WO1999056838A1

WO1999056838A1 - Golf training set

Info

Publication number: WO1999056838A1
Application number: PCT/IB1999/000791
Authority: WO
Inventors: Bernard De Montalembert; René Treyvaud
Original assignee: Bernard De Montalembert; Treyvaud Rene
Priority date: 1998-04-30
Filing date: 1999-04-30
Publication date: 1999-11-11
Also published as: AU3165299A; FR2778113A1; FR2778113B1

Abstract

The invention concerns a golf training set consisting of a club whereof the head (27) is provided with a roller (28) and a device for analysing the quality of the club stroke. Said device essentially comprises a cylinder (1) mounted rotating about a horizontal axis on elastically mounted bearings. The cylinder surface has a marker, such as a propeller for displaying its rotation and said rotation direction. The cylinder is driven in rotation by the club roller if the trajectory thereof is incorrect or if the head surface is oblique relative to the trajectory.

Description

1

GOLF TRAINING PACKAGE

The present invention relates to a golf training set consisting of a club and a device for analyzing the quality of the club's hit, this device comprising at least means indicating direction and orientation. of the head of the club relative to its trajectory.

Learning golf, especially swing control, requires long hours of exercise, which the golf player rarely has the opportunity to practice on the course. Therefore, golf players have always wanted to be able to practice indoors, especially at home. Many devices and devices have therefore been imagined and developed to allow exercise in the room. We know the importance of the club's trajectory, its point of impact on the ground, the angle of attack of the striking face of the club head and the orientation of this face relative to the direction typing. The player also often wishes to know the impulse given to the ball, that is to say the speed of the head of the club which makes it possible to appreciate the initial speed of the ball.

From US patent 3,992,012, a swing analysis device is thus known which is equipped with thin and flexible rods associated with detectors themselves connected to an electronic calculating the speed of passage of the club, its height and its direction.

From US Patent 4,223,891, there is a known impact analyzer comprising a mat under which eight are mounted detectors linked to electronics calculating the speed and trajectory of the club head.

From patent GB 2 110 544, a device of the same type is known which calculates, from six magnetic sensors, the speed of the head of the club, its trajectory, the angle of attack and the behavior of the ball.

Sensor devices are also known from US Patents 5,108,105 and 5,114,150.

US Pat. No. 5,121,923 proposes a device comprising a ball suspended by a flexible rod between two flanges forming part of a detector device.

It has also been proposed to mount three accelerometers in the head of the club and, in its handle, an electronics and a transmitter for the remote display of desired information (US Pat. 3,945,646). Optical devices using mirrors have also been proposed (US Patents 4,251,077, 4,342,455, 4,477,079).

Sensor devices require complex electronics and display means and have a reaction time such that the recording by the player's brain and the transmission of information, respectively the correction to his muscles is too long for the correction is effective. The object of the invention is to provide a simple, robust and inexpensive drive assembly capable of immediately and visually providing information concerning the orientation of the club head relative to the direction of the goal and the strike level of head of the club on the floor.

The drive assembly according to the invention is characterized in that the club head is provided, in its lower part, with a roller rotatably mounted about an axis parallel to the lower edge of the head and to the striking plane of this head and that the analysis device comprises a cylinder mounted free in rotation about a horizontal axis on bearings vertically mounted elastically, the surface of the roller and of the cylinder having a relatively high coefficient of friction and the surface of the cylinder having a marking making it possible to visualize its rotation and its direction of rotation, the axis of the cylinder being intended to be oriented in the direction of the goal and representing the ground on which the ball is placed.

The drive assembly can be used with or without a ball.

During a correctly executed swing, the club head strikes almost tangentially the surface of the cylinder parallel to the axis of the latter. If the trajectory of the club head and the orientation of its striking face are correct, the cylinder flexes, but does not rotate. For the observer, this means that the swing is excellent. If, on the other hand, the cylinder turns, in one direction or the other, it means that the trajectory of the head of the club is incorrect or that the face of the club is badly oriented or both. This rotation is in fact due to the drive of the cylinder by the roller of the club, drive in rotation which occurs as soon as the axis of the roller is no longer in a plane perpendicular to the trajectory of the head, assuming that the trajectory is correct. This rotation is visualized on the field by the player who can then immediately correct his movement. It can certainly happen that the cylinder does not turn despite an incorrect trajectory and an incorrect orientation of the face of the club head, but such a conjunction can only be exceptional and will be very quickly identified as such by the player.

The roller and the cylinder are preferably coated with rubber.

The mark carried by the cylinder is advantageously a propeller.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the analysis device comprises means for detecting the point of impact of the club on the cylinder representing the ground. The impact detectors are at least two in number housed in annular grooves of the cylinder, so that they are only touched by the club if the cylinder has been pushed down. These impact detectors are associated with optical signaling means. The impact detectors are, for example, made up of two flexible blades actuating switches for controlling the optical signaling means, the very short duration of ignition of which is controlled by means of timing, for example a monostable circuit.

If desired, it is without other possibility to add to the analysis device means for measuring the speed as known from the prior art.

The appended drawing represents, by way of nonlimiting example, an embodiment of the invention and a variant.

Figure 1 is a top plan view of the analysis device.

Figure 2 is a sectional view along II-II of Figure 1 also showing the club head and its trajectory.

Figure 3 is a sectional view along III-III of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a schematic plan view of an alternative embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a section on V-V in FIG. 4.

Figure 6 is a section on VI-VI of Figure 4. The analysis device essentially consists of a metal cylinder 1 surrounded by a rubber sleeve 2 divided into three sections leaving two annular grooves 3 and 4. The cylinder 1 is rotatably mounted on a shaft 5 by means of two ball bearings 6 and 7. The fixed shaft 5 is carried by two flexible arms 8 and 9 cut from a sheet of steel fixed on a cross-member 10 forming part of a frame 11 in the form of a frame mounted on a base plate 12. Under the flexible arms 8 and 9, perpendicular to the shaft 5, are fixed rubber blocks limiting the stroke of the arms 8 and 9 and serving as shock absorbers. Upwards, the drawdown of the shaft 5 is limited by two brackets 15 and 16 and, at these locations, the shaft 5 is also provided with small rubber damper blocks 17 and 18 which further position the level of the cylinder 1. The surface of cylinder 1 has a mark consisting of a propeller 19.

In the grooves 3 and 4, two flexible blades 20 and 21 are housed and embedded. They are fixed by one of their ends to the cross member 10 and curved in an arc around the cylinder 1 so as to match the curvature of this cylinder without, however, touch it, that is to say without braking action on this cylinder. The free ends of the flexible blades 20 and 21 cooperate with two contactors such as the contactor 22 visible in FIG. 3, a contactor made up of two flexible contacts. These two contactors are connected to electronics 23 controlling the supply of two LEDS 24 and 25, respectively red and green. The electronics 23 are very simple. It consists of two monostable rockers controlling the electrical supply of each of the LEDS 24 and 25.

The device may also include an additional contactor 36 actuated by the lowering of the cylinder 1. The closing of this contactor causes the illumination of a third LED 37.

The chassis is closed by two plates 33 and 34 revealing and exceeding the cylinder 1 and the blades 20 and 21. The device is mounted in a wooden box of which the upper plate 35 is shown flush with the upper edge of the chassis 11 so protect the latter from side blows.

The analysis device shown is used with a club 26 whose head 27 has been slightly modified by the addition of a roller 28 made of self-lubricating plastic material coated with a rubber sleeve and mounted very freely in rotation around an axis 29 parallel to the lower edge of the head 27 and to the striking plane 30, so that it practically does not exceed the lower edge of the head.

The drive assembly is used as follows:

the geometric axis 31 of the cylinder 1 is placed in the direction of the goal to be achieved, the blade 21 being in front of the blade 20. The ball is supposed to be on the cylinder 1, at the location of the blade 21. It would also be possible to place a ball at this location.

For the explanation of the functioning of the analysis device, it will be assumed that the trajectory 32 (FIG. 2) of the head of the club, or, in other words, its orbit, is correct, that is to say that the axis 31 is parallel to the plane of the trajectory of said orbit-e. On the other hand, the striking face 30 can occupy three different characteristic positions relative to the vertical plane containing the geometric axis 31, that is to say a position in which the plane of the face 30 is perpendicular to said vertical plane, that is to say perpendicular in the plane of the drawing in FIG. 2, a position in which it is oblique in one direction relative to this plane and a position in which it is oblique in relation to this plane in the other direction.

Let us first suppose that there is perpendicularity. In this case, the roller 28 strikes the cylinder 1 and roll on the rubber of this cylinder according to a generator: the cylinder 1 flexes elastically downwards, but remains motionless in rotation. The lowering of the cylinder 1 causes the closure of the contactor 36 and the timed illumination of the LED 37. This means that the height of the trajectory of the head is low enough for the fictitious ball to be lifted. It is therefore a measure of the depth of impact.

Suppose now that the plane of the face is left relative to the plane of the drawing. In this case, the rolling of the roller 28 on the cylinder 1 generates a radial component which has the effect of driving the cylinder 1 in rotation, in one direction or the other, according to the orientation of the face 30. This rotation and its direction are clearly visible by the movement of the propeller 19.

If the trajectory of the head is oblique relative to the axis 31 (for example an "out-to-in" blow), the cylinder 1 is mainly driven in rotation by the inertia of the caster 28.

The analysis device also indicates whether the point of impact of the club on the ground, that is to say in this case on the cylinder 1, is correctly placed or not. The path 32 shown in Figure 2 again corresponds to a correct path. Suppose that the roller 28 comes to touch the cylinder 1 between the two flexible blades 20 and 21 as shown at 28 '. In a subsequent position 28 '', the roller comes to roll on the flexible blade 21 which flexes under the pressure of the roller and closes the contactor 22. The current pulse thus created causes the green LED 25 to light up for one or two seconds, which means for the observer that the point of impact is correct.

On the other hand, if the impact takes place substantially before the flexible blade 20, the corresponding contactor closes, which causes the red LED 24 to illuminate, which means, for the observer, that the impact is too much 10

in front of the ball, so that the ball will not be lifted.

The device described is of course susceptible of numerous variant embodiments, in particular as regards the elastic mounting of the cylinder 1, the number and the production of the impact detectors.

The analysis device could be supplemented by known means for measuring the speed of the club head and its angle of attack.

In the embodiment represented in FIGS. 1 to 3, the rotation of the cylinder 1 does not make it possible to know whether this rotation is due to an incorrect trajectory of the head of the club, that is to say to an incorrect orientation of the plane of the swing, or an incorrect orientation of the club face 30, that is to say a bad behavior of the club by the player. This defect can be remedied by the modification illustrated in Figures 4 to 6.

Cylinder 1 is replaced by a shorter cylinder 1 '. On each side of the cylinder l 'and at least partly in front of the cylinder 1' are mounted two auxiliary cylinders 40 and 41. These cylinders 40 and 41 are mounted free in rotation around two axes 42 and 43 parallel to the axis 31 of the cylinder l ′ and situated in a plane situated slightly above the axis 31 as can be seen in FIG. 5. In addition, the cylinder l 'flush with the surface 44 of a mat located behind the cylinder l' , while level 45 of this 11

mat in front of the cylinder is about 6mm below level 44, so that the cylinders

40 and 41 significantly exceed level 45.

The axis 31 of the cylinder 1 'is articulated behind the cylinder around a horizontal transverse axis 46 and it is held horizontal by a spring 47. The axis 31 can close an electrical contact indicating the impact.

When performing a swing, if the swing plane, i.e. the plane in which a determined point of the club head moves, is correct, i.e. is parallel or contains the axis 31 and that, consequently, the cylinders 40 and 41 remain stationary, but that the cylinder turns it, this then means that this rotation is due to an incorrect orientation of the face 30 of the club.

If, on the other hand, the swing plane is oblique relative to the direction of the goal, the club head, after having struck the cylinder, comes to touch transversely one of the auxiliary cylinders 40 and

41 and drives it in rotation. The cylinders 40 and 41 are positioned and raised so as to be driven by the club. They are preferably mounted resiliently and their surface has a design allowing them to visualize their rotation. The diameter of the cylinders 40 and 41 could of course be different from that of the cylinder 1 '.

Claims

12 CLAIMS

1. Golf training set consisting of a club and a device for analyzing the quality of club strike, device comprising at least means indicating the direction and the orientation of the head of the club relatively on its trajectory, characterized in that the head (27) is provided, in its lower part, with a roller (28) rotatably mounted around an axis (29) parallel to the lower edge of the head and to the striking plane (30) of this head, and that the analysis device comprises a cylinder (1) mounted freely in rotation about a horizontal axis on bearings elastically vertically mounted, the surface of the roller and of the cylinder having a relatively coefficient of friction high and the surface of the cylinder having a marking making it possible to visualize its rotation and its direction of rotation, the cylinder representing the ground on which the ball is posed and the axis of the cylinder being intended to be oriented in the direction of the goal.

2. Assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that the roller (28) and the cylinder (1) are coated with rubber.

3. Assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that the marking carried by the cylinder is a propeller (19).

4. An assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that the roller (28) of the club is mounted in a cutout 13

of the head of the club so that the roller practically does not exceed the lower edge of the head.

5. Assembly according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the cylinder has at least two annular grooves (3, 4) in which are housed impact detectors (20, 21) respectively associated with a means of optical signaling (24, 25) -.

6. An assembly according to claim 5, characterized in that the impact detectors consist of two flexible blades (20, 21) actuating contactors (22) for controlling optical signaling.

7. An assembly according to claim 6, characterized in that it comprises means for delaying (23) the supply of the means of optical signaling.

8. Assembly according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the analysis device comprises means (36, 37) indicators of the depth of the impact of the club head on the cylinder (1).

9. Assembly according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the analysis device further comprises means for measuring the speed of the head of the club.

10. Assembly according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that it comprises two auxiliary cylinders (40, 41) mounted free in rotation about two axes parallel to the axis of the main cylinder 14

(1 ') and located, at least partially, in front of the main cylinder, with respect to the direction of the goal, and on each side of the main cylinder, these auxiliary cylinders being positioned so as to be in the path of an oblique swing to the axis of the main cylinder and having a marking or drawing allowing to visualize their rotation.