GB2334218A - Golf tee - Google Patents

Abstract

Golf tees are described which provide minimal resistance to the passage of a golf club head and yet which after the stroke preserve a connection between the ground engaging portion and the ball support portion. The tee of Figure 1 comprises a separate ground-engaging portion 4 and ball support portion 6 connected by a tether 3. To allow for insertion of the tee complementary structures 7, 9 are provided. In an alternative structure (Figure 4) the spike 4 consists of integral connector 3 and the remainder of the spike carries a cleavage lime between an upper portion 6 and a lower portion 10. In order to insert the tee in the ground easily a sleeve 12 can be slid over the bottom of the spike and then used as a height adjuster.

Description

FLEXIBLE GOLF TEE WITH LONGITUDINALLY OVERLAPPED STEMS.

This invention relates to golf tees and, in particular to a 'flexible' tee having stems which, for tee insertion purposes, longitudinally overlap upon each other, but nevertheless allow easy deflection of the upper stem by the golf club and protection of the tee against club damage and dislodgement.

With present 'flexible' tees the interface or junction between the upper and lower parts is located entirely or mainly along a transverse axis of the tee.

Consequently, the provision of the means of flexibility necessitates a stem cross-section too large for its ground insertion to a significant extent, without the use of an unreasonably large force. It also means that the initial resistance to rotation of the upper part and its force/deflection rate are the same with regard to the support of the golf ball, to tee insertion and to disturbance by the golf club.

The present 'flexible' tees, consequently, tend to be flexible enough to avoid damage and dislodgement by the club, but not stiff enough for tee insertion and marginally stiff enough for proper support of the ball; or to be stiff enough for support of the ball and tee insertion but not flexible enough to avoid damage and dislodgement by the club.

Also insertion of the tee to leave the upper part in the vertical alignment required for proper support of the ball ( and the consequent avoidance of 'ballroll off) can also be difficult because, in some cases, there is no datum available from the lower part against which the upper part can be aligned, and where there is a datum, contrary forces can be present (following a large prior displacement of the upper part of the club) which are greater than the datumalignment forces, provided, particularly before the ball is placed in position on the ball cup.

The present flexible tees also have either two many components and require too much assembly time, or are of an integral form which is not, amenable to an economic moulding process. They cannot, therefore, be manufactured at a cost low enough for successful competition with the present low cost rigid tees. Also because they necessitate a diameter for the lower part which is substantially smaller than that of the upper part in order to make its insertion force reasonable, they cannot be provided in both shouldered and non-shouldered forms, as in the case with the present rigid tees.

It is considered that the rigid tee is still generally used in preference to any of the present flexible tees, largely because of the deficiencies stated; and therefore, the purpose of this invention is to provide a simple easily moulded or assembled low cost, flexible tee which is adequately stable and easily inserted and aligned and less prone to damage and dislodgement, than the present rigid tee.

In accordance with the stated purpose of the invention, there is provided a tee having means by which the upper part pivots freely upon the lower part and is linked to it by a flexible or elastic tether (or tethers) which limits the extent of the club-induced separation of the upper and lower parts, or, when sufficiently tensioned, maintains the pivotal contact and returns the upper part to its initial position after the club contact is removed; also which can be used for the removal of the lower part from the ground, without suffering significant strain.

Also there is provided a tee wherein the two stems each have a crosssection or (where overlapped) a combined cross-section which is not significantly greater than that of the stem of the present non-shouldered rigid tee; and wherein just sufficient of the stem of the upper part is inserted into the ground to ensure the stability of its longitudinal axis and wherein, the connection of the upper and lower parts has a pivotal stiffness, which is normally negligible but which, as a consequence of the permanent or temporary longitudinal stem overlap involved, during tee insertion, is inherently stiff; or can be temporarily rendered very stiff; or can be hand held so as to be effectively stiff.

Also wherein, the tee form is such that the upper and lower parts and the tether are moulded in a condition from which the upper and lower parts can be brought together as required for tee use, without twisting of the tether about its longitudinal axis so as to facilitate the use of a thin rectangular cross-section tether which is strong but highly flexible.

Five embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the four figures attached, wherein: Figure 1. is a side elevation of a non-shouldered tee, shown in a clubdeflected condition.

Figures 2 and 3 are front and side elevations of a shouldered tee, shown in its ground-inserted condition.

Figure 4 is a side elevation of a shouldered, self erecting tee, shown in its ground-inserted condition.

Referring to Fig. 1, the first embodiment of the invention gives the simplest and cheapest (integrally moulded) tee and can only be produced in a non-shouldered form. The tee 1. comprises the upper part 2, the flexible tether 3 and the spiked lower part 4. The tether is rectangular in cross-section and is secured to the top of the ball-cup 5, at the 'flag' side of the tee; and its lower end is connected to the upper end of the lower part 4, at a point immediately below its upper connection. Within the mould, the longitudinal axis of the upper and lower parts lie parallel to each other, and that of the tether at right angles to them - between the top of each part.

The length of the tether 3 is such that it suffers negligible axle tension or compression when the upper and lower parts 2 and 3 are assembled together and when the tee is further inserted into the ground. When inserted, the stem 6 is positioned below the ground level 'GG' to the minimum extent shown (or to one slightly greater if required by the player). There, the junction between the upper and lower parts (which involves the most vulnerable sections of the tee stems) is protected from direct contact by the club, unless this is swung lower than is normally intended. The depth of insertion concerned is about two times the stem diameter.

The stem 6 terminates in a prong 7 which has a segmented cross section which decreases informly with tee depth, and the upper i-rcl s wr-.tf 8 of the prong 7 normally sits directly upon the correspondiiig!y inclined surface provided in the cavity 9, at the upper end of the lower part stem 10.

The upper end ofthe stem 10 is cut off at an angle of about 45 degrees so as to produce a lateral register 11, which varies in height around the stem periphery and against which the 'flag side' surface of the prong 7 is pushed by the lateral force generated at the interface 8/9, when a downward axial force is applied to the stem 6. Consequently, rotation of the longitudinal axis of the upper stem 6 is prevented in all radial directions by the register 1I; unless a transverse force several times greater than the longitudinal force is applied and unless its direction of action is in the general direction of the flag. Also since the longitudinal force is produced mainly by the weight of the golf ball upon the ball-cup, the resistance of the upper stem 6 to rotation by the club (as the prong 7 pivots out of the cavity 9) is negligible.

By means of the longitudinally overlapped stems provided, the upper and lower part connection concerned allows the tee to be easily pushed into the ground without buckling at the connection, when held only by the ball-cup.

Also the resistance of the connection and the tether to the rotation of the upper part 2 by the club is insufficient to cause tee damage; or dislodgement of it, because of the release of energy stored during its rotation, after the club has passed. The ground forces acting directly upon the upper stem 6 and the tether are sufficient to keep the upper part 2 aligned as inserted.

In the second embodiment of the invention (not illustrated), the tee is similar to that of embodiment 1, except that the prong 7 is a tapered cylindrical spigot, and the cavity 9 is suitably tapered to receive it, and the end of stem 10 is cut off at an angle to provide an escape "window" for the spigot, similar to that provided for the prong 7 in embodiment 1. Also the stem connection is inverted by the positioning of the cavity in the end of the upper stem. This allows the lower stem to be made smaller in diameter than the upper stem, without significant affect on its strength and gives a more gradual change of cross-section to the end of the upper stem where stress levels can be important if the ground is hard. However, this benefit is off-set by the loss of the natural radial orientation of the upper and lower parts to each other provided with embodiment 1, and the pivot point is brought doser to ground level, causing an increase in the minimum height above ground level at which club contact has to be made in order for the tee to function as intended.

In the third embodiment of the invention shown in fig.4, the tee 1 comprises the upper part 2, the tether 3, the spiked lower part 4 and the upper stem, extension sleeve 12; the base of which is positioned at ground level. The tee body has a form suitable for injection moulding in a simple 'split' mould and it is moulded in a 'deflected' condition which allows an adequate gap for mould requirements, between the tether and the stems and between the chamfered ends of upper and lower stems 6 and 10; also which allows the tether and the stems to be all closed tightly together as shown and the tether to be slightly tensioned, when the tee is straightened, as shown.

The upper stem extension sleeve 12 is separately moulded and is forced onto the stem over the small lip 13, which is shaped so as to inhibit its subsequent removal. The lip 13 is positioned on the stem where it serves as a register against which the sleeve 12 can be positioned prior to tee insertion; and in that position, the upper and lower stems 6 and 8 are enclosed by an equal amount and are locked together with the adjacent length of the tether 3, to create a tee having a 'rigidity' which is increased when a downward thrust is applied to the upper part 2.

During tee insertion, the sleeve 12 is automatically pushed along the stems to contact the upper stem shoulder 14 to prevent further insertion of the tee stems; and the upper stem 6 in then free to pivot on the top of the lower stem 10, restricted only by the low bending stiffness, of the tether 3 and the ground forces applied to it and the tether.

With the limited depth of insertion provided for the upper stem (depth equal to approx 2 X width) and the light ground contact forces upon the sleeve 12, the upper part 2 can be rotated by the club without damage to the tee, if the club contact is made above the top of the lower part 4.

The tether 3 and the stem 6 or 10 combine to form a thin rectangle having a cross-section little greater than that of the present non-shouldered rigid tee; and the longitudinal central axis of the upper part 2 is off-set, in the direction of the golf club, from the same axis of the lower part 4; in order to avoid an above ground step in the face of the tee presented to the club.

In the fourth embodiment of the invention, the tee (not illustrated) is similar to that of embodiment 3, except that the tether is not encompassed by the upper stem extension sleeve 12. This allows a tether of greater length and flexibility and, therefore, a lower susceptibility to strain damage, but necessitates more care in the movement of the sleeve 12 down onto the lower stem 10, prior to tee insertion.

In the fifth embodiment shown in figs 2 & 3, the tee 1 comprises the upper part 2, the lower, spiked part 4 and the looped, low rate, corded elastic tether 3. And the upper part 2 is held to and aligned upon the stem 10 of the lower part 4; by means of the tether 3, the step 32 in the top face 33, the two horizontal projections 34 and the upper stem 6 which projects down from the upper part 2 to longitudinally overlap and abut upon the stem 10.

The upper stem 6 is able to pivot in the general direction of the flag at the fulcrum provided by the step 32, as the tether 3 folds around the radial projections 34, and is stretched accordingly. Nevertheless, when the tee is inserted in the ground it is prevented from doing so by the ground force acting upon the stem 6.

The tether 3 is secured to the upper and lower parts 2 & 3 by means ofthe slot 35 and adhesive or a knot applied at the upper stem 6 shoulder.

With the arrangement described, the upper part is self-erecting upon the lower part and facilitates driving practice from one tee location. Damage to the tee and dislodgement are avoided unless the club contact is made below ground level, and tee insertion without buckling can be conveniently achieved, by the application of finger pressure to the stems 6 and 10, at the overlap.

Claims (6)

CLAIMS.

1 A golf tee comprising a rigid upper body part adapted for the support of a golf ball, which is positioned both partly above and partly below ground level; a lower body part entirely below ground level and a flexible connecting member which connects said parts together for the ground retention of the tee and the extraction of said lower part from the ground; and wherein, the stem of said upper part receives direct ground support slightly more than adequate for fulfilment of said ball support purpose and is otherwise free of significant hindrance to pivot upon the stem of said lower part, for all the directions in which it may be driven by the club; and wherein, said upper and lower stems are adapted for easy application of the required ground insertion thrust, to said lower stem by means of said upper stem, by virtue of the manner in which they longitudinally overlap upon each other (either permanently or temporarily for the period of tee-insertion) and their consequently small transverse crosssection.

2 A tee as in Claim 1, wherein part of said means of application of said insertion thrust to said lower part act to prevent said pivoting of said upper part, only when said thrust is applied.

3 A tee as in Claim 1, wherein all or a major part of said longitudinal stem overlap can be made to exist only for the period of tee insertion and is produced by means moveable along said upper stem, when lowered down it onto said lower stem for that purpose; and is removed when said means are naturally moved clear of said lower stem, during the tee insertion process; and wherein, said overlap renders the tee rigid.

4 A tee as in Claims 1 & 3, wherein said moveable means of stem overlap also serve as a means of limitation of the depth to which the tee can be conveniently inserted.

5 A tee as in Claim 1, wherein said means of application of said thrust to said lower part require and facilitate the holding of the tee by hand so that it is effectively rendered rigid.

6 A tee as in Claims 1 & 5, wherein, the means by which said upper part connects to and pivots upon said lower part also serves as means by which said upper part becomes selferecting upon said lower part.