Patent Application
20090305817
This invention generally relates to golf accessories, and more specifically to a golf ball marker.
During a round of golf, players awaiting their turn on a green and players wishing to remove their ball from the surface of the green, such as for cleaning and/or alignment, place a ball marker adjacent their ball so that the ball may be returned to that position. Oftentimes players utilize common small objects, such as coins, as ball markers.
Some ball markers incorporate features that aid a golfer in the alignment of their ball and putting stroke. Generally those markers include a disk coupled to an end of an elongate projection and one or more sight lines, or arrows, oriented in a single direction. During use, the projection is inserted into the putting surface and the disk is rotated to indicate the direction of a desired ball path. Because those markers only indicate a single direction of alignment, players often perform multiple iterations of orienting the alignment device and stepping back to view the orientation. Alternatively, players perform multiple steps of placing the ball and confirming the alignment, such as with an alignment marking included on the ball. In either case, the iterative process slows the speed of play.
It is desired to provide a ball marker that provides a more efficient alignment mechanism.
The invention is directed to a golf ball marker that allows a user to align and re-align intended ball paths without requiring movement of the marker regardless of the presence of a golf ball. Additionally, the present invention allows the user to align an alignment mark of a golf ball with at least one of a plurality of alignment marks on the ball marker by rotating the golf ball about the center of the golf ball while the ball marker remains stationary and the golf ball remains properly located. Several embodiments of the present invention are described below.
In the accompanying drawings, which form a part of the specification and are to be read in conjunction therewith and in which like reference numerals are used to indicate like parts in the various views:
The present invention is directed to a golf ball marker. Several embodiments of the present invention are described below.
An embodiment of a golf ball marker 10 includes a body 12 having a geometric perimeter shape and including a top surface 14, a bottom surface 16 (shown in
In the present embodiment, body 12 includes an arcuate side wall so that marker 10 includes an arcuate side surface 24. Arcuate side surface 24 intersects top surface 14 forming an arcuate edge that is an arcuate ball location reference 18. Arcuate side surface 24 is a cylindrical surface that is approximately perpendicular to top surface 14 and the radius of curvature is approximately 0.850 inch. The radius of curvature of ball location reference 18 is preferably in a range of 0.725 inch to 0.975 inch.
During a round, a user places marker 10 adjacent golf ball 2 so that, when viewed from above, the arcuate ball location reference 18 approximately matches the curvature of the outer surface of golf ball 2. When marker 10 is placed in that position, the center of curvature C of ball location reference 18 is approximately aligned vertically with the center B of ball 2. As a result, ball location reference 18 allows a golfer to easily and accurately replace golf ball 2 to its original location after ball 2 simply by locating ball 2 relative to ball location reference 18.
Alignment indicia 20 are located on top surface 14. In the present embodiment, alignment indicia 20 are elongate markings that are perpendicular to ball location reference 18 so that they radiate from a focal point F that is coincident with the center of curvature C of ball location reference 18. Because of that orientation, when ball 2 is located relative to ball location reference 18, as described above, focal point F is also approximately vertically aligned with the center B of golf ball 2. Preferably, alignment indicia are rotated relative to each other about the focal point F by a predetermined constant angle that may be between 1° and 10°. For example, each of the alignment indicia may be rotated relative to the next adjacent indicium, or indicia, by a constant angle, such as 5°.
Alignment indicia 20 may have various lengths and widths. For example, marker 10 includes a central indicium 21 that has a length that is approximately equal to the length of the center portion of body 12 and optional parallel indicia 23 that are parallel to central indicium 21 and spaced laterally therefrom, adjacent the side surfaces of body 12. Alternatively, the alignment indicia may be dots or symbols and each of the indicia is preferably spaced perpendicularly away from ball location reference 18 by a constant amount. Additionally, the alignment indicia may be painted and/or machined into the top surface of the marker.
After a user places marker 10 and removes ball 2, marker 10 provides a clear reference to view different ball paths from a distance. For example, and as illustrated schematically in FIG. 2, the user initially places the marker so that a central indicium 21 is aligned with an initial orientation, such as towards hole 6. Then, the user removes their ball from the putting surface and views alternative ball paths from alternative positions 26, 28, 29 that correspond to a plurality of ball paths extending through alignment indicia 20. Because of the location of focal point F, those paths also generally pass through the proper ball location. The user may then easily determine which indicia corresponds to a desired ball path for the contour of the putting surface.
When it is the user's turn to putt, the user easily replaces the ball 2 in the original location and aligns an alignment mark 4 included on ball 2 with an indicium 20 on marker 10 corresponding to the desired ball path. Finally, the marker may be removed and the ball remains in the proper position with the desired ball path, and putting stroke, indicated by alignment mark 4. Using the marker of the present invention, a golfer may easily determine a desired ball path without altering the position of the marker and without performing multiple steps of placing and confirming the alignment of a ball. Additionally, the player may determine a desired path from a distant location that does not interfere with other players even while those other players are putting.
Referring to
Alignment indicia 40 are elongate markings located on top surface 34 that are perpendicular to ball location reference 38 so that they radiate from a focal point F that is coincident with the center of curvature C of ball location reference 38. Indicia 40 include a central elongate indicium 44 and a lateral indicium 46 that intersects central indicium 44 so that indicia 44, 46 combine to form a cross.
It should be appreciated that the body of the ball marker may have any geometric perimeter shape. For example, the body may have a polygonal perimeter, such as a square, triangle or rectangle; a curved perimeter, such as a crescent; or a combined curved and polygonal perimeter.
Alternate constructions of the arcuate ball location reference will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5A-5C. Although the various embodiments have different constructions, shown in
In the embodiment of
In another embodiment, shown in
In another embodiment, an arcuate ball location reference 68 is an arcuate edge formed by a shoulder 72 between the top surface and a recessed reference surface 70, as shown in
It should be appreciated that any of the surfaces of the ball marker may be painted, chemically treated, textured, or constructed using multiple materials to increase contrast between portions of the body and/or between the body and an adjacent golf ball. Additionally, alignment indicia may be provided on both the top and bottom surfaces of the marker if desired. Different markings may be provided on the top and bottom surfaces so that the user may easily distinguish
As an additional feature, ball marker 10 may provide a holder for a smaller secondary ball marker 80, as shown in
The ball marker may also include a focused light source so that the marker may be used as a training aid, as shown in
As shown in
While it is apparent that the illustrative embodiments of the invention disclosed herein fulfill the objectives stated above, it is appreciated that numerous modifications and other embodiments may be devised by those skilled in the art. Elements from one embodiment can be incorporated into other embodiments. Therefore, it will be understood that the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications and embodiments, which would come within the spirit and scope of the present invention.
