Amusement devices: games – Surface projectile game; game element – Simulated game
Patent
1990-12-24
1991-10-15
Marlo, George J.
Amusement devices: games
Surface projectile game; game element
Simulated game
273198, A63B 6936
Patent
active
050567900
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to golf practice devices and more particularly to devices which may be used to enable a golfer to practice the driving of golf balls with clubs of any loft or material, regardless of restrictions imposed by weather or limited space.
BACKGROUND ART
Frequently a keen golfer finds himself without access to a golf course, and in that event a driving range can be quite satisfactory because full swinging and ball-travel facilities are achievable. Thus, golf driving ranges have become popular to allow a person to practice in company with other golfers who take up positions in a row of driving positions and then drive balls in directions normal to that row. Such a golf range has the disadvantage that it requires a large land area and is most popular if located in a city region where the cost of land for such purposes is prohibitive. Also, the use of a driving range can be curtailed if the weather is bad, while additionally the retrieval of struck balls can be tedious and time-consuming.
Some golfers find preferable the use of net systems in which a golfer can drive balls from a mat or the like into a semi-enclosure, the balls striking a back net which catches the balls or causes them to drop to the ground, while side and top nets prevent the golf balls from straying from the local vicinity. Such net systems do not require large areas of expensive land and make ball retrieval easy, but most golfers do not find them very satisfactory because it is difficult to envisage or estimate the distance which the struck ball might have travelled.
Various portable devices have been proposed generally to assist golfers to practice the driving of golf balls, but most are inefficient or cause early loss of interest. For example, a practice kit is known in which a practice ball is connected by a flexible cord to a frame which may be secured to the ground by pegs or "anchored" on a floor by a suitable weight, a spring or elasticised cord portion being incorporated to limit travel of the struck ball and to cause it to return. However, such kits have become currently unpopular because of the considerable number of accidents involving balls returning to strike the person practising driving.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
Thus there is a need for a device which a golfer may use in a confined space, such as the back yard of a home, or within a garage for example if the weather is inclement, which device is relatively inexpensive, does not require more than a minimum area of land and does not require a netting system. Accordingly, the invention has for its principal object the provision of a golf practice device which ameliorates or overcomes the disadvantages as aforementioned in relation to known practice arrangements or devices.
With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention resides broadly in a golf practice device in which a practice ball is connected by a flexible cord to a ball-control frame mounted rotatably on a base, characterised in that:
when the device is arranged operatively, the base is secured at a location at which a golf club may be swung to strike said ball, the flexible cord being substantially inelastic and acting, when the ball is struck, to effect rotation of the ball-control frame, the latter having damping means arranged to allow the cord to extend to an extent commensurate with the striking force on the ball.
More specifically, in a broad preferred form the invention provides a golf practice device in which a practice ball is connected by a flexible cord to a ball-control frame mounted on a base, characterised in that:
when the device is arranged operatively, the base is secured at a location at which a golf club may be swung to trace out a club-head path, the ball-control frame then extending upwardly from the base and being rotatable about a vertical axis;
the flexible cord is substantially inelastic and has one end connected to the ball, while its other end is operatively associated with a damping device mounted reciprocally on the ball-control frame;
the ba
REFERENCES:
patent: 1528739 (1925-03-01), Boyce
patent: 1730176 (1929-10-01), Thrasher et al.
patent: 1967776 (1934-07-01), Merritt
patent: 2051751 (1936-08-01), Simon
patent: 3124958 (1964-03-01), McDonnell
LandOfFree
Golf practice device does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Golf practice device, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Golf practice device will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-985595