Technical field of the invention
[0001] The object of the present invention is a sleeve for a golf flagstick which is a mechanism
for ejecting a golf ball from the hole without damaging it, with the flag attached.
Background of the invention
[0002] The present invention is related to Rule 13. 2nd of the game of golf which allows
the flag not to be removed when the ball resides in the area called the
green, where the club called the
putt is normally used. The problem to be solved is that the edge of the hole is frequently
damaged when the player removes his ball with the flag on. Before the modification
of this rule, this did not happen, because with the flag removed there was enough
room to put the hand in the hole without damaging it.
[0004] One of the drawbacks of the devices described in the above patents is that there
is a basket (1.1) which can damage the hole when removing and inserting the flag,
as can be seen in FIG.1. It is also problematic that the ball (20) does not release
well from the basket. In fact, the use of the basket is not new in the sport of golf,
but its use has always been confined to the flags on the practice greens. They are
not used on the flags of each official 18-hole course, because they can damage the
hole and because it is uncomfortable to handle them when installed on a long-playing
flag -the practice flags are short-.
[0005] On the other hand, on a practice green, it is not so important to damage the hole.
The only advantage offered by the baskets is the possibility of taking out more than
one ball at the same time, which is useful when practicing -it is done with several
balls-, but is not of interest in the playing holes, where only one ball is used.
[0006] Another disadvantage lies in the fact that the ball, in general, is not released
from the basket, except when using a large, round and convex ring in relation to the
ground plane that pushes the ball to the outside of the center of the hole and where,
due to that convex shape, the ball will be rubbing the walls of the hole looking for
the exit, with the risk of damaging the perimeter grass when it gets it. With the
rest of the baskets, it is necessary to help the flag by tilting it to release the
ball or balls. This is very uncomfortable and costly with
putting green flags, which are small.
[0007] With the long flags it would be practically impossible to play with only one hand,
two hands would be needed, one to lift the flag and the other to pick up the ball,
since when the player goes to pick up the ball from the hole, he usually carries the
putter in one of his hands with which he has just hit it. He would have to rest it on the
ground and then pick it up, totally contrary to the objective that is ultimately sought,
speed of play, or at best, take the flagpole with the same hand with which the
putter is held, very difficult.
Explanation of the invention
[0008] An object of the present invention is a golf flagstick socket configured to remove
only one ball, the playing ball, and to allow the player to do so cleanly and effectively
with only a slight tug on the flag, thanks to a slight modification of the current
sockets of the playing flags and not the practice flags. The modification enlarges
the radius of the current socket by only 5mm, so that both its appearance and its
current functionality are virtually unchanged.
[0009] More specifically, the object of the present invention is achieved with a sleeve
according to claim 1. Particular and/or preferred embodiments of the invention are
shown in the dependent claims.
[0010] Thanks to the claimed sleeve the hole is not damaged because the player does not
have to reach inside the hole. It must be remembered that nowadays the player always
puts his hand in because he knows that pulling the flag is not a solution, the designs
of the current caps do not allow this action to be effective. Most of the time the
ball stays back in the hole and damages it greatly due to the shape of the current
caps. If the flag is pulled with the ball inside the hole, the thrust to the ball
would be exerted from the top of the socket contacting a point of the ball too far
from its center, which together with the contact surface of the current sockets being
inclined, the result is a lateral thrust of the ball towards the walls of the hole,
trapped between the socket and the wall, instead of vertical looking for the exit of the
hole. However, if the pull is very strong, the ball can still get out, but the damage,
both to the hole and to the edge of the grass on the green surface is very great,
which is not recommended at all.
[0011] Furthermore, the present invention has the added advantage of being a minimal modification
of the flag socket and, therefore, the socket does not become a kind of basket (as
in the prior art) which itself damages the edges of the hole when the flag is taken
out and put in. In cases where the flag is indeed taken out - the rule allows kicking
with the flag on or with the flag off - the present baskets are very large in diameter
and their handling is very awkward for depositing and picking up the flag back from
the ground. Even their edges could mark the surface of the green that requires so
much care. For all these reasons, the present baskets are not installed in any playing
hole, only in the practice holes. The present invention solves this problem.
[0012] Throughout the description and the claims, the word "comprises" and variants thereof
are not intended to exclude other technical features, additives, components or steps.
To those skilled in the art, other objects, advantages, and features of the invention
will be apparent in part from the invention and in part from the practice of the invention.
The following examples and drawings are provided by way of illustration and are not
intended to restrict the present invention. Furthermore, the invention covers all
possible combinations of particular and preferred embodiments indicated herein.
Brief description of the drawings
[0013] The following is a very brief description of a series of drawings which help to better
understand the invention, and which relate expressly to an embodiment of said invention,
which is illustrated as a non-limiting example thereof.
- Fig1.
- It shows a view of a basket according to the present state of the art.
- Fig2.
- It shows a comparison between a sleeve according to the state of the art.
- Fig3.
- It shows a schematic view of a sleeve according to the present invention inserted
in a hole and with a golf ball resting thereon.
- Fig4.
- It shows a schematic view of a sequence of extraction of a golf ball inserted in a
hole and extractable thanks to the sleeve of the invention.
- Fig5.
- It shows the point of contact of maximum efficiency between the sleeve of the invention
and a golf ball introduced into a hole.
- Fig6.
- It shows the range of maximum efficiency contact between the sleeve of the invention
and a golf ball introduced into a hole.
- Fig7.
- It shows two views of an adapter or attachment for a prior art sleeve for transforming
it into a sleeve according to the present invention, in section (left) and complete
(right).
Detailed explanation of a mode of realization of the invention.
[0014] Figure 1, as mentioned above, shows a basket (1.1) of the kind described in the prior
art which, due to its shape, necessarily forces the ball (20) to rest higher than
in its normal position at the bottom of the hole (30), which, in addition, increases
the risk of the ball (20) bouncing on the flat part of the basket (1.1) and could
fall out of the hole (30), which is one of the reasons why they are not installed
in the playing holes.
[0015] Figure 2 shows how the conical sleeve (1.2) according to the prior art with an essentially
conical shape and concentrically coupled to the club of a golf flag (40) which, in
turn, is inserted into a hole (30) remaining between the ball and the hole (30) a
nearly triangular free space (32).
[0016] However, in figure 3, there is observed a sleeve (10) for golf flagstick (40) according
to the present invention, wherein, without changing the normal resting position of
the ball (20) on a conical base (31) of the hole (30), the sleeve (10) can push the
ball (20) from underneath the latter, taking advantage of the free space (32) existing
between the ball (20) and the hole (30) when the ball is at rest, said free space
(32) being of an area considerably smaller than that created by the conical sleeves
(1.2).
[0017] For this purpose, the ball (20) is supported -at least- on three contact points (c.1,
c.2, c.3), which reduces the area of the free space (32) on which to act without modifying
the position of the ball (20). The first contact point (c. 1) is between the ball
(20) and the club (40) of the golf flag, being aligned with the horizontal equator
(22) of the ball (20) in a particular non-limiting embodiment. The second point of
contact (c.2) is established between the conical base (31) of the hole (30) and the
ball (20). The third contact point (c.3), which is also configured as a thrust point
of the ball (20) in its extraction from the hole (30), is established between the
sleeve (10) and the ball (20). In any case, the contact points indicated are in an
idealized and illustrative situation of the operation of the invention, since, in
reality, there may be dirt and/or soil in the hole (30) that alters the relative position
of the contact points, without this entailing an alteration of the operation of the
invention.
[0018] Using the Cartesian axes X,Y of the ball section (20) the first point of contact
(c. 1) will be approximately at 0° (first quadrant), the second point of contact (c.2)
will be at a position between 235° and 270° (third quadrant), while the third point
of contact and thrust (c.3) will be at a position between 271° and 310° (fourth quadrant).
[0019] For maximum effectiveness in the extraction of the ball (20), the third point of
contact and thrust (c.3) cannot be in the vertical of the transverse axis of the ball
(20), i.e., it cannot be in the 270° position. In this position it would cause the
completely vertical ascent of the ball (20) and, foreseeably, also a vertical descent
back to the hole (30). It is for this reason that the third point of contact and thrust
(c.3) must be displaced from the vertical, at an angle between 1° and 40° (from 271°
to 310° on the XY axis of the ball (20)), as can best be seen in Figure 6, although
in a preferred embodiment, an angle of 6° (276° on the XY axis of the ball (20)) has
been established as the optimum point of extraction of the ball (20) from the hole
(30).
[0020] Pushing the ball (20) at this off-center point with respect to the vertical of the
ball (20) allows the ball (20) to travel practically vertically during the first moments
of the ascent and, with a slight forward-spin effect, begins to be felt when the ball
20 has passed the line of the floor of the green, practically outside the hole 30,
beginning to rotate in the direction in favor of its own horizontal displacement,
which moves the ball away from the hole with its satisfactory extraction. This forward-spin
effect is described in the sequence of figure 4. Again, contrary to the basket of
figure 1, whose object is to pick up the ball 20, in the case of the sleeve 10 of
the invention, the technical effect obtained is the expulsion of the ball 20.
[0021] Thanks to the described invention, the following technical problems faced to date
by existing sleeves are solved. First, the socket of the present invention is 5 mm
(approximately) larger than the present sockets, making the use of additional baskets
or devices unnecessary. Precisely this minimal modification facilitates that, in cases
where the flag is removed from the hole, with the sleeve of the invention the flag
can be replaced without difficulty. Moreover, since its diameter is very small in
relation to the hole, the latter will not be damaged in any way.
[0022] The present invention, as indicated above, drives the ball
forward-spin cleanly out of the hole without the use of the hands. With the ball on the ground
outside the hole, the player can hit it with the putter in his hand and move it away
from the playing area near the flag, which makes the game faster, and more importantly,
the player does not have to reach into the hole with the risk of damaging it, something
that is happening generally in all golf courses since the new rule was imposed that
allows kicking without removing the flag.
[0023] The sleeve of the invention (10) geometrically comprises lower body (11), cylindrical
and insertable in the hole (30) in the same way as the conical sleeves (1.2) of the
prior art. The particularity of the sleeve (10) of the invention is that its upper
body (12) also essentially conical, has a base radius greater than that of the traditional
sleeves (approximately 5 mm greater, as shown in Figure 3) in such a way as to define
an external surface which is where the third point of contact and thrust (c.3) is
defined.
[0024] This external surface of the upper body (12) of the sleeve (10) can adopt different
geometries, depending on the angle at which is located - precisely - the third contact
point (c.3). In a particular embodiment, this outer surface of the upper body (12)
of the sleeve (10) is preferably concave and a profile in correspondence with the
diameter of the ball (20), as depicted in Figures 3, 4 and 5. But in other cases,
it can adopt a practically straight geometry (Figures 6 and 7). Moreover, that outer
surface (13) need not be intrinsic to the upper body (12) of the sleeve (10) but may
be an implement to the traditional tapered sleeves (1.2), as best seen in Figure 7.
[0025] In any case, the essential characteristic on the external surface of the upper body
(12) of the sleeve (10) is not its concave or straight geometry, but the position
of the third point of contact (c.3) with respect to the vertical axis (Y) of the ball
(20), in such a way that the range of efficiency in the extraction of the ball 20
is established between the angles 271° and 310°, preferably, between 273° and 300°,
and more preferably at 276° with respect to the Cartesian axis XY of the ball 20 introduced
into the hole 30, as can best be seen in figures 5 and 6.
[0026] Thanks to the position of the third contact point (c.3) an ejection with a minimum
effort of the player is achieved, where the 20 ball goes up without touching the walls
of the hole 30 or its edge and that, when leaving, due to the displacement of the
third contact point with respect to the vertical axis Y of the 20 ball, it does it
with a forward-spin effect to move the 20 ball away from the hole 30.
[0027] Note, moreover, that the angular ranges described are dynamic, i.e., the closer the
position of the third contact point (c.3) is to the angle of 276° (in another notation
- 84°) the more efficient the forward-spin effect will be in extracting the ball 20
from the hole 30. Thus, any angular position between the ranges indicated should be
considered as explicitly described in the present invention.