GB2140311A - Golf practice apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

The apparatus comprises a generally conical net 12 and multi-part frame 10, 11. A golf ball driven into the conical net through its open end comes into contact with the netting, is decelerated, and then rolls down the sloping netting back to the golfer. Safety wings 14, 15 capture badly hooked or sliced shots. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Golf practice apparatus BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION.

1. Field of the Invention.

This invention relates to a golf practice apparatus.

2. Description of the Prior Art.

It is known for professional golf players to make use, for example, of an existing or purpose-built building associated with a golf course for instruction of golfers and for providing practice facilities for golfers. In such a building, flexible and free-hanging sheet material (for example, netting) is suspended in order to enable a golfer to demonstrate or practice virtually all of the various kinds of shots which may be required during a round of golf.

A disadvantage of any golf practice arrangement which comprises such suspended flexible sheet material into which a golf ball can be driven and by which the struck golf ball will be decelerated is that the ball will simply fall substantially vertically downwards to the ground at the foot of the suspended material.

Retrieval of the ball(s) wastes time and energy.

Moreover, most amateur golfers will not have any practice facilities outside of those which the "pro" provides at the golf club.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION.

In accordance with the present invention, netting, specially prepared in approximately conical form, is suspended in such a manner as to present a horizontally supported cone.

The open mouth of the cone is directed towards the golfer and the closed end of the cone is farther away from the golfer than the open mouth thereof and is kept at a level above ground-level or floor-level. A golf ball struck by a golf club will travel through the open mouth of the cone and will make contact with the netting wall of the cone, becoming retarded thereby and also possibiy guided thereby towards the closed end of the cone.

The ball will ultimately be brought, momentarily, to a standstill and will thereafter roll outwardly towards the open mouth along the netting wall and through the open mouth to a location on the ground or floor near to the golfer or to a location which will make retrieval a much less time-consuming task.

In one embodiment, the golf practice apparatus includes a purpose-built frame for the support of said netting cone. The frame may have feet to provide stability or it may include fixing means (e.g. stakes or pegs which can be driven into the ground) which will provide stability, or said feet may be pegged or staked to provide stability.

The frame can be dismantled quickly and simply into easily-stored relatively small components.

The cone may have extension wings which will reduce the hazard which might result from badly hooked or sliced shots.

Thus, the invention provides a golf practice apparatus which will be a useful and inexpensive tool not only for the "pro" to use indoors or outdoors for instruction and/or practice but also for the keen amateur to use indoors or outdoors.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic front elevation view, looking in the direction indicated by the arrow A in Fig. 2, of one embodiment of a golf practice apparatus according to the invention; Figure 2 is a side elevation of said apparatus; Figure 3 is a rear elevation, looking in the direction indicated by the arrow B in Fig. 2, of said apparatus; Figure 4 is a plan view of said apparatus; Figure 5 is a perspective view of a generally preferred embodiment of a golf practice apparatus according to the invention; and Figures 6 to ii illustrate the forms of the components which, in suitable numbers, are assembled to make the supporting frame which is illustrated in Fig. 5.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODI MENT.

Figs. 1 to 4 of the drawings are simple to understand and illustrate a supporting frame which consists of an arched part 10 and another part 11 which acts as a stay to keep the arched part upright; the arched part 10 may also be described herein as the first part of said frame and the other part 11 may also be described herein as the second part of said frame.

A number of triangular panels of flexible material, preferably netting having a fairly small mesh, is joined -to one another in order to create a device 1 2 which has a widemouthed open end. A part of the periphery of said open end is directly connected to the arched part 10. The device 1 2 also has a closed end which is connected at 1 3 to the other part 11 at a suitable level above ground or floor level. The remainder of the periphery of said open end lies on the ground or floor.

It is preferred for safety wings 14, 1 5 to be provided in order to ensure that badly sliced or hooked shots do not travel clear of the apparatus.

The netting thus connected to the supporting frame defines a re-entrant cavity which is generally horizontal and which is generally conical (see Figs. 2 and 4). At least the upper portion 16 (Fig. 2) of the netting is deliberately allowed to sag in the manner which is best illustrated in Fig. 2, the purpose of the sagging being to provide the maximum rate of deceleration of a golf ball which is driven into said cavity.In Fig. 2, even the lower portion 1 7 of the netting is shown sagging but, as will be apparent from Fig. 5, said lower portion 1 7 can be tautened at least to some extent by connecting panels 1 8 not only to the respective bottom edges of the wings 14, 1 5 but also to that part of the periphery of the open end of the netting which is not directly connected to the arched part 10 of the supporting frame. It will be understood, from an inspection of Fig. 5, that when the two wings 14, 1 5 are pegged out the panels 18 will also become stretched out so as to lie on the ground or floor and this stretching of the panels 1 8 will result in a tautening of the lower portion 1 7 of the netting.

The supporting frame is made of relatively short lengths of tubing (of metal or of a plastics material) which can be interconnected in any suitable manner. The spaces feet of the arched part 10 and the foot of the other part 11 may be provided with spikes suitable for pushing into a lawn. Other mounting means may be provided for connection to the free ends of the arched and other parts if the apparatus is to be used on hard surfaces such for example as hard tennis courts, concrete, or wooden floors; thus for example, said other mounting means could take the form of sandfilled or water-filled flat-bottomed containers having upwardly directed spigots which extend into the lower tubular end portions of the arched part 10 and of the other part 11.

Referring to Figs. 5 to 11, a particularly advantageous embodiment of the golf practice apparatus according to the present invention will now be described in detail. The device 1 2 is connected to the supporting frame, which consists of the arched part 10 and the other part 11, by means of ties 20 which are tied in the same manner as shoelaces, and the free ends 21 of the wings 14, 1 5 with their integral panels 18 are then secured to the ground by means of pegs 22.

The supporting frame illustrated in Fig. 5 is, of course, previously assembled by using appropriate quantities of the components shown in Figs. 6 to 11. Thus, a full golf practice apparatus kit for use outside on the ground includes, in addition to the netting : (a) one centre T-section 30 (Fig. 11); (b) four identical cranked sections 40 (Fig.

6); (c) one straight stay section 50 (Fig. 9); (d) one cranked section 60 (Fig. 10); (e) three idential straight sections 70 (Fig.

7); (f) three identical foot sections 80 (Fig. 8); and (g) eight identical pegs of known kind (not illustrated) for driving into the ground.

The T-section 30 comprises a length of square-section tube 31 cranked at 32 and connected (for example, by welding) by one end thereof to a length of said tube 33, the tube size in each case being seven-eighths of an inch. Said one end of the tube 31 is, therefore, closed by the tube 33. A length of square-section tube having a size of threequarters of inch extends through and is spotwelded to the tube 33 in such a manner as to provide two projecting spigots 34. The free end 35 of the T-section 30 is open and provides a socket.

Each cranked section 40 is made of squaresection tube, size seven-eights of an inch, and has a length of three-quarters inch tube extending into and spot-welded in one end thereof in order to form a spigot 41. The section 40 is cranked at three spaced positions 42, 43, 44, the angle X in the case of each crank being 165t or as near to 15 as is feasible. The end 45, opposite to the end having the spigot 41, is open and provides a socket.

The straight stay section 50 is made of square-section tube 51, size seven-eighths of an inch, and has a length of three-quarters inch tube extending into and spot-welded in one end thereof in order to form a spigot 52.

The end 53 of the tube 51 is open and forms a socket.

The cranked section 60 is made of squaresection tube 61, size seven-eighths of an inch, which is cranked at 62, 63 and which has an eyelet 64 welded thereto. Each end of said section is provided with a respective spigot 65, 66 of three-quarters inch tube secured in the manner already described above for the spigots 41, 52.

Each straight section 70 consists of squaresection tube 71 of size seven-eighths of an inch both of whose ends 72, 73 are open and provide sockets.

Each foot section 80 is of square-section tube 81 of size seven-eighths of an inch to one surface of which there is welded, at about the mid-length point of the tube 81, a short length of square-section tube 82, of size three-quarters inch, in order to form a spigot which (in use of the foot) extends vertically upwards. It will be noted that, as drawn, end portions 83, 84 are slightly cranked for the purpose of accommodating slight unevenness of the ground. Each end portion 83, 84 is provided with aligned drilled holes 85 in order to permit the extension therethrough of the straight portions of the securing pegs referred to above.

Assembly of the components described above with reference to Figs. 6 to 11 is as follows:- The spigots 34 of the T-section 30 are inserted into the socket ends of two sections 40, care being taken to ensure that the manner in which said sections curve is the same in each case and also to ensure that said sections 40 lie flat on the ground. Care should also be taken to ensure that the por tion 36 (Fig. 11) of the T-section 30 extends approximately perpendicularly upwardly from the ground when the spigots 34 are inserted into the socket ends of the sections 40.

Next, the remaining two sections 40 are connected to the first-mentioned two sections 40 by introducing the spigots 41 of said firstmentioned sections 40 into the respective socket ends of the second-mentioned sections 40. Thus, interconnected, the four sections 40 will form a semi-circular arch due to the angles of cranking.

Thereafter, the socket ends of two of the straight sections 70 are pushed onto the respective spigots 41 of said second-mentioned sections 40.

Then, the spigots 82 of two of the foot sections 80 are pushed into the respective remaining socket ends of the sections 70; in carrying out these steps, and bearing in mind that (prior to those steps) the whole arch comprising the interconnected sections 40 and 70 is lying flat on the-ground, care should be taken to ensure that the free end of one of the end portions 83, 84 of each foot section is in contact with the ground, the free end of the other one of said end portion of each foot section being as a result up in the air.

The partially assembled frame can now be pulled into an upright position because it will be able to stand on its horizontally spacedapart foot sections.

The stay section 50 can now be picked up and its spigot 52 can be pushed into the socket end 35 of the T-section 30.

Next, the spigot 65 of the section 60 is inserted into the socket end 53 of the section 50, care being taken to ensure that the eyelet 64 is directed upwardly and therefore that the spigot 66 is pointing towards the ground.

The remaining foot section 80 can then be placed so that its spigot 82 is approximately aligned with the spigot 66 and the respective socket ends of the remaining stright section 70 are caused to engage said spigots 66, 82.

The frame is now complete and the netting is attached thereto, beginning with the tie which is conveniently identified and which is to be connected to the arch at or near the tube 33; this is done to ensure that the wings 14, 1 5 will be correctly placed. The closed end of the netting is connected to the frame by threading one half of the respective tie through the eyelet 64 and tying the bow. The position of the eyelet 64 on the frame corresponds to the fixing position 1 3 in Fig. 2.

Lastly, the pegs are driven into the ground through the six holes 85 in the three foot sections 80, and the free ends 21 of the wings 14, 1 5 are fixed to the ground by the remaining two pegs which have been identified in Fig. 5 by the reference numerals 22.

In practice, it may be preferred to secure the foot sections of the frame to the ground before trying to connect the netting to the frame, particularly on a windy day.

The supporting frame could be omitted and the device 1 2 (with or without the wings 14, 15) could be put up, for example, in a garage of the kind which is integral with or detached from thousands of homes.

A golf ball struck by a golf club (preferably from a ball position which is within the confines of the safety wings, namely, a position between the open end of the conical net and the imaginary line joining the pegged ends of the safety wings) will travel into the re-entrant cavity and will be quickly decelerated, probably reaching the closed end of the device 12.

Thereafter, the ball will roll down the slope which is created by attaching the closed end to the frame at the eyelet 64. The ball is usually returned to the player.

With appropriate machinery, it would be possible to form the respective ends of the seven-eighths inch tubes into spigots 34, 41, 52, 65 and 66 which are integral with the remainder of the tube; this would eliminate the various spot-welding steps and the steps of cutting three-quarter inch tube into the lengths required to form the spigots which are illustrated in the drawings. The only foreseeable snag to such integral spigots is that, in use, the outwardly flaring joining portions may become very tightly jammed into the socket ends of the respective tubes, thereby making it more difficult to dismantle the frame.

We have tried using circular-section tubes for the frame components and, with suitable locking devices, these would be satisfactory.

Without the locking devices (which would be an additional expense), the frame does tend to be less firm or stable than the frame described with reference to Figs. 6 to 11. The interconnected square-section components are, of couse, quite unable to rotate about their respective longitudinal axes relatively to one another and this is why we prefer the squaresection tubes to circular-section tubes.

It has been stated above that the device 1 2 is made by joining triangular panels to one another. Of course, it may be desirable to make the device 1 2 seamless (for example by knitting or to make said device with only one seam. The seam or seams may be sewn or (if the netting is made of the appropriate material) could be created by fusion of the material under the influence of heat or ultra sonically and so on.

It must be made clear that the relative sizes of the various sections illustrated in Figs. 6 to 11 are not accurate; thus, by way of example, each section 70 might be four feet in length whereas each foot section might be one and a half feet overall in length.

Claims (10)

1. A golf practice apparatus which con sists of a generally conical device made of flexible sheet material; said device having an open end and a closed end; first means associated with a part of said open end and permissive of the releasable connection of said part of the open end to support means; second means associated with said closed end and permissive of the releasable connection of said closed end to support means at a position above ground/floor level in order to create a slope of said material; whereby said conical device when so connected to said support means provides a re-entrant cavity into which a golf ball, struck by a golf club, will travel at speed into contact with said flexible sheet material which will decelerate said ball which will return to the golfer by rolling down said slope.

2. A golf practice apparatus which comprises, in combination, a supporting frame standing on the ground/floor; a device made of flexible sheet material and mounted on said supporting frame; an open end of said device and a closed end of said device, said material extending from said open end to said closed end and defining a generally conical re-entrant cavity; first means at said open end of the device and releasably securing one part of said open end to the supporting frame in such a manner that another part of said open end lies on the ground/floor; second means at said closed end of the device and releasably securing said closed end to the supporting frame at a location thereon which is horizontally spaced from the location of securing of the open end and which is above the level of said ground/floor;; that portion of the flexible sheet material which extends from said closed end towards said open end and which terminates in said other part which lies on the ground/floor constituting a slope; whereby a golf ball, struck by a golf club, will travel at speed into the re-entrant cavity and will make contact with and be decelerated by said flexible sheet material and will finally roll down said slope towards and through said open end.

3. An apparatus as claimed in Claim 2, wherein said supporting frame is a multi-part collapsible frame.

4. An apparatus as claimed in Claim 2, which further includes safety wings attached to said open and extending therefrom in directions away from said closed end, said safety wings also being made of said flexible sheet material.

5. A golf practice apparatus which comprises, in combination, a free-standing frame and a device made of flexible sheet material and mounted on said frame; a first part of said frame and a second part of said frame; horizontally spaced feet on said first part which has the form of an arch, the plane containing the arch being at least approximately vertical; at least one foot on said second part, said at least one foot being horizontally spaced from each of the horizontally spaced feet of the first part; said flexible sheet material defining a generally conical re-entrant cavity which has an open end and a closed end; first releasable fastening means spaced from one another along a part of the periphery of said open end and engaging said arched first part of the frame;; another part of the periphery of said open end lying on the ground/floor between the hoizontally spaced feet of said first part; second releasable fastening means at said closed end and engaging said second part of the frame at a location on said second part which is above ground/floor level in order to create a slope of said flexible sheet material, which slope extends from said closed end and terminates at said other part of the periphery of the open end.

6. An apparatus as claimed in Claim 5, wherein said free-standing frame is a multipart and collapsible.

7. An apparatus as claimed in Claim 6, wherein the parts of said multi-part frame are tubular.

8. An apparatus as claimed in Claim 7, wherein said tubular parts are of rectangular cross-sectional shape.

9. An apparatus as claimed in Claim 5, including safety wings attached to said device; each safety wing being approximately triangular and being attached by one of its sides to a respective one of corresponding portions of the part of the periphery of said open end along which are spaced said first releasable fastening means; another of the sides of the safety wing being at least close to the ground/floor; third releasable fastening means securing the free end of the triangular wing to the ground/floor at a location such that said wing extends from said open end of the device in a direction away from the closed end of the device.

10. An apparatus as claimed in Claim 5, wherein said flexible sheet material is net.