Height-Adjustable Golf Tee

The present invention relates to a height-adjustable golf tee.

Golf starts at a point of tee shot for each hole, and the tee shot is played with a golf ball floating in the air by a predetermined distance above a grassy ground.

A golf tee is to seat the golf ball for floating the golf ball at a predetermined height from the ground, which is a must-have item for playing golf.

In general, the golf tee is inserted to a predetermined depth into the ground together with the golf ball seated thereon by an external force pressed by a golfer, and since the golf tee is formed to have a limited length, there is a limitation in appropriately adjusting the height of the golf ball according to a ground state of a teeing ground.

For example, when a relatively long golf tee is used to prevent the golf tee from flying together during the tee shot, the golf tee is inserted deep into the ground, and when the golf tee is not inserted to a desired depth due to a relatively hard bottom of the teeing ground of a certain hole, the golfer is psychologically and adversely affected, and when the tee shot is performed by inserting the golf tee only to a depth at which the golf tee is inserted in order to reduce a time, there are frequent cases where the golfer does not satisfy the tee shot.

To prevent the above-described case, a height-adjustable golf tee has been invented, and Korean Registered Patent No. 10-1672441 (registration date: 2016.10.28, title of the invention: height-adjustable golf tee) and the like may be presented as an example of the height-adjustable golf tee.

However, according to the conventional height-adjustable golf tee of the presented patent document described below, the height of the golf tee, which was adjusted by an impact of swing transmitted to the golf tee during the tee shot, was frequently changed, and a structure of the golf tee was also complicated, and thus there was a limitation in actual application as the manufacturing cost increased.

One object of the present invention is to provide a height-adjustable golf tee which may adjust a height only using a simple manipulation due to a simple structure, and may maintain the height in an adjusted state even when an impact of a tee shot is transmitted.

A height-adjustable golf tee according to one aspect of the present invention includes: a fixing member having a predetermined length in a vertical direction and inserted into a ground so that a position thereof is fixed; a main body member slidably connected to the fixing member so as to protrude from the fixing member in a longitudinal direction of the fixing member or to be retracted into the fixing member; and a height maintenance member provided at an end portion of the main body member, formed of an elastic material, and configured to maintain an adjusted height of the main body member in a state where a height of the main body member with respect to the fixing member is adjusted by varying the height of the main body member connected to the fixing member, in which in a state where the main body member is connected to the fixing member, the height of the main body member with respect to the fixing member is varied by an external force to adjust the height of the main body member to a required height, and when the external force is removed in a state where the height of the main body member is adjusted, the adjusted height of the main body member is maintained by the height maintenance member.

According to the height-adjustable golf tee according to one aspect of the present invention, the height-adjustable golf tee includes the fixing member, the main body member, and the height maintenance member, and accordingly, the height of the main body member may be adjusted only using a simple manipulation of varying the height of the main body member with respect to the fixing member by transferring an external force, and even when the impact of the tee shot is transmitted to the main body member, as well as when the external force is removed, the impact may be buffered by the height maintenance member, thereby maintaining the height of the main body member in an adjusted state.

Hereinafter, a height-adjustable golf tee according to embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to accompanying drawings.

is a perspective view showing a state of a height-adjustable golf tee according to a first embodiment of the present invention,is a perspective view showing a state where the height-adjustable golf tee according to the first embodiment of the present invention is separated,is a sectional view of the height-adjustable golf tee according to the first embodiment of the present invention, which is vertically cut, andis an enlarged view of part A of.

Referring to, a height-adjustable golf teeaccording to the present embodiment includes a fixing member, a main body member, and a height maintenance member.

The fixing memberhas a predetermined length in a vertical direction, is inserted into the ground so that a position thereof is fixed, is formed of a metal material or a synthetic resin material, and includes a fixing body, a ground seating portion, and a connection hole.

The fixing bodyis formed in a cylindrical shape and has a predetermined length in the vertical direction with a lower portion formed in a shape that is gradually sharpened outward such that the fixing bodyis easily inserted into the ground.

The ground seating portionis provided at an upper end of the fixing bodyand extends laterally outward of the fixing body.

In detail, the ground seating portionis formed in a disc shape having a diameter that is relatively larger than a diameter of the fixing body, and when the fixing bodyis inserted into the ground, the ground seating portionis seated on the ground to limit an insertion depth of the fixing bodyand to stably maintain an inserted state of the fixing bodyinserted into the ground.

The connection holeis recessed inward from a central portion of the upper surface of the fixing bodyby a predetermined depth, and is a space into which at least a part of the main body memberis inserted.

Reference numeralis a catching protrusion protruding from an inner circumferential surface of the connection holetoward a central portion to prevent the main body memberand the height maintenance memberfrom being arbitrarily separated from the fixing memberafter the main body memberand the height maintenance memberare inserted into the connection hole.

The catching protrusionhas a diameter that is relatively smaller than a diameter of the height maintenance member. In that case, the main body membermay be slid such that the height thereof is varied in the connection hole, whereas when the main body memberprotrudes from the fixing memberby a predetermined length, the main body memberis caught on the catching protrusion, thereby preventing the height maintenance memberand the main body member, which is coupled to the height maintenance member, from being arbitrarily separated in the connection hole.

The main body memberis slidably connected to the fixing memberto protrude from the fixing memberin a longitudinal direction of the fixing memberor to be retracted into the fixing member, and includes a main body, a golf ball seating portion, and a main body-side central hole.

The main bodyhas a predetermined length in the vertical direction, and is slidably inserted into the connection hole.

That is, when the main bodyis slid in the connection holeto protrude to the outside of the connection hole, the height of the main body memberwith respect to the fixing memberis relatively increased, so that the overall height of the height-adjustable golf teeis relatively increased.

In contrast, when the main body memberis slid in the connection holeto be retracted into the connection hole, the height of the main body memberwith respect to the fixing memberis relatively reduced, so that the overall height of the height-adjustable golf teeis relatively reduced.

The ground seating portionis provided at an upper end of the main bodyand extends laterally outward of the main bodyso that a golf ball is seated thereon.

A central portion of the golf ball seating portionis formed at a position relatively lower than an edge part of the golf ball seating portionso that the golf ball is safely seated on the golf ball seating portion.

The main body-side central holeis formed through the central portion of the main bodyin a longitudinal direction of the main body.

The main body-side central holecommunicates with the connection hole.

Meanwhile, the fixing memberis formed with a reflection portionwhich connects an upper surface of the ground seating portionand the inner circumferential surface of the connection holeto each other, and is inclined in the form that gradually converges from the upper surface of the ground seating portiontoward an inside of the connection hole.

The reflection portionreflects a shape, a picture, a figure, or the like disposed in front thereof, and may be presented as an example of a metal plate having a smooth surface or a mirror formed of a glass material.

The main bodyconstituting the main body memberis formed with a height checking indicatorthat enables checking of a height.

A plurality of height checking indicatorsare spaced apart from each other at mutually different heights in a vertical direction, which is the longitudinal direction of the main body, and a scale or number capable of checking the mutually different heights may be presented by way of example.

As the height checking indicator is formed as described above, the adjusted height of the main body memberwith respect to the fixing membermay be checked through an image of the height checking indicatorreflected by the reflection portion.

According to the present embodiment, the height checking indicatoris formed in a number, and is formed in a reverse direction in which the top and bottom thereof are reversed as shown in.

In that case, the image of the height checking indicatorreflected by the reflection portionis viewed in the forward direction, so that a golfer may easily check the adjusted height of the main body memberthrough the image of the height checking indicatorreflected by the reflection portionon the height-adjustable golf teewhile putting the height-adjustable golf teein the ground without checking the height checking indicatorin the lateral direction in order to check the height of the height-adjustable golf tee.

The height maintenance memberis formed at an end portion of the main body member, is formed of an elastic material such as rubber, is configured to maintain the adjusted height of the main body memberin a state where the height of the main body memberwith respect to the fixing memberis adjusted by varying the height of the main body memberconnected to the fixing member, and includes a height maintenance body, an elastic protrusion body, and a height maintenance-side central hole.

The height maintenance bodyis formed in a cylindrical shape and is coupled to an opposite end portion of the main body, which is in a direction opposite to the golf ball seating portionformed at one end portion of the main body.

The elastic protrusion bodyprotrudes laterally outward from an outer circumferential surface of the height maintenance body, and makes contact with an inner surface of the connection holewhile being elastically deformed when the main bodyis inserted into the connection hole.

The height maintenance-side central holeis formed through the central portion of the height maintenance bodyin the longitudinal direction of the main body.

The height maintenance-side central holecommunicates with the main body-side central holeand the connection hole.

The main body-side central holeand the connection holeserve as an air flow path through which air in an inner space of the connection holeis discharged to the outside when the main body memberis slid with respect to the fixing member.

In addition, since the height maintenance memberis coupled to a lower end of the main body memberand is formed of an elastic material, an impact of golf swing transmitted to the main body memberduring a tee shot is absorbed while the height maintenance memberis elastically deformed, and accordingly, an impact of the tee shot transmitted to the main body membermay be alleviated by the height maintenance member.

When the height-adjustable golf teeis configured as described above, the height of the main body memberwith respect to the fixing memberis varied by an external force in a state where the main body memberis connected to the fixing memberso that the height of the main body memberis adjusted to a required height, and when the external force is removed in a state where the height of the main body memberis adjusted, the adjusted height of the main body membermay be maintained by the height maintenance member.

In detail, the main body memberis slid by the external force after being inserted into the fixing member, and the air in the connection hole, which is an inner space of the fixing member, is discharged to the outside through the height maintenance-side central holeand the main body-side central hole, so that the height of the main body memberwith respect to the fixing membermay be varied, and in a state where the height of the main body memberwith respect to the fixing memberis varied, the height of the main body memberwith respect to the fixing membermay be maintained in an adjusted state by a frictional force between the inner surface of the connection holeand the elastic protrusion body.

In more detail, since the elastic protrusion bodymakes contact with the inner surface of the connection holewhile being elastically deformed, the frictional force is generated between the elastic protrusion bodyand the inner surface of the connection hole, and the position of the main body memberwith respect to the fixing membermay be fixed by the frictional force in a state where the height of the main body memberis varied.

In this state, when an external force that is relatively smaller than the frictional force generated between the elastic protrusion bodyand the inner surface of the connection holeis transmitted to the main body member, the main body membermaintains the position with respect to the fixing member, and when an external force that is relatively larger than the frictional force generated between the elastic protrusion bodyand the inner surface of the connection holeis transmitted to the main body member, the main body memberprotrudes from the fixing memberor is retracted into the fixing memberso that the height with respect to the fixing memberis varied, and when the external force is removed in a state where the height of the main body memberis varied, the main body memberis maintained in a state in which the height thereof is adjusted by the frictional force between the elastic protrusion bodyand the inner surface of the connection hole.

Hereinafter, an operation of the height-adjustable golf teeaccording to the present embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to accompanying drawings.

First, the main body memberis connected to the fixing member.

Thereafter, the fixing memberis inserted into the ground.

In this case, the fixing memberis preferably inserted by a depth at which the ground seating portionis seated on the ground.