US3460597A - Golf bags - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 12, 1969 N. DALY GOLF BAGS Filed Oct. 23, 1967 FIQI United States Patent 3,460,597 GOLF BAGS Noel Daly, 41A Young St., New Plymouth, New Zealand Filed Oct. 23, 1967, Ser. No. 677,482 Claims priority, application New Zealand, Oct. 26, 1966, 146,805 Int. Cl. A63b 55/00 US. Cl. 1501.5 5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A golf club carrier in which a casing is provided at its upper part with a plurality of recesses for accommodating the heads of clubs supported thereby and means for maintaining the heads in their respective recesses. The casing length is such as to be capable of accommodating the club shafts when the heads are seated in the recesses.

This invention relates to carrying bags or cases specifically designed for carrying a selection or a set of golf clubs and accessories as required.

It is known to provide bags or cases having a general tubular construction closed at the bottom end and open at the top end, with the tube being of dimensions such that the bag is capable of carrying a required number of golf clubs, and each golf club is positioned into the bag, shaft first, until the butt of the shaft rests on the bottom or floor of the bag, with the heads of the clubs being free to swing and move and contact one another. Further, it is known to incorporate in the aforementioned bag, a nest of tubes or like hollow members, with each individual tube providing accommodation for the shaft of one club whereby the shafts of the clubs are prevented from contacting each other, but, unless the width of the bag is of some exceedingly large dimension so that the clubs are spaced at some distance from each other, the heads of the clubs are still free to swing and contact one another. Consequently, due to the movement of the golf club heads and their being free to knock against each other, the heads of the clubs suffer damage and receive marks which do little to enhance the appearance of the clubs.

*It is an object of this invention to provide a carrier for golf clubs in which the arrangement and construction of the upper part of the carrier is such that the head of each club is received and accommodated in a pocket, recess or like cavity, and the shape of which cavity or recess conforms or nearly conforms to the shape of the received portion of the head of the club and the length or height of the carrier is such that the clubs are supported by their heads with their shafts depending toward the bottom of the carrier.

Accordingly by this invention there is provided a carrier for golf clubs comprising a casing having situated at its upper part a club supporting means provided with a plurality of recesses adapted to accommodate heads of clubs supported thereby, means whereby the club heads when accommodated in their respective recesses are maintained in said recesses, and the length of the casing being such that the casing is capable of accommodating the shafts of the golf clubs when the heads of the clubs are seated in the recesses.

The casing is an elongated hollow casing of a length capable of accommodating the longest shaft of a set or selection of golf clubs. The casing may be made from some suitable material such as is normally used in the construction of golf bags, namely a textile material, or plastics material or some other light flexible sheet material. Alternatively, the casing may be made from some semi-rigid or rigid material capable of being formed into a hollow casing as required. Where the flexible material 3,460,597 Patented Aug. 12, 1969 is not self-supporting, then provision may be made for stiffening the casing where necessary.

Situated at the top part of the casing, there is provided the supporting means for golf clubs which means takes the form of a substantially upwardly facing support surface adapted to be positioned in the upper part of the casing, said support having molded therein a plurality of recesses adapted to receive the heads of golf clubs. The plurality of recesses may be formed, shaped, molded or otherwise provided in'said supporting means.

. The supporting means maybe maintained in position by securing it to the casing or by being formed as an integral part of the casing, provision being made for permitting entry of the shafts of the clubs through the supporting means and into the interior of the casing.

The upwardly facing surface of the supporting means has formed therein the recesses as before described, and preferably, the recesses are formed to accommodate specific clubs, such as for example, four of the recesses may be shaped to conform with the heads of the standard set of four Woods, and depending upon the number of irons, then the required number of recesses conforming to the specific shape of iron club heads is provided in the remainder of said upwardly facing surface of the supporting means.

The surface may be formed from a resilient material so that there is obtained a cushioning effect when the club heads are accommodated in the recesses.

The supporting means covers the entrance into the casing and in a preferred arrangement extends outwardly from the upper part of the casing which extension may be part of the carrier construction as will more particularly be described hereinafter. This construction permits of full support for all the heads of the clubs without necessitating an equivalent girth to the body of the casing.

A cover for the casing is provided, with the cover being adapted to be placed over the heads of the clubs and maintain the clubs in position with. their heads resting in the appropriate recesses, and the cover serves to prevent the club heads from being displaced from their recesses. When the surface of the supporting means is a' resilient one, the cover may be arranged so as to contact the club heads just before the cover attains the closed position, and the resilience of the material permits some little inward movement of the clubs thereby accommodating the final movement of the cover which arrangement ensures the clubs being firmly held in their recesses due to the resilient material endeavoring to regain its relaxed state. Alternatively, the cover may be resilient thereby permitting a degree of movement against the resistance of the clubs. The cover may be in the form of a flexible cover or rigidly formed cover which may be in sections hinged together and attached such as by means of a suitable hinge or by hinges to the upper part of the casing, and being provided with fastening means whereby the cover, when brought over the head of the casing and the clubs therein, may be fastened and secured as desired. For example, the cover may be provided with a strap or toggle or like portion adapted to engage over a staple or the like. Locking means may be provided whereby the cover may be locked in place to prevent access to the clubs.

The casing may be provided with a carrying handle, and said handle may be detachable if desired, and a pocket for garments and like articles may be provided together with a support for umbrella.

It is envisaged that the carrier of this invention is particularly adaptable for use with a golf trundler, and one construction and arrangement of the invention envisaged provides for a pair of wheels mounted on an axle or on axles, and braces and like members extending from the axle and adapted to engage in sockets or like securing means provided in or attached to the carrier. The aforementioned components forming part of the golf trundler may be formed in a retractable arrangement so that the components can be hinged and brought inwardly to the carrier. Compartments providing free space withln the carrier may be provided and the casing of the carrier may be formed so that access thereto and into the free space from the sides may be obtained, with the aforementioned arrangement enabling all or some of the parts of the trundler to be hinged and stowed within the interior of the carrier. Further, the carrier may be provided with a handle which may be detachable or hingeable and be capable of stowing within the interior of the carrier. The sides of the carrier through which the componentsare placed into the interior of the carrier may be provided with doors or the like arranged to completely enclose the interior of the carrier. The doors may be provided with locking means.

Referring to the cover for the head of the carrier, the cover may have its interior lined with a resilient material or packing, and if desired, the internal surface of the cover may be provided with recesses conforming to the heads of the clubs contained within the carrier, with the recesses being complementary to the recesses in the club supporting means.

By the foregoing arrangement, the golf clubs are supported by their heads in a molded nest, with the casing being of a length sufficient whereby the longest club in the set is capable of being accommodated, and the cover when brought over the head of the casing confines the clubs and thus the clubs are completely enclosed and protected against weather and damage, both during play and in transit it being necessary only to open the cover when selecting and withdrawing a club or replacing a club, the cover serving to maintain the heads in position and prevent movement thereof.

The invention will now further be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of the invention, with the cover to the casing being in the open position,

FIGURE 2 is a view looking in the direction of the line II in FIGURE 1,

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary side view of the carrier showing the upper part of the casing with the casing in the closed position,

FIGURE 4 is a view similar to the view shown in FIGURE 2 but shows part only of the casing, namely the upper part, with the cover removed from the casing,

FIGURE 5 is a plan view of FIGURE 4,

FIGURE 6 is a view taken along line VI-VI in FIG- URE 5, and,

FIGURE 7 is a perspective view of the carrier with the cover in the open position to reveal the supporting means including the recesses adapted to accommodate the heads of the golf clubs to be contained in said carrier.

Referring to the drawings, a casing 1 as will be seen is an elongated hollow casing which has situated at the top thereof the supporting means for golf clubs which means takes the form of a support surface 2 adapted to be positioned in or on the upper part of the casing 1, with the support surface 2 having molded therein a plurality of recesses 3 adapted to receive the heads of golf clubs. The supporting means 2 is maintained in position by its securement to the casing 1 or by being formed an integral part of the casing 1. The supporting means 2 having formed therein the recesses 3 also contains apertures or holes or like entries 4 into the interior of the casing 1, with the purpose of the entries 4 being to accommodate the shafts of golf clubs (not shown) when supported by the supporting means 2 incorporated in the second embodiment of this invention. Each hole or entry 4 is located near a recess 3 such that the combination of a recess 3 and its complementary hole or entry 4 accommodates a golf club, with the hole or entry 4 receiving the shaft of the golf club and the recess 3 receiving the head of the golf club. In a preferred arrangement as shown in the drawings and particularly FIGURES 4-7, the entries 4 into the interior of the casing 1 accommodate tubes 5 depending for the length of the casing 1 and serving to separate the shafts of golf clubs.

It is preferred that the recesses 3 in the supporting means 2 are formed to accommodate specific clubs, and if reference is made to FIGURES 4-7, the recesses 3a intended to accommodate the woods are shaped accordingly, and that the recesses 3b intended to accommodate the irons are also shaped accordingly.

The supporting means 2 extends into an extension 6 of the supporting means, which extension 6 is accommodated by a part 7 projecting from the upper portion of the casing 1. This extension 6 of the supporting means 2 conveniently accommodates the heads of the woods in tended to be carried in the carrier and, as will be seen from the drawings, the extension 6 accommodated by the projecting part 7 is placed at a level higher than that of the remainder of the supporting means 2 which remaining means is intended to support the irons. This arrangement conveniently provides for ease in selecting a club, and also, the elevated location of the recesses 3a for the woods ensures that the casing can accommodate the relatively longer lengths of the shafts of the Woods.

A cover 8 for the casing 1 is provided with the cover 8 being adapted to be placed over the heads of the clubs and maintain the clubs in position with their heads resting in the appropriate recesses 3.

The cover 8 is hinged at 9 and provision is made for a staple and strap fastening means indicated by numeral 10. As will be seen from FIGURES 1, 2, 3, and 7, the cover 8 is mounted on link members 11 hinged at 10. This arrangement together with the shape of the cover as shown in FIGURES 1, 2, 3, and 7 accommodates the configuration of the upper part of the casing 1 accommodating the supporting means 2.

The cover is provided with a ball holding member 12 which extends transversely of and projects from the inner surface of the cover 8 with the member 12 in its fastening to the cover 8 having a degree of flexibility whereby balls when pressed into the space between the cover 8 and member 12', will be retained in said space yet be readily available for use. Further, the cover 8 may be divided into two parts, is indicated by reference numerals 8a and 8b which parts are hinged together at 13 which hinging arrangement facilitates the opening and closing of the cover 8 in relation to the casing 1 in that a certain amount of give or flexibility is provided to accommodate the particular configuration of the cover 8 and the complementary configuration of the upper part of the easing 1.

The casing 1 is provided with a handle, and further, incorporates a pocket 14 and socket 15 suitable for holding an umbrella. The pocket 14 when opened preferably provides access to the interior of the casing 1. The numeral 16 indicates a carrying handle for the carrier.

It will be appreciated that, although the drawings illustrate a particular arrangement of the recesses 3 and entries 4 in the supporting means 2, when molding or otherwise forming the supporting means, other desired arrangements of the recesses 3 and their associated entries may be chosen, particularly the arrangement of the recesses 3 intended to receive the iron clubs, for instance, and referring to FIGURE 6, the entries 4 and recesses 3b may be arranged in a row adjacent that side of the casing below which is situated the pocket 14, the transversely extending recess 3c shown, which is intended to hold a putting iron, being centrally disposed in relation to the remainder of the recesses 3.

I claim:

1. A carrier for golf clubs comprising a casing having situated at its upper part a club supporting means provided with a plurality of recesses adapted to accommodate heads of clubs supported by the supporting means, the length of the casing being such that the casing is capable of accommodating the shafts of the golf clubs when the heads of the clubs are seated in the recesses, and means whereby the club heads when accommodated in their respective recesses are maintained in said recesses, said means being in the form of a cover for the casing, the cover being arranged so that when closed, it is capable of contacting the heads of the clubs when seated in their recesses.

2. The carrier for golf clubs as claimed in claim 1 in which said supporting means includes an upper level and a lower level, the recesses provided for the upper level accommodating the heads of wooden clubs and the recesses for lower level accommodating the heads of iron clubs.

3. The carrier for golf clubs as claimed in claim 1 in which the casing is provided with a single compartment, said supporting means having an entry into the compartment adjacent each recess for receiving the shaft of the club accommodated in the adjacent recess, and a tube affixed to each entry extending into the compartment for receiving the shaft thereby separating the shafts.

4. The carrier for golf clubs as claimed in claim 1 in which said cover is hingeably mounted to said casing and includes two hingedly connected parts thereby facilitating the opening and closing of the cover in relation to the casing.

5. The carrier for golf clubs as claimed in claim 4 in which one of said parts is provided with a ball holding member which extends transversely of and projects from the inner surface of said one part.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATIENTS 2,534,096 12/ 1950 Zapoleon. 2,763,309 9/1956 Jones. 2,897,864 8/ 1959 Schmidt. 2,938,559 5/1960 Harkrader.

FOREIGN PATENTS 323,902 1/ 1930 Great Britain. 345,825 4/1931 Great Britain.

DONALD F. NORTON, Primary Examiner

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