U.S. patent number 3,901,545 [Application Number 05/467,949] was granted by the patent office on 1975-08-26 for ball pick up device.
Invention is credited to Michael Shott.
United States Patent |
3,901,545 |
Shott |
August 26, 1975 |
Ball pick up device
Abstract
A golf ball pick up device including a tubular cylinder
conformed on the interior to receive the golf balls and dimensioned
longitudinally to accommodate a stack of golf balls, such tubular
cylinder terminating at the upper end in a removable end cap for
release of the balls and at the lower end in a pick up adaptor. The
adaptor includes a cylindrical housing of a larger diameter than
the interior of the tubular cylinder to allow for a concentric
attachment of the cylinder within the interior thereof and to
provide clearances for misalignment in the placing of the device
over the ball. Formed on the interior of the cylindrical housing
are a plurality of triangular guide webs having two vertices
aligned along the walls thereof, the lower vertex being common with
the free edges of the housing, and having a third or free vertex
extending along a radius of the housing joining the upper vertex
common to the wall. Thus the upper edges of the webs align along
radii of the housing terminating at the free vertices to form an
opening just larger than the dimensions of the ball. Attached
immediately above the triangular guide webs are a corresponding
number of leaf springs, planar in configuration and cantilevered
from the inside of the housing also along radii thereof and
terminating at the free ends at a dimension described a central
opening substantially less than the circumference of the ball.
Interspaced between the adjacent leaf springs are a plurality of
tabs also planar in dimension and extending to define a radial
opening just slightly less than the dimensions of the ball.
Inventors: |
Shott; Michael (Long Beach,
CA) |
Family
ID: |
23857807 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/467,949 |
Filed: |
May 8, 1974 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
294/19.2 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63B
47/02 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A63B
47/02 (20060101); A63B 47/00 (20060101); A63B
057/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;294/1,19A,50.6,50.7,50.8,50.9,55,99 ;273/32R,32B,32D,32F,162E |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Blunk; Evon C.
Assistant Examiner: Rowland; James L.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Richardson; Robert O.
Claims
We claim:
1. A ball pick up device comprising, in combination:
a tubular cylinder conformed to receive on the interior thereof a
plurality of balls;
an end cap removably secured to one end of said tubular cylinder;
and
a pick up adaptor connected to the other end of said cylinder
including a tubular housing attached in surrounding relationship
about the other end of said cylinder received in the upper end of
the central cavity thereof, a plurality of triangular guide webs
formed in radial planes on the interior of said housing having a
first vertex adjacent the lower end of the central cavity thereof,
a second vertex common to the interior surface of said housing
intermediate the upper and lower ends of the central cavity, and a
third vertex joining a radial edge from said second vertex and a
diagonal edge from said first vertex, the respective third vertices
of said webs extending towards the interior of said housing to form
a central opening therebetween just greater than the dimensions of
the ball, and a plurality of associated leaf springs mounted in
cantilever from the interior of said housing immediately adjacent
the radial edge of each said web, said leaf springs extending
towards the interior of said housing to form a central opening
therebetween substantially less than the dimensions of the
ball.
2. A ball pick up device according to claim 1 wherein:
said tubular cylinder and said housing are attached in concentric
relationship.
3. A ball pick up device according to claim 1 further
comprising:
a plurality of tabs mounted in cantilever from the interior of said
housing and interspaced between said leaf springs, terminating at
free ends dimensioned to form a central opening just less than the
dimensions of the ball.
4. A ball pick up device according to claim 3 wherein:
said tabs and said leaf springs form planar structures aligned in a
plane normal to the central axis of said housing.
5. A ball pick up device according to claim 1 wherein:
the lower end of said housing includes a longitudinal arcuate
projection extending over less than one half the circumference
thereof.
6. A ball pick up device according to claim 1 wherein:
said leaf springs are abutting the radial edges of said webs on a
flexture of the free ends thereof directed towards the lower end of
the central cavity in said housing.
7. A ball pick up device according to claim 1 wherein:
the longitudinal dimension of said cylinder is greater than the
distance between the hand of an erect player and the ground.
8. A ball pick up device according to claim 1 wherein:
the central openings formed by said cylinder, said webs, said leaf
springs and said tabs are conformed to the dimensions of a golf
ball.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to ball retrieving devices and more
particularly to tubular golf ball retrieving devices adapted to
retrieve and store a plurality of golf balls.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Tubular golf ball retrieving devices terminating in a bottom
opening which includes spring retainers have been known in the past
and have been utilized for the particular application of picking up
a plurality of balls as played out during practice. Such devices,
typically, rely on the advantage in the extension they provide to
the player. In this use, such pick up devices are manipulated
proximate the upper end by the golf player to align the lower end
over the golf ball and once the golf ball is within the dimensions
of the lower end the pick up device is pressed downward to press
the ball into the interior of the pick up device across spring
retainers commonly included therein. In order to provide
convenience in the pick up, such prior art devices typically
included bottom openings which were over-sized relative the
dimensions of the golf ball, relying on the spring retainers to
center and to retain the golf ball within the device once inserted.
This feature, although aiding in the convenience of alignment
during pick up allowed the ball alignment to fall off center
relative the spring devices and therefore would permit a misaligned
ball to be pressed against elements of the spring device at
positions where large root bending forces of the spring device
would be applied.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is the general purpose and object of the present
invention to provide a ball pick up device including rigid ball
centering means on the pick up opening thereof whereby the ball is
aligned to a central position relative the spring retainer
contained therein. Further objects of the invention are to provide
centering devices which also act as a positive spring bias,
opposing the reverse flexure of the leaf springs to prevent the
release of the balls once received in the device.
These and other objects are accomplished within the present
invention by providing a tubular cylinder conformed on the interior
to the circumferential dimensions of the ball, such tubular
cylinder terminating at the upper end in a removable cap and
including at the lower end thereof a centering ball receiving
adaptor. The adaptor includes a tubular in longitudinal cross
section exterior housing being attached in concentric relationship
to the exterior lower end of the tubular cylinder and including
proximate the open interior end thereof a plurality of radially
disposed guide webs aligned in radial planes including the
longitudinal axis of said tubular housing and shaped in the manner
of a triangle extending from the free end of the housing along a
diagonal towards the interior thereof. The upper edges of the guide
webs are further aligned in a plane normal to the central axis of
the housing forming an opening thereat just larger than the ball.
Immediately above and within the interior of the housing in
associated alignment with the webs, there are included a plurality
of radial planar leaf springs mounted in cantilever from the
interior surface of the housing and projecting to a dimension
forming an opening substantially less than the dimension of the
ball over the projecting vertices of the webs. In this manner, the
radial webs tend to center the ball toward the central axis of the
pick up device to be pressed across the cantilevered leaf springs
essentially central to the opening formed thereby. Furthermore, the
adjacent relationship of the leaf springs relative the upper edge
of the associated planar webs provides a support thereto such that
the leaf spring has a much lower or shorter spring arm on the
return or opening stroke as compared to the insertion or closing
stroke.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a side view, in partial cross section, of a pick up
device constructed according to the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a cross sectional side view detail of the pick up adaptor
disposed on the lower end of the device shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a cross sectional plan view, taken along line 3--3 of
FIG. 2; and
FIG. 4 is yet another plan view in cross section taken along line
4--4 of FIG. 2.
DESCRIPTION OF THE SPECIFIC EMBODIMENT
Generally, the present invention is directed at a golf ball pick up
device terminating at the upper end in a removable cap and
including at the lower end a pick up adaptor arranged in concentric
alignment with a plurality of aligning webs whereby the pick up
device can be placed over the ball centering the ball to a
receiving alignment relative a plurality of leaf springs radially
extending towards the longitudinal axis of the device and upon
being pressed downward, the ball penetrates the opening formed by
the springs to progress to the interior of the device.
As shown in FIG. 1, the ball pick up device, generally designated
10, includes a tubular cylinder 11 of a length conformed to the
dimension between the hand of a player and ground, such cylinder 11
terminating at the upper end in a removable end cap 12 conformed in
a press-fit relationship with the end of the tubular cylinder. The
interior transverse dimensions of the cylinder 11 are conformed to
the diameter of a ball 15 to be picked up, and a plurality of balls
15 may be received therein in a column over the length of the
cylinder. At the lower end, cylinder 11 is received within the
interior cavity of a pick up adaptor 16 comprising a tubular
housing 20 attached in concentric arrangement to the exterior of
the cylinder 11, housing 20 extending beyond the bottom end of the
cylinder to define an enlarged central cavity for receiving the
balls 15. This particular feature allows for relatively wide
tolerances in alignment of the adaptor 16 over the ball 15 during
ball pick up, such tolerances accommodating the typical lack of
precision that is inherent in any manual operations coupled with
extension devices of this kind. To further aid in the receipt of
the balls within the interior of adaptor 16 the open edge of
housing 20 is laterally shortened over a section of an arc greater
than one half of the circumference to form an extending projection
27 on the remainder of the circumference which provides a herding
surface by which the balls 15 can be herded toward a receiving
alignment within the interior of the adaptor 16.
As shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, to provide for centering of the balls
15 during insertion into the interior of adaptor 16, a plurality of
triangular webs 17 are attached along the respective one edges
thereof to the interior surface of the tubular housing 20 aligned
along radial planes intersecting the longitudinal axis of cylinder
11. Webs 17 each substantially describe a right hand triangle
having one vertex located adjacent the free edge of the housing 20
and the 90.degree. vertex formed adjacent the upper interior
surface of the housing. The third vertex of each web 17 joins an
edge in a plane normal to the axis of cylinder 11 with the diagonal
edge, the free vertices in combination forming an opening just
greater than the diameter of ball 15. In this manner, a conical
guide is formed by the diagonal edges of the respective webs 17
aligning the ball on insertion to a position substantially
concentric with the interior of cylinder 11. Attached immediately
above each web 17 is a corresponding leaf spring 18 mounted in
cantilever from the interior surface of housing 20 along radial
axes and in a common plane also normal to the central axis of the
cylinder. The projecting radial dimensions of the leaf springs 18
are such that the interspace formed between the free edges thereof
is substantially less than the diameter of the ball 15. This
particular configuration allows the leaf springs 18 to be deformed
by a centered insertion of the ball 15 to permit the passage of the
ball 15 towards the interior of cylinder 11, while the reverse
direction of bending of the leaf springs is opposed by the
horizontal edge of the adjacent webs 17. Thus the balls 15, once
inserted, are maintained within the interior of cylinder 11 by the
leaf springs 18 and can only be retrieved therefrom by the removal
of cap 12.
As shown in more detail in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, the planar dimensions
of the leaf springs 18 are such that the free ends thereof define
arcs of a circle of a dimension smaller than the dimension of the
ball 15. Interspaced between the adjacent leaf springs 18 are a
plurality of tabs 19 also planar in dimension and extending along
radii normal to the adaptor 16, such tabs 19 similarly forming leaf
springs. Tabs 19 are dimensioned to define a central opening
slightly less than the dimension of ball 15 and due to their
forshortened dimensions provide a higher spring coefficient. This
feature provides for a secondary retaining means while at the same
time providing for an unstable interface between the free ends of
the tabs and the periphery of the ball 15 thus urging the ball from
an intermediate position between the leaf springs 18 and the free
vertices of the webs 17. Tabs 19 further provide centering forces
to the ball 15 to reduce the wear on the free vertices of the webs
17.
In operation, the pick up device 10 is generally aligned over the
ball 15 which is then herded by the projection 27 to align the ball
against the diagonal edges of the webs 17. Once in position, the
ball is then pressed into the interior of the device 10 by a
downward manual pressure which through the aligning features of
webs 17 drives the ball towards the center of the cylindrical tube
11 deforming the leaf springs 18 and tabs 19 to allow passage
thereof. Tabs 19 deform at much higher spring coefficients either
passing or ejecting the ball. It is to be noted that the
longitudinal dimension from the engagement plane of springs 18 and
the free end of projection 27 is substantially less than the radius
of ball 15, such being necessary in order to effect a complete
insertion of the ball 15 before contact with ground is made. Should
the player observe that the ball has not been completely received
and is therefore ejected, he will repeat the insertion procedure,
exerting more force, until the ball is inserted beyond the
retention of the tabs 19 to be received within the interior of
cylinder 11.
Some of the many advantages of the present invention should now be
readily apparent. As disclosed, the invention provides aligning
features heretofore not available in the prior art whereby the
spring devices receiving the ball within the interior of the pick
up device are deformed by a ball aligned in a central position.
Furthermore, the tabs incorporated in this invention which are just
slightly less in their radial opening than the dimensions of the
ball assure an unstable condition whereby the ball is either within
the interior of the cylinder 11 or is ejected out.
Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present
invention may be made with regard to the foregoing detailed
description without departing from the spirit of the invention.
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