Amusement devices: games – Surface projectile game; game element – Simulated game
Patent
1993-09-27
1995-02-14
Harrison, Jessica J.
Amusement devices: games
Surface projectile game; game element
Simulated game
A63B 6936
Patent
active
053888316
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The object of the present invention is an auxiliary luminous device for golf practice, especially for practicing strokes or putting, consisting of a light source and an optical unit designed to diffuse a light beam onto a plane, said transmitter and said optical unit being attached to a golf club in such a way that the plane over which the light is diffused is perpendicular to a striking surface on the club and forms a line of light on the ground.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Given the increasing popularity of golf and the lack of available courses, golfers tend to practice with specialized equipment which can be used in a yard or other available space. Various types of simulators have been proposed for the purpose of swing practice, that is, forcefully hitting the ball forward. However, rolling the ball or putting practice require only a flat surface covered with suitable carpeting and with a hole or substitute goal. In putting the ball is hit with a club called a putter, with a relatively broad iron whose striking surface is nearly vertical when contacting the ball. The main difficulty in putting is to orient the striking surface of the iron along a plane which is perpendicular to the vertical plane passing through the center of the ball and the through center of the hole. In reality, a golfer can only acquire the habit of orienting the club correctly after numerous repetitive practice strokes, since the direction which the ball takes supplies the only indication of whether the iron position was correct.
Putting practice devices are already known and consist of one or two luminous diodes on the putter head, each emitting a linear beam in a direction perpendicular to the striking surface, thereby allowing the golfer to stop the club in the ideal position. However, such a device is of little use when the club moves, as the line of each light beam on the ground is a point which moves too quickly to be of any use to the player in correcting his or her motions.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,953,034 concern an auxiliary device mounted on a golf club for swing practice. A linear laser light beam emitted by a light source attached to the handle strikes a convex mirror attached below the handle near the striking surface. The laser beam is reflected forward in the form of a planar vertical beam perpendicular to the striking surface, creating a line of light on the ground which predicts the direction parallel to the probable trajectory of the ball. In actuality, such a device allows one to verify only the horizontal orientation of the striking surface and no other parameters relating to its position, notably the possibility that it will diverge laterally from the ball. Furthermore, it is not useful for putting practice when the ball is fairly close to the hole, since the light beam it creates would pass beside the hole and would not give the golfer a clear, precise indication.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the present invention is to improve devices such as those described above and make them useful for putting practice by allowing the user to visualize the ideal club position more clearly at the moment the club strikes the ball.
To accomplish, the device of the invention is characterized in that the plane over which the light beam is diffused passes through one point where the ball impacts the striking surface, and in that the optical unit is located behind a plane defined by the striking surface.
This arrangement allows the golfer to place the putter exactly across from the ball and at the same time, to orient it correctly, thanks to the line which the light beam traces simultaneously upon the ball and on the ground. Furthermore, all these indications are present both when the club is stationary and when it is moving. The optical unit may advantageously be located higher than the striking surface, so that one part of the diffused beam always passes above the ball.
The light beam is preferably a beam parallel to the output of the transmitter, which may be a laser transmitter, and the optical unit comprises a cylin
REFERENCES:
patent: 3953034 (1976-04-01), Nelson
patent: 4971327 (1990-11-01), Rabold
patent: 5029868 (1991-07-01), Cloud
patent: 5165691 (1992-11-01), Cook
patent: 5193812 (1993-03-01), Hendricksen
patent: 5207429 (1993-05-01), Walmsley et al.
patent: 5213331 (1993-05-01), Avanzini
Patent Abstracts of Japan vol. 900, No. 409 (C-0707) 1990 & JP, A, 20 23 974 (Shomonoto Kenkichi).
Quadri Michel
Wahl Francois
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