Sports equipment with magnets for ball control

Abstract

The Sports equipment with magnets for ball control is the combination of a spherical ball with multiple embedded magnets and a stick that includes a magnet within the head. A player controls movement of the ball using the stick via the interaction of the magnetic fields formed by the magnets in the ball and the magnet in the head. The magnets in the ball are preferably oriented with all matching outward poles. For example, all outward-facing North poles or all outward-facing South poles. Matching the outward facing poles allows the player to be presented with a more consistent magnetic field by the ball as compared to a ball formed from a single magnet, or other lesser number of magnets. The head of the stick has a two-sided magnet, allowing the player to choose between attracting the ball and repulsing the ball with the head of the stick.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A sports equipment system comprising:
 a spherical ball;
 the spherical ball having an outer surface; 
   six magnets;
 each magnet of the six magnets being bipolar, therefore formed from a North pole and a South pole; 
 the six magnets embedded in the spherical ball; 
 the six magnets all oriented to have either all North poles facing outward or all South poles facing outward; 
   a club;
 the club formed from a shaft and a head; 
 the head including a head magnet; 
 the head magnet being bipolar, therefore formed from a North pole and a South pole; 
   whereby motion of the spherical ball is controlled by changes to orientation and distance between the head magnet of the club and the six magnets of the spherical ball.   
     
     
         2 . The sports equipment system of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the six magnets are all spaced apart, and thus no magnet is in contact with another magnet.   
     
     
         3 . The sports equipment system of  claim 1 , wherein:
 each magnet of the six magnets has a first surface and a second surface;
 the first surface is aligned with the outer surface of the spherical ball; 
 the second surface is beneath the outer surface of the spherical ball; 
   whereby the spherical ball can roll freely along a surface without being impeded by mechanical interaction between the surface and the six magnets.   
     
     
         4 . The sports equipment system of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the head magnet is not parallel to the shaft, the head magnet instead set at an angle with respect to the shaft.   
     
     
         5 . The sports equipment system of  claim 4 , wherein the North pole of the head magnet is closer to the shaft then the South pole of the head magnet. 
     
     
         6 . The sports equipment system of  claim 4 , wherein the South pole of the head magnet is closer to the shaft then the North pole of the head magnet. 
     
     
         7 . A game for manual gameplay by at least one player, the game comprising:
 a spherical ball with embedded magnets;
 the embedded magnets including three sets of paired magnets, for a total of six magnets; 
 each two magnets of each set of paired magnets is installed such that the paired magnets are 180 degrees apart, therefore directly opposite each other; 
 each embedded magnet placed 90 degrees away from its closest adjacent embedded magnet; 
 all embedded magnets placed such that no magnet is closer than 90 degrees to any other magnet; 
   a club;
 the club including a shaft and a head; 
 the head including a head magnet; 
   whereby speed and direction of the spherical ball is controlled by interaction of a club magnetic field generated by the head magnet and a ball magnetic field generated by the embedded magnets.   
     
     
         8 . The game for manual gameplay by at least one player of  claim 7 , wherein:
 the six magnets are all spaced apart, and thus no magnet is in contact with another magnet.   
     
     
         9 . The game for manual gameplay by at least one player of  claim 7 , wherein:
 each magnet of the six magnets has a first surface and a second surface;
 the first surface is aligned with an outer surface of the spherical ball; 
 the second surface is beneath the outer surface of the spherical ball; 
   whereby the spherical ball can roll freely along a surface without being impeded by mechanical interaction between the surface and the six magnets.   
     
     
         10 . The game for manual gameplay by at least one player of  claim 7 , wherein:
 the head magnet is not parallel to the shaft, the head magnet instead set at an angle with respect to the shaft.   
     
     
         11 . The game for manual gameplay by at least one player of  claim 10 , wherein a North pole of the head magnet is closer to the shaft then a South pole of the head magnet. 
     
     
         12 . The game for manual gameplay by at least one player of  claim 10 , wherein a South pole of the head magnet is closer to the shaft then a North pole of the head magnet. 
     
     
         13 . Sports equipment comprising:
 a ball with an outer surface;
 multiple ball magnets embedded into the outer surface of the ball; 
 the multiple ball magnets all having matching outward facing poles, the outward facing poles being either a North pole and a South pole; 
   a club;
 the club including a shaft; 
 a club magnet placed at an end of the shaft; 
   wherein the club magnet interacts with the multiple ball magnets to cause motion of the ball with respect to the club.   
     
     
         14 . The sports equipment of  claim 13 , wherein:
 the multiple ball magnets are all spaced apart, and thus no magnet is in contact with another magnet.   
     
     
         15 . The sports equipment of  claim 13 , wherein:
 each magnet of the multiple ball magnets has a first surface and a second surface;
 the first surface is aligned with the outer surface of the ball; 
 the second surface is beneath the outer surface of the ball; 
   whereby the ball can roll freely along a surface without being impeded by mechanical interaction between the surface and the multiple ball magnets.   
     
     
         16 . The sports equipment of  claim 13 , wherein:
 the club magnet is not parallel to the shaft, the club magnet instead set at an angle with respect to the shaft.   
     
     
         17 . The sports equipment of  claim 16 , wherein the North pole of the club magnet is closer to the shaft then the South pole of the club magnet. 
     
     
         18 . The sports equipment of  claim 16 , wherein the South pole of the club magnet is closer to the shaft then the North pole of the club magnet.