US2260514A - Golf ball teeing device - Google Patents

Description

0a. 2a, 1941. E, oucgHEsNE' 2,260,514

GOLF BALL TEEING DEVICE d Flleh l 6, 1939 2 Sheets Sheet 1 Invenffir. Emeai Duchesne His Ai'rorney.

Oct. 28, 1941. I E. DUCHESNE 2,260,514

GOLF BALL TEEING DEVICE Filed March 16, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 lnven'ror. Ernesf Duchesne wad W Patented Oct. 28, 1941 UNITED: STATES PATENT "OFFICE I 'j .260.514 I GOLFBALL- TEEINGDEYICE Ernest Duchesne, Schenectady,.N. Y.- Application March 16, 1939; Serial no. zeal-2'1 50laimsr (G1. 273 -33) My invention relates to golf ball teeing devices for use in'practice for'the purpose of improving the players swinging technic. I,

Golf players,.even themore skillful, indulgeiin frequent practice swings without a ball,, The novice or infrequent player is especially addicted to this 'method of improving his game. It has the advantagethat it may be used indoors at any time and in localitiesrwhere space is not available for the flight of the driven ball. While this method undoubtedly improves the coordination of the players muscles, he does not. obtain the greatest possible benefit in the improvement of his-game because of hisinevitable. lack of poise andprecision whenhe addresses and swings at theball in actual play. I f It. isan object; of] my invention to provide a device for automatically .bringing a golf ball into playing position to be hit afterithe player has-taken afew swings, and if desired at unexpected times during a'series of. practice swings.- He, in this way, learns. touse his best swing on the ball.

For a more complete understanding of Imy in- I and has for its object a simple and reliable. device 1 vention, reference should be had to the accompanyingdrawings in which Fig/11 is a view in perspective of a golf 'ball'teeing device embodying, my invention and showing the partsintheir positions before the ballisrai's'ed to driving posi tion; Fig. -2 is aview similar to Fig. 1 but showing the ball. raised to driving position; Fig. 3 is, aperspective. view of parts of the. mechanismiFigA' is an enlarged side elevation view showing details of construction; Fig. 5 is a front elevation view of Fig. v4 Fig. 6 is a perspective view showing the playing platform or floor of the device; while Fig. 7 is a wiring diagram showing the control for the; intermittent ball feeding mechanism. 7 Y Referring to the drawings, my invention'in theparticular form shown comprises an arm l0 movable. about a pivot II and provided at its free end with a. circular depression or seat I2, forming a tee for the balLin whichv the golf ball [3 rests and is raised bythe arm to the driving or playing position shown in Fig. 2.. This arm I0 isoperated by a suitable driving means, such as asubstantially constant'speed electric, motor 14. The. motorHM is connected through speed reducing gearing 15 to drivea. crank disk l6 which. is

connected through a link I! to a crank Is. It

will berunderstood that the crank l8 isv somewhat longer'than the crankv formed'by the disk l6fso that. as the ,disk' is turned continuously. by the i otor, the crank i8 is. moved. ba ck and forth tnronghan angle considerably less than 180 i; e., between the extreme positions shown in Fi s. 1 and 2.

The crank l8 is-mounted' on a shaft I9 carrying; on its opposite end a double arm comprising an'arm 20 secured to the shaft and an arm 2| spaced from the arm' 20" but parallel therewith and having: a pivot 22 in alinement with the shaft 19. These'twoarms and Z1 are secured together at their ends by a pin 23. As the 'pin 23 moves back and forth with the shaft I9; it raises'and'lower the arm 10, the'arm being biased by a spring Illa. to bring apart or member 24 thereof into'engag'ement with thepin' 23. As shown, the lower surface" of the member 24", engaged by the pin, is arc-shaped at the end 25 so that" the arm I-U'is. raised completely asthe pin 23. slides along about the straight left-hand half of" the member 24" and is thereafter maintained in the raised position as the pin continues its movement-over the arc-shaped surface; The areshaped" portion; when'in the raisedposition, has asits center theaxis ofthe shaft I9;

This arrangement of" the straight and are shaped surfaces on the member 24 causes the arm IB'to be raised with first a rapid'm ovement which decreases in rate to bring the ball to rest gradually-so" that it remains at rest in position on the seat l2 and is not thrown-off. Thus the arm' 20' in raising the arm I!) is atfirst' nearly para-llelwith'the member, 24 thereof so that the arm lfl'including the member 24 is raised rapid-- 1y; Asthearm 20moves toward a relation withthe'memberu the member is raised less rapidlyuntilwhen the two parts are in 90 relationth'emember 24 is at rest as is alsothe tee l2. Thereafter the pin 23moves'onto the downwardly curved arc surface 25' which holds themember' 24" stationary and'also the ball in its raised position. Also it will be observedthat-the dead'center positions of 'thedisk l'6 cause the arm 20 to move relatively slowlyat these points, i. e., just before the pin. 23 engages the arm: 24 in the upward stroke-and at the completion ofthe movement of the arm20.

For' the: purpose of feeding the balls successiveiy;1;othe seat'lz'on'the-endof the-arm 10; I have provided. a tube 26* forming a magazine into which several balls'may be d'roppedthrough the open' end" 21-; the-tubeb'eing inclined downward to" the other: end 28" which is just opposite the seat I? when the 'arm l0 is-in'its lowermostposi tion, The feeding of" the balls is cont-rolled by a shutter 29 moving in-a slot 30 (Fig; 5) in the .tubezfi, and mounted on an arm 3 l' having a fixed pivot 32. When the shutter is moved into what less than the diameter of the ball so that the shutter 29 when swung back into the slot 30 is just frfont of -and-holds the nextballf Moreover, the shutter 33 isj'angularly spaced.

about the pivot 32 with respect to the shutter 2.9 j

so that it stops the balls as shown in Figs. '4

and 5, butwhen the shutter 29 is swungjntp the;

slot 30, the shutter 33 moves beyond the tube to permit the end ball to roll out-of=' the-tube onto the seat I2 which preferably is slightly lpwer j than the bottom of the tube. A stationary gui 34 .(Fig. 1) is provided to prevent the ban-ream rolling over the seat |2, When a ball has been fed ontothe seat Z, thearm 3| maybe moved" back, clockwise as seen in Fig.4. to the"pk'isition shcwn in Figs. 2 4 and 5 whereupon a' ball rolls past z- -the shutter. 23 intoengagement' with the shutter 33 to thepositionshown in Figs. 4 and.5."

. the slot, it obstructs the passage ofthe balls;

' The arm 3'l is moved periodically back and for h tofeedthe balls,,as just described, by means of anextension fi on the arm 20. When the arm 20 isjin .theextreme position shown in Fig. '1, the' extension 35 has engaged a projection 36 on he arm. 3| and has thereby moved the arm 3|, clockwise as" seen in Fig. l, to the position sh own,whereby a ball isdischarg'ed to the seat I2. Preferably the lower end of the arm 3| engages the extension 35 to prevent overtravel of the arm 3|.-;-As.the arm-.20 starts back, clock-j wise seenin Fig. lg the projection or extension H moves downward over the face 3'| thereby swinging the arm 3|, counterclockwise'as seen in Fig l, to the position shown'in Fig. 2 and also in. Figs. 4 and 5 atjwhich time the arm 20 reaches its oppositeextremeposition shown. Preferably a lower portionof the face 31 is an arc of a circle which; when the arm 3| is 1 11' the, position of Fig. 2 has its center on the .aXis'of the shaft 19'. A suitable base or support 38 "is provided for the mechanism; The device in use will'be mount-; ed underfa platform or flooron whichthe player stands andfrom'whic h he drivesthe ball. This is shown inFig. 6, ,the platform 33' has an open-T, ing 40 throughwhich the seat l2' of the arm |0 projects when raisedas shown in Fig. 2, carry ing; the ball-and forming a tee for raising the. ball above the floor sothat it maybe driven off by a club 4|.' Preferably a rubber mat 42 is pro-I vided .around thefball asla protection for thefloorandtheclub LAlso the member 43 of the arm ||I carrymggme ball is made of a flexible material, such as rubber, so'ithat the] tee end will notice damaged when hit by the'club. Just beyond the hole 4015a rubber .flap 44 which bends downward without damage to it. It will beobserved that the member 43 when in the raised position is inclined upward from the pivot II to the tee seat l2. Furthermore, the edge of the tee seat is substantially flush with the upper surface of the member 43 and consequently the club, if it engages the member 43, slides smoothly over'this inclined upper surface defiecting the member 43 downward Without damage thereto. [In other words, there is no tee or other projection on the-member 43which may 0 be caught and torn or broken by the club. This 'is of course for a right-handed golfer, the player standing facing the signal arm 45.

Another feature is a swing timing signal device consisting-of an arm 45 pivoted on the basen38 adjacent the crank I8 and connected to "the crank'by means of a link 46 so as to swing with the crank but with a smaller swinging arc.

The upper end of the arm 45 projects through a slot inthe platform and serves asa signal or guide'for the player in timing his swing; Thus the player, even though a ball may notlbe in viewwhenhe starts his swing; will know that ,a'ball will be inposition ready to be hit before his swing is completed; Moreover, the ball is raised to the position'shown in Figs. 2 and 6 before the signal 45'reaches'the end of its movement, and theball remains in this position through the remaining portion of the movement of the arm 45 in each direction by reason of the arc-shaped surface 25 on the arm |0 engaged by the pin 23. In a typical device, the tee seat l2 remains raised throughout:

I the righteh'and half of the movement of the arm 45. Moreover; the motion of the arm. '45; slow at the left-hand end of theislot 41, is roughly' typical of the slow back swing ahdslow effortless beginning of the downswing that-golfers strive for. This iscaused by the dead center position L I have also provided means for bringing a ball into] drivingpositionfl at. irregular intervals j and unexpectedly. To this end'the shutter 33::

'mounted on a separate part or arm 48 (Figg-l forming a part of arm 3| mounted on: thepivot As shown,.'the part 48a..-isprovided with ag ro:

' when the part 4.8 a moves.

, Asshown in Fig v7, a normallyopen nsh'15 f};v

sandsupn m and isl used fortheplayer to swing at when t e ball-isgn ot :in position. Also the player may swing at the tee seat I 2 whenit comes into view. The platform 39 is preferably the cover of a container for enclosure'for the device.

Also therubber member 43-is spaced from they me se rj zm a considerable portion of its length; 7 so thatgit is free to .benddownward when the end |2-ishit by the club.- It will be understood that-thedevice is arranged, below the platform 39 with;the member 43 extending along the path f. th Q 11 sw weiih fi fi i i end 'tiwar'd t e clubz s l pp a s y c ba the club hits the seat 12 the member-43" readily give thelplayer aballfonly whenihe is atisfied jection. 5'fl'against which the'arm48 ,i's heldlby the spring 49. flhisarm" 4'8 maybeyheldbya magnet 5| connected thereto in the position shown in Fig. 4 iagainst the-force of the spring ton 52 is provided in circuit with the magnet 5| The. instructorjof theplayer, for example, may hold the push j button closed ;while .the player swings hisgclub in tiineLwith the ar jj'45. When the instructor .wants a ball, he releases .the button', although he should 'dq thisfwhe n the, signal 45 is at r'near'its'left-hand limitof travel at which time, .theJarm' I0. is in its lowermost' iposi'ei tion .to receive the ball. Thusthe' instructormay with the players swing. I J

A great advantageof theiplayena e i taking ewi, r e w s can"'immediately' h it a ball with out changinghis stance and while his musclesharetuned to the correct swing. I

' Pref y t e mag f r siedlwi h van;

. fable speed adjusting means; (not shown) "so that he m h ni m 1- gine 52mm 'b time-d" t6 suit the inclination 'of the player. I have foufid this arrangement is thatthat speeds'of the disk' I s or-from to'25 R. P; M.

are suitable to 'the'average player.

.with projections '54" and '55 forming stops for the ,pin "23a. thethrow of the 'arm '20 in the event the arm These stops are provided to limit 20 is thrown manually, as by a lever. I

"A switch56' (Fig. 7) is provided in circuit with the motor [4 by means of which the appearance of the ball can be controlled by starting and stopping the motor; for example, the golf instructor may open the switch 56 when the signal 45 reaches a mark 51 on the platform in its forward stroke. The ball is then just below the upper surface of the platform. When a ball is desired, the switch 56 is closed to start the motor which brings the ball quickly into playing position.

Moreover, in a full automatic device with no instructor, the solenoid 5| can be controlled by a switch operated through suitable means driven by the shaft l9, such as ratchet means, so as to energize the solenoid and prevent the teeing of a ball every second or third stroke of the indicator 45. Or the solenoid may be energized for several strokes and then deenergized to provide a ball.

While I have shOWn a particular embodiment of my invention, it will be understood, of course, that I do not wish to be limited thereto, since many modifications may be made and I, therefore, contemplate by the appended claims to cover any such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A golf ball teeing device comprising an arm having a substantially horizontal pivot and a seat for a ball on its free end, means for feeding balls to said seat when in its lowermost position, a second arm provided with a shutter cooperating with said feeding means to control the discharge of balls therefrom, a third arm having an intermediate pivot and its opposite ends alternately engaging said first two arms to raise and lower said first arm and oscillate said second arm to discharge a ball to said seat when said third arm is oscillated back and forth through a predetermined angle, driving means for said third arm, a separate member for supporting said shutter forming a part of said second arm and mounted on the same pivot as said second arm, spring means normally holding said member in a predetermined relation with said second arm, and means for holding said member to prevent the discharge of a ball to said seat.

2. A golf ball teeing device comprising an arm having a substantially horizontal pivot and a seat for a ball on its free end, a tube for feeding balls to said seat when in its lowermost position, a second arm provided with a pair of spaced shutters cooperating with said tube to control the discharge of balls therefrom, a third arm having an intermediate pivot and its opposite ends alternately engaging said first two arms to raise and lower said first arm and oscillate said second arm to discharge a ball to said seat when said third arm is oscillated back and forth through a predetermined angle, and driving means for said third arm, a separate member for supporting one of said shutters forming a part of said second arm and mounted on the same pivot as said second arm, spring means normally hold- 76 l *3. A golf ball'teeingdevice comprising'a d-rivf- 'ing=motor, an arm, a driving connectionbetween said motor and said arm fcr o'scillatingsaid arm ing 'member out the movable end :of said arm,;.-a

second arm havinga stationaryfhorizontal pivot and provided with a lower surface curved in the plane of movement of said arm engaging said bearing member whereby said second arm is raised and lowered by oscillatory movement of said first arm, said lower surface having a portion provided with a curvature in the plane of rotation of said first arm substantially the same as the arc of movement of said bearing member so that said second arm is maintained stationary for a predetermined interval in its maximum raised position, and a flexible arm secured to said second arm at a pointadjacent said pivot extending above said second arm in longitudinally spaced relation therewith, said flexible arm having a smooth unbroken upper surface terminating in a tee seat and inclined upward toward said tee seat when said second arm is in its maximum raised position so that said flexible i arm is deflected downward without substantial damage by engagement therewith of a club moving in a direction from said pivot toward said tee seat.

4. A golf ball teeing device comprising a dri ing motor, a shaft, a driving connection between said motor and said shaft for oscillating said shaft upon continuous rotation of said motor, an arm secured at one end to said shaft, a bearing member on the other end of said arm, a second arm having a stationary horizontal pivot and provided with a lower surface curved in the plane of movement of said arm engaging said bearing member whereby said second arm is raised and lowered by oscillatory movement of said first arm, said lower surface having a portion provided with a curvature in the plane of rotation of said first arm substantially the same as the arc of movement of said bearing member so that said second arm is maintained stationary for a predetermined interval in its maxi mum raised position, a flexible arm secured to said second arm at a point adjacent said pivot extending above said second arm in longitudinally spaced relation therewith, said flexible arm having a smooth unbroken upper surface terminating in a tee seat and being inclined upward toward said tee seat when said second arm is in its maximum raised position so that said flexible arm is deflected downward without substantial damage by engagement therewith of a club moving in a direction from said pivot toward said tee seat, golf ball feeding means, a

fourth arm secured to said shaft, and a shutter member for said feeding means oscillated by said fourth arm to feed a golf ball to said tee seat when said tee seat is in a lowered position.

5. A golf ball teeing device comprising a supporting member, an arm provided with a .pivot, means for oscillating said arm about said pivot, a bearing member on said arm engaging said supporting member, whereby said supporting member is raised and lowered by movement of said arm, said supporting member having a surface engaged by said bearing member provided with a curvature substantially the same as the arc of movement of said bearing member so that said isupportingmember is maintained stationary-{0 ia-npfedetermined'interval in ,ajraised position, a

1 ifiexible supporting membernsecured atone end to said first supporting member, a tee seat on; theother end of said flexible member substan- .tially. flush with the upper surface oi said flex-' fible remember, said flexible member 7, having a smooth; unbrokenmpper' surface terminating in 1 szrsaid-teeiseat and .being inolined upward toward Jsaid teetseat when said first supporting member 10 is-in a raised position sothat said flexible member presents a smooth, unbrokensurface ,"to, a

club-moving in a direction away fr'onisaid'pivot v toward saidftee seat; whereby saidflexible member when engaged 'by'the club is deflected downward relative to said first supporting member out of the path-of the clubwithout substantial damag to said flexible member and saidtee seat. 7 s v I w RNEsTDUcHEsNn.

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