TITLE

Device for practicing golf ball putting.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to a device for practicing golf ball putting. In particular, the invention relates to a device comprising a putting mat and a roller for rolling up the putting mat when not in use.

BACKGROUND ART

Putting may be regarded as the most important golf stroke to master and there exist a large number of various devices for practicing putting. Important features in putting are e.g. addressing the ball, stroke consistency, aiming properly and consistently, applying a suitable stroke power and judging the influence of an inclined green. Different putting practice devices often focus on different putting features.

Some devices make use of relatively thin and flat putting mats that are placed on the ground, indoors or outdoors. Some of these mats are capable of being rolled up when not in use, which is useful for saving space and for bringing the device around. Examples of such mats are disclosed in US2007/0078019, WO02/13919 and US2006/0040761.

To simulate golf green hole cups in thin putting mats, it is known to provide the upper, putting, side of the mat with various marks, for instance in the form of a shooting target. A problem with such marks is that they do not give any express signal whether a putt was good enough, i.e. whether the ball would have been sunk if the mark would have been a real hole cup. What is more, a ball that passes the mark and stops at some distance beyond, i.e. a stroke that might be regarded as a bad putt considering only the distance from the target, would perhaps have been sunk if the putting mat would have been a real golf green with a real hole cup. Generally, the feedback of such marks to the user of the device is not satisfactory.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

The object of this invention is to provide a putting practice device that is easy to bring around and that gives an improved feedback to the user and therefore improves the practice compared to conventional devices. This object is achieved by the device defined by the technical features contained in independent claim 1. The dependent claims contain advantageous embodiments, further developments and variants of the invention.

The invention concerns a device for practicing golf ball putting, said device comprising a putting mat having an upper side and a lower side wherein at least the upper side is adapted for putting practice, and a roller for rolling up the putting mat when not in use. The invention is characterized in that the putting mat has a first end attached to the roller, that a hole is arranged in the putting mat, that a cup for receiving a golf ball is fastened to the putting mat and positioned at its lower side in association with the hole in such a way that a golf ball rolling on the upper side of the putting mat can fall down through the hole and enter the cup, and in that the roller has an open cavity arranged to receive the cup when the putting mat is rolled up onto the roller.

Thus, the device provides, when the putting mat is unrolled, a hole and cup very much similar to that of a real golf green. Such a device gives a clear, binary feedback to the user: either the ball enters the cup or not. At the same time, the putting mat can conveniently be rolled up onto the roller since the cup fits in the cavity inside the roller.

In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, each end of the roller is rotatably attached to a roller carrier adapted to hold the roller above ground. Such a design facilitates unrolling and rolling up the putting mat as well as allows the first end of the putting mat to be lifted as to avoid that the cup forms a bump in the putting mat when placed on the ground.

In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, at least one of the roller carriers is adapted such as to allow variation of the distance between the end of the roller and ground. This way it is possible to vary the transversal slope of the putting mat as to resemble a slanting golf green. Preferably, the at least one roller carrier comprises an extendable supporting member for varying the height of the end of the roller.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

In the description of the invention given below reference is made to the following schematic figures, in which:

Figure 1 shows, in a perspective view from above, a preferred embodiment of the invention,

Figure 2 shows, in a perspective view from below, the embodiment according to figure 1 ,

Figure 3 shows a side view of a roller assembly according the embodiment according to figure 1 ,

Figure 4 shows a partly sectional side view of details of the embodiment according to figure 1 in an unrolled position,

Figure 5 shows a partly sectional side view of details of the embodiment according to figure 1 in a partly rolled-up position,

Figure 6 shows a frontal view of the roller assembly in an inclined position,

Figure 7 shows a roller of the embodiment according figure 1 , and

Figure 8 shows a frontal view of the roller assembly as well as some other details of the embodiment according to figure 1.

EMBODIMENT(S) OF THE INVENTION

Figure 1 shows a preferred embodiment of the inventive putting practice device 1 in a perspective view from above. A putting mat 3 has a first end part attached to a roller 5 onto which the mat 3 can be rolled up. In figure 1 the putting mat has been fully unrolled from the roller 5. The putting mat 3 is flexible in its longitudinal direction as to be capable of being rolled up onto the roller 5. An upper side 3a of the putting mat 3 is adapted to allow putting practice, i.e. it provides a surface that, to some degree, resembles of a golf green with regard to rolling properties for a golf ball. Each end of the roller 5 is suspended rotationally onto a roller carrier 7 by means of a roller (or ball) bearing 9 (see figure 3). Flat, reinforcing ribs 4 are attached to an underside 3b of the putting mat 3 to make the mat 3 rigid in a transversal direction. A hole 8 is arranged through the putting mat 3 and the ribs 4. A cup 6 (see e.g. figure 2) is fastened to the putting mat 3 such as to be positioned at the underside 3b of the mat 3 below the hole 8. The hole 8 and the cup 6 are positioned centrally with regard to the transverse direction of the putting mat 3 and have dimensions corresponding to those of a real golf green hole cup.

Figure 2 shows the embodiment of figure 1 in a perspective view from below. Figure 2 shows the ribs 4 extending transversely along the underside 3b of the putting mat 3 and the cup 6 extending downwards (upwards in figure 2) from the underside 3b. The roller 5 has an open cavity 10 for receiving the cup 6 when the putting mat 3 is rolled up onto the roller 5 (see figure 5). The open cavity 10 can be described as a space inside the roller with an opening for passage to and from the space, wherein the space and the opening are designed such as to allow accommodation and passage of the cup 6.

Figure 2 further shows that the roller carriers 7 are provided with supporting plates 11. The roller 5, the roller carriers 7 and the supporting plates 11 , together with some further components described below, constitute a roller assembly. The supporting plates 11 are the parts of the roller assembly that come into contact with the ground under normal use of the device 1. The underside of each supporting plate 11 is provided with a surface adapted to

prevent sliding of the roller assembly. Also the lower side 3b of the putting mat 3 is arranged to prevent sliding.

As shown in figures 1 and 2, the device 1 provides a hole 8 in the putting mat

3 with a cup 6 for receiving a golf ball placed below the hole 8 when the putting mat 3 is unrolled from the roller 5. Because of the ribs 4, the part of the putting mat 3 that, when unrolled, is positioned above ground, including the part around the hole 8, stays flat in the transverse direction. It is of particular importance to prevent that the putting mat 3 slants towards the hole

8. The ribs 4 are sufficiently thin and narrow to allow the putting mat 3 to be rolled up.

Because of the hole 8 and cup 6, i.e. in practice a true golf green hole cup, the device 1 is capable of giving express feedback to a user whether a putt is good enough. Further, when the golf ball enters the cup 6 a sound similar to that of a real hole cup is produced. This makes the practicing more fun and therefore also more efficient.

The putting mat 3 is rolled up onto the roller 5 with its underside 3b facing the roller. The distance, as measured along the putting mat 3, between the point at which the putting mat 3 is attached to the roller 5 and the point where the hole 8 and cup 6 are placed is adapted such that, when the putting mat 3 is rolled up onto the roller 5, the cup 6 fits into the cavity 10. To avoid that an additional hole must be made in the putting mat 3 (for allowing passage of the cup 6 to the cavity 10), this distance should be shorter than the circumference of the roller 5. Since the cavity 10 receives the cup 6, the entire putting mat 3 can conveniently be rolled up onto the roller 5.

Figure 3 gives a side view of one of the roller carriers 7 with the roller 5 and roller bearings 9 indicated. The supporting plate 11 is attached to the roller carrier 7 by means of a pair of legs 12 slidably attached to cylinder members 13. The length of the legs 12 can be adjusted by locking the legs 12 at different positions in the cylinder members 13. Thus, the distance between

the roller carrier 7 and its corresponding supporting plate 11 can be adjusted. This also means that it is possible to vary the height over ground of each of the ends of the roller 5. This can be used to vary the longitudinal slope of the unrolled putting mat 3, i.e. the slope from the roller towards the hole 8, and to vary the transversal slope of the putting mat 3 as to resemble a slanting golf green.

Figure 4 shows a side view of the roller 5 with its cavity 10, the putting mat 3 (unrolled) and the ribs 4, as well as the cup 6. Figure 4 shows that the cup 6 is provided with a golf ball retrieving arrangement comprising a micro switch 16 and a ball ejector 17 (solenoid) for retrieving a golf ball 15 located in the cup 6. The switch 16, for detecting the presence of a ball, and ejector 17, for ejecting the ball out from the cup 6, are known as such. The retrieving arrangement has a delay function for ensuring that the ball 15 has stopped moving before activating the ejector 17. Figure 4 further shows the point of attachment 18 at which the putting mat 3 is attached to the roller 5.

Figure 5 shows the putting mat 3 partly rolled up onto the roller 5 where the cup 6 has been placed in the cavity 10 inside the roller 5.

Figure 6 shows how one of the pair of legs 12 has been extended to set the roller 5 in an inclined position in relation to ground 20.

Figure 7 shows the roller 5, the cavity 10, and grooves 22 for the roller bearing 9.

Figure 8 shows the roller 5 positioned in the roller carriers 7 with the roller bearing 9 placed in the grooves 22. Further, the cup 6, with its micro switch 16 and solenoid 17, is located in the cavity 10.

Preferably, the length of the putting mat 3 is round 3.5 m and the width, including the roller carriers 7, around 80 cm.

Locking of the legs 12 can for instance be made by means of locking screws. In a variant of the invention, at least one of the roller carriers 7 comprises a

motor for automatically adjusting the length of the legs 12, i.e. for automatically adjusting the inclination of the roller 5. Such a motor can be adapted to be operated by a remote control.

The invention is not limited by the embodiments described above but can be modified in various ways within the scope of the claims. For instance,