Patent Application
20230031330
This disclosure relates to machines located on golf courses. More particularly, this disclosure relates to machines for cleaning golf balls on golf courses.
When playing golf, golf balls eventually get dirty with use. Cleaning them, either during or following use is desirable for various reasons, including enhanced ability to spot the ball on a golf course fairway, the rough, or in a sand trap.
Certain techniques are known for cleaning golf balls. For instance, following use, they may be cleaned at home using homemade soap (detergent solutions). However, it may be more desirable to clean a golf ball during use, while playing on a golf course.
Various mechanical means exist for cleaning golf balls while on golf courses. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,807,037 to Garske teaches a mechanical apparatus, wherein a helical paddle with a handle at its end extends into a tank, the paddle having an oblong opening to accommodate a golf ball. The tank includes a pair of stationary brushes having bristles extending radially inwardly. When not in use, the paddle fully extends into the tank. To use the apparatus, a user pulls the handle upwardly to place the golf ball into the paddle opening, then pushes the handle downwardly, which causes the helical paddle to rotate within the tank, such that the golf ball engages the bristles of the stationary brushes. Pulling the handle upwardly again causes rotation of the helical paddle and causes further engagement of the golf ball with the bristles. With the paddle pulled upwardly to its limit, the user can retrieve the cleaned golf ball from the paddle opening and then restore the paddle to its original position. A liquid cleaning agent can be deposited into the tank prior to use, to promote further cleaning of the golf ball during operation of the apparatus. For further example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,876,473 to Fox teaches a golf ball washer attached to a golf pull cart.
Certain other golf ball cleaning apparatuses employ motors to clean golf balls automatically. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,805,251 to Hollrock teaches a golf ball washer for cleaning numerous golf balls at the same time, though intended for use by golf course operators to provide clean golf balls for customers. A tank comprised of a lower section and a hinged cover contains water or a cleaning solution and a track-defining member supporting track segments that cooperate with track segments on the inside of the cover. Golf balls are fed from a storage bin through an opening in the cover, where they each enter the tank via the tracks formed by the track segments with the cover in the closed position. A single, cylindrical brush extends into the tank, with its axis of rotation parallel to the longitudinal direction of the tank, the brush driven to rotate about its axis by a motor. As the brush rotates, each ball is guided in the formed tracks in a generally helical path along the brush until it exits the tank via an exit chute, which guides each washed ball into a receptacle such as a golf ball bucket.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,806,122 to Bogle et al. teaches a mobile motor-driven ball cleaner, more particularly, an automatic golf ball washer caddy that can be placed on surfaces such as a golf cart, and that cleans one golf ball at a time. The motor can be either battery-powered or solar-powered. The caddy supports a housing defining an internal chamber in which stationary brushes are mounted, a lower housing passage spanned by a flexible diaphragm, and a drain opening through which a cleaning liquid solution can be dispensed into the internal chamber without tipping the housing. The caddy further includes a removable cover fitting over an upper end of the housing, with a spring attached to an inside surface of the cover, the spring extending downwardly into the housing when the cover is attached. To clean a golf ball, a user removes the cover, places the golf ball inside the housing, replaces the cover, and turns on a switch to activate the motor. Through various linkages, the motor causes vertical reciprocation of a head that can push upwardly on the diaphragm and then lower it. Such reciprocation acts on the golf ball, which engages the brushes to affect cleaning of the golf ball. To retrieve the cleaned ball, the user must again remove the cover to extricate the cleaned ball from the housing.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,151,395 to Grotsch teaches a motorized golf ball cleaning device, mounted on a stand and comprising an upper housing and a lower housing hinged to one another. The lower housing defines a cavity, which accepts a reservoir for containing cleaning fluid. A pair of axially-separated rotary brushes, driven by electrical motors, are journaled within a cleaning mechanism mounted in the upper housing, such that when the device is in a closed position, the bushes are partially immersed into the cleaning fluid. The motors are powered by a rechargeable battery, charged with a solar cell array mounted atop the upper housing. A feeder, having a knob at its proximal end, is slidably received within a feeder channel that communicates with an interior of the upper housing, and an opening within the feeder accommodates the golf ball to be cleaned. When the feeder is pushed downwardly along the channel to its limit, a sensor in the cleaning mechanism detects the presence of the golf ball and activates the motors to rotate the brushes for a predetermined time, such as 8 seconds. The feeder is then pulled manually (via the knob) to an open position to extract the ball from the feeder via an exit guide.
It is to be understood that this summary is not an extensive overview of the disclosure. This summary is exemplary and not restrictive. The purpose of this summary is to explain and exemplify certain concepts of the disclosure as an introduction to the following complete and extensive detailed description.
In an aspect of the present disclosure, a solar-powered golf ball washer comprises at least one brush; a motor interconnected through a link with the at least one brush, the motor configured to blow air through an air tube into a porous conduit section to push a golf ball in said porous conduit section past the at least one brush via the link upon activation of the motor; a conduit having a porous inlet section and a non-porous outlet section, wherein the porous conduit is configured to conduct a golf ball by motor-blown air and gravity from the inlet end to the outlet end, and wherein the porous conduit is positioned in operable relation to the at least one brush, such that the at least one brush can contact the golf ball as the golf ball moves through the porous conduit section; a cleaning fluid outlet positioned in operable relation to the porous conduit section, wherein the cleaning fluid outlet is configured to supply cleaning fluid that can permeate the porous conduit and that can contact the golf ball as it moves through the porous conduit; and a solar power circuit in electrical communication with the motor, the solar power circuit configured to supply power to the motor.
In another aspect of the present disclosure, a method of washing a golf ball comprises the steps of dropping the golf ball into an inlet of a conduit having a porous section and a non-porous section, said porous section configured to conduct the golf ball downwardly by gravity toward an outlet of the porous conduit; triggering, by movement of the golf ball through the porous conduit, activation of a motor configured to blow air through an air tube into the porous section of the conduit to push the golf ball by the at least one brush; causing one or more bristles of the at least one brush to extend through a pore in the porous conduit; bringing the golf ball into contact with the one or more bristles of the at least one brush at a point along the porous conduit; supplying a cleaning fluid to the at least one brush to promote cleaning of the golf ball by the one or more bristles; pushing the golf ball by air flow generated by the motor into the non-porous section of the conduit toward an outlet end of the conduit; supplying power to the motor with a solar power circuit; and collecting the golf ball at the outlet of the conduit, wherein the golf ball when so collected is in a cleaner condition than that which existed when the golf ball was first dropped into the inlet end of the conduit.
Various implementations described in the present disclosure can comprise additional systems, methods, features, and advantages, which may not necessarily be expressly disclosed herein but will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art upon examination of the following detailed description and accompanying drawings. It is intended that all such systems, methods, features, and advantages be included within the present disclosure and protected by the accompanying claims. The features and advantages of such implementations can be realized and obtained by means of the systems, methods, and features particularly pointed out in the appended claims. These and other features will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims, or can be learned by the practice of such exemplary implementations as set forth hereinafter.
The features and components of the following figures are illustrated to emphasize the general principles of the present disclosure. Corresponding features and components throughout the figures can be designated by matching reference characters for the sake of consistency and clarity.
Although the conventional golf ball washers of the types described in the foregoing Background section may be suitable to achieve their intended purposes, each such device requires that the user touch a least a portion of the device to accomplish various device purposes. With the onset of COVID-19 in 2020, however, a need exists in the art to provide a ball washer that does not require the user to touch the device, so as to minimize the spread of COVID-19 and other pathogens among golfers who would use the same golf ball washer.
The present disclosure can be understood more readily by reference to the following detailed description, examples, drawings, and claims, and their previous and following description. However, before the present devices, systems, and/or methods are disclosed and described, it is to be understood that this disclosure is not limited to the specific devices, systems, and/or methods disclosed unless otherwise specified, and as such can, of course, vary. It is also to be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular aspects only and is not intended to be limiting.
The following description is provided as an enabling teaching of the present devices, systems, and/or methods in their best, currently known aspect. To this end, those skilled in the relevant art will recognize and appreciate that many changes can be made to the various aspects described herein, while still obtaining the beneficial results of the present disclosure. It will also be apparent that some of the desired benefits of the present disclosure can be obtained by selecting some of the features of the present disclosure without utilizing other features. Accordingly, those who work in the art will recognize that many modifications and adaptations to the present disclosure are possible and can even be desirable in certain circumstances and are a part of the present disclosure. Thus, the following description is provided as illustrative of the principles of the present disclosure and not in limitation thereof.
Reference numerals common to more than one accompanying figure identify the same component throughout the figures.
As used throughout, the singular forms “a,” “an” and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to a quantity of one of a particular element can comprise two or more such elements unless the context indicates otherwise.
Ranges can be expressed herein as from “about” one particular value, and/or to “about” another particular value. When such a range is expressed, another aspect comprises from the one particular value and/or to the other particular value. Similarly, when values are expressed as approximations, by use of the antecedent “about” or “substantially,” it will be understood that the particular value forms another aspect. It will be further understood that the endpoints of each of the ranges are significant both in relation to the other endpoint, and independently of the other endpoint.
For purposes of the present disclosure, a material property or dimension measuring about X or substantially X on a particular measurement scale measures within a range between X plus an industry-standard upper tolerance for the specified measurement and X minus an industry-standard lower tolerance for the specified measurement. Because tolerances can vary between different materials, processes and between different models, the tolerance for a particular measurement of a particular component can fall within a range of tolerances.
As used herein, the terms “optional” or “optionally” mean that the subsequently described event or circumstance may or may not occur, and that the description comprises instances where said event or circumstance occurs and instances where it does not.
The word “or” as used herein means any one member of a particular list and also comprises any combination of members of that list.
To simplify the description of various elements disclosed herein, the conventions of “top,” “bottom,” “side,” “upper,” “lower,” “horizontal,” and/or “vertical” may be referenced. Unless stated otherwise, “top” describes that side of the system or component that is facing upward and “bottom” is that side of the system or component that is opposite or distal the top of the system or component and is facing downward. Unless stated otherwise, “side” describes that an end or direction of the system or component facing in horizontal direction. “Horizontal” or “horizontal orientation” describes that which is in a plane aligned with the horizon. “Vertical” or “vertical orientation” describes that which is in a plane that is angled at 90 degrees to the horizontal.
For purposes of describing the preferred embodiment, the terminology used in reference to the numbered items in the drawings is as follows:
Referring to the drawings,
It should be emphasized that the above-described aspects are merely possible examples of implementations, merely set forth for a clear understanding of the principles of the present disclosure. Many variations and modifications can be made to the above-described aspect(s) without departing substantially from the spirit and principles of the present disclosure. Further, the scope of the present disclosure is intended to cover any and all combinations and sub-combinations of all elements, features, and aspects discussed above. All such modifications and variations are intended to be included herein within the scope of the present disclosure, and all possible claims to individual aspects or combinations of elements or steps are intended to be supported by the present disclosure.
