Systems and methods for identifying tampered bats

Abstract

A system for determining information associated a bat includes a bat having a handle, a barrel extending from the handle, and a cap connected to the barrel opposite the handle. The cap is connected to a first portion of a chip, and a second portion of the chip is connected to a portion of the bat other than the cap. A user device communicates with the chip on a network to receive the information associated with the bat or to receive second information used to obtain the information associated with the bat. The information associated with the bat may be whether the cap has been removed, which may identify whether the bat has been modified.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system for determining information associated a bat, the system comprising:
 a bat having a handle, a barrel extending from the handle, and a cap connected to the barrel opposite the handle, the cap being connected to a first portion of a chip, the chip having a second portion connected to a portion of the bat other than the cap; and   a user device that communicates with the chip on a network to receive the information associated with the bat or to receive second information used to obtain the information associated with the bat.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , where the portion of the bat other than the cap is the inner wall of the barrel, and the first portion of the chip is connected to a portion of the cap located in a hollow chamber of the barrel. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , where the network is a near field communication network. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 3 , where the chip is an NFC tag. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , where the chip is a contactless smart card. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , further including a server device that communicates with the user device on the network or a second network. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 6 , where the second network is the internet. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 6 , where the server device includes a database, and the second information corresponds to a unique identifier used to query the database to obtain the information associated with the bat. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , where the information associated with the bat either identifies that the cap has been removed or that the cap has not been removed. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 2 , where the chip is deformed when the cap is partially or completely removed from the bat, and the second information is either a first signal when the chip has not been deformed or a second signal when the chip has been deformed. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 1 , where the user device is a smart phone. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 1 , where the information associated with the bat includes the manufacturer of the bat, the date of manufacture, the model of the bat, the length of the bat, or the weight of the bat. 
     
     
         13 . A bat configured to provide information associated with the bat to a user, the bat comprising:
 a handle,   a barrel extending from the handle,   a cap connected to the barrel opposite the handle, and   a chip having a first portion connected to the cap and a second portion connected to a portion of the bat other than the cap, the chip configured to communicate via a network to provide the information associated with the bat or to provide second information used to obtain the information associated with the bat.   
     
     
         14 . The bat of  claim 13 , where the chip is an NFC Tag. 
     
     
         15 . The bat of  claim 13 , where the portion of the bat other than the cap is the inner surface of the barrel. 
     
     
         16 . The bat of  claim 13 , where the information associated with the bat includes whether the cap has been removed. 
     
     
         17 . The bat of  claim 13 , where the second information is configured to query a database to obtain the information associated with the bat. 
     
     
         18 . The bat of  claim 17 , where the second information includes a signal and the information associated with the bat includes whether the cap has been removed. 
     
     
         19 . The bat of  claim 13 , where the network is a near field communication network. 
     
     
         20 . A bat configured to identify whether a cap of the bat has been removed, the bat comprising:
 a handle,   a barrel extending from the handle and including a hollow chamber,   the cap partially inserted into the hollow chamber of the barrel opposite the handle, and   a chip having a first portion connected to the cap and a second portion connected to an inner surface of the barrel, the chip being deformed when the cap has been removed from the bat, the chip configured to provide a signal on the network that identifies whether the cap has been removed.   
     
     
         21 . The bat of  claim 20 , where the signal is a first signal when the cap has not been removed or a second signal when the cap has been removed. 
     
     
         22 . The bat of  claim 21 , where the second signal corresponds to the absence of a signal.