1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is an improved base support for securing flags or yardage indicating number inserts to sprinkler units located on a golf course.
2. The Prior Art
A preliminary search was conducted and the following listed U.S. patents were uncovered in the search:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Inventor Issue Date ______________________________________ 1,778,110 M. E. Hartzler, et al. Oct. 14, 1930 1,913,101 E. S. Bellows June 6, 1933 1,915,762 E. W. Rost June 27, 1933 1,931,174 G. W. Withers Oct. 17, 1933 2,109,011 J. J. Joyce Feb. 22, 1938 2,598,890 L. Cisi, et al. June 3, 1952 2,712,809 F. A. Clarke July 12, 1955 4,095,788 Benenson June 20, 1978 4,700,655 Kirby Oct. 20, 1987 4,717,110 Fohrman Jan. 5, 1988 4,862,823 Hughes Sept. 5, 1989 4,909,464 Levine, et al. March 20, 1990 4,926,785 Lamson May 22, 1990 4,979,462 Kramer, et al. Dec. 25, 1990 5,092,556 Darling, et al. March 3, 1992 ______________________________________
Most golf courses are provided with sprinkler systems positioned around the green in order to water the grass. After the golf course becomes operative, the tops of the sprinklers are generally flush with the ground and when the sprinkler is activated, a circular disk at the top of the unit is raised and a spray nozzle under the disk rotates and sprays water over a desired arc (generally 360 degrees), for a predetermined time and at predetermined intervals. Also, when the golf course is operative, normal maintenance equipment, such as lawn mowers, etc., can ride over the tops of the sprinkler units without damaging them.
However, when the golf course is undergoing construction, the sprinkler units are generally elevated slightly above the existing ground level and are not seated level with the ground until the course has been completed. During the construction of a golf course, heavy equipment could damage the sprinkler units if the equipment ran into or over them. Accordingly, it is standard practice to position flags adjacent to the sprinkler units so that the operators of heavy equipment can avoid the sprinkler units. These flags are generally 3 to 4 feet high and consist of a wire with a pennant fastened on the top of the wire with the bottom of the wire impelled in the ground adjacent to the sprinkler unit. However, the force of the water from the sprinkler unit itself can sometimes knock over the flag and occasionally the flag can be blown away by the wind.
The Darling patent, U.S. Pat. No. 5,092,556, which is listed above solves the problem described in the previous paragraph by providing a method of mounting the flag on the top of the sprinkler unit in such a way that it would be unaffected by the water from the sprinkler unit itself. However, once the golf course is constructed, the flag of the Darling patent has no other function.
The present invention improves on the Darling patent by providing a base attached to the sprinkler unit which allows the flag to be removed from the base once the golf course is constructed and yardage numbers to be inserted on the base which was previously employed for holding the flag.
The remaining above listed U.S. patents are not considered sufficiently pertinent to require further discussion.
3. Cross-Reference to Related Applications
This application constitutes an improvement over patent application 07/497,871 filed on Mar. 22, 1990, and now U.S. Pat. No. 5,092,556, for a "Flag Support System for Sprinkler Systems on Golf Courses" by the inventor of the present invention.