1. A golf ball dispensing apparatus comprising:
a frame;
a dispensing housing disposed within the frame, said housing including:
an inner housing wall disposed within the housing and defining a dispensing chamber, said dispensing chamber having:
a feed port adapted to receive golf balls into the dispensing chamber by gravity feed;
a dispensing port adapted to discharge golf balls from the dispensing chamber by gravity feed; and
a plunger port;
a ball stop disposed within the housing beneath the dispensing port, said ball stop adapted to receive and hold in a chambered position beneath the discharge port such single golf ball as received by the ball stop; and
a lifting plunger received within the dispensing chamber through the plunger port, the lifting plunger being operably adapted to lift such golf ball above the ball stop to a discharge position adjacent the discharge port, each operation of the lifting plunger discharging into the dispensing port such single golf ball as is held in a chambered position;
a tubular arm adapted to pass a golf ball, said tubular arm having:
a proximal end adapted to receive a golf ball;
a distal end forming a dispensing mouth for dispensing a golf ball therefrom;
a pivot portion between the proximal and distal ends, the tubular arm pivotally disposed upon the frame at the pivot section; and
a counterweight disposed upon the proximal end so as to bias the tubular arm towards an upper position, the tubular arm rotably movable between the upper position and a lower position; and
a lifting actuator in mechanical communication with the lifting plunger, said lifting actuator adapted to receive the proximal end of the tubular arm as the tubular arm rotates toward the lower position so as operate the lifting plunger,
wherein, with the tubular arm in the lower position, the proximal end is aligned along and proximate to the dispensing port so as to receive such golf ball as is discharged by the dispensing housing, and the dispensing mouth is adapted and arranged to deposit the golf ball being discharged from the dispensing mouth onto a tee centered with respect to the mouth.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, the ball teeing apparatus further comprising:
a greens portion comprising:
a mat adapted to simulate a portion of the ground surface of a tee box; and
a tee disposed upon the flexible mat and centered with respect to the dispensing mouth with the tubular arm in the lower position.
3. The apparatus of claim 2, the mat comprising a flexible sheet detachably affixed to the frame.
4. The apparatus of claim 1, the ball teeing apparatus further comprising:
a hopper disposed upon the frame and positioned above the feed port, the hopper adapted to receive a plurality of golf balls and to supply such balls by gravity through a lower port and into the feed port.
5. The apparatus of claim 4, the hopper comprising a collapsible funnel, detachably affixed to the frame.
6. The apparatus of claim 5, the collapsible funnel comprising a textile material.
7. The apparatus of claim 5, the frame comprising a collapsible frame.
8. The apparatus of claim 7, the collapsible frame adapted to support the collapsible funnel during operation of the ball teeing assembly.
9. The apparatus of claim 8, the collapsible frame further comprising adjustable frame members, said adjustable frame members adapted to retractably extend from a retracted configuration to an extended configuration.
10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein, the adjustable frame members being in a retracted configuration, the dimensions of the ball teeing apparatus are suitable for transportation by hand, and
wherein, wherein, the adjustable frame members being in an extended configuration, the dimensions of the ball teeing apparatus are suitable for stable positioning of the ball teeing apparatus upon a driving surface.
11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the lifting actuator is slidably disposed upon the frame,
wherein, the lifting plunger is operable between a lowered position and a lifted position,
wherein, with the lifting plunger in the lowered position, the lifting plunger cooperates with the ball stop to receive and hold in the chambered position beneath the discharge port such single ball as received by the lifting plunger,
wherein, the lifting plunger is operably adapted to lift such ball above the ball stop to the discharge position adjacent the discharge port, and
wherein, each operation of the lifting plunger discharges into the dispensing port not more than a single ball of the plurality of balls.
12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the tubular arm further comprising a club hook disposed upon the distal end and operably adapted to receive a golf club head for operator manipulation of the tubular arm from the upper position to the lower position.
13. The apparatus of claim 1, the dispensing chamber adapted such that only one single golf ball may be received at any one time within the dispensing chamber in the portion of the dispensing chamber between the chambered position and the discharge position.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A method of selecting an intensity threshold in a halftoning system used to render respective pixels of an image on a display, said halftoning system providing respective accumulated errors, each based on at least one respective variance between a rendered intensity of a pixel and a quantized measured intensity of a corresponding pixel of a contone image to be displayed, each respective accumulated error subject to recalculation pixel-by-pixel, said method comprising the steps of:
(a) selecting a first predetermined intensity threshold if either one of said accumulated errors of a current pixel and a neighboring pixel exceeds a first error threshold;
(b) selecting a second predetermined intensity threshold if said accumulated error of a pixel remotely neighboring said current pixel exceeds a second error threshold and said first predetermined intensity threshold is not selected;
(c) selecting a third predetermined intensity threshold if neither of said first and said second intensity thresholds are selected; and
(d) rendering a pixel of said image on a display based upon said selected predetermined intensity threshold.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one of said first and second error thresholds is substantially zero error.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein an intensity of said first predetermined intensity threshold is greater than an intensity of said second predetermined intensity threshold and said intensity of said second predetermined intensity threshold is greater than an intensity of said third predetermined intensity threshold.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one of said accumulated errors of said first pixel, said neighboring pixel, and said remote neighboring pixel comprises a component color error for said pixel.
5. An error diffusion halftone image display method providing respective accumulated errors, each based on at least one respective variance between a rendered intensity of a pixel and a quantized measured intensity of a corresponding pixel of a contone image to be displayed, each respective accumulated error subject to recalculation pixel-by-pixel, said method comprising the steps of:
(a) determining an intensity of a current pixel in an image;
(b) augmenting said intensity of said current pixel with a current pixel accumulated error;
(c) selecting a first predetermined intensity threshold if either one of said current pixel accumulated error and an immediate neighboring pixel accumulated error is less than a first error threshold;
(d) selecting a second predetermined intensity threshold if a remote neighboring pixel accumulated error is less than a second error threshold and said first error threshold is not selected;
(e) selecting a third predetermined intensity threshold if a more remote neighboring pixel accumulated error is less than a third error threshold and neither of said first and said second error thresholds are selected;
(f) selecting a fourth predetermined intensity threshold if one of said first, said second, and said third predetermined intensity thresholds is not selected;
(g) displaying said current pixel with one of a first displayed intensity if said augmented intensity of said current pixel exceeds said selected predetermined intensity threshold and otherwise displaying said current pixel with a second displayed intensity; and
(h) assigning an error between said displayed intensity and said augmented intensity of said current pixel to at least one pixel neighboring said current pixel.
6. The method of claim 5 wherein at least one of said first, said second, and said third error thresholds is substantially zero accumulated error.
7. The method of claim 5 wherein said first displayed intensity comprises a maximum intensity and said second displayed intensity comprises a minimum intensity for said pixel.
8. The method of claim 5 wherein said intensity of said current pixel comprises an intensity of a color component of said pixel.
9. The method of claim 5 wherein an intensity of said first predetermined intensity threshold is greater than an intensity of said second predetermined intensity threshold, said intensity of said second predetermined intensity threshold is greater than an intensity of said third predetermined intensity threshold, and said intensity of said third predetermined intensity threshold is greater than an intensity of said fourth predetermined intensity threshold.
10. The method of claim 5 further comprising the step of displaying said current pixel with a maximum displayed intensity if said augmented intensity of said current pixel exceeds a fifth predetermined intensity threshold, an intensity of said fifth predetermined intensity threshold being greater than an intensity of said first predetermined intensity threshold.
11. The method of claim 5 wherein at least one of said current pixel accumulated error, said neighboring pixel accumulated error, and said remote neighboring pixel accumulated error comprises a component color error.
12. The method of claim 11 wherein said component color error comprises an error for a component color other than the component color of the current pixel.