Golf driving range system
First Claim
1. A golf driving range system for golfers to practice their driving skills, the system comprising:
- a plurality of tee boxes, each tee box having a renewable ball stock and an automatic golf ball tee-up machine, the balls in said ball stock having identifying characteristics for relating the balls to a particular tee box;
a yard and ball return gutters, said yard having sloped surfaces to cause any golf balls landing on said surfaces to roll toward said ball return gutters;
at least one target in said yard, said target having a winning ball identification apparatus for sensing the identifying characteristics of a ball hitting the target and relaying this information to a scoring device; and
a ball distribution apparatus operably connected to said ball return gutters, said ball distribution apparatus having a return ball identification apparatus for sensing the identifying characteristics of a ball and distributing the ball back to said renewable ball stocks of said tee boxes.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A golf driving range system for golfers to practice their driving skills is provided. The driving range system includes a plurality of tee boxes. Each tee box has a renewable ball stock and an automatic golf ball tee-up machine. The balls in the ball stock of each tee box have identifying characteristics for relating the balls to the particular tee box. The system has a yard and ball return gutters. The yard has sloped surfaces to cause any golf balls landing on the yard to roll toward the ball return gutters. At least one target is positioned in the yard. The target has a winning ball identification apparatus for sensing the identifying characteristics of a ball hitting the target and relaying this information to a scoring device. The ball return gutters deliver balls landing in the yard to a ball distribution apparatus, which has a return ball identification apparatus for sensing the identifying characteristics of a ball and distributing the ball back to the renewable ball stocks of the tee boxes. The identifying characteristics for the golf balls can include, for example, color, symbols, bar codes, magnetism, or any combination thereof. The ball identification apparatus include suitable devices for detecting color, graphic images, bar codes, or magnetism, depending on which type of identifying characteristics are employed.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A golf driving range system for golfers to practice their driving skills, the system comprising:
- a plurality of tee boxes, each tee box having a renewable ball stock and an automatic golf ball tee-up machine, the balls in said ball stock having identifying characteristics for relating the balls to a particular tee box;
a yard and ball return gutters, said yard having sloped surfaces to cause any golf balls landing on said surfaces to roll toward said ball return gutters;
at least one target in said yard, said target having a winning ball identification apparatus for sensing the identifying characteristics of a ball hitting the target and relaying this information to a scoring device; and
a ball distribution apparatus operably connected to said ball return gutters, said ball distribution apparatus having a return ball identification apparatus for sensing the identifying characteristics of a ball and distributing the ball back to said renewable ball stocks of said tee boxes. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
- a plurality of tee boxes, each tee box having a renewable ball stock and an automatic golf ball tee-up machine, the balls in said ball stock having identifying characteristics for relating the balls to a particular tee box;
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9. A golf driving range system for golfers to practice their driving skills, the system comprising:
- a plurality of tee boxes, each tee box having a renewable ball stock and an automatic golf ball tee-up machine, the balls in said ball stock having identifying characteristics for relating the balls to a particular tee box;
a yard and ball return gutters, said yard having sloped surfaces to cause any golf balls landing on said surfaces to roll toward said ball return gutters;
at least one target in said yard, said target having a winning ball identification apparatus for sensing the identifying characteristics of a ball hitting the target and relaying this information to a scoring device; and
a ball distribution apparatus operably connected to said ball return gutters, said ball distribution apparatus having a return ball identification apparatus for sensing the identifying characteristics of a ball and distributing the ball back to said renewable ball stocks of said tee boxes, wherein the identifying characteristics for the golf balls includes the presence or absence of magnetism, and said winning and return ball identification apparatuses include a magnetism sensor.
- a plurality of tee boxes, each tee box having a renewable ball stock and an automatic golf ball tee-up machine, the balls in said ball stock having identifying characteristics for relating the balls to a particular tee box;
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10. A golf driving range system for golfers to practice their driving skills, the system comprising:
- a plurality of tee boxes, each tee box having a renewable ball stock and an automatic golf ball tee-up machine, the balls in said ball stock having identifying characteristics for relating the balls to a particular tee box;
a yard and ball return gutters, said yard having sloped surfaces to cause any golf balls landing on said surfaces to roll toward said ball return gutters;
at least one movable target movably mounted on a track in said yard, said movable target having a winning ball identification apparatus for sensing the identifying characteristics of a ball hitting the target and relaying this information to a scoring device; and
a ball distribution apparatus operably connected to said ball return gutters, said ball distribution apparatus having a return ball identification apparatus for sensing the identifying characteristics of a ball and distributing the ball back to said renewable ball stocks of said tee boxes. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12)
- a plurality of tee boxes, each tee box having a renewable ball stock and an automatic golf ball tee-up machine, the balls in said ball stock having identifying characteristics for relating the balls to a particular tee box;
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13. A golf driving range system for golfers to practice their driving skills, the system comprising:
- a plurality of tees, each tee having a renewable ball stock, the balls in said ball stock having identifying characteristics for relating the balls to a particular tee;
a yard, said yard having at least one ball return gutter;
at least one target in said yard, said target having a winning ball identification apparatus for sensing the identifying characteristics of a ball entering the target and relaying this information to a scoring device;
said target having at least one ball guide for transferring a winning ball to said ball return gutter in said yard; and
a ball distribution apparatus operably connected to said ball return gutter, said ball distribution apparatus having a return ball identification apparatus for sensing the identifying characteristics of a ball and distributing the ball back to said renewable ball stocks of said tees. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
- a plurality of tees, each tee having a renewable ball stock, the balls in said ball stock having identifying characteristics for relating the balls to a particular tee;
Specification