior surface of the mannequin. The sensors may be located towards, or at, the rear of the mannequin. The sensors may be wireless. The sensors may be wired and the electrical wiring may be routed to each sensor through the mannequin and/or support means.

The sensors may include means for providing an indication to the person of where to strike the mannequin. For instance, they may include a visual means such as a light emitter which illuminates. Alternatively, or additionally, lights may be provided separately from the sensors. The lights may be LEDs and be powered by electricity and connected to the power source via wiring. Alternatively, or additionally, the lights may receive light via light pipes or fibre-optic filaments. The visual means may be controlled by a computer so as to provide a sequence of lights which could be used as a tutoring exercise. In this regard, the apparatus may be understood to be an educational and/or tutoring apparatus.

The training apparatus may further comprise cords for releasably retaining each sensor within each recess, wherein the cords are internal of the mannequin’s surface. For instance, bungee type cords may be used to provide a tensioned force holding the sensors in place in the recesses, with one end of each cord being attached to the internal support structure.

At least some of the electrical wiring may be routed through the internal support structure. For instance, the internal support structure may comprise hollow tubing, such as steel tubing, and the wiring may be routed through these tubes.

The training apparatus may further comprise ducts for routing services therethrough. For instance, at least some of the electrical wiring and/or light pipes/fibre optic filaments may be routed therethrough. These ducts may extend between the internal support structure and the recesses. Alternatively, or additionally, the ducts may extend from the recesses to a central point. The ducts may have a diameter of 7 mm conduit pipe.

Each recess may include a fixing means for releasably affixing the sensor therein. The fixing means may comprise a bayonet fixing bracket and/or hook and loop attachment means (such as Velcro (RTM)). In this regard, each sensor may include a corresponding bayonet fixing means.

The mannequin may comprise foam-like material and be resilient. This foam material may be the external surface and be releasably attachable to the internal support structure.

The wiring may be routed to a central point where it connects to a hub for onward travel to a computer processor for storage and/or manipulation of any signals (data) received from the sensors. The processor may provide manipulate the data to provide assessments of strikes, for instance the pressure and force applied. Also, the movement processor may determine whether or not a strike was “on target” or was missed, in other words, the accuracy of the strike, and provide information relating to this determination. Such information may be provided visually, aurally, or by other means. The information may be presented as a “reward” to users. The computer may control the sensors to provide a visual indication to the person using it. The sensors may be, or may include, accelerometers. The sensors may be, or may include, pressure sensing means. The sensors may be, or may include, force sensing means. Where wireless sensors are used, communication with an external processor may be effected wirelessly.

The apparatus is able to be realistic because it has a mannequin. The apparatus is suitable for persons training for a wide variety of types of fighting because the mannequin is able to be struck with a person’s hand, foot, head, knee, elbow, shin or weapon. The apparatus is able to be used by persons of different heights and postures. Thus, the apparatus is able to be used by short, medium or tall persons, and by persons with an orthodox fighting style or a non-orthodox fighting style such for example as a southpaw (left-handed) fighting style in boxing.

The legs may comprise upper and lower legs articulated at the knee. The joints at the hips may be configured to variably adjust and fix the position of the upper legs relative to the torso. The joints at the knees may also be configured to variably adjust and fix the position of the lower legs relative to the upper legs.

The training apparatus may include an attachment mechanism for removably attaching the mannequin to the external support structure. The attachment mechanism may also include adjustment means for variably adjusting and fixing the position of the torso relative to the external support structure. For instance, the angle of the torso relative to the vertical may be adjustable and set. In this way the torso may be fixed at an angle for practising upper cut punches to the torso and head.

The external support structure may include fixing means for fixing it to a wall or floor, and/or a frame for free-standing on a floor.

The support structure may be adjustable for adjusting the position of the mannequin relative to the wall, and/or the floor, in use.

The support structure may include a resilient member for enabling the upper part of the torso to be pulled downwardly and forwardly in use, the resilient member biasing the torso to an approximate upright position. Springs may be used for this resilient member. Alternatively, or additionally, a gas strut may be employed. Alternatively, or additionally,

The resilient member may be adjustable so that the force required to overcome the resilient member and pull the upper part of the torso downwardly and forwardly is variable.

The sensors may be replaceable to attend to broken sensors.

The above and other characteristics, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, which illustrates, by way of example, the principles of the invention. This description is given for the sake of example only, without limiting the scope of the invention. The reference figures quoted below refer to the attached drawings.

shows a cross-section through the apparatus;

shows the back of a torso of one example of a mannequin; and

shows a portion of the support structure of another example of a mannequin.

The present invention will be described with respect to particular embodiments and with reference to certain drawings but the invention is not limited thereto but only by the claims. The drawings described are only schematic and are non-limiting. In the drawings, the size of some of the elements may be exaggerated and not drawn to scale for illustrative purposes. The dimensions and the relative dimensions do not correspond to actual reductions to practice of the invention.

Furthermore, the terms first, second, third and the like in the description and in the claims, are used for distinguishing between similar elements and not necessarily for describing a sequence, either temporally, spatially, in ranking or in any other manner. It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances and that the embodiments of the invention described herein are capable of operation in other sequences than described or illustrated herein.

Moreover, the terms top, bottom, over, under and the like in the description and the claims are used for descriptive purposes and not necessarily for describing relative positions. It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances and that the embodiments of the invention described herein are capable of operation in other orientations than described or illustrated herein.

It is to be noticed that the term “comprising”, used in the claims, should not be interpreted as being restricted to the means listed thereafter; it does not exclude other elements or steps. It is thus to be interpreted as specifying the presence of the stated features, integers, steps or components as referred to, but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps or components, or groups thereof. Thus, the scope of the expression “a device comprising means A and B” should not be limited to devices consisting only of components A and B. It means that with respect to the present invention, the only relevant components of the device are A and B.

Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, but may refer to different embodiments. Furthermore, the particular features, structures or characteristics of any embodiment or aspect of the invention may be combined in any suitable manner, as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art from this disclosure, in one or more embodiments.

Similarly, it should be appreciated that in the description of exemplary embodiments of the invention, various features of the invention are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding in the understanding of one or more of the various inventive aspects. This method of disclosure, however, is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed invention requires more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive aspects lie in fewer than all features of a single foregoing disclosed embodiment. Thus, the claims following the detailed description are hereby expressly incorporated into this detailed description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment of this invention.

Furthermore, while some embodiments described herein include some features included in other embodiments, combinations of features of different embodiments are meant to be within the scope of the invention, and form yet further embodiments, as will be understood by those skilled in the art. For example, in the following claims, any of the claimed embodiments can be used in any combination.

In the description provided herein, numerous specific details are set forth. However, it is understood that embodiments of the invention may be practised without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, structures and techniques have not been shown in detail in order not to obscure an understanding of this description.

In the discussion of the invention, unless stated to the contrary, the disclosure of alternative values for the upper or lower limit of the permitted range of a parameter, coupled with an indication that one of said values is more highly preferred than the other, is to be construed as an implied statement that each intermediate value of said parameter, lying between the more preferred and the less preferred of said alternatives, is itself preferred to said less preferred value and also to each value lying between said less preferred value and said intermediate value.

The use of the term “at least one” may, in some embodiments, mean only one.

The invention will now be described by a detailed description of several embodiments of the invention. It is clear that other embodiments of the invention can be configured according to the knowledge of persons skilled in the art without departing from the true spirit or technical teaching of the invention, the invention being limited only by the terms of the appended claims.

Referring to , there is shown apparatus 10 having an internal support structure 15 comprising steel tubes articulated together by means of hinged joints such as elbows 45, knees 55, and hips 25.

The internal support structure is covered by resilient foam in the shape of a human such that it comprises a torso 20, legs 50, arms 40 and head 30.

Sensors 60 are arranged on the surface of the foam human form in various places and are arranged in recesses therein.

Electrical wiring 70 connects each sensor 60 to a central hub 90 via the inside of the steel tubes.

Also, each sensor includes a cord 75 attaching it to the internal support structure to prevent it from falling out of the recess in use.

An external support structure is provided comprising a base 120 which is shown attached to the ankles 130 of the mannequin, a mid-point support arm 100 and a back support 110 which extends from the base 120 to the mid-point arm 100. Other ways of supporting the mannequin are contemplated.

With regard to , the back of a torso portion 200 of a mannequin is shown. The resilient foam is shaped into a head portion 201, arms 202 and legs 203, to cover the

support structure

210, 220 at least from the front. The support structure includes a spine 210 and a cross piece 220 at shoulder height. The foam covering is attached to the spine and cross piece by brackets 230 which screw 240 into corresponding brackets embedded into the foam.

A vibration damper 270 is arranged towards the bottom of the spine. This allows for some flexibility of the spine 210 in the coronal and transverse planes. It may also allow for some flexibility in the sagittal plane, although this may require the foam torso to be split into two parts across the torso in the transverse plane at the point where the vibration damper is located. In this regard, the amount of force required to move the upper part of the torso with regard to the lower part of the torso may be selected by using different vibration dampers. As the vibration damper is located at the rear of the torso, it is relatively easy to change it.

A hip indicated by a horizontal shaft 250 which extends through the base of the spine 210 and to which the two leg structure supports 260 are attached.

A structure 265 is arranged at the base of the spine 210 through the hip shaft 250 extends. This structure comprises means for controlling the amount of force required to pull the torso down relative to the hips shaft. For instance, a coil spring may be arranged within the structure. Means for adjusting the amount of force required to twist or bend the coil spring may be provided. For instance, the length of active coil spring may be adjusted, or the axial length of the coil may be adjusted, by suitable means such as adjustable bolts.

Accordingly, the mannequin may be adjusted for use by users with different strengths.

In a portion of a structural support 300 is shown without any foam covering. The spine portion 310 extends upwardly away from the hips 350. Arm structural supports 380 extend away from the shoulder area 390. A vibration mount 370 is shown towards the base of the spine 310. Leg structural supports 360 extend away from the hips 350.

An external support structure (mid-point support arm) 100 is shown attached to the hips 350. This support 100 is fixed to a stand or wall etc to provide support to the mannequin.

The base of the spine 313 extends beyond, and below, the hips 350. As the spine 310 is rotated about the hips 350, for instance when a user pulls the torso downwards, the base of the spine 313 will rotate upwardly in an anti-clockwise direction, as depicted in . When the spine 310 has rotated through a pre-determined amount the base of the spine 313 will contact the support arm 100 and be prevented by rotating further. It will be understood that the pre-determined amount of rotation will depend on the form of the support arm 100. For instance, if it is hollow at that point, it will allow the base 313 to pass unhindered through it. Alternatively, a structure may be provided to prevent it passing through the support 100. A bolt may be provided movable to various provided holes at different positions to thereby vary the amount of permitted rotation of the spine relative to the hips.

A tab 314 is arranged at the back of the spine 310 which may be used for attaching to one end of a gas strut, the other end being attachable to the support 100 or other fixed point. This gas strut may be used to control the force required to pull the torso downwardly relative to the hips.

Claims

A training apparatus including a mannequin, for being struck by a person training for fighting, the apparatus comprising an internal support structure and an external support structure for supporting the mannequin, the mannequin including a head, a torso, two arms (having upper and lower arms) and two legs, wherein the mannequin includes recesses in its external surface, and sensors releasably located in said recesses, said sensors arranged to provide data relating to one or more of the movement of the mannequin, the amount of force applied to it when struck, and the accuracy of any strikes applied to it, in use.
The training apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sensors include means for providing an indication to the person of where to strike the mannequin.
The training apparatus of claim 2, wherein the means for providing an indication to the person of where to strike the mannequin are light emitters.
The training apparatus of claim 3, wherein light pipes direct light towards the light emitters.
The training apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising ducts for routing services therethrough.
The training apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein each recess includes a fixing means for releasably affixing the sensor therein.
The training apparatus of claim 6, wherein the fixing means comprises a bayonet fixing bracket and/or hook and loop attachment means.
The training apparatus of claim 6, wherein the external surface is a resilient material releasably attachable to the internal support structure.