Golf tee

Abstract

To provide a golf tee which solves the conflicting problems of obtaining high strength and ease of piercing into the ground, is difficult to come off the ground when hitting a ball, reduces the risk of the tee being blown off the ground and being lost, and is excellent in environmental friendliness and ease of handling. [Solution] The present invention is a golf tee T1 comprising a head 10 forming a spherical seat, a flat body 20 having wide and narrow side portions extending downward from the head 10, and a tip 30 extending from the body 20 so as to gradually taper so as to be inserted into the ground when in use, the tip 30 having an upper portion formed as if a sawtooth barb 31 has been carved out at the portion where the narrow side portion extends, and a conical lower portion with no barb.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] To provide a golf tee that solves the conflicting problems of ensuring high strength and facilitating driving into the ground, is less likely to come off the ground when hitting a ball, reduces the risk of the tee being blown off the ground and being lost, and is excellent in durability, environmental friendliness, and ease of handling. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, various shapes of golf tees have been proposed as tees that are used by placing a golf ball on top, but generally, to increase strength, the body (shaft) needs to be thickened, and if the body is made thicker, it becomes difficult to dig it into the ground. In conventional golf tees, the part that is inserted into the ground is generally formed in a cone shape, a tapered prism shape, or a smooth needle shape. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2024-6787 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-65917 [Patent Document 3] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 9-215801 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Conventional golf tees have a smooth surface shape on the part that is inserted into the ground, which is thought to reduce friction with the ground. However, in reality, the contact area with the ground is large, resulting in a surprisingly large frictional resistance when inserting the tee into the ground. Therefore, there is a limit to how much the body can be made thicker to increase its strength, as it also makes it more difficult to pierce the ground. On the other hand, conventional golf tees tend to come off the ground when hitting the ball and are often lost when blown off the ground, posing environmental problems, damaging lawn mowers, and being wasteful because they can only be used a limited number of times. As a solution to the problem of the ball easily flying off the ground when hit, golf tees have been proposed that have annular grooves, steps, or notches formed in the part that is inserted into the ground (Patent Documents 1 and 2). However, the golf tees described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 do not take into consideration the reduction of frictional resistance when the tees are driven into the ground. Furthermore, if the grooves and unevenness weaken the tee, it can break and fly away, causing environmental problems and damaging lawn mowers. Furthermore, the notches described in Patent Document 3 are intended to prevent the golf tee from wobbling and to make it easier to visually estimate the height, but are not intended to reduce frictional resistance when the tee is driven into the ground or to solve the problem of the tee being easily blown off the ground when hit.

[0005] Furthermore, conventional golf tees lack consideration for the ease with which the tee fits comfortably in the fingers when stabbing the tee into the ground. Therefore, the object of the present invention is to solve the above problems and provide a golf tee that is strong, easy to insert into the ground, difficult to come out of the ground when hitting a ball, reduces the chance of the tee being thrown off the ground and getting lost, and also has excellent durability, environmental friendliness, and ease of handling. Another object of the present invention is to provide a golf tee that is easy to hold and to insert into the ground. A further object of the present invention is to provide a golf tee that allows the user to easily judge the depth of the tee that has been dug into the ground. Another object of the present invention is to provide a golf tee that can be easily driven into the ground with the golf club facing in the direction that the stronger side of the golf tee strikes the golf club. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] (1) The main feature of the present invention is a golf tee comprising: a head portion forming a spherical seat; a flat body portion having wide and narrow side portions extending downward from the head portion; and a tip portion extending from the body portion so as to gradually taper so as to be inserted into the ground when in use, the tip portion having an upper portion formed as if a sawtooth barb has been carved out at the portion where the narrow side portion extends, and a cone-shaped lower portion without a barb. (2) In addition to the above configuration, the golf tee of the present invention may also be configured such that the sawtooth barbs are formed at the portion where a rib extending vertically on the narrow side portion extends to the tip portion.

[0007] (3) Furthermore, in the golf tee of the present invention, the underside of the head that constitutes the spherical seat may be formed into a concave shape at a position 180 degrees apart so as to fit the outer surface shape of two fingers that hold the golf tee in a pinch, and the concave shape may be arranged so as to be continuous with the wide side portion. (4) In addition to the above configuration, the golf tee of the present invention may have a head made of a soft material, a body and a tip made of a hard material, and the body provided with steps or scale lines so that the depth of penetration into the ground can be determined. (5) The golf tee of the present invention may have a mark on the top surface of the head, which may be an arrow, line, or figure indicating a direction parallel to the wide side surface of the body. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] (1) In the golf tee of the present invention configured as described above, by striking the golf ball from the narrow side of the flat body, the strength and durability of the golf tee can be increased without making the body thicker, and the golf tee can be easily driven into the ground. In addition, the sawtooth barbs are formed as if they have been carved out at the extended portion of the narrow side portion, so that the contact area with the ground is small and the golf tee can be easily inserted as if cutting through the ground. Furthermore, the barb easily catches on grass roots underground, preventing the golf tee from flying out of the ground when hitting a golf ball, making it environmentally friendly. (2) Furthermore, in the golf tee of the present invention, when the sawtooth barbs are formed on the extended portion of the rib formed on the narrow side portion, the strength of the golf tee can be efficiently increased and maintained without making the body portion thicker overall.

[0009] (3) Furthermore, in the golf tee of the present invention, if a concave shape is formed on the underside of the head that constitutes the spherical seat and the concave shape is arranged so that it is continuous with the wide side portion, the fit between the golf tee and the fingers can be improved, making it easier to stab the golf tee into the ground. (4) In the golf tee of the present invention, if the head is made of a soft material, the body and the tip are made of a hard material, and the body has steps or scale lines so that the depth of the tee sunk into the ground can be determined, the strength of the golf tee can be increased, the impact and damage caused by a golf club hitting the head can be mitigated, and the appropriate depth of the tee sunk into the ground can be easily determined. (5) In the golf tee of the present invention, if a mark consisting of an arrow, line, or figure indicating a direction parallel to the wide side portion of the body is displayed on the top surface of the head, it is possible to recognize the direction in which the strength is high when sticking the golf tee into the ground, and it becomes possible to effectively prevent the golf tee from breaking or being damaged. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1]FIG. 1 shows a golf tee according to one embodiment of the present invention, in which (A) is an overall perspective view, (B) is an overall front view, (C) is an overall side view, (D) and (E) are plan views, and (F) is an enlarged view of the head. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 shows a golf tee according to another embodiment of the present invention, where (A) is a front view of the entire tee, and (B) is a side view of the entire tee. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 shows a golf tee according to another embodiment of the present invention, where (A) is a front view and (B) is a side view. [Figure 4] 4A and 4B are horizontal cross sections of the body of a golf tee, where (A) is a cross section of a golf tee according to one embodiment of the present invention, (B) is a cross section of a golf tee according to a comparative example, and (C) to (E) are cross sections of golf tees according to other embodiments of the present invention. [Figure 5] 5(A) to 5(E) are diagrams showing other embodiments of the golf tee embodying the present invention. [Figure 6] 6(A) and 6(B) are plan views of another embodiment of a golf tee embodying the invention. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of a golf tee embodying the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] The present invention is a golf tee comprising: a head portion forming a spherical seat; a flat body portion having wide and narrow side portions extending downward from the head portion; and a tip portion extending from the body portion so as to gradually taper so as to be inserted into the ground when in use, the tip portion having an upper portion formed as if a sawtooth barb has been carved out at the portion where the narrow side portion extends, and a conical lower portion without a barb, and can be suitably embodied in the embodiments described below.

[0012] A golf tee T1 according to one embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. The golf tee T1 of one embodiment of the present invention is a long type golf tee T1 suitable for tee shots in which a golf ball is hit with a wooden club, and has a head 10 that forms the ball seat on which the golf ball rests, made of a soft material (thermoplastic polyurethane, polyvinyl chloride, silicone, etc.), and a lower body 20 and tip 30 made of a hard material (polycarbonate, ABS resin, etc.). Therefore, the head portion 10 can effectively absorb the impact of a collision with a golf club head, and the body portion 20 and tip portion 30 have excellent strength and impact resistance, making the golf tee T1 highly durable.

[0013] The head 10 is roughly bowl-shaped with the shape of the upper surface formed to correspond to the outer surface of a golf ball, and as shown in Figure 1(F), the shape of the lower surface is formed into a concave shape (concave portion 11) at a position 180 degrees apart so as to fit the outer surface shape of two fingers f holding the golf tee in a pinch. The concave shape is a curved surface with a diameter of approximately 19 mm (a curved surface that contacts the side of a cylinder with a diameter of approximately 19 mm) to match the average thickness of a human finger f, but the diameter can be changed appropriately within a range of approximately 13 mm to approximately 24 mm. The thickness of the head 10 in the vertical direction is made thicker so that the golf tee T1 can be easily driven into the ground while holding a golf ball.

[0014] The body portion 20 is formed in a flat shape (plate-like or rod-like) having two wide side portions and two narrow side portions extending downward from the head portion 10, and in particular, is arranged so that the concave portion 11 of the head portion 10 and the wide side portions are continuous. Furthermore, vertically extending ribs 21 are formed on the narrow side surfaces on both sides of the body 20 to protrude therefrom, thereby efficiently increasing the strength of the body 20. Furthermore, the body 20 has three scale lines 22 on its wide side, making it easy to determine the depth of penetration into the ground. The wide side portions that make up the two sides of the body portion 20 have horizontal cross sections that are parallel to each other, and the horizontal cross section of the body portion 20 is symmetrical in the up-down and left-right directions in the figure, as shown in Figure 4(A).

[0015] By aligning the direction parallel to the wide side portion with the hitting direction of the golf ball (the direction shown in Figure 1 (B)), the golf club will hit the narrow side portion, which makes it easiest to avoid breaking or damaging the golf tee T1 and also makes it easiest to prevent the golf tee T1 from coming out of the ground. The reason for this is that the direction parallel to the wide side portions is the direction in which the thickness of the flat body portion 20 is greatest, and furthermore, is the same direction as the position where the barbs 31 described below are provided. Therefore, by employing a flat body portion 20, the golf tee T1 of the present invention can increase strength most efficiently while preventing the golf tee T1 from becoming more difficult to dig into the ground. Furthermore, on the top surface of the head 10, a mark consisting of an arrow 12, a line, a figure or the like indicating a direction parallel to the wide side surface of the body 20 (a direction of high strength) may be displayed.

[0016] The tip 30, which constitutes the lower part of the body 20, is the part that is mainly buried in the ground, and extends from the body 20 so as to gradually taper off to make it easier to pierce the ground when in use. Furthermore, sawtooth barbs 31 are formed at the top of the tip 30 in the area where the narrow side surface extends downward, particularly in the area where the two ribs 21 extend. This makes it easier to pierce the ground when in use, as the barbs cut through the ground. On the other hand, the lower part of the tip 30 where the barb 31 is not formed is formed in a cone shape (in this embodiment it is approximately conical, but it can also be a square pyramid or other polygonal pyramid, as long as the tip is pointed so that it can be easily inserted into the ground). The shape of the barb 31 is such that the bottom side is formed as a slope that protrudes upward, and the top side is formed as a slope that protrudes horizontally or upward, so that there is little frictional resistance when it is inserted into the ground, and there is greater frictional resistance when it is pulled out of the ground against the roots and stems of the grass. Furthermore, the height (amount of protrusion) of the tip of the barb 31 is equal to or less than the height of the rib 21. In other words, the tip of the barb 31 does not protrude outward from the extension line of the side surface near the bottom of the body 20 (perpendicular line h shown in Figure 1(A)). This reduces the frictional resistance between the barb 31 and the ground.

[0017] When manufacturing the golf tee T1 of one embodiment configured as described above, the body portion 20 and the tip portion 30 are first integrally molded using a hard material (such as polycarbonate resin), and then this is incorporated into a mold for the head 10 and molded using a soft material (such as thermoplastic polyurethane resin) so that it is integrated with the head 10.This can be manufactured using a conventionally known resin molding method (insert molding). Therefore, more specifically, the material of the head 10 is such that the outer peripheral portion of the head 10 is made of a soft material, and the central portion (inside) of the head is made of a hard material.

[0018] Next, to compare the magnitude of the resistance when the completed golf tee T1 was driven into the ground, the force required to drive the golf tee T1 into the clay up to the scale mark 22 in the center was measured and the average value was obtained. This corresponds to the amount of penetration until the exposed portion of a standard golf tee reaches 45 mm when in use. The average values ​​of the 10 measurements were as follows: *Golf tee with sawtooth barb according to the present invention: 42.2N *Comparative golf tee without serrated barbs: 45.8N Therefore, the test results show that the resistance value when inserting the product of the present invention into the ground is expected to be reduced by approximately 8%, and it was confirmed that this could be felt in actual use by monitors. Therefore, even if a structure that increases the strength of the body portion 20 is adopted, such as by making the body portion 20 thicker or providing ribs 21, it is possible to prevent the difficulty of piercing the ground from increasing.

[0019] Furthermore, to verify the increase in strength when ribs 21 are formed on the sides (horizontal cross section of the body shown in Figure 4(A)) as in the embodiment of the present invention, in comparison with when there are no ribs 21 (horizontal cross section of the body shown in Figure 4(B)), an impact resistance test was conducted using a pendulum testing machine, and the following results were obtained. *Impact strength when rib 21 is not formed: 370J / m2 *Impact strength when rib 21 is formed: 410J / m2 Therefore, it was confirmed that the impact strength was improved by about 10% by the rib 21. The horizontal cross-sectional shape of the body portion 20 having such ribs 21 may be an approximately elliptical shape as shown in Figure 4(C), a round shape as shown in Figure 4(D), or a rectangular shape as shown in Figure 4(E). In particular, by hitting the ball with a golf club from the narrow side of the body 20, damage or breakage of the golf tee T1 can be effectively prevented. Therefore, it is desirable to stab the golf tee T1 into the ground with the wide side portion aligned (parallel) with the direction of the ball, and the arrow 12 displayed on the top surface of the head 10 can be used to assist and encourage use in such a direction (see Figure 1(E)).

[0020] The following comparative test was conducted on the product of the present invention to confirm its effect of preventing the ball from breaking through the ground and flying out when hit. A golf tee T1 as an embodiment of the present invention having a barb 31 and a golf tee as a comparative product not having a barb 31 were sandwiched between two sponges, and a test was conducted in which a weight was hit from the side, and the number of times the weight was hit before each golf tee came out of the sponge was measured. Number of hits required for a golf tee without a return 31 to come out Number of tests from 1st to 10th 3 2 1 3 4 2 2 3 4 2 :Average value 2.6 Number of hits required for golf tee T1 with 31 return strokes to break free Number of tests from 1st to 10th 5 5 4 4 7 5 7 5 4 4 :Average value 5.0 From the above comparative test results, it was confirmed that the golf tee T1 according to the present invention is less likely to come off the ground when hitting the ball.

[0021] Next, a golf tee T2 according to another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. Unlike the golf tee T1 of the previous embodiment, the golf tee T2 of this embodiment has a step 23 at the lower end of the body 20 that reduces the horizontal cross-sectional area, making it easier to determine the amount of penetration into the ground and easily maintaining a constant golf ball height by always penetrating the ball up to the part just before the step 23. Furthermore, the golf tee T2 of this embodiment does not have a rib 21 because the body portion 20 above the step 23 is formed thicker than the golf tee T1 of the previous embodiment. However, the golf tee T2 of this embodiment has the same configuration as the golf tee T1 of the previous embodiment in other parts, so the same symbols are used and explanations of those parts are omitted. In addition, the golf tee T2 of this embodiment has the same configuration as the golf tee T1 of the previous embodiment for the shape of the barb 31 of the tip 30 that is inserted into the ground, and can achieve the same effect of suppressing the golf tee T2 from flying out of the ground as the golf tee T1 of the previous embodiment.

[0022] Next, a golf tee T3 according to another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The golf tee T3 of this embodiment differs from the golf tees T1 and T2 of the previous embodiments in that it is a short type that is used mainly for tee shots with an iron golf club, and has a very short body portion 20. The golf tee T3 of this embodiment has the same configuration as the golf tee T1 of the previous embodiment in other parts, and the same reference numerals are used to denote the same parts, and the description of these parts will be omitted. Furthermore, the golf tee T3 of this embodiment has the same configuration as the golf tee T1 of the previous embodiment for the shape of the barb 31 of the tip 30 that is inserted into the ground, and therefore can achieve the same effect of suppressing the golf tee T3 from flying out of the ground as the golf tee T1 of the previous embodiment. The golf tees T2 and T3 configured as described above can be manufactured in the same manner as the golf tee T1.

[0023] The present invention is not limited to the golf tee of the above embodiment, and the shape, dimensions, number, placement location, etc. of each part may be changed as appropriate within the scope of the spirit of the present invention. For example, the configuration of the return 31 may be such that the number is changed as in the golf tee T4 shown in FIG. 5(A) or the golf tee T5 shown in FIG. 5(B), or the shape, inclination angle, size, and lateral protrusion amount are appropriately changed as in the golf tee T6 shown in FIG. 5(C) or the golf tee T7 shown in FIG. 5(D), or it may be implemented as an asymmetrical shape with different horizontal height positions as in the golf tee T8 shown in FIG. 5(E). Furthermore, the shape of the head 10 may be a track shape as shown in FIG. 6(A) or an elliptical shape as shown in FIG. 6(B), in which the shape when viewed from above is long in the flattened direction of the body 20, in order to make it easier to see the flattened direction of the body 20, i.e., the direction in which strength is high. Alternatively, as in the golf tee T9 shown in Figure 7, a rib may not be formed on the body portion 20, but instead sawtooth-like barbs 31 may be formed in the portion where the narrow side portion extends downward. Furthermore, other resins or materials may be used as the resin for manufacturing each part of the golf tees T1 to T9, or the entire golf tees may be integrally molded from the same resin, or may be manufactured by other manufacturing methods. [Industrial Applicability]

[0024] The present invention can be suitably used industrially as a golf tee that is excellent in strength, ease of handling, durability and environmental friendliness. [Explanation of symbols]

[0025] 10 head 11 concave portion (concave shape) 12 arrow (mark) 20 Body 21 Rib 22 Scale line 23 Step 30 Tip 31 Barb f finger (index, middle or ring finger) h perpendicular T1 Golf Tee (long type, no step) T2 Golf Tee (Long Type, Stepped) T3 Golf Tee (Short Type) T4 to T9 Golf tees of other embodiments

Claims

1. The head that forms a spherical seat, a flat body portion having a wide side portion and a narrow side portion extending downward from the head portion; a tip portion that extends from the body portion so as to taper gradually, so as to be inserted into the ground when in use, the tip portion having an upper portion formed as if a sawtooth barb has been carved out at the portion where the narrow side portion extends, and a cone-shaped lower portion without a barb; A golf tee characterized by comprising:

2. 2. The golf tee according to claim 1, wherein the sawtooth barb is formed at a portion where a rib extending in the vertical direction on the narrow side portion is extended to the tip portion.

3. 3. The golf tee according to claim 1, wherein the underside of the head portion that forms the spherical seat is formed into a concave shape at positions 180 degrees apart so as to fit the outer surface shape of two fingers that hold the golf tee in a pinch, and the concave shape is arranged so as to be continuous with the wide side portion.

4. 4. The golf tee according to claim 3, wherein the head is made of a soft material, the body and the tip are made of a hard material, and the body has a step or a scale mark so that the depth of the tee into the ground can be determined.

5. 4. The golf tee according to claim 3, wherein a mark such as an arrow, a line, or a figure indicating a direction parallel to the wide side surface of the body is displayed on the top surface of the head.

Images