Patent Publication Number: US-2003234503-A1

Title: Golf bag with moveable support

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001] 1. Field of the Invention  
       [0002] The present invention relates generally to a golf bag, and in particular to a golf bag with a moveable support for easy movement and firm support of the golf bag in a standing up but slightly inclined condition for easy access of the golf clubs.  
       [0003] 2. The Related Art  
       [0004] Golf is a popular sport. A golf player must carry a set of golf clubs walking around a large course to play golf. The clubs together with the putters are usually placed in a golf bag, which is very heavy. Some may prefer to take a golf cart in moving around the golf course. However, one still need to move the golf bag from one&#39;s car to the golf cart. This causes certain inconvenience to the golf player, especially for those aged.  
       [0005] A trolley for carrying the golf bag is known already. However, such a conventional golf bag trolley is a separate device that is not fixed to the golf bag itself. Fastening means is provided to releasably secure the golf bag to the trolley. A user may need to frequently securing and releasing the golf bag when playing golf. This is of course disadvantageous.  
       [0006] A golf bag fixedly mounted to a trolley is also known. However, the trolley is large, bulky and heavy, causing problems in moving around the golf course. In addition, the conventional golf bag trolley is not suitable for moving in an uneven surface. This makes it very difficult to use in some areas of a golf course. Further, such a conventional trolley requires a great number of parts, making the costs high and maintenance difficult.  
       [0007] It is thus desired to have a golf bag having a moveable support for overcoming the above problems encountered in the art.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0008] An object of the present invention is to provide a golf bag having a moveable support that has a simple structure and light weight.  
       [0009] Another object of the present invention is to provide a golf bag trolley having adjustable wheels for moving in an uneven surface.  
       [0010] A further object of the present invention is to provide a support for retaining the golf bag in a standing up manner to allow easy access of golf clubs positioned in the bag.  
       [0011] To achieve the above objects, in accordance with the present invention, there is provided a golf bag comprising a cylindrical base having a top fact to which a bag body is integrally or removably mounted and a side surface on which a ledge is formed. A bore is defined through the ledge between opposite end faces of the ledge for movably receiving two bars therein with remote end sections of the bars extending beyond the end faces of the ledge to rotatably support wheels thereon. Thus, the wheels can be moved between a retracted position and an extended position where the wheels are located away from the bag body for more firmly supporting the bag. A channel is defined inside the base for movably receiving an outrigger arm that is selectively extending away from the side surface of the base whereby a remote end of the outrigger arm forms a triangle with the wheels to firmly support the bag body. 
     
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
     [0012] The present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art by reading the following description of preferred embodiments thereof, with reference to the attached drawings, in which:  
     [0013]FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a golf bag constructed in accordance with the present invention comprising a moveable support or trolley;  
     [0014]FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the moveable support of the golf bag of the present invention;  
     [0015]FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the moveable support with an outrigger arm thereof detached therefrom;  
     [0016]FIG. 4 is another perspective view of the moveable support with wheels thereof in an extended position;  
     [0017]FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the moveable support in an up-side-down fashion;  
     [0018]FIG. 6 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 5 but showing a moveable support constructed in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention;  
     [0019]FIG. 7 is a front view of the golf bag of the present invention with the wheels in a retracted position;  
     [0020]FIG. 8 is similar to FIG. 7 but showing the wheels in an extended position;  
     [0021]FIG. 9 is a side elevational view of the golf bag of the present invention with the outrigger in an extended position;  
     [0022]FIG. 10 is similar to FIG. 9 but showing the outrigger in a retracted position; and  
     [0023]FIG. 11 is an exploded view of a moveable support constructed in accordance with a third embodiment of the present invention.  
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
     [0024] With reference to the drawings and in particular to FIG. 1, a golf bag constructed in accordance with the present invention comprises a bag body  1  fixed on a moveable support or a trolley  2 . The moveable support  2  is mounted to wheels  27 ,  28  for moving the golf bag. An outrigger arm  3  is extendable from the support  2  for firmly supporting the bag body  1  in a standing up but slightly inclined manner to allow easy access of golf clubs (not shown) positioned in the bag body  1 .  
     [0025] Also referring to FIG. 2, the moveable support  2  comprises a base  21  which in the embodiment illustrated is a cylinder, preferably a hollow cylindrical body having a flat top surface  21 A on which the bag body  1  is fixedly or removably mounted. A ledge  22  is formed on and projects from a side surface of the base  21 . A bore  221  is defined through the ledge  22  and extends horizontally in a transverse direction between opposite end faces (not labeled) of the ledge  22 , defining openings (not labeled) on the opposite end faces of the ledge  22 . Two bars  25 ,  26  are respectively received in the bore  221  through the end openings of the bore  221  whereby the bars  25 ,  26  are moveable with respect to the ledge  22  in an axial direction between a retracted position and an extended position. Each bar  25 ,  26  has a remote end section (not labeled) extending beyond the associated end opening of the bore  221  when the bars  25 ,  26  are at the extracted position. The wheels  27 ,  28  are respectively and rotatably mounted to the remote ends of the bars  25 ,  26  whereby the wheels  27 ,  28  are selectively moved from a retracted position as shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and  7  to an extended position as shown in FIGS. 4 and 8.  
     [0026] If necessary, the bars  25 ,  26  are made tubular and telescopically received in each other. In this case, the slots  251 ,  261  of the bars  25 ,  26  may partially overlap.  
     [0027] Two projections  222 ,  223  extend from the ledge  22 , each defining an inner-threaded hole (not labeled) extending in a radial direction with respect to an axial direction of the bore  221 . Two lock screws  23 ,  24  are threadingly received in the inner-threaded holes of the projections  222 ,  223 . Each lock screw  23 ,  24  has a free end extending into the bore  221 . Each bar  25 ,  26  forms an elongate slot  251 ,  261  partially co-extensive therewith. The free end of the lock screw  23 ,  24  is engageable with the slot  251 ,  261  of the associated bar  25 ,  26  for selectively fixing the wheels  27 ,  28  at either the retracted position or the extended position or if desired, any position between the retracted position and the extended position.  
     [0028] Also referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, a channel  29  is formed inside the base  21  and extends in a downward inclined fashion with respect to the flat top face  21 A of the base  21  in a direction from the side of the base  21  on which the ledge  22  is formed to an opposite side of the base  21  as best seen in FIGS. 9 and 10 for movably receiving the outrigger arm  3  whereby the outrigger arm  3  is moveable between a retracted position as shown in FIG. 10 and an extended position as shown in FIG. 9. When the outrigger arm  3  is at the extended position, a remote free end of the outrigger arm  3  and the wheels  27 ,  28  form a triangle that firmly supports the bag body  1  in a standing up but slightly inclined manner as shown in FIG. 1.  
     [0029] Two recessed guide rails  291 ,  292  are defined in a bottom (not labeled) of the channel  29  for slidably receiving corresponding ribs  32 ,  33  formed on the outrigger arm  3  and guiding the movement of the outrigger arm  3  with respect to the base  21 . A handle  31  is formed on the remote end of the outrigger arm  3  for manually moving the outrigger arm  3  with respect to the base  21 . Preferably, a boss  34  is formed on the outrigger arm  3  for selectively and releasably engaging a dimple  293 ,  294  defined in the base  21  to secure the outrigger arm  3  at the extended and retracted positions.  
     [0030] Also referring to FIG. 5, the base  21  has a bottom face  20  on which raised portions  4  are formed for supporting the base  21  on ground. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5, three raised portions  4  are formed on the bottom face  20  of the base  21  and are arranged in a triangle for supporting the base  21  on the ground. Two notches  41  are defined on the bottom face  20  of the base  21  at a position corresponding to the handle  31  of the outrigger arm  3  for receiving fingers of the user to pull the outrigger arm  3  out of the channel  29 .  
     [0031] In FIG. 6, a base  21  constructed in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention comprises a bottom face (not labeled) on which raised portions  4  are forme . There are six such raise portions  4  forme on an equally space along a circumference of the bottom face of the base  21 .  
     [0032] Also referring to FIGS.  7  an  8 , when the moveable base  21  of the golf bag is moving on flat groun , such as pavement, the wheels  27 ,  28  may be secure at the retracte position. On the other han , when the moveable base  21  is moving on an uneven surface, the wheels  27 ,  28  may be move to the exten e position as shown in FIG. 8 for stabilizing the golf bag.  
     [0033]FIG. 11 shows a golf bag constructs in accor ance with a thir embo iment of the present invention. The thir embo iment is generally similar to the first embo iment. However, in the thir embo iment, a retention ring (not labele ) is mounte to the top face  21 A of the base  21  an efines a space  21 B on the top face  21 A of the base  21  for receiving an retaining a conventional golf bag (not shown) therein. Preferably, the ring is forme by a strip surroun ing the si e surface of the base  21  an having opposite en s space from each other, forming a gap  5  therebetween. The en s of the strip are fixe together by means of bolts  51  to secure the ring to the base  21 .  
     [0034] To this point, it is apparent that the present invention provi es a golf bag having the following a vantages:  
     [0035] (1) The golf bag has a base  21  having wheels  27 ,  28  an the wheels  27 ,  28  can be move to the exten e position with respect to the base  2  to allow the base  21  an thus the golf bag mounte on the base  21  to move more smooth in passing an uneven surface.  
     [0036] (2) The base  2  has an outrigger arm  3  that can be move to an exten e position where a remote en of the outrigger arm  3  an the wheels  27 ,  28  form a triangle for firmly supporting the golf bag in an stan ing up but slightly incline fashion thereby facilitating access of the clubs receive in the bag.  
     [0037] (3) The moveable base  2  has a simple an compact structure an can be selectively fixe to the golf bag.  
     [0038] Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments with reference to the drawings thereof, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that a variety of modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention which is intended to be defined by the appended claims.