WO1992008108A1 - Golf hole distance measuring device - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention provides a golf hole distance measuring and display device (18) removably mountable on a golf trolley and operatively connectable to one of the trolley's wheels (12), which device comprises a windowed casing (25) containing a distance indicator (34) capable of indicating through the window (26) the distance between a tee and its associated hole, and having adjustment means (28) to set this distance indication for each hole, together with drive means (35), connectable by flexible drive connection means (19) to the relevant trolley wheel (12), by which the distance indicated can be appropriately changed as the wheel rotates while the trolley is moved between the tee and the hole.

Description

GOLF HOLE DISTANCE MEASURING DEVICE

This invention relates to distance-measuring devices, and concerns in particular a "milometer"-type apparatus for measuring and displaying the distance on a golf course from where the ball lies to the green.

Golf is an increasingly popular game, played by experts and novices, and professionals and amateurs alike. In essence the game involves hitting a small ball with a stick-like "club" from a starting point (the "tee") towards and into a small hole in the ground at the finishing point (the "green") in as few a number of consecutive hits ("strokes") as possible. Each game consists of doing this between a number of different tees and the associated holes (each tee/hole pair is known simply as a hole) arranged in a series such that the tee for the next hole is adjacent the green for the present hole, and the series of holes is commonly disposed winding back and forth within a large site (of perhaps a hundred or so acres/hectares of countryside) , the whole being referred to as the "course", there usually being 18 holes in the course. The distance between a tee and its hole will normally be a number of yards (golf has not yet gone metric) in the range 100, for a short hole, to 500 (and more), for a long one, and the average for an 18-hole course might be around 250 yards, making the course about 5000 yards from start to finish. Accordingly, there is some element of exercise about playing golf,, and it is certainly a popular way of maintaining a (low) level of fitness. Hitting a golf ball with a goll club so that the ball goes in the desired direction - along the "fairway" towards the hole - rather than off into the rough and the bushes to either side is not easy, and it may take many months of assiduous practice before the relevant skill is acquired. However, once the tendency to hook or slice the ball is overcome, the player will put some effort into ensuring that at each stroke the ball travels in a controlled fashion as far towards the hole as possible, but not beyond it. A hole will have a "par" value, being the number of strokes it is expected that an expert will on average take to get the ball from the tee into the hole - a typical par for a short hole might be three (the first stroke onto the green, the second to, and the third down, the hole), while a long hole might have a par of five (three strokes down the fairway onto the green, and two puts [or putts] to and down the hole) - and it is every player's aim to equal or better par for every hole. To help the player in this aim the clubs which are used to hit the ball are graded in such a way that in theory simply by using a different club and a consistent hitting technique (the swing) so the ball can be hit a different distance - and, it is hoped, one that is appropriate to the situation. For the long shots off the tee there are used "woods", which have massive bulbous heads and near vertical contact plane angles so that they result in the ball travelling a long way with a fairly flat trajectory. A No: 1 wood has an almost vertical contact face, and so drives the ball very flat, while a No: 2 wood has its face leaning back a little, and a No: 3 wood its face leaning back even more (and so on), so that they drive the ball higher and higher. For the shorter second and third shots there are used irons, also with a range of head contact angles (from vertical to extremely laid back), which give better control for the shorter distance onto the green. There are also a number of special clubs for special purposes - a putter is the club used on the green itself, while niblicks, spoons and wedges are the old names for various irons used for particular problems like blasting out of a bunker (a shallow pit-like area full of sand deliberately sighted by the course planner near the green to trap an unwary player's ball).

To carry all the necessary clubs - there may be as many as three woods and nine irons, as well as a putter (the Rules allow a player to employ a maximum of 19 clubs) - the golfer has a golf bag of the right size and shape to take the clubs inserted shaft end first, and while this bag is designed to be carried (on a shoulder strap) it is rather heavy. It is therefore increasingly common for the player to employ a golf trolley - a small two-wheeled cart-like device, rather like a large walking stick with a pair of wheels at the non-handle end - to which the bag can be attached and which can be pulled along by a handle.

As a player improves so the ability to go round the course in a number of strokes approaching the par for the course increases, as does the desire to do even better. One important factor in playing a hole well, at such a skill level, is selecting the correct club for the hole. For example, a player may be able consistently to hit a ball 100 yards with a No: 8 iron, while with the same swing a No: 7 iron will send it 10 yards further and a No: 9 iron will send it 10 yards shorter. Obviously, when selecting a club for the next stroke it is therefore very_ important to know not only how far it will go but how far there actually is for it to go. If the near edge of the green is 100 yards away then a No: 8 iron is the club to use, to drop the ball onto the green and have it run on towards the hole; a No: 9 iron will drop the ball short, while a No: 7 iron is likely to send it rolling off the green's far side.

But to know how far it is to the green requires either a deep familiarity with the course (and while the course professionals, and the caddies who assist the experts in competitions, have that familiarity, and can accurately assess the distance to the green from wherever the last stroke left the ball lying, most players will not) or some sort of mechanical help - and it is in this latter category that the present invention comes to the assistance of the player who is of a standard that results in the ball reasonably consistently being driven down the fairway, as required, rather than off into the rough.

The invention proposes, in effect, that the ubiquitous golf trolley be fitted with a "yardometer" (a device like a "milometer" but measuring yards rather than miles) that can be set, for each hole in turn, for the (known) yardage from the tee to the hole (or perhaps to the near edge of the green), and which will, as after each stroke the player walks along the course between where the ball lies (initially at the tee, but thereafter wherever it finished after each stroke) and the hole, measure the distance travelled, and indicate the remaining distance to the hole. In this way the player will know almost exactly how far it is to the hole (and so to the green), and will be able to make a more educated choice of club to use for the next stroke.

In one aspect, therefore, the invention provides a golf hole distance measuring and display device removably mountable on a golf trolley and operatively connectable to one of the trolley's wheels, which device comprises: a windowed casing, removably mountable onto the trolley with the window visible; within the casing, a distance indicator, capable of indicating through the window the distance between a tee and its associated hole, and having adjustment means whereby the distance indication may be set and re-set in response to the actual tee-hole distance, together with drive means by which the distance indicated can be appropriately changed as the relevant wheel rotates while the trolley is moved between the tee and the hole; and flexible drive connection means, whereby the drive means can be operatively connected to the relevant trolley wheel thereby to cause the indicated distance to change as the trolley is moved and the wheel rotates.

As is discussed in more detail hereinafter, the invention's device most preferably additionally includes a full course distance indicator, with the appropriate adjustment and drive means (the latter being common with the hole distance drive means), whereby there may be displayed the distance to go (or gone). And where it is an electronic rather than a mechanical device, it most conveniently includes a whole group of programmable functions enabling it to perform its task more easily and more usefully.

The device of the invention may be employed with practically any sort of goff trolley, ranging from the earliest models, which were almost literally a walking stick with a pair of small bicycle wheels and a set of straps along the stick's shaft by which the golf bag could be attached thereto, to the most modern lightweight aluminium and plastics collapsible structures.

The casing of the device of the invention may be removably mountable onto the trolley - most preferably onto the pulling shaft of the trolley, adjacent the handle - in any way, but conveniently by a bracket projecting out from the rear (non-window) face thereof, which bracket fits round some part of the trolley and is then tightened into place with an adjustment screw or wing nut system, rather in the manner of a bicycle bell attachable to the bicycle's handlebars. Alternatively, a simple strap, with buckle or VELCRO-like fastener, can be employed.

The distance indicator may be one where the display elements are formed by a suitably-driven - that is, electroniσ-proσessor-σontrolled - liquid crystal display. Alternatively, it may be a conventional ^•mechanical arrangement of small wheels each bearing the relevant numbers around its periphery and driven from the previous wheel (or from the basic drive) to clock up one for each revolution of that previous one. But regardless of type, it will normally need only three distance-indicating digits, which will be sufficient to show the length of any normal hole in the conventional range (100 to 500 yards).

The distance indicator includes adjustment means whereby it may be set, or re-set, to show the distance from the current tee to the relevant hole (or, in practice, to the near edge of that hole's green). The means may take any form suitable to the nature of the display itself; for example, for a mechanical wheel indicator the means is conveniently a set of thumb wheels, or similar, connected one to each display wheel and projecting out through the casing so allowing each display wheel to be adjusted individually to any number in its range, while for a processor-controlled liquid crystal display the means will desirably be one or more "reset" button arranged to have the appropriate function (enabling the device to be "programmed" with the relevant data, or to be wiped clear of the data already stored) .

The drive means provides the drive to the indicator to cause it to change its display in a suitable manner as the trolley is pulled along, and may be of any form required by the nature of the display system. For a simple mechanical three-train wheel indicator it is desirably a rotating rod appropriately connected by cogs and worms to the first wheel in the train, the "free" end of the rod projecting out of the casing to receive the drive connection means (whereby it may operatively be connected to a trolley wheel). For a liquid crystal display, however, the "drive" means is basically the combination of the electronic processor system (with its associated memory, at least some of which is programmable with course and player data) maintaining and driving the display together with some suitable signal receiving means acting upon the distance indication information received from the drive connection means operatively linking the processor to the relevant trolley wheel.

In use the indicator will desirably indicate the distance left to go from "here" (the point to which the player has walked from the tee) to the hole (or the green edge), and therefore it is especially preferred that, the display having been set to the hole distance, the drive to the individual display elements will drive the display "backwards", counting down from that distance to give the distance actually remaining. Of course, for a mechanical wheel device this can be achieved simply by reversing the normal order of the numbers in each element of the display.

The drive connection means may take any suitable form, provided it can in practice reliably connect the indicator drive to a trolley wheel. For a mechanical device the connection means is a flexible cable (of the conventional rotationally-stiff wire turning within an outer casing type), together with a suitable connector by which the cable's driven end may be drivingly attached to a wheel. For a processor-controlled electronically-driven liquid crystal display device, on the other hand, the drive connection means may be the combination of transducer means operatively connected to a trolley wheel and a suitable insulated electrically- conductive wire carrying electrical signals from the transducer to the processor.

The wheel connector per se should be such that there is little chance of any slipping or temporary disengagement to result in an inaccurate distance display. Moreover, since many modern trolleys are of the "fold-up" type, with both wheels and handle folding back against the main body to provide a compact package for stowing in, say, a car boot, it is important that the wheel connector (and, of course, the drive from it up to the casing) should be able not only to withstand this treatment but also to relocate itself ready for operation when the trolley is next unfolded for use. So, while the connector could involve a friction drive member to be pressed against the trolley wheel (against its tyre, perhaps), most preferably it is a combination of two cogs (or of a splined shaft and a cog), to obviate slippage problems, one (at the cable end) meshable with the second mounted (conveniently detaσhably) on the wheel adjacent its inner surface. And in the mechanical embodiment driven by a flexible rotating cable, with the wheel end of the flexible cable mounted, near that end, on the trolley wheel support, and the cable end cog (or splined shaft) positioned to mesh with the wheel-mounted cog, the natural resilience of the cable both biasses the cogs into engagement and permits them to disengage if necessary when the wheel leg folds back as the trolley is folded up.

The wheel-mounted cog may be so mounted in any suitable way. However, most modern trolleys have an inner hub, projecting slightly towards the trolley, to which there may be secured an appropriate cogwheel. This mounting may conveniently be a set of springy fingers themselves secured to the hub by a circlip and projecting out therefrom to engage with corresponding slots in the cogwheel proper. There may obviously be provided a set of differently-sized cogwheels and fingers to match any likely common trolley wheel hub size.

Clearly, the gearing of the drive connector must be such that the turning of the trolley wheel is accurately converted to an indication of distance on the display. Luckily, these days all trolley wheels seem almost invariably to be of the same diameter (about 12 in, or 30 cm) , so once the correct ratio has been found for one trolley it should be satisfactory for all trolleys.

As noted above, the device of the invention preferably includes a full course distance indicator, which may be set to show the total distance around the course. This indicator is also driven (and the drive may conveniently be common with the drive to the tee- hole distance indicator), and either, first set to zero, may count up the distance, showing how far the player has walked, or - and preferably - may, first set to the total course distance, count down, to show how far the player has yet to walk.

The inventive distance measuring device may also incorporate a number of other features, especially when it includes a programmable-electronic-proσessor-driven liquid crystal display. For example, the relevant details of one or more entire course - the distance and par for each hole, for instance - may be entered and stored, and then recalled hole by hole as and when required. Again, the player's own personal golfing details - handicap, average driving distance with each club, and so on - may be stored, and then utilised as each hole is played to determine more accurately which club the player should employ at every stage along the hole. Additionally, where the player hits off line, it is convenient to be able to enter the "off" angle into the processor, so that the subsequent distance calculations involve an appropriate trigonometrical correction and thus more accurately reflect reality. And because the processor and its memory may be able to handle more than one player at a time, it may be desirable to have it store the details of two, three or even four players, and to keep faithful track of a two-, three- or four-player game, and whether it is match play or not .

At its most basic the distance measuring and display device of the invention is a trolley-mountable casing, containing a display indicator and its drive means, together with drive connection means and a wheel connector. In addition, though, the device may include a number of other features intended to make the player's life easier. For example, it may carry a sσorecard holder, perhaps in the form of a spring clip, and it may incorporate means to secure a pencil (or other writing instrument), possibly as a channel into which the pencil is a push fit. And where the device is an electronic one, it may incorporate time display and time alarm systems, battery flat warnings, the ability to cope with a short (9-hole) course or a less than complete set of clubs, metric (metres) or imperial (yards) distance measuring, alternative or "professional" club selection, "freeze" option (to allow trolley movement wi thou t processor interaction and display update), and various arrangements of two or more players.

- 1Z

An embodiment of the invention is now described, though by way of illustration only, with reference to the accompanying purely diagrammatic Drawings in which

Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a golf trolley fitted with a simple mechanical distance measuring and display device according to the invention;

Figures 2A & B show front and side views of the display portion of the device shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 shows a front view of the internal components of the Figure 2 display portion; and

Figure 4 shows a part-sectional view of the trolley wheel and how it drives the device shown in the other Figures.

The trolley of Figure 1 has a stick-like body (11), to which in use would be attached (by means not shown) the golf bag (not shown), from near the bottom (as viewed) end of which body are supported two wheels (as 12) each by a splayed "leg" (as 13) and stub axle (as 14), each leg being braced by a strut (as 15) between it and a point about halfway up the body 11. At the top end of the body is a handle (16) by which the trolley may be pulled (or pushed).

Mounted by a bicycle-bel1-type clip (30; not shown in Figure 1; see Figure 2B) is the windowed display portion (18) of a distance measuring and display device of the invention. It is operatively connected by a flexible drive cable (19) to the left (as viewed) wheel 12, where a cog (20) at the end of the cable meshes with another cog (21) mounted on the inner surface of the wheel .

The display portion 18 and its internal components are best seen in Figures 2A & B and 3. The portion 18 has a casing 25 with two windows (26, 27) through which can be seen the display proper (two sets of figures indicating total yardage for the course, in window 26, and the yardage left to the green on the present hole, in window 27). Each display has its own adjustment means: the total yardage display 26 has a zero setter (28; and in this embodiment clocks up the total distance walked by the golfer), while the hole distance 27 has three setters (29H, 29T and 29U, for hundreds, tens and units respectively) so each display element can be individually set to match the hole (or green edge) distance at and from the tee. The casing has a biσycle- bell-type clip (30; see Figure 2B) by which it can be connected to the upper shaft of the trolley body 11, and is provided with a spring clip (31) to hold a score card (not shown), and a friction-fit channel (32) to hold a penci1 (33) .

The internal workings of the display portion 18 are shown in Figure 3. They are fairly conventional - shafts carrying cogs and/or worms meshing with other cogs to drive the individual mechanical wheel display elements (as 34), with the requisite adjustment means - and need no further comment here. Perhaps worthy of note, though, is the common, drive rod (35) that connects the flexible drive 19 both to the hole distance display wheels and to the total distance display wheels. Figure 4 shows the trolley wheel 12 (shown sectioned in part) mounted on the end of its stub axle 14 at the end of the relevant splayed leg 13. Lead down the leg is the flexible connection cable 19, and the latter is firmly but removably secured to the former by a tight sleeve mounting device (41; shown in see- through). At the very end of the cable 19 is the first cog (a splined shaft 20). On the inside of the wheel 12 is mounted the second connector cog 21, secured to the wheel by spring fingers (as 42) that are themselves secured to the wheel by a σirσlip (43) and project into and engage with slots (not clearly shown separately) in the inner surface of the cogwheel 21 (or into a fitting plate, not shown, used therewith). The resilient flexibility of the cable 19 ensures that the two cogs 20 and 21 are pressed into non-slipping engagement.

It will be apparent that, as the trolley is pulled along, and the wheels turn, so that turning is connected up to the display portion, continuously adjusting the display element wheels to provide the required "read-out" of both distance gone from the start of the course (in one window) and distance left to the (green of the) present hole. From this latter information, and knowing his or her ability, the player can select exactly the correct club to use under the circumstances. For example, on a 350 yard hole (with a par of 4) a player using a No: 1 wood might drive the ball 200 yards off the tee. He (or she) would then walk along the fairway to his ball, there observe that the yardσmeter indicated a distance of 150 yards remaining to the hole, and choose the club he knows will be appropriate for him for that distance and the prevailing conditions.

Claims

1. A golf hole distance measuring and display device removably mountable on a golf trolley and operatively connectable to one of the trolley's wheels, which device comprises: a windowed casing, removably mountable onto the trolley with the window visible; within the casing, a distance indicator, capable of indicating through the window the distance between a tee and its associated hole, and having adjustment means whereby the distance indication may be set and re-set in response to the actual tee-to-hole distance, together with drive means by which the distance indicated can be appropriately changed as the relevant wheel rotates while the trolley is moved between the tee and the hole; and flexible drive connection means, whereby the drive means can be operatively connected to the relevant trolley wheel thereby to cause the indicated distance to change as the trolley is moved and the wheel rotates.

2. A device as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the casing is removably mountable onto the pulling shaft of the trolley, adjacent the handle, by a bracket projecting out from the rear (non-window) face thereof, which bracket fits round the shaft.

3. A device as claimed in either of the preceding Claims, wherein the display elements are formed either by a suitably-driven liquid crystal display or by a mechanical arrangement of s.mall wheels each bearing the relevant numbers around its periphery and driven from the previous wheel (or from the basic drive) to clock up one for each revolution of that previous one.

4. A device as claimed in Claim 3, wherein for a mechanical display the adjustment means are thumb wheels connected one to each display wheel and projecting out through the casing.

5. A device as claimed in either of Claims 3 and 4, wherein for a mechanical display the drive means is a rotating rod appropriately connected by cogs and worms to the first wheel in the train, the "free" end of the rod projecting out of the casing to receive the drive connection means.

6. A device as claimed in any of the preceding Claims, which in use indicates the distance left to go, and therefore wherein the drive to the individual display elements will drive the display "backwards", counting down from that distance to give the distance actually remaining.

7. A device as claimed in any of the preceding Claims, wherein the drive connection means is a flexible cable (of the rotationally-stiff wire turning within an outer casing type), together with a suitable connector by which the cable's driven end may be drivingly attached to a wheel .

8. A device as claimed in Claim 7, wherein the connector is a combination of two cogs (or of a splined shaft and a cog) , one (at the cable end) meshable with the second mounted detachably on the wheel adjacent its inner surface.

9. A device as claimed in Claim 8, wherein the wheel- mounted cog is so mounted on the inner hub of the trolley wheel, the mounting taking the form of a set of springy fingers themselves secured to the hub by a circlip and projecting out therefrom to engage with corresponding slots in the cogwheel proper.

10. A device as claimed in anv of the preceding Claims, which includes a full course distance indicator, which may be set to show the total distance around the course, the drive for this indicator being common with the drive for the tee-to-hole distance indicator.