Patent ID: 7150178

Claim:
An apparatus for measuring the physical properties of a plurality of golf balls, the apparatus comprising: an immovable striking surface; a propelling device facing the immovable striking surface that fires the plurality of golf balls toward the immovable striking surface, wherein said propelling device comprises an interchangeable barrel system; a sensing unit located between the striking surface and the propelling device, wherein the sensing unit has a measuring field covering a space between the propelling device and the immovable striking surface, and wherein the sensing unit is capable of measuring the time it takes for each of the plurality of golf balls to travel a distance in the measuring field of the sensing unit; and a computing unit that calculates the Coefficient of Restitution of the golf ball, wherein the computing unit is in communication with the sensing unit and wherein the computing unit is capable of recording impact properties for each impact of a plurality of golf balls; wherein the computing unit is capable of determining when a golf ball has failed based on the Coefficient of Restitution.