Games using tangible projectile – Golf – Ball feeding means and tee
Reexamination Certificate
1999-05-25
2001-01-30
Wong, Steven (Department: 3711)
Games using tangible projectile
Golf
Ball feeding means and tee
Reexamination Certificate
active
06179719
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to golf ball dispensers.
2. Prior Art
A golfer practicing driving or putting typically must bend over to pick up a ball from a bucket nearby, place it on the ground, and get back up into a swinging position. Over the course of a practice session, this tedious process must be repeated dozens or hundreds of times.
Various golf ball dispensers are disclosed in the prior art for eliminating the need to bend over and position the ball manually. A dispenser disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,624,325 to Smith is comprised of a funnel for directing balls onto a sloped track. A hinged arm at the lower end of the track is pivoted to a lowered position by a golf club for directing a ball down along the arm and onto a tee. However, the balls do not reliably feed from the funnel because they sometimes tend to get stuck at the bottom of the funnel. When the balls are almost as large as the bottom opening of a funnel, they tend to get stuck easily. Similar devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,549,518 to Wang and U.S. Pat. No. 3,599,983 to Melton. A dispenser disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,995,614 to Tange is comprised of a tall housing with a zigzag course for the balls. The balls must be fed into the housing one at a time. The housing is inconveniently tall. A device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,171,299 to Beckett is comprised of a housing with a spiral track for feeding balls to a hinged arm. Although very wide, the spiral track can only hold a relatively small number of balls in single layer.
All prior art golf ball dispensers are too large and oddly shaped to be easily carried around a golf course. They either do not feed the balls reliably, or require the balls to be fed into a magazine one at a time.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, objects of the present golf ball dispenser are:
to dispense golf balls one at a time;
to be operable by a golfer standing upright;
to have a large capacity for golf balls;
to be able to receive poured-in golf balls;
to feed golf balls reliably;
to be small and compact enough to be easily carried around a golf course for picking up golf balls.
Further objects of the present invention will become apparent from a consideration of the drawings and ensuing description.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A golf ball dispenser is comprised of a housing with a funnel for receiving golf balls which are simply poured in. A sloped track is connected between an aperture on the bottom of the funnel and a hole on a side of the housing. A lever arm has an inner end positioned through the hole and hinged to the housing. The lever arm is biased to an up position by a weight on the inner end. An agitator is positioned adjacent the aperture on the funnel and linked to the inner end of the lever arm by a rod for agitating the balls into the aperture whenever the lever arm is operated. A hump is provided at an intermediate point along the track for stopping the balls before they reach the hole in the housing. A ratcheting tab has one end hinged to the inner end of the lever arm, and another end positioned below the hump in the track. When the lever arm is pivoted down by a golf club, the golf ball at the hump is lifted by the ratcheting tab over the hump. The ball is delivered by the remaining portion of the track to the inner end of the lever arm, and delivered to the ground by the lowered lever arm.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2171299 (1939-08-01), Beckett
patent: 3003770 (1961-10-01), Jones
patent: 3599983 (1971-08-01), Melton
patent: 4265453 (1981-05-01), Loof
patent: 4796893 (1989-01-01), Choi
patent: 4957296 (1990-09-01), Turnidge et al.
patent: 4995614 (1991-02-01), Tange
patent: 5348305 (1994-09-01), Lowe
patent: 5464223 (1995-11-01), Dermott
patent: 5549518 (1996-08-01), Wang
patent: 5624325 (1997-04-01), Smith
patent: 5971862 (1999-10-01), Yates
Lo Jack
Wong Steven
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