JPH0331068B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] (Technical field) The present invention relates to a putter training machine.

(Background Art) Conventionally, various putter practice machines have been provided, but
There is no one that faithfully reproduces the subtle changes in the grass (grain, slope, etc.) like the area around the hole on the actual green. For example, Utsukai Showa 58-61278
As shown in the figure, the grass grain provided on the main body of the putter practice machine was generally regular, and it was impossible to practice by changing the grass grain.

(Object of the Invention) The present invention has been proposed in view of the above points, and its purpose is to make mats on which artificial turf etc. are planted removable so that the grass pattern can be freely changed. To provide a putter practice machine which can surely return a ball to a player's feet and enable him to perform practical practice.

(Disclosure of the Invention) The present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, Figures 1 to 9 show embodiments of the present invention, and the putter practice machine shown in Figure 1 can be fitted with a long floor mat FM to be placed between it and the player. There is. This putter practice machine includes a floor 1 having first and second mats 46, 47 which are continuous with a floor mat FM and whose surfaces are covered with artificial turf, etc., and side walls 2 surrounding the floor 1 on three sides.
A center housing 3 and a ball return path housing 4 are provided upright, and between the floor 1 and the center housing 3, a ball return path housing 4 is installed from the side wall 2.
A ball throwing path 5 is formed which descends and slopes at an angle of 5 degrees or more in the direction of the ball and extends into the ball return path housing 4. In addition, a buffer member 45 with a small coefficient of repulsion, such as recoilless rubber, is provided on the inner wall surface of the central housing 3 that faces the ball throwing path 5, to prevent an overrun ball from bouncing in the direction of the floor 1, and to securely The ball is dropped onto throwing path 5.

On the other hand, floor 1 is a circular hole 6 where the ball goes.
The hole 6 includes a first mat 46 equipped with a ball and a second mat 47 near the player's side, and the hole 6 is equipped with a first mat 46 equipped with a ball and a second mat 47 near the player's side.
A rotatable feed lever 7 for feeding the ball inward is provided, and switch springs 10 and 11 as sensors for ball detection are provided on the left and right sides of the hole 6, respectively. Here, since the ball throwing path 5 goes around almost to the outer circumference of the semicircular part of the hole 6,
A strongly hit ball can also be reliably dropped into the ball throwing path 5, and a ball that has collided with the buffer member 45 can be prevented from returning to the first mat 46 again.

Further, the second mat 47 is attached to the floor 1 at its four corners via retaining pins 48 as shown in FIG. 2, and can be freely attached or detached by removing the retaining pins 48 from the back side of the floor 1. .

Furthermore, a display section 8 and a main switch 9 are provided on the front of the central housing 3, of which the display section 8 can display the number of balls that have been clicked in and the number of balls that have not been clicked in and have deviated to the left and right of the hole 6. It's getting old. Incidentally, a ball that deviates to the left or right is detected by a sensor consisting of the switch springs 10, 11, etc. Also, the first
In the figure, 12 is a knob for adjusting the return distance, 42 is an adjustment groove for positioning the knob 12, 44 is a return path, 44a is a concave path, and 55 is a ball B for the player.
The standby indicator lamp indicates that the unit is ready for use.

Next, on the side of the floor mat FM, return path 44
The ball return rail 49 is connected to the connection protrusion 50 on the extension of the ball return rail 49.
The ball return rails 49 can be connected to each other along their lengths via connection protrusions 49a. Furthermore, the ball can roll on the surface of the ball return rail 49, and a movable rubber ball stopper 51 can be attached thereto. Incidentally, a plurality of undulation adjustment screws 52 are attached to the ball return rail 49, and by this adjustment, the undulation of the floor mat FM can be adjusted.

Next, the ball throwing mechanism D for sending the cupped ball into the ball throwing path 5 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. In these figures, a feed lever 7 disposed at the back of the inclined bottom plate 6a in the hole 6 is rotatable upward by approximately 90 degrees by a pivot 14, and the feed lever 7 A ring-shaped ball receiver 15 is provided at the bottom, and a locking pin 16 is provided at the tip on the side of the central housing 3. Furthermore, a switch spring 17 for driving a first motor 21 (to be described later), which is supported at one end and can swing downward, is disposed in the through hole of the ball receiver 15, and a fixed contact plate that contacts the switch spring 17 is disposed below the switch spring 17. 18 is fixed on the substrate 19.

On the other hand, a motor support stand 20 is located inside the central housing 3 so as to be located slightly above the board 19.
is fixed, and a first motor 21 is attached to the upper surface of this motor support stand 20. The output shaft of this motor 21 passes through the motor support stand 20, and an approximately oval-shaped eccentric plate 22 is attached to the output shaft.
is fixed and can be rotated. On the front and back sides of the eccentric plate 22, there are a pair of locking bosses 23 facing each other and protruding toward the motor support base 20, and a pair of pressing bosses 24 vertically extending toward the board 19 in the vicinity of the eccentric shaft. It is formed. In addition, extrusion boss 2
A switch spring 25 for driving the motor 21, which is pressed and driven by the rotating press boss 24, is arranged on the base plate 19 so as to face the rotation path of the switch 4, and the tip of the switch spring 25 comes into contact with the switch spring 25. A fixed contact plate 26 is arranged below the eccentric plate 22.

A feed plate 27 having a substantially L-shape in plane is disposed on the center line of the feed lever 7 on the side of the eccentric plate 22. A locking notch 28 is formed at the end of the feed plate 27 on the side of the feed lever 7, and the locking notch 28 locks with the locking pin 16 of the feed lever 7, and the other end of the feed plate 27 The portion is bent at right angles in the direction of the eccentric plate 22 to form a locking piece 29. Also,
The feed plate 27 is biased by a spring 30 whose one end is fixed to the motor support base 20 so as to constantly pull the feed lever 7 toward the motor support base 20 . Here, the tip of the locking piece 29 can be locked to the locking boss 23 of the eccentric plate 22 that rotates eccentrically, and as the locking boss 23 rotates, the feed plate 27 is driven in the direction of the feed lever 7. In addition, the spring 30 causes the feed plate 27 to return to its original position at the moment the locking piece 29 and the locking boss 23 are released. In addition, in FIG. 3, 13 indicates a recess for holding the hand for carrying, etc., and in FIG.
2 shows a step-down adapter connection terminal when using a commercial power supply.

Next, the ball return mechanism G, which is a characteristic feature of the present invention, will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 5 to 7.
As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, a second motor 33 as an actuator is fixed on the board 19 near the end of the ball throwing path 5, and its output shaft has an approximately oval shape similar to the eccentric plate 22. A shaped eccentric plate 34 is attached and is rotatable. This eccentric plate 3
A pair of locking bosses 35 are vertically provided on the back surface of the spring 4, and as described later, they lock onto the striking piece 39 of the ball return lever 38, thereby locking the striking piece 39 or the ball return lever 38 into the spring 4.
It is designed so that it can be driven against zero.

On the other hand, near the intersection of the ball throw path 5 and the ball return path housing 4, a fixed contact plate 36 is disposed on the base plate 19, and slightly above the fixed contact plate 36, a contact plate 36 swings downward by the weight of the ball B. , fixed contact plate 36
A switch spring 37 is arranged as a spring contact for driving the motor 33 in contact with the switch spring 3.
One end of 7 is fixed to the end of the substrate 19. Further, a substantially frame-shaped ball return lever 38 is disposed above the fixed contact plate 36, and a striking piece 39 extending in the direction of the eccentric plate 34 is integrally fixed to the end thereof on the eccentric plate 34 side. . Further, the end of the ball return lever 38 on the ball return path housing 4 side is connected to an adjustment lever 41 via a spring 40, and the bent end of this adjustment lever 41 is connected to the ball return path housing 4 as shown in FIG. The ball return path is engaged in an adjustment groove 42 formed in a side wall of the housing 4 in stages along the length of the housing 4, and a knob 12 is attached to the tip thereof.

That is, the ball return lever 38 is always urged toward the exit of the ball return path housing 4 by the spring 40, and by changing the adjustment mechanism 42 to which the adjustment lever 41 is locked, the fulcrum of the spring 40 changes, and the ball return At times, the impact force applied to the ball by the striking piece 39, in other words, the return distance of the ball can be made variable.

Next, FIG. 8 shows the structure of a sensor that detects the ball straying to the left and right of the hole 6. A fixed contact plate 53 is provided below the switch springs 10 and 11, and the switch spring 1 pushed by the ball
A counting signal is output by contact with 0 or 11.

Figure 9 is an example of a circuit that displays the number of balls that have been hit in or deviated to the left or right.The left and right sensors of the hole 6 or the sensor S in the hole 6 are turned on due to the weight of the balls, and the count display section CD
An H level signal is input to the counter COUN via the Nant gate NG inside. As a result, the counter COUN counts "1" and the subsequent display element
Display “1” by DIS. The number of elements can be up to "99". At the same time, the output signal of the NAND gate NG is applied to the one-shot multi OM, so the one-shot multi OM keeps its output at L level for a certain period determined by the capacitor C and the resistor R. By doing this, even if the sensor S is turned ON again within the certain period, the output signal of the NAND gate NG is kept at the H level, and a count signal is not sent to the counter COUN.

To explain this operation, the ball B putted by the player is placed between the floor mats FM, 2nd and 1st.
When you enter hall 6 through mats 47 and 46,
The ball B is placed on the bottom plate 6 in the hole 6 shown in FIG.
a and reaches inside the ball receiver 15. At the same time, the switch spring 17 and the fixed contact plate 18 are closed due to the weight of the ball B, and the first motor 21
And the eccentric plate 22 is driven. Also, at the same time, a signal for counting the balls B that have been pulled in is emitted. If the position of the eccentric plate 22 before the ball B is cupped in is as shown in FIG. 4, then one of the pressing bosses 24 is pressing the switch spring 25, and the fixed contact plate 26 is open. Then, when the motor 21 rotates as described above with the cup-in, the eccentric plate 22 rotates clockwise, and the switch spring 25 and the fixed contact plate 26 are closed by the movement of the press boss 24. Therefore, the rotation of the motor 21 is continued thereafter.

As the eccentric plate 22 rotates, one of the locking bosses 23 eventually comes into contact with and locks the locking piece 29 of the feed plate 27, and thereafter, as the eccentric plate 22 rotates clockwise, the feed plate 2
7 moves in the direction of the hole 6 while resisting the spring 30. At this time, the feed lever 7, with the locking pin 16 locked in the locking notch 28, rotates about the pivot 14 so as to spring up behind the ball receiver 15, and finally, as shown in FIG. It rotates approximately 90 degrees as shown by the line. Therefore, the ball B is sent out from the ball receiver 15 into the ball throwing path 5 and rolls toward the ball return mechanism G.

On the other hand, after a while after the locking boss 23 and the locking piece 29 are disengaged, the linear part around the eccentric plate 22 comes close to the locking piece 29, so that the locking piece 29, that is, the feed plate 29 loses its grip and is instantly pulled back by the restoring force of the spring 30, returning to the original position shown in FIG. 4, and the feed lever 7 also returns to the inside of the hole 6. At the same time, the rotating press boss 24 presses the switch spring 25 and separates it from the fixed contact plate 26, so the motor 21 stops and the feeding operation of the ball B is completed. In addition,
It is preferable that the rotational speed of the feed lever 7 is slowed down to some extent by adjusting the rotational speed of the motor 21, and that its return speed is made faster than when feeding the ball by adjusting the spring 30. Even if the next ball enters the hole 6 after starting to drive, the ball is instantly repelled by the feed lever 7 and there is no fear of it getting stuck in the hole 6.

Next, the ball B rolling on the inclined ball throwing path 5 reaches the switch spring 37 as shown in FIG. 5, and closes the switch spring 37 and the fixed contact plate 36 by its own weight. This causes the second motor 3
3 rotates, and the eccentric plate 34 rotates counterclockwise. As the eccentric plate 34 rotates, the locking boss 3
5 is engaged with the striking piece 39, and the striking piece 39 is driven upward in FIG. 5 while resisting the spring 40. At this time, a guide bottom surface 54 that descends and slopes toward the base end of the switch spring 37 is provided near the intersection of the ball throwing path 5 and the ball return path 44, as shown in FIG. As it retreats, it moves to the side of the eccentric plate 34.

Thereafter, when the eccentric plate 34 further rotates to the left, the locking boss 35 and the striking piece 39 are disengaged, and after a while, when the straight part around the eccentric plate 34 is reached, the striking piece 39 loses its grip and springs. The ball B is instantaneously moved in the direction of the ball return path 44 by the restoring force of 40, and the ball B is hit and launched onto the ball return path 44, and is automatically and reliably returned to the player's feet via the concave path 44a. .

Further, in the present invention, since the second mat 47 is removable, for example, the second mat 47 having a regular grass
By removing the mat 47 and turning it 90 degrees at a time, it is possible to obtain grass that is tilted to the right, reversed, or tilted to the left, which has the advantage of allowing more practical practice depending on the player's ability. . In addition, by adjusting the angulation of the floor mat FM, you can make your practice even more interesting.

Next, FIGS. 10 and 11 show the second embodiment of the present invention.
An example is shown. In this embodiment, not only the second mat 47 on the floor but also the first mat 46a surrounding the hole 6 can be attached and detached by a fixing pin 48. Further, as shown in FIG. 11, the mats 46a and 47 are supported on the ball throwing path 5 side by a pivot shaft 56 so as to be rotatable, and a mat such as a cam is located below near the joint with the floor mat FM. A tilting mechanism 57 is provided. This mat tilting mechanism 57 can be rotated by a motor 58, and the player operates a switch (not shown) at hand in order to roll the ball B, which has been caught in the seam and stopped, in the direction of the ball throwing path 5. Then, the motor 58 is driven, and the rotation of the cam pushes up the floor 1 and the first and second mats 46a and 47. In addition to this, as a sensor for driving the mat tilting mechanism 57, an optical sensor 59 is buried near the end of the floor mat FM as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11.
A method is also planned in which the first and second mats 46a and 47 are rotated after a certain period of time set by a timer has elapsed since the passage of the mat.

Further, in FIG. 10, reference numeral 45a is a rubber bag corresponding to the buffer member 45 of the above-described embodiment, and a liquid is stored inside the bag, and a water inlet provided at the front end of the central housing 3 is provided. When the overrun ball B hits the rubber bag 45a, the water level of the liquid in the water meter 60 rises, and the overrun distance can be read from the scale of the water meter 60. It's summery.

Note that 61 in FIG. 10 is a mounting hook attached to the ball return rail 49, and by hooking this mounting hook 61 to a hole provided on the side of the floor mat FM, the position of the floor mat FM is prevented from shifting. can do.

In addition, in FIGS. 10 and 11, the same members as in the first embodiment are given the same reference numerals, and their explanations will be omitted.

Next, FIGS. 12 and 13 show a third embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the first mat 4
A circular second hole is placed in front of hole 6 in 6b.
The mat 47a is removably arranged. Note that 62 represents a disk, and 63 represents a holding rib.

According to this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 13, by rotating the second mat 47a integrated with the disc 62, the grass pattern in front of the hole 6 can be freely changed, similar to the actual game. The effect of this can be obtained.
It is also possible to change the length and color of the grass on the second pine 47a.

FIG. 14 is a circuit diagram for lighting the standby indicator lamp 55 provided in the first to third embodiments described above. In the figure, S ₁ and S ₂ are sensors attached to the switch springs 10 and 11, S ₃ is a sensor attached to the switch spring 17 and the fixed contact plate 18,
S ₄ is a switch spring 37, a sensor connected to a fixed contact plate 36, INV is an inverter, FF is a flip-flop, SB is a standby display circuit, D ₁ to _{D 3} are diodes, and 64 to 66 are balls B to the right and left of hole 6, respectively. Display circuit to indicate that it has been inserted or plugged in, BT indicates power supply. The operation is such that when one of the sensors S ₁ to _{S 3} detects the ball B and becomes conductive due to the ball B being putty, the display circuits 64 to 66 for "right", "left", or "cut in" change. diode
A signal is input to the flip-flop FF trigger through _D1 to _D3 . Thereafter, the ball B enters the ball return mechanism G, and when the sensor _S4 detects the ball B and becomes conductive, the ball return motor 33 is operated and a signal is input to the reset of the flip-flop FF through the inverter INV. Here, assuming that the flip-flop FF operates at the rising edge of the input waveform, the flip-flop FF operates as shown in FIG. The output waveform is sensor S ₁ ~ S ₃
H is turned ON, that is, from when the sensor detects ball B, to when sensor _S4 is turned OFF, that is, when the sensor no longer detects ball B.
It becomes a level waveform. This output waveform is sent to the input circuit of the standby display circuit SB, and while the waveform is at H level, the standby display lamp 55 is lit to indicate standby. Diodes D ₁ to _{D 3} constitute a diode OR circuit, with "right", "left",
This is to prevent waveforms from sensors S ₁ to _{S 3} that are not compatible with the "Cup-in" display circuits 64 to 66 from being input.

Next, FIG. 16 shows a fourth embodiment of the present invention,
It is characterized by the configuration of the lighting circuit for the standby indicator lamp. In the figure, 6a is a hole;
A plunger 67a of a solenoid 67 is projected forward from the back wall as a ball return mechanism. Further, a lever 68 is provided protruding from near the tip of this plunger 67a, and the base end of this lever 68 is fixed to a switch spring 69, and the contacts provided on the front and back of the switch spring 69 are provided with appropriate intervals. Terminals 70 and 71 are arranged facing each other. Note that 55a is a standby indicator lamp, and 72 is a cord.

This operation is performed when the switch spring 69 and the terminal 70 are in contact with each other when the ball B is not in the hole 6a, the standby indicator lamp 55a lights up, and the ball B
is in the hole 6a, the lever 68 is pushed by the ball B, the switch spring 69 separates from the terminal 70, the lamp 55a goes out, the switch spring 69 contacts the terminal 71, and the ball B is ejected by the operation of the solenoid 67. . As a result, the lamp 55a lights up again to indicate the standby state, so there is no problem such as the player accidentally hitting the ball B even though the ball B is in the hole 6a.

In this embodiment as well, the mat (not shown) on the floor provided with grass is removable.

Next, FIGS. 17 to 21 show a fifth embodiment of the present invention. In this example, the first mat 46c and the second mat 47b surrounding the hole 6b are tilted independently, so that even a ball B etc. that stops short of the hole 6b can be quickly returned. This is what I did. 17 to 19, 74 is a ball return path, 75 is a ball passing path, 57a, 57b are mat tilting mechanisms such as cams, 58a, 58b are motors, 59a is a light sensor, 76 is a battery, 56a, 56b indicates the axis. Also, as in the previous embodiment, each mat 46c, 47b is removable.

Then, as shown in Figure 20, the floor mat FM
After a certain period of time after the optical sensor 59 detects that the ball B has passed over the second mat 47b, the second mat 47b is tilted by the mat tilting mechanism 57b, and then the first mat 46c is tilted by the mat tilting mechanism 57 as shown in FIG.
If the ball is tilted by a, the ball B will quickly roll toward the return path 74, so even if the ball B stops short of the hole 6b, it can be returned quickly, which has the advantage of allowing efficient putter practice. .

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, according to the present invention, there is a floor provided with a hole, a removable mat laid on the floor and having a grass pattern, and a ball that reaches inside or outside of the hole is detected. a sensor; a display unit indicating the number of balls detected by the sensor;
A putter training machine comprising a spring contact that is displaced by the weight of the ball, an actuator that is energized by the displacement of the spring contact, and a spring that is expanded by driving the actuator, and the restoring force of the spring is By providing a ball return mechanism that returns the ball in the direction of the player using the spring, the ball can be hit by the restoring force of the spring and automatically and reliably returned to the player's feet. You can do some exercises.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 to 9 show a first embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1 is a perspective view, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is taken along line C-C in FIG. 1. A sectional view, FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the ball throwing mechanism, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the ball return mechanism.
Figure 6 is a sectional view taken along line E-E in Figure 1, Figure 7 is a sectional view taken along line FF in Figure 1, and Figure 8 is a sectional view taken along line H-H in Figure 1.
FIG. 9 is a circuit diagram of a display circuit, FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a second embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 11 is a sectional view taken along line II in FIG. 10, and FIG. 12 is a third embodiment of the present invention. A perspective view showing an example, FIG. 13 is also a sectional view of the main part,
Fig. 4 is a circuit diagram of the standby indicator lamp lighting circuit in the first to third embodiments, Fig. 15 is an explanatory diagram of the operation, Fig. 16 is an explanatory diagram of the main part of the fourth embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 17 21 to 21 show a fifth embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 17 is a perspective view, FIG. 18 is a sectional view taken along JJ in FIG. 17, and FIG. 19 is a sectional view taken along KK in FIG. 20 and 21 are operation explanatory diagrams. 1... Floor, 5... Throwing path, 6, 6a, 6b... Hall, 8... Display section, 46, 46a, 46b, 46
c...first mat, 47, 47a, 47b...second
mat, 57, 57a, 57b...mat tilting mechanism, B...ball, G...ball return mechanism, S, _S1 to _S3 ...sensor.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A floor provided with a hole, a removable mat laid on the floor and having a grass pattern, a sensor for detecting a ball arriving inside or outside the hole, and detection by this sensor. A putter practice machine comprising: a display unit that displays the number of balls that have been hit; a spring contact that is displaced by the weight of the balls; an actuator that is energized by the displacement of the spring contact; 1. A putter practice machine comprising: a spring that is extended; and a ball return mechanism that returns the ball toward a player using the restoring force of the spring.