US20030211899A1

US20030211899A1 - Putting device

Info

Publication number: US20030211899A1
Application number: US10/063,747
Authority: US
Inventors: Douglas Fleming
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2002-05-09
Filing date: 2002-05-09
Publication date: 2003-11-13

Abstract

A putting device that includes a target, legs and bumpers. The target is a sheet of clear material which has a target pattern applied to the sheet. The sheet has a front edge, rear edge, and right side edge and a left side edge, all of which forms an outside edge of the sheet. The sheet includes a top face and a bottom face defined by the outside edge. The target pattern can be a series of concentric circles. There is a rear leg and two side legs to hold the sheet above floor level. A groove is cut into each leg to allow the outside edge of the sheet to fit firmly into the groove of each leg. There is a rear bumper and two side bumpers. The rear bumper is mounted to the rear leg and the side bumpers are mounted to the side legs.

Description

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to indoor games. More specifically, the present invention relates to a golf putting device with additional features to improve putting skills and to make practicing putting more interesting by turning it into a game.

When a golfer cannot attend a golf course, the golfer will often practice on a floor surface within the golfer's home. There are many putting practice devices on the market to practice putting a golf ball into a hole. Many of these devices include a ramp to a hole or target area. Others include a hole in a thick putting surface pad or a circled area outlined on a mat type surface area. Most of the putting devices are simply designed to have the user putt to a target without any other particular challenge or entertainment value to the user. The lack of an entertaining challenge when putting can lead to boredom of the putting device, and hence less use of the putting device. It would be an improvement to have a putting device that provided some sort of gaming challenge to the user or users, in order to retain the user's interest in using the putting device. Retaining the interest of the user by increasing the entertainment value allows the user to practice more and improve the user's skill level of the art of putting.

It is an object of the present invention to provide putting device which provides a gaming atmosphere during the use of the putting device to retain the interest of the user of the putting device.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a top view of a putting device according to the present invention; [0005]
FIG. 2 is a front view of a putting device according to the present invention; [0006]
FIG. 3 is a side view of a putting device according to the present invention; and [0007]
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a leg according to the present invention.[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention is a [0009] putting device 10. The putting device 10 includes a target, legs and bumpers, as shown in FIGS. 1-4. As shown, the target 12 is a rectangular sheet 14 of clear material which has a target pattern 16 applied to the sheet 14. As shown in FIG. 1, the sheet 14 has a front edge 18, rear edge 20, and right side edge 22 and a left side edge 24. The front, rear right side and left side edges 18, 20, 22, 24 form the outside edge of the rectangular shape of the sheet 14. The sheet 14 includes a top face 26 and a bottom face 28 defined by the outside edge. The target pattern 16 is shown as concentric circles 30 applied to the sheet 14. The concentric circles 30 can be applied to either the top face 26 or the bottom face 28 of the sheet 14. The inner most circle 30 is about a two inch in diameter and the circles 30 about the inside circle 30 increase in diameter about two inches for each circle 30. Whereby, the outermost circle 30 is about twelve inches in diameter. Three legs are shown to hold the sheet 14 above floor level. There is a rear leg 32 and two side legs 34. FIG. 4 shows that each leg 32, 34 has a top 36, a bottom 38 and a groove 40 near the top 36 of each leg 32, 34. The groove 40 is cut into each leg 32, 34 to allow the outside edge of the sheet 14 to fit firmly into the groove 40. The rear leg 32 is positioned on the middle of the rear edge 20. The side legs 34 are positioned on the right side and left side edges 22, 24 near the front edge 18. The groove 40 of the rear and side legs 32, 34 provides for quick assembly and disassembly of the putting device 10. There are three bumpers shown in FIGS. 1-3. The three bumpers include a rear bumper 42 and two side bumpers 44. The rear bumper 42 is mounted to the rear leg 32 below the sheet 14 using any type of appropriate fastener. The rear bumper 42 includes two ends 46. The rear bumper 42 is shown as a doubled angled bumper which is formed such that the ends 46 are defected rearwards from the rear leg 32 along the center of the rear bumper 42. The double angle bumper in effect creates a two faced bumper. The side bumpers 44 are shown mounted to the side legs 34 using any type of appropriate fastener. The side bumpers 44 are attached to the side legs 34 such that the side bumpers 44 angle rearward towards the rear leg 32.
The preferred materials and sizes of the components for the [0010] putting device 10 are as follows. The rear and side legs 32, 34 would be wood or plastic. The sheet 14 would be clear Plexiglas. The sheet 14 being of a clear material allows the user to view the golf ball under the target pattern 16 to determine how close the golf ball is to the center of the target pattern 16 for easy scoring. The sheet 14 size should be about sixteen inches along the front and rear edges 18, 20 and about thirteen and a half inches along the right and left side edges 22, 24. The bottom face 28 of the sheet 14 should be about five inches off the surface of the floor to allow a golf ball to roll under the sheet 14. Therefore, the height of the legs 32, 34 should be more then five inches to accommodate the groove 40 to receive the sheet 14. The bumpers 42, 44 are preferably made of a polished flexible metal about four inches wide and three inches high. The side bumpers 44 are used to redirect the ball under the target pattern 16, if there is another golf ball blocking a direct line of shot to the target pattern 16. The angle of the side bumpers 44 can be anywhere from one degree to less than ninety degrees from the front edge 18 of the sheet 14. The bumpers 42, 44 are somewhat flexible so that the golf ball rebounds off the bumpers 42, 44. A good material to use to make the bumpers 42, 44 is tin. Another feature of the bumpers 42, 44 is that the bumpers 42, 44 can be made from a material that produces a sound when hit by the golf ball. Again, tin is a good material to produce a sound when hit by the golf ball. When the golf ball hits the middle of the bumpers 42, 44, the golf ball will make a lower octave sound, than when the golf ball hits the outside portion of the bumpers 42, 44. This allows the user to identify where the golf ball hits one of the bumpers 42, 44 without actually seeing the golf ball hit one of the bumpers 42, 44.
Examples of accuracy/target games that can be played with the putting device are games using rules similar to curling or darts. The object being that the users are trying to position their golf ball the closest to a chosen point on the target pattern. Also, different target patterns than the one shown in FIG. 1 can be employed to allow playing of different games. The target pattern could be removable, allowing the interchanging of different target patterns on the sheet. The users can use their golf ball to block an opponents shot similar to billiards, forcing the next user to employ the side bumpers to get around the golf ball that is blocking the next user's shot. The rear bumper makes the putting device multi-purpose. When not playing the accuracy/target games, a user may use the putting device for practicing putting skills. In putting a golf ball, it is desirable to impart such velocity that if one misses the target, the ball still remains within a short distance of the center of the target. In this fashion, if one misses the first shot, the second is a relatively short distance. By putting at the putting device, one can develop the correct velocity to impart to the golf ball when putting the golf ball. The sound of the golf ball hitting the rear bumper will be louder indicating a ball being severely overshot, as opposed to a golf ball being played softly. The changing pitch of the rear bumper will tell the user whether they were on or off center of the target. The rear bumper is angled to deflect the golf ball from center to allow the user multiple shots, without the previous golf balls getting in the way. This also develops the good habit of keeping the user's head down after completing a putting swing. The user does not have to lift the user's head to see the results, once familiar with the sounds of the bumpers. As discussed above, it is envisioned that a removal target pattern could be applied to the sheet. Thus, allowing the use of different target patterns. The scope of the invention is not limited by rectangular shape shown for the sheet. Also, more than three legs could be used to provide improved stability of the putting device. [0011]
While different embodiments of the invention have been described in detail herein, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various modifications and alternatives to the embodiments could be developed in light of the overall teachings of the disclosure. Accordingly, the particular arrangements are illustrative only and are not limiting as to the scope of the invention that is to be given the full breadth of any and all equivalents thereof. [0012]

Claims

1. A putting device, comprising:

at least three legs to rest above a surface; and

a target mounted to said at least three legs, said target resting above said surface such that an object may be moved under said target without contacting said target, and said target having a front, rear, right side, and left side.

2. The putting device of claim 1, wherein said target is a clear sheet of material; and wherein said target includes an edge about said target which forms said front, rear right side and left side.

3. The putting device of claim 2, wherein said target includes a target pattern applied to said sheet.

4. The putting device of claim 3, wherein said target pattern is removable.

5. The putting device of claim 1, further including at least two side bumpers mounted under said target near said front of said target.

6. The putting device of claim 5, wherein said at least two side bumpers are made from a flexible material.

7. The putting device of claim 5, wherein said at least two side bumpers are made from a material which produces a sound when hit by said object.

8. The putting device of claim 2, wherein said at least three legs include a top and bottom; and wherein said at least three legs include a groove to receive said an edge of said sheet.

9. The putting device of claim 8, further including at least two side bumpers mounted under said target near said front of said target.

10. The putting device of claim 1, further including a rear bumper mounted under said target near said rear of said target.

11. The putting device of claim 10, wherein said at rear bumper is made from a flexible material.

12. The putting device of claim 10, wherein said rear bumper is made from a material which produces a sound when hit by said object.

13. The putting device of claim 10, wherein said rear bumper is bent at a center of said rear bumper to form two angled faces emanating from said center of said rear bumper.

14. The putting device of claim 5, further including a rear bumper mounted under said target near said rear of said target.

15. The putting device of claim 2, further including at least two side bumpers mounted under said target near said front of said target; further including a rear bumper mounted under said target near said rear of said target; wherein said at least three legs include a top and bottom; and wherein said at least three legs include a groove to receive said an edge of said sheet.

16. The putting device of claim 15, wherein said target includes a target pattern applied to said sheet.

17. The putting device of claim 16, wherein said target pattern is removable.

18. The putting device of claim 15, wherein a first of said at least three legs is mounted to said edge at said rear of said sheet; wherein a second of said at least three legs is mounted to said edge at said right side of said sheet; wherein a third of said at least three legs is mounted to said edge at said left side of said sheet; wherein said rear bumper is mounted to said first leg; wherein a first of said side bumpers is mounted to said second leg; wherein a second of said side bumpers is mounted to said third leg;

19. The putting device of claim 18, wherein said target includes a target pattern applied to said sheet.

20. The putting device of claim 1 9, wherein said target pattern is removable.