Amusement devices: games – Board games – pieces – or boards therefor – Rotatably mounted board
Patent
1984-10-29
1987-04-21
Picard, Leo P.
Amusement devices: games
Board games, pieces, or boards therefor
Rotatably mounted board
A63B 5700
Patent
active
046590811
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention relates to apparatus for practising golf.
There have been many prior proposals relating to such apparatus, but few if any have come into practical use. It has been proposed hitherto to make use of a reservoir of balls which are presented one at a time to the player by means of a teeing mechanism. Examples of such arrangements are to be seen, for example, in the following patents:
Such mechanisms have practical disadvantages. Many are unduly complex and expensive, are not readily transportable, and require connection to mains power. Others are simpler but would be difficult or inconvenient to operate.
An object of this invention is to provide a golf practice apparatus which is relatively cheap to manufacture and simple to use, which can be used both indoors and outdoors, and which requires no external power supply.
According to one aspect of the invention there is provided apparatus for the practice of golf, comprising a platform, a tee movable through an opening in the platform between an upper position projecting above the platform and a lower position below the platform, a chamber for a supply of golf balls, means for freeing one ball at a time to be delivered to and squarely positioned on the tee when in said lower position, a pneumatic servo unit mounting the tee, a master pneumatic unit connected to the servo unit by a conduit and movable by a user to produce a pressure difference causing movement of the servo unit.
From another aspect the invention provides apparatus for the practice of golf, comprising a platform, a ball reservoir beneath the platform, a teeing mechanism operable to present balls from the reservoir one at a time on a tee movable through an aperture in the platform, an enclosure extending from one side of the platform into which balls may be driven, the enclosure having a floor sloped to cause balls driven into the enclosure to return under gravity to the reservoir.
An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a general isometric view of an apparatus according to the invention,
FIG. 2 is a schematic side cross-sectional view of the platform of FIG. 1,
FIG. 3 is a schematic isometric view of the ball reservoir of FIG. 1,
FIG. 4 is a detailed cross-section of the master unit seen in FIG. 2,
FIG. 5 is a detailed cross-section of the servo unit seen in FIG. 2, and
FIG. 6 is a plan view of the platform surface in a modified embodiment.
Referring to FIG. 1, the apparatus has a platform assembly generally designated 10, and a framework generally designated 12 mounted on ground-engaging feet 14. The framework 12 is of such dimensions that it can be erected by a person standing on the ground. Netting indicated at 16 is secured (by any suitable means) inside the top and sides of the framework 12 to form an enclosure into which balls may be driven by a player standing on the platform 10. The parts of the netting 16 are suitably joined together by rot-resistant fabric tape. A further net is draped as shown within the enclosure to form an impact curtain 18 which decelerates the balls in a safe manner. The impact curtain 18 is suitably arranged to slope downwardly away from the player and should have sufficient fullness and flexibility to decelerate the balls without any risk of rebound. The floor 22 of the enclosure is suitably formed of rot-resistant fabric or tensioned net, or of stiffer, self-supporting mesh plastics material (to provide drainage) and is sloped both towards the longitudinal centre line and towards the platform 10.
A similar enclosure may be provided on the opposite side of the platform 10, as indicated in outline at 20.
With reference to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, each ball after deceleration by the impact curtain 18 falls to the floor 22 to roll by gravity to pass via an opening 24 into a reservoir 26 in the platform 10. The reservoir 26 has a sloping floor to channel balls 28 therein to a tube 30 from which the balls are elevated one at a time by a teeing mechanism 32 under the control of t
REFERENCES:
patent: 1998454 (1935-04-01), Gordon
patent: 3567223 (1971-03-01), Gentiluomo
patent: 4126313 (1978-11-01), Izumi
Brown T.
Cooxint Limited
Ferguson Jr. Gerald J.
Hoffman Michael P.
Malamud Ronni S.
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