US3227298A

US3227298A - Rollable retriever for golf balls and the like

Info

Publication number: US3227298A
Application number: US340010A
Authority: US
Inventors: James C Shoemaker
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1964-01-24
Filing date: 1964-01-24
Publication date: 1966-01-04
Anticipated expiration: 1983-01-04

Description

Jan. 4, 1966 J. c. SHOEMAKER 3,227,298

ROLLABLE RETRIEVER FOR GOLF BALLS AND THE LIKE Filed Jan. 24, 1964 United States Patent 3,227,298 ROLLABLE RETRIEVERFOR GOLF BALLS I AND THE LIKE James C. Shoemaker, 4301 Tullocks Woods Trail, Rockford, Ill.

.Filed Jan. 24, 1964, Ser, No. 340,010 3 Claims. (Cl. 214--356) ',the cage over them, the peripheral wall of the cage being defined by a series of spaced parallel flights of a nyloncovered wire cable threaded back and forth betweenthe peripheral portions of two disks of equal diameter mounted on opposite ends of a spacer sleeve, the spacing of the wires being slightly less' than the diameter of the balls so that the balls spring the wires apart just enough to get inside the cage, from which they cannot drop out but may thereafter be dumped either through an opening in one of the; disks that is normally closed, or by releasing the tension in one flightto provide a larger peripheral opening through which to dump the balls.

The two disks, which are'herein shown as made of stamped sheet metal having a certain amount of resilience needed to insure keeping the wires under enough tension, but may be molded of plastiematerial for economy of manufacture and less weight, have anti-friction bearings mounted, in their central hub portions for easy turning of the cage on the axle and also have spring metal washers fitting over these hubsinside the cage in abutment with the opposite ends of a spacer tube adapted to be sprung inwardly with the disks when the cageassernbly is mounted in a jig and the peripheral portions of the two disks are forced-toward each other to a predetermined loading during .the threading of the wire cable back and forth through holes in the peripheral portions of these disks, one knot being made on one end of the cable outside one disk and another knot being made near the other end inside the other" disk to hold the tension, the last mentioned end being extended from the last mentioned knot through a hole in the other disk and being detachably connected by means of"a hook with the protruding end portion of the axle, so that it is a simple matter to open up the periphery of the cage for dumping of the balls and just as simple to close the opening again for further use of the device.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which:

FIGS. 1 and 2 are a side view and rear view, respec-, tively, of a rollable retriever for golf balls andthe like made in accordance with my invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view which serves to better illustrate the mode of operation of the device, and

FIG. 4 is a sectional detail on the line 4-4 of FIG. 1, showing the parts substantially full size.

The same reference numerals are applied to corresponding parts in all these views.

Referring to the drawing, a tubular metal handle 5 has a generally U-shaped lower end portion 6, one leg 7 of which serves as a horizontal axle for the squirrel cage, indicate-d generally by the reference numeral 8, that is adapted to be rolled on the ground 9 by means of the handle to pick up golf balls G lying in the path of the cage, as for example, on a fairway in front of apractice golf tee. The cage 8 comprises two disks 10 and 11 that are held in spaced coaxial relationship by means of a sleeve 12 and have a nylon-covered wire cable .13 threaded back and forth in zig-zag fashion through registering 3,227,298 Patented Jan. 4, 1966 holes 14 provided near the flanged peripheries 15 of the disks, the latter serving as wheel treads. In that way I provide by the back and forth flights of cable a series of evenly spaced parallel members or wires 16 defining the peripheral wall of the cage, the spacing of these wires being slightly less than the diameter of the golf balls so that when the cage is rolled over a ball, the ball spreads the neighboring members or wires 16 apart enough as shown at X in FIG. 3 to get inside the cage, and, once inside, the balls are retained and cannot drop out even though enough balls are picked up to nearly fill the cage. To empty the cage, one or both disks may be provided with an opening, as indicated in dotted lines at 17 in FIG. '1 closed by means of a door 18 hinged at 19 and arranged to be locked in closed position by means of a turn-type fastener 20. However, I prefer to have the nylon-covered wire cable 13 provided with a knot 21 at one end outside the disk 10 and another knot 22 inside the disk 11 near the other end of the cable, leaving just enough cable beyond the knot 22 to cover the last flight 23 and provide a radial extension 24 to a hook 25, which, when the flight 23 is properlytensioned, can hook over the protruding end portion of the axle 7, as seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, to maintain the tension on this last flight 23 until such time as the cage is to be opened at this point for dumping out the golf balls that have been retrieved, when, of course, it is a simple matter to disconnect the hook 25 from the axle 7 and define a large outlet opening at 23 for this 5 purpose.

The operation of the retriever should be clear from the foregoing description. It picks up all balls in its path when the cage 8 is rolled in either a forward or rearward direction. There is no possibility of damageto the balls in this retrieving operation nor in the subsequent dumping operation. Also, there is nothing involved in the construction and operation of the device to give any trouble for the user. The device should last indefinitely with ordinary usage.

In assembling the cage 8, the two disks 10 and 11, which are herein shown as sheet metal stampings but, as stated before, may be molded of plastic material for lower cost and less weight, are mounted in a jig and centered in axial relationship to one another by means of their anti-friction bearings 26 which are pressed into their central hub portions 27. The inner races of these bearings 26 may be pressed onto the axle 7 so as to eliminate any extra parts that would otherwise be necessary. Spring washers 28 are assembled over the hubs 27 in abutment with the ends of the spacer sleeve 12, and the peripheral portions of the two disks 10 and 11 are flexed inwardly toward each other under a predetermined pressure and held under such pressure during the threading of the nylon-covered wire cable 13 back and forth between the two disks, whereby, at the end of the assembling operation, the

knots

21 and 22 previously mentioned maintain the tension, assuming the wire cable 13 has been pulled up tight enough at each step of the threading operation. Then the disks 10 and 11, by reason of their inherent springiness, supplemented by the spring loading of washers 28, serve to maintain this tension throughout the life of the device, the washers 28 supplying just enough additional spring action to make certain that the tension on the cable 13 will never be relaxed enough to interfere with the proper functioning of the device.

It is believed the foregoing description conveys a good understanding of the objects and advantages of my invention. The appended claims have been drawn to cover all legitimate modifications and adaptations.

I claim:

1. In a device for picking up round articles, such as golf balls. a rollable cylindrical cage comprising a pair of spaced upright coaxially disposed disks forming the side walls of said cage, and resilient slender horizontal cross-members forming the peripheral wall of the cage carried on the peripheral portions of said disks and disposed in evenly spaced parallel relation around the entire peripheries thereof, the spacing of said members being slightly less than the diameter of the round articles to be picked up, whereby the articles can be picked up by rolling the cage over them, the articles rolled over by the cage spreading said members to pass therebetween into the cage to be retained therein, and means for rolling said cage, the cross-members being all defined by one length of slender flexible resilient material threaded tightly back and forth between said disks in zig-zag fashion through holes provided in the peripheral portions thereof, there being a knot outside one disk made in the one end of said material at a hole at the start of the threading and another knot near the other end of said material inside the other disk to maintain all of the material under tension, the last named end of the material extending from the last named knot through a hole in the opposite disk and having means connected with the outer end thereof for applying tension to or releasing tension from this end portion of the material.

2. In a device for picking up round articles, such as golf balls, a rollable cylindrical cage comprising a pair of spaced upright coaxially disposed disks forming the side walls of said cage, and resilient slender horizontal crossmembers forming the peripheral wall of the cage carried on the peripheral portions of said disks and disposed in evenly spaced parallel relation around the entire peripheries thereof, the spacing of said members being slightly less than the diameter of the round articles to be picked up, whereby the articles can be picked up by rolling the cage over them, the articles rolled over by the cage spreading said members to pass therebetween into the cage to be retained therein, and means for rolling said cage, the last mentioned means comprising a handle having a horizontal axle on the lower end thereof on which said cage is rotatably mounted, said cage including a spacer sleeve extending lengthwise thereof between the central portions of the disks and surrounding said axle, said disks being of flexible resilient material and having their peripheral portions flexed toward one another when the members 4 which connect these portions are assembled thereon, whereby to maintain said members under tension by the spring-back inherent in said disks, and said device including spring washers between the ends of said sleeve and said disks which in the spring loading of said disks are also loaded to supplement the spring pressure active for the tensioning of said members.

3. In a device for picking up round articles, such as golf balls, a rollable cylindrical cage comprising a pair of spaced upright coaxially disposed disks forming the side walls of said cage, and resilient slender horizontal cross-members forming the peripheral wall of the cage carried on the peripheral portions of said disks and disposed in evenly spaced parallel relation around the entire peripheries thereof, the spacing of said members being slightly less than the diameter of the round articles to be picked up, whereby the articles can be picked up by rolling the cage over them, the articles rolled over by' the cage spreading said members to pass therebetween into the cage to be retained therein, and means for rolling said cage, said cage including a spacer sleevc extending lengthwise thereof between the central portions of the disks, said disks being of flexible resilient material and having their peripheral portions flexed toward one another when the members which connect these portions are assembled thereon, whereby to maintain said members under tension by the spring-back inherent in said disks, and said device including spring washers between the ends of said sleeve and said disks which in the spring loading of said disks are also loaded to supplement the spring pressure active for the tensioning of said members.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 771,886 10/1904 Smith. 2,718,745 9/1955 Scafidi 294-19 X FOREIGN PATENTS 1,388 1/1902 Great Britain. 469,482 7/1937 Great Britain.

GERALD M. FORLENZA, Primary Examiner.

SAMUEL F. COLEMAN, Examiner.

Claims

1. IN A DEVICE FOR PICKING UP ROUND ARTICLES, SUCH AS GOLF BALLS, A ROLLABLE CYLINDRICAL CAGE COMPRISING A PAIR OF SPACED UPRIGHT COAXIALLY DISPOSED DISKS FORMING THE SIDE WALLS OF SAID CAGE, AND RESILIENT SLENDER HORIZONTAL CROSS-MEMBERS FORMING THE PERIPHERAL WALL OF THE CAGE CARRIED ON THE PERIPHERAL PORTIONS OF SAID DISKS AND DISPOSED IN EVENLY SPACED PARALLEL RELATION AROUND THE ENTIRE PERIPHERIES THEREOF, THE SPACING OF SAID MEMBER BEING SLIGHTLY LESS THAN THE DIAMETER OF THE ROUND ARTICLES TO BE PICKED UP, WHEREBY THE ARTICLES CAN BE PICKED UP BY ROLLING THE CAGE OVER THEM, THE ARTICLES ROLLED OVER BY THE CAGE SPREADING SAID MEMBERS TO PASS THEREBETWEEN INTO THE CAGE TO BE RETAINED THEREIN, AND MEANS FOR ROLLING SAID CAGE, THE CROSS-MEMBERS BEING ALL DEFINED BY ONE LENGTH OF SLENDER FLEXIBLE RESILIENT MATERIAL THREADED TIGHTLY BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN SAID DISKS IN ZIG-ZAG FASHION THROUGH HOLES PROVIDED IN THE PERIPHERAL PORTIONS THEREOF, THERE BEING A KNOT OUTSIDE ONE DISK MADE IN THE ONE END OF SAID MATERIAL AT A HOLE AT THE START OF THE THREADING AND ANOTHER KNOT NEAR THE OTHER END OF SAID MATERIAL INSIDE THE OTHER DISK TO MAINTAIN ALL OF THE MATERIAL UNDER TENSION, THE LAST NAMED END OF THE MATERIAL EXTENDING FROM THE LAST NAMED KNOT THROUGH A HOLE IN THE OPPOSITE DISK AND HAVING MEANS CONNECTED WITH THE OUTER END THEREOF FOR APPLYING TENSION TO OR RELEASING TENSION FROM THIS END PORTION OF THE MATERIAL.