US3503613A - Simulated golfer - Google Patents

Description

March 31, 1970 s'. E. CAYA smununn eomma Filed May 25, 1967 United States Patent O 3,503,613 SIMULATED GOLFER Salbe E. Caya, Jacques Cartier, Chambly, Quebec, Canada, assignor of fifty percent to Armand Caya, Jacques Cartier, Chambly, Quebec, Canada Filed May 25, 1967, Ser. No. 641,371 Int. Cl. A63f 7/06 US. Cl. 27387.4 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A simulated golfer consisting of a standing figure having a rod passing from the back to the front of the lower part of the body of the figure and extending forwardly and downwardly into a golf club shaft. The rod is solidly connected inside the body to a transverse member which is pulled by a spring to provide a rotation of the rod in one direction and by a cable slidably actuated by a handle to rotate the rod in the other direction so as to obtain a pendulum movement of the golf club. The handle member consists of two handles pivotally connected together at one end and connected together by a pair of pivoted links at their midpoints. The sheath of the cable is connected to the handle at the pivotal connection and the cable is connected to the links. A spring biases the links towards the pivotal connection. Upon squeezing the handles the spring is lengthened and the cable is moved relative to the sheath.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This application relates to a simulated golfer and more particularly to a standing figure carrying a golf club which may be moved in a pendulum action through an operator- Description of the prior art Many simulated golfers are known to have complex movements provided by elaborate rotations of the various members of the figure in order to achieve a golf swing of the classic type.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to a very simple device for producing a pendulum movement by a golf club shaft held by a standing figure.

An object of the invention is to achieve the swinging of the golf club by a very simple and economical device.

Another object of the invention is to obtain a swinging action of a golf club which is reliable and which may be repeated and controlled.

The invention consists of a substantially standing figure constituting a simulated golfer and comprising a pair of flexible arms having the hands joined in front of the body, a downwardly directed shaft in the hands of the figure, a pivotal rod connected to the shaft and extending through the lower part of the body, biassing means for rotatably moving the pivotal rod in one direction upon its axis, and releasably actuating means for rotating the rod opposite the biassing direction, so that the shaft may produce a pendulum movement across the front of the figure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 illustrates the operation of the simulated golfer, FIG. 2 illustrates the mechanism which actuates the golf club.

3,503,613 Patented Mar. 31, 1970 DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIG. 1 shows a standing figure 10 having the arms 12 converging one towards the other so that the hands 14 are overlapping towards the lower part of the body. The two hands 14 hold the shaft 16 of a golf club. A mechanism inside the body of the figure 10 is actuated through a flexible line 18 by a spring actuated pliers member 20 so as to hit the golf ball 22 toward a target 24.

FIG. 2 illustrates in dotted line the body 11 of the figure with an opened segment to illustrate the inner mechanism which actuates the golf shaft 16.

The body 11 of the figure is hollow and made of a solid rigid material such as plastic or metal and is provided at the front and at the back with two apertures 26 to support a rod 28 which may freely rotate in the apertures 26. A transverse member 30 which is illustrated as a cross extension of the rod 28 projects downwardly and ends into a loop 32. A bracket 34 is fixed onto the side of the body 11. A spring 36 is mounted between the loop 32 and an eyelet 38 fixed to the bracket 34. The length of the spring 36 is set so as to give a determined inclination to the transverse member 30 corresponding substantially to the back swing of the shaft 16 which is desired in order to properly hit the golf ball 22.

A cable 40 is hooked onto the loop 32 and is passed through an aperture 42 so as to enable the movement of the cable 40 in a direction opposite the pulling action of the spring 36.

The part of the cable 40 which extends outside the body 11 is covered by a tube 41.

At the other end of the tube 41 and cable 40, a spring actuated pliers member 20 is mounted to releasably pull the cable 41. The pliers member 20 consists of a pair of handles 44 pivotably connected at one end through an axle 46. A pair of links 48 connected together at one end through an axle 50 are connected at their other end to an intermediate portion of the handles 44 through the axles 52. The cable 40 passes through the pivotal connection of the two handles 44 and extends to the axle 50 where it is solidly fixed. A spring 54 is mounted between axle 46 and axle 50 so as to keep the handles 44 in a spread out position, the two links 48 determining an obtuse angle to facilitate the initiation of their closing movement when the two handles 44 are compressed together. The relative distance between the aperture 42 and the apex of the two handles 44 is maintained by the tube 41 while the cable 40 will be pulled by the closing of the two handles 44.

The operation of the simulated golfer consists in placing a golf ball 22 in front of the golfer on a surface substantially at the level of the feet. In its rest position, the golf shaft 16, has an inclination behind the ball which is due to the spring 36 pulling the rod 28 in rotation through the transverse member 30. When the golfer is aligned by an operator so that the golf club is adapted to hit the ball 22 in the direction of the target 24, the spring actuated pliers member 20 is actuated by the operator. The shaft 16 is moved towards the ball to hit the latter in the desired direction. When the handles 44 are released the spring 36 brings back automatically the shaft 16 to its original position. The operation may then be repeated.

The shaft 16 may in certain cases be a mere extension of the rod 28 but it is preferably disconnectable at a connecting grip 58 so as to be able to substitute different types of golf clubs.

Although the rod 28 will preferably pass through the body 11 at the lower part thereof, this position is not essential Furthermore, the rod 28 may be horizontal or inclined in view of the axis of the body. The above described gripping arrangement for actuating the cable 40, constitutes a preferred and reliable actuating means for the cable. However it should be obvious that a push button type cable could be used for the same purpose.

I claim:

1. A simulated golfer comprising:

a standing figure having a substantially stiff and hollow body,

a pair of flexible arms having hands joined forwardly of the body,

a downwardly directed shaft inserted in the hands of the figure,

a rod pivotally mounted through the lower part of said body and angularly connected to said shaft,

a transverse member solidly fixed across said rod,

a resilient element connected between said transverse member and the side of the body for biasing said transverse member toward said side of the body,

a cable connected to said transverse member and across the body in a direction opposite the resilient element 1 3 for counteracting the biasing elfect of said element,

a coaxial tubular element mounted over said cable outside said body, one end of said member abutting against the body of the figure and the other end of said member being cut short of the free end of the cable,

mechanical manual means for sliding said cable withinsaid tubular member for producing a pendulum movement of the shaft across the front of the body. the said sliding means comprising a pair of handles pivotally connected at one end thereof, a pair of links pivotally connected at one end to an intermediate portion of the handles, the other ends being pivotally connected together, spring means between said other ends and the pivotal connection of the handles for biasing the pair of handles in a spreadout position, said other end of said tubular member being fixed to the pivotal connection of the handles, the cable extending through said pivotal connection and fixed to said other end of said links, whereby the squeezing of the handles slides the cable against the action of the resilient element.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 731,325 6/1903 Voorhees "273-3714 FOREIGN PATENTS 292,092 1923 Great Britain.

394,543 1933 Great Britain.

50,593 1910 Switzerland.

US. Cl. X.R.

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