US3182401A

US3182401A - Golfing aid

Info

Publication number: US3182401A
Application number: US265417A
Authority: US
Inventors: Wayne E Stevens
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1963-03-15
Filing date: 1963-03-15
Publication date: 1965-05-11
Anticipated expiration: 1982-05-11

Description

May 11, 1065 w. a. mum

GOLFING AID Filed March 15, 1963 2 W. M 6 \II/ Illa-ll m 2 8 Tu 2 vol 1v n \m "*[HHHNITHTTTW S mm% E Vw E W m 3 W 6 Y B F BIA/ Q m -l T B 61W 1| 4 1 6|: 6 ll I F 5 5 ll 7\|6|A/ H E H A TTORNE Y United States Patent 3,182,401 GOLFING AID Wayne E. Stevens, 209 N. 11th, Ponca City, Okla. Filed Mar. 15, 1963, Ser. No. 265,417 1 Claim. (Cl. 33-46) The present invention relates to the game of golf in general, and in particular relates to a method of determining the proper direction of initial motion of a ball on a putting green to aid in the effective placement of the ball in a cup.

In the game of golf there is no activity which furnishes a greater challenge to the skill of the player than the putting game. It is not uncomon for players to develop excellent distance and approach games while remaining all but helpless upon reaching the smooth expanse of the green. Commonly this situation results in a general undermining of the enthusiasm of the player for the game as a whole, and in extreme cases has led to complete abandonment of the activity with a concurrent abrupt decline in the intrinsic value of the equipment involved in the endeavor. The cases are not isolated wherein the player, while not driven to the extreme of abandoning the game, is nevertheless discomfitted to the extent that he may disclaim in an unseemly manner and otherwise give evidence of acute agitation.

One of the major factors leading to a poor putting game is the inability of the player to properly determine the slope of the green and the change in putting direction which the slope necessitates. When slope is neglected or misjudged, the ball when struck may at first appear to be properly aligned, only to curve disgustingly due to the acceleration of the ball in a vector parallel to the slope. When this occurs, an additional stroke is then necessary to move the ball nearer to, and hopefully, into, the cup. Often, when the player fails to appreciate the reason for the failure of his first attempt, this procedure may be repeated several times before the ball reaches its goal, or, in the alternative, a putt is conceded.

In the past, a number of aids have been suggested for determining properly the amount and direction of the slope of the green. However, none of these aids have proved particularly worthwhile, and a simple, effective, inexpensive green reader has, until the present invention, proved to be an elusive desideratum.

It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide an aid to the game of golf.

It is another object of this invention to provide a method for reading accurately the slope of a green in a direction normal to the desired roll of the ball.

A further object of this invention is to provide a method for correcting for the slope of a putting green whereby the proper initial path of the ball when struck may be readily ascertained.

An additional object of this invention is to provide a method for determining the proper direction in which to strike a golf ball to take advantage of the slope of the green.

Other objects of this invention will become apparent from the following description and associated drawings wherein at least one method for practicing the present invention are detailed.

Apparatus useful in practicing this invention includes a reference member which has a plurality of division lines inscribed thereon. Normal to said division lines is an edge formed on the reference member which edge is substantially straight and which, in a preferred embodiment, is substantially normal to the division lines. Means are provided for temporarily securing said reference member to a rod or golf club in such a manner that the edge on said member is substantially normal to the shaft of the club.

3,132,41 Patented May 11, 1965 "ice A complete understanding of this invention may be had from a fully detailed description of a specific embodiment thereof, when read in conjunction with the appended drawings in which:

FIGURES la, lb, and 1c are schematic horizontal plan views showing the steps of the method of the present invention;

FIGURES 2a, 2b, and 2c are vertical schematic views showing the appearance to the viewer of the apparatus and green shown in FIGURES 1a, 1b, and 10 respectively;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of one form of apparatus used in practicing this invention showing the relationship of a divided reference member to a spring clip, and;

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view showing an alternate form of the apparatus shown in FIGURE 3 which may be fabricated from a single piece of material.

Turning now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGURE 3, there is shown one form of green reader contemplated by this invention which comprises a reference member, such as an elongate, flat plate 11 which has formed thereon a substantially straight edge 17 and a plurality of division lines 12 which are numbered from O to 8 beginning at the center of plate 11. Means for temporarily positioning plate 11 on a rod, such as the shaft of a golf club, are likewise provided and in the embodiment shown such means comprise a spring clip indicated generally at 13. A plurality of holding means, such as rivets 14-14, are utilized to secure clip 13 to the rear of plate 11 substantially along the line designated 0 in the drawing.

Clip 13 comprises a substantially U-shaped member, the outer portions of the arms 15-15 of which are turned outwardly as at 16-16 to aid in the placement of clip 13 on the shaft of a golf club. Advantageously, the dis tance between arms 16-16 is established at some value intermediate thevalue of the diameter of the club at the handle and at the lower end of the shank, so that the clip may be slipped over the club shank at the lower portion thereof and then moved upwardly until a firm frictional engagement is obtained due to the taper of the shaft.

For ease in fabrication, the form of the apparatus shown in FIGURE 4 may be preferred over that shown in FIGURE 3. As will at once be apparent, this structure can be formed from a single piece of material to include substantially all the elements shown in FIGURE 3. For purposes of distinction, the elements in the alternate structure are designated by numbers which are higher by a factor of one hundred than the numbers of corresponding elements shown in FIGURE 3. It may be noted that while, for clarity, clip 113 is indicated to be above edge 117, this need not characterize the structure as actually used. That is to say, the structure shown in FIGURE 4 will function equally as well if the numbers on lines 112 are inverted and placed on the opposite ends of the lines. With such an arrangement, clip 113 will then be subjacent plate 111 when the apparatus is applied to the shank of a golf club in a preferred manner.

In either type of structure, it is critical that

clip

13, or 113, be arranged with respect to its associated plate in such a manner that

edge

17, or 117, is substantially normal to the shaft of the golf club to which the apparatus is secured. I

It will at once be apparent that the structure discussed thus far may be altered without departing from the scope of this invention. For instance, if desired, edge 17 may be formed in a slot in member 11, while lines 12 need not be spaced equidistant along plate 11, and need not be parallel or normal to edge 17. In a more radical de parture from the disclosed structure, only one side, i.e., either the left or right side, of plate 11 may be included if such structure is dictated by economic or esthetic criteria.

in FIGURES 3 or 4 may be utilized are shown in se-.

quence in the a, b, andc portions of FIGURES 1 and 2. Looking first at FIGURE 1a and 2a, the first step in the method is shown to comprise the postioning of a rod orrgolf club 18 vertically in such a manner that a ball 19 anda cup 21 on a green 22 are in a line coincidental with the longitudinal axis of club 13 when viewed by the eye of the viewer, indicated schematically at 23. Generally it is preferred to position club 18 from about to about 15 feet behind ball 19 and to hold the club in such a manner that the club head 20 points toward or away from the viewer. As will be apparent from an examination of FIGURE 2a, club 18 is held so that a green reader secured to the club is viewed just under cup 21 while ball 19 is sighted past a point 24 on the shaft of the club. When the apparatus is held in this position, edge 17 of green reader 10 is at an acuteangle with the horizon 25 on the surface of the green as seen by the viewer.

Turning now to FIGURES 1b and 2b, the next step in using the apparatus is the tilting of club 18 until edge 17 is substantially parallel with horizon 25 while maintaining ball 19 in line of sight with point 24 on club 18. With club 18 held in this position, cup 21 is then sighted across edge 17 above a numbered division line 12 to determine the deviation distance. In the view shown, the numbers have not been placed on plate 11 due to the small scale. However, it may be seen that if the lines were numbered after the fashion shown in FIGURE 3, cup 21 would then be sighted above division line number 3 on the right hand portion of green reader 10 for a deviation distance of three units.

The final, position of the apparatus is shown in FIG- URES 1c and 2c wherein it'may be seen that the final position is essentially the same as the initial position; that is, club 18 is held vertically and ball 19 is sighted in line with point 24 on the shaft while cup 21 is located along the vertical axis of club 18 at a point slightly above green reader 10. With the apparatus in this position,

a point 26 is chosen on green 22,. lying on the line of,

sight 26 from viewers eye 23 to the top of line number 3 on green reader 10. Generally point 26 and cup 21- will'fall on a line which is substantially normal to the line connecting cup 21 and ball 19.

With point 26 chosen, the ball is then addressed in the usual manner and is struck in a direction 27 toward, point 26. As the speed of the ball decreases, the effect of the slope of green 22 on the path of the ball becomes more pronounced so that the actual path 29 curves to cup 21 and becomes tangent to the initial line of movement 27 at some point removed from the lie-ofthe ball.

It-will be appreciated that in order for the path of the ball to be as shown at 29, it is necessary that the ball be struck with the proper amount of force. While the present invention does not remove the necessity for judgment on the part of the player in choosing the amount of force to apply to the, ball, nevertheless the present invention does allow the player to concentrate on this portion of his game without undue concern about the proper initial direction which the ball should take. 'It,

might be notedthatxsome advantage inidetermining the proper amount of force may be gained by choosing point 26 at a distance from the ball substantially equal to the distance between, the ball and, the cup. It will be understood, however, that a point either farther from or closer to the ball may likewise be utilized.

Various modifications and changes are contemplated and maybe resorted to without departing from the function or scope of the invention as 'hereinafterdefined by the appended claim.

What-I claim is:

The method of determining the proper initial direction with relation to a cup to direct a ball on a nonhorizontal green which comprises the steps of:

sighting past a first point on a vertically held rod to said cup, and past a second point on said rod to said ball;

pivoting said rod around the second point until the rod is normal to the horizon on said green; determining the deviation distance along a line normal to said rod to the line of sight to the cup; returning said rod to 'its' initial vertical position, and; sighting past said rod a distance equal to the deviation distance to a point on the green toward which the ball is to be directed.

References Cited by theExaminer UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,046,343 12/12 Smith ,273-164 1,804,825 5/31 Dahlberg 33- 51 X 2,045,360 6/36 Kaufniannt 33-32 2,056,469 10/36 King 3351 2,334,739 11/43 Zak 33-64 2,463,798 3/49 Paisley 33-46.05 X r 2,562,241 7/51 Picard 3363 X 2,670,209 2/54 Fay 33-4605 X 2,723,125 11/55 Comll 3346.05 X 2,770,043 11/56 Kwiecinski 33-94 FOREIGN PATENTS 292,579 6/ 16 Germany.

ISAAC LISANN, Primary Examiner.

Claims

1. THE METHOD OF DETERMINING THE PROPER INITIAL DIRECTION WITH RELATION TO A CUP TO DIRECT A BALL ON A NONHORIZONTAL GREEN WHICH COMPRISES THE STEPS OF: SIGHTING PAST A FIRST POINT ON A VERTICALLY HELD ROD TO SAID CUP, AND PAST A SECOND POINT ON SAID ROD TO SAID BALL; PIVOTING SAID ROD AROUND THE SECOND POINT UNIT THE ROD IS NORMAL TO THE HORIZON ON SAID GREEN;