Golf Tee Dispenser and Method for Storing and Dispensing a Golf Tee

The present application includes subject matter disclosed in and claims priority to U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 63/631,986, filed Apr. 9, 2024, entitled “Golf Tee Dispenser And Method For Storing And Dispensing A Golf Tee”, incorporated herein by reference, and which describes an invention made by the present inventor.

The present invention relates to golf and golf accessories. More particularly, the present invention relates to a novel method and invention for storing and dispensing golf tees.

There are various accessories golfers need to assist them during a round of golf. These accessories range from ball markers and golf tees to scorekeepers and starters (a device used to randomly determine the tee-off order before any honors have been established). Whether walking or riding in a cart, the space and storage options for golf accessories are limited. Efficient use of space and storage options demands that the functions of the items that are carried be optimized. One way to maximize storage opportunities is by centralizing or combining the functions of various accessories into a single item or location.

There are numerous devices in the marketplace and in the prior art that are perfectly suited to keeping and storing accessories for use during a game of golf. As any golfer knows, the time spent waiting for the golfers playing ahead of you often far exceeds the time that is spent interacting with one's golf ball. So, the time between golf strokes is often spent in

In light of the commercial devices in the known art, it is submitted that the present invention substantially diverges in design elements and consequently it is clear that there is a need in the art for an improvement for a golf tee dispenser that optimizes the available storage opportunities. In this regard the instant invention substantially fulfills these needs.

The present invention comprises a novel golf tee dispenser that can be hosted by a golf bag or inside the golf cart. The golf tee dispenser generally consisting of a housing, capable of storing a plurality of golf tees, a dispensing outlet, and a lanyard. The preferred embodiment of the golf accessory caddy incorporates a two-piece plastic housing assembly shaped like a firearm magazine whose internal features keep the stored golf tees in an organized single-stack arrangement that maximizes the storage capacity and enables the reliable one-tee-at-a-time dispensing. Dispensing of the golf tees is managed by a dispensing outlet that is made from elastomeric material that is then attached to the housing assembly to control the dispensing of the stored golf tees. After loading the golf tees into the housing assembly in an alternating fashion, the dispensing outlet is affixed to the housing assembly where the entire assemblage is then suspended by the lanyard whereby gravity then compels the lowermost tee to rotate partially out of the golf tee dispenser presenting itself to the golfer for use. Once removed, the next tee rotates into presentation and so on until the store of golf tees has been exhausted.

The present disclosure describes a golf tee storage and dispensing methods and devices.illustrates a preferred embodiment golf dispenser with a cache of stored golf tees,, the assemblage is shown in the standard hanging configuration with one of the internally stored golf tees being presented for use., illustrates a preferred embodiment of the golf tee dispenser,(1500 sans golf tees), shown in exploded style. The commercially available lanyard,, is shown hosting a plastic carabiner for attaching the golf tee dispenser,, or the golf tee dispenser with cache of tees,, to the exterior of a golf bag or other convenient location. Numerous other attaching mechanisms are available such as a spring clasp or “S” hook. Housing assembly,(), comprises two molded plastic halves,and. The preferred material being acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) plastic. Other plastic types are possible; however, ABS provides the needed mechanical properties in a resin that can be readily colored for various effects at an economical price, the aforementioned plastic halves being produced using the injection molding process. Ultrasonic welding is the preferred method for joining the two halves to create the single housing being employed for the preferred embodiment. Aside from the male/female mounting provisions found in the four-corners and top-center of each molded plastic half,and, the features and design of each is a mirror image of the other and as such indistinguishable once joined. As a result, the number callouts associated with the various features of the housing are therefore interchangeable without impact to the claims or function. For example, molded plastic half,, is a mirror image of molded plastic half,. Interchanging their orientation or callouts would not impact claims or functionality. Dispensing outlet,, made from an elastomeric material such as silicone from a process such as injection molding. Other materials and processes are possible such as nitrile rubber from a compression molding process. Dispensing outletmay be configured as a gasket or otherwise an opening enclosure to circumscribe the lower opening XXX of housing.

The device stores and dispenses golf tees in a one-at-a-time fashion using only gravity coupled with the features found in both the housing and the dispensing outlet. As gravity provides the primary impetus for golf tee motion, reliable dispensing demands that each golf tee is presented to the outlet in a predictable position, and that only one tee at a time be allowed to approach the dispensing outlet. The two main functions, storing and dispensing, are managed by the housing and the dispensing outlet respectively. The housing provides the orderly storage and feeding toward the dispensing outlet that, along with gravity, position the golf tees one-by-one into a readily accessible position for the golfer to access, as illustrated in.

Referring now to the housing,, shown assembled in. As previously discussed, the molded plastic halves,and, are assembled and joined using ultrasonic welding to create a unitary hollow housing,. Adhesive bonding may be employed in lieu of ultrasonic welding as cyanoacrylate adhesive yields good bond strength in ABS plastic joints. As illustrated inthe external features of housing,, are mirrored to provide a symmetrical visual presentation as well as interface for mounting the dispensing outlet,.is a bottom plan view of the housing,, illustrating the presence of a hollow internal cavity whiledepicts the external location of the lanyard,, mounting interface. Once assembled, the housing,, encompasses an internal cavity that is used to store the cache of golf tees. As previously discussed, the molded plastic halves,and, are mirrored parts sharing the same design features and characteristics. As shown in, molded plastic half,, includes a first partial internal cavity,, and one-half of the lanyard mounting provision,, as seen in the inset. The partial internal cavity preferably extends most of the path from bottom to top of device, and when at lower end, is only capped by dispensing outlet. Since mirrored, molded plastic half,, incorporates the complementary features, second partial internal cavity,, and one-half of the lanyard mounting provision,. Partial internal cavitiesandshould reflect one another in cross-sectional size and, while longitudinal shape may differ due to the overall shape of the device.illustrates the assembled housing,, from molded plastic halves,and, with closed housing end,, preferably at the top or oriented upwards, and open housing end,, preferably at the lower end or bottom to facilitate gravitational dispensation through open end. The cutaway portion of molded plastic half,, as shown, provides insight into the structure and features that form the internal cavity,. For clarity, a zero-thickness cross-section of the housing,, is presented in. As shown the two molded plastic halves,and, have been joined creating an internal cavity,, from the combination of the partial internal volumes,and. The internal surfaces of the housing,, bounds and shapes the internal cavity,, where the cache of golf tees are stored. The opposite side forms a similar shape, in cross-section with partial internal volumesandforming internal cavity. Cavitiesandare preferably parallel (in cross-section) and establish location for a transverse tee to pass thereby (wide enough to allow tee headto pass therethrough as shown below). The gap,, is established between the upper housing surface,, and the lower housing surface,. Gapis shaped by rounded intrusions(two on either side facing complementary features), and stabilizing barsas perpendicularly extending bars from either sideand. Stabilizing bars do not need to extend perpendicular, and may simply narrow opening at open end. Stabilizing bars should extend into the cavity at open end at least as far as intrusionsif not further. Stabilizing bar may be centrally located. Stabilizing bars serve to guide the tee stem, while internal cavitiesserve to guide a rounded tee head at large endof a tee (shown below). Internal cavity width,, is determined by the distance between the left-side housing surface,, and the right-side housing surface,, and should be sized appreciably wider e.g. up to 10% or thereabouts to the length of a tee set in gap. The cross-hatched image inrepresents the shape and area of the internal cavity,, while the positive form,P, of the negative internal cavity,, is shown for overall visualization. The perspective view of a sectioned assembled housing,, shown inillustrates further that when the molded plastic halves,and, are joined they create functional internal structures that work to deliver golf tees to the dispensing outlet,, that is attached to the housing,, by the mounting lugs,and. Dispensing outlet may extend over cavity to occlude stabilizing bars and intrusions. Preferably, dispensing outlet extends as far as intrusions and stabilizing bar, or further.

Although a commercial item, a brief description of a typical golf tee,, is beneficial. As shown in, the typical golf tee,, is cylindrical in nature having three main features of importance, they include: the large diameter end,, the stem,, and the small diameter end,. The three-tee stack shown inillustrates an alternating-single-stack arrangement of a plurality of golf tee,, that provides an optimized packing efficiency enabling the most singly-stacked golf tees within a fixed storage volume. An important aspect of one-at-a-time dispensing is preventing the stored golf tees from getting out of single-stack orientation and jamming. The plan view of the housing open end,, shown inwithout the dispensing outlet,, and the housing,, being truncated for clarity illustrates the features of the housing,, that align and prevent the golf tee,, from getting jammed as it approaches the dispensing outlet,. The gap,, is wide enough to accommodate only one stem,, as the golf tee,, travels within the internal cavity,, thereby preventing a jam. Additionally, the internal cavity width,, allows enough freedom of movement to facilitate the gravity-feed mechanism to function without excessive drag or binding. An alternate view of the relationship between the features of the housing,, and the golf tee,, is provided inwhere the housing,, has been truncated just ahead of the mounting lugs,and, for clarity the dispensing outlet,, has been omitted. As previously described, the gap,, maintains the single-stack arrangement within the stored cache of golf tee,, as first illustrated in.

From a functional perspective, it is the responsibility of the housing,, to maintain the orderly flow of golf tee,, to the dispensing outlet,, for a one-at-a-time dispensing presentation. The function of the dispensing outlet,, is to present the golf tee,, or a portion thereof, to the user.throughwill illustrate the integrated features that enable the functionality of the dispensing outlet,.is a top plan view of the dispensing outlet,, interior including retention tabs,, and dispensing depressions,and internal face,. Continuing,is a bottom plan view of the dispensing outlet,, illustrating the external dispensing face,, with central slot,, therein defined by the central slot width,, and the central slot height,, and section line for section A-A. The central slot,, is configured with a central slot width,, to be wide enough to let a golf tee,, pass through, and a central slot height,, being narrow enough to let only the small diameter end,, and the stem,, of golf tee,, pass through under the force of gravity.illustrates the resulting view of Section A-A, the features of the dispensing outlet,, are symmetric about the cutting plane, therefore the reverse of the section A-A would present the exact image as the one provided in. The significant features include the retention tabs,, which serve to retain the dimensions of the central slot,, against undue flexing. As previously discussed, the dispensing outlet,, is removably mounted to the housing,, by ensuring that the mounting lugs pairs,and, are engaged with the pairs of lug windows,, of the dispensing outlet,, the mounting arrangement then ensures that the internal dispensing face,, is directly adjacent to the open housing end,, of the housing,. Some additional features of the dispensing outlet,, include a pair of dispensing depressions,, that partially extend into the dispensing face thickness,, to minimize the retention/pull-out force between the golf tee,, that is being withdrawn from the golf tee dispenser,, through the dispensing outlet,. Two perspective views of the dispensing outlet,, are presented into further illustrate the relationship between the internal and external functional features.presents a bottom plan view of the golf tee dispenser,, with the balance of the assembly truncated for clarity. The view depicts a single golf tee,, housed in the golf tee dispenser,, just prior to being dispensed. Once suspended by the closed housing end,, gravity would force the golf tee,, to rotate about the large diameter end,, with the small diameter end,, and stem,, easily passing through the central slot,, therein being available to the user.presents a reverse view ofillustrating the relationship between the alternating-single-stack arrangement of a plurality of golf tee,, the housing,, and the dispensing outlet,, the balance of the golf tee dispenser,, has been truncated for clarity.includes three sequential views of the tee dispensation in action at and beyond closed end of housing. Specifically dispensing outlet (gasket) is shown side cross section al view with teeshanging therefrom. Teehangs with small point enddownwards, which large endis captured by dispensing outletat a lip. After first teea is pulled, central image depicts how second teerotates and falls down on the opposing end as did teeSimilarly, when teeis removed (as by pulling to cause the lip of elastic dispending end to distend slightly and return to form, third teeis again dispensed (rotating out) to dangle in the same orientation as did teefrom dispensing outletbelow housingand opening.illustrates the one-at-a-time dispensing process starting with image “a” where gravity has forced the rotation of the lowermost golf tee,, counter-clockwise about the large diameter end,, and since the central slot height,, is narrower, the rotated golf tee,, remains captive and presented to the user for withdrawal. Until withdrawn, the suspended golf tee,, prevents its successor from rotating into a presentation position thereby maintaining the one-at-a-time dispensing process. Images “b” and “c” illustrate the progression of alternating dispensing as each successive golf tee,, is dispensed from the opposite side of the golf tee dispenser,.

is presented with a portion of housing,, and the entirety of the dispensing outlet,, in transparency. The image illustrates the alternating-single-stack storage arrangement of the plurality of golf tee,, with one golf tee being shown in the presentation orientation, available for withdrawal and use.

A second embodiment of the golf tee dispenser,and, is illustrated in, for clarity all images shown without the lanyard,. The second embodiment includes a mechanism to prevent stored golf tees from being dispensed.is a front plan view of the golf tee dispenser,, with an augmented dispensing outlet,, that includes safety strap,, and safety loop,, as further illustrated in. Safety strap,, is made from a flexible elastomer such as silicone rubber, and is pulled through the safety loop,, thereby preventing any of the stored golf tee,, from being removed. Additional views of the golf tee dispenser,, with the safety mechanism employed may be found in. Finally,provide images of the golf tee dispenser,, with the safety strap,, in the stowed position using safety post,, to retain the safety strap,.