COPYRIGHT AND TRADEMARK NOTICE
This application includes material which is subject or may be subject to copyright and/or trademark protection. The copyright and trademark owner(s) has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by any of the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright and trademark rights whatsoever.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
(1) Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to systems to teach or practice putting. More particularly, the invention relates to the use of putting gates with adjustable passage ways, stroke boundaries, hole or cup tools with adjustable depths, a mechanism to replicate of golf hole or cup, a method of water jet production of cup systems, a mechanism of squarely striking a golf ball to teach the reading of putting green slopes and other related implements.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Other golf teaching or golf practicing aids in the prior art include:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,998,731 by Bowen;
U.S. Pat. No. 6,004,230 by Hooker;
U.S. Published Patent Application by Vilhelmsen;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,501,452 by Halvorson; and
U.S. Published Patent Application 2012/0100924 by Covino.
While the prior art attempts to help teach the art of the golf swing, the prior art is replete with complicated and bulky apparatuses that are not well suited for the traveling professional golfer, golf teacher or golf student. Thus, there is a need in the art for means and methods of teaching practicing golf strokes.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The disclosed embodiments overcome shortfalls in the related art by presenting an unobvious and unique combination, configuration and use of compact implements to teach putting stokes, awareness of stroke arc, the reading of slopes on greens, optimal ball speed and other skills. The disclosed embodiments also include means and methods of efficient fabrication of the disclosed implements. The disclosed embodiments also include a ball firing mechanism that may be used with or integrated with the other disclosed embodiments to teach the effects of slope upon golf ball trajectory. The disclosed embodiments are travel ready and include a travel case that has metal or magnets to secure and/or integrate with the metal and magnets of the disclosed implements.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1A is a side view of an inline putting frame
FIG. 1B is a plan view of an inline putting frame
FIG. 2 top plan view of a travel case
FIG. 3 bottom plan view of a travel case
FIG. 4 is a sectional view of an inline putting frame within a travel case
FIG. 5 is a partial sectional view of an inline putting frame within a travel case
FIG. 6 is an inside plan view of an inline putting frame and a portable target within a travel case
FIG. 7A is a side view of a folded travel case
FIG. 7B is a plan view of an unfolded travel case
FIG. 7C is a side view of an unfolded travel case
FIG. 8A is an elevation view of a base unit
FIG. 8B is a plan view of a base unit
FIG. 9A is a stem for a base unit
FIG. 9B is a plan view of a stem
FIG. 10A is an elevation view of a base unit, stem. portable target and slope scope
FIG. 10B is a top plan view of a slope scope mounted into a portable target as supported by a stem and base unit
FIG. 11A is a sectional view of a portable target
FIG. 11B is a top plan view of a portable target
FIG. 12A is a sectional view of a slope scope frame
FIG. 12B is a plan view of a slope scope frame
FIG. 12C is a sectional view of a slope scope water level
FIG. 12D is a top plan view of a slope scope water level
FIG. 13 is an exploded view of a ball firing system
FIG. 14 is a perspective view of a ball firing system
FIG. 15 is a top plan view of an inline putting frame secured with tees in a down position
FIG. 16 is a perspective view of an inline putting frame secured with tees in an elevated position to narrow the ball path and club head path
FIG. 17A is a plan view portable target embodiment well suited to be manufactured by water jet methods
FIG. 17B side view of portable target embodiment well suited to be manufactured by water jet methods
REFERENCE NUMERALS IN THE DRAWINGS
100 inline putting frame
110 back plate, square to frame 100
112 first proximal raised tee void defined by frame, sometime accepting a raised tee to adjust the passage way for club head
113 second proximal raised tee void defined by the frame
115 proximal tee securing void, defined by frame, sometime used to secure frame to the ground
116 first distal raised tee void, sometimes accepting a raised tee to adjust the passage way for a golf ball
117 second distal raised tee void, sometimes accepting a raised tee to adjust the passage way for a golf ball
118 a first and second medial tee void, sometimes used to secure the frame to the ground
120 inside sight line, for a right handed golfer
121 outside sight line for a right handed golfer
125 a first and second constricting slot or frame leg
127 constriction junctions defined by the intersection or joining of the constricting frame legs 125 and distal parallel legs 129
129 distal parallel legs or surfaces of the frame
133 proximal apex or center line of frame
200 storage or carrying case
210 front cover of storage case
212 inside surface of front flap of storage case 200
220 back cover of storage case
225 magnet or metal attached to the storage case and sometimes used to secure the portable target and/or slope scope
300 portable target or moveable cup
301 portable target well suited for manufacturing by water jets
310 circular and planar surface to retain a golf ball or ball retention area
315 distal and circular wall of ball retention area 310
320 proximal and circular wall of ball retention area 310
330 outer and upper sloped distal surface of portable target
340 inner frame of portable target, sometimes used to retain a bubble level 450
350 center void of portable target, defined by the portable target
400 slope scope system
430 slope scope frame
435 center magnet of slope scope frame
450 bubble level
455 indica of slope marked upon the bubble level
500 base
505 internal female treads of base
520 top surface of base
550 stem
555 internal male treads of stem
570 top surface of stem
600 ball firing mechanism
610 housing cover of ball firing mechanism
612 tee voids defined by the housing cover 610
620 flat section
625 void defined by flat section, sometimes used as a pivot point for aiming
626 back column used to define the tee void 625 and for thumb support in pulling back the pull ball
630 pin for tension spring
632 ball contact piece of pin 630, the contact piece having a concave surface to comport with the outer surface of a golf ball.
635 tension spring, used to propel pin 630 and ball contact piece 632 into a golf ball
640 damping spring
650 pull ball attached to the proximal end of the pin 630
700 top of tee
720 shaft of tee
760 golf ball
780 golf club
790 outer flat section of golf club
These and other aspects of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the following detailed description in conjunction with the associated drawings.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION
The following detailed description is directed to certain specific embodiments of the invention. However, the invention can be embodied in a multitude of different ways as defined and covered by the claims and their equivalents. In this description, reference is made to the drawings wherein like parts are designated with like numerals throughout.
Unless otherwise noted in this specification or in the claims, all of the terms used in the specification and the claims will have the meanings normally ascribed to these terms by workers in the art.
Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, throughout the description and the claims, the words “comprise,” “comprising” and the like are to be construed in an inclusive sense as opposed to an exclusive or exhaustive sense; that is to say, in a sense of “including, but not limited to.” Words using the singular or plural number also include the plural or singular number, respectively. Additionally, the words “herein,” “above,” “below,” and words of similar import, when used in this application, shall refer to this application as a whole and not to any particular portions of this application.
Referring to FIG. 1B, an inline putting frame 100 comprises a plurality of voids, the voids sometimes used the golf tees fully placed into the ground to retain the frame to the ground. Sometimes, in order to further define or restrict the passage for a golf club head or golf ball, the tees may be partially exposed as shown in FIG. 16.
The most near of proximal surface of the inline frame may be a back plate 110 which is square to the frame. The back plate overcomes shortfalls in the related art by giving a golfer a flat and normal surface to rest the front of the club head, as shone in FIG. 15. The back plate 110 also overcomes shortfalls in the related art by providing a flat and true surface to align a ball firing mechanism 600 as shown in FIG. 14. The ball firing mechanism has a front plate 610 that may be fit upon the backplate 110 to provide an accurate ball firing through the frame. To insure greater accuracy the ball firing mechanism features of concave tip 632 that comports with curvature of the golf ball and the tip strikes the ball just above the center of the ball to give a nature roll to the ball. The ball firing along with the slope scope and related component overcome shortfalls in the related art by showing a student how a ball will travel is shot in a straight line and considering the slope shown by the slope scope.
Still referring to FIG. 1B, the frame overcomes shortfalls in the art by providing sight lines for the golfer's eyes to hover directly over. For a right-handed golfer an inside line 120 and an outside line 121 are provided with both lines meeting a center point 133.
The oblong shape of the first 112 and second 113 voids overcome shortfalls in the related art by providing lateral space for each golf tee to be placed, which allows for adjustment of the allowed space for a club to pass as shown in FIG. 16.
Referring to FIG. 8A a base 500 fits into a golf hole or cup. The base has interior threads 505 to allow for rotational attachment to a stem 550, FIG. 9A. Thus, the stem may be turned to comport to the height of the cup. The top of the stem may be attached to a portable target and then the portable target may be rotated to spin the stem and thus adjust the height of the target.
Referring to FIG. 10A, a slope scope system 400 may be magnetically attached to the top of the portable target 300. The portable target 300 overcomes shortfalls in the art by providing a angled sloped 330 distal surface to require the correct ball speed to emulate the correct ball speed of a native cup. Exterior 315 and interior walls 320 allow a ball moving too fast to roll out of the portable target just as such a fast moving ball would roll out of a native cup or native golf hole.
Referring to FIG. 13, a golf ball firing mechanism 600 is shown with tee voids 612 to secure the system to the ground for stable and consistent test firing. The system also has a pivot void 625 that will accept a golf tee. In such a configuration the system may be fired at different angles per the positioning of the user. The back column 626 overcomes shortfalls in the prior art by proving thumb support wile plugging back the pull ball.
Referring to FIG. 15, the tees are shown as being fully tapped into the ground such that only the tops 700 of the tees are exposed. Thus, the club head 780 has a bigger range of motion and the ball has a greater range of motion. This configuration is good for beginners, as compared to the configuration of FIG. 16.
Referring to FIG. 16, the shafts 720 of the of the tees are exposed, requiring the golfer to drive the club head and ball in a very narrow passage way. Such a configuration overcome short falls in the related art by immediately showing a golfer when a ball is not struck squarely. The distal voids 116 and 117 show the tees moving toward the wider circumference of the ball, thus requiring a more precise golf stroke to move the ball out of the frame.
The above detailed description of embodiments of the invention is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed above. While specific embodiments of, and examples for, the invention are described above for illustrative purposes, various equivalent modifications are possible within the scope of the invention, as those skilled in the relevant art will recognize. For example, while steps are presented in a given order, alternative embodiments may perform routines having steps in a different order. The teachings of the invention provided herein can be applied to other systems, not only the systems described herein. The various embodiments described herein can be combined to provide further embodiments. These and other changes can be made to the invention in light of the detailed description.
All the above references and U.S. patents and applications are incorporated herein by reference. Aspects of the invention can be modified, if necessary, to employ the systems, functions and concepts of the various patents and applications described above to provide yet further embodiments of the invention.
These and other changes can be made to the invention in light of the above detailed description. In general, the terms used in the following claims, should not be construed to limit the invention to the specific embodiments disclosed in the specification, unless the above detailed description explicitly defines such terms. Accordingly, the actual scope of the invention encompasses the disclosed embodiments and all equivalent ways of practicing or implementing the invention under the claims.
While certain aspects of the invention are presented below in certain claim forms, the inventors contemplate the various aspects of the invention in any number of claim forms.
Patent Application
20230201689
