Background Art Typically, a pipe-type or an angle-type steel tower is installed, as a support pole, at a golf practice site, and supports a ball blocking net assembly which consists of a top net, two side nets, a rear net and an inclined bottom net.
In this case, the pipe-type steel tower is made up of one, two or three pipes.
Since the steel tower is designed such that its diameter or width gradually becomes smaller in a direction from the ground surface to the upper portion of the steel tower, the steel tower itself is shaken to bear an external force of a predetermined strength, such as wind force. But, when the wind force is excessively strong, the steel tower cannot bear the force and is broken or falls down, so there occurs a loss of life or property around the steel tower.
Disclosure of the Invention Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a net support pole for golf practice sites, which is smoothly and
elastically deformed at elastic members when an external force, such as wind force or another vertical force, is applied to the pole, therefore being effectively prevented from being damaged or broken regardless of such an external force.
In order to accomplish the above object, the present invention provides a net support pole for golf practice sites, each of which consist of a plurality of poles fabricated by flange-coupling a plurality of flanged pipes to each other until reaching a predetermined height, and a ball blocking net assembly supported by the poles and having a top net, two side nets, a rear net and an inclined bottom net, the net support pole comprising a plurality of elastic members, each of the elastic members consisting of : first and second caps each having a cylinder seated on a surface of a flange such that the cylinders of the first and second caps are concentric with each other, the first cap having a cable loop at a corner formed by both an outer surface of the cylinder and the flange thereof, the second cap having a turnbuckle loop at a corner formed by both an outer surface of the cylinder and the flange in such a way as to be opposite to the cable loop; a plurality of steel wires each having a rod shape of a predetermined length, contained in a space formed between the two cylinders of the first and second caps which are vertically spaced apart from each other; an exterior spring surrounding the steel wires in such a way that an inner surface of the spring is in surface contact with the outer surfaces of the outermost steel wires; and a turnbuckle connected, at a first end thereof, to the turnbuckle loop while connected, at a second end thereof, to a first end of a cable, with a second end of the cable connected to the cable loop, wherein the net support pole is fabricated by flange-coupling the flanged-pipes to the elastic members.
Brief Description of the Drawings The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a side view showing a golf practice site where a plurality of net
support poles according to the present invention are installed; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of an elastic member included in the net support pole of this invention; and Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view of the elastic member of this invention.
Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention Reference should now be made to the drawings, in which the same reference numerals are used throughout the different drawings to designate the same or similar components.
Fig. 1 shows a net support pole for golf practice sites in accordance with the present invention. According to this invention, the pole P consists of a plurality of elastic members 100 and a plurality of flanged pipes 200.
As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, each of the elastic members 100 includes first and second caps 110 and 120 which are equal to each other in shape and vertically spaced apart from each other. A plurality of steel wires 150 are placed in a space formed between the first and second caps 110 and 120 to make the caps 110 and 120 be vertically spaced apart from each other. An exterior spring 140 surrounds the steel wires 150. Each of the elastic members 100 also has two turnbuckles 123 for holding the first and second caps 110 and 120.
The first cap 110 consists of a first flange 111 having a disc shape and a first cylinder 111 a which is smaller than the first flange 111 in its diameter but concentric with the first flange 111. A plurality of holes are circularly arranged on the first flange 111 for receiving bolts when the flanged pipes 200 are flange- coupled to the elastic members 100 using nuts and bolts. Two cable loops 112 are integrally provided, respectively, at two corners formed by both the outer surface of the first cylinder l l la and the first flange 111, and positioned in such a way as to be opposite to each other.
The second cap 120 consists of a second flange 121 having a disc shape and a second cylinder 121a which is smaller than the second flange 121 in its
diameter but concentric with the second flange 121. A plurality of holes are circularly arranged on the second flange 121 for receiving bolts when the flanged pipes 200 are flange-coupled to the elastic members 100 using nuts and bolts.
Two turnbuckle loops 122 are integrally provided, respectively, at two comers formed by both the outer surface of the second cylinder 121 a and the second flange 121, and positioned in such a way as to be opposite to each other. The first and second flanges 111 and 121 are formed in such a way as to be equal to each other in their diameters. The first and second cylinders 111 a and 12 la have the same size and form a space therebetween. The cable loops 112 and the turnbuckle loops 122 each have a"U'-shaped cross section. In this case, each of the cable loops 112 is placed at a corner formed by both the outer surface of the first cylinder 11 la and the first flange 111. Each of the turnbuckle loops 122 is placed at a corner formed by both the outer surface of the second cylinder 121 a and the second flange 121.
Each of the steel wires 150 is an elastic rod of a predetermined length and makes the first and second caps 110 and 120 be vertically spaced apart from each other by a distance equal to the length of the steel wire 150. A plurality of steel wires 150 are contained in a space formed between the first cylinder l l la of the first cap 110 and the second cylinder 121 a of the second cap 120. That is, the steel wires 150 are vertically placed in the space formed between the first and second cylinders 111 a and 12 la, so the caps 110 and 120 are vertically spaced apart from each other by the length of the steel wires 150. As shown in Fig. 3, the steel wires 150 are contained in the space formed between the first and second cylinders 11 la and 121a while being bound together.
The exterior spring 140 is a compression coil spring and circularly surrounds the steel wires 150 in such a way that an inner surface of the exterior spring 140 is in surface contact with the outer surfaces of the outermost steel wires 150. The exterior spring 140 has a height from a mouth of the first cylinder 11 la to a mouth of the second cylinder 121a.
The turnbuckle 123 is connected, at one end, to the turnbuckle loop 122 of the second cap 120 while connected, at the other end, to one end of a cable 113.
The cable 113 is connected, at the other end, to the cable loop 112 of the first cap 110. The turnbuckle 113 is used for adjusting tension of the cable 113. By this turnbuckle 113, the interval of the first and second caps 110 and 120 can always be kept constant.
Each of the flanged pipes 200 has a cylindrical shape, and is provided on its top and bottom portion with flanges 201. In this case, the top and bottom flanges 201 are integrated with the flanged pipe 200. A plurality of holes are circularly arranged on both the top and bottom flanges 201 for receiving bolts when each of the flanges 201 is coupled to the flange 111 or 121 of each of the elastic members 100 using nuts and bolts.
A plurality of poles P constructed in this way are installed along both sides of the golf practice site 300, and support a ball blocking net assembly which consists of two side nets 301, a top net 302, a rear net 303 and an inclined bottom net 304. As shown in Fig. 1, the poles P are placed in such a way as to be gradually increased in their height in a direction from a golfed s box to the rear net 303 with a target point.
The bottom flange 121 of one of the elastic members 100 is flange- coupled, by fastening bolts, to the top flange 201 of the flanged pipe 200 to be set up on the ground surface b. To the top flange 111 of the elastic member 100 is flange-coupled the flange 201 of another flanged pipe 200 by fastening bolts.
Further, another elastic member 100 is flange-coupled to the flanged pipe 200.
That is, the net support pole P is fabricated by alternately placing a plurality of flanged pipes 200 and elastic members 100 and flange-coupling them to each other.
The pole P may be fabricated by the flanged pipes 200 each having a different length and the elastic members 100 which can be changed in their number as desired. The flange pipes 200 forming the pole P become shorter in their length in a direction from the bottom of the pole P to the top of the pole P.
The assembly process of each of the elastic member 100 is as follows.
First, the cap 120 is placed on the ground surface while the bottom surface of the flange 121 of the cap 120 coming into contact with the ground surface. A
plurality of steel wires 150 are vertically placed on the cylinder 121a. At this time, the lower portions of the steel wires 150 are contained in the cylinder 121a.
Next, the exterior spring 140 surrounds the steel wires 150, and its lower part is held at the mouth of the cylinder 121 a. The other cap 110 covers the upper portions of the steel wires 150 while containing them in the cylinder 111 a of the cap 110. At this time, the upper part of the exterior spring 140 is held at the mouth of the cylinder 111 a. Thereafter, the cable 113 is connected to the cable loop 112 while the turnbuckle 123 is connected to the turnbuckle loop 122. At this time, the turnbuckle 123 is adjusted such that the cable 113 is kept taut.
Either the top or bottom of the elastic member 100 may be flange-coupled to each of the flanged-pipe 200. But, the turnbuckle 123 has to be positioned in a horizontal direction of the golf practice site 300.
According to this invention, in the case where the two side nets 301 are excessively swayed by an external force, such as wind force, the poles P are elastically bent to both sides by the elastic members 100. After that, when the external force weakens or disappears, the poles P are returned to their original states.
In the case of a heavy snowfall, when a vertical force due to thick snow lying on the top net 302 is applied to the top net 302, the poles P are also elastically bent to a direction by the elastic members 100. After that, when the snow melts away and the vertical force is removed, the poles P are returned to their original states.
Therefore, when the external force, such as wind force or another vertical force, is applied to the poles P, the flanged pipes P are elastically deformed at the elastic members 100, thus being effectively prevented from being damaged or broken regardless of such an external force.
Industrial Applicability As described above, the present invention provides a net support pole for golf practice sites, which is fabricated by flange-coupling a plurality of flanged
pipes to a plurality of elastic members, thus being smoothly and elastically deformed at the elastic members when an external force, such as wind force or another vertical force, is applied to the pole, therefore being effectively prevented from being damaged or broken regardless of such an external force.
Further, the present invention provides a net support pole for golf practice sites, which is capable of keeping a cable taut by appropriately adjusting a turnbuckle, thus preventing upper and lower caps from being unexpectedly removed from steel wires.
Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.