Patent Application
20150080152
The present invention relates, in general, to the teeing up of golf balls and is intended to promote safety and joy of the game for golfers who find it difficult to make a full bend down to the ground level. The normal procedure is to hold the golf ball against the head of the tee in one hand and then bend down to insert the stem of the tee into the ground to a desired position of the golf ball. This maneuver requires a steady hand to insure that the ball does not fall off the tee head.
Present devises are hampered by their heavy metal rod construction, inaccurate ball on tee placement, tee off inconvenience and storage problems.
Thus it would be desired to provide a golf ball teeing device which would be light in weight, unobtrusive and with secure ball on tee placement on the ground.
In summary, the present invention is intended to provide a useful light weight and unobtrusive tool to aid golfers to tee up and retrieve golf balls. It comprises a tongs of two opposing members, attached in a spring loaded hinge joint, with their open ends adapted to hold a golf ball against the head of a tee. The inside of the members contain two interconnected swing arms attached to an adjustable pressure disk with a curved face conforming to the outer surface of a golf ball. The members are pushed open by a spring, preferably located in the hinge joint area, which movement forces the swing arms to back up the adjustable pressure disk to accommodate the loading of a golf ball and tee. The manual closing of the members forces the swing arms to return the adjustable pressure disk to clamp a loaded golf ball on top of a tee head. The tongs may be locked into a closed storage position when the flat snap spring, attached to one member, is wedged by finger pressure into a hole in the opposing member. The tongs is unlocked by manually pressing the members together which action snaps the flat spring out of its retaining hole. The hinge joint contains a holder adapted for hooking the tongs on the golfer's pocket or golf bag. The open ends of the members may contain provisions to store a tee and a swing ground pin, the latter to secure the upright storage position of the tongs on the ground. Further objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the remainder of this disclosure.
With reference to
Materials to produce the embodiment of the golf ball teeing tongs Include light sheet steel for stamping of the major parts, alternatively formed by molded plastic material, and hardened steel wire for the spring and ground pin. Finally, although the teeing tongs discloses a certain arraignment of spring and linkages, it should be understood that other types of linkages and springs may be used for pivotal arrangement of the gold ball teeing tongs of this invention.
The methods of use of the hand held golf ball teeing tongs of this invention, which includes two pivotally members to grip and clamp a golf ball against a tee head, is to enable a golfer to tee up the ball, for an opening golf shot, without bending down to the ground level. In the process the members open by spring pressure so as to enable the golfer to place the golf ball inside one of the open members and insert the tee in its upward oriented slot and then manually close the members. This forces the adjustable pressure disk to clamp the golf ball against the tee head in a rigid position, as secured by a clockwise finger tightening turn of the disk, for easy tee-up to the desired height. At this point, the golfer releases the hand pressure to open the members, which action lifts the adjustable pressure disk from the golf ball to allow free removal of the tongs, either side ways or straight up, while leaving the golf ball on the tee head ready to play. The teeing tongs may then conveniently be hooked onto the golfers back pocket for the ensuing golf swing or placed on the ground in an upright position by the extension of the ground pin. After having addressed the ball, the golfer may use the tongs to retrieve the grounded tee, to be snapped onto one member, and then hook the tongs to the back pocket or golf bag. Accordingly, the tongs is light in weight and of convenient height so as not to inconvenience the movement of the golfer.
It is to be noted, that while essentially portraying the subject golf ball teeing tongs, the enclosed drawings should not limit the scope of the invention in general.
