Amusement devices: games – Surface projectile game; game element – Simulated game
Patent
1989-06-09
1990-07-17
Marlo, George J.
Amusement devices: games
Surface projectile game; game element
Simulated game
273200R, A63B 6936
Patent
active
049416677
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The invention relates to golf practising apparatus, comprising a housing which accommodates a rotatable drum or capstan for taking up and paying out a line fastened to the capstan and to which a golf ball can be attached to the free end thereof.
Apparatus for practising tennis strokes are known in which a tennis ball is attached to a rubber cord and the free end of the cord is firmly anchored in some suitable manner, such that when the tennis ball is struck the rubber cord is stretched and tensioned so that the ball will return to the player, enabling a further stroke to be made.
Apparatus of this kind cannot be used for practising golf strokes, mainly because the mass of a golf ball is so large that if the line were permitted to return the golf ball in a manner similar to the aforedescribed tennis ball, the golf ball could cause serious injury and damage to the player and the surrounding respectively, and also due to the fact that the line thicknesses required to ensure that the line will not break when striking a golf ball are of such high values as to cause movement of the ball to deviate excessively from its natural movement.
Accordingly, it is a main object of the invention to provide apparatus of the aforedescribed kind which incorporates a thin line and which enables the ball to be returned without risk of injury or damage.
This main object is fully achieved by means of the invention defined in the following claims and described hereinafter with reference to an exemplifying embodiment thereof illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which
FIG. 1 illustrates one embodiment of the invention; FIG. 2 illustrates a line catch arrangement; and FIG. 3 illustrates the capstan provided with a brake and return spring.
The embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIG. 1 includes a housing 1 which comprises two mutually identical and mutually parallel side members 2, 3 which are made of metal or some other mechanically strong material, such as glass-fibre reinforced plastic, and which are connected together by means of cross-ties 4, 5 or similar spacing devices. A line drum or capstan 7 is mounted on a stationary central shaft 6 extending between the side members 2, 3. As will best be seen from FIG. 2, the capstan 7 comprises a cylinder 8 having peripheral flanges 9 (only one such flange being shown in FIG. 2). Mounted concentrically in the cylinder 8, with the aid of ties 10, 11, 12, 13, is a brake drum 14 provided with end walls, e.g. the end wall 15 shown in FIG. 2, in which the stationary or fixed shaft 6 is mounted. The brake drum 14 of the illustrated embodiment has fitted thereto a helical spring, or coil spring, 16 whose one end 17 is attached to the drum 14 and the other end 18 of which is attached to the shaft 16. The arrangement is such that when the line 19 is unwound from the drum 7, the spring 16 is tensioned and exerts a progressively increasing braking force on the drum 7. The spring 16 is preferably dimensioned so that it will function as a return spring subsequent to the line 19 having been partially or fully unwound from the drum 7, so that the line will be wound automatically back onto the drum. The line 19 preferably has a length of 30 meters and is substantially non-stretchable or, in all events, only slightly stretchable, and consists, e.g., of a plaited line having a diameter of 1.5 -2 mm. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the housing 1 is provided with an anchorage 20 by means of which the apparatus can be anchored to the ground, said anchorage in the illustrated case having the form of a rod whose upper end part 21 is firmly connected to the side member 2. The free end-part of the rod is mounted for free rotation in a pipe or tube 22, which can be driven substantially vertically into the ground. The housing 1 is therewith able to swing freely around a vertical axis. Mounted on the side member 2 is an elongated line guide 23 which is made of spring steel or some other suitable material and which carries on its free end a ring, eye or some other guide means 24 which embraces the line 19 an
REFERENCES:
patent: 1566775 (1925-12-01), Schenk
patent: 3031889 (1962-05-01), Magazanik et al.
patent: 3735934 (1973-05-01), Black
Golf Comback AB
Marlo George J.
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