Patent Application
20170136328
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(1) Field of the Invention
(2) Description of Related Art including information disclosed under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98.
The disclosure and prior art relates to inflated and raised putting green devices and more particularly pertains to a new inflated and raised putting green device for allowing a game of miniature golf to be played with inflatable putting greens which may be easily stored and transported when deflated. Further, when inflated, the putting green device will have a substantially wrinkle free upper surface to allow for smooth rolling of a golf ball thereon.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a putting playfield that is selectively inflated or deflated. The putting playfield is inflated by forcing air into the putting playfield and deflated when the air is released from the putting playfield. The putting playfield includes an upper surface having a well positioned therein configured for receiving a golf ball. The putting playfield is flexible and is configured to be rolled up when the putting playfield is not inflated.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
A plurality of putting playfields 32, or putting greens, may be provided though it should be understood that a single putting playfield 32, not including the hub 12 and blower 20 or only including just the blower 20, may also be utilized. Each of the putting playfields 32 is in fluid communication with the hub 12 and each of the putting playfields 32 is thereby selectively inflated or deflated. The hub 12 have a circular configuration as shown in the Figures to allow the putting playfields 32 and blower(s) 20 extend away therefrom as spokes from a central point. However, the hub 12 have any configuration and may instead be formed into a loop, an elongated cylinder or housing, or any shape required depending on the space available and the intended usage of the apparatus 10. However, a central hub may be preferable as allowing for efficient usage of space and to allow for patrons to easily move between the putting playfields. Generally, the putting playfields 32 are each inflated when the blower 20 is turned on and the putting playfields 32 will deflate with the blower 20, or blowers, is turned off. Each of the putting playfields 32 includes an upper surface 34 having a well 36, or recessed hole, positioned therein configured for receiving a golf ball. The well 36 may be formed by a cylinder having a diameter approximately equal to the diameter of a standard golf cup which is 4.25 inches.
The putting playfields 32 may each include a housing 38 that has a bottom wall 40, a top wall 42 and peripheral wall 44 which is attached to and extends between the top 42 and bottom 40 walls. The top wall 42 includes a perimeter boundary 46 bounding a central area 48 and the central area 48 defines the upper surface 34 and containing the well 36. The upper surface 34 is essentially free of any wrinkles and is thereby smooth to facilitate rolling of a golf ball thereon without significant deviation in direction due to unintended imperfections in the upper surface 34. The upper surface 34 may include intended undulations or dips, or may be planar from one lateral side to another lateral side of the putting playfields 32 while being angled upwardly from one end to another of the putting playfield 32. The upper surface 34 may comprise a carpet material, turf material or other simulated grass material positioned on the top wall 42 or incorporated into the top wall 42 such that a golf ball will roll on the upper surface 34 in a similar manner as it would roll on a golf green comprising natural grass.
An inlet 50 is fluidly coupled to the housing 38. The inlet 50 may be fluidly coupled to one of a plurality of outlets 52 extending into the hub 12. The outlets 52 of the hub 12 may be identical to the inlets 16, or hub tubes 22, of the hub 12 however air travels outwardly of the outlets 52 and into a fluidly connected one of the housings 38. Thus, outlets 52 of the hub 12 comprise hub tubes 56 while the inlet 50 of the housing 38 includes a housing tube 54 which may be utilizing the same type of first 24 and second 26 mating members as shown in
The top 42, bottom 40 and peripheral 44 walls are each comprised of a flexible material. The flexible material is generally not resiliently flexible so that the housing 38 is configured to be rolled up when the housing 38 is deflated and that the housing 38 is retained in the rolled up configuration.
The perimeter boundary 46 abuts the peripheral wall 44 and extends upwardly over the upper surface 34, or putting surface, to form a wall around the upper surface 34.
The perimeter boundary 46 is coextensive with the peripheral wall 44 to entirely bound the upper surface 34. The perimeter boundary 46 will retain the golf ball on the upper surface 34 while it is being moved along the length of the housing 38. The perimeter boundary 46 extends upwardly from the upper surface 34 a height of at least 1.0 inches and less than 6.0 inches. Generally, the housing 38 has a height from the bottom wall 40 to the top wall 44 being less than 3.0 feet and greater than 0.5 feet when the housing 38 is inflated. Moreover, the housing 38 has a front end 58 and a rear end 60 and is elongated from the front end 58 to the rear end 60. The inlet 50 of the housing 38 may be positioned on the rear end 50 with the rear end 60 facing the hub 12.
The central area 48 includes a plurality of raised members 62 that are inflatable and extend upwardly from the upper surface 34 when the housing 38 is inflated. The raised members 62 generally function as obstacles as one navigates a golf ball from the front end 58 of the housing 38 to its associated well 36. The raised members 62 may however include angled bumpers 64, positioned in interior corners formed by the perimeter boundary 46, to prevent golf balls from becoming stuck in the corners and to allow a patron to utilize the angled bumpers 64 for redirection of the golf ball. The interior corners are the corners forming an angle less than 120°. As can be seen in the Figures, the housings 38 may be provided any number of selected shapes and include various inflated obstacles, or raised members 62, to increase the variety in the putting greens to be played.
In use, the apparatus 10 allows an array of housings 38 to be used with the hub 12 so that a plurality of putting playfields 32 may be utilized at one time without interference by other players. However, a plurality of the housings 38 may be inflated without the hub 12 and with nozzles closed so that they may be positioned where desired relative to each other. During play, a patron places a golf ball on one of the associated housings 38 adjacent to the front end 58 and attempts to putt the golf ball into the well 36. The patron does not stand on the housings 38 while putting and the housings 38 typically will have a size such that the patron will always be able to be within 3.0 feet of a golf ball positioned on the upper surface 34. That is, no point on the upper surface 34 will be further than 3.0 feet from the perimeter boundary 46 to ensure that the patron can always reach the golf ball.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
This Non-Provisional application takes benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application 62/255,277 filed on Nov. 30, 2015.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62255277 | Nov 2015 | US |
