THIS INVENTION relates to a golf tee.

A conventional golf tee has a pointed shank with an enlarged head affording a concave ball-supporting surface. The tee is of inexpensive construction, usually of moulded synthetic plastics material, since it may be lost or damaged in use.

It has been previously proposed to make non-disposable tees which remain undamaged in the ground after use. A common feature of such tees is that the ball-supporting surface is displaced laterally from the shank by means of a cantilevered arm which can pivot around the shank axis when the ball is struck. For example, in US Patent No. 3743298 the vertical shank has a pivotal head connected to a horizontal ball-supporting arm. The inner end of the horizontal arm is pivotally mounted on a horizontal pin extending transversely of the rear end of a groove in the shank head such that the arm is supported by the floor of said groove. When the tee is out of use the horizontal arm can be pivoted into a position alongside the shank for ease of portability. One disadvantage of this design is that the horizontal arm is straight and may therefore be struck by the head of a golf club in use.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a golf tee in which the aforesaid disadvantage is obviated or mitigated.

According to the present invention there is provided a golf tee having ground locating means, a cantilevered arm mounted on the ground locating means for pivotal movement about vertical and horizontal axes relative thereto, and ball-supporting means at the outer end of said arm, characterised in that the arm is bent away from the side at which the ball is addressed so as to avoid contact of the arm with a club head when the ball is struck. Preferably, the arm is supported generally horizontal on a resilient element permitting downward deflection of the arm.

The invention will now be further described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:-

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of golf tee in accordance with the invention,

Fig. 2 shows part of the swivelling head of the golf tee of Fig. 1 in vertical section and secured to a ground anchoring shank;

and Fig. 3 is a partial plan view.

Referring now to the drawings, the golf tee has a head 1 with a swivelling cup shaped upper part 2 extending upwardly into a pair of side walls 3, 4 spaced apart by a groove 5. A rounded inner end 6 of a cantilever arm 7 is pivotally mounted on a pin 8 of which the ends are supported in the side walls 3, 4. The free end of the arm 7 terminates in an annular ball-supporting element 9 for locating a golf ball 10. The element 9 is preferably made of a resilient

material such as rubber and is a push fit on the end of arm 7 thus to be replaceable if lost or damaged.

The cup-shaped portion 2 has a stepped bore 11 in the enlarged upper part in which is received the head 12 of a screw fastener 13 the threaded shank of which engages a tapped hole in the lower part 14 of the head 1. The head 12 of the screw fastener 13 is countersunk into the portion 2 which is closed by a rubber cap 15 with a concave upper surface in which rests the rounded inner end 6 of the arm 7. The arm 7 is cranked at about its mid point, or curved, away from the side at which the ball is addressed.

The head 1 is provided, in the lower end face of a lower part 14, with a tapped hole 16 by which the head 1 can be connected to a threaded post 17 at the upper end of a pointed ground anchoring shank 18 to provide the assembled tee shown in Fig. 2. Alternatively, the head 1 may be connected to alternative ground anchoring means as will now be described.

As illustrated in Fig. 1 such alternative ground anchoring means comprise an elongate rectangular plate 19 which is made of heavy metal, e.g. steel plate, so as to provide a stable ground locating means when laid flat on a ground surface, for example a rubber mat. On its upper surface the plate 19 is provided adjacent one end with a threaded boss 20 for screw connection to the tapped hole 16 in the head 1. Similar threaded bosses 21 , 22 and 23 in the central region of the plate 19 respectively receive alternative spacers

24, 25 and 26 each of which has a body with a threaded bore for engaging the respective threaded boss. As indicated, the bodies of the spacers 24, 25 and 26 are of differing lengths with the spacer 24 having the longest body, the spacer 26 having the shortest body and the spacer 25 having a body of intermediate length. Projecting from the upper end of each spacer is a threaded boss similar to the bosses

20, 21, 22 and 23. As indicated in chain-dot line in Fig. 1, a spacer 24, 25 or 26 may be removed from its storage position on the boss

21 , 22 or 23 and fitted to the boss 20 so that the threaded boss of spacer 24, 25 or 26 can be received in the tapped hole 16 in the swivelling head 1 thereby elevating the head 1 above the plate 19 by a distance corresponding to the length of the spacer body.

At the other end of the plate 19 is a threaded hole 27 into which the shank 18 can be fitted in the manner illustrated in the inset to Fig. 1. The shank 18 can then be pressed into the ground in order to provide additional anchorage for the plate 19 and the swivelling head 1. When not in use the shank 18 may be retained in spring clips 28 fixed to the plate 19.

In use, with the head 1 mounted on plate 19 or directly on shank 18 pressed into the ground, the upper part 2 of the head 1 is pivotal about a vertically disposed axis. Such pivotal movement is caused by the impact force when a club head 29 moving in the direction of the arrow 30 as shown in Fig. 3 strikes the ball 10. In the case of a club head which makes an angled contact with the ball 10, as shown at 29a, a leading part of the club head may cross a straight line 31 interconnecting the inner and outer ends of the arm

7. If the arm 7 were not cranked or curved away the club head at 29a would make contact with the arm 7 before the ball 10. The arrow 32 in Fig. 3 indicates the direction in which the arm 7 swivels after the ball has been struck. Such swivelling motion absorbs the energy which is normally transferred to the tee and prevents the horizontal component of the impact force from removing or damaging the tee. There may also be upward or downward forces transmitted to the tee when the ball is struck. In the case of upward forces these are accommodated by upward swivelling movement of the arm 7 about the pin 8. In the case of a downward component of force the arm 7 is deflected downwardly against the rubber pad 15 which acts as a shock absorber and restores the arm 7 to its starting position.

If required, a resilient member such as a spring may be located beneath and thus resiliently support the swivelling head 1.