Golf ball collector

The present invention provides an improved golf ball collector, which comprises a plurality of ball catching wheels on a common axle which wheels are parallel with and spaced from each other so that the distance between two adjacent wheels is slightly smaller than the diameter of golf balls. In front of each of said wheels is arranged one disk wheel which is aligned therewith and which is slightly elevated off the ground and is rotated in the reverse direction relative to the direction of rotation of the ball catching wheels. Means is provided to deliver balls from the ball catching wheels to a container.

The present invention relates to a golf ball collector used specifically in 
a spacious golf training ground. 
In such a golf training ground, heretofore golf balls scattered about on 
the ground have been collected by hand after business hours, which 
involves an enormous waste of time and much labor. This ball collecting 
cost has been one of the main causes not only for inflating the cost of 
balls but also for increasing the prices users must pay. Further, due to 
the fact that rainy or cold weather indisposes workers to do the ball 
collecting work, it has been difficult to employ such workers, which has 
been a serious problem from the management's standpoint. 
Consequently, some ball collecting machines for collecting scattered balls 
by means of mechanical power have previously been proposed and put to 
practical use. A typical ball collecting machine generally employed 
nowadays is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and it will be explained in detail 
hereinafter.

Referring to the prior art apparatus illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, ball 
catching wheels (2),(2) which contact the ground are regularly spaced in 
parallel with each other in such a manner that the distance between two 
adjacent wheels is slightly smaller than the diameter of golf balls. These 
wheels (2),(2) are fixed to a common axle that is pivotally supported by a 
frame (8) at both its ends. The frame (8) is provided with casters (9) and 
it is further provided with stationary guide members (7') which are 
positioned in front of the ball catching wheels (2),(2). Ball delivery 
plates (10) are respectively arranged between two adjacent ball catching 
wheels (2),(2) in such a manner that the tip of the plate reaches close to 
the top of the hub of the wheels. 
When a cart of this type is driven over golf balls (B), the balls are 
guided by the stationary guide members (7') into the space formed between 
two adjacent ball catching wheels (2),(2), the balls are picked up, held 
and raised by rotation of the ball catching wheels (2),(2). The raised 
balls are scooped by ball delivery plates (10) and transferred into a 
container (H). 
Such a conventional golf ball collecting cart as described above has an 
important drawback that the aforementioned stationary guide members (7') 
do not work well when the cart is moving fast or some of the scattered 
balls are received in depressions in the ground, because the stationary 
guide members (7'), which are slightly elevated off the ground level, run 
over the balls when they come into contact with them at a high speed. Thus 
in that case, those golf balls (B) that have passed under the stationary 
guide members (7') also pass under the ball catching wheels (2),(2) and 
raise them off the ground. At the moment when the ball catching wheels 
thus move upwardly, they lose their ability to pick up balls incidentally 
coming underneath them and consequently many balls (B) are left behind, so 
that the efficiency of the ball collecting is extremely lowered. 
In order to eliminate such a drawback, a ball collecting cart in which each 
pair of two adjacent ball collecting wheels is movable upwardly and 
downwardly was proposed in the past, and yet when a large number of balls 
(B) are densely interspersed on the ground, all of the wheels (2),(2) are 
often raised by the balls (B) thereby reducing the ball picking-up 
efficiency and the same problem as mentioned above still remains unsolved. 
Further, the reason why the performance of the stationary guide members 
(7') gets worse as the driving speed increases is that the moving speed of 
a ball (B) repelled after coming into contact with the guide member (7') 
is always smaller than the running speed of the ball catching wheels 
(2),(2) that follow, so that the wheels (2),(2) overtake and roll upon the 
ball (B). The higher is the relative speed between the golf ball (B) and 
the rolling wheels (2),(2), the larger is the percentage of the balls 
rolled on by the wheels. 
Furthermore, in the case where the ball (B) is in a depression or the lower 
part of the ball sinks in the ground, the stationary guide members (7') 
pass on top of the ball (B) and raise the ball catching wheels (2),(2), 
whereby the wheels are also made ineffective. 
Because of such drawbacks, the above-mentioned conventional golf ball 
collector leaves about 30%, on an average of the balls uncollected after a 
single pass of the collector, so repeated passes of the collector are 
required to collect them entirely, which has been extremely inconvenient. 
Moreover, even after the second pass, 9% of the initial number of balls 
remain uncollected and, therefore, not only the low efficiency but also 
the waste of time and money have been obstacles to efficient operation. 
In view of the above-mentioned drawbacks of conventional ball collectors, 
the study of this inventor was directed to an improvement which ensures 
approximately 100% collection in a single pass of the collector, and the 
present invention has been accomplished. 
Namely, the present invention has its object to provide an improved golf 
ball collector which makes it possible to collect about 100% of the golf 
balls in a single pass. 
Another object of the present invention is to collect efficiently and 
economically widely scattered golf balls on a golf training ground. 
The other objects of the present invention will be clearly understood from 
a reading of the following detailed explanation. 
The aforesaid objects of the present invention can be attained by a golf 
ball collecting cart which comprises: 
(1) a chassis comprising a horizontal beam and two side thills attached at 
a right angle to the said beam at their ends in such a manner that the 
thills extend rearwardly from said beam, 
(2) a ball catching unit comprising a plurality of ball catching wheels 
regularly spaced in parallel with each other in such a manner that the 
distance between two adjacent wheels is slightly smaller than the diameter 
of golf balls whereby the adjacent wheels are able to pick up and hold 
golf balls therebetween, said ball catching wheels having a common axle 
which is supported by the two free ends of the said thills, 
(3) a plurality of disk wheels, each of which is correspondingly aligned 
with one of the ball catching wheels, which disk wheels are regularly 
spaced in parallel with each other and are mounted on a common shaft 
supported by said thills with the axis of said shaft being parallel to and 
positioned in front of the said axle of the ball catching unit and which 
disk wheels are slightly elevated to leave a clearance between the disk 
wheels and the ground smaller than the diameter of golf balls. 
(4) a ball collecting device comprising a reservoir for receiving collected 
balls and a ball delivery means to deliver balls from the ball catching 
unit to the reservoir, and 
(5) a driving means to rotate the disk wheels in the reverse direction 
relative to the direction of rotation of the ball catching wheels. 
A preferred embodiment of the golf ball collecting cart of the present 
invention and its important features will be explained in detail 
hereinafter with reference to the attached drawings. Referring to FIGS. 3 
and 4, there is shown an automotive haul type ball collector according to 
the present invention which comprises a golf ball collecting cart (C) and 
a truck (A) having a container on its back and which truck can be driven 
in a golf training field while hauling the cart (C). In the ball 
collecting cart (C), the axles (3),(3) of ball catching units (1a) and 
(1b) are each pivotally supported respectively by and between the free 
ends of two side thills (4),(4), so that the ball catching units can roll 
on the ground. The side thills (4),(4) are attached at their other ends to 
a horizontal beam (8), preferably provided with casters (9),(9), so that 
the thills extend rearwardly from the beam (8). A golf ball collector 
which comprises a plurality of golf ball collecting carts arranged side by 
side can efficiently collect golf balls in a wide area during a single 
pass. 
The aforementioned ball catching unit (1) comprises a plurality of ball 
catching wheels (2),(2) of the same size and mounted on a common axle (3) 
which is pivotally supported by and between two side thills (4),(4). The 
ball catching wheels (2),(2) are fixed in parallel on the common axle (3), 
with their being regular and equal spaces (G) formed by any two adjacent 
wheels, in such a manner that the distance between two adjacent wheels is 
slightly smaller than the diameter of golf balls. This construction 
permits the ball catching wheels to pick up and hold balls (B) by and 
between two adjacent wheels and to raise the balls (B) as the wheels 
rotate. 
The ball catching wheels (2),(2) have their tread and side surfaces made of 
an elastic and abrasion-resistant material such as natural or synthetic 
rubbers, synthetic resins and the like. On the side surfaces of the wheel, 
concentric grooves (not shown in the drawings) may be formed to increase 
its ball holding effect. 
Ball delivery plates (10) are mounted on a middle arm (11) which arm 
extends between two side thills (4),(4). The plates (10) are respectively 
arranged between two adjacent ball catching wheels (2),(2), extending into 
the spaces (G) formed between said adjacent wheels and close to the top of 
the hub of the wheels. Balls (B) moved upwardly by the ball catching 
wheels (2),(2) are picked up by the ball delivery plates (10) and 
delivered into a reservoir (12) which is installed transversely above and 
just in front of the ball catching unit (1). 
The main feature of the ball collector of the present invention is a 
plurality of disk wheels (5),(5) which are arranged in front of the ball 
catching wheels (2),(2). Each of the disk wheels (5),(5) is 
correspondingly aligned with one of the ball catching wheels (2),(2), that 
is, the disk wheels (5),(5) are regularly spaced in parallel with each 
other at the same intervals as the ball catching wheels, keeping the 
distance between two adjacent disk wheels larger than the diameter of golf 
balls. The disk wheels (5) are fixed to a common shaft (6) which is 
supported by two side thills (4),(4) and in parallel with the axle (3) of 
the ball collecting unit (1). 
All of the disk wheels (5),(5) are of identical size and are made of a 
thinner material as compared with the ball catching wheels (2),(2), e.g. 
steel plate. The thickness of the disk wheels (5),(5) is preferred to be 
as small as possible, provided that they do not damage golf balls when 
they rotate and come into contact with the balls. 
The axle (3) and the shaft (6) are respectively provided on corresponding 
one ends thereof with pulleys (13) and (14) around which a driving belt is 
cross-belted whereby rotatory motion of the ball catching wheels (2),(2) 
rolling on the ground is reversely transmitted to the disk wheels (5),(5). 
Further, the above-mentioned disk wheels (5),(5) are installed so as to be 
slightly elevated off the ground, leaving a clearance between themselves 
and the ground which clearance is smaller than the diameter of golf balls, 
most preferably to the extent that they do not touch the ground and yet 
they can touch balls (B) which are entirely or partly exposed on the 
ground. 
Between the ball collecting wheels (2),(2) and the disk wheels (5),(5), 
there are arranged stationary guide members (7),(7) which are also 
elevated off the ground in the same manner as the disk wheels (5),(5). 
Referring to FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 which show the contour and relative 
disposition of the stationary guide members (7),(7), the stationary guide 
members (7),(7) are fixed by welding or some other means to a transverse 
frame (16) which is supported by the side thills (4),(4), in such a manner 
that each of the guide members (7),(7) and each corresponding ball 
catching wheel (2) and disk wheel (5) are in alignment with each other in 
the running direction of the ball catching unit. 
The end of the stationary guide member (7) facing its associated disk wheel 
5 is formed into an edge, which is as thin as the disk wheel or slightly 
thinner than it. The other end of the guide member (7) facing the 
associated ball catching wheel (2) is approximately as wide as, but is 
slightly narrower than, the wheel (2). The upper rear edge of the guide 
member (7) has a concave shape which allows the guide member (7) to be set 
close to the wheel (2). 
In the present invention, the above-mentioned stationary guide members 
(7),(7) can be omitted when disk wheels (5),(5) are arranged very close to 
ball catching wheels (2),(2). 
To the horizontal beam (8) is fixed a plate (17) which projects forwardly 
to gather golf balls (B) on the bow and to bring them into the effective 
range of action of ball catching units (1a),(1b). 
Referring to FIGS. 9 and 10 which show the structure of a ball shooting 
device (18) mounted on the horizontal beam (8), it comprises a cylindrical 
casing (19) and a cylindrical rotor (25) concentrically enclosed in the 
said casing (19). Rotatory motion from motor (32) is mechanically 
transmitted to the axle (26) of the rotor (25). The casing (19) is formed 
of a tube having both its ends closed, and which is provided with an inlet 
(20) and an outlet (21) respectively on the lower side and upper side of 
its periphery. As the rotor (25) has a smaller diameter than that of the 
casing (19), an arcuate passage (22) is formed between the inner periphery 
of casing (19) and the rotor (25) and extending from the inlet (20) up to 
the outlet (21). 
As shown in FIG. 10, the rotor (25) may be comprised of a steel pipe having 
flanges on both its ends. On the periphery of the pipe a resilient 
material such as natural or synthetic rubber and synthetic resin and the 
like is rolled and superimposed to provide the rotor with a predetermined 
diameter. The axle (26) of the rotor (25) is coupled with an electric 
motor (32) e.g., a bi-polar A.C. motor which is supplied with current so 
that the rotor may be rotated at a speed of about 2,000 revolutions per 
minute. The direction of the rotation is selected so that balls can be 
conveyed through the curved passage (22) from the inlet (20) towards the 
outlet (21) as arrow-indicated in FIG. 9. 
In the ball shooting device having a structure as described above, the 
curved passage (22) formed between the inner periphery of casing (19) and 
the outer periphery of rotor (25) necessarily has such a dimension that 
golf balls (B) can be slightly pressed by and between the casing (19) and 
rotor (25) and forced to roll through the curved passage (22). For this 
purpose, the distance in the normal direction between the casing (19) and 
the concentrically enclosed rotor (25), in other words, the normal 
thickness of the curved passage (22) is slightly smaller than the diameter 
of golf balls (B). Further, such a device may have the periphery near the 
outlet (21) of the casing (19) extending to the tangential direction to 
form a wall (29) and also may have a partition wall (28) extending close 
to the rotor (25) and facing the above-mentioned wall (29) with a space 
wide enough to allow balls (B) to pass through freely. Furthermore, it may 
comprise a damper (30) installed on the casing (19) to open and close the 
inlet (20). 
Operation of an embodiment of the ball shooting device as described above 
will be explained below. 
In the case where such a device is used to collect scattered golf balls (B) 
on a golf training ground, it is arranged behind a truck (A) having a 
container on its back and in front of the ball catching units (1) hauled 
by the truck (A) as shown in FIG. 3, and then the inlet (20) is connected 
with a ball delivery opening provided at the bottom of reservoir or chute 
(12) while the outlet (21) is connected with a duct (33) having its free 
open end directed to the container on the truck (A). 
Electric current is supplied to the motor (32) to rotate the rotor (25) and 
when its rotation has reached a required number e.g., approximately 2,000 
revolutions per minute, the damper (30) is opened and then balls (B) are 
introduced from the delivery opening of the reservoir or chute (12) into 
the casing (19) through the inlet (20). The balls travel between the inner 
periphery of the casing (19) and the outer periphery of the rotor (25) are 
shifted, rolling in a direction as shown by arrows in FIGS. 9, towards the 
outlet (21). Just before balls (B) reach the outlet (21), the running 
direction of the balls is regulated by the partition wall (28) and then 
balls (B) set free are shot out of the outlet (21) at an initial speed of 
about 6-8 meters per second, run through the duct (33) and fall down into 
the container. 
Having conducted various experiments with respect to ball transferring 
using this type of ball shooting device, the inventor has confirmed the 
fact that a constant rotatory speed of rotor (25) provides a shot-out ball 
with a constant initial speed, and therefore, if once the open end of the 
duct connected at the other end with the outlet (21) has been set, the 
shooting direction of the ball is precisely controlled. In that case, only 
a function for determining the direction is required for the duct 
regardless of its length. In an extreme case, even when the outlet (21) 
without any duct is directed to a target, the falling point of balls (B) 
is always constant, for instance, the fact has been proved that, in the 
above manner, 100% of the shot balls can be thrown into a basket of 30 cm 
diameter placed 5 meters therefrom. 
In the operation of the automotive hauling type golf ball collector of the 
present invention having a structure as described above, when the line of 
travel of a running disk wheel deviates even a little from the center of a 
ball coming into contact with the disk wheel, the disk wheel can naturally 
act to move the ball aside and introduce it into a holding space of the 
ball catching unit. As is rotating reversely to the running direction of 
the cart, the disk wheel functions to make a contacted ball to roll 
forwardly, which is a principal feature of the present invention. Now, 
referring to FIG. 8, the rotation of the disk wheel (5) as shown by an 
arrow imparts rotation also shown by an arrow to the ball (B) when the 
ball contacts the wheel, so that the ball (B) is driven forwardly by 
virtue of its resilience and revolution at the moment of contact. It will 
be clearly understood that if the initial velocity of a rolling ball is 
larger than a running velocity of ball catching wheels (2),(2), those 
wheels (2),(2) never reach and run over the ball. 
The running speed of a golf ball imparted by a disk wheel is calculated by 
the following equations with reference to various parameters shown in FIG. 
8. 
EQU s.sub.1 =.pi.dr (1) 
where S.sub.1 is the initial running speed of a golf ball (B) and r is a 
number of rotations of the ball. The relation between the number of 
rotations (r) and the number of rotations (R.sub.2) of a disk wheel (5) is 
represented by the following equations, provided that slippage between the 
wheel and the ball is negligible. 
EQU rd=R.sub.2 D.sub.3 
therefore, 
EQU r=(D.sub.3 /d)R.sub.2 (2) 
the relation between the number of rotations (R.sub.2) of the disk and the 
number of rotations (R.sub.1) of the ball catching wheels (2) is given by 
the following equations. 
EQU R.sub.2 D.sub.2 =R.sub.1 D.sub.1 
therefore, 
EQU R.sub.2 =(D.sub.1 /D.sub.2)R.sub.1 (3) 
substituting the equation (1) by equations (2) and (3), the following 
equation (4) is derived. 
EQU S.sub.1 =(.pi..multidot.D.sub.3 .multidot.D.sub.1 
.multidot.R.sub.1)/D.sub.2 (4) 
on the other hand, the running speed (S) of the ball catching wheels 
(2),(2) is given by the following equation. 
EQU S=.pi.DR.sub.1 (5) 
now, when the running speed of a golf ball (B) is at least equal to the 
running speed of ball catching wheels (2), the wheels (2) never catch up 
with the ball (B) and therefore, if the following equation derived by 
equations (1) and (5) is satisfied, the aforementioned objects can of 
course be attained. 
In the case when golf balls are collected with the above-mentioned 
automotive hauling type ball collector of the present invention, golf 
balls (B) existing in front of the running collector at first come into 
contact with rotating disk wheels (5) by which a rotatory motion is 
imparted to the balls to cause them to run faster than the collector and 
accordingly, ball collecting wheels (2) never run over those balls. Other 
balls which have not touched the disk wheels (5) pass through between them 
and are caught by the ball catching wheels (2), or after their positions 
have been regulated by the stationary guide members (7), they are caught 
by the ball catching wheels (2). Therefore, the ball catching wheels (2) 
are never pushed up, so that substantially 100% of golf balls (B) can be 
collected at a single pass of the collector, which effects saving of time 
and labor and decreases damage of grass planted on the ground. 
Further, when a ball (B) having its lower part sunk in the ground comes 
into contact with a disk wheel (5), the rotating wheel (5) imparts a 
rotatory motion to the ball, so that it jumps out of the depression and 
rolls forwardly, whereafter it is collected by a ball collecting unit (1). 
Thus, the collecting efficiency extremely improves as compared with a 
conventional ball collector. 
In FIG. 11 shown is an automotive pushing type golf ball collector of the 
present invention which comprises a golf ball collecting cart and a truck 
(A) provided with a container on its back which pushes the collecting 
cart. This type collector has such advantages that it is possible to 
collect balls (B) in the rearmost container by utilizing the 
aforementioned ball transferring means, the driver can watch and check 
simultaneously the conditions of the ground ahead and the performance of 
the collecting work, and further, the wheels of the truck (A) never tread 
on and bury balls in the ground before collecting. 
As explained above in detail, the golf ball collecting cart of the present 
invention comprises disk wheels (5),(5) paired with ball catching wheels 
(2),(2). The disk wheels 5,5 are arranged in front of a ball catching unit 
(1) in such a manner that the common shaft of the disk wheels is in 
parallel with the axle of the ball catching unit (1) and disk wheels 
(5),(5) are slightly elevated off the ground and are caused to rotate in a 
reverse direction relative to the direction of rotation of the ball 
catching wheels (2),(2). Therefore, golf balls (B) present in front of the 
ball catching wheels (2),(2), even if some them are depressed in the 
ground, are given a rotatory motion by disk wheels 5 to drive the balls 
forwardly, in so far as the balls contact the disk wheels (5). Thus, since 
only those balls (B) which would otherwise cause raising of ball catching 
wheels (2) are propelled ahead of the ball catching wheels and all other 
balls (B) can be entirely collected by a single pass of the ball catching 
unit (1), the efficiency of ball collecting will so much improved that 
saving of working time and maintenance cost of ball collectors can be 
achieved and accordingly the ball collecting cost will be lowered as 
compared with conventional collectors. In addition, as there happens no 
instance in which the ball catching unit (1) is lifted by balls, the 
collector of the present invention can perform almost perfect ball 
collection even in an area where many balls exist densely, so that the 
golf ball collector of the present invention is very useful because it has 
a high efficiency in comparison with conventional ball collectors which 
have a low efficiency. 
Further, as explained hereinbefore, an automotive pushing type collector 
has the advantages that the driver can watch the conditions of the ground 
ahead simultaneously with the performance of ball collecting and the 
wheels of the pulling vehicle never tread on balls before collecting, so 
that the efficiency further improves. 
Furthermore, according to the present invention, since the stationary guide 
members (7) may be arranged between the disk wheels (5) and the ball 
catching wheels (2), the disadvantages that balls (B) having passed 
between two adjacent disk wheels (5) are otherwise to be treaded under 
ball catching wheels (2) which result in lifting of the ball catching 
wheels (2), are entirely eliminated. Thus, not only is the efficiency 
further improved, but also it is possible to make the tread of the ball 
catching wheels (2) wider so as to provide a ball collector with improved 
durability and stability. 
As explained hereinbefore, the present invention can provide a golf ball 
collector with an extremely high efficiency together with a certainty of 
ball collecting even when it is run at high speed, which enables 
rationalization of the administration of golf training business owing to 
saving of labor. Further, the lowering of ball hiring cost realized by the 
present invention will be advantageous.