Abstract:
A System for holding golf tees on an arm of a golfer, comprising a layer of fabric mounted on the sleeve to host one or multiple tees separately, and including an additional layer of fabric mounted onto the sleeve, to prevent the tee from piercing through the sleeve and wounding the golfer&#39;s skin. The tee holding System is such that the tees are inserted parallel to the longitudinal axis of the sleeve, and held tightly in between the layers of fabric.

Description:
FIELD OF SEARCH AND PATENT 
       [0001]    Int. Cl.: A41D 13/08; A41D 27/20; A63B 57/00; A63B71/08 
       US Cl.: 2/16; 2/59; 2/125; 2/247-254; 24/3.2; 224/182 
     Field of Classification Search: 
     Intl Cl: A41D 13/08; A41D 27/20; A63B 57/00; A63B71/08 
     US CL: 2/16, 59, 125; 2/160, 161.1-161.4; 2/209.13; 2/247-254; 24/3.12, 3.2, 3.9; 224/182, 218, 219, 918; 473/205 
     BACKGROUND PRIOR-ART 1. Field of the Invention 
       [0002]    The present invention relates to golf tee holders and more particularly pertains to a sleeve mounted holding system that provides quick, convenient and safe access to golf tees while keeping the arm protected. 
         [0003]    2. Background of the Invention 
         [0004]    A golf tee is a wooden or plastic elongated device, less than four inches in length, and of varying width, used to elevate a golf ball above the playing surface. The benefits of elevating a player&#39;s golf ball for distance shots have been recognized for some time—before the invention of golf tees, golf balls were placed on mounds of sand, taken from “tee boxes”. Modern golfers who follow the traditional rules of golf now use a golf tee to elevate their golf ball during the first shot of every hole. Because the golf tees are subject to extreme forces imparted by the head of a golf club, tees often break during their use. 
         [0005]    During game play, golfers can replace broken tees with spares that are stored in a compartment in a motorized golf cart or in a golf bag. These storage locations require the golfer to take the necessary steps to retrieve the stored tees when they are needed. 
         [0006]    Golfers who desire faster access to a supply of tees on their person may carry a collection of tees in a shirt or pant&#39;s pocket. However, because tees are designed for insertion into the ground with a sharp pointed end, storage in shirt and pant&#39;s pockets can be uncomfortable and dangerous. Not only can golfers be subject to the hazard presented when tees pierce a pocket&#39;s wall, but they can also be subject to injury incurred when the sharp end of a tee contacts a hand inserted into these storage pockets. 
         [0007]    Furthermore, golfers who engage in the sport during inclement, wet weather must sometime retrieve pocketed tees with a wet and soiled glove, imparting the moisture and dirt to the opening of the pockets. With respect to these drawbacks, a number of tee holding devices have been designed. The tee holding devices in the existing art, however, contain drawbacks that limit their usefulness and practicality by being bulky, awkward to use, complicated to manufacture and potentially hazardous to the user. 
       DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART 
       [0008]    Prior to the instant invention, a number of attempts have been made to design tee holders that address the problems associated with storing and using golf tees. 
         [0009]    Glove Based Tee Holders 
         [0010]    U.S. Pat. No. 5,365,609 to Herzog and U.S. Patent Application No. 2002/0010956 show golf gloves with integral golf tee holding apparatuses. These devices are entire glove structures and cannot be attached to an existing golf glove. Thus, the tee holding apparatus must be replaced whenever the glove must be replaced. U.S. Pat. No. 6,973,674 to Jackson, Jr. shows a glove attached tee holder that consists of small elastic rings positioned on the side of the glove, opposite the thumb. This device is a modification to a golf glove instead of an attachment, and thus must be replaced when the glove is replaced. U.S. Pat. No. 4,639,947 to Lanscioni shows a golf glove with a flap opposite the palm of the device for securing golf-related accessories. This device is not an accessory, but rather integrated into a glove. U.S. Pat. No. 7,370,372 to Brewer shows a golf glove with a tee attachment attached to the glove flap. This device does not allow for tees with larger width, adds unnecessary bulk to the wrist, a critical part of a good golf swing. 
         [0011]    Clips and Other Non-Sleeve-Based Tee Holders 
         [0012]    U.S. Pat. No. 4,830,248 to Pommenville, U.S. Pat. No. 5,433,436 to Hoyt et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 4,475,676 to Smith, show devices for holding golf tees, pencils and other accessories, featuring a clip to be received by a strap on a golf bag, a golf shoe, or a shirt collar. U.S. Design Pat. No. 453,418 to Rippeon and U.S. Design Pat. No. 25,037 to Cudahy, III show golf tee holders with two major components: a tee holding component attached to a clip component, with the clip component frictionally engaging the material over which it is slid. These structures are such that one component of the device engages the surface to which the holder is attached, and the other component has some means for holding the tees. These devices when used on the sleeve add unnecessary bulk and at times risk to the golfer for being exposed without protection to the pointy tip of the tee. U.S. Pat. No. 3,272,412 to Antonious shows a carrier for golf tees and ball markers utilizing a flap which wraps around an object to which it is secured. U.S. Patent Application No. 2002/0157170 to Lipscher shows a security pocket placed on the side of the garment in between the body and the arm, next to the golfer&#39;s ribs. These devices are designed for carrying more equipment than golf tees, and is excessively bulky. The added structures for carrying ball markers also make this device more costly and complicated to manufacture. 
         [0013]    Sleeve Based Tee Holders 
         [0014]    French Patent No. 2830457 to Skis Rossignol is a thermoplastic storage device soldered or glued onto a receiving area of the shirt sleeve or various other area of a garment. This system is unnecessary bulky, fits only a certain type of tees, and is costly to manufacture. 
         [0015]    Finally, Bette &amp; Court, an online designer of women-only garment, sells short sleeve shirts with a patch to hold tees on the right sleeve. The system, a single patch sewn exclusively on the right sleeve, attaches on its two lateral sides and includes two lines sown in between to provide a total of three open ended pocket to store each of the three tees side by side, similarly to French Patent No. 2830457. The system is inadequately designed as it is sold exclusively on the right sleeve which is very inconvenient for right handed golfers, who represent the majority of golfers, as they are forced to use their left hand to manipulate the tee; it also fails to provide sufficient protection and in particular it not only fails in preventing the pointy tip of the tee from piercing through the fabric and injuring the golfer but also it fails to provide pockets long enough that the pointy tip of a tee longer than 3 inches will be dangerously near the bottom of the sleeve and therefore being at risk of getting in contact with the golfer&#39;s skin; other shortcomings include but are not limited to: lack of adequate storage, in particular the three pocket system can only store two thin body tees; inadequate holding capabilities, in particular it cannot hold any tee with a body larger than ⅜ th  of an inch in width. 
         [0016]    Disadvantages from the prior art and addressed by the present invention described thereafter include and are not limited to the following: negative impact on the golf swing, in particular, additional weight from having a tee holder on a glove and hence on a wrist can trouble a golfer during his concentration phase and create imbalance during his swing; bulkiness of the system and lack of comfort, in particular, a thermoplastic system on a sleeve adds unnecessary weight and creates an imbalance in the fit of a shirt; lack of adaptability to different types of tees, in particular since the prior art does not suggest the need for adapting for different shapes of tees that can vary in length, width, head size, material; lack of protection, in particular the prior art has not solved the issue of providing protection from the tip of the tee piercing through the pocket walls while providing a system that is free from any bulky component; inadequate placement or the pocket for right handed golfers; difficulty to manufacture, in particular when the system requires adding bulky thermoplastic material. 
         [0017]    In these respects, the sleeve based tee holding system according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of providing a safe, quick and convenient access to golf tees of various shapes on an arm of a golfer. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Summary of the Invention 
       [0018]    With respect to the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of golf tee holders now present in the prior art, the present invention provides a new sleeve mounted tee holding system construction that can be utilized to maintain a set of golf tees, pencils and similarly shaped objects, allthewhile said system provides fast, convenient manual access to golf tees, pencils and similarly shaped objects, and allthewhile preserving safety and the full function and performance of the sleeve. 
         [0019]    To attain this, the present invention generally comprises a system for holding golf tees on a arm of a golfer, comprising a sleeve on which are mounted a fastening patch for securing the tee and a protective feature. 
         [0020]    There has thus been outlined rather broadly the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto. 
         [0021]    In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of the construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. 
         [0022]    As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention. 
         [0023]    One significant object of the present invention is to provide a new sleeve based tee holding system that provides a user quick access to a supply of golf tees. 
         [0024]    Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new sleeve based tee holding system that is resistant to any puncture or piercing that can originate from a new, to prevent the golf tees in turn from abrading or puncturing the hand of the user. 
         [0025]    Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new sleeve based tee holding system that is light, flexible and discrete to avoid distraction to the golfer and discomfort from the imbalance of the shirt while wearing it, and while swinging at the ball. 
         [0026]    Even yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new sleeve based tee holding system that will mate with both sleeves and provide easy access for right handed as well as left handed golfers. 
         [0027]    Even yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new sleeve based tee holding system that provides storage capacity to tees of varying sizes and shapes. 
         [0028]    Even yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new sleeve based tee holding system that provides padding to prevent the discomfort caused from bulky tees that are worn on the sleeve. 
         [0029]    Further advantages of the invention, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there are illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0030]    The above description 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: 
           [0031]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the present invention, a sleeve based tee holding system, placed on a short sleeve shirt with the protective patch located in-between the sleeve and the tee. 
           [0032]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the present invention, a sleeve based tee holding System, placed on a short sleeve shirt with the protective patch located inside the sleeve. 
           [0033]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a variety of golf tees of different shapes, being used by golfers around the world. 
           [0034]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of the present invention, a sleeve based tee holding system, including tees of various types inserted inside the system. 
           [0035]      FIG. 5  is a sectional view of the present invention taken along the line A-A of  FIG. 4 . 
           [0036]      FIG. 6  is a sectional view of the present invention taken along the line B-B of  FIG. 4 , and ignores the presence of the other tees and pockets for simplification purposes. 
           [0037]      FIG. 7  is a sectional view of the present invention taken along the line C-C of  FIG. 4 , and ignores the presence of the other tees and pockets for simplification purposes. 
           [0038]      FIG. 8  is a sectional view of the present invention taken along the line D-D of  FIG. 4 , and ignores the presence of the other tees and pockets for simplification purposes. 
           [0039]      FIG. 9  is a sectional view of the present invention taken along the line D-D of  FIG. 4 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0040]      FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2  are two perspective views of the present invention. The tee holding system placed on the sleeve  10   a  of shirt  10  is composed of an outside fastening patch  11  which contributes to the creation of a pocket and the holding of a tee in place. The fastening patch  11  is stitched on its two lateral extremities on two longitudinal lines parallel to each other and parallel to the longitudinal axis of the sleeve  10   a,  restricting a tee in its displacement on the plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the sleeve. The tee is pressured on the opposing side to the fastening patch by the sleeve  10   a  or by the protective patch  12   b.  A protective patch can be sown on either side of the sleeve: in  FIG. 2  the protective patch  12   a  is located in between the sleeve  10   a  and the golfer&#39;s arm; in  FIG. 1  the protective patch  12   b  is placed in between the tee  20  and the sleeve  10   a.    
         [0041]    A protective patch is an integral part of the present invention, however the system can also combine the properties of a sleeve and the properties of a protective patch and provide anti tee-piercing protection without an additional patch as a consequence of the material chosen for said sleeve; while the description of the current system focuses on a solution with a protective patch, the claims of the current patent extend to solutions providing sufficient protection and comfort, which can also be achieve through selecting a material for the sleeve that provides said advantages while saving the need for an additional patch. In choosing the material for a protective patch various parameters should be taken into consideration including but not limited to, thread count, thickness, resistance to piercing, and friction quality with respect to the various types of materials used for a tee. 
         [0042]    A sleeve of a golfer is subject to a variety of abrupt, rapid and multidirectional movement, creating an unsafe environment for any object attached on said sleeve. The tee  20  shown in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2  can find itself in an upside down vertical position with its head  20   a  located vertically under the pointy tip  20   c.  To prevent against any risk for the tee  20  to fall, the position of tee  20  is secured by the pressure created by the fastening patch  11  against the shaft of the tee  20   b,  and the resulting friction. 
         [0043]    A fastening patch is an integral part of the present invention. In choosing the material for a fastening patch various parameters should be taken into consideration including but not limited to, thickness, elasticity, resistance to piercing, and friction quality with respect to the various types of materials used for a tee. 
         [0044]    One or more fastening patches  11  can be used, and in each case the size of the protective patch  12   a  or  12   b  must be adjusted.  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2  both illustrate a version of the present invention that utilizes the tee  20  as an example of a tee that can be held by the present invention, and that features only one tee holding system;  FIG. 4  however, illustrates another version of the present invention where tee  20 , tee  22 , tee  23  and tee  24  are four tees inserted into four side-by-side pockets delimited by two stitching lines on the sides of the fastening patch and three in-between stitching lines separating said four tees.  FIG. 5  is a sectional view of the present invention taken along the line A-A of  FIG. 4 , and illustrates the stitching described above and occurring in-between the various tee pockets holding the tees  20 ,  22 ,  23 , and  24 . The system may also be composed of four different patches of different longitudinal sizes and of different width. 
         [0045]    The tee holding system may be located on either or both sleeves of a shirt with short of long sleeves, and may be located on any specific area of the sleeve. 
         [0046]    Bearing in mind the arrangement of the present invention as described herein, the system offers a convenient storage area and a quick access for the golfer. A tee is inserted with its pointy tip entering first downwards into the opening, and it is inserted until sufficient constriction of said inserted tee into the tee holding system is achieved. Extracting the tee out of its pocket is done using the head of a tee to pull the body out. 
         [0047]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a variety of golf tees of different shapes, being used by golfers around the world. The tee  20  is the most common shape used by golfers, with a longitudinal size varying in length from 2.125 inches to 3.25 inches. The tee is comprised of a head  20   a,  typically about ⅜ th  of an inch in diameter, the shaft  20   b,  typically about 3/16 th  of an inch in diameter, and the pointy tip. 
         [0048]      FIG. 6  is a sectional view of the present invention taken along the line B-B of  FIG. 4 . The tee  20  is held securely by the fastening patch  11 . 
         [0049]    Innovation in the tee industry has been partially geared towards helping the golfer achieve depth consistency, whereby the part of the tee located beneath the ground and the part of the tee located above the ground are consistent from one shot to another. The consequent consistency in ball elevation helps the golfer in the consistency of his shots. The presence of the disk  21   d  on tee  21  is the differentiating element with tee  20 , and comes as a direct result of such effort to help the golfer in achieving consistent ball elevation. The tee will be inserted into the ground until  21   d  is tangent to the ground. Tee  23  is another example, whereby the longer head  23   a  will be placed tangent to the ground and the shaft  23   b  is completely inserted into the ground. 
         [0050]    Innovation in the tee industry has also been geared towards providing less friction with the golf ball and against the golf club during the impact of the head of the golf club with the ball positioned on the tee. Tee  22  is an attempt of minimizing friction by limiting the contact whereby the tee head  22   a  has finger-like branches elevating from the shaft  22   b  to create a stable contact with the golf ball. Tee  24  is another attempt whereby bristles  24   d  erecting from a base  24   a  are used to minimize friction of the ball and the club head at impact during the swing, compared to a regular tee as described above. 
         [0051]      FIG. 7 ,  FIG. 8 , and  FIG. 9  all are sectional views of isolated tees showing respectively line C-C and tee  22 , line D-D and tee  23 , and line E-E and tee  24 . These illustrations ignore the presence of the other tees and pockets for simplification purposes. The tees  22 ,  23 , and  24  are held securely by the fastening patch  11 . The elasticity of the fastening patch  11  is used to maintain the tees in place, mindful of its unique but not unusual design. The protective patch  12   a  adds padding and limits the discomfort due to the unique shape of the tees. In particular, tee  22  has pointy tips on its head which can pierce through the sleeve  20   a  and cause irritation or injury to a golfer, tee  23  has an enlarged head that can cause bulkiness without the padding, and the bulkiness of the base  24   a  of tee  24 , from which the bristles  24   d  are erected, is also remedied through the padding. The dimensions of the protective patch  12   a  extend beyond the pointy tip of the tee. Under a scenario where a protective patch, such as  12   b  in  FIG. 2 , would be used in-between the tee, a user would find the same functionality and benefits. 
         [0052]    As described above, the present tee holding system offers a unique and innovative combination of advantages compared to prior systems, including but not limited to the advantages mentioned hereinafter. 
         [0053]    One advantage is the offered protection against any tee-born accident. The present tee holding system offers protection against the pointy tip piercing the fabric through the use of a protective patch. The system can also be designed to provide protection without a second layer added to the sleeve by carefully selecting a material for the sleeve that prevents the tee from piercing the sleeve. In particular, during the insertion process where the pointy tip is inserted first and there is a higher risk of piercing through the sleeve. Additionally, the protective patch is purposely located and dimensioned so that any movement displacing the sleeve, displacing the tee holding system on the arm, or any movement that might cause the tee stored in the present system to bend inwards towards the arm and pierce the natural layer of fabric on the shirt, and any event causing a tee to break inside the tee holding system and which could result in creating a sharp tip that could wound a person, will be blocked. 
         [0054]    Another advantage is the adaptability to various tees. The present tee holding system offers adaptability to a tee held on a sleeve regardless of the size and shape of said tee, as shown in  FIG. 4 . This is provided by the elasticity of the material used for the fastening patch  11 , which allows the patch  11  to adapt to the shape of a tee, and to maintain sufficient pressure as illustrated in  FIG. 6 ,  FIG. 7 ,  FIG. 8 , and  FIG. 9 . 
         [0055]    Another advantage is the maintained comfort irrespective of the tee shape: because of the padding created by the protective patch  12   a  or  12   b,  the bulky designs of some tees widely used by golfers do not have an impact on the change in comfort to the user. 
         [0056]    Another advantage is the overall comfort level of the system: the present tee holding system is extremely lean and the incremental weight from the material does not affect the natural fit of the shirt. 
         [0057]    Another advantage is to help a golfer keep balance and focus during the golf swing: because the tee holding system is out of a golfer&#39;s sight from the golfer during the concentration stage of the golf swing, and because the additional weight of such a light item is insignificant and is not felt when placed on the upper part of a sleeve, the golfer can focus on keeping his balance unaffected during the swing. 
         [0058]    Another advantage is to facilitate manufacturing: by using a stitching method to attach a protective patch and a fastening patch, the present tee holding system does not depart from the capacity offered by many shirt manufacturers who also provide shirts with front pockets. As a consequence, the cost to manufacture a shirt with the present tee holding system is only very minimally increased. 
         [0059]    Another advantage is to maintain an easy cleaning: by having an open ended pocket, the accumulation of dirt in the holding system that may result from multiple insertions and extractions of a tee in the pocket and in the ground can easily be cleaned. 
         [0060]    Another advantage is to provide convenient access to right handed and left handed golfers as the system can be located on either sleeve. 
         [0061]    Although a preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described for illustrative purposes, those interested 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.