Golf green repair apparatus and method

This appln claims benefit of provisional appln 60/067,705 filed Dec. 8, 1997.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

a) Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for repairing a golf green, and more particularly to repairing a dent or indented area of the golf green caused by the impact of a golf ball landing on the golf green (i.e. putting surface).

b) Background of the Invention

When a golf ball lands on a golf green, it often causes a dent in the golf green, with a raised edge portion extending at least partially around the dent created by the golf ball.

Possibly the most common method employed to repair such ball indentations on the putting surface is for the golfer to use a golf tee to dig into the ground surface surrounding the raised edge and pry the earth near the surface inwardly toward the area of the dent. Alternatively, a two pronged fork can be used for this purpose, this being usually made of aluminum,, and sometimes referred to as a “ball mark fixer”.

With either method, the golfer must kneel down or bend down far enough to reach the surface of the putting green with his hand and push the tool into the sod around the indentation. In a good deal of instances, many golfers, particularly elderly or infrequent golfers do not take the trouble to make such repairs, and it is necessary for these to be attended to by green keepers. Further, this prior art method of repairing the green is not particularly effective and falls far short of restoring the green close to its previous condition.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1

is an isometric view of a commonly used prior art tool, called the “ball mark fixer”;

FIGS. 2

,

3

and

4

are cross sectional views taken along a vertical plane parallel to the line of flight of the ball making the dent and extending through the center of the dent in the green, these three views showing in sequence the typical prior art manner of using the “ball mark fixer” in repairing the green;

FIG. 5

is an isometric view showing the apparatus of the present invention mounted to the top end of the handle of a putter, with the apparatus in its stowed position;

FIG. 5A

is a sectional view taken along a vertical plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the ground penetrating portion of the apparatus of the present invention, showing in solid lines the ground penetrating portion in its operating position and in broken lines in its outwardly extending operating position;

FIG. 6

is an isometric view similar to

FIG. 5

, but showing the apparatus in its operating position, with the ground penetrating portion extending outwardly from the upper surface of the apparatus;

FIGS. 7 and 8

are partial sectional views taken at generally the same location (relative to the dent in the golf green) as

FIGS. 1 through 3

, but showing the operation of the present invention in making its initial movement or stroke into the green surface to begin the repair (restoring) operation of the green surface;

FIGS. 9 and 10

are views similar to

FIGS. 7 and 8

, but showing a subsequent repair stroke being executed into and against the green surface;

FIGS. 11 and 12

are similar to

FIGS. 7 and 8

and also similar to

FIGS. 9 and 10

, showing the application of the present invention in engaging the raised side edge portions of the dent area in the green restoring operation;

FIG. 13

is a sectional view, showing the bottom surface of the head of the putter being pressed the green surface to further flatten out the green surface; and

FIG. 14

is a view of the green surface, taken at the same location as

FIG. 13

, showing the green surface in its stored position;

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

It is believed that a clear understanding of the present invention will be obtained by first describing, with reference to

FIGS. 1 through 4

, how a dent is commonly formed in the golf green by a golf ball, and one of the common prior art methods of making the repair in the golf green.

With reference to

FIG. 2

, there is shown in broken lines a golf ball

10

having descended on a downwardly sloping path (indicating by the arrow

12

) to engage the golf green

14

and form the dent or indentation

16

. For purposes of description, the golf green

14

can be considered of being made up of two layers. First, there is the upper sod layer

18

which provides the green putting surface

20

, and an underlying ground layer

22

immediately below the sod layer

18

. The interface of the sod layer

18

and the ground layer

22

is indicated at

24

.

In the following description, the term “forward” will refer to the direction of the horizontal component of the path of the ball as it impacts the green, and the term “rear” or “rearward” will denote the opposite direction. Thus, in

FIG. 2

, the term forward refers to a direct extending toward the right.

As shown in

FIG. 2

when the golf ball

10

strikes the green surface

20

as it travels on its downward and forward path (indicated at

12

), the sod layer portion

26

immediately below and just forward of the impact location of the golf ball is pushed both downwardly and forwardly (to the right as seen in FIG.

2

).

More specifically, there is a rear sod portion

28

that has been pushed downwardly and forwardly, as shown in FIG.

2

. As shown in

FIG. 2

, this sod portion

28

has actually been severed (or at least partially severed) along a separation line

30

from a further rear portion of sod

32

which is just rear of the location where the location of the ball

10

impacts the green surface

20

, and is undisturbed. However, it is to be understood that this pattern of the displacement of the sod layer

18

is not always the same, depending upon the conditions of the green. However, the situation as shown in

FIG. 2

is typical. Just forwardly of the sod portion

28

, there is an upwardly and forwardly sloping sod portion

34

that forms an upwardly and forward sloping part of the dent

16

, and further forward of the portion

34

there is a raised edge portion

36

, which then slopes downwardly and forwardly at

38

, joining a yet further forward portion of the green

40

which remains level and undisturbed.

In addition, the impact of the golf ball

10

also displaces the ground material laterally, as indicated at

42

, so that the raised sod portion

36

and the edge portion

42

create an edge perimeter portion which shall be designated collectively as

44

.

In addition to the sod layer

18

being displaced as described above, the immediate underlying ground layer

22

is also displaced. More specifically, a portion of the ground layer that was immediately below the location where the ball impacts the green is displaced in a manner to create a lower portion

46

just beneath the sod layer portion

28

, a raised edge portion

48

which is just beneath the upper sod edge portion

36

, and an intermediate portion

50

.

Again, it is to be understood that the contours of the dent

16

vary, depending upon the path of the ball (whether it is descending in a more vertical slope or more horizontally aligned), the hardness of the underlying ground layer

22

, resistance of the sod layer

18

to being separated and/or compressed, etc.

In

FIG. 1

, there is shown the prior art “ball mark fixer”

52

. It can be seen in

FIG. 1

that this has a generally U shaped configuration, comprising two generally parallel arms or tines

54

that form the sides of the U, and a base gripping portion

56

that provides opposite gripping surfaces by which the tool

52

can be grasped in a person's fingers and manipulated.

The manner in which this is used is shown in

FIG. 2

, where it can be seen that the tool

52

is pushed into the ground around the perimeter edge portion

44

of the dent, and as shown in

FIGS. 3 and 4

, the tool

52

is manipulated by rotating it about a horizontal axis to displace some of the underlying earth

56

toward the center location

58

of the dent

16

. The effect of this is to push the edge portion of the dent forming material (namely the upper edge portion

36

of the sod and the lower portion

48

of the underlying ground layer to the left. After this has been accomplished, the green surface

20

can be flattened to some extent by pressing the head of the club or other surface against the green surface at the location of the dent

16

.

As indicated previously, an alternative method of repairing the green is simply to use a golf tee which is stuck into the green surface a number of times around the perimeter of the dent, again preying the earth and the sod forming the raised edge portion around the dent inwardly toward the center

58

, and then flattening out the green surface.

Overall, the above method is only partially effective. It does cause an overall displacement in the material forming the sod layer

18

and underlying ground layer

22

toward the dent

16

, but it is rather lacking in restoring the green surface to a condition closer to its original form (i.e. where the sod layer is a uniform layer having a reasonably flat upper green surface

20

).

With the foregoing in mind as background information, there will now be a description of the present invention.

With reference to

FIGS. 5

,

5

A and

6

, the present invention comprises a manipulating tool

60

, and also comprises the combination of the tool

60

joined to the putter

62

. More particularly, the tool

60

of the present invention is conveniently connected at the upper end

64

of the putting handle

66

to form functionally a unitary green repairing implement

67

.

The tool

60

comprises a base portion

68

and a ground penetrating member

70

that is rotatably mounted to the base

68

about a hinge mounting

72

. The ground penetrating portion

70

has a stowed position shown in

FIG. 5

where it lies against the upper surface

74

of the base portion

68

, and actually is positioned in a recess

76

formed in the upper surface

74

of the base portion

68

. Then there is an operating position, where the ground penetrating portion

70

is rotated 90° from its stowed position to extend perpendicular to the base surface

74

and parallel to the longitudinal axis of the putter handle

66

.

For purposes of description, the term “upper” will denote the direction extending from the head of the club toward the handle, so that in

FIGS. 5 and 6

, the term “upper” is a direction toward the top of the page. The term “back” or “rear” shall denote the location at the hinge mount

72

, and the term “forward” or “front” shall denote the location at

78

, which is diametrically opposite to the hinged location

72

.

The ground penetrating member

70

comprises a mounting portion

80

positioned in a cavity

82

at the rear portion of the base

68

. The mounting portion

80

has two laterally extending fingers or trunions

84

which fit into smaller hinge recesses

86

on opposite sides of the mounting cavity

82

, these fingers

84

providing the hinge mounting

72

for the ground penetrating member

70

.

The mounting portion

80

has a protruding lip

88

(see

FIG. 5A

) which protrudes radially outwardly from the center of the mounting fingers

84

and extends parallel to the axis of rotation of the ground penetrating member

70

. This protruding lip

88

cooperates with the back surface

90

of the mounting cavity

82

to hold the ground penetrating member

70

firmly in its operating position. More specifically, when the ground penetrating member

70

is in its outwardly extending operating position, the protruding lip

88

is positioned in a rear lower corner edge

92

of the cavity

82

adjacent to the bottom part of surface

90

, to resist rotational movement of the ground penetrating member

70

. Then to rotate the member

70

to its stowed position, the member

70

is pushed forwardly and downwardly to force the lip

88

along the cavity surface

90

and to the stowed position as shown in the broken lines of FIG.

5

A.

The trunion members

84

have a snap fit in the hinge recesses

86

so that the ground penetrating member

70

, made as a separate piece, is simply snapped into its engaged position, with the base

68

.

The ground penetrating member

70

also has its ground penetrating portion

92

which comprises a pair of tines

92

spaced laterally from one another, and extending radially outwardly from the axis of rotation of the trunions

84

, but offset a short distance from the center axis from the trunion members

84

to better position the tines

92

in the operating position, so that these are quite close to the back part of the base, and also to align the times

92

so that these properly fit into the recess

76

in the stowed position. The two tines

92

have a flat planar configuration and are aligned in the same plane. Each tine

92

has an outer tip portion

94

, and the two tines

92

are spaced from one another to leave a central slot

96

. The outside surfaces of each of the tines

92

slant from the tip

94

outwardly at a slant, toward an outer curved portion

100

, and then slant back inwardly at

102

. The recess

76

has a central protruding portion

104

which fits between the two tines

92

when the ground penetrating portion

70

is in its stowed position.

It will be noted that with the ground penetrating portion

70

in its stowed position (as in FIG.

5

), the tool

60

is positioned unobtrusively in the top end of the handle

66

so that it does not at all interfere with the normal use of the putter

62

to execute a putting stroke. More specifically, the base portion

68

of the tool has circular disc like configuration having a diameter the same as the upper end of the putting handle

66

(approximately once inch in diameter), and it has an overall depth dimension of about one quarter of an inch. The tool

60

can be bonded to the upper transverse surface of the handle

66

in a variety of ways. Also another configuration is to extend the perimeter of the base member

68

downwardly to form a sleeve that would extend a short distance downwardly over the upper end of the handle

66

, with the inside cylindrical surface of the sleeve being bonded to the handle

66

.

To use the tool/putter combination

60

/

62

to repair the dent in the golf green, the ground penetration portion

70

is rotated 90° from the stowed position to its operating position of FIG.

6

. As indicated previously with reference to

FIG. 5A

, the hinge mounting at

72

is arranged so that the protruding edge portion

88

is forced by the middle portion of the back cavity surface

90

(the material being sufficiently yielding to permit this) so that the edge

88

snaps down into the operating position to hold the ground penetrating portion

70

extended and firmly in place.

Initially, the putter

62

is inverted so that the head of the putter provides a convenient handle by which the putter

62

can be manipulated while the person is standing. The tool

60

is positioned so that the ground penetrating portion

70

(see

FIG. 7

) has its tip portion

94

just forwardly of the raised edge portion

36

of the sod layer

18

so that the tip

94

enters into the sod layer

18

at a location

104

immediately adjacent to the forward undisturbed portion of the sod layer

18

, and just forward of the forward part of the raised edge

36

.

Then (see

FIG. 8

) the putter

62

is pushed downwardly to cause the ground penetrating portion

70

to penetrate through the sod layer

18

and to some extent (depending on the depth of the sod layer

18

) into the underlying ground layer

22

. The top surface

74

of the base member

68

functions as a compression surface

74

to bear against the upper surface of the sod portion

36

at the raised edge forward of the dent

16

. This has the effect of displacing the raised portion

48

of the ground layer

22

downwardly and then rearwardly toward the dent

16

.

It should be noted that the penetration of the two tines

92

into the green layer

18

and further into the ground layer

22

serves two functions. First, it locates the base member

68

so that it maintains its proper position as the base member

68

presses against the edge sod portion

36

. Also, the tines

92

cause a certain degree of separation of the ground material so that the compressive force applied by the base member

68

acts on the green layer portion

36

and on the underlying ground portion

48

to cause the displacement of the ground layer portion

48

toward the left, so that this ground layer portion

48

becomes positioned further rearwardly in the area indicated at

106

in FIG.

8

.

It should be noted (with reference to

FIG. 8

) that the underlying ground layer portion

48

that has been displaced from the region immediately below the main part of the dent

16

is loose soil in the sense that it has just previously been displaced from its original position, and thus would be more readily moveable. In

FIG. 7

, there has been drawn a broken line

108

that extends beneath the raised ground edge portion

48

to indicate generally the bottom location of the loosened ground material displaced by the ball impact. The effect of the compressive motion of the base member

68

from the position of

FIG. 7

to the position of

FIG. 8

thus has the overall effect of a lateral displacement where the sod layer

18

remains substantially in tact, but the underlying ground portion

48

is displaced laterally to occupy the position indicated at

106

in FIG.

8

.

After the initial displacement has been accomplished, as shown in

FIG. 8

, then (see

FIG. 9

) the tool

60

is moved a short distance rearwardly from its position of

FIG. 7

to the position of FIG.

9

and again is pushed into the sod layer (see

FIG. 10

) to cause a further compression of the ground layer portion

106

further to the left to fill the lower part of the cavity of the dent

16

. This is accomplished in substantially the same manner as the compressive and displacement force is applied in

FIGS. 7 and 8

, to cause the underlying ground portion

106

(already displaced once to the location

106

) to move further rearwardly to the location

108

. Again, the sod layer at

110

(see

FIG. 10

) remains substantially undisturbed.

The next step is to move the tool

60

to side locations to compress the side edge portions

42

of the sod layer

18

downwardly, and thus displace the raised earth portions

112

downwardly and toward the middle area of the dents

16

. As illustrated in

FIGS. 11 and 12

, the tool is applied adjacent one side portion

42

in the manner described above, and then (as shown in the broken lines of

FIG. 12

) moved over to the opposite side to have a similar displacement action of the underlying ground surface portion

112

.

It is believed to be evident that the precise location and manner in which the tool is applied will vary depending upon the soil conditions, the size and configuration of the dent

16

, etc. The overall result which is to be achieved is to maintain the integrity of the sod layer so that when it is moved from its displaced position (see FIG.

7

), back toward its restored position (see FIG.

12

), the sod layer

18

is in large part moved back to its original location. Also, the desired result of the present invention is to move the underlying displaced ground layer portions

48

and

112

radially inwardly toward the dent

116

so that it is restored to its original position in the area where the dent

16

was formed.

As a final step, the putter is inverted to its normal upright position, and then the lower surface

114

of the head

116

against of the putter can be tamped downwardly against the restored sod portion

118

to form a relatively smooth continuous sod surface, as shown at

120

in FIG.

14

.

With regard to the particular configuration of the tines

92

that form the ground penetrating portion of the tool

60

, it has been found that the tool

60

of the present invention works quite satisfactorily if the end tips

94

of the tines

92

extend a half inch or a little bit more than a half inch above the upper surface

74

of the base member

68

(this dimension being indicated at “a” in FIG.

5

A. Also, the lateral dimension between the lateral rounded portions

104

of the two tines

92

(this dimension being shown at “b” in

FIG. 5

) has been found to be satisfactory if it is made to be about one half inch.

Obviously, these dimensions could be varied. If the depth dimension (shown at “a” of

FIG. 5A

) is increased substantially there is no real benefit, and in fact it can in some instances make the tool more difficult to operate, particularly if the underlying ground layer

22

is hard, since more force must be applied to cause a deeper penetration so that the surface

74

comes into ground contact.

The tines

92

should extend far enough away from the compression surface

74

so that the tines

92

are able to penetrate far enough into the sod (and likely to some extent into the underlying ground layer

22

) to provide its locating function and also to provide a separating function. Conceivably, the tines

92

could be extended possibly to three quarters of an inch and possibly even to an inch and obtain at least a major portion of the benefits of the present invention, but (as indicated above) the potential operational difficulties would be increased. Also, the tines

92

could be made somewhat shorter, possibly as short as three eighths of an inch or conceivably a half an inch, but again there would be no particular benefit in doing so, and certain operational benefits may well be lost.

It is to be understood that various modifications could be made to the present invention without departing from the basic teachings thereof.