Abstract:
An artificial golf range will provide the opportunity of practicing golf in cold climates and under all weather conditions.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This application is an U.S. national phase application under 35 U.S.C. §371 based upon co-pending International Application No. PCT/NO2003/000177 filed Jun. 2, 2003. Additionally, this U.S. national phase application claims the benefit of priority of co-pending International Application No. PCT/NO2003/000177 filed Jun. 2, 2003. The entire disclosure of the prior application is incorporated herein by reference. The international application was published in the English language on Dec. 9, 2004 under Publication No. WO 2004/105896 A1. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND FOR THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     Golf is a sport that is normally practiced during the summer and when the weather is suitable (not too cold or wet). This means that professional and semi-professional players as well as amateur players will have difficulties to maintain their skills and technique during the winter, especially in areas where that season implies cold weather and snow.  
         [0003]     In countries located much to the north or south such as the Scandinavian countries, Scotland, Canada, Alaska, Iceland, Russia etc. the part of the year when golf or driving range training is impossible to practice may extend to 50, or 6 months. Such long interrupts constitute obstacles for the individual golf player&#39;s development of his skills.  
         [0004]     There has been previous suggestions for artificial driving ranges, such as the GB patent 2.356.573, including an area from where the drives are made and a fenced-in “fairway” ball collecting area.  
         [0005]     There are further variations of tee-off areas and collecting systems for practice golf balls described in the U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,797,827, 5,513,841 and 5,547,186.  
         [0006]     The U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,860,236 and 4,889,342 suggest small cabins or boxes from where golf players can drive their balls in rainy or cold weather.  
         [0007]     Even though all these different arrangements may be possible to use—to some extent—during winter conditions, none of them are dedicated for this kind of climate. They would most likely not work at all at temperatures below 0 [deg] C. (freezing point) or after heavy snow falls.  
         [0008]     There is apparently a lack of driving ranges which are suited for winter climate with low temperatures and snow. For such an arrangement to be of any interest it should also include:  
         [0009]     a sheltered and heated tee-off area  
         [0010]     a suited ball collecting and transport system  
         [0011]     a challenging length of the range (to make it possible to practice a full golf swing)  
         [0012]     The only solution until now for such requirements has been buildings with the facilities fully indoor, with a would-be very high construction cost for the range size indicated. The herewith suggested system probably provides the first affordable all-climate artificial driving range for golf.  
       GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0013]     The invention is intended for practice of golf independent of the climate, in the form of an artificial driving range with tee-off “indoor” and an outdoor range area.  
         [0014]     At one end of the range there is located a building preferably equipped with floodlights and tee-off facilities for driving golf balls through a heated air curtain(s). Connected to this building is a fence which surrounds the ball receiving range area. Artificial surfaces on both sides of the central axis of the range and sloping down towards a transport system of the central axis provide the return of the golf balls to the tee-off building.  
         [0015]     The artificial surfaces are shaped in a net structure or grating which is elevated above the ground as a raised floor. The mesh size of the net structure is small enough to carry golf balls and big enough to let snow etc. through and be collected under the raised floor.  
         [0016]     Additional functions based on these principles are length measurement and practice golf greens with results displayed for the golf player.  
         [0017]     A range plate, a preferred component to build the raised floor, constitutes a part of the invention. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES AND DRAWINGS:  
       [0018]      FIG. 1 : An overview drawing of the whole all-climate artificial driving range for golf, the invented system.  
         [0019]      FIG. 2 : An overview figure showing the raised floor principle.  
         [0020]      FIG. 3 : A drawing showing the outline of an example of a basic floor component for the range area, the “range plate”.  
         [0021]      FIG. 4 : General depiction of the allocation of range plates and the mounting of impact detectors on a part of the range area.  
         [0022]      FIG. 5 : A drawing showing a section of the range plate, where the surface structure of the plate is indicated together with a golf ball.  
         [0023]      FIG. 6   a  and  6   b:  A principal drawing of a possible shape of the range plate with vibration dampers for adjacent plates or supports indicated.  
         [0024]      FIG. 7 : A general drawing of a preferred fence arrangement for the all-climate artificial driving range according to the invention. The fence includes certain types of nets arranged to catch stray golf balls. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0025]     The references are made to details in the figures.  
         [0026]     The all-climate artificial driving range is, as mentioned above, a system for practicing golf including an area which is closed with a high fence (I), typically made of a net, yarn or similar. The height of the fence shall be adjusted to the height of the golf balls trajectories in the respective parts of the range system (may vary with the distance from the tee-off stalls), preferably up to 3 5 meters high.  
         [0027]     The fence (I) runs from a building ( 2 ), which includes a number of tee-off stalls for golf players, and all around the range area, until it returns to the other side of the building.  
         [0028]     Building and Range Area  
         [0029]     The building can be opened towards the range area in order to let the golf players stand upright and make their drives onto the range area or fairway” of the artificial range system in a cone shaped volume with theoretical maximum openings of −90 [deg] to +90 [deg] horizontally and 0 [deg] to +90 [deg] vertically, the theoretical shot angles are considerably reduced in practice—depending on the selected length of the range. The tee-off openings of the building may range from one individual to the whole side of the building depending on the requirements.  
         [0030]     The fence is supported by a number of posts ( 3 ) which preferably, and together with the building, carry floodlights for lighting of the range. The distance between posts is preferably in the range 20-50 meters. The mesh size of the webbing comprising the fence shall prevent golf balls to pass through. Such a mesh size may lie in the range up to 10,000 mm 2  with a preferred, but not necessary, lower limit of 1 mm 2 , the upper limit being defined by the fact that the mesh size may be bigger than a golf ball where balls hit the net at a very flat angle, where the “upper limit” angle is dictated by the cosine of the angle at which the golf ball hits the net.  
         [0031]     The building ( 2 ) is equipped with heating in order to be used during the winter or in bad weather. The tee-off openings shall preferably be provided with heated air “curtains” in order to keep the warmth inside the building and the cold outside. Another relevant means of heating is infrared heating radiators. The building shall preferably be divided into compartments, one for each individual (or group of) tee-off with its own opening towards the range area. A possible size of a tee-off compartment may be 4-9 m 2 . The building shall be located above the ground, as will the range area, in order to accommodate a winter&#39;s accumulated snowfall under it. Alternatively, the building can be designed in two or more stories with tee-off openings towards the range area from each of them.  
         [0032]     The form and dimensions of the range area, closed-in by the fence ( 1 ) is not critical as long as it is large enough to receive golf shots from the practicing players in the building ( 2 ) in a satisfactory way. However, a rectangular shape is preferred for the all-climate artificial driving range. As an example the range area can be of dimensions 25×150 meters, but also dimensions down to 25×30 meters may be relevant. Another example of range areas is 40×300 meters down to 40×30 meters.  
         [0033]     Over the range area a net may be mounted in order to keep the golf balls within the range system, for both safety and economic reasons. The mesh size of such a net may lie in the range indicated supra.  
         [0034]     Raised Floor  
         [0035]     The bottom of the range area shall be covered with a raised floor in the form of a net structure or grating ( 5 ). The height above the ground shall preferably be about 0.3-1 meter at the lowest point but is depending of the local conditions, such as topography and typical snow depth.  
         [0036]     The net structure or grating on the range area shall have an open mesh structure, which is as big as possible but small enough to keep a golf ball from falling through the structure. Hence the net structure or grating will be part of the ball collection and return transport function while it allows e.g. rain and snow to fall through the structure and be accommodated under the raised floor of the range area.  
         [0037]     A preferred mesh size in such a net structure or grating will cover 1-300 cm 2  (the greater value for very elongated mesh shapes). The openings in the net structure can have any shape such as round, polygon, trapezoid or rectangular, where rectangular or square is preferred. The upper surface of the range plate may be smooth or may comprise ridges as shown in  FIG. 5 . If the range plate comprises ridges such ridges will form lanes running towards the ball collecting system. When a rectangular shape of the openings are selected in the range plate, and the areas of the openings are larger than the sectional area of the golf ball, the transverse length of the openings will be smaller than the diameter of the golf ball.  
         [0038]     The raised floor of the range area ( 5 ) shall have a ball collecting function and therefore be installed with a gentle slope preferably towards a central return transport mechanism ( 6 ). The slope shall be big enough to make sure that the golf balls do not get stuck on the raised floor. Such a slope is preferably in the interval 2 [deg]-15 [deg].  
         [0039]     One application of these principles is the use of a dedicated rigid grating component in building up the raised floor, referred to as a “range plate” below. However, the invention&#39;s principles of a range area net structure with specified mesh size and raised above the ground are valid for any net structure made of stiff or soft material. Possible rigid materials to be used in such range plates may be metal (aluminum or stainless steel) or plastic.  
         [0040]     Several all-climate artificial driving ranges may be installed side by side without fences along the common sides, in order to create a wider range area.  
         [0041]     Range Plate  
         [0042]     As mentioned above, the raised floor ( 5 ) of the range area is preferably consisting of range plates, ref.  FIG. 3  and  4 . The design of range plates shall be focused on keeping them straight after mounting on the raised floor, without sinking down in the middle and thereby worsening the collecting function when balls roll down to the return transport unit ( 6 ).  
         [0043]     Hence the size and material of the plate shall be such that the rigidity is optimized. If necessary, additional supporting beams under the plates may be used.  
         [0044]     It is further preferred to design the thickness of the range plates as high as possible, balanced against the requirement for low weight and easy handling. The thickness of the plates&#39; grating will increase the rigidity of the plate and is preferably in the range 15-50 mm, where around 30 mm is the most preferred.  
         [0045]     The grating shall preferably be unsymmetrical such that the parts of the surface of the range plate which are parallel to the desired direction of the rolling golf ball shall be higher than the parts which are perpendicular to it. Please refer  FIG. 5 . Mounted on the raised floor of the proposed range system the higher parts of the structure of the plates shall be positioned at 90 [deg] angle to the central axis (and return transport system ( 6 )) of the range area. A difference in height between the two levels of the plate&#39;s structure shall be 1-15 mm, where 4-10 mm is preferred. The basic aim is to avoid having a golf ball ( 7 ) resting on the higher part of the grating touching the lower part, and possibly stop. Hence the height between the two parts of the structure will be depending on the distance between the longitudinal bars ( 8 ) of the grating, since that distance will decide how far down towards the lower structure ( 9 ) the ball will reach.  
         [0046]     It is further preferred that the range plates can be located firmly and close together in order to form a fully covering surface. For this purpose they may be provided with clasps, hooks or similar ( 10 ,  11 ) for the mechanical connection plate-to-plate and/or plate-to-support structure. The clasps shall be located at the bottom or lower side of the range plate in order not to obstruct a rolling golf ball on top of the grating.  
         [0047]     It is further preferred that the range plates are isolated from each other with regard to vibrations. This is done by the use of absorbing materials in an anti-vibration mounting ( 11 ), possibly incorporated with the earlier mentioned mechanical connection,  FIG. 6  indicates the vibration absorbers ( 11 ).  
         [0048]     This isolation of each range plate is essential for the length-measuring system as the detection of impact on a plate will be isolated to the specific plate and false detections avoided. The system for length measurement is described below.  
         [0049]     Possible dimensions of one range plate can be 1-5 meter×5-20 meter, for example 3×10 meters. Size and weight of the range plate should still allow for easy handling of one plate by two persons. The final design—overall dimensions, material, mesh size etc.—of the range plate will be made by a professional based on the requirements above.  
         [0050]     Length Measurement  
         [0051]     In order to detect and record a golf drive to any part of the range area, and present the length and direction of it for a practicing golfer the raised floor is preferably equipped with impact detectors.  
         [0052]     Detection can be accomplished by use of pressure detectors, vibration detectors or similar mounted under or in the net structure of the raised floor. When a golf ball hits for example one of the range plates, which the grating is preferably consisting of, the impact will be detected and a signal will be transmitted to a display unit. The display will then indicate the length with a resolution basically determined by the size of the range plate.  FIG. 4 , top- view of the range area, indicates how range plates may be mounted side by side, each with its central axis at a 90 [deg] angle to the central axis of the range. The signals from indicated transducers/detectors (e.g. pressure or vibration) are preferably routed along the central axis of the range, where also the return transport is organized. The detectors are indicated mounted in the middle of each plate.  
         [0053]     It is preferred to arrange the display such that the lengths of a number (e.g. ten) of the last shots are displayed at the same time. Also other means for registering impact on the range area, based on principles such as magnetism or microwaves, may be used.  
         [0054]     Artificial Golf Green  
         [0055]     One or more artificial golf greens ( 4 ) are preferred mounted on top, and above, of the raised floor. Preferably made in the same net structure or grating as the rest of the range area. The edges of such a green shall be shaped in order to restrict a ball on the green to leave it. The surface of the green shall preferably slope inward to a hole where the ball can fall down to the raised floor. It is preferred to have a system (micro switch, photocell or other) for detecting the ball falling down from the green in order to present hits on the green on the same display as previously mentioned.  
         [0056]     Return Transport of Balls  
         [0057]     It is preferred that the range area includes mechanisms for return transport of golf balls driven out onto it (indicated by arrows in  FIGS. 3 and 4 ). Such mechanisms can be of passive or active type or a combination of both.  
         [0058]     Passive return transport is achieved by having the net structure or grating sloping directly back to the building and the tee-off area or towards an active transport system. This invention prefers sloping of the raised floor of the range area towards an active transport system, such as the one indicated ( 6 ) in the overview  FIG. 1 .  
         [0059]     The active return transport is achieved by installing a transport system, such as conveyor belt or transport lift, powered mechanically or electrically. The active transport system shall preferably be constructed in covered sections suited for installation on the main axis of the range area with balls entering through openings from the raised floor, sloping down to it on both sides. The detailed design of the active transport system will be made by an expert in his field based on these requirements.  
         [0060]     An alternative arrangement of the range plates is mounting a second net structure or grating above the already described raised floor. The mesh size of the second, higher up located, net structure shall be bigger than a golf ball in order to act as a barrier for powerful golf shots and reduce the hard impact on, and risk of damaging, the more delicate detecting range plates below.  
         [0061]     A preferred embodiment of location of the floor levels is shown in  FIG. 2 , wherein the reference number  12  indicates the highest level of the raised floor, reference number  13  indicates the location of the lowest level of the raised floor and the reference number  14  indicates the ground level.  
         [0062]     A possible arrangement of a fence around the golf range area as well as nets for catching golf balls having a trajectory indicating that they were going to fall outside the artificial golf range area according to the invention is indicated in  FIG. 7 . The fence includes a low level fence  15  surrounding the artificial golf range according to the invention and two triangular high level fences  16  running on each side of the range area and on top of the low level fence  15 . The highest point of the high level fence lies preferably at a height of about 25-35 meters.  
         [0063]     Furthermore it is preferred (but not strictly required) that there are attached one or more drop nets to the fence for catching stray golf balls. Thus there may be located an arc shaped drop net  17  at the highest point of the fence, and there may also be placed square drop nets  18  at a location between the building  2  and the farthest part of the artificial golf range according to the invention.  
         [0064]     This invention has been described above with references to the attached figures and to preferred versions of it. However, other alternatives to these versions may be found within the claims of the invention.