GB2450329A

GB2450329A - Golf trolley measuring apparatus

Info

Publication number: GB2450329A
Application number: GB0711799A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Stephen William Butcher; Richard Pontefract
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2007-06-19
Filing date: 2007-06-19
Publication date: 2008-12-24
Also published as: GB0711799D0

Abstract

This invention relates to an apparatus for measuring the distance travelled by a golf trolley and a method relating thereto. The apparatus comprises a sensor unit 24 mountable on a frame (12, fig.1) of the golf trolley and comprising a sensor 25 which monitors the rotation of a wheel of the golf trolley. The sensor 25 is preferably a photoelectric transmitter and receiver. There is also provided a display unit (23) mountable on the frame by the handle (18), and comprising a processing means which processes data received from the sensor and calculates the distance travelled by the wheel, and a display means 59 which displays information relating to the distance travelled by the wheel.

Description

Golf trolley measuring apparatus

Technical field of the Invention

This invention relates to an apparatus for measuring the distance travelled by a golf trolley and a method relating thereto.

Background to the invention

It is important for golfers to know as accurately as possible how far away they are from the green or, if the golfers standard of play is good, the actual hole. The reason for this is as follows. Once golfers have reached a certain standard of play they can be reasonably sure of making a repeatable quality of contact of the club with the ball each time they strike the ball. This means that they know fairly precisely how far each club (for example a 9 iron, 8 iron or 7 iron) will hit the ball. Consequently if golfers know exactly how far away from the green or hole they are, and can chose the club accordingly, they will have a much improved chance of improving their score.

In particular, golfers need to know precisely how far they are away from the is green at all times when they get anywhere within 200 yards of the green. This is because at this distance a golfer is hoping, and often expecting, to actually land the golf ball on the green as opposed to just moving the ball in the general direction of the green, as they do on long holes when initially "teeing off'. At this "200 yards and below" range, each shot becomes more of a precision shot and therefore precise distance is vital.

For this reason many golf clubs provide distance markers. These markers are either in the form of stakes along the sides of the fairway, or discs set into the ground in the centre of the fairway. The stakes or discs are usually colour coded. They are generally set at the following distances from the hole: 200 yards (blue), 150 yards (yellow), 100 yards (red). This means that a golfer has to estimate his position using two reference points 50 yards apart. If the golfer notes that he is between, for example, the 200 and the 150 yard markers, and estimates that he is perhaps half a dozen or so yards closer to the 150 yard marker, then he knows that he has around 165 to 170 yards to go to the hole and chooses the appropriate club.

As each club carried by a golfer hits the ball around 10 yards less in distance than the next rated club for a swing of equal power, a club can be chosen so that the golf ball can usually end up somewhere near the hole.

Devices are known for a golf trolley where a golfer inputs the distance of the hole from the tee. As the trolley travels over the ground it will reduce the input distance to the hole by the distance travelled. However, the accuracy of the distance to the tee depends on the trolley taking a path down the centre of the fairway, as this is the line along which the distance from the tee to the holes are measured, the "measured line". When a golfer is playing fairly well, he will typically hit the ball within 10 yards right or left of this centreline each time, so this known device will work acceptably.

In this case the golfer could simply leave the trolley in the centre of the fairway level with the ball, take the reading, select the club, and then walk over and hit the ball.

After replacing the club in the trolley, the golfer would set off again with the trolley down the centre of the fairway.

However, it frequently occurs that the golfer does not wish to leave the trolley in the centre of the fairway. This is especially the case when the ball is lying on the edge of the fairway or in the rough ground to the side of the fairway. The further the detour away from the centre of the fairway, the greater the distance travelled by the trolley in directions away from the hole, resulting in inaccurate distance readings to the hole.

Furthermore, many holes are arranged such that the golfer, and hence the trolley cannot travel along the measured line to the hole. For example, the golfer may be obliged to take a meandering path to enable him to use a bridge to cross a stream, or to take a gentle path down a slope. In these cases the distance readings will become hugely inaccurate.

An aim of the present invention is to reduce the margin of error in determining a distance of a golfer from the green or hole.

A further aim of the present invention is to provide a measuring apparatus for a golf trolley in which the apparatus is as simple as possible, and the installation and operation of the apparatus is as easy as possible.

Summary of the invention

According to the present invention there is provided an apparatus and method as set forth in the appended claims. Preferred features of the invention will be apparent from the dependent claims, and the description which follows.

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a golf trolley measuring apparatus for measuring the distance travelled by the golf trolley, comprising: a sensor unit mountable on a frame of the golf trolley and comprising a sensor which monitors the rotation of a wheel of the golf trolley; and a display unit mountable on the frame and comprising a processing means which processes data received from the sensor and calculates the distance travelled by the wheel, and a display means which displays information relating to the distance travelled by the wheel.

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of measuring the distance travelled by a golf trolley, comprising; sensing each time a spoke of a wheel passes a sensor; transmitting a signal to a processor each time a spoke is sensed; calculating the distance travelled by the golf trolley from the signals received from the sensor and data relating to the diameter of the wheel and the number of spokes; and calculating and displaying a function of the distance travelled.

The present invention includes any combination of features or limitations as herein referred to.

Brief description of the drawings

For a better understanding of the invention, and to show how embodiments of the same may be carried into effect, reference will now be made, by way of example, to the accompanying diagrammatic drawing, in which: Figures la-c show side, front and top views of a golf trolley equipped with a preferred embodiment of the golf trolley measuring apparatus of the present invention; Figures 2a-c show side and sectional views of the wheel portions of Figure 1; Figures 3a-c show side, end and top views of the sensor unit of Figure 1; Figures 4a-c show top, side and end views of the upper clamp of Figure 2; Figures Sa-c show top, side and end views of the lower clamp of Figure 2; Figures 6a-c show top, side and end views of the socket part of an alternative upper clamp; Figures 7a-c show top, side and end views of the main part of the alternative upper clamp; Figures 8a-c show top, side and end views of a shim for use with the alternative upper clamp; Figures 9a-c show side and sectional views of the golf trolley of an alternative embodiment equipped with the alternative upper clamp and shims; Figures 1 Oa-c show top, side and end views of the display unit of the preferred embodiment; Figure 11 shows a top view of the cradle of the display unit of Figure 10.

DescriDtion of the preferred embodiment Figure 1 shows a golf trolley 10 having a frame 12 and a pair of wheels 14. The frame 12 comprises two support struts 16, each support strut 16 supporting a respective wheel 14. The frame 12 also comprises a handle 18 to enable the golfer to move the golf trolley along the ground, and a golf bag support means 20 for supporting a golf bag (not shown) within which a golfer may store his golf clubs.

A measuring apparatus is provided on the golf trolley 10. The measuring apparatus comprises measuring means 22 located on one of the wheels for measuring distance travelled by the golf trolley 10 and a display unit 23 located on the frame adjacent the handle 18.

The measuring means 22 is shown in more detail in Figure 2. It comprises a sensor unit 24 which is mounted on a support strut 16 by sensor mounting means 27.

The sensor unit 24 is preferably plastic formed. A sensor 25 located in the sensor unit 24 detects the passing before it of each spoke 26 of the wheel 14 as the wheel revolves

S

by detecting the differing light level. The sensor 25 is thus preferably a photoelectric transmitter/receiver. The sensor 24 sends this impulse information by wireless infra-red signalling to a processor within the display unit 23. As the diameter of the wheel 14 is known, and the number of spokes on each wheel is known, the distance covered by each revolution of the wheel 14 can be calculated.

The sensor unit 24 is shown in more detail in Figure 3. The sensor unit 24 is provided with a plastic ball 28 to enable it to be held in a corresponding socket fitting (described below) of the sensor mounting means 27. The sensor unit 24 has a plastic ball 28 formed in both the horizontal and vertical axes enabling the sensor 25 to be fixed at virtually any angle relative to the plane of the wheel, and therefore to suit any design of trolley structure within the wheel axle/support strut area to which it must be fixed.

The sensor unit 24 also contains a battery 29 to power the sensor 25 This arrangement has the advantage that the sensor unit 24 can operate by monitoring the wheel directly, i.e. without the need for attaching anything at all to the wheel of the trolley. For example, no discs or no magnets are required.

The sensor mounting means 27 are shown in detail in Figures 4 and 5 and comprise an upper clamp 30 and a lower clamp 32 to fit around a portion of one of the support struts 16. The upper clamp 30 is provided with a socket 34 for receiving the ball 28 on the sensor unit 24. Machine screws 36 and nuts 38 (see Figure 2) are provided to tightly fit the clamps 30 and 32 around the portion of one of the support struts 16, to position the sensor 25 such that the wheel spokes pass before it. The machine screws 36 may be of any suitable length.

Alternative sensor mounting means are shown in Figures 6 to 8. The upper clamp is formed in two parts, a main clamp part 40 and a socket part 42. The main clamp part 40 is provided with three recesses 44 for receiving corresponding projections 46 on the base of the socket part 42. One or more shims 48 are provided with recesses 49 and projections 50 corresponding to those of the main clamp part 40 and the socket part 42 respectively. These shims 48 may be located between the main clamp part 40 and a socket part 42 in order to give more flexibility in setting the position of the sensor 25. Shims 48 are preferably 5mm, 3mm or 1mm packing shims.

Figure 9 shows the alternative sensor mounting means when mounted to the support strut 16. The alternative sensor mounting means would be required if the design of the particular trolley was such that there was not a convenient part of the trolley structure on which to mount the sensor Unit 24 by the former, simpler sensor mounting means.

The display unit 23 is shown in detail in Figure 10. The display unit 23 comprises a cradle 52, which is fixed to an upper portion of the frame 12 near the handles 18, and a display module 54 which comprises either an L.E.D. or L.C.D.

digital display 59 and a series of buttons 58 for inputting data. The display module 54 further comprises a receiver for receiving impulse data from the sensor 24. The receiver is preferably an infrared receiver. The display module 54 further comprises a processor for carrying out calculations from the impulse data received from the sensor unit 24.

The buttons 58 comprise either a full numeric pad of the digits 0 to 9 (as shown), or fewer multi-function buttons (not shown). These functions would also include clear/cancel, on/off, enter/edit and possibly menu function buttons. In addition there are three special buttons 60 which can override the calculations currently being carried out by the porcessor. The first override button is coloured blue and has the number 200 on it, the second is yellow and has the number 150 on it and the third is red with the number 100 on it.

The processor is adapted to calculate the distance travelled by the trolley from the data received from the transmitter and data input by a user at the time of installation of the measuring device. By providing an "install or setup menu" when first installing the measuring device which asks for both the diameter of the wheel and the number of spokes, the chip inside the processor is able to perform the necessary calculations.

The display 59 shows the distance remaining to the hole.

The display module 54 is battery operated, but alternatively or additionally may include photoelectric solar cells 56 for electrical power.

The display module 54 is removable from the cradle 52. The cradle 52 is shown in detail in Figure II. The cradle 52 is provided with shaped slots 62 through which plastic pull ties 64 are located. Several patterns of slots 62 for these ties 64 may be incorporated into cradle 52 to offer a choice of fixing positions most suited to the particular design of trolley. Nylon "pull ties" are a tremendously strong means of attachment.

The fact that golf trolleys are collapsible and fold down to a suitable size for transportation makes direct wiring between the components undesirable due to wires becoming trapped or broken due to continuous bending and twisting. Wireless transmission between the sensor and the display unit overcomes these problems.

The wireless arrangement of the measuring apparatus overcomes the problem of damaged or trapped wires, and also allows the actual calculator-like display, keypad and processor unit to be removable for security without the need for removing the entire system from the trolley each time the trolley is left unattended.

The operation of the device will now be described in detail.

Once fitted to the golf trolley 10 as shown on the drawings, the measuring apparatus must be set up or calibrated to the particular wheel size of the trolley 10 in question. The golfer would be asked to input the wheel diameter of the trolley 10 which the processor would use for it's calculation of distance. This is a once-and-for-all operation which would be entered when first operating the apparatus and would be retained within the processor's memory until amended, when for example the golfer buys a new trolley, or fits different wheels.

After having carried out this initial set up procedure, on arriving at the first tee, the player would input the distance to the green or the hole taken from the distances printed on the golf club's scorecard.

The tee shot would be hit, and as the golfer walks towards the ball down the fairway, the wheel revolves, the sensor transmits, and the processor would start deducting the impulses received. The distance remaining to the green or hole from the original figure input on the tee would be displayed.

If the golfer deviates from the measured line, he can press one of the override buttons 60 when passing one of the corresponding distance markers on the course thereby regaining precision measurement on the display for the all important 200 yards-and-under zone, as the display will immediately begin to count down from this newly input distance. This therefore obviously negates any excessive "false" distance which may have been covered earlier in the hole by wandering, straying off-line, being forced to walk over a particular crossing point for a stream etc. This process is repeated at each hole.

Advantages of the present invention include compensation means for when the trolley deviates from the measured path. The measuring device comprises only two parts, a sensor unit and a display unit, which are in wireless communication with each other. This simplifies the mounting of the measuring device on a golf trolley and allows the display module to be easily removed for safe keeping. The sensor unit is adjustable such that the sensor can be positioned to operate on most golf trolleys.

The device is primarily, although not exclusively, intended to be a product which can be fitted retrospectively to a manually pulled or electrically driven trolley.

Although a few preferred embodiments have been shown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications might be made without departing from the scope of the invention, as defined in the appended claims.

The reader's attention is directed to all papers and documents which are filed concurrently with or previous to this specification in connection with this application and which are open to public inspection with this specification, and the contents of all such papers and documents are incorporated herein by reference.

All of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), and/or all of the steps of any method or process so disclosed, may be combined in any combination, except combinations where at least some of such features and/or steps are mutually exclusive.

Each feature disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise. Thus, unless expressly stated otherwise, each feature disclosed is one example only of a generic series of equivalent or similar features.

The invention is not restricted to the details of the foregoing embodiment(s). The invention extend to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), or to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the steps of any method or process so disclosed.

Claims

Claims I. A golf trolley measuring apparatus for measuring the distance

travelled by the golf trolley, comprising: a sensor Unit mountable on a frame of the golf trolley and comprising a sensor which monitors the rotation of a wheel of the golf trolley; and a display unit mountable on the frame and comprising a processing means which processes data received from the sensor and calculates the distance travelled by the wheel, and a display means which displays information relating to the distance travelled by the wheel.
2. The apparatus of claim I, wherein the sensor unit is adapted to transmit a pulse each time a spoke of a wheel passes the sensor.
3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the sensor has a photoelectric transmitter/receiver which detects each time a said spoke passes the sensor.
4. The apparatus of any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the processing means is adapted to calculate the distance travelled from data relating to the diameter of the wheel and the number of spokes.
5. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the sensor transmits a signal wirelessly to the display unit.
6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein signal is an infra-red signal.
7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the sensor unit is provided with an infra red transmitter and the display unit is provided with an infra red receiver.
8. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the sensor unit comprises a sensor part and a mounting part.
9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the sensor part comprises a ball to enable the sensor part to be held in a corresponding socket of the mounting part.
10. The apparatus of claim 8 or 9, wherein the mounting part comprises an upper clamp and a lower clamp to fit around a portion of the golf trolley frame.
1]. The apparatus of claim 10 when dependent on claim 9, wherein the upper clamp is provided with the socket for receiving the ball on the sensor part.
12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the upper clamp is formed in two parts, a main clamp part and a socket part.
13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the main clamp part is provided with recesses/projections for receiving corresponding projections/recesses on the base of the socket part.
14. The apparatus of claim 12 or 13, wherein the sensor mounting means includes one or more shims between the main clamp part and socket part.
15. The apparatus of claim 14 when dependent on claim 13, wherein the shims are provided with recesses and projections corresponding to those of the main clamp part and the socket part respectively.
16. The apparatus of any of any preceding claim, wherein the sensor unit can be mounted in either the horizontal or vertical axis.
17. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the display unit is detachably mounted on a cradle, the cradle being mounted on the frame of the golf trolley.
18. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the display means displays the distance remaining to a hole or the green.
19. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the display unit is provided with buttons for inputting a distance to the green or hole.
20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the display unit is provided with override buttons corresponding to predetermined distances from the green or hole.
21. A method of measuring the distance travelled by a golf trolley, comprising; sensing each time a spoke of a wheel passes a sensor; transmitting a signal to a processor each time a spoke is sensed; calculating the distance travelled by the golf trolley from the signals received from the sensor and data relating to the diameter of the wheel and the number of spokes; and calculating and displaying a function of the distance travelled.
22. A method of measuring the distance travelled by a golf trolley according to claim 21, wherein the step of calculating the function of the distance travelled comprises receiving data relating to a distance to be travelled, subtracting the distance travelled since receiving the data relating to a distance to be travelled to obtain the distance remaining to be travelled.
23. A golf trolley measuring apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to any of Figures 1 to ii
24. A method of measuring the distance travelled by a golf trolley substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to any of Figures 1 to 11.