WO1995015792A1

WO1995015792A1 - A peg device

Info

Publication number: WO1995015792A1
Application number: PCT/SE1994/001169
Authority: WO
Inventors: Hans Lindh
Original assignee: Hans Lindh
Priority date: 1993-12-08
Filing date: 1994-12-05
Publication date: 1995-06-15
Also published as: SE9304083L; SE502032C2; AU1252395A

Abstract

A peg device includes a base plate (10) having three tongues (12) which are equally separated angularly around the perimeter of the plate, wherein one peg unit (22) is located on the tip of each tongue (12). A lip (40) extends between each pair of circumferentially adjacent peg units (22), such as to form a putting cup (27) on the peg device. The height of the outer parts (41) of the lips (40) extending along a tongue (12) increases in a direction towards the peg unit (22) and outer parts are spaced mutually apart such that the lip parts (41) form a ramp (23) up which a golf ball can be drawn, rolled or likewise moved to the peg unit, the ball-positioning edge (24) of which has a recess (25) on the part thereof that lies proximal to the centre (11) of the base plate (10). The lips are preferably convex in a direction towards the centre (11) of the base plate.

Description

A PEG DEVICE

The invention relates to a peg device of the kind defined in the preamble of Claim 1.

Golf players use a spacer device, i.e. a golf peg, to support a golf ball at a short distance above the surface of a tee, or above the surface of the ground in the case of practice ranges.

The spacer device, hereinafter also referred to as peg or peg device, may, in its simplest form, have the form of a wooden or plastic pin which carries a cupped head. The golfer will select a peg of desired pin length, or break-off the stem of the pin to the desired length, and then inserts the pin into the ground to the desired depth, so that a golf ball placed on the cup-shaped head will be located at a desired height above the ground or other supporting surface.

FR-A-2,625,108 describes a further development of a peg which is formed from a flexible band and which is intended to lie flat on the supporting surface/ground. One end part of the band carries several separate peg units of different heights. The other end part of the band is intended to be anchored into the ground with the aid of a nail or like device.

US-A-1,692,233 describes another development of a peg device in the form of a triangular plate which is provided with a central hole and which includes one peg unit at each of the plate corners. The peg units have mutually different heights or lengths.

Also known to the art is a ramp device which is intended to be placed on a supporting surface and the upper end of which has a cupped configuration which form a peg unit. A golf player is able to push or likewise move a ball from the supporting surface with the aid of his/her club and move the ball up along the ramp to the peg unit, such that the ball will rest stably therein.

The object of the present invention is to provide a peg device which includes several peg units, preferably of mutually different heights, and also a putting cup. The inventive object also includes the provision of a peg device having a putting cup whose edge surfaces form ramps up which golf balls can be moved, ie pushed, from the putting cup to the peg units.

This object is achieved in accordance with the invention with a device according to the following Claim 1.

Further embodiments of the invention will be evident from the following dependent Claims.

The inventive peg device thus includes a base plate which carries at least three peg units, preferably of mutually different heights, and is characterized in that elastic lips extend peripherally between mutually adjacent peg units on the base plates so as to form a putting cup.

Preferably, the height of at least one of the lips will decrease from both ends of the lip to its central region. When seen in the plane of the base plate, the lips will preferably be convex in a direction towards the centre of the plate. The two lips that extend to a mutually common peg unit are preferably placed and disposed to form a ramp up which a golf ball can be moved from the base plate to the peg unit.

The base plate will preferably carry three peg units and the lips will preferably have mutually different curvatures and lengths and form a generally isosceles triangle of general star-shaped configuration.

The lips are preferably located along the edges of the base plate .

The outer surface of the peg unit will preferably form an angle of about 45° to the plane of the base plate in the centre plane passing through a peg unit perpendicular to the plane of said plate.

The peg device is preferably made of a soft and flexible elastomeric material and will conveniently have a uniform wall thickness.

A permanent magnet may be connected to the peg device.

An embodiment of the peg device at present preferred will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompany¬ ing drawing.

Fig. 1 is a schematic side view of the peg device.

Fig. 2 is a schematic view of the peg device from above.

The peg device includes a generally triangular base plate 10 and three generally similar and mutually separated tongues 12 of generally equal lengths disposed around the centre point 11 of the plate.

A peg unit 22 is mounted at the tip or apex of each tongue. The peg unit includes a cup 24 which is spaced supportively from the tongues 12 and which accommodates a golf ball 50. The supported cup 24 includes an edge recess 25 on that part thereof which faces towards the centre 11 of the base plate. A lip 40 extends between each pair of peripherally adjacent peg units 22. The lip 40 is preferably integral with the outer wall of the peg unit. Each lip 40 is convex in a direction towards the centre of the base plate 10 and is preferably symmetrical to a radius 32 extending outwards from the plate centre 11. Angularly, the radii 32 are generally equally spaced and generally equally located as bisectors of the symmetry axes 31 of the tongues 12. The height of each lip 40 will preferably increase uniformly from that part of the lip located at the radius 32 towards the ends of the lip, i.e. towards the peg units 22.

Those parts 41 of the lips 40 that extend along a respective side of a tongue 12 are separated by a distance which is smaller than the diameter of the golf ball, such as to form a ramp 23 or guide path along which a ball can be pushed, pulled or otherwise moved. The ramp 23 rises in a direction towards the peg unit 22.

The three peg units 22 preferably have mutually different heights.

The lips 40 and the peg units 22 form on the base plate 10 a perimeter edge which defines a putting cup.

Because the tongues of the peg device are equally spaced angularly and are three in number, each peg unit 22 will form a stop means for a golf ball that has been struck centrally in over the opposing lip of the putting cup.

The base plate may include openings 26 for accommodating anchoring pins (such as a conventional pointed peg). One of these openings, or weakened opening-forming push-outs 25, will preferably lie in each of the outer end parts of the tongues 12, for instance in the centre of respective peg units 22. The opening 26 also functions to receive the stem of a conventional peg, which is hereby supported resiliently by and held firmly by the device.

The outer walls of the peg units are suitably at an angle of about 45° to the plane of the base plate, as viewed in a vertical plane perpendicular to said wall.

That part 42 of the lip 40 which is located between the ramps 23 will preferably have a circular arcuate shape in the plane of the plate 10, and the outside of this lip part 22 will also preferably slope inwards and upwards to form an angle of about 45° with the plane of the base plate.

The lip 40 suitably has the form of a triangular prism whose inner wall also slopes at an angle of about 45° to the plane of the base plate 10.

The peg device may be provided with a recess on its underside in the region of the walls of the peg units 22 and along the walls of the ramps, so that the whole of the peg device will have an essentially constant wall thickness.

The lengths of the tongues 12 may be such as to enable the tongues to be readily flexed, particularly at regions where the tongues connect with the central part of the base plate.

The base plate 10 may be formed with or provided with means which will facilitate removal of the peg device from the supporting surface with the aid of a golf club. For instance, a permanent magnet 14 may be attached to the base plate 10 (e.g. glued on or moulded therein) the base plate 10, for attraction by a ferromagnetic part of the head of a golf club.

The peg device as a whole is preferably designed to be soft and collapsible, so that it will lie in extended contact with the supporting surface, even when the surface is uneven.

Although the inventive peg device provided with a putting cup has been described in the aforegoing with reference to a preferred embodiment which includes three peripherally separated tongues which are preferably separated by equal angles, it will be obvious that the peg device may also include a number of peg units/tongues other than three, for instance four or five peg units/tongues which are separated, preferably equally, around the perimeter of the peg device.

Although the base plate 10 of the aforedescribed peg device is i perforate, it will be obvious that the base plate may be provided with a large through-penetrating opening which will facilitate removal of the peg device by means of a golf club, by inserting the head of the club in through the opening. It will also be understood that the putting cup facility per se does not require the presence of a base plate which forms a bottom in the cup, although in preferred embodiments material it is required to hold stably apart those parts 41 of the lips 40 which form respective ramps 23, and that these material pieces, such as the base or foot parts of the central lip parts 42, can be considered to form a base plate 10. However, the base plate 10 is preferably a complete plate whose contours coincide with the outer edges of the lips 40 and the peg units 42. In preferred embodiments of the invention, the ramps are intended to receive a ball from the putting cup or to enable a ball to be guided into the cup, wherein the ramps are formed by the walls of the putting cup. However, the ramps/guide surfaces may alterna¬ tively be formed separate from the edges of the putting cup and/or at least one ramp can be arranged so that its infeed end lies outside the cup, while remaining within the scope of the invention.

In the case of golfers who are relatively secure in their stroke play, it is sufficient to place the ball on one of the various high peg units. Golfers who are not secure in their stroke play, however, such as beginners who are not able to control impact of the club head with the ball to any great extent, are able to place a conventional peg (i.e. a pointed spacer which includes a stem having a cup-shaped ball- receiving head) in a peg unit, preferably in a peg hole preformed centrally therein. This provides the advantage of supporting the ball at a distance above the peg unit, so that a low stroke will not necessarily contact the actual peg unit. The pointed peg will also be supported elastically by the peg unit, meaning that the peg will be able to yield instead of being broken-off if struck by the club head, this means that the resistance of the peg to the club head will decrease, whereby the impact force felt through the club is also reduced, this force being liable to have a disturbing effect on a beginner when learning his/her strokes. Neither is the peg easily knocked away or broken-off.

Claims

1. A peg device which includes a base plate (10) having mounted thereon at least three peg units (2) , preferably of mutually different heights, characterized by an elastomeric lip extending between each pair of peripherally adjacent peg units (22) such as to form a putting cup (27) on the peg device.

2. A peg device according to Claim 1, characterized in that at least one of the lips (40) has a height which decreases from the ends of the lip towards the central region thereof.

3. A peg device according to Claim 1 or Claim 2, character- ized in that when seen in the plane of the base plate (10), the lips are convex in a direction towards the centre (11) of the base plate (10).

4. A peg device according to any one of Claims 1-3, characterized by a ramp (23) which adjoins each peg unit and up which a ball can be rolled, drawn or likewise moved.

5. A peg device according to any one of Claims 1-4, characterized in that the two lips (40) which extend to a mutually common peg unit (22) are positioned and disposed to form a ramp (23) up which a golf ball can be moved from the putting cup to the peg unit (22).

6. A peg device according to any one of Claims 1-5, characterized in that the peg units (14) are three in number; and in that the lips (40) have mutually the same curvature in their respective centre parts and merge with generally straight outer lip parts which form ramps (23) leading to the peg units (14), wherein the outer parts of the lips delimit tongues (12) on the bottom plate, said tongues being separat¬ ed around the centre of the base plate by equal angular distances.

7. A peg device according to any one of Claims 1-6, characterized in that the lips and the peg units define the outer edge of the base plate (10).

8. A peg device according to any one of Claims 1-7, characterized in that the outer surface of a respective peg unit defines with the plane of the base plate an angle in the region of 30-60°, preferably about 45°, in a plane which extends perpendicular to the plane of the base plate and is perpendicular to said outer surface.

9. A peg device according to any one of Claims 1-8, characterized in that the device is constructed from a soft, flexible elastomeric material.

10. A peg device according to any one of Claims 1-9, characterized by a permanent magnet (14) connected to said device.