Abstract:
A light weight golf bag with waist straps and an angle adjustment cord which is carried on the waist at an angle behind the players&#39; back, so as not to impede the players&#39; stroke. The bag is not intended to be removed between shots.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of prior filed co-pending provisional application serial No. 60/207,175 filed May 26, 2000. 
     
    
     
       BACKGROUND OF INVENTION  
         [0002]    This invention relates generally to accessories used in playing golf, and more particularly to an improved golf bag for carrying clubs during play.  
           [0003]    It is well known that the game of golf requires carrying an assortment of golf clubs, which are selectively used during the game. These are normally carried in a golf bag which is transported on a golf cart, wheeled along in a golf cart by the player, or carried over the shoulder with a shoulder strap attached to the golf bag. In the latter case, much time and effort are consumed by disengaging the golf bag, selecting a club, laying the bag down, striking the ball, picking up the bag, inserting the club, and replacing the bag on the shoulder with the shoulder strap. Bending over and picking up the bag may lead to lower back problems, and carrying the bag with a shoulder strap may lead to shoulder pain from carrying the bag. If a few clubs are removed and carried separately, this leads to the possibility of forgetting and leaving a club between shots.  
           [0004]    The rules of golf permit an assortment of any desired number of clubs up to a maximum limit on the number of clubs, and most players use only a few favorite clubs during play. Also, par three courses generally require fewer clubs and it is desirable to use fewer clubs to increase the speed of play. Also, the play would be speeded up if the player could walk directly to the ball rather than stopping to select and remove a club.  
           [0005]    Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to provide an improved golf bag that is light and portable and designed to be carried without removal while playing golf, as well as capable of being carried over the shoulder in a conventional fashion.  
           [0006]    Another object of the invention is to provide an improved golf bag, which imposes no weight on the shoulders and requires no awkward bending to lift a heavy golf bag full of clubs.  
           [0007]    Another object of the invention is to provide an improved golf bag which makes walking unnecessary to retrieve the bag between shots and which speeds up play on the golf course.  
           [0008]    Still another object of the invention is to provide an improved golf bag for carrying about the course, which reduces the amount of walking and lifting during the game of golf and reduces the possibility of lost clubs.  
         SUMMARY OF INVENTION  
         [0009]    Briefly stated, the invention is practiced by providing a golf bag adapted for a player to continuously carry along with a set of golf clubs while playing golf, the golf clubs each having a longitudinal shaft attached to a club head, said golf bag comprising: a longitudinal carrier body having a top end, an intermediate section and a bottom end, said carrier body defining a plurality of longitudinal passages which are open at the carrier body top end for receiving the shafts of the golf clubs with the club heads protruding, a carrier waist strap having first and second waist strap portions, each waist strap portion having one end attached to the carrier body and also having a free end, and clip means for attaching together said free ends about the waist of said player, and a carrier angle adjustment member attached between said carrier waist strap and the bottom end of the carrier body, said carrier angle adjustment member being arranged for selective lengthening or shortening to adjust the angle of the golf bag on the waist of the player.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS  
       [0010]    The invention will be better understood by reference to the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 1 is a perspective elevational view showing a golfer playing golf while carrying the improved golf bag,  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the carrier body with attachment straps but without the fabric shell,  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 3 is a side elevational view, rotated 90 degrees from the view of FIG. 2,  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 4 is an enlarged plan view, in cross section, taken along lines IV-IV of FIG. 3,  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 5 is an enlarged partial elevational view, illustrating the preferred construction for retaining club shafts in the bag,  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 6 is a partial perspective view illustrating an alternate form of the invention,  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the fabric shell used in connection with the improved golf bag, and  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 8 is an elevational view of the improved golf bag with fabric shell. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0019]    Referring to FIG. 1 of the drawing, a golf player  10  is carrying a golf bag  12  around his waist. The player  10  is using a conventional golf club having a longitudinal shaft of  14 , with a club head  16  on one end and an enlarged grip  18  on the other. The golf bag  12  holds a small but adequate selection of additional clubs shown collectively at  20 , with the club heads protruding from the bag. Player  10  carries the bag  12  around his waist and disposed at an angle as indicated in the drawing, by means of a carrier waist strap  22  and a waist strap adjustment member  23 .  
         [0020]    Further details of the internal structure of golf bag  12  may be seen by reference to FIGS.  2 - 5  of the drawing. FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate two elevational views of a carrier body  24  with the external fabric shell removed. The carrier body is made up of a circular assembly of tubular members, such as the one illustrated at  26 . Tubular members  26  are preferably of lightweight plastic material. In the embodiment shown there are seven such tubular members  26 . There could be a smaller or a larger number of tubular members, but there should be enough to carry a reasonable number of clubs without having so many that the golf bag becomes unduly heavy. Inside each of the tubes  26  is longitudinal passage  28 , as shown in FIG. 4, for receiving the grip  18  and longitudinal shaft  14  of a golf club.  
         [0021]    In order to hold the circular assembly in position, a first annular tube guide  30  is located at a top end of the carrier body  24 ; a second annular tube guide  32  is located at an intermediate section of the carrier body, about ⅓ along the length thereof from the top end; and a third annular tube guide  34  is disposed at the bottom end of the carrier body. The bottom end annular or tube guide  34  may conveniently be a cup-shaped receptacle with spacing means, such as an array of stubs, to hold the bottoms of the tubular members  36  in position. The second annular tube guide  32  located at the intermediate section may be a disk with a matching array of holes for receiving the tubular members  26 . The first annular tube guide  30  at the top end may comprise a similar disk with a matching array of holes receiving the top ends of the tubular members.  
         [0022]    The first and second annular tube guides  30 ,  32  are longitudinally spaced from one another by means of a pair of longitudinal spacer members  36 ,  38 . Spacers  36 ,  38  are circumferentially displaced from one another by 90 degrees and attached by suitable means, such as rivets  40 , to the tube guides  30 ,  32 . FIG. 3 is rotated 90 degrees in the drawing around the longitudinal axis from the view of FIG. 2, so that the front and side views of the longitudinal spacers  36 ,  38  may be seen in each of the views.  
         [0023]    The waist band strap  22  (FIG. 1) is preferably made up of a first waist strap portion  42  and a second waist strap portion  44 . Waist strap portion  42  is attached to longitudinal spacers  36  near the top end of the carrier body by means of an angled slot  46  in spacer  36  (FIG. 2) and a stop member  48  (FIG. 3). Waist strap portion  44  is attached to longitudinal spacer  38  by means of an angled slot  50  in the spacer near the intermediate section (FIG. 3), and an internal stop  52  (FIG. 2).  
         [0024]    Strap portion  42  has a free end with a female clip receptacle  54 ; waist strap portion  44  has a mating male clip tab  56 . The slots  46  and  50  for attaching the waist strap portions are both longitudinally and circumferentially spaced from one another as seen from the drawings.  
         [0025]    Reference to FIGS.  4  of the drawing, which is a cross section through the carrier body and longitudinal spacers  36 ,  38 , shows the details of the annular tube guide  32 , the longitudinal passages  28  along the carrier body inside the tubes, and the details for attachment of waist strap portions  42 ,  44  to longitudinal spacers  36 ,  38  respectively.  
         [0026]    In order to adjust the angle of the golf bag on the player, the invention includes a carrier angle adjustment member  23 . This comprises a flexible cord attached at one end to the lower annular tube guide  34 , as seen at  58 , and looped through an eyelet  56   a  in clip  56 , to terminate within a releasable and slidable friction adjustment clasp  60 . Many alternate adjustment systems are possible and well known to those skilled in the art to lengthen or shorten the distance between carrier clip  56  and attachment point  58  at the bottom end of the carrier body. While the carrier angle adjustment member  23  is shown as being attached to the clip member  56 , it can also be attached to a separate clip slidable along the waist belt portion  44 .  
         [0027]    In order to keep the golf clubs from sliding out of the open ends of the tubular members, the preferred embodiment of the invention employs means for gripping the longitudinal shafts of the golf clubs. The gripping means illustrated in the FIGS. 2 and 3 are shown as a pair of resilient constrictions in each of the tubes, one pair of such resilient constrictions being shown at  62  and  64 . The enlarged partial view of FIG. 5 of the drawing shows a section of longitudinal tubular member  26  provided with longitudinal slits  66 . These enable the walls of the tubular member to be drawn in by an encircling member  68  of spring metal as apparent from the drawing. When the club shaft  14  is inserted, the enlarged grip  18  is frictionally gripped by the spring ring  68 .  
         [0028]    Alternate Carrier Body Construction  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 6 illustrates an alternate construction for a carrier body shown generally at  70 . A cylindrical member  72  of lightweight foam is molded using internal mandrels, which are removed to provide a circular array of longitudinal passages  74 . A reinforcing ring  76  at the top end of the carrier body  70  and a similar ring (not shown) in the intermediate section are spaced and located by longitudinal spacer members  78 ,  80 , as before. The remainder of the details are the same as those shown in the preferred embodiment, except for the gripping means. The latter may be provided by suitably contoured leaf spring members (not shown) inside the bottoms of the longitudinal passages  74 .  
         [0030]    In FIG. 7, a fabric shell is illustrated, which adds a conventional appearance to the golf bag. The fabric shell, shown generally at  82  is dimensioned to fit tightly around the carrier body  24  of FIGS. 2 and 3 or  70  of FIG. 6. A hole  84  near the bottom end, a slot  86  near the top end and a slot  88  at an intermediate section permit the passage of the waist strap portions  42 ,  44  and the angle adjustment member  23 . The fabric shell  82  may be provided with conventional embellishments such as tee and ball holder bag  90  and, if desired, may include a club head cover (not shown) attached in a conventional fashion.  
         [0031]    As an alternative to attaching the waist strap portions  42 ,  44  and the angle adjustment member  23  to the carrier body and running them through openings  84 ,  86 ,  88  in the fabric shell, the members  42 ,  44  and  23  may be attached directly to the fabric shell  82 . In this case, attachment means comprising pieces of material with attached clips or eyelets (not shown) are sewn to the fabric at the same locations as openings  84 ,  86 ,  88  shown in FIG. 7. In either case, the strap portions  42 ,  44  and the angular adjustment member  23  would be attached to and serve to support, and adjust the angle of, the golf bag.  
         [0032]    [0032]FIG. 8 illustrates the improved golf bag with the carrier body disposed inside the fabric cover  82  and having the outer appearance of a conventional golf bag, with the exception of the waist attachment belt and angle adjustment member and the circular array of openings for the insertion of golf club handles on the top end. Because the attachment points of the two waist straps to the bag are both longitudinally and circumferentially spaced from one another, the bag assumes an angle as shown in FIG. 1 when attached around the waist. The angle may be adjusted with the angle adjustment member by shortening or lengthening the member  23  with the clasp  60 .  
         [0033]    Industrial Applicability  
         [0034]    Because of its light weight and construction adapted for carrying about the waist of the player, the improved golf bag can be carried while actually addressing the ball and striking the ball without ever removing the bag from the waist. Contrary to other club carrying systems, the improved golf bag speeds up play and makes it easier to walk the golf course with no weight on the shoulders from the golf bag strap. No awkward bending is required to lift a heavy golf bag and it is never necessary to leave and then later retrieve a golf club. A personalized selection of desired golf clubs can be carried. The carrier can be provided with interchangeable machine washable fabric shells.  
         [0035]    While there has been described what is considered to be the preferred embodiment of the invention, other modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art, and it is desired to secure in the appended claims all such modifications as followed within the free and scope of the invention.