U.S. patent application number 13/665936 was filed with the patent office on 2014-02-27 for golf tee.
The applicant listed for this patent is Chia-Tsung HSUEH, Yu-Song LIAO. Invention is credited to Chia-Tsung HSUEH, Yu-Song LIAO.
Application Number | 20140057740 13/665936 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 50148479 |
Filed Date | 2014-02-27 |
United States Patent
Application |
20140057740 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
LIAO; Yu-Song ; et
al. |
February 27, 2014 |
GOLF TEE
Abstract
Disclosed herein is an improved golf tee, which has a body and a
retaining member. The body is composed of a ball-supporting cup, a
shank and a dentated trench. The dentated trench is disposed on the
outer surface of the shank, and is composed of a longitudinal
groove, and a plurality of rectangular slots. The retaining member
includes an interior cavity, and a tab extended from the inner
surface of the interior cavity. The retaining member is capable of
moving along the longitudinal groove on the shank by engaging the
tab with any of the plurality of rectangular slots, thereby allows
the user to adjust the retaining member to any desirable position
on the body of the golf tee.
Inventors: |
LIAO; Yu-Song; (New Taipei
City, TW) ; HSUEH; Chia-Tsung; (New Taipei City,
TW) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
LIAO; Yu-Song
HSUEH; Chia-Tsung |
New Taipei City
New Taipei City |
|
TW
TW |
|
|
Family ID: |
50148479 |
Appl. No.: |
13/665936 |
Filed: |
November 1, 2012 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
473/393 ;
473/398 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63B 57/12 20151001;
A63B 57/10 20151001; A63B 57/15 20151001 |
Class at
Publication: |
473/393 ;
473/398 |
International
Class: |
A63B 57/00 20060101
A63B057/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Aug 21, 2012 |
TW |
101130224 |
Claims
1. A golf tee for positioning and supporting a golf ball,
comprising: a body having an upper end and a lower end, which
comprises: a ball-supporting cup disposed at the upper end of the
body for supporting the golf ball; a shank extends downward from
the bottom of the ball-supporting cup toward the lower end of the
body and gradually forms a tapered end; and a dentated trench
disposed on the shank and is consisted of a longitudinal groove and
a plurality of rectangular slots, wherein the longitudinal groove
is oriented to be parallel to the vertical direction of the shank
and the plurality of rectangular slots are disposed along at least
one side of the longitudinal groove; and a retaining member having
an interior cavity and a tab that is extended from the inner
surface of the interior cavity; wherein during operation, the
retaining member is capable of moving along the shank by engaging
the tab with any of the plurality of rectangular slots to adjust
and/or fix the retaining member at a desirable position.
2. The golf tee of claim 1, further comprising a level indicator
disposed at the center of the ball-supporting cup.
3. The golf tee of claim 1, wherein the plurality of rectangular
slots are disposed on both sides of the longitudinal groove.
4. The golf tee of claim 3, wherein the plurality of rectangular
slots are alternatively disposed on each side of the longitudinal
groove.
5. The golf tee of claim 1, wherein any two adjacent rectangular
slots are spaced between a distance of about 0.1 to 2 cm.
6. The golf tee of claim 5, wherein the distance is about 0.2 to
0.5 cm.
7. The golf tee of claim 5, wherein the distance between any two
rectangular slots is the same.
8. The golf tee of claim 5, wherein the distance between any two
rectangular slots is different.
9. The golf tee of claim 1, further comprising a securing nail; and
a connecting member, wherein the securing nail is coupled to the
retaining member via the connecting member.
10. The golf tee of claim 9, wherein the connecting member is a
thread.
11. The golf tee of claim 1, wherein the ball-supporting cup is
made from a plastic, a metal, a natural or synthetic material.
12. The golf tee of claim 1, wherein the shank is made from a
plastic, a metal, a natural or synthetic material.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims priority to a Taiwan Patent
Application No. 101130224, filed on Aug. 21, 2012; the entirety of
which is incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The present disclosure relates to a golf tee. More
particularly, the disclosure invention relates to an improved golf
tee having a structure that allows a user to select and adjust the
golf tee to a desirable height before inserting it into the
ground.
[0004] 2. Description of Related Art
[0005] With golfing gradually becomes popular in recent years,
playing golf is now a well-accepted sport in many countries.
However, to play it well requires not just a lot of practices, but
also the aid of proper facilities; especially when teeing off, at
which circumstance, most golfers would require the aid of a golf
tee. Specifically, by placing the ball on the golf tee to elevate
its height prior to striking, this will improve the effective
striking distance made by the user. Furthermore, one needs
accumulated experiences for setting up the proper depth or height
of the golf tee to accommodate various landscape changes in
different golf courts. Therefore, golfing is not an easy sport to
take on, especially for a beginner.
[0006] The known golf tees, especially those with adjustable
heights, i.e., those that allow users to determine the depth of the
tee needed to be inserted into the ground, are usually composed of
a body, a plurality of plastic sleeves capable of stacking on to
one another, and a retaining member. The height of the tee is
adjusted by how many plastic sleeves are looped through the body
and staked and fixed via the retaining member. By controlling the
number of the plastic sleeves, the user may adjust the golf tee to
a desirable height before inserting it into the ground, and with
the bottom of the retaining member comes into contact with the
ground it provide extra support to the golf tee. However, such
known golf-tees suffer from the disadvantages of not being able to
control their heights in a more precise manner, and are easily lost
due to lack of storing means for the plurality of plastic
sleeves.
[0007] In view of the foregoing, there exists in the related art a
need for an improved golf tee, which allows the user to adjust the
insertion or penetration depth of the golf tee into the ground in a
more precision manner, so as to improve the stability of the golf
tee, as well as the golfer's striking accuracy.
SUMMARY
[0008] The following presents a simplified summary of the
disclosure in order to provide a basic understanding to the reader.
This summary is not an extensive overview of the disclosure and it
does not identify key/critical elements of the present invention or
delineate the scope of the present invention. Its sole purpose is
to present some concepts disclosed herein in a simplified form as a
prelude to the more detailed description that is presented
later.
[0009] The present disclosure relates to an improved golf tee,
which has a body and a retaining member, and allows the user to
adjust the insertion or penetration depth of the golf tee into the
ground as well as stabilizes the golf tee after the insertion.
[0010] In view of the foregoing purposes, the golf tee of the
present disclosure is characterized to include a body and a
retaining member. The body is composed of a ball-supporting cup, a
shank and a dentated trench. The ball-supporting cup is disposed at
the upper end of the body. The shank extends downward from the
bottom of the ball-supporting cup toward the lower end of the body
and gradually forms a tapered end for easily penetrating or
inserting the body of the golf tee into the ground. The dentated
trench is disposed on the outer surface of the shank, and is
composed of a longitudinal groove and a plurality of rectangular
slots. The longitudinal groove is oriented to be parallel to the
vertical direction of the shank, and the plurality of rectangular
slots are disposed vertically along at least one side of the
longitudinal groove. Furthermore, the retaining member includes an
interior cavity and a tab that is extended from the inner surface
of the interior cavity. The retaining member may move along the
longitudinal groove on the shank by engaging the tab with any of
the plurality of rectangular slots, thereby allows the user to
adjust the retaining member to any desirable position on the body
of the golf tee.
[0011] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the
golf tee further comprises a level indicator disposed at the center
of the ball-supporting cup.
[0012] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the
plurality of rectangular slots are disposed vertically along one or
both sides of the longitudinal groove. According to another
embodiment of the present disclosure, the plurality of rectangular
slots are alternatively disposed vertically along both sides of the
longitudinal groove.
[0013] In on example, any two adjacent rectangular slots on the
same side are spaced apart in a distance between about 0.1 to about
2 cm. Preferably, the distance is between about 0.2 to about 0.5
cm. In another example, any two adjacent rectangular slots on the
same side are spaced apart equally, or the distance between any two
adjacent rectangular slots is the same.
[0014] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the
golf tee further comprises a securing nail and a connecting member.
The securing nail is couple to the retaining member of the golf tee
via the connecting member. The connecting member may be a piece of
thread.
[0015] According to various embodiments of this invention, the
ball-supporting cup or the shank may be made from plastics, metals,
synthetic materials (e.g., a synthetic rubber), or natural
materials (e.g., wood or bamboo).
[0016] Many of the attendant features and advantages of the present
disclosure will becomes better understood with reference to the
following detailed description considered in connection with the
accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0017] The present description will be better understood from the
following detailed description read in light of the accompanying
drawings, where:
[0018] FIG. 1 is a schematic drawing of a golf tee 100 in according
with one embodiment of this invention;
[0019] FIGS. 2A-2C are schematic drawings of the body 110 in
accordance with various embodiments of this invention;
[0020] FIGS. 3A-3C are schematic drawings of the retaining member
140 in accordance with various embodiments of this invention;
[0021] FIG. 4 is a schematic drawing of the golf tee 100 in
accordance with another embodiment of this invention; and
[0022] FIG. 5 is a schematic drawing of the golf tee 100 in
accordance with still another embodiment of this invention.
[0023] In accordance with common practice, the various described
features/elements are not drawn to scale but instead are drawn to
best illustrate specific features/elements relevant to the present
invention. Also, like reference numerals and designations in the
various drawings are used to indicate like elements/parts.
DESCRIPTION
[0024] The detailed description provided below in connection with
the appended drawings is intended as a description of the present
examples and is not intended to represent the only forms in which
the present example may be constructed or utilized. The description
sets forth the functions of the example and the sequence of steps
for constructing and operating the example. However, the same or
equivalent functions and sequences may be accomplished by different
examples.
[0025] The singular forms "a", "and", and "the" are used herein to
include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates
otherwise. The plural forms "a plurality of" and "the plurality of"
are used herein to include two or more referents unless the context
clearly dictates otherwise.
[0026] The objective of this invention is to provide a golf tee
that allows the user to adjust the insertion or penetration depth
of the golf tee into the ground in a more precise manner, hence
allows the user, particularly an inexperience user, may easily
strike a desirable curve ball with the aid of the golf tee set at a
desirable height. In view of the foregoing objective, the present
disclosure therefore provides an improved golf tee that allows the
user to select and adjust the golf tee to a desirable height before
inserting it into the ground in a more accurate or precise manner.
Furthermore, for the purpose of allowing a curve ball being struck
more easily, the golf tee of the present disclosure further
comprises a level indicator, which assists the user to adjust the
inclination of the golf tee so as to control the striking angle of
the golf ball when the user is making a swing. Furthermore, a
securing nail is attached to the golf tee via a connecting member
for further securing the golf tee into the ground to prevent the
golf tee from being lost when strikes are made during golfing;
which in turn may further reduce the cost for a new placing
tee.
[0027] FIG. 1 is a schematic drawing of a golf tee 100 in
accordance with one embodiment of this invention. The golf tee 100
includes a body 110 and a retaining member 140. The body 110 is
composed of a ball-supporting cup 120, a shank 130 and a dentated
trench 150. The ball-supporting cup 120 is concavely recessed and
disposed at the upper end of the body 110 for supporting a golf
ball. The shank 130 extends downward from the bottom of the
ball-supporting cup 120 toward the lower end of the body 110 and
gradually forms a tapered end for easily penetrating the body 110
of the golf tee 100 into the ground. The dentated trench 150 is
disposed on the outer surface of the shank 130, and is composed of
a longitudinal groove 152 and a plurality of rectangular slots 154.
The longitudinal groove 152 is oriented to be parallel to the
vertical direction of the shank 130, and the plurality of
rectangular slots 154 are disposed vertically along at least one
sides of the longitudinal groove 152.
[0028] According to various embodiments of this invention, the body
110 may be made from plastics, metals, synthetic materials (e.g., a
synthetic rubber), or natural materials (e.g., wood or bamboo). The
body 110 of the golf tee 100 of this invention may be made from any
suitable material via any known or equivalent method. For example,
the body 110 of the golf tee 100 may be inject-molded from plastics
or rubber. Alternatively, the body 110 may be pressed-molded or
cut-molded from any metals or natural materials. In optional
embodiments, the ball-supporting cup 120 and the shank 130 may be
respectively made from different materials. For instance, the
ball-supporting cup 120 may be made from the synthetic rubber for
prolonging its tolerance to strikes and/or life span; whereas the
shank 130 may be made from plastics.
[0029] The retaining member 140 may move along the longitudinal
groove 152 of the dentated trench 150 and engage itself with the
dentated trench 150 on various positions or heights along the shank
130 by locking itself on any of the plurality rectangular slots
154, thereby allows a user to select and adjust the golf tee 100 to
a desirable height before subjecting it for penetrating into the
ground. The retaining member 140 may be made from plastics, metals,
synthetic materials (e.g., a synthetic rubber) or natural materials
(e.g., wood or bamboo). However, the body 110 and the retaining
member 140 can be made from the same or different materials. In one
embodiment, the body 110 and the retaining member 140 are both made
from plastics. In another embodiment, the body 110 is made from
plastics and the retaining member 140 is made from rubber.
[0030] FIGS. 2A-2C are schematic drawings of the body 110 in
accordance with various embodiments of this invention.
[0031] As depicted in FIG. 2A, the dentated trench 150 of the body
110 is composed by a longitudinal groove 152 and a plurality of
rectangular slots 154, in which the longitudinal groove 152 is
generally oriented to be parallel to the vertical direction of the
shank 130; and the plurality of rectangular slots 154 are disposed
vertically along one side of the longitudinal groove 152. As
illustrated in FIG. 2A, any two adjacent rectangular slots 154 on
the same side are spaced apart by a distance P; and the distance P
between any two adjacent rectangular slots 154 is the same in this
example; however, the distance P may be different in other
examples. For example, the distance P between any two adjacent
rectangular slots 154 close to the tapered end of the body 110 may
be larger than that at the other end opposites the tapered end of
the body 110. Alternatively, the distance P between any two
adjacent rectangular slots 154 close to the tapered end of the body
110 may be smaller than that at the other end opposites the tapered
end of the body 110. Still alternatively, the distance P between
any two adjacent rectangular slots 154 may vary in accordance with
other rules or may be changed in an irregular manner.
[0032] In another example, as depicted in FIG. 2B, the plurality of
rectangular slots 154 are disposed on both sides of the
longitudinal groove 152 and parallel to each other along the
vertical direction of the body 110, wherein the distance P between
any two adjacent rectangular slots 154 on the left side of the
rectangular slots 154L is larger than that on the right side of the
rectangular slots 154R, thereby allows the user to lock or fix the
retaining member 140 at a preferable position by moving and
engaging the retaining member 140 to a desirable rectangular slot
in accordance with the manner described above in FIGS. 1 and
2A.
[0033] Alternatively, as depicted in FIG. 2C, the plurality of
rectangular slots 154 are alternatively disposed on both sides of
the longitudinal groove 152 along the vertical direction of the
body 110; in which the distance P between any two adjacent
rectangular slots on the left (i.e., the left rectangular slots
154L) and on the right (i.e., the right rectangular slots 154R) are
the same, thereby allows the user to adjust the height of the golf
tee 100 in a more accurate or precise manner.
[0034] Referring again to FIGS. 2A to 2C, according to one
embodiment, the distance P between any two adjacent rectangular
slots 154 on the same side is between about 0.1 to about 2 cm, such
as about 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, 0.8, 0.9, 1, 1.1, 1.2,
1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.7, 1.8, 1.9, or 2.0 cm. Preferably, the
distance P is between about 0.2 to 0.5 cm, such as about 0.2, 0.3,
0.4, or 0.5 cm. Any person having ordinary skill in the art may
make appropriate and/or numerous alterations to the distance P
depending on the market demands and/or product applications.
[0035] FIG. 3A is a schematic drawing of the retaining member 140
in accordance with one embodiment of this invention. The retaining
member 140 includes an interior cavity 144 and a tab 142 that is
extended from the inner surface of the interior cavity 144.
[0036] Referring to both FIGS. 1 and 3, the body 110 of the golf
tee 100 is inserted into the interior cavity 144 of the retaining
member 140, thereby allowing the retaining member 140 to move along
the longitudinal groove 152 on the shank 130 by engaging the tab
142 with any of the plurality of rectangular slots 154. The size of
the tab 142 and longitudinal groove 152 are carefully designed so
that the tab 142 may move vertically along the longitudinal groove
152 and the retaining member 140 will not come off easily from the
body 110. Further, the size of the tab 142 and any of the plurality
of rectangular slots 154 are also carefully designed so that the
tab 142 may be held by any of the plurality of rectangular slots
154. The height of the retaining member 140 relative to the
vertical direction of the body 110 may be adjusted accordingly by
afore-mentioned manners, thereby allows the user to adjust the
insertion or penetration depth of the golf tee 100 into the ground.
According to the spirits and concepts of this invention, the user
may adjust the retaining member 140 to any desirable position on
the body 110 of the golf tee 100 by sliding and/or pushing the
retaining member 140 along the longitudinal groove 152 disposed on
the shank 130. Moreover, most users can achieve position change as
described above by using just one hand, hence, the golf tee 100 of
this invention is easy to use and is superior than that of most
similar products currently available on the market.
[0037] As described above, the body 110 and the retaining member
140 can be made from the same or different materials, and the
retaining member 140 can be made from plastics, metals, synthetic
or natural materials (i.e., wood or bamboo).
[0038] FIG. 3B is a schematic drawing of the retaining member 140
in accordance with another embodiment of this invention. The
retaining member 140 has a trumpet-like structure, which includes a
flange 150 disposed on the top of the retaining member 140 for
supporting the golf tee 100 when being inserted into the
ground.
[0039] FIG. 3C is a schematic drawing of the retaining member 140
in accordance with another embodiment of this invention. The
retaining member 140 is frusto-conical in structure; hence the
diameters of the upper and lower part of the retaining member 140
are different. Specifically, the upper part of the retaining member
140 has a diameter A that is longer than that (i.e., the diameter
B) of the lower part of the retaining member 140, hence may provide
better support to the golf tee 100 when being inserted into the
ground.
[0040] In addition, according to another preferable embodiment, the
retaining member 140 may have several protrusions and/or screw
threads (not shown) disposed thereon its lower surface so as to
improve frictions between the retaining member 140 and the ground,
and for supporting the golf tee 100 when being inserted into the
ground.
[0041] FIG. 4 is a schematic drawing of the golf tee 100 in
accordance with another embodiment of this invention. In this
embodiment, the ball-supporting cup 120 of the golf tee 100 further
comprises a level indicator 160. The level indicator 160 is a
bubble level indicator with a circle 162 marked at its center. When
the bubble is located at the center of the circle 162, it indicates
that the golf tee 100 is vertical to the ground. In a preferred
embodiment, an additional curve 164 is marked on respective right-
and left-hand sides of the circle 162 of the level indicator 160.
This allows the user to strike a desirable curve ball by setting
the bubble to be located on respective lines of the curves 164. In
this design, the user may experience the relationship between
various horizontal positions of the ball-supporting cup 120 of the
golf tee 100 and each swings of the user, so as to improve the
user's golfing skill.
[0042] FIG. 5 is a schematic drawing of the golf tee 100 in
accordance with another embodiment of this invention. Note that for
illustration purpose, the respective sizes of the securing nail 170
and the golf tee 100 in FIG. 5 are out of proportion. In this
embodiment, the golf tee 100 as depicted in FIG. 1 further
comprises a securing nail 170 and a connecting member 180. The
securing nail 170 is couple to the retaining member 140 via the
connecting member 180. For further securing the body 110 of the
golf tee 100, the securing nail 170 may also be nailed to the
ground to prevent the golf tee 100 from coming off when strikes are
made during golfing. The connecting member 180 may be a piece of
thread made from cotton, nylon, rubber or similar materials.
[0043] It will be understood that the above description of
embodiments is given by way of example only and that various
modifications may be made by those with ordinary skills in the art.
The above specification, examples, and data provide a complete
description of the structure and use of exemplary embodiments of
the invention. Although various embodiments of the invention have
been described above with a certain degree of particularity, or
with reference to one or more individual embodiments, those with
ordinary skill in the art could make numerous alterations to the
disclosed embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of
this invention.
* * * * *