US2810487A - Golf ball retriever - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 22, 1957 A. BAILEY GOLF BALL RETRIEVER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 3, 1952 Oct. 22, 1957 A. BAILEY com" BALL RETRIEVER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 3, 1952 United States Pat GOLF BALL RETRIEVER Art Bailey, Philadelphia, Pa.

Application December 3, 1952, Serial No. 323,895

Claims. (Cl. 214356) My invention relates to golf ball retrievers, and particularly to golf ball retrievers having rollers thereon which are adapted to pick up the balls as the device is dragged over the ground.

Many golf balls are lost on regulation golf courses and if these balls could be recovered, their recovery would be highly profitable because of their ever-increasing price. Furthermore, the golf driving range is becoming increasingly popular. In these driving ranges, a line of tee-off positions are marked ofi at one end of a large field and a player in each of these tee-off positions seeks to drive a number of balls as far as he can toward the other end of the field. This results in a scattering of hundreds and even thousands of golf balls over a plot of land measuring many hundreds of square yards in area. Since golf balls are expensive, it is necessary for the proprietor of the range to recover most, if not all, of these balls in order to successfully operate his business. The need for an efficient golf ball retriever which can quickly and easily recover large quantities of golf balls scattered over a large area is, therefore, very great.

There have been numerous attempts to devise a means for adequately retrieving golf balls in large quantities, but these retrievers have all proved to be inefficient in retrieving any large number of balls or they have inflicted such damage on the balls in the course of retrieving them that a prohibitive proportion of the balls have, thereafter, proved to be unusable. Furthermore, these retrievers have not been able to recover a ball which lies in a crevice or other irregularity in the ground and, therefore, have by-passed a large number of usable balls.

This invention, by using a resilient type of pick-up means which is adapted to conform to the contour of the ground and which does not have any frictional or abrading efiect on the balls, efiiciently and quickly clears a field of the large proportion of golf balls. In addition, it not only retrieves the balls but acts to clear rocks and other undesirable debris from the field while at the same time, not causing any damage to the grass because of its resilient nature.

It is, therefore, one object of my invention to provide a mechanical device for quickly and easily retrieving golf balls or the like from a large tract of land.

Another object of my invention is to provide a retrieving device which is adapted to retrieve the balls from irregularly contoured or pitted ground areas.

Another object of my invention is to provide a retrieving device which will not only gather up golf balls but which will act to clear the land of rocks and the like.

Another object of my invention is to provide a retrieving device which will not rip up the grass.

Another object of my invention is to provide a retrieving device which will automatically deposit the balls in a container.

Other objects of my invention are to provide an im proved device of the character described, that is easily and economically produced, which is sturdy in construction, and which is highly effective in operation.

iii

With the above and related objects in view, my invention consists in the details of construction and combination of parts, as will be more fully understood from the following description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is a top plan view of the golf ball retrieving device showing one complete unit and one unit in which the guard and the basket are missing.

Fig. 2 is a rear elevational view of the golf ball retrieving device shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is side elevational view showing the rolls, the supporting frames and a basket for holding the retrieved balls.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged perspective view showing the resilient mounting of the guard member.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one complete section embodying the invention.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view of one of the rollers showing a plurality of balls being picked up from the ground and carried into the basket receptacle.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view showing how the resilient roller is adapted to enter a recess to pick up a ball.

Referring now in greater detail to the drawings wherein similar reference characters refer to similar parts, I show a golf ball retriever comprising a support A and rollers B mounted within the support.

The support A comprises a series of frame sections 10, each section being similar to the others. The sections 10 are connected end to end, one section for each roller.

Each frame section 10 comprises a pair of parallel side bars 12 which are spaced from each other by bars 14 to form a rectangular frame. Midway of the frame is provided a bar 16 which divides the frame into two equal parts. In one part of the frame is rotatably mounted a roller 18, which when combined with the other rollers in the series, forms the member B. In the other part of the frame is inserted a wire mesh basket 20. There is, thereby, provided one basket in the rear of each roller, the basket being approximately of the same length as the roller.

Depending from each bar 16 behind the roller 18 is a guard frame 22 which has a curvature to conform to that of the roller. The guard frame 22 extends from the angle bar 16 to a position where it is adapted to be adjacent the ground when the machine is being used. Wire mesh 24 encloses the guard frame'22 to form the complete guard member 26. i

The guard 26 is resiliently mounted on the frame so that, if it strikes a rock or other obstruction on the ground as the apparatus is being used, it will not break off but will give sufficiently to clear the obstruction. This resilient mounting comprises a bracket 28 which is rigidly mounted on the side bar 12, a threaded rod 30 which extends through an opening in the bar 16 and through the top and bottom portions of the bracket 28, and a spiral spring 32 which surrounds the rod 30, abutting against the bar 16 at one end and against an adjustable washer 36 at its other end. A knurled nut 34, mounted on the rod 39 outwardly of the upper part of the bracket 28, is provided to adjust the tension of the spring. This adjustment is accomplished by means of the washer 36 which is threaded on rod 30 between the top end of the spring 32 and the top portion of the bracket. As the nut 34 is turned, it adjusts the washer 36 longitudinally of the rod 30, thereby adjusting the tension of the spring.

One end of a link 38 is pivotally connected to the guard adjacent the springs 32 and the other end of the link is provided with a pin 40 which is adapted to be slidably received in a longitudinal slot 42 of an upstanding lug 44 mounted on the bar 12 at a position spaced from the pivotal connection of the link to the guard. A spring 46 extends between the top of rod 30 and the pin 40 for the purpose of preventing the pin from being jammed at the bottom of the slot 42.

The rollers 18, as illustrated here, each comprise a hub 48 and a resilient sleeve-like covering 50 around the hub. The covering 50 is illustrated hereas' foam rubber. However, it may take the formof an inflatable casing, or a series of sheets made of resilient material of various kinds, or any of a number of other obvious modifications. Although two rollers are illustrated" here, any desired number maybe used in the gang.

As is apparent from the foregoing description, my invention operates as follows: As the machine is dragged over the ground, the roller 18, which is rotatably supported in the frame 12 transverse to the direction of the dragtreely rolls over any object in its path. The continuous cylindrical surface 50 of the roller is indented as it passes over these objects. reaches the-tree end of the article guide 26, thearticle guide and roller cooperate-tos'coop' the halls-'therebetween, pinching the balls between" the cylindrical roller surface and the interior surface of the article guide itself. Thereafter, the obj'eet sor balls are wrung between the two surfaces and are carried upward until they finally pass over the top of the article guide and fallinto the wire receptacl'e behind the roller.

As shown in Fig. 7, if a ball is lying in a recess, the resilient roller extends down into-there'cess and embraces the-ball, carrying it along with it.

Although my invention has been described in considerable detail, such description is: intended as being illustrative rather than limiting, since the invention may be variously embodied,- and thescope of the invention is tobe determined as claimed;

I claim as' my invention:

1. A golf ball retriever comprising a frame of substantially rectangular configuration, a receptacle mounted thereon, a resilient roller rotatably mounted withinsaid frame and supporting said frame upon the ground, said resilient roller having a continuous cylindrical surface extending parallel to its axis of rotation, said cylindricalsurface adapted to bein'dented as said roller passes over a ball and a curved article guide spaced from and con centric with said cylindrical surface, said curved article guide being resiliently mounted at its upper portion on said-frame and havinga free end extending toward the ground whereby a ball will be scooped between said curved article guideand s'aidroller, pinched therebetween,

and thereupon be wrung'from the-upper portion of said article guide into said receptacle;

When the object or ball endless blanket of foam rubberdikematerial arranged to travel in a closed path about and in parallelism with a horizontal reference line; and a ramp paralleling a portion of said blanket in spacedrelation thereto, the clearance between said blanket and said ramp being less than the smallest cross-sectional width of said articles.

3. A conveyor comprising: an endless blanket of foam rubber-like material and having a rising side and a descending side, said blanket being arranged to travel in a closed path with a portion thereof in parallelism and in engagement with a relatively fiat supporting surface; and a ramp disposed rearwardly of the rising side of said blanket and in parallelism with and; positively spaced therefrom, the clearance between said ramp and the-adjacent portion of said blanket being less than the smallest diameter of the article to be conveyed.

4. A harvester comprising: an endless blanket of a foam rubber-like material, means for constraining said blanket to travel in a closed path in parallelism with a horizontal reference line andwith the lower portion thereof in contact with the ground, said blanket having arising side and a descending side; a rampparalleling the rising: side of said blanket and spaced therefrom a distance less than the smallest diameter of the articles to be harvested; and means for rolling said blanket along the ground.

5'. A harvester comprising: a supporting cylinder, a

cylindrical blanket of foam rubb'er like material fixed to and circumscribing said" supporting cylinder; an arcuate' ramp paralleling the rising side of said cylindrical blanket and spaced therefrom a distance less than the smallest diameter of the articles to be harvested; and meansfor moving said harvester along the ground.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS" l,099,540 Douglass June 9, 1914 2,365,540- Fonken' Dec. 19;. 1944 2,413,679 Binder Jan. 7, 1947 2,484,437 Wells Oct. 11 1 949 2,605,005 Wenzelet al. July 29, 1952 2,656,061 Lockie: Oct. 20. 1953 2,658,637 Bailey Nov. 1-0, 1953 2,729,046 Patterson Jan. 3, 1956

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