Johann Malzel of Germany developed mechanical metronomes in 1816 as an aid for teaching musical students the correct tempo of a piece of music. These devices are essentially mechanical clockwork mechanisms which include a pendulum or swinging rod with a movable weight which can be utilised to regulate the speed of the pendulum's movement. The swinging rod or pendulum makes an audible click at the end of every cycle providing the user with a consistent time gauge. With the development of the microcontroller, it is now possible to manufacture electronic metronomes using a miniature loudspeaker to deliver the audible signal.

Around the same time as the development of the microcontroller, the field of science relating to the performance of athletes and sports people in general was also developing at a significant rate. As a result of research in this field, it is known that athletic performance can be improved by pacing-and not only can this improvement occur immediately but it can also be sustained over long term training. In the former case, this is clearly illustrated at top sporting events such as middle distance running when a front runner is used to pace out a fast race. Pacing considerably improves performance (i. e. stamina or speed) by simultaneously increasing motivation and decreasing'brain'fatigue. Unfortunately however, not everyone who participates in sporting events or serious training programmes has the luxury of a front runner and so this is where metronomes come in, as they can be a reasonable substitute for human pace-setting.

As the metronome can now be miniaturised into a portable product, it has been developed as a training aid for all types of sports people. A number of electronic metronomes are now commercially available including'hand-held'digital metronomes, some of which are designed for musicians (e. g. SEIKO Digital Metronome, Model DM-20) while others are digital wrist

watches (e. g. CASIO) specifically designed for runners. (SEIKO and CASIO are registered Trade Marks).

Electronic musical metronomes and'pacing' (sports) watches both have tempos which are based on beats per minute (bpm) rather than actual cycle times. A cycle time is from the start of one beat to the start of the next beat. To put this in context for an athlete, a cycle time is the time interval from when one of the athlete's feet leaves the ground until the same foot touches the ground again.

Using standard metronomes, which have a tempo based on bpm, the cycle time decreases as the tempo or bpm increases (and vice versa). However, these standard metronomes do not have the capability for uniform alterations in cycle times across their range of settings.

The table below illustrates this using one such typical device-the SEIKO Digital Metronome (Tempo ranging from 30 to 250 bpm). Looking at the fourth column in particular it can be seen that there is a variable rather than fixed difference between the settings as the tempo increases.

Standard Metronomes Settings : Tempo of standard Cycle time Difference in metronome (=60/Tempo) Cycle times 30 bpm SLOW BEAT 2. 0000 sec 0.0650 sec 31bpm 1. 9350 sec 0.0600sec 32 bpm 1. 8750 sec 0. 0570 sec I 33 bpm 1. 8180 sec 59bpm). 0) 70 sec 0. 0170 sec 60 bpm 1. 0000 sec 0. 0160 sec 61 bpm 0. 9840 sec 248 bpm 0. 2420 sec O.00 1 0 sec 249bpm 0. 2410 sec 0.0010 sec 250 bpm FAST BEAT 0. 2400 I

With this particular (musical) metronome, there are only 220 (250-30) possible variations in tempo from the slowest to the fastest beat.

It is apparent that an athlete's time will improve only if his cycle time is reduced. Therefore, there is clearly a need for a metronome which can provide an athlete with a constant reduction in cycle time as opposed to the variable reduction of cycle time available from the prior art.

Accordingly, there is provided a digital electronic programmable metronome comprising a display means and an input means, the input means being capable of adjusting the value shown in the display means between a maximum value and a minimum value, a microcontroller for receiving the value of the display means and in response to the received value providing an output to an audible signal generator wherein the display means shows a value of the cycle time of the signal.

Ideally, the digital electronic programmable metronome is primarily intended for use in the field of sports, but it will be appreciated that it may also be used in other fields. For convenience, the metronome of this invention shall be referred to as a digital electronic sports metronome hereafter.

Preferably, the display means is provided by a liquid crystal display having five digits allowing a user to input values between the range 0.3000 and 3.0000 (seconds) in increments of one tenth of a millisecond (0.0001 sec). This Digital Electronic Sports Metronome has 27,000 (30,000 minus 3,000) extremely precise cycle times, ranging from 0.3000 sec (200

bpm) up to 3.0000 sec (20 bpm) thereby providing the athlete with the capability for numerous uniform alterations in cycle times.

Ideally, the input means is provided by three depressible buttons on the exterior of a casing for housing the metronome. Two of the three buttons when depressed separately will increase or decrease the cycle time of the metronome respectively and the third button when depressed in conjunction with either of the aforementioned two buttons will increase and decrease the volume of the audible signal.

The Digital Electronic Sports Metronome has 27,000 different programmable settings.

Interestingly, when compared over the exact same tempo range as the SEIKO metronome, the Digital Electronic Sports Metronome has 17,600 (20,000-2,400) variations compared to only 220 (250-30) with the SEIKO-thus making it 80 times more sensitive than the prior art device.

This metronome, with its much improved precision, can not only enhance'on-the-spot'athletic use, it can also be extremely useful for long term training programmes because any future performance can be planned with extreme precision and the outcome predicted well in advance. Moreover, if so desired, the intensity of each or any subsequent performance could be planned such that a virtually linear improvement in performance could be achieved over the course of a training programme; the increase in effort being so gradual as to be virtually subliminal.

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, which show, by way of example only, one embodiment of a metronome in accordance with the invention in which:- Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the Digital Electronic Sports Metronome;

Figure 2 is a square wave diagram of the output from the Digital Electronic Sports Metronome; and Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the electronic circuit used in the Digital Electronic Sports Metronome.

Referring to the drawings and initially to Figure 1 there is shown a programmable Digital Electronic Sports Metronome indicated generally by the reference numeral 1. The metronome 1 comprises a display 2 and input buttons 3, the input buttons 3 being capable of adjusting the value shown in the display 2. A microcontroller 4 receives the value of the display 2 and in response to the received value of the cycle time provides an output to an amplifier 5. The amplifier 5 provides an input to a miniature speaker 6 or an ear-piece socket 7. A 9v battery 8 provides the power for the metronome 1.

Referring to the drawings and now to Figure 2 there is shown a square wave 9 representing the sound output from the speaker 6 or the ear-piece 7. The sound is generated for a constant time of 0.1 sees and the cycle time 10 is from the start of one sound until the start of the next sound.

Referring to the drawings and now to Figure 3 there is shown a circuit having a voltage regulator 11 for converting a 9V battery supply to a 5V supply for providing power to the microcontroller 4, the display 2 and a potentiometer 12. A switch box 14 comprises three switches 15,16 and 17 for controlling the value stored on the display 2 and the volume of the audible signal via the potentiometer 12. The value of the cycle time stored on the display 2 is fed into the microcontroller 4. This value is operated on by a pre-set program stored in the memory of the microcontroller 4 to generate the relevant output signal. This signal is used as one input to a nand gate 21. An oscillator 22 comprising two nand gates 23,24 and a RC feedback loop 25 provides a 1 kHz tone burst to the second input of the nand gate 21. This is fed into an amplifier 5 which provides a signal to the speaker 6 or earpiece 7 which produces an audible signal at the selected cycle time.

In use, the metronome 1 is turned on using a switch on the side of a casing (not shown) enclosing the circuitry of figure 3. The microcontroller 4 sets the value of the LCD 2 and its own output to the last operating value of the metronome 1 prior to being switched off. An operator may increase the cycle time by depressing one of the relevant buttons on the metronome 1 closing one of the switches 15,16 or 17. In response to this the microcontroller 4 adjusts the LCD display 2 and its own output into the nand gate 21 in order to adjust the cycle time of the audible signal.

This particular Digital Electronic Sports Metronome 1 provides 27,000 different programmable settings. Interestingly, when compared over the exact same tempo range as the SEIKO metronome, it has 17,600 (20,000-2,400) variations compared to only 220 (250-30) with the SEIKO-thus making it 80 times more sensitive.

While the range of cycle times defined of 0.3000 to 3.0000 has been set for human athletic performance, the range may be varied for other specific applications.

It will of course be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific details as herein described, which are given by way of example only, and that various alterations and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention.