US1708774A - Golf tee - Google Patents

Description

April 9, 1929 w. J. PARROTT ET AL GOLF TEE Filed April 13, 1928 gwuwntoz WJParro/f ji'uz ialf Hagen Patented Apr. 9, 1929.

UNITED STATES 1,708,774 PATENT OFFICE WILLIAM J. PABROTT AND RUDOLI HAGEN, 0F MASON CITY, IOWA.

GOLF TEE.

- Application filed April 13, 1928.

The present invention relates to improvements in golf tee, and has for an object to provide a tee that may be conveniently carried about, will not be apt to become lost and will admit of inexpensive manufacture.

Another object of the invention is to provide a tee that, while resiliently and yieldably supporting the ball, will at the same time resist free rotation about its point of attachment in the ground, whereby the ball will be held fixedly in place and will not move on the golfer during the course of his back swing because of Wind or other conditions. I

A further, object of the invention is to provide a tee support for the ball which will hold the ball resiliently in both horizontal and vertical directions, and which will act as a measuring gauge to determine the distance the ball is raised from the ground.

With the foregoing and other objects in View, the invention will be more fully described hereinafter, and will be more particu larly pointed out in the claims appended hereto.

In the drawings, wherein like symbols refer to like or corresponding parts throughout the several views,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an im-' Referring more particularly to the drawings, 5 designates a pin, sharpened at its free end to facilitate -insertion into the ground shown in Figure 1. This sharpened and elongated pin 5 is formed at one end of a single strand of resilient wire, at the other end of which is-provided the elongated ball carrying or supporting arm 6 which extends at substantially right angles to the direction of length of the pin 5.

At the free end of the arm 6 is a loop 7 or other form of support for the olf ball indicated at 8 in dotted lines in igure 1. Between the pin 5 and arm 6, or at the intermediate portion of the wire strand, the wire is wound into a helix 9 consisting of an appropriate number of convolutions. The arm 6 Serial No. 269,825.

comes tangentially off the helix or more particularly speaking off the uppermost convolution or coil. The pin 5 comes off the lower convolution or partial convolution and the upper end of the pin is coupled to the lowermost convolution by a radial or diametric shank 10.

As shown in Figure 3 the upper end of the pin 5 is preferably disposed within the helix or above the lowermost convolution, whereby to provide a depression 11 for receiving a portion of the uneven ground surface.

In the use of the device, the tee assumes the position shown in Figure 1 when in use, with the pin extending down substantially vertically into the ground, and with the helix 9 and arm 6 above the ground.

The helix 9 spaces the arm 6 at the requisite height for supporting the ball in favorable position to be driven by the golfer. In this respect the helix acts as a measuring gauge in addition to its function of imparting resiliency to the arm 6. The arm 6 ma rock both vertically and horizontally and t 1e ball is yieldably supported, which is desirable after the ball is hit, as the club head on the proper descending stroke will strike the loop 7 and tend to shift the arm 6. While the fasttraveling club head will accomplish the displacement of the arm 6 very readily, the construction of the bottom of the helix 9 is such that the arm 6 will resist rotation in ordinary circumstances. The device is driven into the ground by applying pressure, for instance of the thumb to the upper portion of the helix. H

Suflicient pressure is preferably exerted to drive the notch 11 down firmly into the ground and to slightly or wholly embed the transverse or diametric shank 10. Due to the constructions 10 and 11 and the fact that the pin 5 is eccentric to the helix, requiring the whole lower portion of the helix to shift eccentrically againstthe ground surface when the arm 6 is rotated about the axis of the helix, any such rotation in the arm will be arrested and wind, for instance, even though blowing at a high rate of speed, will not have the effect to swlng the ball about on the tee, but the tee will hold the ball firmly in the set .position until the ball is driven.

in the direction of the ball on the shank 10.

The fingers may be simply inserted beneath the arm 6 adjoining the helix and the device pulled from the ground. The device is inexpensive to make, readily portable and easily put in position.

It is obvious that various changes and modifications may be made in the details of construction and design of the above specifically described embodiment of this invention without departing from the spirit thereof, such changes and modifications being restricted only by the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is 1. An improved golf tee composed of a single strand of resilient wire comprising a pin at one end of the wire for insertion in the ground, a helix adjoining the pin and extending for a distance above'the ground, and a ball carrying arm extending from the upper end of the helix and spaced above the ground and resiliently supported by said helix.

2. An improved golf tee compr sing an attaching pin, a ball carrying arm, and a helix formed with said pin and arm for engaging the ground to support the arm resiliently in spaced relation above the ground.

3. An improved golf tee made from a single strand of resilient wire comprising a ball carrying arm having a looped free end portion to support the ball above the ground, a

pin atthe other end of the wire for insertion into the ground, and a helix formed by the intermedlate portion of the wire between said arm and pin, the lower convolution of the helix adapted to strike the ground, the upper convolution of the helix forming a head by which the pin may be pushed into the ground, said arm coming off the upper convolution, pin being eccentric to the axis of the me 1x.

4. An improved golf tee made from a sin- I ing arm coming off the upper end of the helix i at substantially an acute angle to the shank,

said arm having a looped free end remote from the helix to resiliently support the ball both vertically and 'horizontall In testimony whereof we a x our signatures.

WILLIAM J. PARROTT. RUDOLF HAGEN.

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