Patent Publication Number: US-7222733-B2

Title: Golf club travel bag

Description:
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   This invention relates generally to golf club travel bags and more particularly to a multipurpose golf club travel bag which protects golf clubs during travel and is usable in playing rounds of golf. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   Generally golf bags used by most golfers during play are made of a flexible fabric. However, many golfers travel by air or other modes of transportation to various locations to play golf. A conventional bag is not suitable for transporting golf clubs from place to place because the bag offers minimum protection to the clubs during baggage handling. 
   Flexible and rigid travel covers are available in which the regular fabric golf bag is placed to protect the golf clubs during transport. When arriving at the destination the golf bag must be removed from the cover for play at the new location. The flexible or rigid travel cover must be stored. 
   It would be advantageous if there were available a multipurpose golf bag, that is a golf bag which protects the golf clubs during travel and storage and provides for storing golf accessories such as shoes, balls, tees, markers, gloves, etc., and which also can be used for playing a round of golf. 
   Generally, the golf clubs are carried in a golf bag by inserting the shafts from the top of the bag with the heads extending upwardly. The golf club bags have apertures at the top for separating one or more of the clubs and minimizing contact between the clubs. However, since the club shaft length varies between that of drivers to that of sand wedges many of the clubs in a set extended above the apertures a length which depends on the clubs. During play and transport the heads may strike one another or the shaft of adjacent clubs which can result in damage to the heads and shafts. 
   OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION 
   It is therefore a general object that the present invention to provide a golf bag which can be used both for safe transport of clubs and for regular play which is configured with a stepped divider which includes apertures at each thread to engage all of the clubs near their heads thereby minimizing lateral movement and therefore minimize potential damage to the clubs. 
   Another object of the invention is to provide a golf bag which includes a rigid body having a bottom which may be provided with wheels and a top end, which slants upwardly from the front to the back and is provided with a stepped divider which includes apertures for receiving the golf shafts whereby the heads are prevented from striking adjacent clubs. 
   There is provided a gold travel bag having a one piece outer shell having front, back, side walls, a bottom and an open top with at least one stepped club divider having one or more apertures at each step thread for receiving the golf clubs. The travel bag includes at least one cover for closing the bag during travel and storage and pockets for storing accessories. 
   It is a further object of the invention to provide a multipurpose golf bag as described above, which includes flexible pockets for storing accessories such as shoes, balls, gloves, etc. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The invention will be more clearly understood from the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which: 
       FIG. 1  is a front side perspective view of the multipurpose golf bag assembled for storage or travel; 
       FIG. 2  is a back side perspective view of the assembled multipurpose golf bag; 
       FIG. 3  is a back, side perspective view showing the pull handle for pulling the golf bag; 
       FIG. 4  is a front, side perspective view of the golf bag with one protective cover removed to show the stepped divider; and 
       FIG. 5  is a front, side perspective exploded view of the golf bag showing the pockets for storing accessories. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   The golf bag according to the present invention comprises an outer shell in the general shape of a parallelpiped with rounded corners. The bag is preferably molded from semi-rigid material such as that used in the manufacture of plastic airline luggage and alike. The bag  10  includes front, back, and sidewalls  11 ,  12 ,  13 , and  14  with an integral bottom  16 . Referring to  FIGS. 2 and 3  the back wall includes strengthening ribs  17 . In the preferred embodiment wheels  18  are mounted on the bottom of at the rear wall. The back includes a hinged handle  19  for pulling the golf bag. In  FIG. 2  the handle is folded into the recess  21  formed on the back wall, and in  FIG. 3  it is rotated out for grasping and pulling the golf bag. 
   The front wall  FIGS. 1 ,  3  and  4  includes a carrying handle  22  which is accommodated in the recess  23 . The upper end of the front wall is recessed to accommodate latches  24 . Referring  FIG. 5 , the front wall includes an opening  26  with an inwardly extending rim  27 . The wall is recessed  28  to receive the edges  29  a zippered pocket  31 . The edges are secured to the outer shell by screws (not shown) which engage holes  32  formed at the corners of the recessed opening. The pocket includes a fabric cover  33  which is zippered to the bottom of the pocket. The bottom or back of the pocket is provided with an elastic fabric (not shown) so that the pocket is expandable into the interior of the shell to accommodate golf accessories. At least one sidewall of the shell is includes recessed and rimmed openings  33  and  34  which receive zippered pockets  36  and  37  secured to the shell by screws  38 . The pockets include fabric covers  41  and bottom or backs of elastic material  42  to accommodate golf accessories. When the pockets  31 ,  36  and  37  are secured to the shells, they are substantially co-planar with the bag exterior thereby minimizing the possibility of snagging the pockets during transport. 
   The top of the recessed portion of the rigid shell slants upwardly from the front wall to the back wall as illustrated at  46  and flattens out at  47 . In the preferred embodiment the top is partitioned by a wall  48 . Stepped club dividers  51  are mounted within the partitioned top of the shell. The club dividers include apertures  52  at each step thread for receiving and accommodating the golf shafts. At least one of the club dividers  51 , as illustrated in  FIG. 4 , has a least three steps. As can be appreciated the longer clubs, such as the driver and other woods are inserted in upper apertures  53  and clubs shorter shafts such as wedges are in the lower apertures  54 . In this way the club shafts are engaged near the heads which limits lateral movement of the heads and minimizes damage to adjacent clubs. Furthermore the clubs are easily accessible during play. 
   The storage and travel bag includes covers  56  and  57  which are configured to match the top inclined edges of the bag and partition wall. Each cover includes a tab  58  which is inserted into the slot  59  formed on the rear wall of the bag. The cover is installed by placing the tab into the slot and lowering the front so that the tab  61  at the lower end of the cover meets the latch  24  for locking the cover in place. The divider includes an apertured tab  63  which may be used for locking the covers during transport. 
   The foregoing description is for purposes of explanation and understanding of the invention. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the specific details are not required in order to practice the invention. The foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments of the present invention are presented for purposes of illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed, obviously many modifications and variations are possible in view of the above teachings. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the fundamental principles of the invention and its practical applications, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention and its various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the following claims and their equivalents.