Abstract:
Disclosed is a golf bag putter holder utilizing a bean bag, plush or stuffed toy doll as the principal means of protecting the putter head from damage. A putter holder that under normal transportation and golf play, when attached to a conventional golf bag by a clip, will suspend a putter above the bag floor and secure a putter head firmly in place. The holder is comprised of a tube for mounting a doll and storing the putter. The tubes top aperture contains notches to seat a club head in place, thus eliminating the need to remove and replace a head cover. A plain version of the holder is disclosed as well.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates generally to an improved device, which holds a golf club putter protectively in place within any type of conventional golf bag. More particularly, an invention that stores, aligns, segregates and protects a putter within a golf bag and mounts a stuffed toy or a plain version thereof, on a rigid elongated tube as the principal means to protect the putter head from damage. 
     A class of devices exists for storage and protection of golf clubs. An example is U.S. Pat. No. 5,005,624 issued to H. Sung, which shows a golf club protector, adapted to be permanently retained in a conventional golf bag. The protector comprises a rigid elongated tube mountable in a golf bag and a flexible fabric cover attached to the upper end of the tube for encircling the head of the club. Sung improved upon his original protector in his U.S. Pat. No. 5,437,320 whereby the principal feature was the addition of a flanged panel adapted to underlay the toe area of the head of an inverted golf club and a flanged hood adapted to overlay the sole area of the club. 
     These concepts are used extensively for golf club woods and have been applied to the putter as well. Typically, nylon fabric is covered in a high pile acrylic fur to form a protective hood and often a sock extends downward to partially protect the shaft. Many such hoods take the form of an animal. These animal representations upon a golf club device have been proven to be a highly desirable feature. These hoods, socks or padded head covers provide excellent protection but have no other practical function and are easily misplaced or lost. Examples are D 446,564 and D 444,525. 
     My issued U.S. Pat. No. 6,244,437 shows a universal golf bag putter holder that, when attached to the upper lip of a golf bag, will enable storage, alignment, segregation and protection for the shaft and the putter&#39;s club head. These features are accomplished by utilizing a tube, clip and padding material, that creates a resting place for the putter head in lieu of a hood type arrangement. The tube is open at both ends to allow a putter shaft to descend and reside therein with the tubes upper opening containing a singular notch to lock in a putter head. The tube&#39;s top end being horizontal and the padding being of foam rubber covered with a mid-pile fuzzy nylon material in an upward angled position. A slot is created in the padding material to form a resting place for the putter head and the clip is positioned on the tube starting at its top and is adhesively attached to the tube. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Heretofore, no protective putter device existed that could reasonably take the form of a six to nine inch length stuffed toy animal or cartoon character as well as have other practical storage applications. The problem encountered is most stuffed toys are not meant to be elevated or suspended. They are designed to lay, stand, or sit on a flat surface and tend to deform, droop or look unnatural when mounted or attached to a putter storage device, particularly those that are filled primarily with plastic pellets. This problem has been overcome in the present invention. 
     The present invention relates to a putter holding device of the type disclosed in my U.S. Pat. No. 6,244,437. A putter holder is revealed that utilizes a stuffed toy as the principal means to protect a putter head from damage. The tube, clip and padded material concepts are retained, however, multiple design changes have been made to improve upon the previous inventions holding ability and other changes that enable the mounting of stuffed toys with little or no deformation and a realistic look. A novel piece of cloth has been conceived that when added to a doll, allows a doll to be mounted on a uniquely shaped tube top aperture. The tube&#39;s clip has been redesigned and relocated at a lower position to act as a stop, thus eliminating the need for a screw and the addition of multiple new types of cushioning materials utilized. In the present invention the tube and clip are preferably made by injection molding process. An additional notch in the tube is incorporated and the tubes upper opening is made on an angle rather than horizontally. Outer covering materials commonly found in the stuffed toy industry have now been employed. The circular cutout made a complete rather than a partial material cutout. The material slot has been eliminated. and replaced by an indentation in the material that resists putter head movement. Other design changes have been made which will become evident upon review of the detailed description. The objective is to allow the placement of plush stuffed animal type dolls, bean bag toys, and cartoon type dolls upon a putter holding device for the purpose of greatly enhancing a holders desirability and at the same time use the body, head, legs, arms, wings and other body parts as a separator from other stored golf clubs. 
     An animal representation made slightly elevated and supported in a tilted position upon a golf bag, as is the case in the present invention, enables the presentation of an entire body and complete exposure of the face. This gives a much more natural look, as well as the ability to mount thousands of differing doll configurations regardless of their original position intent, including the classic six-inch beanbag dolls, which are highly prized in our society and have, indeed, become collectibles. 
     A further objective is to use existing doll fabric patterns, by adding an opening through the main body panel parts, which does not cause a major pattern change or the need for a new doll design configuration to accommodate the holder. It is also an objective to leave unchanged any doll manufacturers basic doll interior stuffing preferences to make the invention herein described applicable to the universe of stuffed dolls that are of a practical size for use upon a golf bag. A plain and unattractive version is described as well, which incorporates the improvements over my prior invention. While this plain version is not as effective as a doll in protecting the putter, a compromise is made to appeal to those golfers who are conservative in nature and would be opposed to placing a doll on their golf bags. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The objects and features of the invention may be understood with reference to the following detailed descriptions of preferred embodiments of the invention, taken together with the accompanying drawings as follows: 
     FIG. 1 An isometric view of the putter holder placed upon a conventional golf bag viewed from outside a bag. 
     FIG. 2 a  An isometric view of the tube and clip portion of the putter holder. 
     FIG. 2 b  A side isometric view of the tube and clip with a portion rotated to show an angle. 
     FIG. 3 An illustration of a tubular cloth configuration. 
     FIG. 4 A side view of an embodiment that utilizes a stiffening member. 
     FIG. 5 An isometric view of an alternate embodiment of the invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Reference now should be made to the drawings, in which the same reference numbers are used throughout the different figures to insure reference to the same components. In addition, the subject matters of U.S. Pat. No. 6,244,437 are incorporated herein. 
     FIG. 1 shows the use of the putter holder  10  attached to a conventional golf bag  11  above and parallel to its rim  12 . A conventional blade putter head  13  and its putter shaft  14  are depicted just prior to resting upon the rendering of a typical seven inch stuffed doll. The type and size of doll to be utilized is a design choice, which must be reasonable to meet the stated objectives.  10  is attached to  11  by clip means best shown in FIG. 2 a.  Holder  10  consists of a cushioning member doll  15  which may contain a variety of stuffing materials  16 , as commonly employed in the plush toy, stuffed doll and beanbag toy industries, as well as semi-soft synthetics of differing density characteristics, preferably polyester fiber in combination with polyethylene pellets. Material  16  may be covered by a variety of textiles commonly employed in the toy industry, preferably nylon based acrylic plush fur  17 , which provides structure, longevity and aesthetics. Indentation  18   a  and  18   b  are created by the weight of the putter head resting upon soft material  16  and  17 , to aid in the prevention of putter vibration once placed therein. An elongated tube  19  is open at both ends and is sufficiently sized to receive a putter shaft and its handle.  19  may be formed from conventional well-known resilient materials, such as common plastics or rubber compounds. The preference would be a plastic synthetic resin such as a polyolefin copolymer or propylene, etc. The tube  19  and its clip  20  are best formed as one unit, utilizing the manufacturing process of injection molding. An opening  21  exists in  16  and  17  to accommodate the  15  attachment mechanism to  19 , which is a tubular shaped cloth sleeve portion  22  of  15 , and is more clearly shown in FIG.  3 . Opening  21  is preferably located slightly to the rear of the top dead center of  15  to make an accommodation for the difference in length between the toe and heel of most putter heads in relation to their shafts. 
     FIGS. 2 a  and  2   b  reveals that  19  contains notches  23  and  24 , approximately the width of a typical  13 , at tube top end  25  to provide the means to lock a putter head into  10 . The depth of  23  and  24  are such that when a putter is placed therein, a portion of the putter head rests upon the notches. Therefore, a portion is exposed and a portion contacts  17 . While it is desirable to have a notch that will accept as many differing putter bead shapes as possible, it may be desirable to more securely retain a particular putter by modifying the size and contours of either  23  or  24  conforming to their particular size and contours. Notch  23  and  24  are diametrically opposed to one another with  23  lower than  24 . The rim of tube top  26  is canted starting at  23  and proceeds upward to  24  the same degree found in a typical putter between the shaft and the head. The tubes lower end is horizontal. It is preferred that the edges of  23  and  24  be rounded to assure no sharp edges could damage a putter face.  26  is preferred to be a flanged rim to provide a broader point for the users aim, prevent damage to the  17  material caused by misuse and to insure that a  15  cannot be removed easily from  19 . The notched edges may be rubberized if preferred and  19  lengthened to accommodate the non-conventional long shafted putters. 
     As shown in FIG. 2 b  a clip  20  is integral to  19 .  20  has an upper portion  27 , which is relatively rectangular in shape and extends outwardly from  19 , a sufficient distance to fit over rim  12 . Portion  27  is structurally thicker than its leg portion  28 . Leg  28  is relatively straight, rectangular in configuration and angled inwardly toward  19  by a bend  29  in the material, which together provide the force and spring-like effect in such elastomer type flexible plastic clips. Clip  20  is located on  19 , a predetermined distance from the lowest portions of  26  compatible with the length of the average putter shaft and golf bag with  19  short of a golf bag floor. The underside of  27  is a flat surface  30 , designed to be in contact with  12  and acts as a stop feature for the entire holder  10  and additionally allows space for a  15  to be mounted. Tube  19  and its clip  20  provide the means by which  10 , with a putter resting therein, may be raised above the rim of any conventional golf bag with a putter in suspension, the weight of a putter upon notches  23  and  24  and proper alignment within a golf bag of a putter occurring. Leg  28  at its lower free end  31  is nearly even with the surface of  19  and must be physically separated when  10  is being attached to a golf bag. Leg  28  contains an outward bend  32  in the material as a convenience for the user. While tube  19  is described for use inside a golf bag and clip  20  on the outside, a user may reverse this arrangement and have  19  without a golf bag and  20  inside, with a putter shaft  14  hanging outside bag  11  to gain greater separation of a  13  from other stored clubs. 
     FIG. 1 suggests that at least eight individual panel pieces of  17  materials are necessary to produce a doll by manufacturers skilled in the art. The first piece of a doll is normally a bottom body panel  33  of the skin and sets the foundation for the rest of the outer panels. Two additional body panel pieces, a right  34  and left  35 , normally form the sides and back with connecting internal side seams and a top seam  36   a  and  36   b.    
     FIG. 3 depicts a cloth sleeve piece  22  that is to be connected to panel&#39;s  33 ,  34 ,  35  by a stitching process. Their seam  36   a  and  36   b  create the holders cushioning member  15  and its opening  21 . Piece  22 , preferably a fabric combination of nylon and spandex, which will surround  25  of  19 , is open at both ends, has an upper first end  37  and a lower second end  38  both of which are canted the same as  26  with a connecting seam  39 . The height of  22  is found in a typical doll between its bottom panel and back, with the apex  40  of  22 , when sewn to the panels, is in alignment with  36   a.  Opening  21  is created from existing fabric patterns by modifying  34  and  35 , cutting a 19-sized half circle in the fabric, then making a series of clips in the round and stitching them to an overlap fold in  37 . An opening is formed in  33  by cutting a complete series of clips in the round of a 19-sized circle in the fabric and making a stitching connection to an overlap fold in  38 . It is to be recognized that in some doll patterns, a seam may run through a bottom panel as well. As the exterior of 15 takes place, the head, ears legs etc., are sewn on, and stuffed with 16 materials. When accomplished, doll accessories are finalized and made ready for attachment by hand to  25 . To assure  15  becomes a permanent part of  10 , an adhesive is placed on  25  and a slightly smaller diameter  22  than  19  utilizes the stretching qualities of cloth, to force a tight fit. In the preferred embodiment, panels  34  and  35  are flush to the underside of rim  26 , the legs of a  15  made slightly splayed outward, a tail curved towards the stored golf clubs or a wing made in a more upright position by very slight stitching adjustments, Body parts are made thick, firm or exaggerated by the amount of 16 materials utilized, depending on the doll selected, solely for the purpose of insuring protection of the putter head from other stored golf clubs. 
     When it is desired to utilize a doll that contains minimal amounts of stuffing material or one that is primarily filled with plastic pellets, a stiffening member is added to  19  to overcome a dolls tendency to droop and appear unnatural. FIG. 4 depicts an embodiment wherein a substantially elongated rectangular stiffening member  41 , being of plastic, rubber, Styrofoam or other similar material, is made permanent to  19  by an adhesive or, preferably, by injection molding of a plastic synthetic resin, starting at the lower portion of  24  and extending upward on an angle the same as  26  through a dolls central body part and into a portion of its head. In order to mate against  19 , end  42  of  41  is of a concave configuration with end  43  being blunt. The size of  41  is a design choice, which must be reasonably sufficient to overcome the weight of plastic pellets or compensate for the lack of stuffing materials. An opening  44  in  22  is necessary to allow a  15  to pass through  41  when being mounted to  19 , with a slit in the fabric being sufficient. 
     In an alternate embodiment, as depicted in FIG. 5, a plain and substantially rectangular version of  10  may be produced with the design changes stated above for the tube  19  and its clip  20 . The internal cushioning material  45 , being vulcanized rubber, synthetic fibers or other semi-soft flexible material, preferably cotton. The outer covering panels  46 ,  47  and  48  being of various textiles such as wool or leather but preferably nylon backed acrylic fur.  45  may be covered by a number of stitching means by those skilled in the art, preferably by joining a right panel  46  and a left panel  47 , which form the sides and top and a bottom panel  48  and connecting them to a  22  in the same manner as previously described. Internal seams  49 ,  50  and  51  join the panels, with seam  50  and  51  intersecting  22  at  52  and  53 . The overall size being a design choice determined by the amount of stuffing material one wishes to use to protect the putter head. 
     While the invention has been described in connection with the preferred embodiments, it is understood that I did not intend to limit the invention to that embodiment. On the contrary, it is intended to cover all alternatives, modifications and equivalents as may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. It should be apparent to those skilled in the art that other stitching means may be employed, the cloth made to extend down the tubes outer or inner surface, the clip reconfigured, tube notches made narrow or angled, the holder made specifically for an iron club with slight modification or additional stiffening members added.