US20060118441A1

US20060118441A1 - Foldable golf bag

Info

Publication number: US20060118441A1
Application number: US11/002,127
Authority: US
Inventors: Te-Pin Cheng
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2004-12-03
Filing date: 2004-12-03
Publication date: 2006-06-08

Abstract

The invention provided a foldable golf bag comprising a bag body which has a tubular main body, a frame set up on the upper side of the main body, a bottom portion mounted on lower ends of the bag body, a strut with a first section that can be installed on the preset position of the frame and a second section that can be installed on the preset position of the bottom set with its upper end to be connected with or separated from the first section, and a supporting stand set with a pair of pivotal connecting members at the top of the bag body is located at the opposite side of the strut of the bag body and can swing between the retracted and extended position. By means of the demountable strut which can be retrieved from the bag body, user can fold the golf bag to reduce the size for easy storage or carrying.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to golf bags with extensible supporting stands and, more particularly, to a kind of golf bags which can be folded to reduce the size.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Golf bags with extensible supporting stand in advanced design, such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,834,235, No. 5,857,567 and No. 6,386,362 patented golf bags, usually contains in their structure: a tubular bag body with a preset length, a head frame installed on the upper side of the bag body, a bottom portion at the lower side of the bag body, a supporting stand set at the front of the bag body, and a support strut at the back which stretches in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the bag body and connects respectively the head frame and bottom frame at an according point with its ends.
Golf bags composed with the head frame, bottom frame, supporting stands and the supporting strut have normally a cylindrical configuration for storing golf clubs and thus have a fixed length and diameter. Consequently, the rather large volume becomes economically inefficient in terms of the room need for storage and the fee need for mass transportation.
The main purpose of this invention is to provide a foldable golf bag.
The secondary purpose of this invention is to provide a simple and efficient way to alternate between the using status and the folded status of the golf bag.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

For these purposes, the disclosed foldable golf bag the present invention includes a bag body, a tubular main body, a frame on the upper side of the main body, a bottom portion mounted on the lower ends of the bag body, a strut with a first section that can be installed on a preset position of the frame, a second section that can be installed on a preset position of the bottom set, and a connecting member for assembling these two sections; a stand set located at the opposite side of the strut of the bag body with a pair of legs pivotally connected to the top end of the bag body which can swing between the retracted and extended position. By means of the design of demountable strut sections which can be retrieved from the bag body at the zipper opening, the golf bag can be folded to largely reduce its bulk while the strut is retrieved. Besides, the strut can be remounted easily to support the golf bag and revert to a tubular container to store golf clubs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is the three-dimension view of a first preferred embodiment of the golf bag according to the present invention;
FIG. 2 is the three-dimension view of the first preferred embodiment of the golf bad with its zipper opened according to the present invention;
FIG. 3 is the perspective view showing the first preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is the side view of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is the side view of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention while folded.
FIG. 6 is the side view of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention during storage.
FIG. 7 is the side view of a second preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is the enlarged side view of the second preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 9 is the side view of the second preferred embodiment of the present invention while folded.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

In FIG. 1˜FIG. 4, the invention of the disclosed golf bag 10 is constituted by a bag body 12 and a supporting stand set 14.
The bag body 12 contains: a tubular main body 20 made of flexible material such as plastic or cloth, a frame 22 mounted on the top of the main body 20, a bottom set 24 mounted at the lower extreme of the main body 20 with a flat part 242 and a oblique part 244 stretching upward from the front of the flat part 242 at a preset angle, a strut 26 with its two extremes installed respectively into the according position of the frame 22 and bottom set 24, a actuator rod 28 which may be longer or shorter than the oblique part 244 with a cotter key (not shown) pivotally connecting to the adjacent area of the flat part 242 and the oblique part 244.
The supporting stand set 14 is mounted on the opposite side of the strut 26 of the bag body 12 and contains: a elastic unit 40 with the lower end pivotally connect to the front of the actuator rod 28, a pair of legs 42, which is, respectively, pivotally connected to the frame 22, can swing between the retracted and extended position and is pivotally connected to the forking top of the elastic unit 40 at a preset position, with an adequate distance to the top end.
The strut 26 is composed by: a first section 260 with its top end to be inserted into the frame 22 at the sleeve 220 which has a downward opening, a second section 262 with its lower end to be inserted into the bottom set 24 at the sleeve 240 with upward opening, and a connecting member 264 to connect the lower end of the first section 260 and the top end of the second section 262; in this embodiment, the connecting member 264 is a blind nut which can be screwed to the lower end of the first section 260 with its upper end and to the upper end of the second section 262 with its lower end.
Furthermore, the main body 20 of present invent has a first zipper, with a preset length, adjacent to the connecting member 264 of the strut and a pocket 32, with a second zipper 34 on its side, is sewed outside of the main body 20 and thus envelops the first zipper 30.
To assemble the golf bag 10, the first zipper 30 and the second zipper 34 are to be opened respectively, then the first section 260 and the second section 262 of the strut 26 are to be put from outside into the bag body 20 and insert respectively into the corresponding first 220 and second sleeve 240, and the first 260 and second 262 section of the strut 26 are to be screwed together by turning the connecting member 264. In this operation, the opened zippers 30 34 should provide sufficient space for the user to introduce his hand into the bag body 20.
Before the storage or carrying the golf bag 10, the precedent steps can be taken reversely, that is, the strut 26 is to be demounted into two sections and be taken out from the bag body 20, as shown in the FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, the frame 22 is to be swung toward the bottom set using its pivot connection P1 with each leg 42. Moreover, the actuator rod 28 is to be swung toward the frame 22 using its pivotal connection P2 with the elastic unit 40 as center, meanwhile, the bottom set 24 is to be rotated in the clockwise sense (as shown in the figure) using its pivotal connection P3 with the actuator rod 28 to make the direction of its longitudinal axis approximately parallel with the direction of the longitudinal axis of the legs 42.
By the above-mentioned bending actions, the width of the collapsed golf bag 10 will decrease considerably, and during the mass transportation, the bags can be piled as shown in the FIG. 6 to diminish the transportation fee.
Besides, while using a strut 26 that can be demounted into two sections in this embodiment, it is possible to install two or more struts 26 in the bag body 12 at the opposite side of the stands 14 and a strut 26 that can be demounted into three or more sections is technically the same design in the practice.
As shown through FIG. 7 to FIG. 9, another form of foldable golf bag 10′ is disclosed. The structure of this golf bag 10′ is generally the same as disclosed in the precedent embodiment. It contains a strut 26 that can be demounted into the first section 260 and the second section 262, a first zipper 30 located at the side of the bag body 12 to let the user introduce his hand into the bag body 12, and a pocket 32 with the second zipper 34 to envelop the first zipper 30.
The lower end of the bottom set 24 of the golf bag 10′ is flat, the stand set 14 has a pair of legs 42 coupled to the outer side of the frame 22 with its upper pivotal connection, a elastic unit 40 pivotally connected, respectively, to the legs with its forking upper end and pivotally connected to the outer side of the bottom set 24 at its upper edge with its lower end without the above-mentioned actuator rod 28.
In the embodiment, the lower end of the elastic unit 40 is designed to be pivotally connected to the outer side of the bottom set 24, however, in the practice, this lower end can also pierce into the bag body 20 and connect pivotally to the inner side of the bottom set 24.
Each of the first section 260 and the second section 262 has approximately the same extradius, but the upper end of the second section 262 is formed with a sleeve. The two ends of the connection member 264 are fixed respectively on the elastic material on the first 260 and second section 262 is an elastic material, for example, rubber band, which permit the pressure to be exerted permanently to the lower end of the first section 260 while inserted in to the sleeve 266.
When the user retrieves the strut 26, the frame 22 can swing downward using its pivotal connection P1 with each leg, and the bottom set 24 can be swing upward using its pivotal connection P2 with lower end of the elastic unit 40, as shown in FIG. 9. By doing so, the volume of the golf bag 10′ can be massively reduced.

Claims

1. A foldable golf bag, which comprising:

A bag body with a tubular main body, a frame at the upper end of the main body, a bottom set at the lower end of the main body, a strut with the first section to be inserted into a preset position of the frame and a second section to be inserted into a preset position of the bottom set and whose upper end can be connected to the lower end of the first section;

A stand set situated opposite to the strut on the upper side of the bag body with a pivotal connection and may swing between the retraction and extended position.

2. The foldable golf bag of claim 1, wherein the first zipper is set on the side of the main body, adjacent to the preset position of the strut.

3. The foldable golf bag of claim 2, wherein a pocket having the second zipper is set at the side of the main body and envelops the first zipper.

4. The foldable golf bag of claim 1, wherein each the top frame and the bottom set is formed with a sleeve, one facing the other, to allow the ends of the strut to be inserted.

5. The foldable golf bag of claim 1, wherein the supporting stand comprises a pair of legs pivotally connected to the outside of the frame with its upper end and a elastic unit pivotally connected to a preset position at the bottom set with its lower end and pivotally connected to each leg with its upper forking end.

6. The foldable golf bag of claim 5, wherein the lower side of the bottom set has a flat part, a oblique part intersecting the flat part with a preset angle, and a actuator rod with a preset length which pivotally connected to the bottom set with its rear end and to the lower end of the elastic unit with its front end.

7. The foldable golf bag of claim 5, wherein the bottom set pivotally connects with the lower end of the elastic unit at its front upper edge.

8. The foldable golf bag of claim 1, further comprising a connecting member for connecting the lower end of the first section and the upper end of the second section.

9. The foldable golf bag of claim 8, wherein the connecting member is a blind nut which can be screwed to the upper end of the second section.

10. The foldable golf bag of claim 8, wherein the connecting member is a elastic material which can exert pressure on the lower end of the first section while sleeved by the upper end of the second section.

11. The foldable golf bag of claim 10, wherein the upper end of the second section has a sleeve for installation of the lower end of the first section.

12. The foldable golf bag of claim 1, wherein the upper end of the second section has a sleeve for installation of the lower end of the first section.