WO2006026464A2

WO2006026464A2 - Handclapping aid

Info

Publication number: WO2006026464A2
Application number: PCT/US2005/030474
Authority: WO
Inventors: Kevin P. Davidsen; Michelle C. Davidsen
Original assignee: Davidsen Kevin P; Davidsen Michelle C
Priority date: 2004-08-27
Filing date: 2005-08-26
Publication date: 2006-03-09
Also published as: WO2006026464A3

Abstract

A handclapping aid is provided that allows a wearer to produce a sound substantially equivalent to the sound produced by a bare handclap (audible applause) when the wearer is wearing gloves, mittens, or the like. The handclapping aid includes a first member adapted to be coupled to a wearer's hand and a second member adapted to be coupled to the wearer's other hand, the striking of the first and second member together with a force produces a total sound during a period of time representative to a total sound produced by striking two bare hands together with substantially the same force and measured over substantially the same period of time.

Description

HANDCLAPPING AID

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/704,802, filed on August 1, 2005 and U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/604,976, filed on August 27, 2004. The entire teachings of the above applications are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Spectators in an audience normally express approval of a performance or performer by creating an audible sound known as an applause. An audience can consist of only one spectator, or a large number of viewers. An applause is typically created by striking the hands together to generate an audible sound known as a "handclap". A handclap is normally created by positioning the fingers of the first hand together where they form a row and are touching each other, and flatly striking the palm of the opposite hand. A handclap can also generated by striking palm to palm or fingers to fingers.

An applause is the most commonly used method to demonstrate appreciation or approval of a performer or performance. Conversely, spectators show disapproval to a performer or performance by booing, and a boo may be voiced as intensely and passionately as an applause. In any event, the audience's reaction to a performer or performance is indicated by a noise or audible sound. Applauding is not limited to handclapping, but includes vocal sounds like talking or shouting, foot stomping, chair banging, and sounds made by a variety of other noise making actions or devices. The dynamics involved in projecting a noise from striking two members together, like the hands, is simple and creates a sharp, audible sound. Sound is a vibration, or series of vibrations, traveling through air or fluid. A sound is normally perceived by a hearing organ as an auditory sensation. Sound is also felt as a vibratory sensation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Temperature plays a factor in an audience's ability to generate a handclap. When an event is held outside in cold weather, e.g., a football game, fans and spectators must dress in heavier weight clothes to protect the body from the cold ' elements. Gloves are normally worn in cold weather and greatly inhibit a spectator's ability to generate an audible applause with their hands. One must either remove their gloves or mittens to generate a loud handclap, or clap with their gloves on, that produces a muffled clap. A handclapping aid is provided that allows a wearer to produce a sound representative to the sound produced by a bare handclap (audible applause) when the wearer is wearing gloves, mittens, or the like. The handclapping aid includes a first member adapted to be coupled to a palm side of a wearer's hand and a second member adapted to be coupled to a palm side of the wearer's other hand, the striking of the first and second member together with a force produces a total sound during a period of time representative to a total sound produced by striking two bare hands together with substantially the same force and measured over substantially the same period of time.

In one embodiment, each member can include a surface for striking against respective members, wherein the surface can be substantially concave, substantially convex, or substantially flat. Each member can include a strap for coupling to the wearer's hands and the strap can be adjustable or alternatively each member can be formed as part of a respective glove. Each member can be manufactured from a plastic, a metal, a wood, a ceramic, a rubber, and an elastomer. A surface area of each body member should not be greater than a surface area of the wearer' s hand.

In another embodiment, indicia representative of a venue, a sponsor, a performer, or a team of performers can be located on an outer surface of the handclapping aid. The indicia can include text, colors, or logos. In yet another embodiment, each member can include a lumination element, wherein the illumination element can be a bulb, a light emitting diode, a fluorescent dye, or a phosphorescent dye.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following more particular description of preferred embodiments of the invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters refer to the same parts throughout the different views. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a plot of the total sound generated by a bare handclap;

FIG. 2 A is a perspective view of one embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2B is a perspective exploded view a body member of the embodiment of FIG. 2A;

FIG. 3 A is a top plan view of the body member embodiment of FIG. 2 A;

FIG. 3B is a bottom plan view of the body member embodiment of FIG. 2 A;

FIG. 3C is a cross-section view of the body member embodiment of FIG. 2A taken across line A-A of FIG. 3B; and

FIG. 4A is view of the embodiment of FIG. 2A coupled to a glove; and

FIG. 4B is a view of another embodiment of the invention integral to a glove.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A description of preferred embodiments of the invention follows. Generally, the present invention allows a wearer to produce a sound substantially equivalent to the sound produced by a bare handclap (audible applause) when the wearer is wearing gloves, mittens, or the like. Thus, the present invention effectively gives the wearer his or her "clap" back when attending cold weather events. Several factors can be considered when analyzing the sound of a handclap.

Important quantities to be measured include, but are not limited to: 1) frequency; 2) sound intensity level; 3) sound pressure level; 4) total sound produced/generated; 5) attack time; and 6) decay time. The total sound produced/generated by a bare handclap is measured by the area under the curve (AUC) using sound pressure level (dBSPL) as a function of time. In this example, the AUC is measured by dBSPL multiplied by frequency (Hz). FIG. 1 shows the average total sound produced for a "normal" bare handclap is 294 * 10³ dBSPL*Hz. For a "normal" bare handclap, the total sound produced by the present invention should be between 264.6 *10³ dBSPL*Hz and 323.4 *10³ dBSPL*Hz. However, it should be understood that every person does not have the same total sound produced for a handclap and that each person's individual total sound produced can change depending on the force, frequency, and actual length of the person's handclap. As such, the present invention is concerned with producing a total sound substantially representative to the total sound produced by a bare handclap with substantially the same force and measured over substantially the same period of time.

FIG. 2 A shows a handclapping aid 100 according to the present invention. The handclapping aid 100 includes a body member 101 and a strap 122. In one embodiment, two handclapping aids 100 can be coupled to respective gloves (e.g., right and left) worn by a wearer. In this configuration, the wearer need only "clap" as if he/she was not wearing gloves to produce a total sound substantially equivalent to a bare handclap. Thus, the wearer remains warm and is able to express his/her approval of a performance or performer as if that same person was in a warmer environment and did not need to wear gloves.

Only one handclapping aid 100 will be discussed with reference to the figures. However, it should be understood by one skilled in the art that two handclapping aids 100 are needed to produce the total sound desired and that each handclapping aid 100 is substantially identical.

As shown in FIGS. 2A-4B, the body member 101 includes a first section 102 and second section 104. As shown, the body member 101 has a surface area not greater than the surface area of a wearer's hand. The sections 102, 104 can be coupled together to form the body member 101 or manufactured as a unitary structure. The sections 102, 104 can be manufactured from the same or different materials, such as plastic, metal, wood, or any other material known that will produce a total sound representative to that of a bare handclap using substantially the same force measured over substantially the same period of time to produce the total sound. The body member 101 can be inflatable.

In one embodiment, the first section 102 includes an optional "non-planar" concave face 110 for capturing and compressing air during clapping to provide a total sound similar to that of a barehanded clap. It should be understood that the concave face 110 is not required and a convex face, a flat face, or any combination thereof can be used provided that the total sound produced is substantially equivalent to a the total sound produced by a bare handclap. The first section 102 further defines a pair of optional respective slots 120 (one shown) for coupling the strap 122 to the body member 101. The slots 120, in conjunction with respective slots 121 of section 104, allow the strap 122 to freely slide there through. It should be that the strap 122 can be attached, similar to that of a watch strap, to respective ends of the body member 101.

As shown in FIG. 3 A, the handclapping aid 100 can further include indicia 115, such as colors, text, logos, or a combination thereof that are representative of a venue, a sponsor, a performer, a team of performers, or the like. For example, the body member 101 can be made with the team colors, while the strap 122 can include the team or sponsor's logo.

As shown in FIG. 3C, the body member 101 can be manufactured from a translucent material and include a lumination element 130 housed within a cavity 103 of the body member 101, such as a bulb, light-emitting diode (LED), a fluorescent dye, or a phosphorescent dye, or any other illumination means. In some embodiments, the lumination element 130 can be powered from a power source 132 also housed within the cavity 103 of the body member 101. A switch 131 can be used to operate the lumination element 130. In another embodiment, the lumination elements 130 can be disposed on a surface of the body member such that the material used to manufacture the body member 101 need not be translucent. The handclapping aid 100 can further include a flasher circuit such that the lumination elements 130 "turn on" at periodic predetermined times. Further, the lumination element 130 can be made operable by clapping the handclapping aids 100.

In one embodiment, the strap 122 can be an adjustable strap to accommodate various sizes of a wearer's hand and/or gloves 106 (FIG. 4A). As shown in FIG. 4B, the strap 122 can be eliminated and the body member 101 can be formed integral to a glove 106 or coupled to the glove 106 using other means, such as Velcro^® or an elastic strap. Velcro^® is a registered trademark of Velcro Industries, B.V. It should be understood that a glove can be a mitten or any other means known that allows a wearer's hands remain warm in cold weather conditions. As shown in FIG. 4 A, the body member 101 should be unobtrusive to allow the wearer to perform normal event actives, such as eating or drinking.

While this invention has been particularly shown and described with references to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention encompassed by the appended claims.

Claims

CLAIMS What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for producing a handclap; comprising: a first member adapted to be coupled to a palm side of a wearer's hand; and a second member adapted to be coupled to a palm side of the wearer's other hand, the striking of the first and second member together with a force produces a total sound during a period of time representative to a total sound produced by striking two bare hands together with substantially the same force and measured over substantially the same period of time.

2. The apparatus of Claim 1, wherein each member includes a surface for striking against respective members.

3. The apparatus of Claim 2, wherein each surface is selected from the group comprising: a substantially concave surface, a substantially convex surface, and a substantially flat surface.

4. The apparatus of Claim 1, wherein each member includes a strap for coupling to the wearer's hands.

5. The apparatus of Claim 4, wherein the strap is adjustable.

6. The apparatus of Claim 1, wherein at least one member includes a lumination element.

7. The apparatus of Claim 6, wherein the illumination element is selected from the group comprising: a bulb, a light emitting diode, a fluorescent dye, and a phosphorescent dye.

8. The apparatus of Claim 1, wherein each member is formed as part of a respective glove.

9. The apparatus of Claim 1 , wherein each member is manufactured from a material selected from the group comprising: a plastic, a metal, a wood, a ceramic, or an elastomer.

10. The apparatus of Claim 1, further including indicia located on an outer surface of the apparatus.

11. The apparatus if Claim 10, wherein the indicia is representative of an item selected from the group comprising: a venue, a sponsor, a performer, and a team of performers.

12. The apparatus of Claim 10, wherein the indicia is selected from the group comprising: text, colors, and logos.

13. The apparatus of Claim 1 , wherein a surface area of each body member is not greater than a surface area of the wearer's hand.

14. A method for producing total sound substantially equivalent to a bare handclap; comprising: coupling respective members to palm sides of respective hands of a wearer; and striking each member together with a force produces a total sound during a period of time representative to a total sound produced by striking two bare hands together with substantially the same force and measured over substantially the same period of time.

15. The method of Claim 14, wherein each respective member is coupled to gloves worn by the wearer.

16. The method of Claim 14, wherein each member includes a surface for striking against respective members.

17. The method of Claim 16, wherein each surface is selected from the group comprising: a substantially concave surface, a substantially convex surface, and a substantially flat surface.

18. The method of Claim 14, wherein a surface area of each body member is not greater than a surface area of the wearer's hand.

19. The method of Claim 14, wherein each member includes a lumination element.

20. An apparatus for producing a handclap; comprising: means for coupling respective members to a palm side of respective hands; and means for striking each member together to produce a total sound substantially equivalent to a total sound of a bare handclap.