APPARATUS AND METHOD OF FORMING AN INVERTED, TRUNCATED PYRAMIDAL SHAPE OF STACKED GOLF BALLS WITHIN A TRAY AND FORMING ON TOP AN UPRIGHT, PYRAMIDAL SHAPE OF STACKED GOLF BALLS

Abstract

A tray for stacking golf balls into a truncated, inverted pyramidal shape and upon which may be stacked on top a regular pyramidal stack of golf balls that self-supports to retain its shape. The tray includes a base, four diverging walls and a rim. The walls are between the rim and the base. The base has a plurality of curved rails that have convex surfaces within an inward facing side of the tray. The curved rails are separated from each other in succession by flattened regions. The rim has holes for securing rope handles. Golf balls may be poured into a hopper on the rim of the tray to stack the golf balls in the tray first in an inverted pyramid shape manner and then in a regular pyramid shape manner.

Claims

1. A golf ball stacking tray, comprising: a tray positioned so that a base of the tray is in a substantially horizontal position, the base having retention portions and non-retention portions, the tray having a rim and having diverging walls that diverge from a periphery of the base to the rim, the rim defining an outer periphery that is wider in dimension than that of the diverging walls, the retention portions and the non-retention portions being configured and arranged to retain a base layer of uniformly-sized golf balls in position with respect to each other over the retention portions and between neighboring ones of the non-retention portions, the tray being formed to stably support, without tipping over, a stack of uniformly-sized golf balls, inclusive of the layer of uniformly sized golf balls, that altogether resemble an inverted, truncated pyramidal shape.

2. The golf ball stacking tray of claim 1, wherein the rim has a plurality of holes, further comprising: two handles that pass through a respective pair of the holes so that holding onto two of the handles together enables the tray to be carried in a stable manner with the tray containing golf balls.

3. The golf ball stacking tray of claim 2, wherein the two handles are each made of rope and are knotted beneath the holes.

4. The golf ball stacking tray of claim 1, wherein the base has a plurality of rails spaced apart from each other by regions, each of the rails having a convexly curved surface that rises to elevations higher than that of the regions with the base in a substantially horizontal orientation, the convexly curved surface of each of the rails being within an inward facing side of the truncated, inverted pyramid shape.

5. In combination, the golf ball stacking tray of claim 1 and a hopper on the rim, the hopper having walls that extend in a converging manner away from the rim of the tray.

6. In combination, the golf ball tray of claim 1 and a stack of golf balls within confines of a space bounded by the base and the diverging walls, the stack of golf balls being stacked to resemble the inverted, truncated pyramidal shape within confines of the space, the base layer of the golf balls defining a plurality of rows of the golf balls in linear relationship with each other for each of the rows.

7. The combination of claim 6, further comprising: a further stack of golf balls that are stacked in a self-supporting manner to resemble an upright, pyramidal stack of golf balls, the further stack being atop the inverted, truncated pyramidal stack and supported in a stable manner by the inverted, truncated pyramidal stack to extend beyond confines of the space bounded by the diverging walls and the base.

8. The combination of claim 5, wherein the base and the diverging walls bound a space, the stack of golf balls being within confines of the space bounded by the base and the diverging walls; and a further stack of golf balls that are stacked in a self-supporting manner to resemble an upright, pyramidal stack of golf balls, the further stack being atop the inverted, truncated pyramidal stack and supported in a stable manner by the inverted, truncated pyramidal stack to extend beyond confines of the space bounded by the diverging walls and the base and being within confines of the hopper.

9. A method of stacking golf balls, comprising: positioning a tray so that a base of the tray is in a substantially horizontal position, the base having retention portions and non-retention portions, the tray having a rim and having diverging walls that diverge from a periphery of the base to the rim, the rim defining an outer periphery that is wider in dimension than that of the diverging walls; retaining a base layer of uniformly-sized golf balls in position with respect to each other over the retention portions and between neighboring ones of the non-retention portions; stably supporting, without tipping over, a stack of the uniformly-sized golf balls, inclusive of the base layer, to resemble an inverted, truncated pyramidal shape.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising: passing two handles through a respective pair of holes in the rim so that holding onto two of the handles together enables the tray to be carried in a stable manner with the tray containing golf balls.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising: knotting the two handles beneath the holes, the two handles being made of rope.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising stacking golf balls within confines of a space bounded by the base and the diverging walls to form the stack of the golf balls.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the base has a plurality of rails spaced apart from each other by regions, each of the rails having a convexly curved surface that rises to elevations higher than that of the regions with the base in a substantially horizontal orientation, the convexly curved surface of each of the rails being within an inward facing side of the truncated, inverted pyramid shape;

14. The method of claim 9, further comprising; placing a hopper on the rim, the hopper having walls that extend in a converging manner away from the rim of the tray; and pouring the golf balls into the hopper to stack the golf balls to resemble the inverted, truncated pyramidal shape within confines of the space and to also resemble an upright, pyramidal shape atop the inverted, truncated pyramidal shape that is supported in a stable manner by the inverted, truncated pyramidal stack and extends beyond confines of the space to be within confines of the hopper and that is self-supporting to retain the upright, pyramidal shape.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising removing the hopper from the rim of the tray with the golf balls remaining stacked to resemble the inverted, truncated pyramidal shape within the confines of the space and to resemble the upright, pyramidal shape beyond the confines of the space in a manner that remains self-supporting to retain the upright, pyramidal shape.

16. In combination, a device that supports stacks of golf balls, comprising: a tray having a base, a rim and diverging walls that diverge from the base to the rim, the base having recessed portions and non-retention portions; a bottom stack of golf balls that resemble an inverted, truncated pyramidal shape within confines of the tray, the bottom stack including a base layer of uniformly-sized golf balls retained in position with respect to each other over the recessed portions and between neighboring ones of the non-retention portions; and a top stack of uniformly-sized golf balls atop the bottom stack, the top stack of uniformly-sized golf balls resembling an upright pyramidal shape and self-supporting on the bottom stack.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] For a better understanding of the present invention, reference is made to the following description and accompanying drawings, while the scope of the invention is set forth in the appended claims.

[0018] FIG. 1 shows a top isometric view of the golf ball stacking tray of the present invention with rope handles for carrying the tray;

[0019] FIGS. 2 and 3 show top and bottom views of the tray of FIG. 1, respectively, but without the rope handles;

[0020] FIG. 4 shows a side view of the tray of FIG. 1, but without the rope handles, in position underneath a hopper of U.S. Pat. No. 6,742,982 B2;

[0021] FIG. 5 shows the tray of FIG. 1, without the rope handles, in which are golf balls stacked in a pyramidal shape; and

[0022] FIG. 6 shows an isometric of a mold used in the manufacture of the rectangular central region of the tray of FIG. 1 to form the convexly curved rails.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0023] Turning to FIGS. 1-5, the golf ball stacking tray 10 of the present invention comprises diverging sidewalls 12 that extend upwardly from a base 14. The base 14 has recessed and non-recessed portions such as a plurality of curved raised rails 16 (non-recessed portions) that are convexly curved from the interior facing side of the tray 10 and concavely curved from the exterior facing side of the tray 10 and arranged in a substantially parallel manner with respect to each other.

[0024] The curved rails 16 (non-recessed portions) are separated from each other in succession by associated flattened regions 18 (recessed portions) between a pair opposite ones of the diverging sidewalls 12. As an alternative to rails, individual socket recesses may be used with each socket holding one golf ball and with the sockets arranged in linear relation to each other. A further alternative would be to provide individual holes for the golf balls to individually be set into the base 14, in which case the base 14 might be sufficiently thick to accommodate the balls being retained in the holes.

[0025] The tray 10 has a topside rim 20 that is substantially flat and extends outward from the diverging sidewalls 12. A pair of rope handles 22 each extend from two respective corners of the topside rim 20 by passing through holes 24 in the corners and are tied into a knot 26 beneath the holes 24 so that the knot is wider than the holes 24. While the drawings show a four-sided truncated pyramid shape for the tray 10, a three-sided truncated pyramid shape instead may be used.

[0026] The width of each flattened region 18 is sufficient to permit a golf ball to rest between neighboring ones of the rails 16. In addition, the upper facing surfaces of each of the rails 16 is convexly curved, thereby preventing the dropped balls from resting thereon and thus assuring that the dropped balls will rest over the flattened regions between neighboring ones of the rails 16.

[0027] Each of the opposing sidewalls 12 that diverge upwardly is adjacent to neighboring ones of the rails 16 to permit the golf balls stack to widen in successively as the tray is filled upwardly to form an inverted pyramid shape to the rim 20. Above the rim, the golf balls may continue to stack by following the form of the hopper 30 of FIG. 4 so as to form the pyramidal stack shape of FIG. 5.

[0028] That is, the hopper 30 is identical to that of U.S. Pat. No. 6,742,982 B2. One pours golf balls into the mouth opening at the top of the hopper 30 and the golf balls tumble into position, first along the rails of the tray 10 to form an inverted, truncated pyramidal shape within confines of a space bounded by the base 14 and the diverging walls 12 and then to form within confines of the converging walls of the hopper 30 (that converge from the rim 20 of the tray 10) a further stack of golf balls that resemble an upright, regular pyramidal shape to sit atop the stack of golf balls forming the inverted, truncated pyramid. By removing the hopper 30, the golf balls remain stacked and revealed as shown in FIG. 5.

[0029] As described, the golf ball stacking tray 10 of the present invention is able to support a truncated, inverted pyramid stack of golf balls and, on top of the inverted pyramid stack, an upright, regular, pyramid stack 40 of golf balls that is self-supporting to retain its pyramidal shape. Although the stack of golf balls within the confines of the tray 10 cannot be seen in FIG. 5 due to the opaqueness of the diverging walls 12, one can envision that there are golf balls stacked within the confines of the tray 10 on the basis of the regular pyramid stack 40 that is shown stacked on top. The present inventor has found that the tray 10 may be dimensioned to hold 178 golf balls within confines of the tray 10 and that by adding golf balls stacked on top in the manner of the regular pyramid shape 40, a 315 golf ball pyramid may then be stacked on top. If desired other size inverted and regular stacked pyramids may be realized by changing the dimensions of the tray 10 and the hopper 30 accordingly.

[0030] The stacking tray of the present invention may be made of any durable, lightweight substance, such as plastic or polymers, and may be formed by a conventional plastic molding technique that uses the mold 50 of FIG. 6. For instance, Stacker, Inc. of Georgia uses such a conventional plastic molding technique to manufacture trays and hoppers for stacking golf balls.

[0031] The use of convex curvature on the rails 16 combined with the diverging sidewalls 12 further promotes the durability of the stacking tray 10, as well as of the golf balls stacked thereon. Repeated dropping of golf balls onto the stacking tray 10 of the present invention (to form the base layer of balls for the inverted pyramidal stack) will not result in damage either to the tray 10 itself, or to the balls.

[0032] As the stacking tray must be able to be used repeatedly to be cost-effective, damage to the tray itself and/or to the balls stacked thereon severely compromises the useful life of any stacking tray having sharply angled edges.

[0033] Although not shown, one can appreciate that the double stacks of golf balls of FIG. 5 (one stack is within confines of a space bounded by the base and the diverging walls of the tray to resemble an inverted, truncated pyramidal shape while the other sits atop to resemble an upright, regular, pyramidal shape) may be stably carried by one holding onto the rope handles of the tray of FIG. 1.

[0034] Stacker, Inc., of Duluth, Ga. manufactures pyramidal-shaped golf ball forms and trays from plastic by using a conventional thermoforming process and equipment to shape, heat and stretch plastic sheets accordingly, such as in accordance with the pyramid shapes shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,695,312 and 5,551,832. Thermoforming is a manufacturing process where a plastic sheet is heated to a pliable forming temperature, formed to a specific shape in a mold, and trimmed to create a usable product. The plastic sheet is heated in an oven to a high-enough temperature that permits it to be stretched into or onto a mold, vacuumed to remove air, and cooled to a finished shape. the equipment may be a small tabletop or lab size machine used to heat small cut sections of plastic sheet and stretch it over a mold and using vacuum.

[0035] In accordance with the conventional thermoforming process, the tray of FIGS. 1-5 are formed by first cutting plastic, which is purchased commercially in sheets, to the size of the mold. The cut plastic is then put in a frame, heated, stretched over the mold, and a vacuum from a conventional thermoforming machine sucks the air out, pulling the plastic to conform the heated, stretched plastic to the shape of the mold surface (such as the exterior). The plastic is then allowed to cool to form the desired finished shape, after which the cooled plastic finished product is removed from the mold. In accordance with the invention, the mold used is a truncated pyramid shape with formations on the truncated part as shown in the mold 50 of FIG. 6.

[0036] Instead of using a thermoforming process, other types of processing plastic techniques may be used, such as injection molding, blow molding, or rotational molding. However, the mold used would look different that that of FIG. 6 to produce the same finished product. Further, such other types of processing plastic techniques require more extensive tooling, injection molding and some kind of rotary molding where the liquid plastic is put in the mold and the mold is spun so the centrifugal force works the plastic in to the desired shape.

[0037] While the invention has been described with respect to certain specific embodiments, it will be appreciated that many modifications and changes may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the invention. It is intended, therefore, by the appended claims to cover all such modifications and changes as may fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.