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Golf tee setting device

Golf tee setting device description/claims

The invention relates generally to a device for setting a golf ball tee into a ground surface such that the tee extends to a predetermined height above the ground surface.

Because the head of each golf club has a “sweet spot,” i.e., an optimal location or area on its face for striking the golf ball to provide maximum distance and accuracy, the prior art has recognized the need to precisely and repeatably elevate the golf ball above the ground when hitting off of the tee. Golf ball tees, which generally include an enlarged head featuring a concave upper surface adapted to support the golf ball, and a stem or shank that terminates in a tapered tip (opposite the head) adapted to penetrate the ground surface, are typically used by golfers to support the golf ball at a desired height above the ground surface.

Traditionally, when teeing up the golf ball on a tee, a player holds a tee between two fingers of one hand while he seats a golf ball atop the tee's concave head, with the golf ball then resting in the player's palm. The player thereafter presses the tip of the tee against the ground surface and applies additional downward pressure with his palm against the seated golf ball until the tip and shank of the tee has penetrated the ground surface to a desired depth. The player then removes his hand from the inserted tee and golf ball to complete the process of teeing up the golf ball. Unfortunately, this traditional method of teeing up a golf ball often fails to provide the optimal elevation of the golf ball above the ground for a given golf club, leaving the player unable to optimally utilize the golf club when subsequently hitting the golf ball.

The prior art has responded by providing myriad devices for reproducibly inserting a golf ball tee to a preset depth or, alternatively, for reproducibly inserting a golf ball tee such that the tee's concave head extends to a predetermined height above the ground surface. At best, these known devices provide only limited lateral support for the shank of the tee as the tee is inserted into the ground, thereby compromising the manner in which the tee's tip and shank penetrate the ground surface. Moreover, the rigid elements of such known devices often disturb the inserted tee upon subsequent removal of the device from the inserted tee, thereby frustrating the player's attempt to dependably and reproducibly insert the tee into the ground surface to achieve the desired tee height.

In accordance with an aspect of the invention, a device is provided for setting a golf tee having an enlarged head, a shank and a tip into a ground surface such that the enlarged head is positioned at a predetermined height above the ground surface. The device includes a body that defines a space, such as a bore, within which to receive the head and at least a portion of the shank of the golf tee that is to be set into the ground surface. The device also includes a first flexible membrane disposed proximate to a first open end of the bore. The first flexible membrane defines a plurality of cantilevered fingers that project radially inwardly into the bore, preferably to thereby define plural pairs of generally diametrical finger tips adapted to radially engage the shank of a golf tee received within the bore. The tips of the first membrane's fingers thus operate to radially stabilize the shank of the golf tee received within the device as the device is used to urge the tip and shank of the golf tee into the ground surface. Further, each of the first membrane's fingers resiliently flexes axially relative to the bore to permit passage of the head of a golf tee into and out of the bore past the tip of each first finger.

While the invention contemplates defining the first fingers in any suitable manner, in an exemplary embodiment, a central aperture and a plurality of radially-outwardly extending slots are formed in a membrane to thereby obtain a desired number of radially-inwardly-extending fingers. Similarly, while the invention contemplates supporting the first membrane in any suitable manner on the body, such that the first membrane's fingers extend into the bore proximate to its first end, in an exemplary embodiment, the first membrane is mechanically secured within a counterbored portion of the bore proximate to the bore's first end, as through the use of a raised feature within the counterbored portion of the bore and/or a suitable adhesive.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the first membrane preferably defines at least two pairs of generally-diametrical finger tips adapted to simultaneously engage the shank of a golf tee whose head is disposed within the space (although an odd total number of such fingers is also contemplated by the invention, where desired). Further, the fingers and/or the tips of the fingers defined by the first membrane are preferably generally circumferentially-spaced about a periphery of the bore.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, an exemplary embodiment of the device includes an elongate body defining a bore with a first open end adapted to receive the head and at least a portion of the shank of the tee, and a plunger received in the bore, wherein the plunger has an axial face disposed at a first predetermined distance from the first end of the bore, the predetermined distance being correlated with the predetermined height to which the tee is to be set in the ground surface using the device. The body also includes an external surface defining a slot in communication with the bore, and the plunger also includes a lateral projection extending through the slot. The body's slot and the plunger's lateral projection cooperate to define a plurality of detents, whereby the plunger is maintained in a selected one of a plurality of positions within the bore, each position disposing the axial face of the plunger at a respective predetermined distance from the first end of the bore. The plunger's lateral projection also advantageously provides a visual indication of the selected one of the positions and, in an exemplary embodiment, includes indicia whereby a player can quickly select the desired height to which the golf tee will be set using the device.

In accordance with a further aspect of the invention, in an exemplary embodiment, the bore has a second end opposite the first end, and the body includes a generally-concave upper surface proximate to the second end of the bore, whereby the upper surface is adapted to support a golf ball which can advantageously be used to provide a convenient palm rest as the device is used to set a golf tee. In an exemplary embodiment, the body's upper surface includes an aperture in communication with the bore, with the aperture of the upper surface being adapted to receive the tip and at least a portion of the shank of a golf tee such that the tip extends into the second end of the bore. The exemplary embodiment's plunger also advantageously includes an aperture sized to receive and radially engage the shank of a golf tee inserted through the aperture of the upper surface of the body, whereby the shank of the inserted golf tee can be inserted through the aperture in the body's upper surface and down into the bore to conveniently stow the tee until it is needed, while the plunger's relatively-smaller aperture can advantageously operate to mechanically retain the stowed tee within the bore's second end. A second membrane defining a second set of radial tee-shank-engaging fingers can also be disposed in the bore's second end, whose finger tips can likewise operate to mechanically retain the shank of the stowed tee within the second end of the bore.

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that the invention advantageously provides a golf tee setting device with a flexible membrane that radially stabilizes the shank of a received golf tee within the bore as the received golf tee is urged into the ground surface. The membrane's fingers thereafter resiliently flex axially within the bore as the device is thereafter removed, such that passage of the membrane's fingers over the enlarged head of the thus-set tee does not significantly alter the tee's height or position relative to the ground surface.

Other objects, features, and advantages of the invention will be readily appreciated upon a review of the subsequent description of the preferred embodiment and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying Drawings.

FIG. 1 is a view in perspective of an exemplary golf tee setting device in accordance with the invention, with a golf tee inserted into the device's central bore;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal section of the exemplary golf tee setting device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is transverse section of the exemplary golf tee setting device taken along Line 3-3 of FIG. 2, showing the device's radially-slotted tee-stabilizing membrane defining a plurality of fingers whose tips radially engage the shank of the inserted golf tee;

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal section of the exemplary golf tee setting device of FIG. 1, illustrating the axial flexing of the fingers of the device's tee-stabilizing membrane as the tee is inserted into the device's central bore;

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal section of the exemplary golf tee setting device of FIG. 1, illustrating the opposite axial flexing of the fingers of the tee-stabilizing membrane as the device is lifted off of a golf tee that has been set into the ground;

• Provisional Patent
• Utility Patent

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