Golf practice apparatus having an automatic golf ball retriever
United States Patent 1 1 1111 3,876,162  
 Chun et al. 1 1 Apr. 8, 1975 [54] GOLF PRACTICE APPARATUS HAVING AN 3.735.934 5/1973 Black 242154 R AUTOMATIC GOLF BALL RETRIEVER [76] Inventors: Choon S. Chun, E. 95th St., New York. NY. 10028; Byung-Hee Lee, 457-16 Mia 5-dong. Sungbook-ku. Seoul. South Korea [22] Filed: Sept. 26, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 400,929  
 [] Foreign Application Priority Data Oct. 10. 1972 South Korea 6026 [52] US. Cl 242/54 R; 242/84.21 R; 242/84.42; 273/200 R [51] Int. Cl. A63b 69/36; Bh /00 [58] Field of Search 242/54 R, 85, 84.21 R. 242/84.2l A. 84.42; 273/200; 112/200 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1.398.546 11/1921 Goforth 112/220 2.586.921 211952 Delphon 242/84.21 A 2.652.211 9/1953 Hanse 242/8421 R 2.680.575 6/1954 Hayes 242/8421 R 2.714.009 7/1955 Noland 242/54 R X 3.191.880 6/1965 Visconti... 242/54 R 3.707.268 12/1972 Kelly 242/54 R Primary Examiner-Donald E. Watkins Assistant Examiner.lohn M. .lillions Attorney. Agent, or Firm.loseph Levinson. Esq.  
 [57] ABSTRACT A golf practice apparatus is provided having a footoperated winding drum with a line wound thereon. and a golf ball attached to the end of the line. A line guide is positioned for pivotal movement in front of the winding drum for guiding the line onto the winding drum. A foot-operated pedal is provided with a main pedal and an auxiliary pedal. the main pedal being coupled to a gear box for driving the winding drum. and the auxiliary pedal coupled to a lever linkage for driving the line guide. Rocking foot pressure on the main and auxiliary pedals drives the winding drum and the line guide for winding the line with the golf ball attached thereto on the drum. The ball attached to the line may be struck by a club, and the ball will move in the line of flight freely. with the line unwinding from the winding drum. After the ball has come to rest, operation of the main and auxiliary foot pedals automatically retrieves the ball so that the apparatus is then in condition for the next practice shot.  
 5 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures GOLF PRACTICE APPARATUS HAVING AN AUTOMATIC GOLF BALL RETRIEVER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a golf practice apparatus, and more particularly to such apparatus which has a means for automatically retrieving a golf ball after a practice shot to place the apparatus in condition for the next shot.  
  The average golfer faces many problems in getting adequate practice to maintain his proficiency in the game. Generally, the golfer must go to a driving range, which is both time consuming and expensive. If space is adequate, he can use a bag of balls, hit his practice shots, but then must find or retrieve the shots taken. Unless the space is adequate and open, it is sometimes difficult to find the balls which have been hit. Accordingly, more time may be taken looking for the hit balls than in actual practice. Any practice device which re quires the ball retrieval by the player would suffer this disadvantage. Various apparatus and devices which restrict greatly the line of travel, or which only travel a short distance, do not give a true measure of whether the shot is good or not. Plastic balls and nets are types of devices which fall into this category. Computer operated ranges are also out of reach of the average golfer, and also suffer from artificial simulation effects.  
  Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a golf practice apparatus which utilizes a regulation golf ball with an automatic golf ball retriever capability.  
  Another object of this invention is to provide a new and improved golf practice apparatus which is inexpensive and well within reach of the average golfer.  
  A further object of this invention is to provide a new and useful golf practice apparatus which provides the golfer with an easily operable device which will increase the golfers practice time.  
 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In carrying out this invention in one illustrative embodiment thereof, a golf-practice apparatus having an automatic golf ball retriever is provided with a winding drum having a line wound thereon, and a golf ball secured to one end of the line. Foot-operated pedal means actuate drive means coupled to the winding drum for winding the line on the winding drum in response to foot pressure on the pedal. A pivotal line guide is positioned in front of the winding drum which is lever actuated by the foot-operated pedal means to guide the line onto the winding drum for automatically retrieving a golf ball attached to the end ofthe line. The line unwinds freely after the ball is struck, and may be quickly retrieved utilizing the foot-operated pedal means.  
 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a top view of the golf practice apparatus embodied in this invention.  
 FIG. 2 is a side elevation of FIG. 1.  
  FIG. 3 is a sectional view with parts removed, taken along lines A--A of FIG. 1.  
  FIG. 4 is a partial isometric view showing the line guide mechanism embodied in this invention.  
 DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, the golf practice apparatus embodied in this invention is mounted on a base 20. A main pedal I and an auxiliary pedal 3 are mounted on the base 20 by a base plate 2, with the main pedal 1 being pivoted about a pin 22, and the auxiliary pedal 3 being pivotable in base plate 2. The auxiliary pedal 3 may have a pad thereon if so desired. Also, alternatively, the auxiliary pedal 3 may be mounted for pivotal movement about pin 22. The principle objective is that both the main pedal and the auxiliary pedal may be pivoted by foot-actuated rocking motion by the user. The main pedal I is provided with a spring 24 on the pin 22 to provide a spring-bias for returning the main pedal to its non-actuated position when foot pressure is released. The main pedal 1 operates a cranking lever 19 which rotates a drive gear 16, which in turn drives a driven gear 16&#39; which is coupled to a gear box 28. The gear box 28 includes a gear train 30 (shown in FIG. 3) which, on a first end thereof, drives a fly wheel 26 having a winding drum 25 attached thereto. The gear ratio of the gear train 30 is approximately 1:9, whereby a single stroke of the main pedal I rotates the winding drum approximately three times. The winding drum 25 is provided with a shield 15 and has wound thereon a line 32 with a regulation golf ball 34 attached to the end of the line by any suitable means, such as an eye which is driven in or otherwise secured to the golf ball 34. The other end of the gear train 30 in the gear box 28 drives a worm gear 14 at the same time as the first end of the gear train 30 drives the fly wheel 26. A line-guide drive follower 13 is positioned on the worm gear 14 and a guide pin 36 for right and left movement over the worm gear 14 of the line-guide drive follower 13, which is attached by a line-guide drive follower arm II to a line guide 10. The purpose of the movement of the line guide I0 is to prevent the line from entanglement while the line is being wound on the winding drum 25.  
  The line guide 10 is also provided with a pivotal motion from the position shown in the drawings to a verti cal position over the winding drum 25. This structure is best seen in FIG. 4. The auxiliary pedal 3 is provided with a lever arm 4 which, when the auxiliary pedal 3 is depressed, actuates a line guide actuating lever arm 5 attached to a line-guide actuating lever 6. The lineguide actuating lever 6 is coupled to a connecting lever 7 having a return spring 8 attached to the actuating lever 6. On the other end of the connecting lever 7, a hook 9 formed on the end of guide lever 10 is positioned in the connecting lever 7, with the line guide 10 being mounted for pivotal movement on the base 20 by a channeled mounting member 12.  
  In operation, depressing the auxiliary pedal 3 downward causes the lever arm 4 on auxiliary pedal 3 to move downward into contact with the line-guide actuating lever arm 5, pivoting that arm and accordingly the guide-line actuating lever 6 which moves the connecting lever 7 to the right, applying tension to the spring 8. The rightward movement of the connecting lever 7 rotates the line guide 10 to a position where it is pivoted vertically over the winding drum 25. Releasing the auxiliary pedal 3 causes the connecting lever 7 to move to the left because of the action of the return spring 8,  
 which returns the line guide back to the horizontal position shown on the drawings.  
  The combined upward and downward movement of the line guide 10 along with its horizontal movement along worm gear 14 prevents the line from being entangled while it is being wound on winding drum 25.  
  In using the golf practice apparatus the ball 34 is placed on the ground or teed up with the line 32 extending over the line guide 10. When the ball 34 is struck, the line 32 will follow the flight of the ball, easily unwinding from the winding drum until the ball comes to rest. The main and auxiliary pedals l and 3, respectively, are then operated by foot pressure of the user. Depressing and releasing the main pedal 1 causes the drive gear 16 to rotate approximately one third of a turn by the up-and-down motion of the cranking lever 19. The driven gear 16&#39; rotates the fly wheel 26 in only one direction by the rachet mechanism (not shown) inside the gear box housing 28, and a tensioning spring 17 connected thereto. The winding drum 25 at the first end of the gear train will rotate fast through the gear train 30 in the gear box 28. The winding drum 25 turns smoothly through the flywheel 26 which, with the gear ratio of the gear train 30 of about 1:9 provides that a single stroke of the main pedal 1 will turn the winding drum approximately three turns. At the same time, the other end of the gear train 30 is driving the worm gear 14 so that the line-guide drive follower 13 moves right and left through the worm gear 14. The rocking foot action also actuates the auxiliary pedal 3 which rotates line-guide actuating lever 6, moving the connecting lever 7, which in turn elevates the line guide 10 over the drum 25. The pivotal motion provided by actuation of the auxiliary pedal and the movement of the lineguide drive follower along the worm gear 14 provides a motion to the line guide 10 which prevents the line from entanglement while the line is being wound. The drum shield 15 also prevents the line from being entangled with other parts of the apparatus.  
  A lock arm 18 as shown in FIG. 1 may be utilized to hold line-guide actuating lever 6 in its rotated position and accordingly the connecting lever 7 in its rightward extension, which would place the line guide 10 in a vertical position over the drum for transportation purposes. Alternatively, a hook could be provided at the other end of the line-guide actuating lever 6 for engaging the line-guide actuating lever S and holding it so that the device may be covered and more easily transported, with no parts being exposed.  
  The advantages of the golf practice apparatus are believed apparent from the above description. The golfer does not need a large supply of balls, and after a shot is hit, he need merely apply foot-operated action for rapidly retrieving the golf ball which has been hit. This saves a great amount of time in retrieving balls, and provides more time for practice. If the ball becomes damaged during practice, it need merely be replaced with a new ball. The device provides the golfer with a means for more accurately gauging the accuracy and in most respects even the distance that the ball travels.  
  Since other modifications and changes, varied to fit particular operating requirements and environments, will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the invention is not considered limited to the examples chosen for purposes of disclosure, and covers all changes and modifications which do not constitute departures from the true spirit and scope of this invention.  
 We claim:  
  1. A golf practice apparatus having an automatic golf ball retriever comprising in combination a. a winding drum having a line wound thereon,  
 b. a golf ball secured to one end of said line,  
 c. a line guide positioned for pivotal movement near said winding drum for guiding said line onto said winding drum,  
 d. foot-operated pedal means comprising a main pedal means and an auxiliary pedal means, means mounting each of said pedal means for pivoting movement on parallel axes, each of said pedal means extending in opposite directions from said mounting means substantially in a plane perpendicular to the pivot axes of said pedal means,  
 e. drive means coupled between said main pedal means and said winding drum for driving said drum and winding said line on said winding drum in response to foot pressure on said main pedal means, and  
 f. lever means coupled between said auxiliary pedal means and said line guide for pivotally moving said line guide in response to foot pressure on said auxiliary pedal means for guiding said line onto said winding drum.  
  2. The golf practice apparatus set forth in claim 1 having a worm gear coupled to said drive means, and a line guide drive follower mounted for movement on said worm gear, said line guide coupled to said line guide drive follower for moving said line guide to and fro on said worm gear in response to foot pressure on said main pedal means.  
  3. The golf practice apparatus set forth in claim 1 wherein said drive means comprises a cranking lever actuated by said main pedal means, and gear means coupled between said cranking lever and said winding drum.  
  4. The golf practice apparatus set forth in claim 3 wherein said gear means has a gear ratio of approximately 1:9 so that a single stroke of said main pedal means rotates said winding drum approximately three turns.  
  5. The golf practice apparatus set forth in claim 3 having a worm gear coupled to said gear means, line guide drive follower means coupled to said worm gear and to said line guide for moving said line guide back and forth on said worm gear in response to foot pressure of said main pedal means.  
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