US3210111A - Golf club head attachable rake - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 5, 1965 w. N. FALLON GOLF CLUB HEAD ATTACHABLE RAKE Filed Sept. 26, 1962 FIG. 2

FIG. 3

WILLIAM N. FALLON 1N VENTOR.

United States Patent 3,210,111 GOLF CLUB HEAD ATTACHABLE RAKE William N. Fallon, Armstrong Drive, Westboro, Mass. Filed Sept. 26, 1962, Ser. No. 226,318 1 Claim. (Cl. 294--19) This invention relates to a golf accessory and, more particularly, to apparatus arranged to facilitate the location and retrieval of a golf ball which rolls into tall grass and the like.

One of the hazards of the sport of golfing is that, despite extreme care on the part of the golfer, the ball often leaves the main fairway where the grass is cut fairly short and enters an area of weeds, tall grass, vegetation and the like. Trying to find the ball in the rough is diflicult, since the use of ones foot is tiring and the use of a golf club is not effective because the golf club head is so small. While a rake makes an excellent tool for searching for a ball in tall grass, it is a rather awkward implement to carry around the golf course. These and other difiiculties experienced with the prior art devices have been obviated in a novel manner by the present invention.

It is, therefore, an outstanding object of the invention to provide a golf accessory which may be attached to the head of a golf club for facilitating the retrieval of a golf ball in deep grass or the like.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a golf accessory consisting of a rake-like attachment for the head of a golf club, which rake is formed inexpensively of a plastic material which is not only capable of a long life and is not subject to destruction by water but which is light enough to be readily carried in the pocket of a golf bag.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of a rake for attachment to a golf club in which the elastomer nature of the material is used to provide a firm attachment to the golf club.

It is another object of the instant invention to provide a golf accessory for facilitating the retrieval of a golf ball, which accessory may be simply made from readily obtainable materials by the simplest fabrication methods and which has no moving parts to get into disrepair.

With these and other objects in view, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the invention resides in the combination of parts set forth in the specification and covered by the claim appended hereto.

The character of the invention, however, may be best understood by reference to one of its structural forms as illustrated by the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a golf accessory embodying the principles of the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the invention taken on the line IIII of FIG. 1, and

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the invention taken on the line III-III of FIG. 1.

Referring first to FIG. 1, wherein are best shown the general features of the invention, the golf accessory, indicated generally by the reference numeral 10, is shown in use with a golf club 11 having a steel head 12. The golf accessory consists of a main body 13 and a sheath 14. The entire accessory is formed from a sheet of polyethylene plastic of a type having a degree of elastomer qualities and while having a fairly high degree of stiifness. The main body is generally rectangular and is provided with an upper edge which is curled, as is best evident in FIG. 3, to form a bead 15 along the upper edge of the device. The lower edge is provided with four teeth, 16, 17, 18, and 19 which are wide enough to give them substantial strength. The spacing between the teeth is sufficient to permit the device to pass through tall grass and 3,210,111 Patented Oct. 5, 1965 "ice the like without allowing a ball to pass between the teeth. As is evident in FIG. 3, the teeth are curved slightly relative to the main body 13.

The sheath 14 in which the golf club head 12 resides is formed partly by the curved upper edge bead 15 of the device and partly by a flap 21 which is bent up from the lower edge of the main body 13.. The flap is of such a nature that its upper edge 22 is parallel to and spaced from the edge of the lip or edge 15 along the upper edge of the device. The flap is bent from the main body along an inclned line 23 which resides at a substantial angle (in the order of 30) to the upper edge 15. The net effect of this angularity is to assure that the sheath 14 is tapered and that the large end faces toward the area from which the teeth 16, 17, 18, and 19 protrude. The sheath resides on an extension of the main body which is not provided with teeth.

The operation of the invention will now be readily understood in view of the above description. accessory 10 would normally be carried in the pocket of the golf bag. When a ball is lost in tall grass, weeds, or the like, the golfer holds the accessory in his left hand and inserts the golf club shank in the gap 24 between the edge 22 and the bead 15 at the upper edge of the main body. He then slides the shank to the right in FIG. 1 so that the shank of the club passes through the slot and the club head 12 slides into place with the upper edge clamped by the bead 15 and the lower edge clamped by the flap 21. Because of the tapered nature of the edge 23 against which the lower edge of the golf club 12 resides it is possible to cam the golf club firmly into place. The harder the golf club is pulled to the right the tighter the engagement within the sheaf. The golfer then uses the golf club in a normal manner grasping it by the handle and swinging it through the grass. The teeth 16, 17, 18, and 19 pass through the grass, and if the ball is present in a certain area, will indicate that fact to the golfer visually or by the feel. By swinging the golf club and the attached accessory through the deep grass or weeds, the finding of the ball is facilitated.

The use of an elastomer plastic such as polyethylene in forming the device means that it is not subject to corrosion, it can be wet without damage or without warping, and, if dirty, can be readily washed. The manufacture of the device is quite simple and may make use of any well-known techniques in molding and forming.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the device would initially be formed as a plastic extrusion having the cross-section shown in FIG. 3. Then, the materials may be punched from that extrusion. The resulting product is, of course, quite light (which is important, since it has to be carried around the golf course by the golfer) and has no complicated parts to get into disrepair.

It is obvious that minor changes may be made in the form and construction of the invention without departing from the material spirit thereof. It is not, however, desired to confine the invention to the exact form herein shown and described, but it is desired to include all such as properly come within the scope claimed.

The invention having been thus described, what is claimed as new and desired to secure by Letters Patent is:

A golf accessory for use with a golf club, comprising (a) an elongated main body having a broad fiat configuration formed of a stiff elastomer plastic and provided with a plurality of spaced parallel teeth in the plane of the body, and

(b) a tapered sheath formed at one end of the main body integrally therewith with the larger end facing the other end of the main body, the sheath being adapted to embrace the head of a golf club, the edge of the main body opposite the teeth being folded over The golf References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 556,389 3/96 Wheeler 56400.04 770,970 9/04 Keferstein 30148 X 1,464,029

1/25 Brady 273-32 11/37 Donnan 56--400.07 11/49 Douglass 27335 6/54 De Vries 273-194 10/55 Walner 29419 FOREIGN PATENTS 10/ 20 Great Britain.

8/23 Coughtrie 273 194 DELBERT B. LOWE, Primary Examiner.

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