US2789824A

US2789824A - Golf ball dispensing and teeing machine

Info

Publication number: US2789824A
Application number: US320445A
Authority: US
Inventors: Wilcox Leland James
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1952-11-14
Filing date: 1952-11-14
Publication date: 1957-04-23
Anticipated expiration: 1974-04-23

Description

L. J. WILLCOX April 23,1957 I 2,789,824

GOLF BALL DISPENSING AND TEEI NG MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed NOV. 14, 1952 I'IIII A g "u M SUPPLY:

Wirmss MM A ril 23, 1957 v L. J. WILLCOX 2,789,824

GOLF BALL DISPENSING AND TEE-ING MACHINE Filed Nov. 14, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 -32 ee 52 A 68 Z lk 78 I fflvznloz M [Miami Villcox awn: y 9 4w M lworngys' United States Patent GOLF BALL DISPENSING AND TEElN G MACHENE Leland James Willcox, Des Moines, Iowa Application November 14, 1952, Serial No. 320,445

3 Claims. (Cl. 273-201 My invention relates to golf practice ranges. Specifically I have invented a machine that automatically presents one ball at a time, properly teed, to the customer of a range.

Until rather recently most golf practice ranges merely presented a customer with a container full of balls which were manually extracted and teed by hand. Within the last few years, however, machines for automatically teeing the balls one at a time have come into existence. Most of these machines have been rather complex devices that have not been entirely reliable in operation. While these machines when operating correctly resulted in a quantity of balls being used up faster than would be true for the same number of balls teed manually, they often became inoperative through mechanical failure. An inoperative machine caused one practice site to be useless and hence the net result of these early machines was often a loss as compared to the same range operating without machines. Furthermore, the rather complex early machines were expensive to build and maintain.- There have been many improvements in the machines since their inception.

Nevertheless, the machines known to me, aside from my present invention, are relatively complex to construct, adjust and maintain.

In view of the foregoing, it is the principal object of my invention to provide a simplified automatic golf ball dispensing and teeing machine.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a golf ball dispensing and teeing machine that, limited solely by the quantity of balls in the machine, dispenses and tees a new ball each time the preceding ball is knocked from the tee.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a golf ball dispensing and teeing machine that commences operation as a result of placing the balls in the machine.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a golf ball dispensing and teeing machine that provides a simplified adjustment for tee height.

it is a further object of my invention to provide a golf ball dispensing and teeing machine that is refined in appearance and durable in use.

These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangement, and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully set forth, and specifically pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of my invention with a portion of the electric power lead omitted to conserve space.

Fig. 2 is a greatly enlarged detail vertical sectional view of the tee portion of my invention taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic showing of the electrical circuit of my invention.

"ice Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional view of my device shown with a ball in position to be hit and taken on the line 44 of Fig. 1. Broken and dotted lines illustrate action of the device following the removal of the ball as well as hidden parts. The scale used is between those of Figs. 1 and 2.

Fig. 5 is a similar view to that shown in Fig. 4 except that the dispensed ball has not yet been raised by the tee. Broken lines illustrate hidden parts.

Fig. 6 is a horizontal sectional view of a portion of the mechanism of my device taken on the line 6--6 of Fig. 4 and drawn to the same scale as that figure.

Referring to the drawings I have used the numeral 10 to designate the main housing and have the auxiliary housing 12 secured to it. Secured to the top of the auxiliary housing are the hopper support 14, hopper 16 and inclined runway 18. These parts may all be constructed from any suitable material, such as sheet metal and are rigidly secured together in any suitable manner. The inclined runway 18 terminates in a tongue 20 that extends into the opening 22 in the auxiliary housing 12. Spaced from the tongue 20 in the direction of its inclination is a ramp 24 that leads downward to another opening in the auxiliary housing, this second opening being designated 26. Secured below the tongue is a switch 28 that is spring loaded to an open position. This switch is known as the ball switch as it is closed by the weight of the ball waiting to be dispensed. The switch has an operating lever 30 which extends into the space between the tongue and the ramp. The switch is connected into the electrical circuit by the wires 32 and in a manner that will be made clear in connection with a description of the electrical wiring diagram. A pair of walls, only one of which is shown, border the tongue and the ramp to prevent the

balls

34 and 36 fromfalling off of the ramp laterally. The wall shown is designated 38 and serves also as a bearing forming medium for the shaft 40. The shaft 40 has the metering block 42 secured to it. Beyond the wall 38 the end of shaft 40 is rigidly secured to the arm 44. This arm 44 provide a means for connecting a resilient means such as spring 46 between the wall 38 and shaft 40 to yieldingly urge the block 42 into the position shown in Fig. 4. A rod 48 provides a linkage between the other end of arm 44 and the tee arm 50. The arm 44 and the push rod 43 are hingedly secured together. The tee arm 50 is hingedly mounted in the housing 10 by any suitable structure such as the shaft 52 movably mounted in brace Wall 54 at one end and similarly secured in the brace wall 56 at the other. A lever 58 is rigidly securedjto the shaft and is connected to the wall 54 by a suitable resilient means such as the coil spring 60 which yieldingly urges the lower end of lever 58 forward. Since the lever 58 is secured to shaft 52 that is movably mounted in the

walls

54 and 56, the tee arm will move into a position such as that shown in Fig. 4 unless it is prevented from so moving.

An electric motor 62 is secured to the wall 56 and through a reduction gearing contained in housing 64 drives the shaft 66. A cam-like lever 68 is securedto the shaft and supports the cam roller 70 and pin 72. Cam lever 68 is preferably fixed in relation to shaft 66 by some means such as set screw 74 which permits rotary adjustment between the lever and the shaft. The cam roller 70 engages at times a cam shelf 76 which is rigidly i pin 72 as it is carried around by lever 68. The cam 3' switch is spring loaded to the closed position and is opened when the pin 72 engages and moves the lever 80 to the position shown in Fig. 4. Wires 82 connect the switch into the circuit in a manner that will be explained in detail below.

Also secured to the tee arm 50 is the balance arm 84. The balance arm is pivoted to the tee arm by any suitable means such as the pin 86. A headed pin 83 is rigidly secured to the tee arm and extends through a slot 90 in the balance arm to stabilize the two arms in relation to each other without interfering with arm 84 pivoting on pin 86. A pin shaft 92 is secured to the balance arm and supports the tee 94. l have shown the tee as a resilient one made of rubber or the like. When the right-hand end of the tee arm as viewed in Figs. 4, and 6, is raised, the tee 94 extends through the hole 96 in housing and an identical hole 98 in mat 100. In the normal course of events, a ball such as the one designated 102 will be positioned over the tee when it rises and this ball will be teed up as shown in Figs. 1 and 4. An inclined trough 104 is formed in the mat also and extends from the opening 26 in housing 12 to the hole 98 in mat 100. As shown in Figs. 4 and 5, this trough is inclined so that a ball placed on the trough will roll by gravity to the hole 98. A pair of wings secured to housing 12 at the sides of opening 26 guide balls emerging from housing 12 into the trough. The wings are designated by the numeral 27.

A switch which I call the balance arm switch is secured to the tee arm and is designated by the numeral 106. This balance arm switch is spring loaded open, but is closed whenever tee 94 has no ball resting on it, because the balance arm engages and moves the operating lever 108 of switch 106 as shown in Fig. 5 and by the broken lines in Fig. 4. The height to which ball 102 is teed is controlled within limits by the tee arm holding block 110. The holding block has fingers 112 that extend on either side of the tee arm when the latter is in a raised position. The block not only limits the upward movement of arm 50, therefore, but, also, holds the tee arm against being moved sideways violently if the tee is struck by a golf club. The resilient tee will absorb any blows intended for balls but which strike the tee also. Holding block 110 is rigidly secured to the rod 114 which is pivotally mounted in the

walls

54 and 56 and extends to a point outside the housing 10. A handle 116 is secured to the shaft 114 to facilitate turning it. Some suitable means of holding the shaft in the position to which it is adjusted should be provided and I have shown an ellicicnt and practical means in the form of a spring loaded pin 118 that is constantly urged toward the holes 120 by the spring 122 or any other suitable resilient means. By withdrawing the pin 118 from one of the holes, the handle 116 may be moved to some other position and secured there by allowing the pin to enter one of the other holes 120. As shown by the broken lines in Fig. 4, the stop block can be moved to a position that permits the tee arm to rise farther, and, therefore, tee the ball 102 higher. A conventional cord 124 is used to connect the electrical system to a source of power. The leads 126 connect the switch 06 and the leads 128 connect the motor to the balance of the system as will now be described.

The electrical system consists of the three switches, the motor and the various connecting leads. The ball switch 28 and the balance arm switch 106 are connected in series to each other, and in parallel to the cam switch 7%. The only paths for current to reach the motor include either the cam switch or the ball and balance arm switches. When the machine is empty, the parts will be (except lever which will be up) in the position shown in Fig. 4 with the balance arm as shown by broken lines. The balance arm switch will be closed, because the tee is empty, but the other two switches will be open. Since either the balance arm switch and the ball switch must be closed together, or the cam switch must be closed alone in order to complete the circuit for the motor; nothing happens. When balls are placed in the hopper, however, they roll down the inclined chute and the first ball engages operating arm 30 to close switch 28. As soon as switch 28 is closed there is a complete circuit for current to flow through the motor which rotates and in so doing moves the cam lever 68 to depress the tee arm. As the tee arm is depressed, tension on the pull rod 48 overcomes the spring 46 moving the ball metering block back and thus releasing a ball 34 which depresses the arm 30 and thence moves down the ramp and into the trough 104. At the same time the ball 36 is prevented from reaching the switch arm 30 as shown in Fig. 5. The motor circuit through the ball and balance arm switches is interrupted, therefore, but in the meantime pin 72 has been moved from its position of engagement with arm 80. The cam switch circuit is complete, therefore, and the motor continues to operate. As the cam lever approaches the position shown in Fig. 4, the tee rises and engages the ball. The balance arm moves to the position shown in solid lines in Fig. 4 which opens the balance arm switch. At the same time, the ball 36 assumes the position that ball 34 occupies in Fig. 4 and pin 72 opens switch 78 by engaging arm 80. Once more both circuits are open and the motor stops. When the ball is knocked from the tee, however, the balance arm switch closes and the cycle is repeated. Every time a ball is knocked from the tee a new ball is dispensed until all the balls are gone. All of the action is automatic since it commences as soon as the tee is empty while a ball is closing the ball switch. Obviously the golfer need not change his stance or otherwise disturb his practice as far as obtaining balls is concerned. If the one hitting the balls desires to change the tee height for a series of balls, he may do so quickly and easily by merely adjusting the tee arm stop block to the position that produces the desired teeing height. Also, it is clear that my dispensing and teeing machine is very simple in construction although fully automatic.

It is submitted that the invention shown and described is aptly suited to achieve the purposes intended and is characterized by a combination of highly useful and mutually cooperating elements that combine their respective and proportionate functions in accomplishing the objects sought to be obtained.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of my golf ball dispensing and teeing machine without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims, any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim:

1. In a golf ball dispensing and teeing machine, a housing, an auxiliary housing secured to said housing, a ball receiving hopper secured to said auxiliary housing; said auxiliary housing having openings therein at two elevations, a means secured to said hopper and said auxiliary housing to conduct balls from said hopper to the upper one of the two openings in said auxiliary housing in single file, an inclined extension of said conducting means extending through the upper one of the openings in said auxiliary housing, a ramp secured inside said auxiliary housing extending from a point near the end of said inclined extension to the lower one of the two openings in said auxiliary housing; said housing having a hole therein spaced from said auxiliary housing; a mat secured to the top of said housing and having a hole therein the edges of which coincide with the edges of the hole in said housing; said mat having an inclined trough therein that extends from the lower one of the openings in said auxiliary housing to the hole in said mat and housing, a spring loaded open switch secured in said auxiliary housing, an operating lever secured to said switch and extending into the space between said inclined extension and said ramp, a ball metering block pivotally secured in said auxiliary housing above the space between said inclined extension and ramp, a lever arm opcratively associated with said ball metering block, a resilient element secured by its ends to said auxiliary housing and said lever arm to yieldingly pivot Said ball metering block so as to stop a ball in the space between said inclined extension and ramp, an elongated arm pivotally secured to said housing at a point near said auxiliary housing and extending in such a direction that it passes a point below and slightly to one side of the holes in said housing and mat, a balance arm pivotally secured nearer one of its ends to said elongated arm, a spring loaded open switch secured to said elongated arm; an operating lever secured to said switch; a tee secured to said balance arm directly below the holes in said mat and housing; the end of said balance arm that is nearer its pivot point extending under the holes in said housing and mat and the other end of said balance arm, when no ball is on the tee, extending into engagement with said operating lever of said switch secured to said elongated arm, a resilient means secured to said housing and said elongated arm for yieldingly forcing the free end of said arm up, a cam shelf rigidly secured to said elongated arm, a motor rigidly secured to said housing near said cam shelf, a rotatable shaft secured to and operatively associated with said motor, a cam lever secured to said shaft, a roller mounted on said cam lever and extending over said cam shelf, a spring loaded closed switch secured to said housing near said cam lever, an operating arm secured to said switch, a pin on said cam lever engaging said spring loaded closed switch operating arm at times, a pull rod connected to said lever arm of said ball metering block and to said elongated arm to move said ball metering block against the urging of its spring when said elongated arm is lowered, wires connecting said spring loaded open switches in series with each other and said motor, wires connecting said spring loaded closed switch in parallel with said spring loaded open switches and in series with said motor, and a means secured to said switches and said motor for connecting them to a source of electrical energy.

2. The golf ball dispensing and teeing machine of claim 1 further characterized by having a shaft rotatably mounted in said housing above said elongated arm and extending outside said housing, a block secured to said shaft at a point over said elongated arm, a handle on said shaft outside said housing, and means associated with said handle and said housing adjacent said handle to hold said handle in a selected one of several positions.

3. ln a golf ball dispensing and teeing machine having a housing and a motor which drives the machine through a dispensing and teeing cycle, a cycle starting mechanism comprising, a tee arm pivotally secured to said housing, a resilient means secured between said tee arm and said housing to yieldingly urge one end of said tee arm up, a balance arm pivotally secured to said tee arm; the pivot point of said balance arm being nearer one end of said balance arm than the other and thereby dividing said balance arm into a heavy portion and a light portion, a tee secured to the light portion of said balance arm; the heavy portion of said balance arm being of a weight greater than the combined weight of the tee and the light portion of said balance arm by an amount less than the weight of a golf ball, a switch secured to said tee arm near the heavy portion of said balance arm, an operating lever secured to said switch and extending under the heavy portion of said balance arm; said switch being spring loaded open, a wire connecting said switch to said motor, and electrical conducting means connected to said switch and said motor and adapted to connect them to a source of electrical energy.

References tilted in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,868,261 Spencer July 19, 1932 1,958,956 Preston May 15, 1934 2,051,253 Goehler et al Aug. 18, 1936 2,212,877 Gale Aug. 27, 1940 2,295,599 Mozel Sept. 15, 1942 2,464,550 Bauer Mar. 15, 1949 2,520,952 Mozel Sept. 5, 1950