U.S. patent application number 11/827875 was filed with the patent office on 2009-01-15 for golf green reader.
Invention is credited to Ken Landry.
Application Number | 20090017943 11/827875 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 40070814 |
Filed Date | 2009-01-15 |
United States Patent
Application |
20090017943 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Landry; Ken |
January 15, 2009 |
Golf green reader
Abstract
A Golf Green Reader is disclosed. The device is available in two
versions--one that is elongated, is sized similar to the length of
a golf umbrella and allows the user to site the putt line while
standing, and a second version that is handheld. The device
includes optics to provide the user with the ability to site along
a laser-pointer line and focus, zoom and obtain a wide-angle view
of the cup from the ball location. The device further overlays an
image that aids the user in holding the device in a level position
while siting along the putt line. The image overlay includes
symbology that indicates current spacial orientation of the device,
the desired spacial device orientation and the direction to correct
the device orientation.
Inventors: |
Landry; Ken; (Menifee Lakes,
CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Karl M. Steins;Steins & Associates
Suite 120, 2333 Camino del Rio South
San Diego
CA
92108
US
|
Family ID: |
40070814 |
Appl. No.: |
11/827875 |
Filed: |
July 13, 2007 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
473/404 ; 33/286;
356/255; 473/220 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63B 57/10 20151001;
A63B 71/06 20130101; A63B 2071/024 20130101; A63B 69/3676 20130101;
A63B 2071/0694 20130101; A63B 57/00 20130101; A63B 2210/50
20130101; A63B 2102/32 20151001; A63B 2225/74 20200801; A63B
71/0036 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
473/404 ; 33/286;
356/255; 473/220 |
International
Class: |
A63B 69/36 20060101
A63B069/36 |
Claims
1. A device for aiding golfers, comprising: a tubular member
defining an upper end and a lower end and a central bore; a viewing
assembly extending from said upper end, said viewing assembly
defined by a view window through which said central bore is
visible; an inlet assembly extending from said lower end, said
inlet assembly having an inlet aperture; and whereby said inlet
assembly, said viewing assembly and said tubular member are
cooperatively designed whereby a user can see through said inlet
aperture via said view window.
2. The device of claim 1, wherein said inlet assembly comprises: a
housing defined by an upper mouth attached to said lower end of
said tubular member and a bottom face, said inlet aperture formed
through said housing; and a stabilizing pin extending downwardly
from said bottom face.
3. The device of claim 2, wherein said inlet assembly further
comprises a reflecting member for reflecting light entering through
said inlet aperture from a first axis to direct it along a second
axis, said second axis being in excess of thirty degrees from said
first axis.
4. The device of claim 3, wherein said inlet assembly further
comprises an inlet filter, said inlet filter comprising a
transparent member bonded to said housing to seal said inlet
aperture.
5. The device of claim 4, wherein said inlet assembly further
comprises a laser light emitter disposed on said housing.
6. The device of claim 5, wherein said viewing assembly further
comprises: a housing defined by a lower mouth attached to said
upper end of said tubular member; and an eye cup extending from
said housing, said eye cup positioned over said view window.
7. The device of claim 6, wherein said viewing assembly further
comprises a focusing ring disposed between said housing and said
eye cup, whereby rotating said focusing ring adjusts the position
of lenses located along a light path defined within said
device.
8. The device of claim 7, wherein said viewing assembly further
comprises a laser actuation pressure sensitive switch disposed on
said housing for energizing said laser light emitter.
9. The device of claim 8, wherein said tubular member further
comprises a level image generator located therewithin, said level
image generator generating an image responsive to the spacial
position of said device.
10. The device of claim 9, wherein said tubular member further
comprises a beam splitter located within said central bore, said
beam splitter configured to overlay an image from said level image
generator with an image from said inlet assembly aperture.
11. A viewing device, comprising: a housing defined by a first end,
a second end and a hand grip formed on a top surface; a viewing
assembly extending from said first end, said viewing assembly
defined by a view window through which a central bore is visible;
an inlet assembly disposed on said second end, said inlet assembly
having an inlet aperture in optical alignment with said central
bore; and whereby said inlet assembly, said viewing assembly and
said central bore are cooperatively designed whereby a user can see
through said inlet aperture via said view window.
12. The viewing device of claim 11, wherein said inlet assembly
further comprises an inlet filter, said inlet filter comprising a
transparent member bonded to said housing to seal said inlet
aperture.
13. The viewing device of claim 12, further comprising a laser
light emitter disposed on said housing.
14. The viewing device of claim 13, wherein said viewing assembly
further comprises an eye cup extending from said housing, said eye
cup positioned over said view window.
15. The viewing device of claim 14, wherein said viewing assembly
further comprises a focusing ring disposed between said housing and
said eye cup, whereby rotating said focusing ring adjusts the
position of lenses located along a light path defined within said
device.
16. The device of claim 15, further comprising a laser actuation
pressure sensitive switch disposed on said housing for energizing
said laser light emitter.
17. The device of claim 16, wherein said housing further comprises
a level image generator located therewithin, said level image
generator generating an image responsive to the spacial position of
said device.
18. The device of claim 17, wherein said tubular member further
comprises a beam splitter located within said central bore, said
beam splitter configured to overlay an image from said level image
generator with an image from said inlet assembly aperture.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] This invention relates generally to games and sporting
equipment and, more specifically, to a Golf Green Reader.
[0003] 2. Description of Related Art
[0004] Golf is one of the most popular sport in the world today. Of
the different shots or skills used in golf, the "short game," or
putting is probably the hardest to master. In addition to the need
to develop the skills necessary to strike the ball straight and
with the correct force, there are many additional variables related
to the putting green itself that add substantially difficulty to
the putting game.
[0005] Putting greens, being natural surfaces, have one or more
slope, each of which can change over the extent of the ball's
desired path to the cup. Also, the grass on the green will have a
"grain" to it (the direction of its growth) that also adds
complexity. Finally, changing lighting conditions and glare from
the sun can also make a successful putting experience more
difficult.
[0006] Other devices have been developed that seek to address or
ease these difficulties with the putting game. Logsden, U.S. Pat.
No. 4,839,968 seeks to aid the golfer with his or her putting game,
but it does not provide a plumb line, laser level, magnification,
zoom lens, glare reduction, wide angle lens, or enable the user to
sight the cup while standing up. Winslow, U.S. Pat. No. 6,146,285
also provides a putter alignment device, but also does not allow
the golfer to sight the cup from a standing position, nor does it
give a good indication of horizontal and vertical. Similarly,
Nelson, U.S. Pat. No. 3,953,034; Dar, U.S. Pat. No. 5,672,117;
Jones, U.S. Pat. No. 5,275,403; Cates, U.S. Pat. No. 4,884,813;
Burch, U.S. Pat. No. 6,129,641 and Smith, U.S. Pat. No. 5,662,535
all fail to provide vertical and horizontal plumb lines, fail to
allow the golfer to sight the cup from a standing position, do not
provide filtration or accentuation of the incident light to improve
visibility, nor give the ability to zoom in on the cup.
[0007] What is needed is a device that provides the golfer with
each of these benefits, as will be discussed more fully below in
connection with the Detailed Description of the Invention.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] In light of the aforementioned problems associated with the
prior devices and equipment, it is an object of the present
invention to provide a Golf Green Reader. The device should be
available in two versions--one that is elongated, is sized similar
to the length of a golf umbrella and allows the user to site the
putt line while standing, and a second version that is handheld.
The device should have optics to provide the user with the ability
to site along a laser-pointer line and focus, zoom and obtain a
wide-angle view of the cup from the ball location. The device
should further overlay an image that aids the user in holding the
device in a level position while siting along the putt line. The
image overlay should include symbology that indicates current
spacial orientation of the device, the desired spacial device
orientation and the direction to correct the device
orientation.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] The objects and features of the present invention, which are
believed to be novel, are set forth with particularity in the
appended claims. The present invention, both as to its organization
and manner of operation, together with further objects and
advantages, may best be understood by reference to the following
description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, of
which:
[0010] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the device of the present
invention as it might be used on a conventional golf green;
[0011] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the viewing assembly of the
device of FIG. 1;
[0012] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the tubular member of the
device of FIG. 1;
[0013] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the inlet assembly of the
device of FIG. 1;
[0014] FIG. 5 is a cutaway side view of the device of FIG. 1;
[0015] FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the overall structure of the
device of FIG. 1;
[0016] FIG. 7 depicts the sighting image provided to the user by
the device of FIGS. 1 and 5; and
[0017] FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a handheld version of the
device of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0018] The following description is provided to enable any person
skilled in the art to make and use the invention and sets forth the
best modes contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his
invention. Various modifications, however, will remain readily
apparent to those skilled in the art, since the generic principles
of the present invention have been defined herein specifically to
provide a Golf Green Reader.
[0019] The purpose of the Green Reader is to save strokes by being
able to better read the characteristics of a putting green. The
device provides a number of characteristics that aide the golfer in
arriving at the line that the putt will take from its lie to the
cup.
[0020] The present invention can best be understood by initial
consideration of FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the device
10 of the present invention as it might be used on a conventional
golf green 18. The green reader device 10 has three main parts; the
viewing assembly 12 where the golfer looks to sight on the cup 20,
the tubular member 14 for transmitting and conditioning the image,
and the inlet assembly 16 that gives the golfer a low-level view of
the cup, nearly at the surface of the grass.
[0021] In addition to other features that will be discussed below,
the device 10 provides the user with a laser line 22. When
activated by the golfer, the laser light creates an image that can
be seen through the green reader's lenses. This gives the golfer
assistance in aiming the device to the specific point on the green
towards which the ball will be hit (i.e. if there is a break to the
green, the ball will not be hit on a line directly towards the cup,
but rather will be hit in the direction of where the ball is
expected to break or begin its curve towards the cup). If we now
turn to FIG. 2, we can begin to examine the device 10 in more
detail.
[0022] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the viewing assembly 12 of
the device of FIG. 1. The viewing assembly 12 has a housing 24
defined by a lower mouth 26 at its bottom end, and an eye cup 28 at
its opposing end. The lower mouth 26 is designed to interface with
the tubular member that is more fully discussed below in connection
with FIG. 3, and pass the light traveling along the light path 38
to the view window 30. The eye cup 28 is a soft rubberized cone
that blocks out incident light while the user is peering into the
view window 30. It is through the view window 30 that the golfer
sights the putt being aligned.
[0023] A focus ring 32 is provided to enable the user to focus the
image being viewed through the view window 30. The focus ring 30
may provide mechanical focusing of the lenses located within the
viewing assembly 12, or it may alternatively adjust lenses located
in the tubular member (as is more fully discussed below).
[0024] On either side of the housing (in this embodiment), buttons
are provided. The zoom button 34 activates a power-actuated wide
angle/zoom lens. Wide angle and zoom lenses are provided by the
device in order to permit the golfer to read the grain of the grass
from the ball's lie to the cup. By zooming in to the cup itself,
the golfer can determine the location of the wear edge on the cup.
The wear edge being one side or another of the cup that has tended
to be the location that most of the balls have dropped into the
cup; this gives the golfer a hint as to the direction of the break
adjacent to the cup.
[0025] The other side of the housing 24 has a laser button 36. The
user can activate and deactivate the previously-described laser
pointer/aiming line by depressing or releasing the laser button 36.
FIG. 3 provides additional detail regarding the next major
component of the green reader.
[0026] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the tubular member 14 of the
device of FIG. 1. The tubular member 14 transmits the incident
light coming from the inlet assembly (see FIG. 4) along the light
path 38 and to the viewing assembly 12. The tubular member has an
elongate, tubular housing 40 defined by an upper end 42 and a lower
end 44. The central view bore 46 transmits the image along the
light path and may contain lenses and other components important to
create the imaging features discussed herein.
[0027] A level image generator 48 is contained within a protrusion
located on one side of the housing 40. As will be discussed more
fully below, the level image generator 48 generates an image that
is superimposed on the view of the cup seen obtained by the inlet
assembly (see FIG. 4). The superimposed image indicates to the user
whether or not the device is being held in an upright position. An
access cap 50 is provided to give the user access to the components
within the level image generator 48, such as to clean or replace
any of the items. FIG. 4 presents the portion of the device that
obtains the image of the cup.
[0028] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the inlet assembly 16 of the
device of FIG. 1. The inlet assembly 16 is associated with a
housing 52 that has an upper mouth 54 for interfacing with the
tubular member of FIG. 3. A stabilizing pin 58 extends downwardly
from a closed bottom face 56 of the housing 52. The stabilizing pin
58 is preferably shaped similar to a conventional golf tee, and
terminates in a pointed tip 60. The pin 58 is pushed into the grass
of the green when the device is being used; the pin 58 will then
prevent the bottom end of the device from accidentally moving
during the sighting process. It is preferred that the pin 58 is
constructed from durable, corrosion-resistant material, such as
stainless or other type of steel.
[0029] The housing 52 has an inlet aperture 62 formed in its side.
The aperture 62 has an inlet filter 64, which is a plastic lens for
improving the quality of the incident light. An amber lens may be
provided as the filter 64 to bring out the detail of the green
grass of the green and also to block the glare from the sun.
[0030] The laser sighting line discussed above is provided by a
laser light 66 located such that it projects outwardly in front of
the inlet aperture 62, so that it creates a laser line or dot that
the user can see through the device. Now turning to FIG. 5, we can
examine the internal components of the green reader.
[0031] FIG. 5 is a cutaway side view of the device 10 of FIG. 1.
The device 10 provides the image transformation of a periscope,
meaning that it changes the direction of the incoming light so that
the user can see in a direction parallel to the ground while his or
her eye is directed perpendicular (i.e. down) to that direction.
This change in direction is performed by reflection at mirror 68
contained within the inlet assembly 16. The light path then passes
through a beam splitter 76, which is located adjacent to the level
image generator 48, within the tubular member 14. The beam splitter
takes the image (of the level condition of the device 10) and
superimposes it atop the image coming from the inlet assembly
16.
[0032] The level image generator 48 has a light source such as the
LED light 70 shown. The light generated from this light source
passes through a bubble level 72 to create an image of the status
of the device's level condition. In another embodiment, a digital
level indicator could be provided that will give the use an image
as displayed in FIG. 7. The level image is reflected by mirror 74
to the beam splitter 76. The beam splitter 76 allows the inlet
assembly image 16 to pass through it, but will redirect the image
coming from the level generator so that it exits the beam splitter
76 parallel to the image from the inlet assembly 16. These two
images (superimposed) are viewable by the golfer through the view
window 30, which is a clear lens located within the viewing
assembly 12.
[0033] In certain versions of the present invention, additional
image adjustment will be desired. In such cases, other focusing
lenses would be located in the focus lens region 78. The operation
of these lenses could be mechanically connected to the focusing
ring (see FIG. 2), or by electrical operation. This functionality
includes the zoom functionality described above. The entire
structure of this device is depicted in FIG. 6.
[0034] FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the overall structure of the
device 10 of FIG. 1. The outer surface of the tubular member 14 may
have an upper clip 79A extending therefrom near the top of the
device 10, and a lower clip 79B extending from the bottom of the
tubular member 14. These clips 79A, 79B are located to cooperate
with the buckles/loops on a traditional golf bag. In this way, the
device 10 can be clipped to the golf bag so that it is readily
accessible. Alternatively, the device 10 can be fit into the bag
along with the user's clubs, essentially in any location that the
umbrella can be carried.
[0035] In its most desirable form, the length (height) of the
device 77 is approximately thirty-six and one-half (36.5) inches
tall. It has been determined that this provides a very suitable
viewing posture for the golfer when the golfer is sighting through
the device to the cup and pin (see FIG. 1). FIG. 7 depicts the
image that the device presents to the user.
[0036] FIG. 7 depicts the sighting image 80 provided to the user by
the device of FIGS. 1 and 5. A vertical plumb line 84 is provided
to give the golfer assistance in determining the slope of the
green's surface. Also, when aligned with the pin, the golfer will
be able to tell whether the pin and cup are sloped, and if so, how
much. The horizontal line 82, and its intersection with the
vertical sight line gives the golfer additional assistance with
estimating the slope and break towards the cup.
[0037] An LCD or DLP see-through imaging device may be provided to
give the user real-time leveling advice. In the example depicted
here, the device is out of level to the left. Because the device is
not level, first and second level indicators 87A and 87B appear as
shown to show which way the device is out of level. Also, first and
second leveling arrows 86A and 86B prompt the user as to what
direction the device must be tilted in order to achieve a level
condition. Other symbology may be used to aid the user in achieving
a level condition; those depicted here are only exemplary.
[0038] FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a handheld version 10A of
the device of the present invention. Because of its small profile,
and its intent to be held horizontally against the user's eye, this
embodiment 10A does not bend the incident light image as does the
original version 10. As can be seen, however, virtually every other
feature of the aforementioned version (including the level
indication) is provided here. Rather than providing lens adjustment
via a focusing ring, focusing and zooming is provided via an
automated lens adjustment mechanism 89. The mechanism 89 here is
provided by a series of gears and motors; other versions could be
included. The mechanism 89 is controlled disposed on a switch block
91; in this view, the control buttons protrude from the back-side
of the housing 88. An ergonomic hand grip may also be provided on
the top of the device 10A.
[0039] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various
adaptations and modifications of the just-described preferred
embodiment can be configured without departing from the scope and
spirit of the invention. Therefore, it is to be understood that,
within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be
practiced other than as specifically described herein.
* * * * *