FR2679144A1 - Golf tee made from friable material - Google Patents

Abstract

The subject of the present invention is a golf tee made from friable material. It consists of a tee made from a moulded material, which is, on the one hand, biodegradable through the action of moisture caused by irrigation or rain, and, on the other hand, sufficiently friable so that striking with the club causes it to shatter with a direct hit, the foot (4) of the tee being capable of being replaced by a tripod for ground which is too hard to enable it to be driven in. It relates to accessories for the game of golf which are intended to raise the ball above the ground and to hold it in position in order to facilitate its striking with a club.

Description

FRIABLE MATERIAL GOLF TEE
The present invention relates to a golf tee made of friable material.

 It relates to accessories for golf game intended to raise the ball above the ground and to maintain it in position to facilitate its striking with a club.

 Golf tees in general use consist of a head with a hollow upper surface, with an upwardly directed concavity, on which the ball is placed, and of a pointed end, intended to be inserted into the ground.

 To date, the tees are made either of turned wood or plastic When a player on the teeing ground of a hole wants to throw his ball using a club, he starts by planting a tee in the ground, put the ball on it and hit it with the appropriate club. In shock, the tee is usually broken in half or folded, which means it can usually only be used once. Normally the unusable tee is supposed to be picked up by the user in order to throw it in a trash can, but unfortunately, only professional or particularly disciplined players take this trouble, so that the starting areas are very often polluted by very many pieces of wood or plastic abandoned by successive players.

 Unlike those made of plastic, wooden tees end up rotting and integrating into generally earthy soil, but their method of manufacture makes them relatively expensive.

 Another disadvantage of the current tees is due to the fact that they can be torn off by striking the club, instead of being broken, which can significantly reduce the precision of the stroke and modify the trajectory, and even, in the long run, damage the head of some clubs.

 The device according to the present invention eliminates all these drawbacks. Indeed, not only does it completely remove pollution from the environment, but even fertilizes the soil of the starting area, while ensuring better typing precision, as well as a very reasonable cost price for the tee, and by sparing the head of the clubs.

 It consists of a tee made of a molded material, on the one hand biodegradable under the action of humidity caused by watering or rain, and, on the other hand, sufficiently brittle for the club to strike make it pop for sure, the base of the tee can be replaced by a tripod for floors that are too hard to allow it to sink.

In the accompanying drawings, given by way of nonlimiting example of one of the embodiments of the subject of the invention
FIG. 1 represents a tee of conventional shape with a foot which can be inserted into the ground.

 Figure 2 shows a vriante of the tee of Figure 1, with a shoulder to ensure the ball a precise height above the ground.

 Figure 3 shows a tripod tee for hard floors.

 The device, FIGS. 1 and 2, consists of a commonly shaped tee formed by a head 1 with an upper surface 2 with a concavity turned upwards, suitable for receiving and immobilizing a golf ball 3, and a pointed end foot 5 intended to be driven into the ground 6.

 The foot 5 may optionally include a shoulder 7 allowing the tee to be driven into the ground to a predetermined depth, without trial and error.

 The body of the device is made by molding a mixture of powdery natural materials and a natural or inert dye, with a water-soluble and non-toxic binder.

 The pulverulent materials can be based on sand, sawdust, chalk, or the like. It is advantageous to add to the mixture a fertilizing product such as potting soil or fertilizer.

 The dye will advantageously be brown or green, that is to say a color allowing the pieces of abandoned tee to be practically invisible in the grass or on the ground.

 The composition of the powder mixture, as well as the binder, are determined so that the material obtained after molding is sufficiently brittle so that the tee thus produced certainly bursts into pieces when the ball 3 hits the club, all being strong enough to allow the foot 4 to sink into running soil.

 At the first shower, or during the first watering of the golf course, the water-soluble binder will be dissolved and the powdery components will be entrained in the soil, as well as the fertilizer possibly provided in the manufacturing mixture.

 Due to the friability of the material of the tee according to the invention, it cannot be driven into very hard soil. For this case, a variant is provided in which the stand 4 is replaced by a tripod 8 (FIG. 3) allowing the tee to be simply placed on the ground.

 The positioning of the various constituent elements gives the object of the invention a maximum of useful effects which had not, to date, been obtained by similar devices.

Claims (4)

 1 "Golf tee in friable material, intended to raise a golf ball above the ground and to keep it in position to facilitate its striking with a club, characterized in that the tee is made of a molded material, d '' on the one hand biodegradable under the action of humidity brought about by watering or rain, and, on the other hand, sufficiently brittle so that the striking of the ball (3) by a club would certainly burst the tee in pieces, while being strong enough to allow the foot (4) to sink into common soil (6).  2 "Device according to claim 1, characterized in that, for hard floors the foot of the tee is a tripod (8) for simply placing said tee on the ground.  3 Device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the body of the tee is manufactured by molding a mixture of powdery natural materials such as sand, sawdust, chalk or the like and a natural or inert dye preferably brown or green, with a water-soluble and non-toxic binder.  4 "Device according to claim 3, characterized in that a fertilizing product such as potting soil or fertilizer is added to the mixture of pulverulent products and dye.