Patent Publication Number: US-6210288-B1

Title: Golf practice net assembly

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates, in general, to a golf practice net assembly and, more particularly, to a net assembly capable of allowing a user to easily and conveniently practice tee-shots in a limited area, with a net of the assembly being appropriately tensioned so as to effectively stop flying golf balls. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     As well known to those skilled in the art, golf is played on a golf course which has an area exceedingly larger than that of other ball games. While playing golf, a golfer drives and putts a ball on a golf course. In the past, golf was regarded as a luxurious sport in many countries due to expensive golf equipment and high admission fees of the golf courses, thus being limitedly played by affluent people. However, in recent years, golf has been popularized in many countries. It is necessary for golfers to practice tee-shots. In order to practice tee-shots, golfers may practice at a golf practice range. 
     Such golf practice ranges are built on large areas of land allowing users to drive golf balls a long distance. Due to the large areas, the building and managing cost of the golf practice ranges is increased and this results in high admission fees of to the golf practice ranges. The golf practice ranges thus force users to pay much money in addition to consumption of time to visit, thus being inconvenient to the users. In an effort to overcome the problems experienced in the golf practice ranges, a golf practice net assembly has been proposed and used. 
     FIG. 1 is a view, showing a typical golf practice net assembly capable of allowing a user to practice tee-shots in a limited area. As shown in the drawing, the typical net assembly  1  comprises a net  4  held by a support pipe frame. The above pipe frame is formed by a plurality of flexible support pipes  2 . In order to pitch the net assembly  1 , the support pipes  2  are primarily coupled to each other into a pipe frame prior to being set on a support surface. In such a case, the pipe frame is bent into an arc-shaped configuration with both ends of the frame being held on the support surface. After securing the pipe frame to the support surface, the net  4  is held on the frame using a plurality of tieing bands  6 , thus being pitched on the support surface. 
     However, the above net assembly  1  is problematic in that the pipe frame is only set on a support surface by both ends thereof without having any separate support means, thus failing to firmly support the net assembly  1 . The net assembly  1  may thus easily fall over backward when it stops a flying ball. The net assembly  1  forms a two-dimensional stopping surface with a limited area, thus sometimes failing to stop a golf ball when the driving direction of the ball diverges from the stopping area of the assembly  1 . In such a case, the ball may strike a person around the net assembly  1 , thus causing safety hazards. Another problem of the above net assembly  1  resides in that the net  4  is not desirably tensioned, but is somewhat loosened, thus failing to appropriately stop flying balls. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a golf practice net assembly, which allows a user to easily and conveniently practice tee-shots in a limited and/or indoor area, which is easily carried, kept or installed, and of which the net is appropriately tensioned, thus effectively stopping flying balls without failure. 
     In an effort to accomplish the above object, the present invention provides a golf practice net assembly comprising: a U-shaped base pipe unit laid on a support surface; a main support pipe mounted to an end of each side arm of the base pipe unit, the support pipe extending upwardly and being inclined outwardly relative to the side arm at an angle of 45°±10°; and first and second tension pipes coupled to each other using a joint, thus forming a tension pipe unit with a holding pin being provided at an outside end of the tension pipe unit for holding a net, the tension pipe unit being mounted to the support pipe at a lower end thereof. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The above 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: 
     FIG. 1 is a view, showing a typical golf practice net assembly; 
     FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a support pipe frame of a golf practice net assembly in accordance with the primary embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the support pipe frame of FIG. 2, with the pipes of the frame being assembled into a single body; 
     FIG. 4 a  is a view, showing the support pipe frame of FIG. 2 when it is installed on a support surface; 
     FIG. 4 b  is a view, showing the net assembly with a net being held on the support pipe frame of FIG. 4 a ; and 
     FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a support pipe frame of a golf practice net assembly in accordance with the second embodiment of this invention. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a support pipe frame of a golf practice net assembly in accordance with the primary embodiment of this invention. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the support pipe frame of FIG. 2, with the pipes of the frame being assembled into a single body. As shown in the drawings, the support pipe frame of the net assembly  1  comprises a U-shaped base pipe unit  12  which is to be laid on a support surface. Two fixed support pipes  10  being respectively fixed to the ends of both side arms of the base pipe unit  12  while extending upwardly and being inclined outwardly relative to the side arms at an angle of θ°. First and second tension pipes  14  and  16  are coupled to each other using a joint  18 , thus forming a tension pipe unit. The tension pipe unit is mounted to each fixed support pipe  10  at the lower end of the second tension pipe  16 . A holding pin  20  is providing at the outside end of each of the first tension pipes  14 . Of course, a hollow or solid pipe may be preferably used as each of the first and second tension pipes  14  and  16 . 
     In the present invention, the angle, θ°, is 45°±10°. 
     FIG. 4 a  shows the support pipe frame of FIG. 2 when it is installed on a support surface. FIG. 4 b  shows the net assembly with a net being held on the support pipe frame of FIG. 4 a . As shown in FIG. 4 a , the first and second tension pipes  14  and  16  are coupled to each other using a joint  18 , thus forming a tension pipe unit. The tension pipe unit is mounted to each support pipe  10  at the lower end of the second tension pipe  16  prior to being elastically bent inwardly. Thereafter, the net  22  is held by the support pipe frame with both top corners of the net  22  being caught by the holding pins  20 . 
     In the above support pipe frame, the base pipe unit  12  comprises a plurality of pipes which are coupled to each other using spring-biased, retractable projections  28  provided at the joints of the pipe unit  12 . 
     FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a support pipe frame of a golf practice net assembly in accordance with the second embodiment of this invention. In the second embodiment, the general shape of the support pipe frame remains the same as that described for the primary embodiment, but an auxiliary support pipe  10 ′ is fixedly mounted to each side arm of the base pipe unit  12  at a position around each corner of the U-shaped pipe unit  12 . That is, the support pipe frame according to the second embodiment has two support pipes  10  and  10 ′ at each side arm of the base pipe unit  12 . First and second tension pipes  14  and  16  are coupled to each other using a joint  18 , thus forming a primary tension pipe unit. The tension pipe unit is mounted to each primary support pipe  10  at the lower end of the second tension pipe  16 , while third and fourth tension pipes  14 ′ and  16 ′ are coupled to each other using a joint  18 , thus forming a second tension pipe unit. The second tension pipe unit is mounted to each auxiliary support pipe  10 ′ at the lower end of the fourth tension pipe  16 ′. Provided at the outside end of each of the first and third tension pipes  14  and  14 ′ is a holding pin  20 . A net  22  is held by the support pipe frame while being caught by the holding pins  20 , thus forming a three-dimensional net assembly with the front being opened. 
     In the drawings, the reference numeral  22   a  denotes a holding loop provided on the net  22  for holding the net on a pin  20 . The numeral  30  denotes a tieing band used for holding the net  20  to the tension pipes of the support pipe frame. 
     The operational effect of the golf practice net assembly of this invention will be described hereinbelow. 
     The net assembly according to the primary embodiment of this invention is installed as follows. As shown in FIGS. 2 to  4   b , the pipes of the base pipe unit  12  are primarily coupled to each other into a U-shaped body. Thereafter, the two support pipes  10  are respectively fixed to both side arms of the base pipe unit  12  while allowing the support pipes  10  to be inclined relative to the side arms at an angle of θ°. The first and second tension pipes  14  and  16  are coupled to each other using a joint  18 . The outside end of each first tension pipe  14  has one holding pin  20 . 
     After coupling the tension pipes  14  and  16  to each other, the pipes  14  and  16  are mounted to a fixed support pipe  10  by fitting the lower end of the second tension pipe  16  into the support pipe  10 . The pipes  14  and  16  are, thereafter, bent inwardly, thus forming a curved configuration prior to holding both top corners of the net  22  to the holding pins  20  of the two first tension pipes  14 . In such a case, the loops  22   a  of the net  22  are caught by the holding pins  20 . 
     The net  22  is also tied to the first and second tension pipes  14  and  16  using the tieing bands  30  at the middle portions of both sides thereof. The net  22  is thus firmly held on the support pipe frame while being appropriately tensioned and pitched by elasticity of the tension pipes  14  and  16 . 
     When installing the net assembly according to the second embodiment of this invention on a support surface, the above-mentioned process is repeated, with third and fourth tension pipes  14 ′ and  16 ′ being coupled to each other using a joint  18  and being mounted to each auxiliary support pipe  10 ′ at the lower end of the fourth tension pipe  16 ′ as shown in FIG.  5 . In such a case, the auxiliary support pipes  10 ′ are inclined relative to the side arms of the base pipe unit  12  at an angle of θ° (45°±10°). In the second embodiment, the net  22 , held by the support pipe frame while being caught by the holding pins  20 , forms a three-dimensional configuration. Such a three-dimensional net  22  almost completely stops flying balls even when the shots miss their intended target. 
     In the present invention, it is possible to adjust the height of the net assembly  1  by changing the number of coupled tension pipes held on each support pipe. That is, the tension pipes, held on each support pipe, may be designed to be three or four-staged in place of the two-staged pipes disclosed in the preferred embodiments. 
     In order to practice tee-shots using the net assembly  1 , a user drives a ball at a position spaced apart from the front of the net assembly  1  by a distance. When driving golf balls as described above, the net  22  stops the balls. In such a case, the net  22  is repeatedly thrust backward due to impact energy of the balls. However, the net  22  is always tensioned by the tension pipes, thus effectively stopping the flying balls. 
     As described above, the present invention provides a golf practice net assembly, which allows a user to easily and conveniently practice tee-shots in a limited area such as an indoor range or roof area. The net assembly has a simple construction, thus being easily installed and reducing production cost and thereby allowing golf to be popularized. In the net assembly, the net is appropriately tensioned so as to effectively stop flying balls without failure. 
     Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled 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.