Smart Portable Golf Ball Dispenser

Abstract

A smart portable golf dispenser comprises a golf ball container, a golf ball regulator, a rotary switch plate, a ball release box, three height-adjustable feet, and a golf ball control system. Golf balls run from the golf ball container into the golf ball regulator, where they are regulated and prepared to be dropped to the ball release box. A golf ball is released from the ball release box following a confirmed ball strike, determined by the combination of swing motion and ball strike sound. Each golf swing is recorded on video and can be played back in slow motion on a smart phone. The speed of each ball strike is calculated. Golf swing videos and ball strike data are stored in a smart phone through a smart phone APP. Three height-adjustable feet can automatically adjust to make the smart portable golf ball dispenser leveled.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Golf is a great sport. According to National Golf Foundation, 41.1 million Americans ages 6 and up played golf both on-course and off-course in 2022, including 25.6 million people who played on a golf course and another 15.5 million who participated exclusively in off-course golf activities at places like driving ranges, indoor golf simulators, or golf entertainment venues. Golf ball dispensers can play an important role in making off-course golf activities more efficient and more fun. But products currently in the market are not well received by golfers due to problems such as a required ball pre-arrangement setup which is very time consuming, limited capacity, large sizes making transportation inconvenient, and a lack of appropriate features to assist in practice. The solution to be presented is a smart portable golf ball dispenser that has the capacity for an ample amount of golf balls for a round of practice.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A smart portable golf ball dispenser makes off-course golf practice convenient and efficient. It is comprised of a golf ball container, a golf ball regulator, a rotary switch plate, a release box, and a control system. Golf balls in the golf ball container flow downwards into the golf ball regulator, moving to locations above the three discharge holes of the golf ball regulator. The rotary switch plate is below the golf ball regulator and above the golf ball release box. Three ball receiving holes are located on the top of the golf ball release box. They have the exact same shape and size as the three discharge holes, and are aligned to the three discharge holes. The rotary switch plate has a penetration hole with the same shape and size as the discharge holes. When the rotary switch plate rotates to specific locations where a discharge hole, a ball receiving hole and the penetration hole are aligned, golf balls flow from the golf ball regulator into the golf ball release box. Once a golf ball flows into the golf ball release box, it lands on a circular ramp with U shaped section, and runs to lower end of the circular ramp. A golf ball queue is formed at the low end of the circular ramp, and the first golf ball in the queue is captured by a release gate and is ready for release. The release gate rotates 180 degrees to release the first golf ball in the queue that it captured, then rotates 180 degrees after the release to capture the first golf ball in the current queue. The control system makes the smart portable golf ball dispenser smart: it detects the start of a golf swing and the end of a golf swing, records video of the golfer's golf swing, triggers golf ball release automatically after a golf ball strike, listens to and recognizes the golfer's voice commands, collects and analyzes golf swing data, and displays golf practice information. Any golf club head approaching the dispenser will manually trigger a golf ball release. The smart portable golf ball dispenser communicates with smart phones through smart phone APPs. It is internet enabled and can be made part of the internet of things.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front view of a smart portable golf ball dispenser.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a smart portable golf ball dispenser.

FIG. 3 is a detailed view of a subsystem of a control system.

FIG. 4 is a left view of a smart portable golf ball dispenser.

FIG. 5 is a section view of a smart portable golf ball dispenser that is cut by a plane between a golf ball regulator and a rotary switch plate.

FIG. 6 is a section view of a smart portable golf ball dispenser that is cut by a plane between a rotary switch plate and a release box.

FIG. 7 is a section view of a smart portable golf ball dispenser that is cut by a plane through top portion of a release box.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a release box.

FIG. 9 is a break-out view of a release box.

FIG. 10 is a bottom view of a smart portable golf ball dispenser.

FIG. 11 is a break-out view of the bottom view of a smart portable golf ball dispenser.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, one embodiment of a smart portable golf ball dispenser is generally shown as including at least a lid 1, a golf ball container 2, a golf ball regulator 3, a rotary switch plate 4, a golf ball release box 5, a fixed leg 29, two adjustable legs 6, and a control system. The golf ball container 2 sits on top of the golf ball regulator 3. The rotary switch plate 4 is attached to the bottom of the golf ball regulator 3. Below the rotary switch plate 4 is the golf ball release box 5. The three legs support the smart portable golf ball dispenser, and the adjustable legs 6 can change heights to keep the smart portable golf ball dispenser level. The golf ball container 2, the golf ball regulator 3 and the golf ball release box 5 are three big components/modules of the smart portable golf ball dispenser, they are assembled in a way that each of them can be easily removed and replaced, that reduces maintenance/repair cost and makes upgrade flexible.

The golf ball container 2 receives and stores golf balls. The golf ball container 2 is closed by locking the lid 1.

When there is a need to add more golf balls into the golf ball container 2, the lid 1 can be opened. At all the other times, the lid 1 is closed and locked. A handle 15 is installed on top of the lid 1, and an unlock button 16 is located at the front of the handle 15. Pressing down the unlock button 16 unlocks the lid 1. The smart portable golf ball dispenser is moved around by holding the handle 15.

The golf ball regulator 3 sits underneath the golf ball container 2 as shown in FIG. 4, and golf balls flow into the golf ball regulator 3 from the golf ball container 2. As shown in FIG. 5, three discharge holes 18 are located at the bottom of the golf ball regulator 3. The discharge holes 18 are distributed evenly along a circle from center of the golf ball regulator.

The rotary switch plate 4 is in a circular shape, and it has a penetration hole 21 as shown in FIG. 6. The penetration hole 21 has the same shape and size as each of the discharge holes 18. A ring gear 19 is attached to the bottom of the rotary switch plate 4 and is concentric to the rotary switch plate 4. A gear 20 is paired with the ring gear 19, and the gear 20 is driven by a low capacity stepper motor 24.

The golf ball container 2 and the golf ball regulator 3 can adopt the design in U.S. Pat. No. 11,772,876, or other different designs.

The golf ball release box 5 is a circular box as shown in FIG. 8. The shape of the golf ball release box 5 is formed by an outer circular wall, an inner circular wall, a top planar wall, and a ring cover 30 at the bottom. A release tube 27 is attached to the outer circular wall and tilts slightly downward. A hole is on the outer circular wall, and golf ball runs into the release tube 27 through that hole. A sink is located near the outer edge of the top planar wall, and the bottom of the sink is higher than the hole. A release gear 14 is installed in the sink and is connected to a release gate 28 inside the golf ball release box 5. The central axis of the golf ball release box 5, the central axis of the release tube 27, and the axis of the release gear 14 are on the same plane. There are three ball receiving holes 23 on the top planar wall as shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, and those ball receiving holes 23 have the same shape and size as the discharge holes 18 and are exactly aligned to the discharge holes 18. A circular ramp 26 with U shape section is installed inside the golf ball release box 5 and underneath the three ball receiving holes 23. The circular ramp 26 is supported by seats 35. The high end of the circular ramp 26 is closed, and low end of the circular ramp 26 is open and turns to the release tube 27.

When the rotary switch plate 4 is rotated to specific positions where one of the discharge holes 18, the penetration hole 21, and one of the ball receiving holes 23 are aligned, as shown in FIG. 5, FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, golf balls flow from the golf ball regulator 3 into the golf ball release box 5. The rotary switch plate 4 doesn't stay at those positions. It runs through those positions at certain speed. It takes time for a golf ball to flow all the way from the golf ball container 2 to the golf ball regulator 3, then to the golf ball release box 5. To ensure there are always golf balls inside the golf ball release box 5 ready for release, a golf ball queue is formed inside the golf ball release box 5 at lower end of the circular ramp 26. After a golf ball flows into the golf ball release box 5, it runs along the circular ramp 26 to the end of the golf ball queue. When the rotary switch plate 4 is rotated to a position where the three discharge holes 18 are completely blocked by the rotary switch plate 4, no golf ball flows from the golf ball regulator 3 to the golf ball release box 5.

A release gate 28 is located near the entrance to the release tube 27 as shown in FIG. 9. The release gate 28 has a circular plate connected to the release gear 14 through an axle at its center, a half cylinder shell is attached to the circular plate, axis of the half cylinder shell and axis of the circular plate are collinear. When the release gate 28 is rotated and its half cylinder shell is turned to next to entrance of the release tube 27, golf balls in the queue on the circular ramp 26 move forward, a ball enters inside the release gate 28 touching the inside of the half cylinder shell, this is called capture. When the release gate 28 is rotated and its half cylinder shell is turned away from entrance of the release tube 27, the half cylinder shell of the release gate 28 cuts into the queue of golf balls on the circular ramp 26, and the golf ball inside the release gate 28 runs away from the release gate 28 when it completely faces the release tube 27, this is called release. After a release, the first golf ball in the current queue touches outside of the half cylinder shell of the release gate 28. In FIG. 9, the release gate 28 is away from entrance of the release tube 27.

The fixed leg 29 and the two adjustable legs 6 are installed at the bottom of the smart portable golf ball dispenser. When the smart portable golf ball dispenser is not leveled, the adjustable legs 6 change height to make the smart portable golf ball dispenser level.

The control system comprises a microcontroller 36, a high speed camera 10, a secondary camera 11, a microphone sensor 12, a LED display module 9, a Bluetooth module 7, an IR infrared sensor 8, a Wi-Fi module 17, a servo motor 13, a stepper motor 24, three light sensitive resistors 32/33/34, a weight sensor, a tilt sensor, and a PCB board 37.

As shown in FIG. 3, the high speed camera 10 captures golfers swing postures, swing motions, ball positions, and the control system analyzes those data and detects the start of a swing, the end of a swing, ball strike moment, and ball speeds. The secondary camera 11 is triggered when the start of a swing is detected and stops recording at the end of a swing, it records complete golf swing motions for playback. Once a ball strike is detected, the servo motor 13 turns and the release gate 28 rotates to release a golf ball. The IR infrared sensor 8 is used for manual golf ball release. When a golf club head is moved close to the IR infrared sensor 8, the golf club head is detected and the control system then triggers the servo motor 13 to turn and the release gate 28 rotates to release a golf ball. The microphone sensor 12 listens to golfer's command to release a golf ball and the control system recognizes the command and triggers a golf ball release. The microphone sensor 12 also records golfer's audio practice memo. The LED display module 9 displays golf swing practice information such as the number of golf balls that have been hit, the number of balls inside the smart portable golf ball dispenser, the ball speed in a strike that just happened, and etc.

The three light sensitive resistors 32/33/34 are installed under the circular ramp 26 to detect the length of the queue and trigger replenishing the queue when necessary. When replenishing the queue, the gear 20 is driven by the stepper motor 24 and turns, it drives the ring gear 19 turn, therefore makes the rotary switch plate 4 rotate to get golf balls flow from the golf ball regulator 3 into the golf ball release box 5 in a controlled way.

The microcontroller 36, the PCB board 37 and the stepper motor 24 are mounted inside a house formed by the inner circular wall of the golf ball release box 5, the rotary switch plate 4, and a bottom circular cover 31 closes the house. The smart portable golf ball dispenser is powered by chargeable batteries. The wiring of the control system and the batteries are not illustrated in the drawings.

The smart portable golf ball dispenser communicates with smart phone APPs through the Bluetooth module 7. The smart portable golf ball dispenser is internet enabled, can be part of the internet of things, shares data such as location and the number of golf balls hit every day in an ecosystem.

Claims

1. A ball release box comprising: a circular box with a top planar wall, an outer circular wall, an inner circular wall, and a ring cover at the bottom;three ball receiving holes that spread evenly along the circumference of said top planar wall;a release tube attached to said outer circular wall, which also has a hole cut into it;a sink that is mounted in said top planar wall;a circular ramp with a maximum 340 degrees span angle mounted on the top of said ring cover, featuring a lower semicircular-shape section;a release gate consisting of a circular plate at the top and a thin half-tube at the bottom, where the axis of said half-tube is perpendicular to said circular plate and passes through its center.

2. A ball release box as in claim 1, wherein said ring cover is mounted at the bottom of said circular box, and said release tube is positioned between two of said three receiving holes with equal distance from each.

3. A ball release box as in claim 1, wherein said release tube, said sink and said circular box are aligned symmetrically.

4. A ball release box as in claim 1, wherein said circular ramp changes direction at its lower end, guiding balls smoothly into said release tube.

5. A ball release box as in claim 1, wherein said release gate is mounted inside said circular box and positioned underneath said sink with the axis of its half-tube being vertical and passing through the center of said sink.

6. A ball release box as in claim 1, wherein said release gate enters its release position when its inner concave face completely points to said release tube. Said release gate enters its catch position after it turns 180 degrees from the release position. Balls queue up at lower portion of said circular ramp due to gravity. Said release gate catches a ball in the queue when it rotates to the catch position and releases the ball when it rotates to the release position.

7. A ball release box as in claim 1, further comprising a gear mounted inside said sink, where an axle connects said gear to the center of the circular plate of said release gate.

8. A ball release box as in claim 1, wherein the lower semicircular-shape section of said circular ramp has a radius 2 mm larger than the radius of a ball so that the ball can easily fit within said circular ramp, the inner tube face of said release gate has a radius 1 mm larger than the radius of a ball.

9. A golf ball control system comprising: a high speed camera;a secondary camera;a microphone sensor;a Bluetooth module;an infrared sensor;three light sensitive resistors;a microcontroller;a smart phone APP.

10. A golf ball control system as in claim 9, wherein said high speed camera captures golfer's swing motions and ball positions, said microphone sensor detects ball strike sound and works together with said high speed camera to confirm a ball strike, said secondary camera starts recording golfer's swing video at the beginning of a swing and stops recording at the finish of a swing.

11. A golf ball control system as in claim 9, wherein said microcontroller determines the start of a golf swing and the finish of a swing and calculates the speed of the ball at a ball strike by analyzing the data collected by said high speed camera, said microcontroller sends command to release a ball after a ball strike is confirmed, said microcontroller instructs the replenishment of a queue of golf balls waiting to be released when said three light sensitive resistors detect that the number of balls in the queue is insufficient, said microcontroller recognizes voice commands detected by said microphone sensor.

12. A golf ball control system as in claim 9, wherein said infrared sensor detects an approaching golf club head then triggers the release of a ball, said Bluetooth module builds connection with a smart phone. Said smart phone APP utilizes smart phone's computing capacity and storage to boost the efficiency of swing data analysis, to keep sufficient ball strikes and swing data, and to display visual feedback of swings and ball strikes.

13. A smart portable golf ball dispenser comprising: a golf ball container featuring a lid equipped with a handle;a golf ball regulator featuring three discharge holes at its bottom;a ball release box as in claim 1;a rotary switch plate with a penetration hole;three height-adjustable feet;a golf ball control system as in claim 9;a LED display module;a Wi-Fi module to connect said smart portable golf ball dispenser to internet;a group of weight sensors;a tilt sensor.

14. A smart portable golf ball dispenser as in claim 13, wherein said golf ball container sits on top of said golf ball regulator, said golf ball regulator sits on top of said ball release box, said rotary switch plate is positioned between said golf ball regulator and said ball release box, three height-adjustable feet are mounted at the bottom of said ball release box and spread evenly along the circumference of said ball release box.

15. A smart portable golf ball dispenser as in claim 13, wherein said ball receiving holes, said discharge holes and said penetration hole have the same shape and size. Said golf ball regulator is aligned with said ball release box so that said discharge holes completely overlap with said ball receiving holes.

16. A smart portable golf ball dispenser as in claim 13, wherein golf balls run from said golf ball container into said golf ball regulator, where they are regulated to be above said discharge holes. Said rotary switch plate covers said discharge holes shutting them off if said ball release box has enough balls inside. When said ball release box requires more balls, said rotary switch plate rotates to align said penetration hole with said discharge holes momentarily, allowing balls to drop into said ball release box through said ball receiving holes.

17. A smart portable golf ball dispenser as in claim 13, wherein said golf ball control system assists golfers in practicing swing and ball strike. A golf ball is released from said ball release box following a confirmed ball strike, determined by the combination of swing motion and ball strike sound. A golf ball is released from said ball release box following a ball release voice command. A golf ball is released from said ball release box following an instruction from said smart phone APP. A golf ball is released from said ball release box when a golf club head is detected approaching said smart portable golf ball dispenser. Each golf swing is recorded on video and can be played back in slow motion on a smart phone. The speed of each ball strike is calculated. Golf swing videos and ball strike data are stored in a smart phone through said smart phone APP.

18. A smart portable golf ball dispenser as in claim 13, wherein said tilt sensor determines whether said smart portable golf ball dispenser is leveled, and said three height-adjustable feet can automatically adjust to make said smart portable golf ball dispenser leveled. Said group of weight sensors assist the calculation of the number of golf balls in said smart portable golf ball dispenser. Said LED display module displays golf swing and ball strike practice information such as the number of balls in said smart portable golf ball dispenser, the number of ball strikes in a practice session, ball speed.

19. A smart portable golf ball dispenser as in claim 13, wherein said golf ball container, said golf ball regulator, said ball release box, and said rotary switch plate are assembled in a manner that allows each component to be replaced individually in the event of malfunction or for upgrades.