Patent Publication Number: US-6705497-B1

Title: Holder/dispenser for golf ball markers

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This disclosure concerns an invention relating generally to sports equipment, and more specifically to golfing equipment and golfing aids. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Golf ball markers are commonly used during a game of golf to mark the original location of a golf ball when the ball needs to be moved (for example, when a ball comes to rest against an obstruction which needs to be removed before play can resume, when the ball needs to be moved for cleaning, or to make way for another ball). As of 2002, the United States Golf Association (USGA) Rule 20-1 states that a golf ball to be moved should be marked by placing a “small coin or other similar object” immediately behind the ball prior to moving it, and when the ball is to be replaced, it should be situated in the same position from where it was lifted. 
     The “small coin or other object” rule is somewhat vague as to the allowable scope of objects that may be used as markers, and many golfers have found danger in straying too far from the explicit letter of the rule. For example, during tournaments or other events, some golfers who did not have coins or similar disc-shaped markers on hand have attempted to use hotel room keys or other objects as markers—only to be penalized one stroke by the judges for violation of a strict interpretation of the rule (or stricter tour or local rules). Thus, to serious golfers, the rule is not trivial. 
     As one might imagine, problems occasionally arise because golfers do not have suitable markers on hand during the game (i.e., the golfer is carrying no coins and has no other appropriate marker). As a consequence, other provisions of Rule 20-1 allow the ball position to be marked with the toe of a putter (which can be cumbersome because the player&#39;s ability to handle the ball is limited if the player must simultaneously hold the putter in place), or by scratching the playing surface (which is disfavored owing to the difficulty in seeing a scratch and/or the possibility of damaging the playing surface), or using a leaf or other readily available item (which is disfavored owing to the possibility of the marker blowing away or otherwise being displaced). 
     Thus, a game of golf may literally be lost for lack of a nickel or other suitable marker. It would therefore be useful to have a means for reminding golfers of the need for a marker during play, and to maintain one or more markers on hand for convenient use. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first preferred version of the invention. 
     FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the marker holder of FIG. 1, as viewed along the line  2 — 2  of FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a second preferred version of the invention. 
    
    
     For the convenience of the reader, it is noted that the various elements of the marker holders depicted in the Drawings (these elements being discussed below) are labeled with sequentially ascending numbers going clockwise about FIG. 1; counterclockwise about FIG. 2; and clockwise about FIG.  3 . 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention involves a holder for golf ball markers which is intended to at least partially solve the aforementioned problems. To give the reader a basic understanding of some of the advantageous features of the invention, following is a description of exemplary preferred versions of the marker holder. The claims set forth at the end of this document then define the various versions of the invention in which exclusive rights are secured. 
     Exemplary versions of the invention are depicted by the marker holder  100  in FIGS. 1 and 2, and the marker holder  300  depicted in FIG. 3 (wherein exemplary disc-shaped markers  200  and  202  are also shown). Prior to discussing the details of the structure of the exemplary marker holders  100  and  300 , it will initially be useful to discuss their general structure and intended usage. The exemplary marker holder  100  can be characterized as having two portions, a body  152  and a clipping means for mounting the body  152  on a user (the clipping means here being provided in the form of a clip  120 ). The body  152  has first and second pockets  144  and  132  which are intended to hold ball markers for later removal and use (e.g., for placement on the playing surface of the golf course to mark the position of a golf ball when moving the golf ball for cleaning or to make way for the travel of another ball). The markers may then be replaced within the body  152  of the marker holder  100  after use, if so desired. The clip  120  is intended to allow the body  152  to be mounted to the waist hem of a user&#39;s pants, or to the pants pocket or another portion of a user&#39;s clothing, so that the markers are readily accessible to the user when needed. Additionally, the marker holder  100  may be clipped to the top of a user&#39;s golf bag, or otherwise maintained in a readily visible location with the user&#39;s golf equipment, to serve as a reminder to bring a supply of ball markers prior to starting a game. 
     To further illustrate, turning to the exemplary marker holder  300  of FIG. 3, the exemplary disc-shaped markers  202  and  204 —which are here differently sized—are shown along their paths of insertion and removal from the pockets  344  and  332  of the body  152 . The markers  202  and  204 , which may simply take the form of coins (which are readily available and relatively inexpensive markers), or bingo/poker chips or other preferably brightly-colored items, may be inserted into the pockets  344  and  332  to be snugly received therein, and may be removed for use by sliding them out of the pockets  344  and  332 . The marker holders  100  and  300  thereby allow a user to maintain markers readily at hand for use at all times. 
     Turning to FIGS. 1 and 2, the details of the structure of the exemplary marker holder  100  will now be discussed. The body  152  has a top  102  from which the clip  120  extends, an opposing bottom  128 , a pair of opposing sides  116  and  140 , a front  126  wherein the first and second pockets  144  and  132  are defined, and an opposing rear (not visible in FIG.  1 ). The first pocket  144  is defined between opposing sidewalls  104  and  148  on the body  152 ; an inner wall  150  on the body  152 , the inner wall  150  extending between the sidewalls  104  and  148  and having an upper edge  154 ; an opposing outer wall  108  on the body  152 , the outer wall  108  also extending between the sidewalls  104  and  148  and having an upper edge  106 ; and a pocket floor  112  on the body  152  below the sidewalls  104  and  148 , inner wall  150 , and outer wall  108 . The pocket mouth  146  wherein the marker disc is received is then situated opposite the pocket floor  112 , and between the sidewalls  104  and  148  and the upper edges  154  and  106  of the inner and outer walls  150  and  108 . The upper edge  106  of the outer wall  108  is preferably situated below the upper edge  154  of the inner wall  150 , and is also preferably at least partially depressed or indented to descend downwardly at its midsection, so as to partially expose any marker resting within the first pocket  144  and better allow the marker to be grasped/contacted by a user to effect its removal from the pocket  144 . Here, the outer wall upper edge  106  is shown as being indented/depressed (at its lowest point) to the same height as the floor  112 . As a result, the outer wall  106  is effectively defined by opposing flanges  110  and  142  which extend inwardly towards each other from the sidewalls  104  and  148 . Thus, a marker disc may be inserted into the pocket mouth  146  until it abuts the floor  112 , with a major portion of the marker disc being exposed between the flanges  110  and  142  (and being retained within the first pocket  144  by the flanges  110  and  142 ) so that it may be easily and readily lifted from the first pocket  144  when desired. 
     Similarly, the second pocket  132  is bounded by opposing sidewalls  114  and  138 , an inner wall  108  (which is also the outer wall of the first pocket  144 ), an opposing outer wall  124 , and a pocket floor  130 , with the pocket mouth  136  of the second pocket  132  being situated opposite the pocket floor  130  and between the upper edge  106  of the inner wall  108  and the upper edge  118  of the outer wall  124 . The second pocket  132  therefore rests adjacent to the first pocket  144  in overlapping relationship, with the pocket mouth  136  of the second pocket  132  spaced below the pocket mouth  146  of the first pocket  144 . The upper edge  118  of the outer wall  124  is again preferably situated beneath the upper edge  106  of the inner wall  108 , and is preferably downwardly descending at its midsection, thereby defining a pair of opposing and inwardly-extending flanges  122  and  134  in the outer wall  124 . The flanges  122  and  134  allow a marker disc inserted within the second pocket  132  to be urged from the second pocket  132  by pushing it from a location between the flanges  122  and  134 . Owing to the staggered heights of the first and second pockets  144  and  132 , the second pocket  132  (or any marker disc therein) does not obstruct access to the first pocket  144  (or any marker disc therein). 
     The clip  120  then extends downwardly from, and generally parallel and adjacent to, the body  152  (more specifically, from the top of the body  152  near the upper edge of the inner wall of the first pocket  144 ). The clip  120  is resiliently flexible so that it may bend slightly outwardly to allow insertion of a user&#39;s article of clothing between the clip  120  and the body  152 , to mount the body  152  of the holder  100  on a user. 
     The first and second pockets  144  and  132  are each configured to snugly and removably receive a marker disc therein (with the pockets  132  and  144  preferably being differently sized so that they may receive differently sized marker discs therein). This is better illustrated in FIG. 3, wherein the exemplary marker holder  300  is shown with marker discs  200  and  202  removed (with marker disc  202  being snugly receivable in the first pocket  344  and the marker disc  200  being snugly receivable in the second pocket  332 ). The ability of the marker holders  100  and  300  to accommodate differently-sized markers  200  and  202  is preferred because a marker is preferably relatively small (so as to minimally obstruct the path of other golf balls on the field of play), but depending on the condition of the field (e.g., long or short grass), a larger marker may be needed for purposes of good visibility and resistance to accidental displacement. Consider, for example, the situation where the marker  200  is sized and configured similarly to a US25¢ coin and the marker  202  is sized and configured similarly to a US5¢ coin. The marker holder  300  is configured generally similarly to the marker holder  100 , but the upper edges  306  and  318  of the outer walls  308  and  324  of the pockets  344  and  332  are only slightly downwardly depressed (unlike the marker holder  100 , wherein the upper edges  106  and  118  of the outer walls  108  and  124  of the pockets  144  and  132  are depressed all the way to the pocket floors  112  and  130 ). Thus, the outer walls  308  and  324  of the pockets  344  and  332  are only partially defined by inwardly-extending flanges  310  and  342 , and  322  and  334 . Additionally, the pocket floors (not visible in FIG. 3) and the body bottom  328  are not curved as with the pocket floors  112  and  130  and the body bottom  128  of the marker holder  100 . 
     It is understood that the various preferred versions of the invention are shown and described above to illustrate different possible features of the invention and the varying ways in which these features may be combined. Apart from combining the different features of the foregoing versions in varying ways, other modifications are also considered to be within the scope of the invention. Following is an exemplary list of such modifications. 
     First, a marker holder may have less or more than two pockets depending on how many markers the marker holder is intended to hold. Ideally, a marker holder will have a pocket for a marker for each player. It is also possible to configure each pocket so that it can snugly and removably receive more than one marker at a time, thereby allowing multiple markers to be received in a single pocket. 
     Second, the markers need not have a disc-shaped form (though this is recommended for best conformity with the rules of marking), nor need the pockets be configured to only receive markers having a disc shape. A wide variety of other marker and pocket shapes is possible. 
     Third, the clipping means may take a number of forms other than that of the tongue-like clips  120  and  320 , for example, as a flexible pin which extends parallel and adjacent to the body, and which may extend from the body of the marker holder to pierce clothing and may then be received in a hook (such structure being common in wearable identification badges and decorative/advertising buttons); as a rigid pin which extends from the body of the holder to pierce clothing, and which is then received within a separate base or mount (as with common tie tacks and the like); as one or more spring-loaded jaws which grasp items between the jaws, or between a jaw and the body of the marker holder; or in other forms. All of these various forms of clips are suitable, and the tongue-like clips  120  and  130  are merely preferred owing to their low expense and ease of manufacture, and their ability to mount to a variety of items without damaging the items. 
     Finally, it should be understood that the configuration of the marker holder may be varied in many ways from the configurations of the marker holders  100  and  300  shown in the drawings, and thus a marker holder is in no way limited to the appearance of the marker holders shown in FIGS. 1-3. As examples, the outer contours of the body of a marker holder need not conform to the shape of the pockets, nor do the pockets in the body need be vertically arrayed. Further, the clip need not extend from the top of the body, nor need it extend entirely from one side of the body to the other, nor need it have the configuration shown. The body may also contain components apart from the marker-holding pockets, e.g., it may be adapted to accommodate tees or other equipment as well. 
     To summarize, the invention is not intended to be limited to the preferred versions of the invention described above, but rather is intended to be limited only by the claims set out below. Thus, the invention encompasses all different versions that fall literally or equivalently within the scope of these claims.