US2017120119A1PendingUtilityA1

Golfing accessory having improved visibility and functionality

14
Individually held — no corporate assignee on recordPriority: Oct 1, 2015Filed: Oct 3, 2016Published: May 4, 2017
Est. expiryOct 1, 2035(~9.2 yrs left)· nominal 20-yr term from priority
Inventors:Daniel G. Trojan
A63B 71/0622A63B 57/353A63B 2225/50A63B 2210/50A63B 2225/54A63B 2220/801A63B 2220/89A63B 2220/20A63B 2071/0625A63B 57/207A63B 2220/12A63B 71/0669A63B 2220/13A63B 2209/08A63B 2024/0053A63B 2225/74
14
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Claims

Abstract

The present disclosure is directed to a golfing accessory for the game of golf. In particular, a golfing accessory has a ball marker and a holder for the ball marker. The ball marker may be provided with various attention grabbing devices which enable the ball marker to be more easily located in low-light or other difficult conditions.

Claims

exact text as granted — not AI-modified
1 . A ball marker, comprising:
 a body having a top surface and at least one sidewall, the top surface defining a perimeter;   a retention mechanism;   a power source;   a controller;   at least one illumination source;   an activation module in electrical communication with the controller and the at least one illumination source;   wherein the controller controls the activation module to activate the at least one illumination source based on a storage position of the ball marker.   
     
     
         2 . The ball marker of  claim 1 , wherein the activation module comprises a magnetic field sensor. 
     
     
         3 . The ball marker of  claim 1 , wherein the magnetic field sensor is one of a magnetic reed switch, a hall effect sensor, a magnetic flux sensor, and a magnetoresistive sensor. 
     
     
         4 . The ball marker of  claim 1 , wherein the activation module comprises an electrical switch. 
     
     
         5 . The ball marker of  claim 1 , wherein the activation module comprises an electromechanical switch. 
     
     
         6 . The ball marker of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to determine a storage position based on a condition of the activation module. 
     
     
         7 . The ball marker of  claim 1 , wherein the retention mechanism is a magnetic retention mechanism. 
     
     
         8 . The ball marker of  claim 1 , wherein the retention mechanism is a recessed portion. 
     
     
         9 . The ball marker of  claim 8 , wherein the body further comprises a substantially planar bottom surface, and wherein the recessed portion is formed on the bottom surface. 
     
     
         10 . The ball marker of  claim 8 , wherein the retention mechanism is a snap-fit retention mechanism. 
     
     
         11 . The ball marker of  claim 1 , wherein the illumination source is provided on at least one of the top surface and the at least one sidewall. 
     
     
         12 . The ball marker of  claim 1 , further comprising a selection mechanism electrically coupled to the controller for selecting from one of a plurality of operating modes. 
     
     
         13 . The ball marker of  claim 1 , wherein the power source is one of a battery or solar power source. 
     
     
         14 . The ball marker of  claim 1 , further comprising a high-visibility portion. 
     
     
         15 . The ball marker of  claim 14 , wherein the high-visibility portion comprises a material selected from a reflective material, retro-reflective material, and chemiluminescent material. 
     
     
         16 . A golfing accessory comprising
 a ball marker comprising:
 a body, a top surface, and at least one sidewall, the top surface defining a perimeter; 
 a controller; 
 a power source; 
 a retention mechanism; 
 at least one attention attracting devices; 
 an activation module in electrical communication with the controller and the at least one attention attracting device; 
   a holder comprising a first surface and a retention member;   wherein the retention mechanism and retention member are configured to selectively couple the ball marker to the holder; and   wherein the activation module is configured to activate the at least one attention attracting devices when the retention mechanism and retention member are coupled and configured to deactivate the at least one attention attracting devices when the retention mechanism and retention member are not coupled.   
     
     
         17 . The golfing accessory of  claim 16 , wherein the activation module comprises a magnetic field sensor. 
     
     
         18 . The golfing accessory of  claim 17 , wherein the magnetic field sensor is one of a magnetic reed switch, a hall-effect sensor, a magnetic flux sensor, and a magnetoresistive sensor. 
     
     
         19 . The golfing accessory of  claim 16 , wherein the activation module comprises one of an electrical switch and an electromechanical switch. 
     
     
         20 . The golfing accessory of  claim 16 , wherein the retention mechanism is a magnetic retention mechanism. 
     
     
         21 . The golfing accessory of  claim 16 , wherein the body further comprises a substantially planar bottom surface, the bottom surface having a recessed portion formed thereon. 
     
     
         22 . The golfing accessory of  claim 21 , wherein the holder further comprises a boss portion protruding from the first surface, the boss portion configured to selectively couple with the recessed portion. 
     
     
         23 . The golfing accessory of  claim 16 , wherein the retention member is a snap-fit retention member. 
     
     
         24 . The golfing accessory of  claim 16 , wherein the retention member is a magnetic retention member. 
     
     
         25 . The golfing accessory of  claim 16 , wherein the at least one attention attracting devices is provided on at least one of the top surface and the at least one sidewall. 
     
     
         26 . The golfing accessory of  claim 24 , wherein the at least one attention attracting devices is one of an illumination source, an audio source, an audiovisual source, a high-visibility portion, and a display. 
     
     
         27 . The golfing accessory of  claim 25 , wherein the high-visibility portion comprises a material selected from a reflective material, retro-reflective material, and chemiluminescent material. 
     
     
         28 . The golfing accessory of  claim 16 , further comprising a selection mechanism electrically coupled to the controller for selecting from one of a plurality of operating modes. 
     
     
         29 . The golfing accessory of  claim 16 , wherein the power source is one of a battery or solar power source. 
     
     
         30 . The golfing accessory of  claim 16 , the ball marker further comprising a storage device in electrical communication with the controller, the controller configured to operate the at least one attention attracting devices based on at least one operating mode stored on the storage device. 
     
     
         31 . The golfing accessory of  claim 30 , further comprising a selection mechanism electrically coupled to the controller and the at least one attention grabbing devices, the selection mechanism configured for selecting from one of a plurality of operating modes. 
     
     
         32 . The golfing accessory of  claim 16 , wherein the ball marker further comprises a location detecting device. 
     
     
         33 . The golfing accessory of  claim 16 , wherein the ball marker further comprises a transceiver configured to communicate with one of a cellular network, a satellite network, and a portable electronic device. 
     
     
         34 . The golfing accessory of  claim 32 , wherein the controller of the ball marker is configured to calculate a distance a predetermined area based upon an output of the location detecting device and a storage device. 
     
     
         35 . The golfing accessory of  claim 34 , wherein the calculated distance is output to a display.

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