US2017661A

US2017661A - Golf practicing device

Info

Publication number: US2017661A
Application number: US676103A
Authority: US
Inventors: Eric W Johanson
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1933-06-16
Filing date: 1933-06-16
Publication date: 1935-10-15
Anticipated expiration: 1952-10-15

Description

Oct. 15, 1935. E. w. JOHANSON 2,017,661

GOLF PRACTIQING DEVICE Filed June 16, 1933 Patented Oct. 15, 1935 GOLF PRACTICING DEVICE 6 Claims.

This invention relates to a golf practicing device intended for indoor and outdoor use, and more particularly concerns the provision of a sturdy, durable, and conveniently portable construction presenting a ball-like object which may be employed for practicing golf strokes.

While devices of this general character and purpose are not new, they have not been used to any great extent, probably because they have possessed certain structural characteristics which rendered them somewhat frail and dangerous for use in confined spaces. Such devices as I have examined appear to have been designed more for the purpose of supporting an actual golf ball than for durability and safety in use, without apparent realization or consideration of the fact that, for the purposes and possible uses of such devices, it is unnecessary, and even undesirable, to employ an actual golf-ball. The usual golf-ball possesses certain characteristics which, while they may be very desirable in the actual playing of the game, are not at all necessary in a practicing device in which the principal purpose is to present a ball-like target to be used in the practicing of stance, swing and stroke. I have found that the usual golf-ball is too heavy, hard, and lively to be safely held at the end of a swinging arm which must be short enough to swing in a reasonably limited space. In such an arrangement, the ball is too near the pivotal point of the supporting arm, so that a powerful blow of the club upon the ball is likely to split the ball, break or distort the arm, and/or drive the ball from the end thereof. These objectionable features are not present in the construction which I shall describe.

In the drawing- Figure 1 is a top plan view of the device embodying my invention;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view thereof;

Figure 3 is an enlarged vertical sectional view, taken longitudinally of the device upon the line 33 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is an enlarged vertical sectional view, taken transversely of the device upon the line 44 of Figure 1; and

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 4, but taken upon the line 55 of Figure 1, with part of the base broken away.

A fiat, circular base I, preferably of cast iron to give suificient weight thereto, is centrally bored at 2 to receive a vertically adjustable cylindrical socket-bushing 3. Extending radially from the bore 2, the under part of base I is recessed to form a chamber 4, and socket-bushing 3 is formed with a radially extending lug 5 which registers with the chamber to lock the socketbushing from turning in the bore without interfering with its vertical adjustment therein, as shown in Figure 4. structed of some light, strong metal, and comprises oppositely extending, downwardly inclined, tubular sleeves l and 8, and a substantial pivotpost 9. Sleeves l and 8 taper slightly toward their outer ends, where they may be flared, or 10 reamed, as shown at ID in Figure 3, to avoid sharp inner edges, and pivot-post 9 is fitted to turn freely in socket-bushing 3 and rest upon the bottom thereof, being retained therewithin by a shouldered screw i i, which screw is inserted 15 centrally through the bottom of said socketbushing and screwed into the bottom of said pivot-post, a lock-washer I2 holding said screw to turn with the pivot-post in the socket-bushing. The inner ends of the tapered chambers of sleeves 20 l and 8 terminate abruptly in a somewhat larger central chamber I3, thereby providing respective annular shoulders I4 and I5. Head 6 is constructed in two separable sections, comprising the cap I6 and the body ll, held together by screws 25 I8.

The shape, arrangement, and construction of arms I9 and 20 are the most important and novel features of my invention. They are exactly alike, so that a description of one will apply to both. Referring, first to their shape and arrangement, it will be seen that each is formed at its butt end with a substantially thick annular flange 2|, tapers therefrom to a neck 22, and terminates in a ball-shaped outer end 23. The taper of the chambers of sleeves l and 8 conforms to that of the respective arms l9 and 20, and the arms are placed and secured in position within their sleeves by removing screws l8 and cap it of the head 6, pressing the arms into the lower open sections of said sleeves, and replacing and tightening down said cap and screws. The butt ends of the arms are thus held securely within their respective sleeves, their inner ends crowded against each other in the bottom of chamber I3 to hold flanges 2| tightly against the shoulders M and I5, so that displacement of the arms in head 6 in any direction is prevented. The downward inclination of sleeves l and 8 and, consequently, of arms l9 and 2!), is such that the ball-shaped ends 23 will be positioned slightly above horizontal alinement with pivotpost 9.

It will be observed that the pivotal support for the revoluble parts is low; that, in all positions Head 8 is preferably con- 5 of vertical adjustment of such parts, the pivotpost remains wholly within the socket-bushing, and both pivot-post and socket-bushing always retain their relative position horizontally with respect to the ball-shaped ends of the arms; and that the cup-shaped construction of the socketbushing contributes to its retention of lubrication. This arrangement permits the head to be properly and substantially constructed without sacrificing structural balance; that is to say, the vertical dimension of the head may be suflicient to permit sturdy construction of the parts to provide secure anchorage for the arms without involving an over-topping eiTect and the possible distortion of the pivot-post or the socket-bushing when powerful golf-club strokes are delivered upon the ballshaped ends. The directional force of welldelivered strokes upon the ball-shaped ends are tangent to, but in approximate horizontal alinement with, the pivotal support.

A conveniently operable detent device is arranged to co-operate with socket-bushing 3 in holding the revoluble parts in a desired position of vertical adjustment upon base I, so that the ball-shaped ends 23 of

arms

19 and 20 may be raised or lowered to the height desired by the player. Various forms of detent devices may be employed, and the particular form is not important, so long as it serves the purposes I have mentioned. In the arrangement I have shown, socket-bushing 3 is notched, bored, or otherwise provided, with a series of latch-pin sockets 24, located in the wall of said socket-bushing above the lug 5, and chamber 4 houses a spring-pressed latch-pin or bolt 25 for engagement with said sockets. Latch-pin 25 extends just below the upper wall of chamber 4 through a guide-plate 23 and has a flattened, eyed end which is transfixed by the shank of a rocking operating member 21. Member 2! is constructed in two parts, the lower part 28 being squared to prevent it from turning in chamber 4 and to properly receive the action of the open-coil spring 29, and the upper part 36 comprising a headed, shouldered screw-pin 3| which projects upwardly through a slot 32 in the upper wall of chamber 4. The lower end of member 2'! is provided with a short pin 33 which is stepped in a hole in the supporting bar 34. Bar 34 is secured tothe bottom of base I across chamber 4. The latch-pin 25 may be withdrawn from any one of the sockets 24 by rocking member 21 against the influence of spring 29. Pin 33 is held from being displaced from the hole in the bar 34 by the arrangement of latch-pin 25 close to the upper wall of chamber 4, and latch-pin 25 is held from bearing against pivot-post 9 by the stopping of screw-pin 3| against the end of slot 32. I have indicated threaded screw-holes 35 tapped in the bottom of base I (Figure 3). When the device is to be used out-of-doors, threaded spikes may be screwed into these screw-holes, and, when it is to be used indoors, the same screw-holes may be used for fastening the base I to a baseplate, upon which the player may stand, and upon which some suitable material, such as a door-mat, may be secured to serve as a fairway, if desired.

I have mentioned that it appears to be unsafe and is entirely unnecessary to employ a standard golf-ball and attach it upon the end of an arm short enough to be practicable in a device of this kind, where it must swing in a limited space. I prefer to form the ball upon the end of its supporting arm, casting them as a single unit, and this unit may be of solid live rubber; or the ball and arm, or the arm alone, may be moulded with a tough, fibrous fabric as a core, for example, a strong cord with a knotted end may be used, the knotted end being embodied as the center of the ball-shaped end and the cord extending as the 5 Y the purposes just mentioned, and are to be understood as being within the scope of my invention, I have found them to be unnecessarily expensive, and I prefer to further avoid the obl5 jections I have pointed out as pertaining to the use of a standard golf-ball in a device of this kind by having the ball-shaped ends of the arms light in weight and so compressible as to absorb to a considerable extent the impact of the blow de- 20 livered thereupon by the golf-club. I have therefore shown the construction which I have found to be the most desirable, wherein the ball-shaped end 23 of each arm is hollow, and wherein the hollow interior is vented by a tubular channel 36 25 extending through the center of the arm to the central chamber 13. While the wall of the hollow arm and the ball-shaped end thereof is of substantial thickness, it does not need to be of the same thickness throughout. While the ballshaped end should be compressible enough for the purpose mentioned, it should be firm; the neck should be flexible and elastic, but strong; and the butt-end of the arm should be sufficiently compressible and elastic to effect an air-tight joint in the sleeve when the cap is tightened down. The wall at the butt-end and at the ball-shaped end 23 is therefore thicker than at the neck 22, and the arm is reinforced by the insertion of a hollow core 37 of stiffer and harder rubber, which 40 is cemented in position and extends throughout the length of the arm and well into the hollowinterior of the ball-shaped end, lending additional strength to the neck, where strength, flexibility and elasticity are obviously needed.

From the foregoing complete description, it will be evident that, when the ball-shaped end 23 of one of the arms is struck by the golf-club, the impact of the blow will be absorbed to a certain extent by the resilient compressibility of the hollow ball and of the air which is trapped in both hollow arms and the chamber l3. The flexible neck 22 will also absorb part of the impact, and the head 6 and both arms 1 and 8 will be spun around upon the base I.

I claim- 1. A golf practicing device comprising a supporting base, a member pivotally supported for horizontal rotation upon said base, and a onepiece flexible arm secured upon and extending from said member and terminating in an enlarged ball-shaped end having a relatively large unoccupied cavity therein.

2. A golf practicing device comprising a supporting base, a member pivotally supported for horizontal rotation upon said base, andv a onepiece tubular flexible arm secured upon and extending from said member and terminating in an enlarged ball-shaped end having a relatively large unoccupied cavity therein.

3. A golf practicing device comprising a supporting base, a member pivotally supported for horizontal rotation upon said base, and a onepiece tapering tubular flexible arm secured upon 1 and extending from said member and terminating in an enlarged ball-shaped end having a relatively large unoccupied cavity therein.

4. A golf practicing device comprising a supporting base, a member pivotally supported for horizontal rotation upon said base, a one-piece tubular flexible arm secured upon and extending from said member and terminating in an enlarged ball-shaped end having a relatively large unoccupied cavity therein, and a flexible core inserted within said am and extending therethrough to the cavity in the ball-shaped end thereof.

5. A golf practicing device comprising a supporting base, a member p-ivotally supported for horizontal rotation upon said base, a hollow flexible arm secured upon and extending from said member and terminating in an enlarged ball-shaped end having a relatively large unoccupied cavity therein, and a flexible core inserted within said arm and having an open channel extending completely therethrough; said core extending through said arm and to the cavity in the ball-shaped end thereof, with the channel therein communicating with said cavity.

6. A golf practicing device comprising a supporting base having a vertical bore, a socketbushing fitted within the bore in said base and vertically adjustable therein, a latching means carried by said base and co-operating with said socket-bushing to retain it in a desired position of vertical adjustment, a member having a pivotpost within said socket-bushing and removably secured thereto to permit free horizontal rotation of said member, and a flexible arm secured to and extending radially from said member and terminating in a ball-shaped end.

ERIC W. JOHANSON.