Adjustable golf ball tee

An adjustable golf ball tee for teeing up a golf ball in a playing field includes an elongated support provided with a golf ball support surface and a base at opposite ends. The base is received in the cavity of a receiver housing which supports a nut member to threadably receive the threaded portion of a screw. The head portion of the screw is integrally surrounded by plastic material comprising the base of the golf ball support. The terminal end of the screw is provided with a jam nut that limits the extent at which the screw threads can be withdrawn from the nut in the cavity of the receiver. A cap is fitted onto the lower end of the receiver to prevent the ingress of foreign material and a bevel at the lower end of the receiver anchors it against rotation in a bored hole extending beneath the playing field.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to a golf ball tee for supporting a golf ball 
above a playing field, and, more particularly to a golf ball tee embodying 
a construction and arrangement of parts for adjustably positioning a golf 
ball support surface at a height selected within a range of adjustment by 
an elevating mechanism. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
As is well known in the art, it is a common practice to use a tee, usually 
made of wood, to support a golf ball at a preselected height above a 
playing field so that a golf club can be impacted with a golf ball. This 
mode of driving a golf ball is practiced at a teeing area as well as at a 
driving range, for example. The extent of adjustment to the height of the 
golf ball above the playing field is limited by the height of the tee and 
the soil conditions which govern the length of the shank of the tee 
extending beneath the golf ball support surface which must penetrate the 
earth to obtain a stable support. A golf ball tee of this type is 
inexpensive and constructed so that it can be lost without usually any 
desire to recover the tee in the event the tee is dislodged from the 
playing surface upon impact with the golf club. At a driving range where 
golfers practice driving golf balls for distance and accuracy, the golf 
ball is usually supported by a permanent structure either generally level 
with the playing field or at a fixed height above it. The golfer cannot 
vary the height at which the golf ball is supported above the playing 
field. It is desirable to practice driving techniques to simulate driving 
golf balls both from the tee box where the golf ball is usually located 
above the playing field as well as from a fairway and of course sometimes, 
in the taller grass in the rough where a golf ball tee should not be used 
and thus the golf ball must be hit while supported by the playing field. A 
need therefore exists for an adjustable golf ball tee operable to support 
a golf ball at a height that can be selected from a range between a 
position generally level with the playing field or an extended position 
which is free and clear above the playing field. 
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved golf ball 
tee embodying a construction which includes a height adjustor which allows 
a golf ball support surface to be located at a position where the golf 
ball might be supported by the playing field and an elevated position 
which can be, by way of example only, one inch or greater above the 
playing field. 
It is another object of the present invention to provide an adjustable golf 
tee made up of a combination of parts forming an assembly which can be 
installed as a unit in an opening below grade of a playing field for 
service and replacement of the unit used to allow a golf ball support 
surface to selectively project at any of a variety of distances within a 
predetermined range above the playing field. 
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an adjustable 
golf tee useful for supporting a golf ball at the level of, or above, a 
playing field which can be for practice or for playing the game of golf. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
According to the present invention there is provided an adjustable golf tee 
for teeing up a golf ball above a playing field, the adjustable golf tee 
including the combination of a golf ball support having a golf ball 
support surface at one end of an elongated section, a receiver supported 
in a cavity beneath such a playing field having an internal cavity for 
guiding and supporting the golf ball support, and a height adjustor 
operably connecting the golf ball support to the receiver for providing 
adjustment to the relative distance between the golf ball support surface 
and such a playing field. 
More particularly in the preferred form of the present invention there is 
provided an adjustable golf tee for teeing up a golf ball above a playing 
field, the adjustable golf tee including the combination of an elongated 
golf ball support having a golf ball support surface and a base at 
opposite ends thereof, a threaded carrier extending from the base in a 
direction opposite to the golf ball support surface, a receiver supported 
in a cavity beneath such a playing field, the receiver having an internal 
cavity for guiding and supporting the elongated golf ball support, and a 
threaded nut positioned within the internal cavity of the receiver to 
threadable receive the threaded carrier for adjustably positioning the 
golf ball support surface at a predetermined distance beyond the receiver 
and above such a playing field. It is preferred to provide a stop member 
on the end portion of the aforementioned threaded carrier to fix and limit 
the extent to which the elongated golf ball support can project above the 
playing field.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
For the purposes of disclosing the preferred embodiment of the present 
invention, the application of an adjustable golf ball tee to a driving 
range has been selected and, as shown in FIG. 1, there is a playing field 
10 formed by a layer of artificial turf. A rubber sponge mat 12 supports 
the turf upon a platform 14 comprising asphalt or cement. The platform 14 
in turn, is supported by earth 16. The present invention provides an 
adjustable golf tee in the form of an assembly 18 that is inserted as a 
unit into an aperture 20 typically formed by a drilling operation to form 
a bored hole of a diameter sufficient to receive and support the outer 
cylindrical surface of a tee housing 22 which forms a receiver that 
extends in the cavity beneath the playing field. 
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the lower terminal end portion of the tee 
housing 22 is provided with a beveled surface 24 in the form of an 
upwardly inclined planar surface that extends transversely to the extended 
length of the housing. The beveled surface 24 serves to form a pocket at 
the bottom of the cavity formed by the aperture 20 to receive filler 
material that is inserted into a void between the outer cylindrical 
surface of the housing 22 and the face surface of the aperture 20. The 
filler material anchors the tee housing against inadvertent removal from 
the aperture and prevents relative rotation of the housing within the 
aperture. The filler material may take the form of an adhesive to serve as 
a positive binder or as a finely divided material such as sand that will 
compact to act as a wedge in and about the beveled surface and thereby 
prevent the unwanted rotation. A stop nut 26 is anchored preferably by an 
interference fit within an internal cavity formed within housing 22. The 
stop nut is positioned a predetermined distance from the lower end of 
housing 22 to threadably receive the shank portion of a hex-head all 
threaded machine screw 28. 
As shown in FIG. 1, the portion of the machine screw 28 which extends 
downwardly from the stop nut 26 is fitted with a stop nut 30 that serves 
to prevent unwanted unthreading of the screw 28 from the nut 26. Nut 30 is 
firmly secured to the lower end of the threaded shaft part of screw 28 by 
thread jamming which is accomplished in one manner by providing screw 28 
with 20 threads per inch and nut 30 with 28 threads per inch. By providing 
that the threads are the same pitch diameters, a "cross setting" will 
occur that securely holds nut 30 to the threads of the screw. The nut 30 
serves the important function of preventing an unwanted retraction of the 
threaded screw 28 from the minimum height stop nut 26 and thus prevents 
accidental dislodgment of the golf tee from the housing 22. Nut 26 
functions to establish the maximum height to which a flexible adjustable 
driving golf tee 32 may extend from the aperture in which it is supported. 
The end of the tee 32 which is opposite the golf ball support surface has a 
base which forms a site for receiving the head portion of the screw 28. 
The golf tee has an upper surface 34 with a cup-shaped configuration 
forming a golf ball support surface which is best shown in FIGS. 1 and 3. 
The golf tee is preferably made from molded plastic, such as nylon or 
synthetic rubber, having a durometer reading of 60 Shore (A) or less, 
preferably in the range of 50 to 60. Also, as shown in FIG. 1, the golf 
tee 32 has a tapered side wall thickness which establishes a desired 
flexibility to avoid damage to a driver, or other club, while insuring 
restoration of the shape and position of the golf tee 32. In order to 
prevent the ingress of dirt, debris and other foreign materials, the lower 
end of the housing is fitted with a cap 36. It is to be understood that 
while a threaded bolt and stop nuts have been chosen for the preferred 
embodiments of the present invention to allow a user to select any of a 
variety of heights at which a golf ball may be supported above a playing 
surface, other forms of height adjustors may be operatively connected 
between flexible adjustable golf tee 32 and the housing 22 forming the 
receiver for the tee. In FIG. 1 the letter "R" denotes the range to the 
variety of height at which the golf ball may be supported above the 
playing field. This range can be extended or shortened by choosing a 
correspondingly longer or shorter length of the screw 28 between stop nut 
26 and nut 30. 
While the present invention has been described in connection with the 
preferred embodiments of the various figures, it is to be understood that 
other similar embodiments may be used or modifications and additions may 
be made to the described embodiment for performing the same function of 
the present invention without deviating therefrom. Therefore, the present 
invention should not be limited to any single embodiment, but rather 
construed in breadth and scope in accordance with the recitation of the 
appended claims.