GB2386564A

GB2386564A - Collapsible golf yardage marker

Info

Publication number: GB2386564A
Application number: GB0206937A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Ralph Bruce
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2002-03-23
Filing date: 2002-03-23
Publication date: 2003-09-24
Anticipated expiration: 2022-03-23
Also published as: GB2386564B; GB0206937D0

Abstract

A ground marker 10 comprises a body member 12 that can be implanted in the ground and a marker member 14,16 that is movable relative to the body member between a raised position in which the marker member projects above the ground and a lowered position in which the marker is generally flush with the ground. A gas strut 18 or the like biases the marker member towards the raised position and damps or delays movement of the marker member from its lowered position to its raised position. The delayed extension to its raised position prevents damage from the cutting blades of grass mowers as they pass over the markers and depress the marker. The marker member cap (16 figure 4) may be flat to enable the cap to be held eg by the roller of a grass mower and remain in the depressed position for a longer period of time.

Description

TITLE Ground Markers, such as Golf Yardage Markers DESCRIPTION

This invention relates to ground markers. The invention was originally conceived as a golf yardage (or distance) marker, but it may have other applications.

It is known to provide markers along a fairway of a golf course to assist golfers in judging the distance to the centre of the green and therefore in selecting the appropriate club to 5 use for their next shot. However, with a simple marker, such as a colour-coded post, problems are caused to the golf course groundsman when mowing the grass of the fairway, because it is necessary either to remove the marker post temporarily or to mow around it. This problem has' been considered in the past, for example see patent document US-A-5340103 and the prior art

mentioned in that document. US-A-5340103 describes a yardage marker having a complex 10 structure. Portions of the marker normally project above ground level but can collapse level with the ground when run over by a mowing machine.

The present invention, or at least a specific embodiment of it, seeks to provide a simpler ground marker that is less susceptible to damage from a mowing machine.

The present invention provides a ground marker comprising: a body member that can be 15 implanted in the ground; a marker member that is movable relative to the body member between a raised position in which the marker member projects above the ground and a lowered position in which the marker member is generally flush with the ground; means for biasing the marker member towards its raised position; and means for damping or delaying movement of the marker member from its lowered position to its raised position.

20 Cylinder mowers are generally used for cutting the grass on a golf course, and typically the mower has a leading roller ahead of the cutting cylinder. With the present invention, such a roller can serve to depress the marker member to its lowered position, and the damping/delaying means can serve to prevent return, or complete return, of the marker member to its raised position until after the cutting blades have passed over the marker member.

25 Accordingly, the risk of damage to the marker member by the cutting blades is reduced.

- 2 Preferably, the biasing means and damping/delaying means operate such that, once the marker member is released from its lowered position, the time taken for the marker to reach its raised position is at least three seconds, more preferably at least five seconds, and even more preferably at least eight seconds.

5 The damping/delaying means may provide substantially one-way damping of the marker member, i.e. with no significant damping of the downward movement of the marker member, so as to reduce the stresses in the marker when it is suddenly depressed by the passing roller.

In one simple construction of the ground marker, the marker member is mounted in the body member for generally vertical sliding movement between its raised and lowered positions.

10 Preferably, the marker member comprises a plunger portion and a cap portion releasable attached to the plunger portion. Accordingly, an appropriately coloured or marked cap portion can be fitted to the ground marker, and should the cap portion be damaged it can be replaced without disturbing the remainder of the device Preferably, the marker member has a domed upper surface.

15 Preferably, the body member has an external diameter, over the majority of its length, of between about 106 mm and 109 mm. Accordingly, the body member can be fitted into a hole made by a conventional tool for forming a standard sized golf hole.

In one embodiment, the biasing means and damping/delaying means are provided by a gas strut.

20 Specific embodiments of the present invention will now be described, purely by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figures 1A to 1C are side views of the main components of a first embodiment of yardage marker, namely a body (Figure 1A - sectioned), a plunger (Figure 1B sectioned), a cap (Figure 1C - sectioned), and a gas strut (Figure lD - not 25 sectioned); Figure 2 is a sectioned side view of the yardage marker implanted in the ground in its raised position; Figure 3 is a side view, sectioned on the right, of the yardage marker In its lowered position; and

- 3 Figure 4 is a sectioned side view of another embodiment of yardage marker in its raised position.

Referring to Figures 1A to 3 of the drawings, a yardage marker 10 comprises a body 12, a plunger 14, a cap 16, and a gas strut 18. The body 12, plunger 14 and cap 16 are formed 5 of moulded plastics material.

The body 12 has a generally cylindrical portion 20 and a dished portion 24 formed around the upper end of the cylindrical portion 20. The cylindrical portion 20 has a bottom wall 22 having a central hole 23. The external diameter DO of the cylindrical portion 20 is between 106 mm and 109 mm. The dished portion 24 has a circumferential lip 26 inclined slightly 10 downwardly. The plunger 14 has a generally cylindrical portion 28 with an upper wall 30 having a' central boss 32 formed with an axial screw-threaded hole 34. The outer diameter D1 of the cylindrical portion 28 of the plunger 14 is slightly less than the inner diameter D2 of the cylindrical portion 20 of the body 12 so that the plunger 14 is a loose sliding fit in the body 12.

15 The cylindrical portion 28 of the plunger 14 has an integral key 36 engaging in a keyway 38 in the cylindrical portion 20 of the body 12 to prevent rotation of the plunger 14 in the body 12.

The cap 16 has a domed shell 40 formed with an integral, downwardlyprojecting, screw-threaded stud 42 engaged in the hole 34 in the upper wall 30 of the plunger 14 so as to secure the cap 16 to the plunger 14. The outer diameter D3 of the shell 40 is slightly less than 20 the inner diameter D4 of the side wall 44 of the dished portion 24 of the body 12 so that the domed shell 40 can be depressed into the dished portion 24. The upper surface of the domed shell is brightly coloured to indicate the distance to the associated golf hole, for example white for 200 yards (183 m), yellow for 150 yards (137 m) and red for 100 yards (91 m).

The gas strut 18 has a cylinder 46 with a screw-threaded stud 48 projecting upwardly 25 from the upper end thereof and a piston rod SO projecting downwardly from the lower end thereof. The stud 48 is secured into the threaded hole 34 in the upper wall 30 of the plunger 14.

The lower end 52 of the piston rod 50 is screw-threaded and has a shoulder 54 immediately above the screw-threaded end 52. The screw- threaded end 52 is secured in the hole 23 in the bottom wall 22 of the body 12 by a nut 56. The gas strut 18 is biased so that it is fully extended 30 in its relaxed state. When the gas strut 18 is compressed in length, it provides negligible damping and predominantly resilient resistance to such compression. When the gas strut 18 is

- 4 - subsequently released, its return to its fully extended state is significantly damped, such that it takes about ten seconds to extend by 25 truth.

Referring in particular to Figure 2, the yardage marker 10 is installed in the ground near the edge of the fairway of a golf course by forming a hole 58 in the ground to a sufficient s depth using a conventional tool for forming a standard sized golf hole. A counterbore 60 is also formed around the hole 58 to receive the dished portion 24 of the body 12. The marker 10, with an appropriately coloured cap 16 fitted, is then pressed downwardly into the hole 58 so that the periphery of the lip 26 is flush with the ground.

In its normal, raised position, as shown in Figure 2, the gas strut 18 in its fully 10 extended state holds the plunger 14 such that the peripheral edge of the domed shell 40 is generally level with the upper edge of the dished portion 24 of the body 12, and so that the centre of the domed shell is about 25 mrn above that level, so as to be visible to golfers in the .. vscmlty. When the grass of the fairway around the yardage marker 10 is mown by a mowing 15 machine having a leading roller followed by a cutting cylinder, the leading roller rolls over the yardage marker 10 before the cutting cylinder passes over. The leading roller serves to depress the cap 16 and plunger 14, against the resilient resistance of the gas strut 18, to their lowered position as shown in Figure 3, in which the centre of the domed shell 40 is level with the upper surface of the dished portion 24 of the body 12. Once the leading roller has passed over the 20 domed shell 40, the cap 16 and plunger 14 begin to rise under the biasing action of the gas strut 18, but significantly damped by the damping action of the gas strut 18 so that, by the time the cutting cylinder of the mowing machine passes over the domed shell 40, the shell 40 has not risen sufficiently to be fouled by the cutting blades. The shell 40 may be subsequently depressed again, for example by a trailing roller of the mowing machine, but after the mowing machine 25 has completely passed over the marker 10, the shell 40 returns to the position shown in Figure 2 in which it is again visible to golfers in the vicinity.

Figure 4 shows a second embodiment of yardage marker 10, and the main differences as compared with the first embodiment will now be described. The cylindrical portion 20 and dished portion 24 are formed as separate members that are bonded together during assembly. A 30 cylindrical tube 66 extends vertically inside the cylindrical portion of the body 12 between the bottom wall 22 the dished member 24. The lower end of the cylinder 46 of the gas strut is fitted with a bearing sleeve 68 that is a sliding fit in the cylinder 66. An annular seal 70 is fitted into a recess in the centre of the dished member 12 and is a sliding fit around the cylinder 46 of tlse

- is -

gas strut. The upper end of the cylinder 46 of the gas strut is fitted with a boot 72 that is a tight push-fit into a socket 74 formed on the underside of the domed shell 40 of the cap 16. The shell 40 of the cap 16, rather than being completely domed, has a central plateau so that the cap 16 is held in its depressed position by the mower roller for a longer period of time.

s Many modifications and developments may be made to the yardage markers 10 described above. For example, the drawings show that drainage holes 62 are formed in the side wall 44 of the dished portion 24, level with the base of the dished portion 24, so that rainwater accumulating in the dished portion 24 may drain away to the surrounding ground. Also, as shown in Figures 2 and 3, a rubber gaiter 64 may be provided between the upper edge of the 10 cylindrical portion 20 of the body 12 and the upper edge of the cylindrical portion 28 of the plunger 14 to prevent the ingress of rainwater, dirt and insects into the cylindrical portion 20 of the body 12.

TV The gas strut 18 that has been described may be an off-the-shelf item. Alternatively, a spring and an a separate damper, such as a one-way air damper, may be employed.

15 Instead of employing damping to delay the return of the domed shell 40 to its raised position, a timer and latching mechanism may be used so that when the cap 16 and plunger 14 are depressed, they are latched in their lowered position for a preset time and are then released.

Alternatively, a friction mechanism, as sometimes used on stays of furniture flaps, may alternatively be used.

20 It should be noted that the embodiment of the invention has been described above purely by way of example and that many other modifications and developments may be made thereto within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

- 6 CLAIMS

1. A ground marker comprising: a body member that can be implanted in the ground; a marker member that is movable relative to the body member between a raised position in which the marker member projects above the ground and a lowered position in which the marker member is generally flush with the ground; means for biasing the marker member towards its 5 raised position; and means for damping or delaying movement of the marker member from its lowered position to its raised position.

2. A ground marker as claimed in claim 1, wherein the biasing means and damping/delaying means operate such that, once the marker member is released from its lowered position, the time taken for the marker to reach its raised position is at least three 10 seconds.

3. A ground marker as claimed in claim 2, wherein said time taken is at least five seconds.

4. A ground marker as claimed in claim 2, wherein said time taken is at least eight seconds.

5. A ground marker as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the damping/delaying 15 means provides substantially one-way damping of the marker member.

6. A ground marker as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the marker member is mounted in the body member for generally vertical sliding movement between its raised and lowered positions.

7 A ground marker as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the marker member 20 comprises a plunger portion and a cap portion releasable attached to the plunger portion.

8. A ground marker as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the marker member has a domed upper surface.

9. A ground marker as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the body member has an external diameter, over the majority of its length, of between about 106 mm and 109 mm.

25

10. A ground marker as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the biasing means and damping/delaying means are provided by a gas strut.

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11. A ground marker as claimed in any preceding claim, installed as a yardage marker on a golf course.

12. A ground marker, substantially as described with reference to the drawings.