Patent Application
20240374972
In golf, the first shot of each hole is typically struck with the golf ball supported on top of a golf tee. A golf tee comprising a shape capable of indicating the desired direction of the drive and three support members for supporting the ball is described.
Golf tees are used to mount a ball for driving the initial shot for a golf hole. The ball is placed on top of the tee and hit with a golf club. The ball may only be placed on the tee for the first shot of each hole.
Golfers have a passion for their sport and are interested in the latest products to improve their scores and enjoyment of the game. Thus, innovation has been consistent in golfing equipment. Even with the significant innovation occurring in the larger market, golf tees remain relatively uniform in their structure and designs. The prior art is replete with golf tees, many of which resemble the classic golf tee form: a cup shape atop a vertical base. More recently, brush-type golf tees have emerged in the market, their style comprising a brush bristle head atop a vertical base. Yet, the prior art still fails to adequately address the issues of reusability, durability, penetration, and ball friction that arise due to the designs of prior art golf tees. The simple design of most golf tees makes them easy to mass produce; and when a golfer incidentally makes contact with a golf tee when swinging for the golf ball, the force exerted on that golf tee is enough to break many of the of prior art golf tees. There is a need for a reusable golf tee, which doesn't break from one golf swing.
The classic golf tee form (a cup atop a vertical base) is common among golf tees seen in the prior art. The upper portion of that classic golf tee form, the cup, hinders golf ball movement. This hinderance is difficult to avoid because the ball must sit on some surface of the tee. For a traditional tee, the cup shape top of the tee gives a golfer the ability to place a round ball in a stationary position for striking. But the portions of the cup shape which come into contact with the golf ball when the ball is at rest, create a noticeable amount of friction which affects the flight and spin on the ball as it is hit off the tee. The cup shape and rigidity of the tee secured in the ground also have the ability to create resistance and skew the direction which the ball will travel when hit. There remains a need for a golf tee that addresses the issues of durability, spin, and friction, and which improves the scoring and enjoyment of a round of golf for all players.
The present invention addresses the issues present in the prior art golf tees, with its innovative friction reduction distance increasing structure and durability. Embodiment of the golf tee comprise a three point contact for the golf ball. A three point contact is the minimum point contact that can support a ball. The three points define a plane through which the ball is supported.
Embodiments of a reusable golf tee comprise a base member, the base member comprising a bottom surface. The bottom surface of the golf tee rests or contacts the surface of the ground such as, but not limited to, the grass of golf tee box or a practice mat, for example. The bottom surface may be substantially flat. Substantially flat means that the bottom surface may be placed on the grass of a tee box or on a practice mat and steadily support a golf ball. The base member may be any shape. In some embodiments, the base member may be a triangular shape and, in some embodiments, the triangular shape may be an isosceles triangular shape. The triangular shape may be used as an arrow to indicate the desired direction of the golf shot. The golfer may align on of the triangle vertexes to point in the desired direction.
Embodiments of the reusable golf tee comprise three support members for supporting a golf ball. Each support member may be connected to an upper surface of the base at a lower end of the support member. The upper end of the support member and an apex of each three support members defining a substantially horizontal plane, the apex of each of the support members being configured to support the mounting of a golf ball. The plane can be considered substantially horizontal is a ball may be supported on to off the apexes of the three support members sufficiently to balance the ball on the tee for driving with a golf club.
The three support members may also be arranged in an isosceles triangle shape. To aid in visualizing the desired driving direction.
The support members may be any shape such as, but not limited to, cylindrical, conical, spring shaped, rectangular shaped, or a combination thereof. For example, the support members may be a complete conical shape from the base member to the apex or the support members may have a cylindrical bottom portion and a conical top section or a cylindrical section with a smaller diameter. In one embodiment, the support member may have a bottom section that has any shape and a top portion of each of the support members comprises a conical shape forming the apex of each support member. In a specific embodiment, each of the support members have substantially the same length from the base member to their apex.
In another embodiment, the golf tee comprises a stake and the base defines an through hole for receiving the stake. The stake may be used, if desired, to more securely hold the golf tee to the ground or other surface. The stake is configured to be received within the through hole and secures the reusable golf tee to the surface of the ground.
The stake may comprise a head for contacting the base and prevent the stake from passing through the through hole when received in the through hole and a pointed end for penetrating into the ground.
As such, embodiments of the reusable golf tee may comprise a base member with a triangular shape from the plan view and three cylindrical support members configured to support a golf ball above the base member. The base member may be substantially flat and is configured to rest upon the surface such as the grass or a mat in a tee box, for example.
The base member and/or the support members may be made from a flexible material. Embodiments of the invention address the issues of reliability, consistency, friction, and improve the enjoyment of a good round of golf for all players.
Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one having ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and the present disclosure and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.
In describing the invention, it will be understood that several components, parts, techniques, and steps are disclosed. Each of these has individual benefits and each can also be used in conjunction with one or more, or in some cases, all the other disclosed embodiments and techniques. Accordingly, for the sake of clarity, this description will refrain from repeating every possible combination of the individual steps in an unnecessary fashion. Nevertheless, the specification and claims should be read with the understanding that such combinations are entirely within the scope of the invention and the claims.
Embodiments of the golf tee address the issues concerning golfers using conventional golf tees, with its innovative friction reduction functionality and reusability, the golfer may drive a golf ball further and straighter than using other golf tees. Embodiments of reusable golf tee are configured to rest upon a surface. As shown in
The base member 1 and support members 2A 2B 2C of the reusable golf tee may be made from any suitable material, including but not limited to, plastic, rubber, polyurethane, polyvinyl chloride, metals, wood, polymer, flexible polymer, another similar material, or some combination thereof, for example. The suitability of the material(s) used to make the base member 1 depends upon the ability of the material(s) to resist damage upon being hit with a golf club, support the weight of the support members 2A 2B 2C and the golf ball, and the ability of the material(s) to rest securely upon a playing surface. The suitability of the material(s) used to make the support members 2A 2B 2C depends upon the ability of the material(s) to support the mounting of a golf ball above the base member 1 and the ability of the material(s) to withstand the force of the hitting of the golf ball from the reusable golf tee without breaking.
The support members 2A 2B 2C are connected or integrally formed with the base member. The golf tee 10 may be formed by any method known in the art including injection molding or other molding techniques, three dimensional printing, resin printing, CNC routing, or combinations of such methods.
As shown in
In additional embodiments, the base member may be made from a flexible material, the support members are made from a flexible material, or both the base member and the support members are made from a flexible material. As used herein in connection with the base member, the term flexible material to a material or multiple materials in some combination which are able to bend without breaking; when used in connection with the support members, the term flexible material refers to a material or multiple materials in some combination which are able to bend without breaking when a golf ball is hit from the reusable golf tee. The suitability of the materials which make up the various components of the present is paramount, as they allow the reusable golf tee to be used more than once (unlike many prior art golf tees), making the present invention reliable for continued use.
The substantially flat base member and the support members of the present invention clearly and innovatively differentiate the reusable golf tee described herein from the golf tees of the prior art. Additionally, the base member of the present invention being substantially flat reduces the distance at which the golf tee may travel after the reusable golf tee is hit or after a golf ball is hit from the reusable golf tee, as the substantially flat form the base member creates a substantially increase in drag, when compared to the classic form golf tees of the prior art. This reduction in the distance that the golf tee travels upon hitting increases the accessibility of golfing, as it requires less movement for the user of the reusable golf tee when they retrieve the golf tee after hitting. In another embodiment of the invention, the base member comprises a weighted or heavier portion and configured to reduce travel distance of the reusable golf-tee due to hitting a golf ball on the reusable golf-tee and/or due to hitting the golf tee (otherwise referred to as, “due to hitting”). A base member may be weighted by using one or more dense or heavy materials to make the base member, thereby increasing the amount of force required to move the reusable golf tee through the air, and decreasing the distance which the reusable golf tee may travel when a standard amount of force (and direction of force) is applied to the reusable golf tee. Merely for example, one embodiment of the invention comprises a weighted base member which has been weighted by making the base member from a material which has a higher average density than that of the material from which at least one of the support members is made. Merely for another example, one embodiment of the invention comprises a weighted base member which has been weighted by making the base member from a material which has a higher average density than that of the material from which any of the support members are made. In embodiments of the invention which comprise a weighted base member, the weighting of the base member is accomplished through other various means known in the art.
In an embodiment, the reusable golf tee comprises a triangular shaped base member as described above. In another embodiment, the reusable golf tee comprises support members which are arranged in a triangular formation in relation to their placement to the base member at the point of connection between the support members and the base member. Another embodiment of the invention is a reusable golf tee configured to rest upon a surface comprising a base member and three support members: the base member being substantially flat and being configured to rest upon the surface; the support members consisting of three support members, the support members being connected to the base member, and the support members being configured to support the mounting of a golf ball for hitting. In additional embodiments, the reusable golf tee comprises no more than twelve support members.
In another embodiment of the invention, at least a portion of each of the support members comprise a conical or paraboloid shape. In additional embodiments of the invention, each of the support members comprise another shape, such as, but not limited to, a triangle, a rectangle, a diamond, an arrow or spear shape, a cylinder, a sphere, circular shape, a pyramid, or some combination thereof or a combination of these shapes with the conical or paraboloid shape, for example. Merely for example, in one embodiment, each of the support members consists of a cylinder portion and a conical or paraboloid portion forming the apex, the cylinder portion being connected directly to the base member, the conical or paraboloid portion being connected to the cylinder portion, and the conical or paraboloid portion being configured to support the mounting of a golf ball at (or near) the apex of the cone. In this embodiment, the golf ball is able to be rested upon the support members, specifically the golf ball is able to be supported via the combined physical contact between the ball and an apex 2D 2E 2F of each of support members 2A 2B 2C. The upper most point of each of the apexes 2D 2E 2F define a plane. In some embodiments, the plane defined by the apexes 2D 2E 2F is a horizontal plane. A golf ball will contact and be supported on each of the apexes 2D 2E 2F.
Referring again to
Embodiments of the invention reduce the contact area between the golf ball and the golf tee, when compared to the contact area seen in the prior art between the golf ball and prior art golf tees. The classic golf tee form (a cup atop a vertical base) is common among golf tees seen in the prior art; in the case of many of these tees, the golf ball (when at rest atop the tee) comes into contact with most (if not all) of the surface area of the cup portion of the golf tee. As used herein, the contact area relates to the surface area of the golf ball which is in physical contact with any portion of the golf tee when the golf ball is mounted atop the golf tee for hitting. Additionally, as used herein, physical contact refers to actual physical contact, but also refers to non-contact wherein the distance between the golf ball and golf tee (when accounting for electrostatic interactions) is negligible in creating friction between the golf ball and golf tee. The classic golf tee form (a cup atop a vertical base) of prior art golf tees has an increased contact area when compared to the contact area of the present invention. Similarly, the brush style golf tees of the prior art also have an increased contact area when compared to the present invention, as the numerous bristles of the brush essentially create one large surface upon which the golf ball rests when mounted. A larger, or increased, contact area directly translates to increased frictional forces between the golf ball and the golf tee. These frictional forces must be overcome when the ball is hit from the tee, making the present invention ideal for reducing friction and skewing which plagues golfers as a result of the cup shape and increased contact area of prior art golf tees.
In an embodiment of the invention, the reusable golf tee is configured to rest upon a surface without penetration of the surface. By avoiding the required penetration requirement present in prior art golf tees, the present invention can be simply placed on the ground, or other playing surface, which reduces the amount of time that players must spend bending or kneeling over. The reusable golf tee having a substantially flat base member allows for secure placement of the reusable golf tee on the playing surface, balancing the reusable golf tee, without needed to penetrate the playing surface. Additional prior art golf tees may require a slightly different form of penetration, where those prior art golf tees must penetration a golf/practice mat, which is able to anchor the golf tee before ball placement and hitting. Similarly to the present invention's avoidance of the ground penetration requirement of the prior art golf tees, embodiments of the present invention do not require penetration of the golf/practice mat for anchoring the golf tee, as the substantially flat base member of the reusable golf tee may be securely placed directly on the top layer of the golf/practice mat.
Alternatively, the golf tee 10 may be secured to the playing surface by use of a stake 20. In other embodiments, the stake or other playing surface penetrating member may be permanently connected to the bottom surface of the base member 1.
An embodiment of the present invention is a method for using a reusable golf tee comprising, acquiring a reusable golf-tee configured to rest upon a surface, placing the reusable golf tee on a surface by placing the base member on the surface, placing a golf ball on the support members, and hitting the golf ball from the reusable golf tee. In this embodiment, the method comprises acquiring a reusable golf-tee configured to rest upon a surface; the reusable golf tee comprises a base member and three support members: the base member being substantially flat and being configured to rest upon the surface, the support members being connected to the base member and being configured to support the mounting of a golf ball for hitting.
Embodiments of the invention address the issues of reliability, penetration, and friction, and improve the accessibility of a good round of golf for all players. Therefore, while embodiments of the invention and the associated method are described with reference to exemplary embodiments, those skilled in the art will understand that variations and modifications can be affected within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. Accordingly, the scope of the various embodiments of the present invention should not be limited to the above discussed embodiments and should only be defined by the following claims and all equivalents.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63462744 | Apr 2023 | US |
