US 2006/0138791 A1Published application

Golf ball retriever

OwnerVictor Leboviciinventor

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Abstract

A golf ball retriever includes a dome shaped or cylindrical head having a sidewall defining an interior cavity. The head has a first open golf ball receiving end and a second occluded end. A deformable retaining member extends from a first to a second location on the sidewall as a chord adjacent the first end. The distance from the retaining member to the most distant sidewall portion along a diameter generally perpendicular to the retaining member is slightly less that the diameter of a golf ball so that a golf ball that has been urged into the cavity is captured therein. In one embodiment, the sidewall includes fingers extending toward said first end one or more openings may be provided in the sidewall to allow a user to insert a finger into the cavity to urge a golf ball out of the cavity. The head may be pivotally mounted to a telescoping shaft.

Claims15

Dependent claims

A golf ball retriever comprising:

a head having a sidewall defining a cavity having a cavity dimension between opposing portions of the sidewall, said cavity sized to receive a golf ball having a first diameter, said head having a first open golf ball receiving end and a second occluded end;
and
a deformable retaining member adjacent said golf ball receiving end, said retaining member extending generally as a chord from a first location on said sidewall to a second location on said sidewall, said retaining member being located in a plane generally parallel to said first end of said head, said retaining member being bisected by a line coincident with said cavity dimension that is located in said plane and perpendicular to said retaining member, said cavity dimension having a short portion between said retaining member and an adjacent sidewall portion and a long portion between said retaining member and the opposing sidewall portion, said long portion having a length slightly less than said first diameter, said deformable retaining member being oriented and configured so as to deform in response to pressure applied to the retaining member upon contact with a golf ball to permit the golf ball to enter the cavity, said retaining member generally returning to its undeformed position after the golf ball has entered the cavity to captively retain the golf ball within the cavity.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.