Lighted Hockey Puck

[josmith]

Do a search for Unusual Blue LED source

[jollyrgr]

I just thought of a neat idea that would probably solve your problem! Use a clear hockey puck and a chemical light stick! They make small light sticks for golf balls and fishing bobbers. I thought that this was such a neat idea that I'd not post it and try and patent it. So I did a search and guess what? Someone beat me to it. You can buy chemical light hockey pucks for about $15 (Canadian) and replacement light sticks for about $3 (Canadian). The light sticks in this example are meant for below freezing temperatures and will last 8 to 12 hours (shorter at above freezing temperatures). See this web site for more information:<p>http://www.hockeybotics.com/index.html

[Sterling Martin]

Yup, we have two of those lighted Canadian pucks already. As far as the lighted part goes, there isn't anything better! But the physical properties of the puck really suck! They are made out of hard lightweigh plastic. The professional pucks are made out of something that closly resembles urethane. When the plastic puck is hit, it tends to bounce much more than a real puck. The weight of the plastic puck is off so far that they had to add metal inserts on both sides of the light stick. So, to sum it up, a good rubbery puck with a decent amount of leds in it would be 5 times better than the plastic puck. BTW, there are good rubbery pucks that have leds in them, but they all use a watch battery and activate two leds, one on either side of the puck, when the puck is struck, and flash them for about 5 seconds after it's struck. It's O.K., but half the time it fails to activate, and is just kind of a teaser!
I'm trying to get two AA batteries into a rubber puck, and if I can get that done, I have a couple of different led flasher circuits that will work. I believe that I could but up to 50 leds into the puck, if I can squeeze two replaceable AA batteries in it. ( Well, I have 12 flashing on my breadboard that have lasted 24 hours, so I'm assuming I can use that many! )

[Bernius1]

What about the 12V car alarm batteries ? They're smaller than a AAA. And an inertial switch will prevent constant running. Maybe a spring load on the battery terminals?

[haklesup]

Flashing the LEDs does save a tremendous amount of power over continouus use. 12 hours and 12LEDs sounds pretty good. Just for comparison, do an experiment to see how long it last with continuous on if possible.<p>Sounds like the chemically lighted puck could use a redesign. I doubt anyone would need a patent, just a good secret manufacturing process and a determined marketing plan. Same goes for the LED puck.<p>I thought pucks were made of Hard Butyl Rubber but I suppose there can be other materials. Urathane would be hard like epoxy and could be machined but not carved like rubber could be.

[philba]

By the way, check out N size batteries. They look like stunted AAs - same diameter but about 2/3 the length. I dont know the capacity but they should be reasonably good - maybe 2/3 of AAs.

[Sterling Martin]

Thanks for that one, philba! The AA batteries length is my single largest drawback at this point! BTW, I took your cue, and am experimenting with different color leds for different effects. I couldn't get your invertor circuit to work, although I didn't spend much time with it either, as I'm thinking about some kind of sequence circuit, so the whole puck would be green, then red, blue, yellow and so on!

[Chris Smith]

"All electronics" sells the N type and most every type, rechargable or other wise.

[rocket scientist]

A big question that I am surprised no one has asked is -- what are you going to do with it? Is it an ice hockey puck or a roller puck, and are you going to play hockey with it. If so, is it mini-mite hockey or NHL? There are some very difficult environmetnal considerations to design around. <p>By the way, if it is ice hockey, I hope you are using pucks from Slovakia, and not those Canadian pucks!

[Sterling Martin]

Hi rocket scientist,
Yes this is an ice hockey puck. It's not NHL though. It is for some country boys that just play on farm ponds when the ice is good. The problem is that we normally play at night since most of us have day jobs. The lighting isn't all that great, and having a lighted puck really makes a huge improvement over ordinary pucks. And yes, this puck is from Slovakia. I don't know much about Slovakia, but they do seem to manufacture really good pucks.
BTW, I don't think anything is happening in the NHL.

[rocket scientist]

Pond Hockey! I am impressed. I can't imagine playing hockey where the air is colder than the ice. <p>If, you are going to go the electric route, have you thought about what you are going to do with all those high tech pucks with dead batteries. Seems like the technique for recharging (or replacing) batteries is a crtical design issue. I image that you would cut the pucks open, put in some electronics, and glue then shut so that they don't fall apart. So how do you conveniently recharge them?<p>I am pretty sure ice pucks are a rubber injection mold product. The company that makes them is called Vegum, and 'guma' means rubber in Slovak.

[Sterling Martin]

Yup, real pond hockey! Last game I played, we had 5 degrees F. temperature and a light breeze! What I have done so far on my hockey puck, is to slice it in half with a hack saw and hollow out the middle with razor blades. ( Yes, it isn't real easy ) I've gone to my local hardware store and have re-engineered some 1/2 compression unions so the will closely resemble brush holders and plugs like what would be used on a heavy hand drill. I'm going to embed the plug into the puck a little, so there are no brass protrosions. It's bad enough getting nailed by a puck that moving at mach 2, let alone one with brass knuckles! Anyway, I have already experimented with the cold conditions, and they pose no problems, since I'm going to incorporate two replaceable AA batteries. Yup, still planning to use AA batteries, since I've improved my battery holder design and now believe that I'll have room for both batteries! I haven't gotten real far with the actual final circuit, but am convinced that I will have power aplenty with two AA batteries. I know that you're not supposed to do this, but I was pulling up to 400 mA out of my AA batteris in series! Just for a fraction of a second though, since it was a "flasher" circuit. Worked great. For three days!

[haklesup]

AA batteries should be fine, NiMh rechargables have 2200mAh a piece so they actually have more charge than most Alkaline. The 100mV reduction per cell should not be a problem for the LED circuit. <p>I imagined carving out a battery compartment from one side then backfilling with RTV but I guess that would leave a soft spot on one side and unbalanced mechanical characteristics. A local tire shop capable of retreading tires should have what you need to stick the halves back together quite nicely<p>You could run wires to two foil pads on the outside (or a slightly recessed nail heads) so that the puck can charge in some sort of cradle fitted with a standard battery charger. Using a jack to make the connection, the jack will probably fill with dirt or get impact damaged.

[philba]

If you are going for rechargable, you might want to consider a contactless appraoch. Its a little more work but you'd be able to completely seal the puck. You could basically create half a transformer on the outer rim of the puck and the other half on a tube just big enough to drop the puck into. The inside coil feeds into a rectifier, filter cap and then a voltage regulator to recharge the batteries. The outside coil is just an ac loop. This how the sonicare toothbrushes work.<p>If you pick your coils right, you may not even need a regulator. I dont think the batteries give a whit about ripple.<p>Another idea is use a latching hall effect switch to turn the puck on or off with a magnet. Again, completely sealed puck.

[Sterling Martin]

Hey philba, the transformer idea is simply awesome! I hate to tell you this, but I had already thought of the latching hall effect sensor. I didn't pursue it because I figured that I would just unscrew one of the AA batteries instead. But if I could design a sealed puck, it would be just the ticket! BTW, how much interference would the hall effect sensor pick up from the charger?