Games using tangible projectile – Golf – Player manipulated turf repair tool
Reexamination Certificate
2002-07-31
2004-09-28
Wong, Steven (Department: 3711)
Games using tangible projectile
Golf
Player manipulated turf repair tool
Reexamination Certificate
active
06796913
ABSTRACT:
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[Not Applicable]
FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
[Not Applicable]
MICROFICHE/COPYRIGHT REFERENCE
[Not Applicable]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to golf ball mark repair tools and more specifically relates to golf ball mark repair tools capable of performing multiple functions.
Ball mark (or divot) repair tools are something that every golfer should carry during a round of golf. In fact, golf course managers and club professionals uniformly urge golfers to do so. The location of ball marks or divots needing repair is most often the putting green, which is also the most expensive part of most golf courses to maintain and repair. The importance of repairing ball marks is clear. A properly repaired ball mark takes about 24 hours to be restored to its pre-mark shape, while unrepaired and improperly repaired marks can take two weeks or more to be restored.
Ball markers, which indicate a ball's location, are also something every golfer should carry. Unfortunately, golfers often misplace or lose ball markers during the course of one or more rounds of golf. Past methods for retaining ball markers to ball mark repairers involved, for example, magnetizing a metal ball marker. The magnetic version often is lost or comes loose from the ball mark repairer due to shifting and movement of the ball mark repair tool in a golfer's pocket. This results in the unfortunate predicament of eliminating the dual utility of the ball mark repairer (if the ball mark is lost) or having to search through several items in the golfer's pocket to find the ball mark repairer (if the ball mark comes loose). If the magnetic ball mark is lost, it is normally very difficult to find another ball mark for use with the ball mark repair tool, as magnetic markers are normally only sold with the repair tool and non-magnetic markers with stems cannot be used. Moreover, it is difficult to make a personal statement and/or have fun with current ball marks, as they are uniform and always round in shape.
Further, many golfers smoke cigars while on the golf course. There are, however, several practical problems with smoking a cigar while golfing. First, unless one is able to hold a cigar in one's mouth while swinging a golf club, the cigar must be taken out of the mouth during a golf swing. Because ashtrays are not prevalent on the golf course, the most convenient place to put a cigar is on the ground. Due to the chemicals used on the golf course grass, however, setting the inhaling end of a cigar on the ground places the smoker at a risk ingesting these chemicals orally. Such ingestion can place the golfer at risk of getting sick, vomiting, or getting lip or gum diseases, including cancer.
Moreover, golfers often play their rounds during the morning hours, when the grass is still wet as a result of dew or watering. As a result, placing the entire cigar on the ground can get the cigar wet, thereby ruining the cigar or a portion of the tobacco in the cigar. Because of their relatively high cost, however, golfers do not wish to merely waste cigars by frequently setting them on wet ground. Moreover, the grips of golf clubs may get wet by placing them on the ground when the grass is still wet. This creates slippery grips, which are undesirable.
No prior art ball mark repair tools provide means for hold cigars, which come in many different sizes (i.e., diameters), off the ground. Nor do any prior art ball mark repair tools adequately address the problems associated with retaining a ball marker.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Due to the shortcomings of prior ball mark repair tools, it is thus desirable to have a ball mark repair tool that is able to retain a ball marker with a friction fit, but without the risks of difficulty in removing the mark or of routine breakage of the ball mark stem.
It is also desirable to have a ball mark repair tool able to support and retain cigars, including cigars of different sizes.
A combined golf ball mark repair tool and ball mark holder is disclosed. The combined tool includes a body, multiple legs extending from the body for repairing a golf ball mark, and an aperture located within the body for receiving a ball mark. A preferred aperture includes an interior sidewall composed of rubber, such that the peg of a ball mark can be configured to form a friction fit within the inner sidewall. One way of forming the rubber interior sidewall is to place a rubber grommet disposed within the aperture, wherein the rubber interior sidewall comprises an interior surface of the rubber grommet.
In a preferred embodiment, the tool also includes a bottle opener, which is formed by including a wave shaped protrusion extending from the body and a finger extending from the body in a u-shaped relationship with the protrusion. In this embodiment, the tool also includes a spike tightener attached to the body with two nubs extending from the body in a substantially parallel relationship, being placed a lateral distance apart approximately the distance between holes in golf spikes, such that the nubs can simultaneously be inserted into such holes for affixing and removing golf spikes from shoes. Certain embodiments, such as a “pro series” model, do not have either a bottle opener or spike tightener.
In an alternative embodiment, the tool includes a multi-sized cigar holder, including two arms attached to the body opposite the multiple legs, with each of the arms having an interior edge, an exterior edge, and a distal end. The interior edge of each of the arms comprises at least two curvilinear arcs, with one pair of the curvilinear arcs together forming a portion of a circle having a first radius of curvature. The second pair together form a portion of a circle having a second radius of curvature greater than the first radius of curvature. In this way, when inserted into the ground, the tool may be used to secure and support cigars of multiple different sizes (i.e., multiple different radii). In the preferred embodiment, the legs extend from the body along a longitudinal axis of the tool, with the arms extending from the body in a y-shaped relationship with respect to the axis. In one preferred embodiment, one or more of the arms also includes a bit having a flat edge at the distal end, in different sizes if more than one is present, to enable the tool to be used as a screwdriver or a golf club groove cleaner through use of the bit.
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McAndrews Held & Malloy
Wong Steven
LandOfFree
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