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US 5,690,558 AGranted
Golf ball retriever
AssigneeLarry K. Goodman
InventorJack A. Huber
Life of this patent
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AssigneeLarry K. Goodman
InventorJack A. Huber
Estimating the term…
A golf ball retriever is attached to the handle of a golf putter and is used to retrieve a golf ball from a playing surface and to concurrently deposit a golf ball marker in place of the golf ball. The apparatus includes a fork rotatably mounted to a support body that is secured to the extremity of the handle of a golf club shaft. The fork has a pair of arms which lie substantially in a common plane and are arcuately curved toward each other. One of the arms is longer than the other. A golf ball marker with a turf-engaging spike is placed on the underside of the body supporting the fork and is held thereto by a magnet within the support body. The fork is moved toward the golf ball while residing at a lifting angle inclined about fifteen degrees downwardly relative to the golf club shaft. The arms of the fork engage the undersurface of the golf ball and cradle it therebetween. Once the golf ball has been cradled within the arms of the fork, the shaft is pressed downwardly, thereby engaging the spike of the ball marker in the turf. The fork is then moved laterally away from the ball marker in a scooping motion, thereby overcoming the magnetic force of attraction holding the ball marker to the support. This leaves the golf ball marker in the former position of the golf ball, while the golf ball itself is scooped up.
Apparatus for retrieving a golf ball from a playing surface comprising a fork and attachment means for securing said fork to an elongated shaft that has a handle end and an opposite end, wherein said attachment means secures said fork to the extremity of said handle end, and wherein said fork has first and second arms separated from each other and lying substantially in a common plane and arcuately curved toward each other so as to receive and cradle a golf ball therebetween and said first arm is longer than said second arm, and means for holding said arms in at least one lifting position in which said arms extend outwardly from said elongated shaft at a predetermined lifting angle between perpendicular alignment relative to said elongated shaft and a thirty degree inclination from perpendicularity in a direction away from said opposite end of said elongated shaft.
A golf ball retrieving apparatus comprising:
In combination, a golf putter having a shaft with a putter head end and a handgrip end and a golf ball retriever having a support body attached to the extremity of said handgrip end of said shaft, a fork having an axle with opposite ends rotatably mounted to said support body and having first and second arms extending from said axle ends at a common angle relative to said golf putter shaft and said arms are arcuately curved toward and spaced from each other to cradle a golf ball therebetween, and said first arm is longer than said second arm, and lifting position detent means for releasably holding said fork so that said first and second arms extend at a selected ball lifting angle of within thirty degrees of perpendicularity relative to said shaft.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.