The present invention relates to the identification of articles, especially golf balls, which are marked, distributed from a base and subsequently collected.
Golf driving ranges are becoming increasingly popular, especially those involving scoring and other competitions. In such cases the ability to identify a collected ball is important Even in conventional driving ranges, the ability to identify golf bell can facilitate charging players and or detecting theft.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,439,224 discloses a golf range with targets provided with optical scanners to identify balls and to pass the information to a programmed computer. U.S. Pat. No. 5,370,389 discloses a golfing range game in which a ball rolling into a hole is sensed by a scanner which identifies the tee from which the ball was driven by detecting the colour of the ball or a bar code printed thereon; the information is passed back to a display near the golfer. U.S. Pat. No. 5,653,642 discloses a driving range with targets with optical readers for detecting unique identification ball codes, the optical readers being connected to a computer device.
Systems employing optical codes have a number of disadvantages. In particular, dirt on the ball can prevent correct identification. Also, the optical codes are subject to wear and abrasion. Furthermore, the orientation of the ball relative to the optical reader is important in order for the code to be correctly read. In addition the coding markings can be visually intrusive.
GB-A-2267222 discloses a golf driving range employing balls which are distinguished from each other by means of bar codes or transponders. Ball detecting means are provided at the holes and the surrounding greens. The disclosure of this document corresponds to the introductory part of claim 1.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,626,531 discloses golf balls with passive tags which can be sensed by an electronic detection system and U.S. Pat. No. 5,743,815 discloses a golf ball housing a passive transponder which may be uniquely coded.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,516,770 discloses a ball detection and identification arrangement for a table ball game, e.g. pool. Balls landing in the pockets pass to an electronic detector which operates a display and scoring device.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,487,542 discloses a golf game with identifiable golf clubs and means for sensing the presence of a golf ball in a hole. In a modification the balls may be uniquely coded optically.
The present invention seeks to overcome or reduce the above disadvantages.
According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a golf driving range employing uniquely-coded golf balls characterised in that a tee of the range incorporates ball-identifying means connected to a computer system so that the computer system knows which ball a player is driving from said tee.
According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a golf driving range comprising means for supplying golf balls to a player, said supply means incorporating first ball-identifying means, the range further comprising means for collecting driven balls incorporating second ball-identifying means, the range further comprising means for processing the output of said first and second ball-identifying means, wherein each golf ball incorporates a coded RF-transponder and the first and second ball-identifying means employ RFID technology.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a golf driving range comprising means for supplying golf balls one-by-one to a player, said supply means incorporating first ball-identifying means, the range further comprising means for collecting balls driven by the player, said collecting means incorporating second-ball identifying means, the range further comprising means for processing the output of said first and second ball-identifying means, each golf ball incorporating a RF-transponder having a unique code, and the first and second ball-identifying means employing RFID technology, wherein the golf balls to be supplied to the player are fed one-by-one from a holder of a plurality of golf balls past the first ball-identifying means and are then supplied in the same order to the player.
The outputs of said first and second ball-identifying means are preferably supplied to a computer, which processes the received information and provides a display of the result.
The supplying and collecting means preferably comprise channels for directing golf balls, and the first and second ball-identifying means are preferably RFID readers with reading heads located directly adjacent the respective channels.
The balls collected by the collecting means may be arranged to be supplied to the supplying means for recycling.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention there is provided an apparatus for supplying golf balls one-by-one to a player and incorporating ball-identifying means and means for processing the output of said ball-identifying means, each golf ball incorporating a RF-transponder having a unique code and the ball-identifying means employing RFID technology wherein the golf balls to be supplied to the player are fed one-by-one from a holder of a plurality of golf balls past the ball-identifying means and are then supplied in the same order to the player.