Patent Publication Number: US-5026060-A

Title: Indoor golf game

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The instant invention relates generally to golf games and more specifically it relates to an indoor golf game. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     Numerous golf games have been provided in prior art that are adapted to simulate the play of golf within a limited confined area. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,869,642 to Woolman; 1,899,860 to Flower; 3,411,788 to Blanding; 3,599,980 to Harmond; 3,684,293 to Brooks; 3,910,583 to Appel et al and 4,215,865 to Pilati all are illustrative of such prior art. While these units may be suitable for the particular purpose to which they address, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention as heretofore described. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention is typically a nine hole indoor golf game using, a golf cage in which a player will use an iron (probably a number five iron) and will strike a golf ball off a tee, which will go into an angularly placed gutter at an end of the cage and feed into an appropriate place, either onto a green, a fringe of the green, sand trap or a fairway. The player will then have to &#34;chip&#34; to the green or putt depending on the position of the golf ball. The player will need a golf ball, a number five iron, a wedge and putter to play the indoor golf game. It can be played in approximately twelve thousand square feet. A fifteen thousand square foot building can house the indoor golf game with a miniature golf course for children. 
     A primary object of the present invention is to provide an indoor golf game that will overcome the shortcomings of the prior art devices. 
     Another object is to provide an indoor golf game that will give pleasure to each player during the play of the game when entering each playing area and completing its course to the hole. 
     An additional object is to provide an indoor golf game in which gutters and leaders are utilized to catch the golf ball and take it to one of a multiple of places in the playing area depending upon how the player hits the golf ball in a cage of the golf driving place. 
     A further object is to provide an indoor golf game that is simple and easy to use. 
     A still further object is to provide an indoor golf game that is economical in cost to manufacture. 
     Further objects of the invention will appear as the description proceeds. 
     To the accomplishment of the above and related objects, this invention may be embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawings, attention being called to the fact, however, that the drawings are illustrative only, and that changes may be made in the specific construction illustrated and described within the scope of the appended claims. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view with parts broken away showing one of the playing areas of the indoor golf game having a golf driving enclosure, a putting green and a fairway. 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a part of one gutter, curved netting and leader as shown in FIG. 1. 
     FIG. 2A is a perspective view of two gutters showing staggered holes so that the golf ball can drop from one gutter to another thereby entering the sand trap segment rather an the green segment. 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective view of one leader broken away and showing a tapered tubular mess pipe installed therein to slow down the travel of the golf ball. 
     FIG. 3A is a perspective view of a double leader broken away so that the golf ball can travel into different parts of the fairway of the playing area. 
     FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view through the tubular mesh pipe shown in FIG. 3. 
     FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a typical putting green ground surface. 
     FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view taken along line 6--6 in FIG. 5, showing the internal structure of the putting green ground surface as in FIG. 1. 
     FIG. 7 is an enlarged cross sectional view as indicated by numeral 7 in FIG. 6, showing the various layers of material used in making up the putting green ground surface. 
     FIG. 8A is a diagrammatic top plan view showing the layout of a first playing area of the indoor golf game as in FIG. 1. 
     FIG. 8B is a diagrammatic top plan view showing the layout of a second playing area of the indoor golf game. 
     FIG. 8C is a diagrammatic top plan view showing the layout of a third playing area of the indoor golf game. 
     FIG. 8D is a diagrammatic top plan view showing the layout of a fourth playing area of the indoor golf game. 
     FIG. 8E is a diagrammatic top plan view showing the layout of a fifth playing area of the indoor golf game. 
     FIG. 8F is a diagrammatic top plan view showing the layout of a sixth playing area of the indoor golf game. 
     FIG. 8G is a diagrammatic top plan view showing the layout of a seventh playing area of the indoor golf game. 
     FIG. 8H is a diagrammatic top plan view showing the layout of an eighth playing area of the indoor golf game. 
     FIG. 8I is a diagrammatic top plan view showing the layout of a ninth playing area of the indoor golf game. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Turning now descriptively to the drawings, in which similar reference characters denote similar elements throughout the several views, FIG. 1 illustrates one playing area 10 of a plurality of playing areas of an indoor golf game. The playing area 10 is enclosed on all sides and top by a netting frame 12 and contains a golf driving enclosure 14 from which a golf ball 16 may be propelled by a player 18 swinging a golf club 20, such as a number five iron, at the golf ball 16. A fairway 22 is located at one side of the golf driving enclosure 14, where subsequent shots of the golf ball 16 may be played therefrom. A putting green 24 that has a hole 26 therein is located behind the golf driving enclosure 14 and the fairway 22, where additional subsequent shots of the golf ball 16 may be played therefrom. 
     A structure 28 is provided for selectively conveying the golf ball 16 in one instance from the golf driving enclosure 14 to the putting green 24 and in another instance from the golf driving enclosure 14 to the fairway 22 depending upon how the player 18 hits the golf ball 16 with the golf club 20 within the golf driving enclosure 14. 
     The golf driving enclosure 14 includes a cage 30 being a frame 32 with two netting walls 34 and 36 thereabout. An elevated tee platform 38, is at one end of the cage 30. A sloped angular floor 40 is in the cage 30. The side wall 34 of the cage 30 adjacent the fairway 22 is slightly elevated and thus has a space 42 therealong high enough to allow the golf ball 16 to roll under the side wall 34 onto the fairway 22. This allows a bad shot of the golf ball 16 to enter the fairway directly from the cage 30. 
     As best seen in FIGS. 1 and 5, the putting green 24 includes at least one sand trap segment 44, a green segment 46 having the hole 26 therein and a fringe segment 48 between the green segment 46 and the at least one sand trap segment 44. 
     As best seen in FIGS. 6 and 7, the putting green 24 is fabricated out of a carpet pad 50 on the cement floor 52, an angular foam pad 54 on the carpet pad 50 and polypropylene grass 56 on the foam pad 54 to simulate the feeling of a real putting green. 
     The fairway 22 includes a plurality of obstacles, such as at least one tree 58, a bush 60 and a hazard barrier 62. The hole 26 in the green segment 46 is located off to one side from the fairway 22, so as to make the subsequent shots of the golf ball 16 more difficult. 
     The structure 28 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, includes a plurality of curved nets 64, one above the other at the top of the rear netting wall 36 of the cage 30 of the golf driving enclosure 14 opposite the elevated tee platform 38. A plurality of gutters 66 are angularly positioned and spaced one above the other at the curved nets 64 so that one of the gutters 66 will receive the golf ball 16 dropping down from its respective curved net 64. These gutters 66 can be lowered and raised in each driving enclosure 14 to accept the trajectory of a ball 16 hit with a variety of clubs 20. A leader 68 is connected to the lowest portion of each gutter 66, so as to carry the golf ball to a predetermined spot in the puttting green 24 and in the fairway 22 depending how the player 18 hits the golf ball 16 from the elevated tee platform 38. 
     As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, each leader 68 further includes a tapered tubular mesh pipe 70 installed therein by hose clamps 72 to slow down the travel of the golf ball 16 therethrough. 
     As shown in FIG. 3A the leader 68a can be of a double leader type connected to the lowest portion of the gutter 66 so that the golf ball 16 can travel into different parts of the fairway 22 of the playing area 10. 
     As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2A, each gutter 66 further has a hole 74 therein placed diagonally starting from the highest portion from gutter to gutter so that the golf ball 16 can drop from one gutter to another gutter below to enter the sand trap segment 44 rather that the green segment 46 when the golf ball 16 is badly shot from the elevated tee platform 38. 
     FIGS. 8A to 8I show the various configurations of the different playing areas 10 for playing the indoor golf game. Nine are shown but other combinations can be utilized, such as eighteen, etc. The type of club 20 used in each playing area 10 can be changed by lowering or raising the gutters 66 in each driving enclosure 14 accepting a different trajectory, so that different irons or woods can be used throughout the game. 
     LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS 
     10--playing area 
     12--netting frame 
     14--golf driving enclosure 
     16--golf ball 
     18--player 
     20--golf club 
     22--fairway 
     24--putting green 26--hole in 24 
     28--selectively conveying structure 
     30--cage 
     32--frame of 30 
     34--side wall of 30 
     36--rear wall of 30 
     38--elevated tee platform in 30 
     40--sloped angular floor in 30 
     42--space between 34 and 22 
     44--sand trap segment on 24 
     46--green segment on 24 
     48--fringe segment on 24 
     50--carpet pad in 24 
     52--cement floor 
     54--angular foam pad in 24 
     56--polypropylene grass in 24 
     58--tree on 22 
     60--bush on 22 
     62--hazard barrier on 22 
     64--curved net of 28 
     66--gutter of 28 
     68--leader of 28 
     70--tapered tubular mesh pipe 
     72--hose clamp 
     74--hole in 66 
     It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together may also find a useful application in other types of methods differing from the type described above. 
     While certain novel features of this invention have been shown and described and are pointed out in the annexed claims, it is not intended to be limited to the details above, since it will be understood that various omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and in its operation can be made by those skilled in the art without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention. 
     Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention.