US 11,944,883 B2
Galton configuration in golf ball receiving apparatus and systems
Brian David Burdette, McKinney, TX (US); Gabriel Heath Denk, Wylie, TX (US); Justin Dean Pendleton, The Colony, TX (US); and Michael Ryan Petri, Carrollton, TX (US)
Assigned to Topgolf International, Inc., Dallas, TX (US)
Filed by Topgolf International, Inc., Dallas, TX (US)
Filed on Apr. 6, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/296,897.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/333,520, filed on Apr. 21, 2022.
Prior Publication US 2023/0338801 A1, Oct. 26, 2023
Int. Cl. A63B 67/02 (2006.01); A63B 63/08 (2006.01); A63B 69/36 (2006.01)
CPC A63B 63/08 (2013.01) [A63B 67/02 (2013.01); A63B 69/3694 (2013.01); A63B 2225/54 (2013.01)] 18 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An apparatus comprising:
a body having an ingress and an egress for golf balls passing through the body, wherein each of the golf balls includes a radio frequency identification tag;
at least one antenna of a radio frequency identification reader, the at least one antenna arranged with respect to the body to receive information from the golf balls for identification of the golf balls;
multiple protrusions located within the body, the multiple protrusions being positioned with respect to each other in a Galton configuration that both (i) impedes the golf balls from passing through the body without being read by the radio frequency identification reader, and (ii) allows the golf balls to pass through the body without jamming therein;
a first support surface and a second support surface, wherein the multiple protrusions comprise protuberances on the first support surface or the second support surface; and
horizontally oriented bars located within the body, the horizontally oriented bars being arranged in two columns extending between the first support surface and the second support surface, wherein a gap between the bars of the two columns is less than a diameter of a golf ball, and a vertical distance between adjacent bars in each respective column is less than the diameter of a golf ball.