US20070202966A1

US20070202966A1 - High endurance flexible golf ball tee apparatus

Info

Publication number: US20070202966A1
Application number: US11/198,980
Authority: US
Inventors: Peter Lipidarov
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2005-08-08
Filing date: 2005-08-08
Publication date: 2007-08-30

Abstract

A high endurance flexible golf ball tee apparatus specially designed for golf practice. Said tee has a stake (26) that is detachable and a top portion (25) that is flexible, which consists of a cylinder (20) to hold a golf ball up, a supporting disc (22) that stabilizes the tee, and a tube (24) that enables said stake (26) to connect to it, allowing this apparatus to remain in place so that a person can strike a golf ball with a golf club repeatedly from this tee without having the tee break off or fly onto the golf driving range, avoiding consistent replacement of a conventional golf tee.

Description

FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH

Not Applicable

SEQUENCE LISTING OR PROGRAM

Not Applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION—FIELD OF INVENTION

This invention relates to golf tees and more particularly to a high endurance flexible golf ball tee apparatus that is used mainly for golf practice.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION—PRIOR ART

Golf is a timeless sport that is enjoyed by many and has been played over the years with a conventional wooden tee that has changed very little, if any. Although the conventional tees are great products, they still lack the endurance. Enabling them to stay in place after one hits a golf ball and comes in contact with the tee. You may get lucky to find your tee on the ground in front of you, perhaps intact. You will still need to pick it up, replace the tee and reset the height, once again. There have been many attempts to better the conventional golf tee, which shows the obvious desire for something durable and practical, such as U.S. Pat. No. 2,146,736 to Hammond (1936) and U.S. Pat. No. 3,966,214 to Collins (1976). Both these inventions try to solve the problem pertaining to the tee breaking and/or flying away from the player.
These patents are unique and serve certain functions. On impact they are to tilt or pivot from their head portion to take the impact and not fly away or break in theory. That is a fine concept, but they will break or fly out of the ground in whole, then we are back to retrieving the tee. These newer tees are more complex and more expensive to make in comparison to the conventional wooden tee. Most of these recent inventions fell short of their expectations, never becoming popularized. That is why I created my flexible golf tee. I can not compare my tee to a conventional wooden tee, or the like. It is not a tee used on a golf course for teeing off. My tee is used to practice anywhere including on a driving range. Therefore, there is a real need to have a golf tee to use repeatedly without breakage and loss of the tee overcoming the deficiencies of the conventional tees now in existence that are used on golf driving/practice ranges.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION—OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES

The present invention is to provide a flexible golf ball support that is designed for golf practice. It consists a vertical soft flexible cylinder that holds a golf ball up in such a manner so it can be struck repeatedly by a golf club. The cylinder's soft flexible material also allows it to flex in the direction of the golf club on impact without breaking or being removed from its stationary position and won't damage the face of a golf club and is made in various heights to adjust to any size golf club.
A current object and advantage is my tee has a support disc that gives enhanced stability to the entire tee apparatus and acts as a buffer if the club misses the tee.
Another object and advantage is a tube that allows this tee apparatus to connect to a stake.
A further object and advantage is a stake that holds its position in the ground and makes my flexible tee apparatus stable.
A still further object and advantage is the entire tee apparatus working together with each functioning component, makes this tee very sturdy and practical.

SUMMARY

In accordance with the present invention a flexible golf ball support tee apparatus comprises a cylinder that holds a golf ball upright that is attached to a support disc that has a tube mounted there under to connect it to a stake.

DRAWINGS—FIGURES

FIG. 1 illustrates a side view of the flexible golf ball tee apparatus connected to a stake.
FIG. 2 illustrates a perspective view of the flexible golf ball tee apparatus.
FIG. 3 illustrates an exploded view with the stake removed from top portion showing both top portion and stake having a latch and loop mechanism.
FIG. 4 illustrates a side view of the various sizes of cylinders available on the top portion of the flexible golf ball tee apparatus.
FIG. 5 illustrates a perspective view of the bottom of a tube on the top portion of the flexible golf ball tee apparatus.
FIG. 6 illustrates a top view of the cylinder and support disc of the flexible golf ball tee apparatus.
FIG. 7 illustrates a bottom view of the stake and support disc on the flexible golf ball tee apparatus.
FIG. 8 illustrates a connection with the tube having threads and the stake with threads on top and a spiral shaped fin on the flexible golf ball tee apparatus.
FIG. 9 illustrates a perspective view of the tee with top portion and stake manufactured as one unit.
FIG. 10 illustrates a perspective view of the top portion of the flexible golf ball tee apparatus made with a cylinder of bristles.
FIG. 11 illustrates a perspective view with top portion made with a triode of bristles to hold a golf ball on top.
FIG. 12 illustrates a perspective view with top portion having a female ball able to lock into a male ball that is on the stakes top.

DRAWING—REFERENCE NUMERALS

20 cylinder
22 support disc
24 tube
25 top portion
26 stake
27 offset fins
28 rectangular hole
30 hook
32 guard
34 shelf
36 hollow cylinder portion
38 hollow tube portion
40 neck
42 tube wall thickness
44 cylinder wall thickness
46 threaded female
48 threaded male
50 spiral fin
52 cylinder of bristles
54 placement of bristles
56 inner nipple
58 outer nipple
60 golf ball
62 ground

DETAILED DESCRIPTION—PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A preferred embodiment of the tee apparatus of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 1 is a side view of my tee apparatus; it has a cylinder 20 that will hold a golf ball 60 and consists of soft flexible material. The cylinder 20 is in the center of a support disc 22 and relies on the support disc 22 for strength and stability. A tube 24 is made of soft flexible material and is centered under the support disc 22. The tube 24 that has rectangular holes 28 in its body are there to attach to the stake 26 by a hook 30 that latches on the rectangular holes 28 in the tube 24. The stake 26 is made with offset fins 27 and a guard 32 that keeps dirt from entering the tube 24 when the stake 26 is pushed into the ground. There is a shelf 34 that is on the offset fins 27 that help hold the stake 26 from pulling out of the ground 62.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of my tee apparatus showing a hollow cylinder portion 36.
FIG. 3 is a exploded view of my tee apparatus showing the rectangular holes 28 that the stake 26 attaches to by entering a hollow tube portion 38 and latching by its hook 30 and where the stake 26 that has a neck 40 which allows the tube 24 to inset its extreme lower portion to help hold together when latched on.
FIG. 4 a, 4 b; 4 c illustrates a side view of the various heights of the cylinder 20 to be able to adjust to any size golf club.
FIG. 5 illustrates a perspective view of the tube 24 to show a tube wall thickness 42 and a hollow tube portion 38.
FIG. 6 illustrates a top view of the support disc 22 and the cylinder 20 to show a cylinder wall thickness 44 and a hollow cylinder portion 36.
FIG. 7 illustrates a bottom view of the support disc 22 and stake 26.

Additional Embodiments

FIG. 9 is my flexible tee apparatus molded into one unit.

FIG. 8,10,11,12—Alternative Embodiments

These are various possibilities with regard to shapes and designs of my tee apparatus. Some other possibilities included in FIG. 8 shown with the tube 24 having a threaded female 46 to screw on to the top portion of the stake 26 made with a threaded male 48 also showing the stake 26 has a spiral fin 50 which also allows the stake 26 to get embedded in the ground and stabilize the tee.
FIG. 10 the top of the tee apparatus with another possibility, to be able to hold a golf ball upright and still flex with a cylinder of bristles 52.
FIG. 11 also shows the top of the tee apparatus with a placement of bristles 54 to hold a golf ball and still flex.
FIG. 12 a side view of the tee apparatus showing a top portion 25 with an inner nipple 56 that is inside the tube 24 to add yet another possibility in terms of connecting with an outer nipple 58 that is on the stake 26.
All of these possibilities can combine in different aspects. There is no select combination of these options that are better than one another. They just show the many different ways of connecting and/or holding a golf ball to help in describing obviousness of certain parts of this invention. All that is shown however, are not limited to these exact possibilities. The advantages listed above become evident especially when discussing obviousness of my invention. Although the description above contains many specifications, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention but as merely providing illustrations of some of the preferred embodiments of this invention.
For example, the cylinder, support disc, and tube can be made in various shapes such, as but not limited to square, oval, triangular, hexagon, etc. Also the spike can have many designs that will help in securing the tee apparatus in the ground, with some obvious designs shown.
Thus, the scope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A flexible practice golf tee apparatus comprising a cylinder mounted on a support disc, mounted there under is a tube that attaches to a stake.