Tee off device

• US 4,000,904 A
• Filed: 06/26/1975
• Issued: 01/04/1977
• Est. Priority Date: 07/04/1974
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Karel Arnold Poortman
• Original Assignee: Karel Arnold Poortman
• Inventors: Poortman, Karel Arnold
• Primary Examiner(s): Marlo, George J.
• Application Number:
  US05/590,689
• Time in Patent Office: 558 Days
• Field of Search: 273/183 A, 273/184 R, 273/183 R, 273/26 A, 273/26 R, 273/26 E, 273/183 E, 273/184 B, 273/186 B, 273/186 C, 273/186 R, 273/195 R
• US Class Current: 473/268
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2024/0031 at the starting point
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/801 Contact switches
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/805 Optical or opto-electronic sensors
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 24/0021 Tracking a path or terminating locations
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 69/3623 for driving A63B69/3608, A63B69/3658, A63B69/3661, A63B69/3667 and A63B69/3691 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 69/3629 Visual means not attached to the body for aligning, positioning the trainee's head or for detecting head movement, e.g. by parallax
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 69/3658 Means associated with the ball for indicating or measuring, e.g. speed, direction

Abstract

A golf-ball tee-off device for training a golfer to keep his body stationary when teeing-off a ball. The device includes a teeing platform which is caused to move downward in response to the weight of a tee and golf ball thereon. Downward movement of the platform actuates a device which causes continuous rotation of a gear including a circular array of light transmitting windows of different colors.

When the golf ball is driven from the platform, mechanism is provided to cause the platform to be raised to its elevated position and halt the rotation of the gear, while producing a momentary light under one of the light transmitting windows, the color of which can be observed by the golfer if his eyes were retained on the golf ball for the proper time period.

Claims

1. A tee-off device comprising a housing having an upper wall formed with a pair of openings passing therethrough and said housing also having a lower wall situated below said upper wall to define therewith an interior space in said housing, a rotary disc situated in said housing adjacent said upper wall thereof and carrying a plurality of transparent members of different colors for movement past one of said openings while said rotary disc rotates, drive means situated in said housing and operatively connected with said disc for rotating the latter, a lamp situated beneath said disc in said housing in alignment with said one opening at said upper wall of said housing for directing light through one of said transparent members when said lamp is illuminated, circuit means operatively connected to said lamp for illuminating the latter and including a switch for closing said circuit means to illuminate said lamp when said switch is closed, a shaft extending through the other of said openings of said upper wall of said housing carrying above said housing a platform on which a tee with a golf ball thereon is adapted to rest, guide means situated in said housing and supporting said shaft for vertical movement, said switch being located adjacent said shaft and the latter carrying a cam for closing said switch during vertical movement of said shaft, urging means situated in said housing and operatively connected with said shaft for urging the latter to an upper position when a golf ball is not carried by a tee on said platform, said urging means responding to placing of a golf ball on a tee on the platform to free the shaft for downward movement to a lower position, said cam operating said switch to illuminate said lamp during upward movement of said shaft when a golf ball is displaced from a tee on the platform, and arresting means situated in said housing and operatively connected with said shaft for cooperating with said drive means to arrest the operation thereof when said shaft moves upwardly in response to the force of said urging means upon removal of a golf ball from a tee, so that light of a given color will flash through said one opening in said upper wall of said housing to be visible to a golfer when a golf ball is driven from a tee on the platform.

2. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said urging means is in the form of a lever supported for pivotal movement between its ends, formed at one end with a slot, said shaft carrying a pin received in said slot, and said lever carrying at an end distant from said pin a weight which together with said lever urges said shaft to its upper position when a ball is not on a tee on the platform while responding to the weight of a ball for permitting the shaft to move downwardly further into the housing.

3. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said arresting means is in the form of a lever supported for pivotal movement intermediate its ends and formed at one end with a slot, said shaft carrying a pin received in the latter slot, and said lever having a projection at an end distant from the latter pin, said drive means including a gear receiving said projection when said urging means urges said shaft to its upper position, so that said projection cooperates with said gear to terminate the operation of said drive means.