Golf game practicing apparatus

• US 4,343,469 A
• Filed: 05/06/1980
• Issued: 08/10/1982
• Est. Priority Date: 05/07/1979
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha
• Original Assignee: Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha
• Inventors: Kuwabara, Masaharu, Ishida, Yoshikatsu, Kunita, Yoshisuke
• Primary Examiner(s): Hum, Vance Y.
• Application Number:
  US06/147,296
• Time in Patent Office: 826 Days
• Field of Search: 273/176 FA, 273/176 L, 273/177 R, 273/181 G, 273/181 H, 273/183 R, 273/184 R, 273/185 B, 273/371, 273/372, 273/374, 273/DIG. 28, 273/85 G , 273/87 R, 273/118 A, 434/252, 364/410, 364/200 MS File, 364/900 MS File
• US Class Current: 473/156
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 69/3676 for putting A63B69/3608, A63B69/3661, A63B69/3667 and A63B69/3697 take precedence

Abstract

A golf game practicing apparatus capable of simulating putting shots on a putting green comprises: a memory section for storing data concerning the distribution of heights of the curved surface of the green; a device for displaying the image of this curved surface on a display screen based on the stored data; ball information detecting section for detecting the velocity vector of a rolling ball struck by a player at a designated putt position toward a hole in the green depicted on the screen; and a computer for computing an imaginary trajectory of the ball rolling on the depicted green based on the detected velocity vector and the curved surface data. The ball trajectory is depicted on the display screen in accordance with the result of the computation.

Claims

1. A golf game practicing apparatus having a putt mat provided with a putt position, comprising:

information storing section for memorizing information concerning surface condition of a "hole"-containing green;

ball information detecting section for detecting a velocity vector of the ball struck at said putt position;

ball trajectory computing section for computing a trajectory of the ball rolling on said green, based on respective informations from said information storing section and said ball information detecting section;

converting section for converting the information concerning the surface condition of the green memorized in said information storing section to be used in depiction of an image and for converting th ball trajectory computed by said ball trajectory computing section to be used in depiction of an image; and

display unit for displaying movements of the ball on the green due to said putting by a signal delivered from said converting section.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

said information storing section comprises means for memorizing information concerning surface configuration of the green in a three-dimensional coordinate system.

3. An apparatus according to claim 2, in which:

said information storing section comprises means for memorizing a resistance vector applied to the roll and ball by the green in a three-dimensional coordinate system, said resistance vector corresponding to a resistance exerted by grass of the green, depending on the direction of its leaves.

4. An apparatus according to claim 2 in which said information storing section further comprises means for utilizing two of said three-dimensional coordinates as address information and means for utilizing the other single-dimensional coordinate so as to be addressed by the address information, said information provided by said two-dimensional coordinates representing a point on a reference plane containing a point of origin located just below said hole and said single-dimensional coordinate representing a height from said point to the surface of the green.

5. An apparatus according to claim 1, in which:

said ball information detecting section comprises;

ball detecting section formed by a collision plate against which the ball struck by a player collides, and pressure-sensitive elements provided on said collision plate; and

initial velocity computing section for computing a velocity vector of the ball by an output of said pressure-sensitive elements of said ball information detecting section.

6. An apparatus according to claim 5, in which:

said pressure-sensitive elements are comprised of two of them disposed at opposite ends of said collision plate,

said initial velocity computing section providing computation by seeking a magnitude of said velocity vector by a sum of the outputs of said pressure-sensitive elements, and by seeking a direction of said velocity vector by a difference between these outputs of said pressure-sensitive elements.

7. An apparatus according to claim 5, in which:

said collision plate has a concave curved surface relative to said putt position.

8. An apparatus according to claim 5, in which:

said pressure-sensitive elements are formed with elements selected from piezoelectric elements and strain gauges, each of said elements outputting a voltage to said initial velocity computing section.

9. An apparatus according to claim 1, in which:

said ball trajectory computing section computes an angular velocity vector of the rolling ball till it comes to a halt, by successive computation at a sampling for each predetermined period of time.

10. An apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said ball trajectory computing section computes said successive computations by:

seeking a ball position at a next sampling time by the angular velocity vector of the ball already obtained at a preceding sampling time;

seeking information concerning the green configuration at the ball position at the preceding sampling time; and

seeking an angular velocity vector of the ball at a next position on said green configuration by utilizing said information concerning the green configuration and by said angular velocity vector of the ball already obtained at the preceding sampling time.

11. An apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

putt position storing section for refreshing the content of its memory to an advanced new putt position on the green, representing a position at which the ball has ceased its movement, upon receipt of a ball-halting signal delivered from said ball trajectory computing section.

12. An apparatus according to claim 11, in which:

said putt position storing section includes means for receiving, when the apparatus is connected to a power supply, a putt starting position information delivered from a starting position storing section.

13. An apparatus according to claim 12, in which:

said information storing section has means for memorizing, in addition to the information concerning the surface condition of the green, information concerning an external configuration of the ball which is to be supplied to said converting section whereat this information concerning the external configuration of the ball is converted, by an information concerning a putt position supplied from the putt position storing section, to a configuration as viewed from a putt position corresponding to the information concerning the putt position for use in depicting an image, on the display unit.

14. An apparatus according to claim 13, in which:

said information storing section further includes means for storing said information concerning the external configuration of the ball in three-dimensional coordinates.

15. An apparatus according to claim 12, in which:

said starting position storing section comprises means for memorizing information concerning putt starting positions for a corresponding plurality of putting courses, respectively.

16. An apparatus according to claim 12, further comprising:

putting course setting means for setting a putt starting position of a desired putting course selected from among said plurality of putting courses.

17. An apparatus according to claim 12, in which:

said putt position storing section outputs information to said ball trajectory computing section as information representing a position for starting a computation of a trajectory of the ball.

18. An apparatus according to claim 12, in which:

said putt position storing section further includes means for converting the information concerning the surface configuration of the green, upon receipt of an output of said putt position storing section, to form a signal corresponding to said output for being depicted on the display unit and carrying information concerning the surface configuration as viewed from a putt position on the green.

19. An apparatus according to claim 18, in which:

said converting section comprises;

mapping transforming means for receiving information concerning surface configuration of the green in a three-dimensional coordinate system from the information storing section and for transforming said information to two-dimensional information; and

converting means for receiving an output of said mapping transforming means and converting this output to a display signal.

20. An apparatus according to claim 19, in which:

said two-dimensional information transformed by the mapping transforming means is information corresponding to a surface configuration of the green as viewed from a putt position delivered from said putt position storing section.

21. An apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

putt number storing section for receiving an output of said ball trajectory computing section and for effecting an increment of its content of putt number for each time at which the movement of the ball has ceased.

22. An apparatus according to claim 21, in which:

said putt number storing section outputs its information to numerical-figure-and-letter generator which, in turn, delivers its output to said converting section.

23. An apparatus according to claim 22, in which:

said numerical-figure-and-letter generator is adapted to be supplied from said putt position storing section with an information concerning a distance from a putt position to the "hole".

24. An apparatus according to claim 23, in which:

said numerical-figure-and-letter generator is adapted to be supplied also with information concerning putt starting position by the starting position storing section.

25. An apparatus according to claim 1, in which:

said display unit includes means to display the surface configuration of the green by contour lines.