WO2000051691A1 - Device for washing and transporting golf balls - Google Patents

Abstract

A golf ball washing and transporting device that, by way of rotating brushes (1 to 8), not only washes the golf balls (10) but at the same time transports them to the required level so that the golf balls can be collected with no further means in a ball reservoir and whereby the flow of water from the sprayers (14) rinses the balls from the opposite direction so that the dirtiest balls are washed with the dirtiest water and as they gradually become cleaner they are also rinsed with the cleanest water, ensuring in this way an efficient washing effect using as little water as possible.

Description

DEVICE FOR WASHING AND TRANSPORTING GOLF BALLS

A driving range is a place where golf players are able to practise long shots. It consists of an area to the edge of the course on which tees have been created. Golf balls are shot from these areas and land on the driving range. At regular intervals these balls are collected again and once more made available to the practising golfer, usually by way of a ball-dispensing machine with coin-insertion. If, following rain-fall, the ground where the golf balls land is wet then obviously sand, clay and mowed grass sticks to the balls. In that case, the balls will have to be washed to avoid damaging the ball-dispensing machine and also because golfers only want to play with clean balls.

Many different types of golf ball washing devices are available such as the Range King 1C901 Spiral Ball Washer and the Range Servant Ball Washer BT 1250 and BT 1950. These devices are all disadvantageous in that they are slow-working, use a lot of water, are apt to break down and are comparatively expensive. To avoid having to deposit the balls manually in the reservoir of the ball-dispensing machine, a ball transporting device is required that is able to collect the balls at ground level and transport them to the top side of the ball-dispenser's reservoir, approximately 1.75 mt. There are golf-ball transporting devices like the Range King 1A301 Elevator that transports golf balls to a higher level by way of a conveyor belt.

This invention aims to provide a new type of ball washer that combines both of the aforementioned functions but does not have the same disadvantages. It consists of a housing having the same height as the required conveyance height of the golf balls. A number of horizontally rotating brushes have been mounted on the housing. These have been screened off by a protective plate that is shaped in such a way that space is allowed for a golf ball on the upwards rotating side of the brush. This space measures approximately 2/3 of the cross- section of a golf ball. The rest of the space is obtained by transformation of the brush. The downwards rotating side of the brush is entirely blocked off. The ball is picked up from the reservoir by the bottom brush. When it is passed to the following brush the ball takes a turn in the opposite direction of rotation. In this way and due to the bulk inertia of the ball, extra brushing effect is created and the ball is simultaneously "brushed" upwards. Byway of a row of sprayers situated just under the upper brushes, a counter-current downwards stream of water is created. As they make their way upwards, the dirtiest balls are gradually brushed in cleaner water.

The invention is described in this document by way of the following operational example: The dirty golf balls are deposited in the reservoir (9). As the device is put into action brush (1) picks up a number of golf balls from the reservoir over the entire breadth and transports them upwards whilst simultaneously brushing them against plate (11) to brush (2). At point

(12) brush (2) takes the golf ball over and the ball takes on another direction of rotation which creats an extra brushing effect. The balls are in turn taken over by all the other brushes and are washed and transported to the required level and deposited through shute

(13) into the reservoir of the ball-dispensing machine. As the device is put into action water is supplied via sprayers (14). After the brushes and balls have been sufficiently rinsed the water flows out of the device together with the loose dirt.

Claims

CLAIM

A golf ball washing and transporting device consisting of a housing (15) with reservoir (9), ejector spout (13), horizontally placed rotating brushes (1 to 8) in the housing, a row of sprayers (14) and water and dirt drainage (16) characterised in that the rotating brushes, thanks to their reversible rotary action and the spaces (a) and (b) situated opposite each other between the brushes and protection plate (11), not only wash the balls but also transport them, whilst when the golf balls are being passed on to the other brushes, extra brushing effect is created due to the brushes' reversible rotary action and the balls are deposited in the ball reservoir without any need for human or mechanical intervention and in that water is supplied from the sprayers (14) at the upper part and is drained off through the drain-pipe (16) therefore ensuring that the dirtiest balls are rinsed with the dirtiest water and as the balls gradually become cleaner they are also rinsed with cleaner water and consequently a good cleaning effect is ensured using as little water as possible.