GB467944A - Improved golf practice device - Google Patents

Abstract

467,944. Golf-practising appliances. BUDD, W. E. June 11, 1936, No. 16383. [Class 132 (ii)] In a golf-practising device including a target mounted for reciprocation as a unit in the line of flight of the ball, the target is spring mounted to enable it to recoil under the impact of a ball and to return thereafter, and a direction indicator is provided comprising a number of indicating elements arranged across the target. A golf ball 82 is driven from a tee 76 towards a concave target 8 carried by rails 11 movable longitudinally of a carriage 5. Upon the impact of the ball with the target, the latter moves to the left against the action of a spring 17. This movement is measured by an instrument 30 that is operated by an abutment on a cross-head 14 connecting the rails 11 at their right-hand ends. The instrument, Fig. 3, comprises a pointer movable relatively to a chart graduated to indicate the distance the ball would have travelled had it been unimpeded. The pointer is retained in set position, against the action of a return spring by a manually releasable brake 33. The carriage 5 is mounted for universal movement relative to a base 1, its position after the ball has struck the concave surface of the target serving to indicate the line of flight of the ball. The direction of the ball is also indicated by a series of fingers 20 at the top of the target, each finger being associated with a spring rod 18 that, upon the impact of the ball therewith, releases the finger for movement to indicating position. The interior of the target is covered with sponge rubber 26 to deaden the impact of the ball. Rebound of the ball from the target is prevented by a pair of shutters 35 each carried by a shaft 36 and normally retained by a trigger device, against the action of springs, in the ineffective position shown in full lines. The movement of the target consequent upon the impact of the ball therewith trips the trigger device and permits the rotation of the shutters to the operative position shown in broken lines. A handle 60 is provided to reset the shutters and indicator fingers, and simultaneously remove a cover 67 from an aperture 69 to allow the ball to escape from the target. Before a stroke is made, the target is positioned centrally by the engagement of a lever 80 with a block 84 on a rearward extension 85 of a vertically pivoted part 2 of the carriage. However, upon the counterclockwise rocking of the tee during the stroke, the lever 80 is raised to free the block 84 and permit the carriage to be positioned by the impact of the ball with the target. The ball may be tethered by a short cord 86 to a guide ball 87 slidably mounted between a pair of spring guide bars 88, the outer ends of which are flared to faciltate the escape of the guide ball when the golf ball is struck. The guide bars are connected through a shaft 89 and forked arms 90 to the extension 85 of the carriage 5 and, when the golf ball is struck off the true line, swing the target towards the line of flight of the ball.