Accessory device and method for protecting golf clubs

An accessory device protects golf clubs from damage during transit or storage. The device includes a head member having a solid plate configuration and having a semi-rigid construction and an extensible rod assembly adapted to be positioned in the golf bag with the lower end of the rod assembly positioned on the base of the golf bag. The head member may be releasably attached to the upper end of the rod assembly or may be stored in a side pocket of the golf bag. The rod assembly is selectively moveable between an extended travel configuration having a length greater than the length of the longest club of the set of clubs, whereby the head member may be releasably attached to the upper end of the rod assembly so as to protectively overlie the head of the longest club to provide protection for the clubs in travel scenarios, and a retracted play configuration having a length less than the length of the golf bag, whereby the head member may be removed from the rod assembly and stored in the side pocket of the golf bag so that the rod assembly may reside unobtrusively in the bag during golf play.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to golf equipment and more particularly to a device 
and method for protecting golf clubs during storage and transport. 
Golf clubs when not in use are typically protected by head mittens, 
especially over the heads of the woods, and by a flexible hood fitted over 
the heads of the clubs and releasably secured to the upper collar of the 
golf bag. Whereas these mittens and hoods provide protection from the 
elements they do not provide any significant protection against shaft 
breakage due to rough handling during storage and transport. Travel bags 
of a fabric construction are also available to enclose the golf bag and 
clubs for shipping/transport. These bags, again, offer little protection 
against club shaft breakage due to rough handling. Rigid clam shell 
structures are also available to enclose the bag and clubs and, whereas 
these rigid structures are generally effective in combatting club shaft 
breakage due to rough handling, they create a large, heavy and cumbersome 
total package which complicates storage, handling, and shipment. Accessory 
devices have also been proposed for insertion in the golf bag to overlie 
the clubs and protect the clubs against longitudinal compacting forces but 
these accessory devices are ineffective in protecting the clubs and/or 
present storage and handling problems when not in use. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
This invention is directed to the provision of an improved device and 
method for protecting golf clubs. 
More particularly, this invention is directed to the provision of a simple 
and inexpensive device that is effective in protecting golf clubs against 
breakage during shipping and storage. 
The accessory device of the invention is intended for use with a golf set 
including a set of golf clubs and a golf bag for receiving the clubs with 
the lower ends of the clubs positioned on a base of the bag and the clubs 
extending upwardly within the bag to position the club heads at a level 
above the leading, top edge of the bag. 
According to the invention, the device includes a head member defining a 
solid lower face; an extensible rod assembly having upper and lower ends 
and adapted to be positioned in the golf bag with the lower end thereof 
positioned on the base of the golf bag and the rod assembly extending 
upwardly in the bag to position the upper end thereof at a location 
proximate the upper end of the bag; attachment means operative to 
releasably secure the head member to the upper end of the rod assembly; 
and means operative to selectively move the rod assembly between an 
extended travel configuration having a length greater than the length of 
the longest club of the set of the clubs, whereby the head may be 
releasably attached to the upper end of the rod assembly so as to position 
the solid lower face in protective overlying relation to the head of the 
longest club to provide protection for the clubs in travel scenarios, and 
a retracted play configuration having a length less than the length of the 
longest club, whereby the head member may be removed from the rod assembly 
so that the rod assembly may reside unobtrusively in the bag during golf 
play. This arrangement provides effective longitudinal protection against 
club breakage during travel scenarios while minimizing storage problems 
with respect to the accessory device during golf play scenarios. 
According to a further feature of the invention, the bag includes a storage 
pocket and the head member is sized and configured to fit in the storage 
pocket. With this arrangement, the head member is readily available when 
it is again desired to use the accessory device in its travel 
configuration. 
According to a further feature of the invention, the golf set includes a 
flexible hood adapted to be releasably secured to the upper end of the bag 
in covering relation to the heads of the clubs and the head member is 
sized and configured to fit within the hood with the accessory device in 
its travel configuration. This arrangement allows the accessory device to 
be used in its travel configuration without interfering with the normal 
operation of the various sizes and shapes of golf bag hoods. 
According to a further feature of the invention, the rod assembly comprises 
a telescoping assembly including inner and outer tubular members and the 
operative means comprises a series of longitudinally spaced holes in one 
of the tubular members and a spring biased button on the other tubular 
member for selective locking coaction with one of the holes to adjustably 
determine the length of the rod assembly. This allows the device to be 
readily adjusted to accommodate a wide variety of lengths of the longest 
club. 
In the disclosed embodiment of the invention, the head member comprises a 
molded plastic member having a solid plate configuration including a 
relatively thick and relatively rigid central main body portion and a 
relatively thin and relatively flexible circumferential portion 
constituted by a plurality of circumferentially spaced circumferential 
sections defined by a circumferentially spaced series of inwardly 
extending slots. This construction allows the head member to fit within a 
wide variety of hood sizes. 
The invention further provides a method for use with a golf set including a 
set of golf clubs and a golf bag for receiving the clubs with the lower 
ends of the clubs positioned on a base of the bag and the clubs extending 
upwardly within the bag to position at least some of the club heads at a 
level above the top of the bag. 
According to the invention method, a head member is provided defining a 
solid lower face; an extensible rod assembly is provided having upper and 
lower ends; attachment means are provided operative to releasably secure 
the head member to the upper end of the rod assembly; the rod assembly is 
positioned in the golf bag with the lower end thereof positioned on the 
base of the golf bag and the rod assembly extending upwardly in the bag to 
position the upper end thereof at a location proximate the upper end of 
the bag; for travel requirements, the rod assembly is moved to an extended 
travel configuration having a length greater than the length of the 
longest club of the set of clubs and the head member is releasably 
attached to the upper end of the rod assembly so as to protectively 
position the solid lower face in overlying relation to the head of the 
longest club to provide protection for the clubs; and for golf play 
requirements, the rod assembly is moved to a retracted play configuration 
having a length less than the length of the longest club and the head 
member is removed from the upper end of the rod assembly so that the rod 
assembly may reside unobtrusively in the bag during golf play. With this 
methodology, protection is provided for the golf clubs during travel 
without interfering with the normal usage of the golf clubs during golf 
play. 
According to a further feature of the invention methodology, the golf bag 
has a storage pocket and the method includes the further step of storing 
the head member in the storage pocket when not releasably attached to the 
upper end of the rod assembly. With this methodology the clubs are 
protected during transport, there is no interference with normal usage of 
the golf clubs during golf play, and the protective feature may again be 
readily established when it is again time to transport the clubs.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
The invention accessory device 10 is intended for use in association with a 
golf bag 11 of the type including a base 12, an upper collar 14, side 
panels 16 connecting the base and the collar, a handle 18, a shoulder 
strap 20, and one or more side pockets 22. It will be understood that the 
golf bag, in conventional fashion, is circumferentially reinforced and 
longitudinally reinforced so that it has longitudinal and circumferential 
integrity. A partition 24 is positioned in known manner within collar 14 
to provide selective separation of the golf clubs. Golf bag 11 is intended 
in known manner to receive a set of golf clubs with each club 26 including 
a handle 28, a shaft 30, and a head 32 connected to the shaft 30 via a 
hosel 34. Clubs 26 may include in known manner one or more woods 26a and 
one or more irons 26b. Clubs 26 are positioned in known manner in bag 16 
with the lower ends of the club handles positioned on the base 12 of the 
bag and the clubs extending upwardly within the bag to position the club 
heads 32 at a level above the top of the bag. 
Accessory device 10, broadly considered, includes a head member 36 and a 
rod assembly 38. 
Head member 36 is formed of a suitable plastic material in an injection 
molding process. The head member has a solid plate configuration and a 
semi-rigid construction. Specifically, head member 36 has an oblong 
configuration and includes a generally rectangular relatively thick, 
semi-rigid main body portion 36a and a relatively thin and relatively 
flexible circumferential flange portion constituted by a series of 
circumferentially spaced flange sections 36b separated from each other by 
a series of circumferentially spaced, inwardly extending slots 36c. The 
described construction is such that the flange sections 36b will normally 
lie in the same plane as the main body portion 36a to present a generally 
planar configuration but may flex downwardly relative to the main body 
portion, by virtue of the slots 36c and by virtue of the relatively thin 
cross-section of the flange sections, to assume flexed configurations 
relative to the main body portion. Head member 36 further includes an 
integral plug 36d projecting downwardly from the lower face of main body 
portion 36a and having an "X" configuration in cross-section. Plug 36d, as 
best seen in FIG. 6, is located on the front to rear center line 40 of the 
head member but is offset with respect to the side to side center line 42 
of the head member. As best seen in FIG. 9, the overall size and 
configuration of head member 36 preferably corresponds generally to the 
overall cross-sectional size and configuration of the golf bag with which 
it is to be used so that the lower face of the head member overlies and 
provides protection for the entire cross-sectional area of the golf bag. 
Rod assembly 38 includes a cylindrical lower outer telescopic tube 43 and a 
cylindrical upper inner telescopic tube 44. Tubes 43 and 44 may be formed 
for example of aluminum and are sized to fit telescopically one within the 
other in known manner so as to vary the overall length of the rod assembly 
in response to relative telescopic sliding movement of the tubes. Lower or 
outer tube 43 includes a series of aligned longitudinally spaced holes 
43a. Holes 43a may be spaced apart, for example, by a distance of 1 inch. 
Upper or inner tube 44 includes a locking button 46 projecting through a 
tube aperture 44a and carried on the free end of a cantilever leaf spring 
48 fixedly secured to the inner surface of the tube. It will been that 
with inner tube 44 inserted in outer tube 43, the overall length of the 
rod assembly may be selectively adjusted by adjusting the hole 43a in 
which the button 46 is received. In adjusting the length of the rod 
assembly it is preferable that the tube 44 be slid into tube 43 with the 
button 46 angularly displaced with respect to the holes 43a until the 
desired position of longitudinal adjustment is reached whereafter tube 44 
may be rotated relative to tube 43 to snap button 46 into locking 
engagement with the desired aperture 43a. 
Rod assembly 38 is intended to move between an extended travel 
configuration, seen in FIG. 3, having a length greater than the length of 
the longest club of the set of clubs (typically one of the woods 26a) and 
a retracted golf play configuration, seen in FIG. 4, having a length less 
than the length of the longest club. For example, and as shown, the 
assembly in the retracted golf play configuration may have a length 
somewhat less than the height of the golf bag so that the upper end of the 
rod assembly is positioned proximate but below the top of the golf bag so 
that the rod assembly may reside unobtrusively in the bag during golf 
play. 
With the rod assembly in the extended travel configuration of FIG. 3, head 
member 36 is releasably secured to the upper end of upper, inner tube 44 
by pushing the plug 36d downwardly into the open upper end of tube 44. For 
this purpose, plug 36d has a diametric configuration presenting an 
interference fit with the bore of tube 44 so that the plug may be moved 
readily in and out of the bore but will remain in position in the bore 
until forcibly removed. In the travel configuration of FIG. 3, it will be 
seen that the head member overlies the longest club and thereby all of the 
clubs in the bag so as to protect the clubs against shaft breakage during 
storage or shipment. 
It is envisioned that the golf bag will include a conventional flexible 
fabric hood 50 which may be releasably secured to the collar 14 of the bag 
using known snap fasteners 52. With hood 50 in position and the accessory 
device in its travel configuration, one or more of the flexible flange 
sections 36b of the head member may flex downwardly if necessary to allow 
the head member to be positioned within the hood and, in extreme cases, 
the semi-rigid main body 36a of the head member may also flex. When it is 
desired to use the golf bag and golf clubs for golf play, hood 50 is 
removed, head member 36 is removed from the upper end of the rod assembly 
and stored in side pocket 22 and the rod assembly is moved to its 
retracted play configuration of FIG. 4 by appropriate release of button 46 
from the engaged hole 43a and the positioning of the button in a lower 
hole 43a corresponding to the desired retracted length of the rod 
assembly. 
The accessory device of the invention will be seen to provide excellent 
protection for the golf clubs during storage or shipment; reside 
unobtrusively in the bag during golf play; and be readily reconverted to a 
protective travel configuration by simply removing the head member from 
the storage pocket, extending the rod assembly, and reattaching the head 
member to the upper end of the rod assembly. 
The invention accessory device is especially effective in preventing golf 
club damage during the ever increasing air transit of golf clubs wherein a 
major problem has arisen with respect to shaft breakage, typically at the 
hosel, as a result of rough handling by airline attendants. 
Specifically, golf bags are typically literally hurled into the cargo bay 
of commercial airliners and impact against the far wall of the cargo bay. 
As a result, the shafts of one or more of the longer golf clubs are often 
fractured. This problem has become particularly grievous with the increase 
in popularity of non-ferrous shafts, such for example as boron, 
boron-graphite, graphite, and titanium, which are especially susceptible 
to breakage under compressive loading. The invention accessory device will 
be seen to effectively eliminate this problem since, as the golf bag is 
hurled toward the far wall of the cargo compartment, the head member of 
the accessory device is the first to strike the far wall and takes the 
brunt of the linear forces generated by the considerable mass of the golf 
bag assembly, rather than allowing the longest club or clubs to 
effectively strike the far wall and take the brunt of the load of the 
entire bag and contents, with consequent breakage of the shafts. 
Whereas a preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and 
described in detail, it will be apparent that various changes may be made 
in the disclosed embodiment without departing from the scope or spirit of 
the invention.